Charles Clagett Downhour

Charles Clagett Downhour, son of John Jacob Downhour and Phoebe Shry, was born 30 Mar 1869, Quartz Gulch, Helena CO, MT, died 04 Feb 1932, Daytona Beach, Volusia CO, FL, married 23 Nov 1897, Miles City, Custer CO, MT, Hester Harriet May, dau of Lyman Lancaster May and Catharine Euphemia Crouse, born 06 Feb 1879, Round Prairie, Todd CO, MN, died 12 Sep 1955, Chattahoochee, Gadsden CO, FL, buried Bellevue Memorial Park, Daytona Beach, Volusia CO, FL

He was a third generation descendant of the emigrant ancestors who came from Germany about 1794 and first settled in Pennsylvania then moved west and resided in California and Montana. During the years the family had been engaged in gold mining, lumber business and cattle ranches.

An advertisement in a socialistic paper called the "Appeal to Reason," published in Girard, Kansas, caught Harriet Downhour's eye, featuring a Florida Land Development program known as the Saint Johns Development Company, with headquarters in Chicago, Ill. She contacted the company and the family contracted to buy a twenty acre tract.

In 1910, Harriet visited St. Johns Park to view the area and though she did not view their actual purchase, she met the company officials, attended several parties, met many ladies and took some citrus fruit home and dreamed of the day the family would move to Fla. However the others felt it would be too hot and have too many mosquitoes.

In 1917 Charles Downhour suffered a stroke and though he responded to treatment in a few years the doctor advised, he move to a lower altitude, so the property in Florida was the answer and the doctor advised him against "eating flesh food in such a warm climate and recommended a diet of fruit and vegetables."

The family car, a 1917 Model T Ford was completely overhauled for camping on the trip to Florida. They left Montana on 15 Oct 1925 and after a very eventful trip across the United States they arrived at St. Johns Park after dark on 11 Nov 1925 and pitched their tent for the night in the spacious Hammock enclosure of the Warner family. The trip from Montana to St. Johns Park was 3,023 miles for a total expenditure of $175.25, which included $93.80 car expense, $40.00 of which was spent for 180 gallons of gas (at 22 cents a gallon) and some oil.

The next morning they were told the tract they had purchased was located in an undeveloped area of the county. On inspection, the tract was found to be located in the Sweetwater Swale and they would not be able to settle on it. Mr Hamilton invited them to pitch their tent on his property and the son Perry bought a tract of next to Mr Hamilton's where they built an 8 inch platform on which they stabilized their two tents.

Everything was working out great, Mrs Downhour was joining the local ladies events, getting some biddies to raise, buying a milk cow, etc but she did not know about the opossums, wild hogs and the hawks, so the biddies were soon gone. The milk cow was staked out until they could build a fence but one night she pulled up the stake and they never saw the cow again.

Mrs Downhour eventually decided she had rather live in Daytona so Mr and Mrs Downhour moved to Daytona but Perry remained. He drove a truck for the county then operated the county road grader during the three years he lived here and was a active part of the community, as he often played the accordion for parties and dances. He then moved to Daytona and was employed as mail carrier by the U. S. Mail Service. Mr and Mrs Downhour were the parents of two children;

1. Perry Norvan Downhour, born 26 Mar 1899, White Sulphur Springs, Meagher CO, MT, died 14 Mar 1986, Daytona Beach, Volusia CO, FL, buried Bellevue Memory Gardens, Daytona Beach, Volusia CO, FL, married 21 Nov 1935, Borup, Felton Twp, Clay CO, MN, Edith Tainter, dau of Charles L. Tainter and Ella Emelia Swankam, born 03 Sep 1903, Clay CO, MN, died 30 May 1957 Daytona Beach, Volusia CO, FL. Issue;

(1) Walter Perry Downhour, born 10 Aug 1941, Jacksonville, Duval CO, FL, married 24 Dec 1965 Lila Hull

(2) Paul Burton Downhour, born 4 Feb 1944, Daytona Beach, Volusia CO, FL, married 31 May 1963 Nonie Ruth Davis

Perry Downhour married 2nd, 18 July 1958, Volusia CO, FL, Henrietta Woolley Needham, dau of Ivory Pearl Woolley and Hattie L. Price, born 10 June 1903, PA, died 05 Nov 1988, Greensburg, Westmoreland CO, PA.

(3) Step-dau, Joyce Needham, born 13 Feb 1927, Pittsburgh, Allegheny CO, P, married FNU Hochard

2. Rita Hazel Downhour, born 24 Jul 1901, White Sulphur Springs, Meagher CO, MT, died 16 Mar 1989, Helena, Lewis and Clark CO, MT, married 22 Apr 1922, Chouteau, Teton CO, MT, Fredrik Pedersen, born 07 Jun 1896, Markveien, Oslo, Norway, died 06 Feb 1986, Helena, Lewis and Clark CO, MT. Issue;

(1) Fay E Pederson, born about 1922, Kessler, Lewis and Clark CO, MT

(2) Lyle F Pederson, born about 1924, Kessler, Lewis and Clark CO, MT

 

Source: The First Families of Flagler by Mary Ketus Deen Holland who cited as her source Published Articles by Perry Downhour.

Additional sources used by the compiler were: 1910 United States Federal Census, Monture, Powell, Montana; 1920 United States Federal Census, School District 3, Chouteau, Montana; 1930 United States Federal Census, Kessler, Lewis and Clark, Montana; Social Security Death Index; Florida Death Index, 1877-1998; Montana Death Index, 1907-2002; Family Data Collection - Individual Records; Fredrik Pedersen family information posted on ancestry.com and Federal Records Index.

Please send questions, corrections or additions to Sisco Deen, P.O. Box 637, Flagler Beach, FL 32136 or email him at Sisco_Deen@hotmail.com