John Downeman (abt. 1592 - aft. 1629)

Born about 1592 in England

Husband of Elizabeth (Unknown) Downeman — married before 1624 in Virginia

Died after 1629 after about age 37 in Virginia Colony

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Biography

John Downeman was a Jamestown colonist.

John Downeman is a Qualifying Ancestor of the Jamestowne Society

John Downeman was born c. 1592 in England. We do not know the identity of his parents. His surname was most often spelled Downeman, but occasionally Downman or Dowman.

In 1611, he sailed with the fleet of Sir Thomas Dale,^[1] aboard the ship John and Francis^[2] to Jamestown. He may have assisted Sir Thomas in displacing the Appomattox Indians from their habitation and developing a peninsula on the James River that became known as Bermuda Hundred.^[1] By 1617, he was still living in Bermuda Hundred, where he witnessed the will of a neighbor, Captain Robert Smalley.^[3]

He married Elizabeth (maiden name unknown), who arrived in 1621 aboard the ship Warwick^[4] We do not know where they first settled, but they both survived the Indian Massacre of Mar 1622, and they are listed on the 1624 List of the Living and Dead in Virginia, in Elizabeth City.^[5] During that same year, they had a child and named her Mary, but she died later that year, on 23 Nov 1624.^[6]

In 1625, an official census was taken (the Muster of 1624/25), and the Downeman household was recorded in Elizabeth City.^[7][8]

THE MUSTER OF JOHN DOWNEMAN aged: 33 in the John and Francis 1611

ELIZABETH DOWNEMAN aged: 22 in the Warwicke 1621

MOYSES STONES aged 16 in the Bone Bes 1623

PROVISION: Corne, 6 barrels; Goate, 1; Houses, 1; Pallizado, 1. ARMES: Snaphance peeces, 1; Swords, 2; Powder, 1 lb; Lead, 6 lb.

Moses Stone, who was living in the Downeman household, was probably a servant.

John Downeman was an ancient planter,^[9][10] and in May 1625, when a report of landowners was sent to England, he was credited with 100 acres on the south side of the James River, against Elizabeth City.^[11]

In 1629, Downeman (Dowman) was appointed a Commissioner of the Court in Elizabeth City and, later, a Burgess representing Elizabeth City.^[12][13]

Finding no further information on the life or death of John Downeman, we will record on this profile that he died "after 1629."

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} McCartney, Martha W. Virginia Immigrants and Adventurers 1607-1635: A Biographical Dictionary; Genealogical Publishing Company, Baltimore, MD, 2007, pp. 264, 265.
2. ↑ List of Passengers on the John and Francis 1611 Research and compilation by Anne Stevens, packrat-pro.com.
3. ↑ Sherwood, George. American Colonists in English Records: Ancestry.com [database online] A Guide to Direct References in Authentic Records, Passenger Lists Not in Hotten, etc. Repr. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1961.
4. ↑ List of Passengers on the Warwick 1621 Research and compilation by Anne Stevens, packrat-pro.com.
5. ↑ Coldham, Peter Wilson. The Complete Book of Emigrants, 1607-1660, Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, MD., p. 44
6. ↑ Coldham, page 66.
7. ↑ Jester, Annie Lash., Hiden, Martha Woodruff. 1883. Musters of the Inhabitants in Virginia 1624/1625, Adventurers of Purse and Person Virginia 1607-1625: FamilySearch International, Title No. 2058494., p. 49.
8. ↑ Coldham, p. 63.
9. ↑ Order of Descendents of Ancient Planters
10. ↑ Nugent, Nell Marion. Cavaliers and Pioneers. Abstracts of Virginia Land Patents and Grants, 1623-1666, Vol. I, Virginia State Library, Virginia Genealogical Society. Richmond, Press of the Dietz Print Co. 1934, page xxxi.
11. ↑ Kingsbury, Susan Myra. The records of the Virginia Company of London Government Printing Office, 1906-1935, Vol. 4, p. 558.
12. ↑ Hening, William W., ed. The Statutes at Large: Being a Collection of All the Laws of Virginia. Vol. 1. Richmond: Samuel Pleasants, 1809-1823; repr. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1969. p. 132, 139.
13. ↑ Jamestowne Society: Dowman, John - A2305; Corporation of Elizabeth City: 1625, 1629 (Burgess). (accessed 26 Sep 2021)