BIOGRAPHY

JAMES DOWNEY - OF OAKFIELD AND BATAVIA, NY

Downey, James, was born in County Down, north of Ireland, January 9, 1830, and came to America with his parents, James and Martha Downey, in 1835, settling in the town of Oakfield, where his father was prominent as a man and farmer. They moved to Batavia in 1846, where his father died February 29, 1869, in his eighty-first year; his mother died in May, 1870. James Downey was educated in the common schools and in 1859 married Ann J., daughter of John Thompson. They had five children: George H., Ida J., Mattie B., Gertrude A. and Maggie A. Mrs. Downey died February 2, 1878. Mr. Downey is known as a good farmer, and a man of undoubted integrity.

Source: Our County and its people, A descriptive work on Genesee County, New York, Edited by: F. W. Beers, J.W. Vose & Co., Publishers, Syracuse, NY 1890