CAPTAIN CALEB DOWNING

(1700s) - Lynn, Essex co., MA

(First Generation - Downing Family)

FATHER
MOTHER
NOT KNOWN
NOT KNOWN


NOTE Captain Caleb Downing is currently a frustrating dead-end. He may or may not be the child of Caleb Downing & Mary Goold who were married on 2 March 1726/7 in Salem, Essex co., MA. Endless searches of the Massachusetts vital records for Caleb have proved fruitless. It could be that Caleb was from Maine or New Hampshire or that he was from the branch of the Downing family that returned to England in the early 1630s. If he was from the Maine/New Hampshire seacoast border area, that could explain how Sarah Coates could have met her "other husband". Caleb does appear to be an update of the name "Calybute"; which was a family name of long standing. "Captain" is meant in its maritime meaning, not as a military officer.

Caleb's wife Sarah Coates is no easier, since it appears that she was married to two men in my family tree at roughly the same time -- Caleb and John Neal of New Castle, Rockingham co., NH. *SIGH*. Research crawls alongŠ Be sure to see the Coates Family Report to further explain.

The only thing that is proven is that Caleb Downing and Sarah Coates were married and had a family in Lynn, Essex co., MA.

The family is of Scottish descent and surname variations include: Douing, Dowing, Downeing, Downeinge, Downen, Downin, Downind, Downing and Downinge.

MARRIAGE On 16 May 1751 Caleb married Sarah COATES, possibly the daughter of Samuel COATES & Ruth2 HARTT, in Lynn, Essex co., MA.

CHILDREN 2. i. Michal DOWNING Please see her own page.
3. ii. Elisabeth DOWNING Elizabeth was born on 20 January 1752 in Lynn, Essex co., MA[4] and died on 1 April 0183 in Lyndeborough, NH[4]. On 25 September 1777 when Elisabeth was 25, she married Jonathan WHITTEMORE, in Lyndeborough, NH[4]. He was born on 12 February 1753 in Danvers, Essex co., MA[4] and died in Lyndeborough, NH on 1 January 1825; he was 71[4].
4. iii. John DOWNING We currently know nothing more about this child.
5. iv. Samuell DOWNING We currently know nothing more about this child.
6. v. Susanna DOWNING We currently know nothing more about this child.
7. vi. James DOWNING We currently know nothing more about this child.
8. vii. Ruth DOWNING Ruth was born on 22 November 1758 in Lynn, Essex co., MA[4] and died in New Boston, NH on 12 July 1834; she was 75[4]. In 1786 when Ruth was 27, she married Aaron WHITTEMORE, in Lyndeborough, NH[4]. He was born on 28 February 1755 in Danvers, Essex co., MA[4] and died in Lyndeborough, NH on 1 January 1825; he was 69[4].
9. viii. Sarah DOWNING We currently know nothing more about this child.
10. ix. Thomas DOWNING We currently know nothing more about this child.




GENERATION Great-great-great-great-great (G5) Grandfather
FAMILY NUMBER 230
SOURCES 1. Edward Carroll Death Record, 19 October 1899, Lynn, Essex co., MA, 1866, 192, p. 186, #337.


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