The brothers and sisters of Heman Downing were:

1. Samuel Preston Downing, who was born before 1807 and died in 1831 in Poland Ohio

2. Mary Downing, who was born in 1807 and died in 1827.

3. Nathan Downing, born October 23, 1812 in South Hadley and died April 28, 1882 in Princeton, Illinois

4. Emerance Downing, born November 15, 1814 in South Hadley; married Benjamin S. Day on January 5, 1842.

5. Sumner Downing, born May 15, 1817 in South Hadley, married Isabel Thompson March 10, 1842, and died March 15, 1897 in Mount Carroll, Illinois

6. Jemima Downing, born October 12, 1819 in South Hadley, married Stephen Kneale on May 18, 1843, and died July 11, 1900

According to "Past And Present of Bureau County", Page 145 Heman Downing (misspelled as Herman Downing) moved from South Hadley, Massachusetts and arrived in Princeton, Bureau County, Illinois in 1834. In about 1836 he married Rachel Holbrook in Princeton, Illinois. She was born August 17, 1812 in Keene, New Hampshire, the daughter of Enos and Elizabeth (Thompson) Holbrook, who had also moved to LaMoille, Bureau County, Illinois in 1834.

Samuel Preston’s History of Carroll County, Chapter 5, states that Nathan Downing (Heman Downing’s brother) moved from South Hadley to Carroll County around October 15, 1836 and built a 12 x 14 foot cabin on what Samuel Preston in 1893 described as the John Kinney Farm. Referring to the 1893 Carroll County plat book, this farm was on the whole east side of Section 10, a smaller property across the road in north east corner of Section 15, as well as a much larger property adjacent to it on Section 15. The larger property on Section 15 was later owned by J. H. Petty (per the 1908 Carroll County Plat Book).

Chapter 6 of the same history states that Heman Downing arrived in 1837 (possibly the autumn of 1837) and bought out his brother Nathan’s property in Section 10 and Section 15. Heman Downing had been a carpenter in Bureau County and built very early houses there. According to Andrew Downing’s "Reminiscences of Preston Prairie, Part One, dated August 1908", Heman Downing (who was Andrew Downing’s father) built "what was in those days considered a comfortable frame house on a site a few hundred yards nearer the Savanna road." This house was on the south side of what became the Mt. Carroll-Savanna Highway, and in the early 1900s was the Howard Petty home. This house is the same property mentioned above that was on Section 15 and owned by J. H. Petty. Heman Downing and his family lived in this house until they moved back to Wyanet, Bureau County, Illinois in March 11, 1856.

Samuel Preston’s History of Carroll County also states that Heman and Nathan’s father, Abner Downing, arrived in 1837 too, slightly earlier than Heman, and took up a claim on Section 15, where Sumner Downing (another brother of Heman and Nathan) lived later. According to the History of Carroll County, Illinois 1878 published by Kett Sumner Downing came to Carroll County May 17, 1838 and it states there that he and his father took up a claim of 320 acres on Section 15. Some of this property is the same property that Harvey Loomer Downing, Sumner’s son, owned than sustained total damage during the Cyclone of 1898.

Heman Downing and Rachel Holbrook Downing’s children were:

1. Rosetta Angela Downing, born February 1, 1837 in New York, married Eli Shugart, she died September 8, 1897.

2. Andrew Downing, born March 11, 1838 on Preston Prairie, Carroll County, Illinois, and died December 1917 in Phoenix, Arizona. Andrew Downing was married to Martha "Mattie" J. Gibon. They lived in Carroll and Bureau Co Illinois during their lifetime and retired together to Phoenix Arizona to live out their remaining days.

Andrew Downing was a poet, a writer, a good husband, and made an impact wherever he lived. He was a Civil War Soldier, enlisting in KS and served his time fully and well.

His biography will reflect his letters home. He is pictured here with his brothers Edwin and Enos Downing, to whom he was very close................. Andrew Downing Biography

3. Edwin O. Downing, who was born December 4, 1839 on Preston Prairie, Carroll County, Illinois and died June 19, 1903 in Princeton, Illinois

4. Elizabeth Downing was born 1841 in Preston Prairie, Carroll County, Illinois.

Elizabeth Downing was married to Zachariah Shugart on December 22, 1858 in Princeton, Bureau County, Illinois.

Zachariah Shugart was born in Pennsylvania and was a brother to Elizabeth's sister Rosetta Angela's husband, Eli Lodge Shugart.

Zachariah Shugart is listed as on the Bureau County, Illinois Voters and Tax-Payers Directory of 1877.

Elizabeth Downing Shugart is buried in Nevada, Story County Iowa, her dead date is unknown.

5. David A Downing, who was born July 1842 on Preston Prairie, Carroll County, Illinois and died (presumably in Bureau County) September 7, 1858.

6. Stephen Downing, born 1844. (Needs further research).

7. Frank B. F. Downing, born 1845 on Preston Prairie, Carroll County, Illinois and married Esther M. Wright on January 29, 1873 in Topeka, Kansas.

8. Enos Holbrook Downing, who was born November 3, 1849 on Preston Prairie, Carroll County, Illinois and died October 15, 1927 at Attica, Harper County, Kansas.

9. Flora Downing, born in 1854 on Preston Prairie, Carroll County, Illinois. She married Walter Scott Clay in September or October 1883 in Princeton. Walter Scott was born in May and his father was killed in the Civil War. He was a school teacher in Wyanet, Illinois.

The children of Walter and Flora (Downing) Clay are: Bessie Clay who married a man named Prouty, whose first name isn't known. In 1952 they were living in Oakland, California. Their children's names were Robert Prouty and Preston Prouty.

Unknown Clay was a daughter of Walter and Flora Downing Clay. She married an unknown spouse. Their daughter was named Patricia; she married a man whose surname was Barge; I do not have his given name. Roy S. Clay married an unknown spouse. Their child's name was Holbrook Clay.

10. Mary Eliza Downing, was born in 1856, possibly in Bureau County, Illinois. She died in 1936 and is buried in the Attica Cemetery, Attica, Harper County, Kansas. Mary was married to George Fetrow the son of William & Rosanna (Huffstadt) Fetrow, on 18 November 1884 in Princeton, Bureau County, Illinois. George was born 6 February 1853 in Decatur, Illinois and died 4 August 1953. He too is buried in Attica Kansas.

The were the parents of six children; Harry Fetrow born 16 May 1886 Princeton, Bureau Co IL and died 4 July 1978 he married Cora Olive Burnett, Arthur Fetrow born 17 May 1889, Mae Fetrow born 13 August 1887, Ruth Fetrow, Fred Fetrow born 9 September 1894 and Avis Fetrow.