Kindred Tales: A Family Divided

Ezekiel Downs - 1789 – 20 January 1861

Charlotte Rawlins Downs - December 25. 1791 – January 23, 1863

In the early days of the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, many of my ancestors were called upon to go through extreme tribulation and persecution, yet somehow found the strength, faith and courage to keep going. This very sad tale of my Great, Great, Great Grandparents, Ezekiel and Charlotte Rawlins Downs contrasts what happens when faith prevails or falters.

Adams County, Illinois

Ezekiel and Charlotte were married in 1814 in Indiana. Their family had grown to include four children by 1828 when they moved to Adams County, Illinois, which Ezekiel described as “one of the most beautiful countries he had ever seen. The land was rich, the prairie interspersed with beautiful groves of timber, with singing birds and the country abounded with wild game, wild fruit, fish and honey.”

In Illinois they bought and raised calves and hogs for market, acquired and fenced 160 acres of land of which 100 acres were cleared. Their large crops included corn, wheat, oats, beans, potatoes, pumpkins, melons. Their greatest harvest was two more children born to the industrious and successful family.

A pivotal event happened in the spring of 1838

when the nearby Mormon Saints were driven from their homes in Missouri by mobs, leaving them destitute. A large group of these refuges crossed the river near Quincy, Illinois. Five families stopped at the home of Ezekiel and Charlotte and called upon their mercy, arriving with only one old wagon and a poor span of horses. Sympathetic to this “poor persecuted people” the family rescued the saints, giving them a place to stay, work, food and clothing.

As they became friends, the saints predicted that the Downs would become Mormons, which caused them great merriment to hear. However, upon listening to the Elders preach, their son John became the first in Ezekiel’s family to embrace the gospel and was baptized in 1840. By 1842 the rest of the family had joined the church as well and the family relocated to Knowlton’s Settlement twelve miles south of Nauvoo. They were acquainted with the Prophet and family lore claims that one of their sons was his bodyguard, although this is not documented.

Prophet Joseph Smith Jr.

After the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Jr. at Carthage Jail, Ezekiel’s faith was challenged and he exclaimed to his family, “Well this is the last, my best friend is gone, surely there is nothing to this after all. I am through.”

In spite of his change of heart, in the spring of 1846 Ezekiel and his family started west. Charlotte held firm to her faith; Ezekiel struggled, as they moved to Winter Quarters. During the journey, Ezekiel grew displeased with the leadership of Brigham Young. Because of his feelings, they did not settle in Winter Quarters, which essentially declared his vote of no confidence in Young’s leadership.

Instead, the family settled along Mosquito Creek, about ten miles northeast of Council Bluffs, where Ezekiel built a flour mill and a saw mill. Their home was the first permanent residence in the area and their industry attracted other settlers. The mill was valuable to incoming Mormons as a means of refining wheat so that it might be sold in Council Bluffs. Soon there were many Mormon and non-Mormon settlers concentrated around a village which became known as Downsville, after the founding family. Once again the family prospered due to their business skills and industry.

This was a temporary respite from tribulation for the family because Charlotte had fully embraced the gospel and desired to continue the trek to the Salt Lake Valley. Ezekiel did not.

It is unfortunate that he did not heed his dream in which he envisioned the Prophet Joseph Smith, Jr. at the top of a hill beckoning to him. Ezekiel followed until he was exhausted. The dream ended as soon as he stopped following the Prophet.

His faithful son, James, also had a dream. In his he had a vision of the Saints crossing the Mississippi, mob violence in Nauvoo, and their stopping at a great body of water to raise crops and give thanks. The contrast between Ezekiel’s dream and that of his son foreshadowed what would befall the family in Iowa.

The specifics of the turmoil in the Downs family are unknown, but it eventually caused a separation. Refusing to continue west, Ezekiel cast out his wife and the father of the family and the youngest son, Sidney, remained in Iowa, while Charlotte and the remaining five children journeyed on, following the new prophet Brigham Young.

Ezekiel later defied outright the leadership of the Church by marrying Frances F. Graham, who was a mere child of sixteen to his sixty-two. A Frontier Guardian notice dates the marriage, June 15, 1851. The newspaper’s notice also adds that Ezekiel Downs was excommunicated from the Church “for banishing his wife from him, and for bearing false testimony to obtain a marriage license between himself and another woman.”

This division in the leading family marked the beginning of the demise of Downsville. Ezekiel Downs’ disassociation with the Church and its members may have separated them from possible business contacts. As a result, land improvements, including new mills, were built elsewhere, attracting incoming settlers to other places. Downsville slowly lost favor as a place to grind wheat.