Forgotten Civil War Veteran honored with marker

By Thomas Clapper

FPS Staff Writer

A lone but not forgotten gravestone sits in a secluded wooded area of Lee Township, belonging to a Civil War veteran named Harry Downing. Today, Downing receives a new grave marker just in time for Memorial Day.

Resident Shannon Noble has lived on his family farm for approximately 54 years, and his grandparents have owned it since 1907. Downing’s gravestone has been there the whole time, just across the township line.

“Not much is known about Downing aside from he was a Civil War veteran and was very proficient on the fiddle,” said Noble. “For many years we have wanted to mark the grave in a more identifiable way because all that is there now is a sandstone with faded information etched onto the stone.”

Noble recently purchased a granite stone and had a plaque made to fasten to it. This new stone sits behind the original sandstone marker.

“H.D.” — Harry Downing — was carved into the weathered stone, with an unclear date that either reads 1824 or 1828 for the birth. It is not known how he died or how he ended up buried in that spot, but Noble said there have been different stories and variations he has heard since he was a kid.

Most of the tales involve Downing’s fiddle playing getting him into trouble. One tale says he was at a local dance playing his fiddle and attracted the attention of a young lady. This lady’s beau was none too pleased and ambushed him on the way home. Another story is similar, but instead of following him home, an exchange of words between Downing and another person led to a free-for-all fight in which Downing was killed.

One constant in these stories is his fiddle, and all accounts have him buried with it.

A more seemingly unlikely but possible story is that Downing was playing the fiddle at a dance, and on his ride back, he accidentally rode under a tree with low-hanging branches that caught him by the neck and suspended him from a fork in the tree. The legend goes that he was not found for several days. When his body was found, he was expediently buried on the spot due to the summer heat.

“I would just like to preserve the history best we can for the future,” said Noble.