Downs Cemetery
Downs, Lincoln County, Washington

T22N R35E Sec 27
Lat: 47° 21' 47"N, Lon: 118° 23' 30"W

Contributed by Pat Rice, Mar 14, 2000, updated Mar 28, 2004 [gillygon@cuonlinenow.com]. Total records = 13.

The Downs Cemetery is ½ mile south of the old town of Downs in, on the east side of McKinley Road at its intersection with Richardson Road. To get there, go SW from Harrington on Highway 28 to Doggett Road, follow it to McKinley for less than a mile where it T’s with Richardson Road.

At one time there were more than a dozen markers as well as the iron enclosures that now are all that show of the cemetery. In the 1940s, witnesses recall a dozen or so markers and in the 1950s, others recall those markers as well as rocks outlining graves. The subsequent removal of fencing and markers, along with the farming encroachment, has reduced the size of the cemetery from 1.8 acres shown in 1958 aerial photos to the present 25 feet by 48 feet. The violation of hallowed ground includes the loss of stones, wood crosses, rock or flat markers and the removal of the fence.

Presently there is one visible tombstone within one of the two iron-fenced family enclosures, that of Marie Hinshaw who died in 1903. The other enclosure belongs to the Lee family. Wilbur Hinshaw was removed to the Hillcrest Cemetery in Harrington, but no documentation has been found indicating removal of any of the other burials, in spite of an extensive search.

This cemetery was originally walked and photographed by Pat Rice and Marge Womach in the summer of 1999 with numerous return visits in the following years.

Please note that an extensive search for the individuals below in other cemeteries did not locate them. Documentation exists for the following burials in the Downs Cemetery.

- Pat Rice

Alexander, Clarence, d. Nov 01, 1904 at Downs, (obit)
Campbell, Douglas, d. Nov 15, 1896, (probate records)
Cooley, infant girl, d. May 1919 at Downs, (obit)
Detloff, Gene, d. Apr 04, 1928, (death notice)
Hinshaw, Hansel J, d. Mar 01, 1898 (family Bible)
Hinshaw, Isabella McKinney, (Mar 31, 1831, d. Feb 13, 1910) Hinshaw family & obit. (Luke & Isabella were married Nov 23, 1851)
Hinshaw, Luke, (Sep 09, 1819, d. 1883) (Hinshaw family Bible shows his death as Apr 15, 1886)
Hinshaw, Marie, (b. 27 Mar 1896, d. 21 Oct 1903), d/o W & M (TS & obit)
Hinshaw, Wilbur, (d. 2-10-1911), Removed to Hillcrest Cemetery in Blk 3 Lot 36
Lacey, Thomas, d. Feb 01, 1898 (family Bible)
Lee, Nannie (Nancy) J Lacey, d. Sep 13, 1903, w/o Ferdinand, (TS purchased, obit)
Ott, infant of John, b. May 10, 1906 at Downs, died infancy (family report)
Reynolds, William W, (b. 1835, d. Dec 30, 1908) (obit)