“Jonathan Downs, born 1798 - 1810 in Kentucky, was (probably) the son of Richard & Rachel Downs of Grayson County.
The 1810 federal census of Grayson County indicated that Richard Downs had a number of males in his household in the right age group at that time. A theory is that a number of Grayson County families had migrated to White County, Illinois around 1820 when Jonathan married Rachel Gott. The 1830 White County, Illinois census shows Jonathan listed "next" door to Richard Collard, Sen. The History of White County, Illinois, p. 850, mentions that Jasper N. Robinson was a son of John and Susan (Collard) Robinson. Susan Collard was a native of Grayson County, Kentucky and was the daughter of Richard and Sarah Downs Collard. Nelson Co, Kentucky marriage records shows that Richard Collard married Sarah Downes, August 25, 1795. Sarah was the "niece" of Evan Williams.
Jonathan and Rachel named their first born daughter Julia Ann. His sons were named Richard and John. Richard, the first born, could have been named after Jonathan's father, Richard. John was the name of Rachel Gott's father.”