George Gilbert McCarthy was a rabid genealogist and naturally started with his own family. In his own words in the preface, he described the objective of this book is to record the lineage of some of the descendants of John Downs, a soldier in the Virginia troops during the American Revolution, who later migrated from Virginia to Ohio. The concentration of the book is primarily on the descendants of William Downs, the eldest son of John Downs. I, Nina, am mentioned in the book as a family member on page 107. Today's date is 4/9/2011. I'm in hope of finding more copies of this book for Downs family members in Eastern Colorado. My father, Kenneth Bullock, told me that one of our ancestors was in the revolutionary war and that a cannon ball was rolling across the ground towards him. He stuck out his foot to stop it and the ball had enough power to break his foot. His foot had to be amputated. Dad used this story to explain that the appearance of harmlessness is a trap to the unwary. I don't know if the story is about this particular ancestor, but it was interesting. --Nina M. (Bullock) Sipes