Joseph Summerville was born on the old Summerville homestead near Worthington, PA. He became a carpenter and a farmer. In 1830 he came to Toby twp. in what is now Clarion Co. and bought a farm which was along Cherry Run. In June 1835 he married Mary Downs, a daughter of Thomas and Sarah (Davis) Downs who had emigrated to America in 1818 in a sailing vessel that took 18 weeks to cross the ocean. They landed at Baltimore and travelled to Armstrong Co., PA, in a covered wagon. Joseph and Mary are both buried in the Seceder cemetery, Rimersburg, PA. All of their children were born at home.Sarah (Davis) Downs had a broken hip and was a cripple in a chair for 15 yrs. She lived with Joseph Summerville's family for probably 15 years before she died, her husband presumably being dead those years. Thomas and Sarah (Davis) Downs had nine children: William, a sailor; Mary; Joseph; Thomas, m. Elizabeth Rankin (RANKIN - 7); Robert; James; Lucinda, m. McGarvey; Jane, m. Smith; John.