J. Cloyd Downs
Born: November 6, 1885
Died: December 1958
Married: Mabel Downs
Children: Benjamin Downs, Wilbur Downs, Ray Downs, James Robert Downs, Mrs. Campbell
Chiefly known for: A Chemical Engineer, he contracted TB in 1923 and cured in Saranac Lake as a patient of Dr. Edward Packard. He moved to Saranac Lake in 1927. The Downs family lived at 11 Kiwassa Road from 1936 to 1954.
Source: Information provided by his grandson, Thomas L. Downs, 2009.
Plattsburgh Press-Republican, December 20, 1957
Electrolytic Cell Discoverer Dies
EUGENE, Ore., Dec. 18 — James Cloyd Downs, 72, whose discovery of an electrolytic cell process made possible the manufacture of artificial rubber, died here today.
An electrical and chemical engineer, Downs made his discovery while a young man working at Niagara Falls, N.Y. Named the Downs Electrolytic Cell, it is a means of producing metallic sodium in the manufacture of numerous compounds.
The American Chemical Society cited him in 1934 for his contribution to electrical chemistry.
Downs, who moved to Eugene from New York State in 1956, leaves a widow, a daughter and four sons.