Over the last few weeks, in honor of National Woman’s Month, Milford Times featured just a few of the women who built Milford. The last in the series is Mary Catherine Downing Holcombe who created both the Milford Historical Society and the Milford Museum.
Known in historical circles as Miss Catherine, Mary Catherine Downing was a powerhouse when it came to Milford history. was instrumental in saving the Parson Thorne Mansion, creating the Milford Historical Society to manage the stately mansion which the parson called Silver Hill. In addition, Miss Catherine helped establish the Milford Museum in the first post office in town.
The youngest child of Norris Burwick and Emily Priscilla Jackson Downing, Miss Catherine was born December 11, 1809, in Salisbury. Her father was born in 1870 in Bivalve, Maryland and her mother in 1874 in Nanticoke. Her older brother, Clarence Burwick was born in 1902 and another brother, Fulton Jackson, was born in 1904.
The Downing family moved to Milford when Miss Catherine was two. After graduating from Milford high School, she attended western Maryland College where she earned a degree in history. Her family owned and operated N.B. Downing Co. Contractors in Milford. Her father was also the Chairman of the Board of the Harrington Lumber and Supply Company. For 30 years, Miss Catherine managed the office for her family business and, for 55 years, lived in the same house on South Walnut Street.
According to an interview with Miss Catherine in 1978, when she was in 7th grade, she read “Once Upon a Time in Delaware.” It was that book that kindled her lifelong love of history. In 1962, Miss Catherine established the Milford Historical Society when James Richard Draper made an offer for the local Daughters of the American Revolution to restore the Parson Thorne Mansion.
Miss Catherine was the founder and long-time member of the Captain Jonathan Caldwell Chapter of the DAR for 50 years, serving as a state regent and national vice-president general. She served as national president of the Daughters of Colonial Wars from 1965-1968. Miss Catherine’s historical connections went beyond Milford. She was a member of the Historical Society of Delaware and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. She also served as chairman of both the grants review and program committees of the state Bicentennial Commission.
Tragedy struck the family in 1959 when Miss Catherine’s father, Norris, died suddenly at the age of 88. According to his obituary, his death was unexpected.
“One of Milford’s leading citizens for many years, Mr. Downing was pronounced dead on arrival at Milford Memorial Hospital where he was taken after he was observed sitting motionlessly in his car which was parked on Causey Avenue,” the obituary read. “Mr. Downing was noticed by Mrs. Marian Shockley who called former Mayor Edward C. Evans. Mr. Evans notified the police. The cause of death was listed as hear failure.”
After the establishment of the Milford Historical Society, Miss Catherine’s goal was to return the Parson Thorne Mansion to what it was like when it was constructed by the parson in 1779.
“The only thing we will have to go by is what the house itself will tell us through an architectural survey,” Miss Catherine told a reporter in 1962. “To my knowledge not a single sketch or drawing exists of the house as it was built.”
Miss Catherine saw the special significance of the home as John M. Clayton, who served as the United States Secretary of State under President Zachary Taylor, spent his early childhood there. Clayton’s parents, grandmother and sister are buried in a cemetery on the property. Governor William Burton also lived in the home when he served as governor at the start of the Civil War. Miss Catherine had a special connection to the home as she grew up not far from it.
“As a child, I wandered through it at will when it was vacant,” she said. “I looked through it from cellar to attic but never found the dungeons people talk about. What I really should do is try to find a ghost for it. We need a ghost.”
In 1977, Miss Catherine was honored as one of the ten most distinguished Delawareans for her contributions to the quality of life in Milford.
Over the years, she wrote “Miss Molly’s” newspaper columns which she turned into a pictorial history of Milford. The book, “Milford Through the Years: A Pictorial History of Milford, Delaware,” contains 400 photos of Milford with captions written by Miss Catherine herself. It was published in 1979. Miss Catherine was instrumental in the publication of several local histories including an ambitious history of Milford’s business and industry.
In addition to her work in Milford History, Miss Catherine was an active member of the DAR. William Heath, an ancestor of the Downings, who was from Princess Anne was an inspector during Revolutionary War times, qualifying Miss Catherine for membership.
In 1981. Miss Catherine was recognized with the Governor’s Award for Outstanding Contributions to Delaware history. She was praised by then-Governor Pete Dupont for her work in organizing the Milford Historical Society as well as her activities as chairman of the State Review Board for the National Register of Historic Places.
A 1982 article in the Morning News written by Pattie Sewell begins in a way that perfectly described Miss Catherine.
“Some people collect old books. Others, old furniture,” Sewell wrote. “M. Catherine Downing seems to collect old buildings.”
The article was written 22 years after the Milford Historical Society took over Parson Thorne Mansion, returning the historic property back to its former glory. In 1981, Miss Catherine told Delmarva Crossroads of her next dream.
“I’m wishing for the old Post Office in Milford to become a museum for the City of Milford,” she is quoted as saying. “It’s owned by the state now. I’m trying to extract that and when I get that, I’m going to stop wishing. It’s too much work.”
Her wish came true and the unusually shaped building with high ceilings and occasional leaks, as the article stated, became the Milford Museum. The marble steps and large fanlight over the front door, terrazzo floors, marble wainscotting, extensive moldings and fluted pilasters along with the cupola were all features that made Miss Catherine see the beauty in the building. She especially loved what she called the “spy tower,” an attic only accessible by a concealed ladder.
“Some of us realized that the Parson Thorne Mansion could never be a true museum,” Miss Catherine said when asked why the town, which then had less then 6,000 residents, needed a second museum. “It’s a house museum. It shows a way of life.
In 1982, City Council created the Milford Commission on Landmarks and Museums with six members named by the mayor. The seventh is the president of the historical society. The commission created the Friends of the Milford Museum, a fund-raising arm.
In 1988, Miss Catherine married Theophilius Moore Holcombe IV who was born June 19, 1904 in New Brunswick, New Jersey. She was 76 and he was 84. They were married six years.
Miss Catherine died June 12, 1994. Her wishes were that her ashes be interred at the Parson Thorne Mansion. A small plaque on the floor of the east portico has her name, recognizing where her final resting place is although there is a tombstone in the Milford Community Cemetery.
When asked in 1987 what her secret to success was in preserving history, Miss Catherine responded with a chuckle.
“Of course, you have to know what to ask for, when to ask and who,” she said.
