Rev. Samuel Down was a native of England, of either Devonshire or Cornwall. In that hotbed of Methodim he was warmed into spiritual and official life.

He possessed a mind with a strong proclivity for theological studies, in which he afterwards became both profound and accurate. His mind and manners were sober and Christian-like. He was calm, self-possessed, and correct in speaking, and if his address had been impassioned as it was solemn and impressive, his ministry would have been as attracting as it was respectable.

He was destined to be a quiet, faithful laborer in circuit where his ability was not always appreciated.

Mr. Down was in person, tall, intellectual-looking, with light curly hair.

...from the minutes of the 1855 Wesleyan Methodist Conference in Toronto C.W.