When Pearl Downing was born in 1878, in Ohio, United States, his father, Willian Edison Downing, was 34 and his mother, Rebecca Jane Stonerock, was 29. He married Ada Catherine Hunt on 15 January 1906, in Pickaway, Ohio, United States. They were the parents of at least 1 daughter. He lived in Rural, Clermont, Ohio, United States in 1935 and Tarlton, Salt Creek Township, Pickaway, Ohio, United States in 1940. He died in 1955, in Pickaway, Ohio, United States, at the age of 77, and was buried in Springlawn Cemetery, Williamsport, Pickaway, Ohio, United States.