Nancy Ann (Getty, Downing, Titsworth, Williams) Lafler was born on January 2, 1835 in Craigs, Ballymena, County Antrim in what is now Northern Ireland. She was the second of the nine children of James, Sr and Matilda (McCaughey) Getty.

In the 1851 local census in Ireland, fifteen year old Nancy was listed as a linen weaver in a local factory.

Nancy arrived with her parents and six siblings at the port of New York on October 2, 1852 aboard the the SS William Rathbone. They went to live with a friend, Peter McGinley in Groveland, New York until the family moved to Michigan in 1854. Nancy stayed in New York for a few years more and continued working as a house servant.

"The long voyage was an experience which Nancy would never forget. In the years to come she would tell her children and her grandchildren how for weeks the icy winds of early winter rocked the large sailboat from side to side, the huge waves heaving the boat up and down until it seemed it would surely tip over. After the trip across the ocean, and the long train ride, it was with great relief to finally arrive at the farm home of their friend and benefactor, Peter McGinley, near Groveland, New York."

She married Charles Henry Downing in New York in 1858 and they had one child while living in Canandaigua, Seneca Township, New York:

1. Charles James Downing (1859-1932)

After coming to Lenawee County in Michigan, she married Elias J. Titsworth (1832-1911) whose grandmother was said to have been a full-blooded Native American of the Delaware Tribe. They had three children, lived in Macon Township of Lenawee County and were then divorced on June 18, 1873.

2. Alonzo G. "Lon" Titsworth (1861-1897)
3. Alexander Titsworth (1863-1944)
4. Matilda J. (Titsworth) Moran (1867-1949)
5. Mary Jane Titsworth (June 25, 1872-July 31-1872)

Husband number three was Henry W. Williams and they had one child.

6. Bertha (Williams) Adams (1878-1958)

Husband number four was Andrew J. Lafler (1835- ) who she married on July 3, 1881 in Lenawee County. They had no children and were later divorced.

In 1887, Nancy's sons, Charles Downing and Alonzo Titsworth, bought a small house in nearby Britton for their mother and nine year old Bertha. It was on the south side of Wells St., a block south of M.50.

Nancy died of a stroke at her home on May 17, 1905 at the age of 70. She is buried at Ridgeway Cemetery in Ridgeway Township, Lenawee County, Michigan.

Elias J. Titsworth died of chronic nephritis on August 7, 1911, at the age of 79 in Wolverine Cheboygan County, Michigan. He is buried in the Silver Lake Cemetery in Wolverine.
 

"Alonzo George (Titsworth) was born on June 14, 1861, and before he was a year old, Elias talked Nancy into going back to New York. It was there, at Elmira, that Alexander was born on December 25, 1863. Soon Elias became restless again, and they traveled back to Michigan.

In 1881 Nancy married Andrew Lafler, and the family lived for a short time in Dundee Township. They were married only two or three years, and then divorced.

Their daughter, Matilda, was born in the little log cabin on the County Line on May 28, 1867. By the time Mattie was two years old, Elias again had the wanderlust, so they sold the forty acres to Nancy's father. Elias had decided he would like to move back to Seneca where his brothers lived. On October 7, 1869, they bought a ten acre parcel in Seneca Twp. for $500 from Rachel J. Caton. Once again Nancy was pregnant and on June 25, 1872, their second daughter was born. Mary Jane lived just a little over a month. She died July 31, 1872, and is buried in a cemetery on Packard Road near Seneca.

...Nancy lived in a small house in Britton, which Charlie and Lon had bought for her. She had no income, so Charlie paid the taxes, brought firewood for her stove, and saw to it there were always groceries in the house."