townsend

TOWNSEND FAMILY

The Benjamin F. Townsend living in Madison, KS was my greatgrandfather b. December 04, 1847 d. July 30, 1931. I am not sure at what point during his life this was written.

Origin of the Townsend Family The family is old, even for an English one, tracing its ancestry from the year 1275. The original name was Woodville who lived in London. One branch of the Woodville family moved to a distant part of the city, who was known as the Woodville of the Towns end. Gradually the Woodville name was dropped and became known as Townsend. The family is closely connected to Lord Townsend of Rainham, Norfolk county, England, who was an ancestor of the greater part of the Townsends in America. At that time the old English coat of arms represented a stag and hounds on either side, supporting a crown and stag. The name Townsend which is of the same origin, is so spelled, for the reason that the English usually precede a vowel with the sound of H. By a careful study of archives, church records, and other means, we find that the first Townsend known to have emigrated to America was Richard Townsend, who settled at Jamestown, VA. In the year 1620. Thomas Townsend settled at Lynn, Mass., in 1634. William Townsend settled at Boston, Mass., in 1637. Martin Townsend settled at Watertown, Mass., in 1644. Richard Townsend settled in Philadelphia, PA., in 1682. John Henry and Richmond Townsend settled at Oyster Bay, Long Island, NY, in 1686, afterward removing to Duchess county, New Jersey. Joseph and John Townsend settled at Philadelphia in 1712 had one son named after himself, who moved with his family to Harrison county, Ohio, and is the known head of the Quaker family of that name in Ohio. This Joseph Townsend, after becoming the father of eleven children, was accidentally shot for a wild turkey. It seems that while crouching behind a log, making the wild turkey call, his comrade seeing only his head above the log mistook it for the back of a turkey and killed him. The names of his children as follows: David, Stephen, Levi, Amos, John, Joseph, Samuel, Senaca, Ann Bundy, Sarah Bingham, Elizabeth Broadus, who were all Quakers, and all dead, but many of their descendants are living in Harrison and Belmont counties in Ohio, and in the western states. The Levi Townsend, third son of this Joseph Townsend, was the writer's grandfather, and the father of four sons and one daughter, namely: Eli, Elizabeth, William, Joseph, and Abner, of these only one is at this time alive which is Joseph, living in Urbana, Ohio. Abigail, wife of Eli Townsend, is alive and hearty and lives at Decatur, Iowa. Their sons and daughters are all alive. David W. lives at Cherokee, Iowa; Levi T at Macksburg, Iowa; Benjamin F. at Madison, Kans.; William W. At Des Moines, Iowa; Charles F. at Bakersfield, Cal.; Edwin L. at LeMars, Iowa. Elizabeth Wood has only two children left alive: Ester Helfer at Akron, Ohio, and Ollie Hartly at Superior, Wis. Joseph who lives at Urbana, Ohio, has six children alive: Ernest lives at Dayton, Ohio; one daughter lives in Chicago, Illinois; two daughters living at Akron, Ohio; one daughter lives at Cable, Ohio, and, one lives at home with the father at Urbana, Ohio. Of Abner's children only two remain: Royal H., who lives at Moran, Texas, and Frank who lives at Gorman, Texas.