Shakin’ the Family Tree
I love genealogy. I’ve spent the last year or so researching both my family and my husband’s family. Last night I took a little trip down one of the branches. Charlton had a prominent family by the name of Towne. I knew that I was also decended from a family of Townes in the same general area and wanted to see if and how we were related. No connection is evident so far, but here is what I did find:
Many, many thanks to distant relations who did all the work and were willing to share!
My great- great-grandfather Edmund Towne b. 1860 in Ware, MA was married to Arabelle Fostena (my Nana’s namesake) going backwards from there on the Towne side:
- John T. Towne b.1816 in Dana, MA - m. 1. Susan (deceased), 2. Eunice (mother of Edmund)
- Reuben Towne b. 1771 in Dana, MA - m. Mary Polly Thayer b. 25 April, 1779 in Dana , MA
- Samuel Towne b. 1717 in Topsfield, MA - m. Eunice Emmons b. 1733 in Brookfield, MA
- John Towne b. 1678 in Topsfield, MA - m. Abigail Stanley b. 1688 in Topsfield
- Jacob Towne b. 1669 in Topsfield, MA - m. Phebe Smith b. 1661 in Boxford, MA
- Jacob Towne b. 1632 in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England m. Catherine Symmonds b. 1630 in Gt. yarmouth (Brian and I lived within 30 minutes of Great Yarmouth) Immigrated with his parents and siblings to America in 1637 - they fled persecution from the COE because they were Puritans
- William Towne b. 1599 Gt. Yarmouth - m. Joanna (Jone) Blessing (also spelled Blyssynge) b. 1595 in Gt Yarmouth. Joanna Blessing Towne and three of her daughters, Rebecca, Mary and Sarah were accused of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials. Rebecca (Nurse), and Mary (Estey) were hanged… Joanna was never brought to trial. Sarah sued for the wrongful death of her sisters and the movie Three Sovereigns for Sarah is about her. http://www.angelfire.com/mi4/polcrt/SalemTrials.html
- John Towne b. 1575 in Gt. Yarmouth - m. Elizabeth Clarke b. 1578 in Blundeston Suffolk (also quite close to where we lived!)
- Leonard Towne b. 1540 in Haydor, Lincolnshire - m. Ellen Greene b. 1544 in Haydor, Lincolnshire
Beyond that, it looks like the family’s name was changed from “Thomas” which is a Welsh name.
Be careful shaking the family tree - you never know what kind of nuts will fall out!
June 3rd, 2006 at 2:57 pm
Hello again, cousin. As you already know, I’m a Towne woman, too, direct from Joanna and William. The name is still in my name, though as our entire generation were girls, it had to be put back into our names (so we have four names, like English aristocracy, which is ironic). And on the other side, I’m Cherokee, so I’m descended from both the oppressor and the oppressed.
Check out my reviews at Amazon.com of “Three Sovereigns for Sarah,” and “The Crucible.” Both reviews make the necessary historical corrections (if needed) and add some family details unknown to the historians. You should be able to tell which are mine.
March 20th, 2007 at 3:29 pm
[…] Down some rabbit trails. Cate and Jack are beginning a study of Early Colonial Massachusetts, particularly the Witch Trials. Three of our ancestresses were caught up in the Trials, two were hanged, one was imprisoned for nine months and released. I posted about that discovery here. I’m really looking forward to seeing where the study leads them. […]