A Note on Contemporaneous Appearances Among Townsend Men in Upstate New York

In past blog posts we have explored some of the other Townsend lines. Now, on the surface, it might seem straightforward to begin making assignments of males as they matriculate as their own households in subsequent census periods. But there are a few complication.

Having excluded the Quaker group, John and Thomas Townsend because there are no eligible child slots,  and the Martin group (Josiah, Jonathan, Timothy) is not a DNA match, and this reduces the number of eligible Townsend males. 

First there is Abraham, who doesn't even appear in the 1810 Census index, but DOES appear on the census. He has 8 sons. We know he is there in 1810 and that he buys the "Great Lot" 597 among other pieces of land. Later, his widow, Alce Townsend is buying and selling land in LeRay with James LeRay's son Vincent. Vincent joins his father later and is largely running matters for his father at that point. At this point in history, 1810, Vincent is in school and Abrahm or Absolum, is still alive..

Now, we know the gent dies, because his wife is undertaking land transactions as a dower by 1823. Of course the easy thing to do, would be to get the will right? Well, it appears that Wills and Probate in Jefferson County begin later and she asserts the right. So, there is no will to give us an insight, at least none that anyone has found.

Now, Jefferson was a new county and it could be that the will is filed elsewhere.  It appears that if there is an  instrument, it is not being held in other counties I've checked thus far. The reader can look at my indexing of Townsend Wills, and note that I am sequentially moving through the surrounding counties to double check, and looking at all the wills in the relevant time frame to make sure I don't miss anything.

At present,  it appears that Alce asserts the right of dower at a later time, which is her right.

Now, at a later time in the land records, Vincent LeRay, son of James LeRay is acting as LeRay's attorney. However, before Vincent arrives to act on his father's behest, there is another man doing the legal work for LeRay. He must have been highly regarded, because LeRay leaves the region in 1810 for France for a time, as a grieving widower. This man is actually the man on site who is supervising  the paperwork and overseeing surveyors and making sure all the perches, chains, and rods are marked off properly in the deeds and titles.

 His name is Gouverneur Morris. His signatures are all over the land documents. Now, usually his signature is smashed at the bottom of the document where most of the damage to the aging documents occurred before they were microfilmed. However, I found one record (not my family) where Morris's signature is quite clear. The record continues to the top of the next page, so his statement is easy to read. It is very beautiful penmanship. He has a strange quirk about the use of his final "s" that many may not notice, and I imagine that if I looked at enough documents, I could track back this gent's education back to the region from which he came. However, genealogy of Morris' or his scribe is not of interest to me at the moment, the Townsend genealogy is, thus I leave that note for any future researcher looking at one of these men. 

At any rate, Morris is clearly not doing the survey work himself. Curiously, his official history has him serving a partial term in the United States Senate at this time, so it is strange that he is even in the area. Yet, there is his signature.

 Morris would have his surveyor go out and lay out the acres, rods, chains, and perches of the lots as the titles are being prepared. Morris would not have been doing a lot of hiking; he had a wooden leg due to a carriage accident when he was a small child. There is a famous story about LeRay and Morris camping in the Jefferson County region in 1803 when LeRay was originally considering the region. The tent caught fire as did Morris' wooden leg. LeRay nearly died, but the incident suggests that these men were not well acquainted with camping in the wilderness, and that Morris would not be predisposed toward occupations that required substantial hiking.

 The history books related that the surveyor for Morris was Richard Townsend. While Richard Townsend is best known in St. Lawrence County, he also did quite a bit  of the early survey work in Jefferson. Some of the early land surveys are also recorded in Oneida and Herkimer, but there is no doubt who is doing the legal work and the survey work. Now, Richard is not doing all this work by himself, he has a team of people, I am certain. Who are they? I've no idea, but there could be some clues among those in his employ and it might explain why the curious migration to the St. Lawrence area later.

Our gent, Abraham, may have left the planet by the 1820 Census. But Richard Townsend appears in St. Lawrence County with a good bunch of young boys. 

Now, I am not suggesting these are mine. They are quite likely not.  However, we know these gents are in and out of Jefferson County for a time and that Richard Townsend is overseeing LeRay's interests until Vincent arrives.  We know from the recollections of one of the sons of Richard (who grew up to live in Illinois) that they traveled all throughout the region doing survey work with their father. There is a gent in the region named James that has an age of birth that is wrong for our fellow; he appears contemporaneous with our James in LeRay in later years. Typically, he shows up as J.A. Townsend; he seems to stay put in the region for a time. They are contemporaneous fellows, two men with the same name living at the same time with different lives in neighboring regions. 

I did note that there is an older woman  living with Dr. Townsend. I imagine it is his mother in law, or even his mother. The family should be noted so it doesn't get confused with ours as they drift up to St. Lawrence. They are two contemporaneous families of similar size. 

Aging Up in Jefferson County in the 1820 Census

So, who is  "aging up" in Jefferson County? The reader will recall from a prior blog entry that Henry K, Baxter, and Allenton age up and present with their households and holdings in Champion, then seem to move onward. Now Champion doesn't mean much, because at that time, Champion was a good size area. The records in Oneida prior to the LeRay purchase refer to most of modern Jefferson County as Champion lands.

Henry K does have an eligible son in terms of age, so he was of some interest. He leaves Jefferson County eventually and heads to St. Lawrence, and then LaGrange County Ohio. Some in his line move onto Ashtabula, Ohio. His sons are now well documented, and none are James.

Baxter and Allenton also have eligible males and present as households in the 1820 Census. Baxter eventually leaves and moves to Oswego. He has a son, Egbert, with his first wife, Sally, who is mentioned in Baxter's will and appears to move to Oswego with his father. He dies in the Civil War and is easy to discern from James Townsend b 1816. He is known by the families researching the line, so he is easy to set straight.

 Allenton is a little bit more difficult to determine, but if the one in Oswego is him (and there is some doubt he is that one, he is Alenson in the census), then his sons are accounted for and are not James in LeRay. However, I still have yet to follow up on  the other Allenton so there is still an remote chance of James emerging from this line, but I regard it as doubtful at the moment.

That brings the research back to the 1820 Census in Jefferson County. Now, there is an "old James" as I call him. He is not the oldest child based on my theory of the family group, but he is old compared to my James, thus the "old" moniker. He was married to Fannie Ensign. Despite popular attempts to link my fellow to this fellow, the math doesn't work. They are a sweet couple, but they have no eligible son. This "old James" has a son born in 1825-7 time frame, and I suspect he is named William.

However, there is another gent that is missing from the index, but he is there in 1820. His name is Charles, and he is right next to James, and with the other boys in Champion. Why is he missing from the Census index? I leave that one to the reader to discern. He is there and he has two males who are the right age for the James b 1816 that is of interest, and for a Henry b 1818 who is the subject of another researcher.

Now, I've had some researchers suggest that this Charles cannot be him, because Charles drown at sea. However, the Charles who drowned at sea was from Brownsville, the son of Nathan Townsend. He never presented as his own household in Jefferson County from what I can discern. He has no issue, merely a little sister who is a minor child, and his brothers come to collect on his estate and meager possessions when he dies. The father is dead, there is no wife, and there are no children for that Charles.

 This Charles clearly has sons who are the right age. He is contemporaneous with the drowning, childless Charles.

Now, Charles has a man over 44 living with him in the 1820 Census. The lasts record of Abraham/Absolum transacting land is a sale to James LeRay on 3 March  1819 (Vol P, 517, image 569). The first time Alce asserts her right as a dower is on the 22 December 1823 (Vol U, 63, image 44). It seems likely that Abr'm dies before the census, and  that might be two of Charles' brothers living with the family.

Alce's estate is probated in 1827. The will is not in the file. I looked through all the wills to make sure it wasn't misplaced with another family. It is not there, just statements by people saying they knew her, and yes that was the will.

It seems the old couple is no longer around in 1830. Charles is in LeRay at this point, or at least the land he is on is defined as LeRay. 

In looking at Charles in 1930, there are two boys in the 10-14 age slot. The "older boys" who appear to be brothers to Charles in the 1820 census are now on their own.  This is exactly what one would expect for a man to be a progenitor for James and a Henry born just before 1820, and a new baby sister Paulina (b 1820). Notice, old James now has a family emerging. He has a son born after 1820, and a child born after 1825. It is suspect that the youngest son of Abr'm and Alce might be the extra male in the "old James" household.


Now, great care has to be taken to assert that this next record is the same Charles, but I suspect it is. It does need to be check against the St. Lawrence records. But given the actions of the other gents who head out to St. Lawrence County, and it may be that  Charles follows suit.  If so, the two boys who are in the 10-14 age slot in 1820 are gone in 1840. One of the girls has left the family group as well. 

Why does he go up there? I've no idea. However, it is clear that both Henry K and Allenton for a time head north to St. Lawrence, County, to the Fowler area. He is in Russell. The record has to be closely evaluated to make certain it is him, but it appears to be the case. However, it does seem that the age of the paternal male is a tiny bit older than expected compared to the 1830 record. If he turned 40 right  after the census in 1830, he could have turned 50 before the census takers arrived in 1840. While I have some reservations about this census record, it does fit a 1790 birth; and Abr'm has a son that was born in 1790 time frame. 

In looking at the history of Russell, it seems that it pulled away from Fowler in 1816, so it may be he just went to the next town over and isn't that far away from the other gents. Maybe they were trying their hand at garnet mining, or maybe they attended the school there. I've no idea what they were doing there, I just know that they seem to have gone there.

Back to LeRay

Meanwhile, back in LeRay, Jefferson County in 1840, the gent I believe to be James Townsend b. 1816 appears as his own household. 

Notice that he is a different James from the one that was an entry in the 1830 census. This James is younger and just starting out. He appears to have a young son, and his sister, a female too old to be a child, and one the right age to be a wife.

In examining the 1850 census, the females appear to be  Paulina, and a wife, Phebe McDaniel. 

In 1850, the Census lists the family and there is better surety of the matter. Paulina is still with the family, but this is the last census in which she is observed with them. Baby Jayne is with the family.  He says he is from Canada, U.S. This reference has kept me looking for many years in Canada, but I now believe it to be Canada Creek in Herkimer County, which would account for Canada, U.S. At his point in history, nobody knows where Canada, U.S. is (it is between Fairfield and Fonda) a place name lost in the assignment of jurisdictions and a new nation. Khan-a-dah is the Mohawk word for meeting place, so there were several of those in New York, but Canada Creek area, the gandaouage of the Hudson would have been known to a prior generation. 

My ancestor appears with the family group in the 1860 Census, which is very difficult to read but this is the family he is born into. The female mother here is Phebe McDaniel. She was suppose to be from an old Hudson River family, but I've no idea what "old" means in the context of a newspaper story from the 1880s about a circus freak, and "from the Hudson region" is a very vague reference.


There is also this fellow in Teresa, who appears out of no where, and seems to be unconnected to the other lines. They also have this peculiar Canada, New York location going on in subsequent census. The two gentlemen are close in age, and I suspect this is the other male in the census the 1830-40 census records with James. 

So what have a got here?

A) A Census record that doesn't appear in the index in 1810
B) A Census record that doesn't appear in the index in 1820
C) A will that seems to be lost
D) Some strange migratory pattern from Champion to garnet district in St. Lawrence County
E) Multiple researchers who have been stuck forever trying to overcome the records gap.
F) A lot of Townsend men with the same name.
G) A lot of conjecture.

It may be that none of these guys are related at all. It is all rather fanciful and they do seem to be a bit of a high-brow crowd and I simply do not understand how my people are all involved in these matters. I understand how glass blowers could emerge, because James LeRay was from a glass manufacturing family. The rest just seems rather peculiar. 

Random Historical Nibbles

Some historical notes that might be of use, or just decoys, but they may be fruitful to check. I've no idea how to check them, but there must be some record of this business. The son of James from which I descend  is Dexter. It is a rather odd name, and I don't see a lot of Townsend lines with that name. It could be from the mother's side, but I don't think so. Now, there is a community associated with some fellow named Simon Newton Dexter, so maybe James was acquainted with him some capacity. There was a road built in the area, and there could have been some construction associated with that road or the village of Dexter, and perhaps there was some Townsend gent associated with that might explain this mess. 


I also stumbled onto another historical note that might be useful. I mentioned before that there is a will in Delaware that mentions and Alce Townsend (Caleb Jervis, 1789) in the Milford area.   Now, I've seen Jervis and Jarvis, but the will abstract says Jervis. It may be nothing, but it may be that if the Alce, who has been the a subject of this blog, turns out to be the one in Delaware, then perhaps her family had some interests in shipping and might have worked for or with this LeRay fellow. There is an Andy Jarvis who is an informant on this historical note:

 A tract of land named Castorland was created by Macomb's Purchase, the land being between Black River and Lake Ontario and in the middle of what is now Rome and Watertown.  This was property put together by the Castorland Company run by Peter Chassanis, Le Ray's brother-in-law.  Castorland was created to be a new France and the company consisted of thousand's of stockholders who would get land there.

    The business was made of four commissioners - Chassanis, Le Ray, Peter Pharoux; an architect, and Simon Desjardines; an aristocrat.  Pharoux and Desjardines sailed from France and, after getting to New York, met Marc Brunel.  Brunel had traveled to the United States to escape the revolution in France and later designed a successful entry for the competition to build the new capital building in Washington, D.C; he also became chief engineer to New York City.  He then emigrated to the UK where he persuaded the British admiralty to make ships blocks by machine, starting one of the first mass production lines in history. Then he went on to design the first road tunnel under the Thames, to do this he invented the tunneling shield.  (Info on Marc Brunel provided by Andy Jarvis). On the way to upper New York, the group weathered many a hardship, including meeting and being temporarily held by a British ship (where Brunel was detained but escaped).

One last historical nibble, the year in which James was born was rather noteworthy in American history. It was called "The Year Without a Summer" was in 1816. It is a bit like a nuclear winter. Some of the records in Jefferson County in that year end with "1800-and-froze-to-death." Apparently there was a volcanic eruption of Mount Tambora on the island of Sambawa in Indonesia in 1815 that ejected a billion cubic yards of dust fifteen miles high into the atmosphere and continued far into the stratosphere. The history books state that

"New England saw a heavy and crippling snowfall between June 6 and June 11, 1816 and frost for every month of the year in 1816.  Crops failed in the New England regions as well as the Ohio River Valley, Western Europe, and Canada.  By 1817 most of the dust had settled and conditions had returned to almost-normal." (History of Jefferson County, page 2 Marc M)

It seems the area is also famous for cream cheese.

Another interesting item is that the area seems pretty well abandoned.  I'm not sure what happened, perhaps some shisters took over the area, but it looks like an area that had potential that was squandered.

Baxter Townsends Across the Great Lakes

The Baxters Abound

Certainly the Townsend men who arrived in Jefferson County made their mark on the shipping industry on the Great Lakes region. Actually, there was a period in the 1800s where one could set sail on Lake Ontario and wave farewell to a Baxter Townsend in Oswego.

 Then arrive at the other end of the Great Lakes and be greeted by a Baxter Townsend in Danby, Ohio. No kidding. The sons of Henry K Townsend of Jefferson County headed off to Ohio, and strangely, they seemed to gravitate toward Lake Erie. Now, the Baxter in Danby, Ohio is the nephew of the Baxter in Oswego. Baxter in Oswego has a brother Henry K Townsend who married Lara Graves and had a herd of children. Among them is a young man named Baxter. You can look at the states in which the children are born and see the family's pattern of movement.

Beyond the far more readable penmanship of Ohio group's census taker, the other thing that is interesting is to notice the naming patterns, and particularly Clarissa. One can't help but think about the names of the women in the line of James and see the same names, except of course, Gertrude. Clarissa seems very popular in our family in the mid to late 1800s.


Now are these guys part of the Henry K line of the family? I don't think so, but I am not certain. They are in the Northeastern part of Ohio, where most of the Henry K line gravitated, but I simply do not know. It could be another leg of the family drifted into Erie County. It is interesting to see another Absolum alive and well farming, with a Dr. Charles Townsend, a physician. They seem like brothers.

 Well, enough of the Ohio group for the moment. Let's see what we can learn from Old Uncle Baxter's family in New York.

Baxter Townsend from Lyme to Oswego

Baxter appears as an independent household in 1820. It could be that one of the older kids is living with him. I don't know if he is married at this point or if this is one of the sisters living with him. He has a resident alien living with him...

By 1830, the family has left Lyme, Jefferson County, and is living in the Village of Oswego. The family presents as a Mom and Dad and a boy between 5-9 and a little girl under 5. Any siblings that might have been living with him are on their own. Even the babies that barely knew their father, Black River Absolum, would be 30 at this point, and should be having their own families.

In 1840, the family is still in Oswego. The kids are are becoming teenagers.

This is a bit of a repeat with the 1850 Census, but it provides the only opportunity to see the Baxter Townsend household with Baxter. There is a William Lingl living with the family, from New Jersey. I've no idea if they are related. We learn the name of Baxter's wife, Jemima, from Maryland. Gerrit Smith, a boatman, is also living with the family.

The 1860 Census is virtually unreadable for the family, so the index will have to do.  However, it appears that Baxter is no longer with the family. Jemima now says she is from Rhode Island. It appears that Gerrit is still with the family. I suspect that Jemima is taking in boarders to make ends meet.

I would not venture to guess the relationship between these folks and the family. They may simply be boarders. E Townsend could be a son, but I simply do not know. For me, this is a line lost in time, unless there is a family member who can discern the information.  However, I think it speaks to the difficulty of parsing the census. One simply doesn't know the relationships between all the people in a household unless one has family information.  I guess that is why keeping family information has historically been so important.

But back to Baxter Townsend, the man. He was far more than simply a carpenter, although that itself is a noble thing. He was one of the trustees that started the Village of Oswego. He is one of the original Trustees chosen at the first meeting.

This was the sign one saw when they entered the Village Building in 1839-1840s. Notice the name of the 4th Trustee is Baxter Townsend.

Here is the record that he was sworn into office.

In 1844, it seems that a Charles Parker wanted the Village to build a sidewalk to Baxter Townsend's property. One gets the impression that there was a lot of traffic to Baxter's property (4th paragraph, left column). We know that Baxter was on 7th Street. 

It seems by 1845, Baxter was operating in the role of Fire Warden for the community.

In 1846, Baxter Townsend was appointed to a committee to report on graveling sidewalks, perhaps because people wanted the sidewalk to go to his house.

The Village meeting notes show he was still acting as the Fire Warden in 1847.

Baxter appears to have been active in local government. His name is all over the records of the early founders of the community. 

So, what happens to Baxter? Well, I imagine by 2014, it is safe to say he is dead. However, it appears he is no longer in Oswego by 1860. Does he die? Does he leave?

The 1860 Census is practically unreadable. But in St. Lawrence County, there is an entry.

County:	St. Lawrence County
Township:	3 W Ogdenburgh
Year:	1860
Record Type:	Federal Population Schedule
Page:	148
Database:	NY 1860 Federal Census Index

Is this him? Is this another nephew from another brother? A son? If Henry K (who had children born in St. Lawrence) names his sons after his brothers, then I would imagine the other sons might do the same.


Allenson Townsend of New York, Which One?

I mentioned in a prior entry that there were a few Allensons/Allenton, and after this, I think the reader will understand why I am shy on delineating them. I notice not far from where the  Baxter lived, there are the little villages of Schroeppel and Phoenix. In the picture above you can see that they are not far from Lake Ontario.  That would be near Baxter. Constantia is not far from view and my James b. 1819 in Jefferson County is also settled somewhere in view, in the 1870s.

 One might expect  the descendants of orphans to hang tough together in one region.

In 1870, somewhere between Schroeppel and Phoenix, in Oswego County not far from Baxter and James, there lived a very old man named Allenson Townsend. He lived with William Townsend and his wife Lucy. At first, the geography seems right.

Then one does the follow up work on the gent and realizes that this may yet another family group. While I have no doubt that it is a cousin line, the question is which cousin. Is this the Allenton son of Absolum and Alce? Son of Isreal? Son of another?

This guys says in 1855 that he is from Putnam. Since Putnam was created in 1812, this gent likely left  after the creation of Putnam, or else he would have reported Dutchess. Now, it could be this actually is our guy giving us a new clue on Absolum's path into New York, so we don't want to shut the door entirely. We need a fellow from Herkimer, or "Canada" for the Creek at Fairfield, not a gent from Putnam as far as I know. So while the name is right, and the geography is right, and related names convenient, this gent  may not be the Allenton we are seeking, unless we find that  Absolum who settles in the Black River region came to Herkimer through Dutchess (Putnam would have been in Dutchess County during the life of Absolum of the Black River Settlement).  However, I've no reason to believe that Black River Absolum came that route at the present time.

There appears to be some evidence to suggest that this particular Allenson is the son of  Israel and  Keziah Paddock Townsend. A message left on a "Find A Grave" website for Israel and Keziah in New Jerusalem in Herkimer County suggests he belongs to that group and not ours. Of course, messages left on "Find A Grave" are not proof, only a claim of proof. Claims require substantiation and I have found more than one error on Find a Grave messages. (See my blog on Ezra Townsend).

It seems that this farmer is a long way off from that family group. A claim of "from" Putnam County is strange for our group, but it is also strange for their group too. Their group all claims Litchfield in Herkimer, but since our Allenton went back to Herkimer for a time, it is hard to say. I would have thought this one was their guy.

 So it may be that this Allenson in the Schroeppel, Oswego region belongs to neither group and could easily belong to Harrison Townsend. We simply do not know from a census page. 

What I can say is that it does not appear that Alce's children were raised by this gent if he is really from Putnam. He isn't even in the correct part of the state at the time in question.

But before we leave Oswego, there are some gentleman that seem worthwhile to point out. They are in the New Haven area of Oswego. They seems like brothers.  They are a year apart in age, and appear to have been born about the time of our missing guys. Are they them? I've no idea. But they should be researched so that we don't confuse them with ours since they are contemporaneous and in the same region of New York.  If they are NOT ours, then we need to consider them so as to keep the records straight for future researchers; if they are ours, they could be given their due in the family history.

It may be more productive to return to Jefferson County and begin filling in the blanks. Sometimes following a co-line opens a door, and sometimes it creates confusion. I think this is one of those times where it causes confusion. At least we know that most of Henry K's people busy populating the state of Ohio, Quaker John's people are populating Wisconsin, and Horace group has left the region. Baxter and Allenton have left the region too.  That means the residuals who are not of the Martin line have an good probability of being the remnant of the Absolum group.


Thus, we trudge back to Jefferson County, where our family line was lost, to see what can be reclaimed from errant historical writings of a past generation, poorly transcribed census indices, missing wills, intentionally destroyed church records, and the silent unmarked graves that remain as an obstacles to our heritage.

Beyond the Census Index: Musings on the "Canadian" Townsends of Jefferson County That Escape The Regional Histories

Noting that we left old Quaker John with an unaccounted for male born between between 1794-1800, I am willing to go back to the census and who else is available as a local progenitor, assuming there is one. 

Something here is not quite right. There are too many Townsend men claiming to be from the area relative to the number of Townsend men in the Census. Hum....

Harrison Townsend listed here seems out of place. So I paged through the actual census the old fashioned way with the newer technology.

 Haris is very interesting, but seems to leave the region quickly, more quickly than modes of travel of the era suggest. His mother Polly is the stuff of legends, but he is not this man. I looked at the Census. There is no Harrison Townsend. There is a William Harrison and his data matches Harrison Townsend.  However, I am fairly confident he is not my ancestor. He appears in Putnam by 1840 well established in the community of Phillipstown. He is a worthy man in his own right, but he does not appear in the Census of Jefferson County in 1810 or 1820. If he is there, it is so brief, that it isn't genealogically relevant.

But I found a few others that are not in the index.

But before I leave this chart, I want to mention the other families.

There is Joseph there with 5 little boys and two teen age boys and a 16-26 year old male, a 26-45 year old male, and a 45+ male. There is one female to match all the other categories. One gets the sense that a young couple is living with the family. There is a 45+ female and male; there is a female 16-26 and a male. In looking at the 1820 census, it is clear that is exactly the case. I've been informed by cousins that DNA tests in that line do not match the DNA in my line, and they belong to the Martin Townsend line. However, I may come back to this group, because I believe it to an interesting example of the drift of population. Notice, they list below in the census as Champion. But they appear in later census in Philadelphia Village.

But onto what I can figure out about my own group. Now, we've looked at the Quaker group, and the Johnathan/Josiah/Timothy group has been excluded on YDNA testing. Horace doesn't stick around long, and he goes back to Townsendville, the hub of the Dutchess Townsend family. For those unfamiliar with Horace, his line is delineated in the Townsend genealogy in the clip below.

Cleveland Abbe, The Townsend Genealogy (1909)

While this narrows the field, it isn't helpful to me. There is more missing than meets the eye. There are still too many Townsend men even with Allenton, Baxter, and Henry.

Missing Townsend from the 1820 NNY Genealogy Website Census Index

In looking at the 1820 Census I also found something else interesting. There is a guy who didn't make the abstract of the census published on the internet for Jefferson County. He is there, he just isn't in the abstract produced by the NY genealogy website. His name is Charles Townsend. He also has quite a large group of males. He is there in 1830 as well. He is right by "Old James" as I called him in the first blog post.

That leaves this other group of Alan, Baxter, and Henry. There is also, of course, Charles, who ends up moving up St. Lawrence way with Allan. "Old James" states in the 1855 state census that he is from Herkimer, and while he doesn't have any children of the right age to be "my" progenitor, he may yet turn up of interest in other matters.


The Genealogy of Violin Manufacturer, Ship's Captain, and a Jewelers In Ashtebula, Ohio.

 Now the "Henry-Allen-Baxter" group has been the subject of some inquiry. The family has played an important role in several communities, but the information on the genealogies has been couched in those regions and not Jefferson County. For example, in the Biographical Sketches of Northeaster Ohio Embracing the Counties of Ashtebula,Geauga, and Lake published by Lewis Publishing in 1893, the genealogy of one of their prominent local residents, Perry Townsend, is given as follows:

Henry K Townsend was born in Fairfield, New York April 13, 1798. His wife, Laura Graves was born in Rupert, Vermont, 1799. They got married in Champion, New York on July 21, 1817.

Their children were
Allen G Townsend,
Baxter Townsend,
Henry Townsend  Henry was born in Grovenor, St. Lawrence County, 1824. He married Ursala Higgly (born 1824) of Ohio. He served in Company C of the 177 Regiment of the Ohio Volunteers and discharged in 1865. He was wounded and spent 4 months in a southern hospital.
    Children Perry (married Ida Bell 1891), Freeland (b 1850), Henry B (1867). Henry B produced violins.
Eliza G Townsend,
Simeon Townsend (a resident of Chicago)

Now, it is a very nice genealogy of a family of very accomplished men and gives a few more details, but for our purposes, this will send us on our way researching. What we quickly realize is that the genealogy doesn't quite bear the weight of the data.  The people are "right" and the locations are "right," but it is as if they have confused a generation, or left it out, or smushed things a bit. It is a corporate genealogy, thus it is written to convey a corporate image and to market the region as a land of opportunity more than it is aimed at preserving historical information. Thus, unfortunate information isn't likely to emerge. But, it is better than nothing.

According to the 1820 Census in Jefferson County, Allanton is between 26-45 years of age. Baxter's household has two males between 26- 45 and a matching female. My guess is that Baxter, Eliza, and Simeon are living together in the middle household.  We just don't know. Then we have Henry and his wife both between 16- 26, and a male child under 10. That would work for a son Allen, but not the Allen who is listed as his own household.  However, there is no biological way that Henry K Townsend born Fairfield in 1798 and married in Champion in 1817 is the father of the households listed in the 1820 Census. This seems to be a man naming his sons for his brothers.


Let's check some basics. First, is there even a Graves family with an eligible daughter in Champion, Jefferson County? It appears there is one with a female who is in the 10-15 year old age slot. If Laura Graves exists in Champion, Jefferson County, NY, she should be 11-12 years old. So, there is an eligible female. There is also a Robert Graves in LeRay with an eligible daughter, so there is at least two girls surnamed Graves between 11-12 in the county that are eligible to be her. There is also a Josiah Graves in Vermont that has a daughter named Lara, but the year is a tad bit earlier than the Ohio genealogy suggests, and is claimed by the Pettigrews as a female progenitor. Thus, I suspect the Rupert, Vermont might be where Lara's parents were from, but Lara may have been born in Champion. If this was my family, I would be consulting the Pettigrew genealogy. It might be helpful for a descendant researching Lara's parents.

Another Townsend researcher informs me that when Henry went to Ohio, he bought the land from a Josiah Graves. Thus, it could well be that Henry married Laura in Champion, and her father could have gone to Ohio, and Henry to St. Lawrence. Maybe the fellow above indexed as James is really Josiah? Who knows... Maybe they really married in Ohio and the genealogy has it wrong? That I leave for another to determine.

For my purposes, I can safely exclude Henry K as a progenitor. He is clearly a younger brother of Allen and Baxter. He is too young to be the progenitor of my line, and his bio doesn't match my James Townsend's bio.

It would make more sense with the data if Henry K was a brother to Allen and Baxter who had sons Allen and Baxter! I suspect that might be the case.There are a couple of  Allen Townsend entries in 1850 Census of Ohio. There is a Freeland in the 1850 Ohio Census in Milon, Erie. I don't know if it is the same Freeland or not, but I can't imagine there are many men named Freeland Townsend  in Northeast Ohio. So maybe the Allan, Baxter bunch in Ohio are sons of Henry K, and perhaps Henry K named his sons for his brothers?

That is speculative, but one never knows.

Back to New York....


Tis a strange thing. There is also the missing Charles who has a herd of young males. The easy way out for me is to glom onto Charles who has a James and Paulina born in LeRay. But at the end of this inquiry, you'll see why I am still messing with this group of Henry, Allen, Baxter, and I suspect Charles. Charles, like my guy, reports he is from Canada.

While St. Lawrence is "practically" Canada, it is not Canada at that time in history. Canada did not exist as a nation during this time, and Americans would have referred to it as Great Britain. Even in 1957, when my father is naturalized, it is referenced as Great Britain, not Canada.

Now the records show that Allenton went to Gouverneur in St. Lawrence and then later went to Herkimer where he became the first postmaster. That is in the first blog under "Other Townsend Groups." Baxter heads to Oswego and while he lists as a Carpenter, one gets the idea that he might have worked in the shipyard. He seems to have Boatmen living with him and his sons grow up to work in the shipping industry.

The reference in the Ohio Genealogy to Gouverneur is curious, since a Townsend was instrumental in starting the town, along with a Mr. Gouverneur  Morris. Morris is credited with word-smithing the preamble to the U.S. Constitution and being the youngest member of the Continental Congress, so he is well documented in history. He bought the land and set out to establish a settlement. The history of the community states, 

"In the summer of 1805, Dr. Richard Townsend was hired by landowner Morris to lead a team of men into the survey-town of Cambray for the purpose of establishing settlements. In the fall, they returned up the Oswegatchie River to the small island at the site of the present village of Gouverneur. In April of 1810, the name was changed from Cambray and the town of Gouverneur was formally created by an act of the New York State Legislature and named for its landowner. Dr. Townsend was elected the town’s first supervisor."

So it seems, these guys head toward the lakes There is even a port of Townsend. There is even a James up there who has a James, and there seems to be some people who might still be related to the original group.

Richard's line ends up in a little town in Illinois not far from where I grew up. Strange how that works out.

Well,  my guy, James is not at all like these guys. He appears to stay in LeRay, and later takes a job building churches when he moves. That is ultimately how the Townsend and Jacocks families meet. They are church people and glass blowers, not sailors. But that is not so with these guys. Apparently, these guys can navigate a ship without barfing their guts out and the Gospel is not on their radar, except for an occasional holiday or burial at sea.

That doesn't make them bad; they are just very different. Anyone would be proud to have these guys as their ancestors. They just are not mine. They might be cousins, but they are very different people.

 Now, the problem with the St. Lawrence region for a farming generation is that the land wasn't suitable for farming because of all the rock. If one has ever tried to farm rocky land, one will appreciate this statement. It is hard to till bedrock. I spent a few summers of my life "rock farming" with my father on a southern Missouri hill-top, so I am quite confident that farming in this region is similar, and not what it is in Jefferson County. The soil layer is too thin for corn, and everyone grows wheat, lettuce, Belgian endive, or cabbage family plants  or some other shallow root commodity. It has to be combined with dairy farming, sheep herding, chickens, or some other kind of farming that will build up the soil. For a crop farmer, this is not a good place, but for someone willing to acquire new skills, or who can stand being on a boat without barfing, there are opportunities.

There is excellent stone in the region. The region became known for its stone, and for Lifesavers (the candy). The stone slabs were polished and cut and shipped to Chicago, New York, and everywhere for buildings. Chicago had a particularly high demand.  In 1930 when the depression hit, building came to a screeching halt as did shipments of stone. Many of the buildings in Chicago were build from the stone from this region of New York.

That must be how Captain Simeon Townsend, listed above, ends up in Chicago. I suspect, given that the younger Henry is born in St. Lawrence County (in the Ohio genealogy above) that this is also where Simeon was born.

And who is Richard who appears to have dragged the family to the region, and what about the men missing from the census abstracts? How does he play into this whole affair? Is Richard the progenitor of that group? Is he a kinsman of Abraham/Absolum/ or whoever?

I suspect this is a point where the Oyster bay records should be consulted.

My guy apparently stayed in LeRay. I'm not sure that this group is mine, but they are certainly interesting, but this is getting to be a bit like herding cats. I suspect the answer may lie one more census period back.

The Man The 1810 Census Abstract Missed

Now, these men are not really missing in the sense they are lost. They ARE missing from  the index and the history books,  but they know where they are from and where they are at and where they are going. They are on the census form, which is why when in doubt, one goes to the actual page. So, the term "lost" here is tongue and cheek. They are not lost in geography and purpose, but have been lost in time from the index and the histories. Our job is to extract them and discover the story they leave behind.

My own line begins in 1850 on the first line of the first page of the Philadelphia Settlement and so there I will return.

On the first line, of the first page of LeRay's Philadephia Settlement in 1810, there is a curious entry.  He is with the same group as John Townsend and Thomas Townsend. And just like the song says, Father Abraham has many sons.....they guy appears to have 8 of them in LeRay.

He has more sons that anyone in the settlement! How is it that Haddock does not mention him?

I was told the guy wasn't in the census. Yet, there he is with a fine herd of young males, a baby girl, an older teen female, and a wife. How does this guy escape all the existing narratives of the region?

Is he a Quaker? Haddock notes that everyone there was a Quaker except Jason Merrick. Yes Haddock misses this guy, as does the New York Genealogy Website.

The History of Byberry and Mooreland is silent on the matter. If he is a Quaker, he is not from those townships. That isn't too troubling. The Stricklands were from Burlington, NJ, and they get only a tiny mention in the book because Rachel Townsend marries John Strickland Jr. So the silence of the Byberry and Mooreland book simply means the man isn't from there.

 But what is very strange is that John Haddock doesn't mention Abraham at all. Haddock mentions details that suggest he is consulting original records and even discusses the names of obscure survey assistants, trail markers, and minutia of all sorts, and yet nothing on Abraham. Nothing.  He lists all the original settlers (no Abraham Townsend on the list) but then he states that they are all Quakers from Bucks, Montgomery, and Philadelphia Counties in Pennsylvania, except Merrick.

He doesn't mention Abraham. Why?  If he is a guide, why is his family with him, indeed why would he still be sticking around after 1808? No, he settles there. He lives there. There are land records.

Is he from another Townsend group like the Josiah bunch? The Townsend Genealogy by Cleveland Abbe has no entry for an Abraham Townsend, Absolum Townsend, or an Abner.

As I looked at this Abraham, I started thinking about the number of people searching in Jefferson County with "dead ends" and ancestors reporting to be from Canada, and thinking how odd this situation really seems to be. This is just after the American Revolution and before the War of 1812 and it seems an unlikely place for a British subject to head. I started to contemplate the whole notion of what they meant by being "from Canada."

Geographical Musings on Canada

These men are out there where there is no government, and everything is referenced by geographical markers. I also noticed that in the genealogies of Quaker John Townsend and the other Quakers, they do NOT say "died in the Philadelphia Village Settlement of Jefferson County, NY."   They say he died in the Black River region. They don't even state the name of the state. It is quite peculiar.

I toyed with the idea that perhaps Cambray (bought by Mr Morris above and renamed Gouverneur) was a disputed territory. But I don't think that is the Canada my ancestors are referencing.

 I think when my guy says he is from Canada in 1850, I don't think he meant the nation north of the 49th parallel and the St. Lawrence River. Canada wasn't a county until 1867. These guys are not from the nation of Canada but "Canada Country," the land by a creek named Canada near Fairfield in Herkimer County.

Fairfield is also listed in the Ohio genealogy as the birthplace for Henry K. Townsend. Is this Abraham/Absolum guy there? It does appear that there is some one there who might be the guy, and he has 7 or 8 males who may be children or son-in-laws  in the 1810 census.  In the 1800 Census, he has 4 sons under 10, so any one of them, probably one of the younger ones, could be Henry K born 1799.

Now, I don't know if this is my ancestor. I honestly don't. Since they sold the land, there is no reason to believe that any ancestor of mine would be connected to a prior owner or occupant unless the deed conferred or implied such a relationship. Furthermore, it is unclear that Abraham and Absolum are even the same person. It is a bit of a leap of faith to suppose they are, but they could be different guys.It is just a strange coincidence that my guy shows up in 1850 in the first slot of the Philadelphia Village where Abraham showed up in the 1810 Census years earlier, I suppose. But maybe it is worth looking into.

I think these "Canadian" Townsend men in Jefferson County might belong to this guy. It think they were born on the banks of the Canada Creek in Fairfield, Herkimer County.


Then there is the strange entry in the 1790 Census. Is this Abraham, Absolum of Jefferson County or his son? How does a single guy living in a gandaouage wind up living in a Quaker settlement way up north? This wasn't just an Iroquois Village, but a gandaouage, an Indian version of Masada, a place where one could "hidy-hole" for years.  Another line of my family owned land near this place, so the area is not unknown to me (they were on the other side of the war).  This place has a view of the Hudson Valley that would be of utmost value in a war time situation, and just plain gorgeous in all situations.

It is a gathering place for Iroquois, their Kahn-a-dah.

For a private in the New York Militia during the American Revolution, I guess that is as good a place as any to find him, if it is him. I wonder if it is his son? Maybe he is just "some guy" with the same name?

It certainly gives the term "Canada" a new meaning. The French Jesuits had a school there, and it was a place the French held dear in the French and Indian War.

James LeRay was French.






Back to "Father Abraham"

It seems from land records gleaned by a cousin, Absolum who is in Jefferson County, NY does not live much past the 1810 Census. He has a wife in the land records referenced as Alce' who appears to sell some land after he dies. After she dies, there is a will probated around 1827. They may be more than one tract of land.  There is a probate file, but no will appears to be on the microfilm, just a statement from an S Kanady that there was one, which is a big disappointment. The other item is that the land sales are in Champion, but in the Census, the family appears in LeRay.

In 1830, an Abner Townsend is in Lewis County. I found him when I was parsing the sons of John and Thomas Townsend. Is this a son of Abraham/Absolum? Is this the Abner caught by the troops? Is this just some guy named Abner who wandered into Lewis County with John Townsend Jr named Abner? It looks like a "relic" is living with this Abner, but it is too late to be our Alce'. The 1850 Census presents a child named Abner in the home of a Nathan Townsend, but no old Abner.

Back to the original couple, Abraham/Absolum,and Alce', Elsie, or whatever her name is


She should be in the 1820 Census somewhere.... Her will is probated in 1827, but the microfilm my cousin found shows no will, just a statement by S. Kanady that he witnessed it.

An interesting statement in one of the land transactions is that she is "the relic" of Absolum Townsend. I think I'd have to be pretty old to view myself as a relic. When I think of a relic, I think of this guy below. His name is Absolum Townend. He is in the 1850 Census as an 81 year old man. In 1850? That is a relic!

According to find a grave (Find a Grave Memorial# 46894069), his name is Absolum Townsend, son of Absolum Townsend and his wife was Mary McNutt. He says he is from Delaware, at least what his son Charles to put that on the headstone. Kent seems quite far south for anyone in my family, but one never knows. Kent isn't that far from Burlington, NJ and Byberry and Mooreland, at least not far from my perspective. I suspect it could be traveled in one's days ride in the 1790, and perhaps faster in the 1850s, if one traveled by Steamer. It would not be out of line for someone who traveled with a bunch from Byberry & Moorland PA and Burlington, NJ to be found in Kent, Delaware years later.

Or maybe they are unrelated and just have similar names and it is all a coincidence. Maybe he is part of the group in Cape May?

The take away for me today is

1) don't trust the Census index, look at the actual forms

2) the existing narratives of the region have some big omissions. 

3) Canada is a creek, and to be from "Canada" in Jefferson County probably means one is from Fairfield, NY in Herkimer County or a Mohawk Village in Montgomery County.

4) Henry Townsend might be a cousin line, but he is not my direct progenitor.
5) I think some cousins will hate me tonight.

But there are lot of Townsend guys from this Abraham that need to be parsed. I suspect that the sons of this Abraham are the ones who really built Jefferson County.  This one is going to be some work.

First it has to be established whether or not Abraham and Absolum are the same men or different men. That is the next task. Gathering up the Canadian Townsends in Jefferson County could be another matter.