Person talk:John Townsend (3)

Probably incorrect [26 September 2015]

I hope to some day be in a position to update pages for this Townsend family, but don't feel I am ready to now. There are multiple John Townsends on Long Island and I would like to do more research.

However, these pages appears to contain several errors.

It shows a birth for John in 1579. It is likely this is one generation off because his birth is probably closer to 1600 or 1610. One source says he died 1669 at the age of 60. In any event, since he was a member of the Boston Artillery Company in 1641, this date wouldn't work as he would have been too old to serve, since it implies he was over 60 in 1641. Also his second son Thomas was baptized 1642, and this date means he would have been 63, a little old to be having children.

This also shows him being a son of Family:Thomas Townsend and Unknown (1), Thomas listed as born 1551, died 1580 in Lynn, MA. There was no Lynn, MA in 1580, 40 years before the Mayflower landed. If this is supposed to be Thomas Townsend of Lynn, his son John was born in 1640 and married Sarah Pearson of Lynn.

The John Townsend who married Elizabeth Montgomery and settled on Long Island appears to have emigrated from England about 1640, first to Boston briefly, and living at various locations on Long Island, dying 1669. One source, Source:Cocks, George William. History and Genealogy of the Cock, Cocks, Cox Family: Descended from James and Sarah Cock, of Killingworth Upon Matinecock, in the Township of Oyster Bay, Long Island, N.Y. seems to have traced the family back to England and say John was the son of Robert, thus a nephew of Thomas of Lynn, and not his son.

The settlement of John's estate lists Rose (the only child shown here) as his fifth child, out of nine total: John, Thomas, Elizabeth, James, Rose, Ann, Sarah, George and Daniel. --Jrich 22:27, 13 January 2009 (EST)

See if this is any help. I have run onto another book that may lead to more information about these Townsends if anyone is willing to work on them. It gives a bit of his history in Norwick, Source:Floyd-Jones, Thomas. Thomas Jones, Fort Neck, Queens County, Long Island, 1695 and His Descendants the Floyd-Jones Family, with Connections from the year 1066. This book is available for download and speaks of early Jones and Townsend history. https://archive.org/details/thomasjonesfortn00floy

Pages 11, 12 and 13:
Speaking about Major Thomas Jones: "In 1692 he was at Island of Jamaica, at the time of the destruction of Port Royal, by the great earthquake of the 7th of July, being engaged in one of the numerous expeditions, under "Letters of Marque," which in that year swarmed from the French ports, to take part in the then war, and in which so many of the English and Irish officers of James the Second sought service, after their defeat at Battle of the Boyne in 1690.. In the same year this emigre came to Warwick, Rhode Island, and gave up a sea life. At this place he met and married Freelove Townsend, who was born December 29th, 1674. She was the daughter of Thomas Townsend, he being the second son of John Townsend, a prominent Quaker, who came to New Amsterdam early in the 17th century, about 1635, from Norwich, in Norfolk, England. . .

“the Quaker sect to which he [John Townsend] belonged, and most likely prominent in their councils, seemed to have incurred the deadly hatred of all the other denominations. Their precepts were most antagonistic, containing a large degree of mysticism.

“It was about this time that James the First was King of England, succeeding Queen Elizabeth. At his death he was succeeded by his son, Charles the First, who was like his father – a zealous Episcopalian, and who liked a Papist, better than a Puritan or a Quaker. During the restoration period Quakers were particularly regarded as the most despicable of fanatics.

“They [the Quakers] hated Episcopacy and the Liturgy. . . Their opposition was rigorously against all forms and ceremonies, such as removing the hat, or conforming to the style of dress. Their teachings and practices got them into much trouble.

“Refusing to take an oath caused them to be ridiculed, and actually persecuted. They were stoned by mobs, imprisoned, and in some cases hung. This same spirit engendered at his birthplace followed him here, and quickly cropped out in the same manner as it had previously existed in the mother country.

“The New England confederation recommended in 1656, that all Quakers should be kept out of the Colonies, and the Legislatures of Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, and Connecticut enacted laws to this effect. . .

“Rhode Island gave them a welcome and seemed to be the mecca where the sect were safe. . . This agitated condition of affairs, as referring to these people, was in a most forcible manner shown in the life of John Townsend, after his landing upon the American continent.

“The presumption is that he must have been a man who stood solid for his convictions, and in so doing was evidently knocked from pillar to post, in his earnest endeavors to discover in the long journey from Norwich, a safe retreat, in the country of his adoption.

“His first residence was in New Amsterdam (later New York) for a short period, when he was forced to move to Jamaica, Long Island, where he purchased land. In 1656 he was one of the settlers of Flushing, Long Island, where he lived for some years, but trouble seems to have invaded into this haven, which for a while seemed secure, and in which he became most prominently involved, forcing him to again change his home. So with a large number of others of the same faith, he joined the band who retired to that safe place in their estimation, Rhode Island, where he had previously acquired lands. He remained there for some years, where he brought up his family. His wife was Elizabeth Montgomery. Subsequently he removed to Oyster Bay, Long Island, where he died in 1668.

“It is believed that John Townsend's father was Henry Townsend, by his first wife Margaret Forthe, married Nov. 5, 1590. She died June 23. 1596.”

There is much more in this book so perhaps others can fill out more detail.