Thomas Townsend (3B09)
| Date of Birth: | 10 October 1843 |
|---|---|
| Date of Death: | 23 April 1930 |
| Generation: | 8th |
| Residence: | Dows, Iowa, USA |
| Father: | Richard Townsend [335] |
| Mother: | Wilkinson, Maria Susannah |
| Spouse: |
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| Issue: | |
| See Also: | Table IIIB ; Scrapbook ; Lineage ; Ancestors' Tree ; Descendents' Tree |
Notes for Thomas Townsend
Following the death of his parents in 1847 shortly after their arrival in Canada from Ireland, Thomas, then aged 4, was placed in care with guardians appointed by the authorities in Ontario. The Canadian Census of 1852 (1), when he was aged 9, shows him as in the care of Mr George Williams, aged 64, an 'Agent' and his two daughters, Elizabeth aged 26 and Mary Anne aged 24 living in Downie township, Perth County.
According to Thomas' niece Emma Buchanan (2) "Some Scotch folks raised him until he was 12 years old, they were very mean to him. They would buy him shoes, but made him wear them after he had out-grown them. Mother told of them making him eat pea soup that was sour. When he was 12 years old he ran away. Worked wherever he could and got a fair education." (3)
Married 1st Mary-Jane Haldenby (4) 27 October 1870 in Toronto, Ontario. Toronto Marriage Records 1870 (Vol 10. page 177) show "Thomas TOWNSEND, 26, labourer, Cork Ireland, Toronto, s/o Richard TOWNSEND & unknown, married Mary Jane HALDENBY, 24, Canada, Toronto, d/o Henry & Eliza HALDENBY, witn: William McKAY & John CAMERON, 27 Oct 1870. Married 2nd in 1918 when he was 75.
In March 1872 Thomas and Mary-Jane were living in Petrolia, Ontario. Some time after this, and before August 1873, they moved to Sault Ste Marie, Ontario and were living there until they moved to Iowa Falls in 1881. Thomas farmed there for a short time before moving to farm, very successfully, at Dows, Iowa. Gracie Townsend wrote in 1996 "Recall newspaper clipping [obituary?]......regarding Thomas being recognized for raising grain-fed pigs - a custom in Canada, but not so in USA."
Thomas was buried at Fairview Cemetery, Dows, Iowa.
All the surviving children, less Henry and Thomas were born in Sault Ste Marie; Henry was born in Petrolia and Thomas was born in Iowa Falls.
(1) Entry highlighted in yellow.
(2) Emma Buchanan was the daughter of Eliza Townsend [3B08] and ? Buchanan.
(3) Information abstracted from an essay written by Emma Buchanan in about 1935-40 from Petrolia, Ontario and transcribed by Gracie Townsend [3B27] in 1993. Between 1992 and 1997, Gracie extensively researched members of the family descended from Richard Townsend [335]. This work has been invaluable in compiling the records of those concerned.
(4) Mary Jane Haldenby was born in 1846.