| Birth: | 18 Mar 1598 in Great Yarmouth, Norfolkshire, England |
| Death: | 24 Jun 1673 in Topsfield, Essex County, Massachusetts |
| Sex: | M |
| Father: | Richard Towne b. 12 Dec 1568 |
| Mother: | Ann Denton b. 1569 |
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| Joanna Blessing (Wife) b. 1594 in Great Yarmouth, Norfolkshire, England
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| Marriage: | 20 APR 1620 in St. Nicholas Church, Yarmouth, England |
| Children: | |
 Rebecca Towne b. 13 Feb 1622 in Great Yarmouth, Norfolkshire, England
 John Towne b. 16 Feb 1623 in England
- Susan Towne b. Oct 1625 in England
- Edmund Towne b. 22 Jun 1628 in St. Nicholas Parish, Great Yarmouth, NorfolkShire, England
- Jacob Towne b. Mar 1631
- Mary Towne b. 24 Aug 1634 in Great Yarmouth, Norfolkshire, England
- Joseph Towne b. 1639 in Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts
- Sarah Towne b. 1648 in Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts
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Individual:
"The name of Towne is not one of the frequent occurences inEngland; the first mention of it is in A.D. 1227. The next wehear the name is one hundred and thirty years later, in thereign of Henry IV, when upon thewindows of the church inKennington, Kent Co., unpaled with that of Ellis of the sameplace, were the arms of a family by this name being, argent, onachevron, a sable, three cross crosslets, ermine. The nextreference to the name known to the writer, is in the county ofLincoln where it has existed for more than four hundred years."(William Towne, his Daughters, and the Witchcraft Delusions byMrs. Abbie W. Towne for the History of Topsfield) Mr. Edwin Hubbard in his compilation The Towne Family says, "Inthis country, it is believed there are few families derivingtheir name from a single pair, that can show a larger number ofdescendants that William and Joanna Towne of Salem. Countingonly the descendants of the Towne daughters, of the first andsecond generations, a list of more than ten thousand mighteasily be made out, without coming down later than the earlierportion of the nineteenth century." (George Towne book)= Perley in his History of Salem states that William Towne wasthe son of John and Elizabeth Towne of Yarmouth, and that he wasbaptized in the Saint Nicholas Parish Church there on March 18,1598/9. = William1 Towne and his wife remained at Yarmouth, and sixchildren were born to them there, but in or about 1640 theyemigrated to New England, and settled at Salem, Massachusetts.At Salem, on October 11, 1640, the town "Graunted to WilliamTownde a little neck of land right over against his howse on theother side of the riuer to be sett out by the towne." In Juneand July, 1640, he had brought an action of debt against JohnCook, at Salem. He and Francis Nurse asked the town for a grantof land on March 20, 1647, and it was then ordered that the landbe surveyed before a decision should be made as to granting it.In 1652 he removed to Topsfield, Massachusetts, where hepurchased forty acres of land, and made further purchases in1656. In 1652 he sold his land at Salem. He was listed amongthose to share in the common lands at Topsfield in 1661. In 1663he gave his son, Joseph Towne, two-thirds of his property atTopsfield, reserving only a third share for himself. He died atTopsfield in 1673, and administration on his estate was grantedto his widow, June 24, 1673. His widow died in or about 1682,and on January 17, 1682, the six children signed a petition forthe settlement of her estate. - According to "The Four Blessing Sisters", by Walter GoodwinDavis, an article in the American Genealogists, Vol 33 pages 199- 206;á "Although William is first recorded at Salem in 1640, itis possible that the family emigrated a few years earlier, withthe Buffums and the Firmages.á The eldest son, Edmund, who wasapprenticed to Henry Skerry in Great Yarmouth, sailed with hismaster in 1637, either on the Rose of Great Yarmouth, or theHenry and Dorothy of Ipswich, two vessels commanded by Wm. andWilliam Andrews Jr., arriving in Boston in June.á Skerry and hisfamily settled in Salem." "Upon the east coast of England, 120 miles northeast from Londonis the old town of Yarmouth.á Among its venerable buildings isSt. Nicholas Church (founded A.D. 1123).á In which on 25 March,1620, William Towne and Joanna Blessing were marriedá They werethe grandparents of John, the leading man in the Englishsettlement at Oxford.á Twenty years after this m. six of theirch. had been baptized in that Church and the family joined theemigrants to America.á They resided first at "Northfields,"Salem, removed 1652 to Topsfield, there they settledá (Historyof Oxford - page 720) 1637;á Came to America on ship Rose from Great Yarmouth, leavingIpswich and arriving 6/1637 with wife and 5 or 6 children.á(Currents of Malice - McMillen) 4/18/1637;á "Towne, William, gardiner, Salem, freeman4/18/1637.áá (George Towne book) 5/1/1640;á Plaintiff against Jonathan Cook, defendant in anaction of debt, Jury found for the plaintiff "some to be deputedto measure John Cook's land and what is remaining to make upGoodman Town's land and if it be fyve acres to pay Towne fyvemarks and ___ is wanting of fyve acres to abate 13s, 4d. p.acre; and costs 4s,á (NEHGS, Vol. 21, p. 15) á 8/11/1640;á granted "a little neck of Land right over againsthis house on the other side of the river"á the section of Salemknown asThe Northfields.áá Believe the home in Salem to havebeen on the s side of Waters river about 1/8 mile e of WaterStreet.á (Pope's Pioneers of Mass; Currents of Malice -McMillen; NEHGS, Vol. 21, p 15) Abt 1646; Purchased of Jeffrey Massey, 20 acres and paid for itin wheat the same year.á The land bordered on a swamp at the s,was common belonging to Salem at Ryal side, and ran 80 rods tothe northward.á This lot sold to Nathaniel Felton of Salem, onhis removal to Topsfield. (George Towne book) 1651;á Bought land in Topsfield from early proprietor WilliamPaine of Ipswich, containing "forty acres of ground orthereabouts, whereof 6 acres is by the seller (cellar) whichWilliam Howard of Topsfield built, and about 32 acres joyning upto the sayd 6 acres eastward of it,á part of which is plowground, another part is meadow, another part is upland,unplowed, all lying together, having the meadow and the plowground of the said William Howards towards the east, and theground of Walter Roper towards the north and a certain rivertowards the south or southwest, also a little piece of meadow ofabout 2 acres lying on the south side of the river directlyagainst the plains of the said William Howard, having ye groundsof the said William Howard towards ye East and the said Rivertowards ye North and upland towards the South."á His propertywas partly on the boundary line between Topsfield and Salem (thepart known as "The Farms" or "Salem Village".áá The site of hishome may have been on the w side of Main St, nearly oppositeMaple St. and on the highest ground about midway of two appletrees formerly standing near the street.á This site is near whatis known as the Estey house, and on the opposite side of MainSt.á (George Towne book; Currents of Malice - McMillen)á The Towne children were brought up in a house which was located"near the intersedtion of South Main Street and Salem Street."á(Topsfield and the Witchcraft Tragedy -Topsfield HistoricalSociety Publication)á In the latter part of October 1756,Nathaniel Porter and Thomas Baker, selectman of Topsfield,sent ayeoman to Boston to transport the French family of Michael Dugoyto town in accordance with an order of the Province todistribute the French imigrants.á John Gould had been engaged tofind a house for them, so he rented from the tanner, David Balchfor 4 s8 d per month, the old William Towne house, then over 100years old (built1651).áá (the property later belonged to John L.Saltonstall).á (History of Topsfield;á NEHGS, Vol. 21, p 15) 1652;á Salem property sold to Henry (Harry) Bullock.á (Currentsof Malice - McMillen; NEHGS, Vol. 21, p 15) 1656;á Bought additional land in Topsfield.á (Currents of Malice- McMillen; NEHGS, Vol. 21, p 15) 1656;á New road laid out "from the ford nigh to the house ofWilliam Towne, through the lands of said William Towne, WilliamHoward, Jacob Towne, Edmund Towne, and George Buckner..."áEdmond one of the men empowered by the town to lay out theroad.á (Currents of Malice - McMillen) The records of the town of Topsfield show that the road to Salemwhich bordered Salem Village began upon John Porter's farm, andwent through the lands of William Towne, and his sons, Jacob andEdmund.á (Currents of Maliceá - Persis W. McMillen) 1660;á At a county court held at Salem, in the case of HenryBartholomew plaintiff, Jacob Towne as defendant; William, Edmundand Joseph Towne were witnesses, and in their evidence Williamstated that he was three score years old, Edmund that he wasthirty one years of age, and Joseph that he was about one andtwenty.á (NEHGS, Vol. 21, p. 16, Pope's -á Pioneers of MA) 1661;á Name appears with Isaac Esty, Jacob and Edmond Towne onTopsfield's original list of thirty commoners.á (Currents ofMalice - McMillen) 1663;á With wife Joanna, deeded 2/3 of the home they live in,the barn, outhouses, yard, gardens, orchards, "lying situate andbeing in Topsfield, together with a parcel of broken upland bythe meadow side, only a cartway reserved between the said landand the meadow towards the South, and the land of Jacob Townetowards the East, and the land of Jacob Towne and Edmund Townetowards the North, and the Lands of Isaac Estie towards the West- also another parcell of land broke up and upbroken, containingan estimation of thirty acres, bounded by the way towards theSoutheast and Northeast, and a way also towards the Southwest;the land of Zacheus Gould and Edmund Towne towards the Northwestand the land of Edmund Towne and Isaac Estie towards the North.áAlso a parcell of meddow lying on the North side of the river,having the river for the bounds towards the South, a highwaytowards the West, and a way towards the North, and meddow ofJacob Towne towards the East, containing by estimation fourteenacres." to son Joseph just prior to his marriage with PhebePerkins; "In consideration of natural affection and thecontemplated marriage of our son Joseph Towne to PhebePerkins..."á Joseph also to have first refussal of the remaining1/3 when it should be for sale.á (George Towne book; Pope'sPioneers of MA; NEHGS, Vol. 21, p 15) 1664;á He and wife dismissed from church at Salem to church atTopsfield.á (Currents of Malice - McMillen) 1664;á Paid only 4 shillings, tuppence to the minister.á(Currents of Malice - McMillen) 4/24/1673;á Administration granted to Joanna Towne of the estateof William Towne.á She was to bring inventory to the nextIpswich court.á (Salem Quarterly Court Records) 1/17/1683;á Petition for settlement of a small estate left theundersigned by their father, who died ten years ago leaving nowill, but left his estate in the hands of their mother who wasappointed administered and the estate remained unsettled untilher death, and now they desire that the following division maybe allowed: the land to be divided equally to his three sons,Edmond, Jacob, and Joseph and the movables equally to the threedaughters, Rebecca, Mary, and Sarah; also the three brothers topay all debts now due and what charges shall arise in settlementof the estate to be equally borne by all six.á Signed by Mary(her mark) Towne relict of Edmond, Jacob Towne, Joseph (hismark) Towne, Francis (his mark) Nurse with the consent ofRebecca, Mary (her mark) Esty formerly Mary Towne, Sarah (hermark) Bridges.ááááá Witness:á John How, John Pritchet Allowed bythe court at Ipswich April 10, 1683 (Ipswich Deeds, Vol 4 page515)
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