_________________________
|
_Edward TOWN _____________|
| (1756 - 1830) m 1793 |
| |_________________________
|
_William TOWN _______|
| |
| | _Ronald MCDOUGALL _______+
| | | (.... - 1821)
| |_Nancy (Agnes) MCDOUGALL _|
| (1775 - 1850) m 1793 |
| |_Euphemia (Effie) _____ _
| (1740 - 1822)
|
|--David TOWN
|
| _________________________
| |
| __________________________|
| | |
| | |_________________________
| |
|_Sarah Ann CHAPEL ___|
|
| _________________________
| |
|__________________________|
|
|_________________________
_____________________
|
_________________________|
| |
| |_____________________
|
_Edward TOWN _____________|
| (1756 - 1830) m 1793 |
| | _____________________
| | |
| |_________________________|
| |
| |_____________________
|
|
|--Duncan TOWN
|
| _Duncan MCDOUGALL ___+
| | (1708 - 1789) m 1728
| _Ronald MCDOUGALL _______|
| | (.... - 1821) |
| | |_Janet CALDER _______
| | (1710 - 1764) m 1728
|_Nancy (Agnes) MCDOUGALL _|
(1775 - 1850) m 1793 |
| _____________________
| |
|_Euphemia (Effie) _____ _|
(1740 - 1822) |
|_____________________
The family name also appears as Towne or Towns.
Much of the information about this family was collected by Charles A. Towne, whose papers are on 37 reels of microfilm at the Family History Library. Shirley Drury Patterson, well-known researcher for the Towne Family Association, gave me this synopsis (personal communication, 23 apr 2005): "In 1907, Martha (Town) Marcy, born in 1842, gave information from a bible or family records to Charles A. Towne, an early Towne researcher. She gave her grandmother as Nancy McDougall born in Argyle, NY; and all of the children's names in the order of their births, plus other information about their marriages, etc."
Some of the Town descendants have taken autosomal DNA tests and prove to be genetic matches with at least two of the descendants of John McDougall and Elvira Uran who have taken the same tests. The degree of matching is consistent with the hypothesis that Nancy McDougall was an aunt of John McDougall, but the evidence is not strong enough to establish their exact relationship.
Nancy Town and Jane Dings, then in St. Lawrence Co., NY, quit claimed their interest in property in Lot 75 to John McDougall in 1849, Washington Co. Deeds 21 pp. 488-489, but the property is vaguely described. However, it seems virtually certain that they were selling their interest in the remaining property from their father's estate.
_____________________
|
_________________________|
| |
| |_____________________
|
_Edward TOWN _____________|
| (1756 - 1830) m 1793 |
| | _____________________
| | |
| |_________________________|
| |
| |_____________________
|
|
|--Margaret TOWN
|
| _Duncan MCDOUGALL ___+
| | (1708 - 1789) m 1728
| _Ronald MCDOUGALL _______|
| | (.... - 1821) |
| | |_Janet CALDER _______
| | (1710 - 1764) m 1728
|_Nancy (Agnes) MCDOUGALL _|
(1775 - 1850) m 1793 |
| _____________________
| |
|_Euphemia (Effie) _____ _|
(1740 - 1822) |
|_____________________
_________________________
|
_Edward TOWN _____________|
| (1756 - 1830) m 1793 |
| |_________________________
|
_Duncan TOWN __________|
| |
| | _Ronald MCDOUGALL _______+
| | | (.... - 1821)
| |_Nancy (Agnes) MCDOUGALL _|
| (1775 - 1850) m 1793 |
| |_Euphemia (Effie) _____ _
| (1740 - 1822)
|
|--Nancy Ann TOWN
|
| _________________________
| |
| __________________________|
| | |
| | |_________________________
| |
|_Lorenda Alvira WAITE _|
|
| _________________________
| |
|__________________________|
|
|_________________________
_Edward TOWN _____________
| (1756 - 1830) m 1793
_William TOWN _______|
| |
| |_Nancy (Agnes) MCDOUGALL _+
| (1775 - 1850) m 1793
_David TOWN _____________|
| |
| | __________________________
| | |
| |_Sarah Ann CHAPEL ___|
| |
| |__________________________
|
|
|--Pearl Ermena TOWN
|
| __________________________
| |
| _____________________|
| | |
| | |__________________________
| |
|_Mary Catherine GOODHUE _|
|
| __________________________
| |
|_____________________|
|
|__________________________
_____________________
|
_________________________|
| |
| |_____________________
|
_Edward TOWN _____________|
| (1756 - 1830) m 1793 |
| | _____________________
| | |
| |_________________________|
| |
| |_____________________
|
|
|--William TOWN
|
| _Duncan MCDOUGALL ___+
| | (1708 - 1789) m 1728
| _Ronald MCDOUGALL _______|
| | (.... - 1821) |
| | |_Janet CALDER _______
| | (1710 - 1764) m 1728
|_Nancy (Agnes) MCDOUGALL _|
(1775 - 1850) m 1793 |
| _____________________
| |
|_Euphemia (Effie) _____ _|
(1740 - 1822) |
|_____________________
_________________________
|
_Edward TOWN _____________|
| (1756 - 1830) m 1793 |
| |_________________________
|
_Edward TOWNS _______|
| (1803 - 1863) m 1828|
| | _Ronald MCDOUGALL _______+
| | | (.... - 1821)
| |_Nancy (Agnes) MCDOUGALL _|
| (1775 - 1850) m 1793 |
| |_Euphemia (Effie) _____ _
| (1740 - 1822)
|
|--Caroline TOWNS
| (1833 - 1916)
| _________________________
| |
| __________________________|
| | |
| | |_________________________
| |
|_Eliza Ann HAYWARD __|
(1813 - 1897) m 1828|
| _________________________
| |
|__________________________|
|
|_________________________
_Edward TOWNS _______+
| (1803 - 1863) m 1828
_William Wallace TOWNS _|
| (1848 - ....) m 1878 |
| |_Eliza Ann HAYWARD __
| (1813 - 1897) m 1828
_Edward Charles TOWNS _|
| (1879 - 1919) |
| | _____________________
| | |
| |_Elizabeth SPENCER _____|
| m 1878 |
| |_____________________
|
|
|--Charles TOWNS
|
| _____________________
| |
| ________________________|
| | |
| | |_____________________
| |
|_______________________|
|
| _____________________
| |
|________________________|
|
|_____________________
_William Wallace TOWNS _+
| (1848 - ....) m 1878
_Edward Charles TOWNS _|
| (1879 - 1919) |
| |_Elizabeth SPENCER _____
| m 1878
_Edward Cramer TOWNS _|
| (1909 - 1968) |
| | ________________________
| | |
| |_______________________|
| |
| |________________________
|
|
|--Charles E. TOWNS
|
| ________________________
| |
| _______________________|
| | |
| | |________________________
| |
|______________________|
|
| ________________________
| |
|_______________________|
|
|________________________
_William Wallace TOWNS _+
| (1848 - ....) m 1878
_Edward Charles TOWNS _|
| (1879 - 1919) |
| |_Elizabeth SPENCER _____
| m 1878
_Edward Cramer TOWNS _|
| (1909 - 1968) |
| | ________________________
| | |
| |_______________________|
| |
| |________________________
|
|
|--Edward TOWNS
|
| ________________________
| |
| _______________________|
| | |
| | |________________________
| |
|______________________|
|
| ________________________
| |
|_______________________|
|
|________________________
Most of this children were born in Canada, at least two in Clarke Township, Durham County, Ontario. The family seems to have left Canada about 1863, settling in Michigan (Sanilac Co.?). Although he was much older than most of the soldiers in the Civil War, some descendants say he served in Co. I, 3rd Michigan Volunteer Infantry, and died in a military hospital in Nashville, Tennessee after being wounded and captured in 1865. Eliza A. Towns apparently obtained a pension (certificate number 230327, file not yet examined). As unlikely as it seems, the pension file gives Eliza's maiden name, and the names of their six children, of which only two were under the age of 18.
An interesting account of the Town/Towns family was published in the newsletter of the Towne Family Association (Shirley Drury Patterson, 2005, "Edward Town and the McDougalls", About Towne, 25:64:71). In a personal communication, Shirley mentioned that a niece of the present Edward, Martha (Town) Marcy, born in 1842, provided detailed information about this family to Charles A. Towne, an early Towne researcher, apparently from family or bible records. The children of Edward Towns and Eliza Ann Hayward from these sources are Edward, Elizabeth, Caroline, Mary Ann, Martha, William Wallace, and Electa Adelaide (born in 1853, but on the 1861 census of Clarke Township, Durnam Co., Ontario, she is listed as Pheby, a fact that no one seems to have noticed or explained).
The Ontario census of 1842 shows Edward Towns in Darlington Township, Durham County (images 13 and 14 of 22, on FamilySearch.org). If we have decoded the columns correctly (not a simple matter, as the schedules are quite messy), he had been a resident of Ontario since about 1835 and had 7 children in the household. While there is no way to be certain that all of these children are in fact those of Edward and Eliza Ann, the census data suggest that at least 4 sons may have died before the 1860's—and there appears to be an older, unmarried woman in the household, over the age of 45, perhaps the mother of some of the older children. A John McDougall appears in the "supplement" pages (images 21 and 22) of the same schedule, but he appears to be from Scotland, age 21-30, with only 2 children, and had been a resident of Ontario since about 1834, thus apparently not our John McDougall.
There is also a census of the area from 1848, digitized on www.familysearch.org as Image Group 008121371. On page 217 of the schedule for Newcastle Village, town of Clarke, Durham County, Canada West, we found Edward Town, farmer, in lot 25, concession 6. There were eight persons in the residence, religion "other" (and thus not Presbyterian, Church of England, Methodist, etc.). One was a native of the United States, the others natives of Canada of British origin. The eldest male was married, age 40-60, the eldest female was married, age 14-45. The other 6 individuals were 1 female age 5 or under, 4 females over 5 and under 14 years old, 1 male age 14-18, 1 male age 18-21, and one male age 21-30. Two of the females were attending school. There was one cow and one hog. The property had a saw mill that had produced, if the units were properly recorded, 50 million board feet of lumber in the past year (or, if the units were not correctly recorded, possibly only 50,000 board feet)
The only citations of military service that we have seen that seem authentic are the following:
Towns, Edward. Enlisted in company I, (reorganized) Third Infantry, Sept. 23, 1864, at Pontiac, for 3 years, age 34. Mustered Sept. 23, 1864. Deserted at Stephenson, Ala., Jan. 17, 1865. (Record of Service of Michigan Volunteers in the Civil War 1861-1865, vol. 3., Kalamazoo, Mich., Ihling bros. & Everard, printers, 190-, p. 200).
General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934 (images on Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org, from National Archives microfilms) : Edward Towns, Co., I, 3rd Michigan Infantry, dependent widow Eliza A. Towns; filed 15 jun 1865, widow's claim, application no. 98,025, certificate no. 230,327. No other information noted on the index card. (We have not examined the original pension file and military service record.)
The only discrepant statement in the military records is that the soldier (some descendants call him "Civil War Ed") was age 34 when he enlisted. Could it be that he convinced the recruiter to falsify the record, so that the recruiter could make his quota and Civil War Ed could fight the rebels? Or, is the figure 34 simply a clerical error in the report published by the State of Michigan?
By 1865, Nashville had long been under the control of the Union forces, and at least 10 military hospitals had been established there. It might be that Edward Towns' unit lost track of him on 17 jan 1865, after which he ended up as a casualty in one of these hospitals, and that fact was never communicated to his unit.
_____________________
|
_________________________|
| |
| |_____________________
|
_Edward TOWN _____________|
| (1756 - 1830) m 1793 |
| | _____________________
| | |
| |_________________________|
| |
| |_____________________
|
|
|--Edward TOWNS
| (1803 - 1863)
| _Duncan MCDOUGALL ___+
| | (1708 - 1789) m 1728
| _Ronald MCDOUGALL _______|
| | (.... - 1821) |
| | |_Janet CALDER _______
| | (1710 - 1764) m 1728
|_Nancy (Agnes) MCDOUGALL _|
(1775 - 1850) m 1793 |
| _____________________
| |
|_Euphemia (Effie) _____ _|
(1740 - 1822) |
|_____________________
_Edward TOWN _____________
| (1756 - 1830) m 1793
_Edward TOWNS _______|
| (1803 - 1863) m 1828|
| |_Nancy (Agnes) MCDOUGALL _+
| (1775 - 1850) m 1793
_William Wallace TOWNS _|
| (1848 - ....) m 1878 |
| | __________________________
| | |
| |_Eliza Ann HAYWARD __|
| (1813 - 1897) m 1828|
| |__________________________
|
|
|--Edward Charles TOWNS
| (1879 - 1919)
| __________________________
| |
| _____________________|
| | |
| | |__________________________
| |
|_Elizabeth SPENCER _____|
m 1878 |
| __________________________
| |
|_____________________|
|
|__________________________
_Edward TOWNS _______+
| (1803 - 1863) m 1828
_William Wallace TOWNS _|
| (1848 - ....) m 1878 |
| |_Eliza Ann HAYWARD __
| (1813 - 1897) m 1828
_Edward Charles TOWNS _|
| (1879 - 1919) |
| | _____________________
| | |
| |_Elizabeth SPENCER _____|
| m 1878 |
| |_____________________
|
|
|--Edward Cramer TOWNS
| (1909 - 1968)
| _____________________
| |
| ________________________|
| | |
| | |_____________________
| |
|_______________________|
|
| _____________________
| |
|________________________|
|
|_____________________
In the 1861 census, she appears to be listed as Pheby Towns.
_________________________
|
_Edward TOWN _____________|
| (1756 - 1830) m 1793 |
| |_________________________
|
_Edward TOWNS _______|
| (1803 - 1863) m 1828|
| | _Ronald MCDOUGALL _______+
| | | (.... - 1821)
| |_Nancy (Agnes) MCDOUGALL _|
| (1775 - 1850) m 1793 |
| |_Euphemia (Effie) _____ _
| (1740 - 1822)
|
|--Electa Adelaide TOWNS
| (1853 - 1931)
| _________________________
| |
| __________________________|
| | |
| | |_________________________
| |
|_Eliza Ann HAYWARD __|
(1813 - 1897) m 1828|
| _________________________
| |
|__________________________|
|
|_________________________
_________________________
|
_Edward TOWN _____________|
| (1756 - 1830) m 1793 |
| |_________________________
|
_Edward TOWNS _______|
| (1803 - 1863) m 1828|
| | _Ronald MCDOUGALL _______+
| | | (.... - 1821)
| |_Nancy (Agnes) MCDOUGALL _|
| (1775 - 1850) m 1793 |
| |_Euphemia (Effie) _____ _
| (1740 - 1822)
|
|--Elizabeth TOWNS
| (1831 - ....)
| _________________________
| |
| __________________________|
| | |
| | |_________________________
| |
|_Eliza Ann HAYWARD __|
(1813 - 1897) m 1828|
| _________________________
| |
|__________________________|
|
|_________________________
_________________________
|
_Edward TOWN _____________|
| (1756 - 1830) m 1793 |
| |_________________________
|
_Edward TOWNS _______|
| (1803 - 1863) m 1828|
| | _Ronald MCDOUGALL _______+
| | | (.... - 1821)
| |_Nancy (Agnes) MCDOUGALL _|
| (1775 - 1850) m 1793 |
| |_Euphemia (Effie) _____ _
| (1740 - 1822)
|
|--Martha Ellen TOWNS
| (1844 - 1940)
| _________________________
| |
| __________________________|
| | |
| | |_________________________
| |
|_Eliza Ann HAYWARD __|
(1813 - 1897) m 1828|
| _________________________
| |
|__________________________|
|
|_________________________
_________________________
|
_Edward TOWN _____________|
| (1756 - 1830) m 1793 |
| |_________________________
|
_Edward TOWNS _______|
| (1803 - 1863) m 1828|
| | _Ronald MCDOUGALL _______+
| | | (.... - 1821)
| |_Nancy (Agnes) MCDOUGALL _|
| (1775 - 1850) m 1793 |
| |_Euphemia (Effie) _____ _
| (1740 - 1822)
|
|--Mary Ann TOWNS
| (1841 - ....)
| _________________________
| |
| __________________________|
| | |
| | |_________________________
| |
|_Eliza Ann HAYWARD __|
(1813 - 1897) m 1828|
| _________________________
| |
|__________________________|
|
|_________________________
_Edward TOWN _____________
| (1756 - 1830) m 1793
_Edward TOWNS _______|
| (1803 - 1863) m 1828|
| |_Nancy (Agnes) MCDOUGALL _+
| (1775 - 1850) m 1793
_William Wallace TOWNS _|
| (1848 - ....) m 1878 |
| | __________________________
| | |
| |_Eliza Ann HAYWARD __|
| (1813 - 1897) m 1828|
| |__________________________
|
|
|--William TOWNS
|
| __________________________
| |
| _____________________|
| | |
| | |__________________________
| |
|_Elizabeth SPENCER _____|
m 1878 |
| __________________________
| |
|_____________________|
|
|__________________________
_________________________
|
_Edward TOWN _____________|
| (1756 - 1830) m 1793 |
| |_________________________
|
_Edward TOWNS _______|
| (1803 - 1863) m 1828|
| | _Ronald MCDOUGALL _______+
| | | (.... - 1821)
| |_Nancy (Agnes) MCDOUGALL _|
| (1775 - 1850) m 1793 |
| |_Euphemia (Effie) _____ _
| (1740 - 1822)
|
|--William Wallace TOWNS
| (1848 - ....)
| _________________________
| |
| __________________________|
| | |
| | |_________________________
| |
|_Eliza Ann HAYWARD __|
(1813 - 1897) m 1828|
| _________________________
| |
|__________________________|
|
|_________________________
__
|
__|
| |
| |__
|
_Jaques TRACLEY _____|
| |
| | __
| | |
| |__|
| |
| |__
|
|
|--Antheine TRACLEY
|
| __
| |
| __|
| | |
| | |__
| |
|_____________________|
|
| __
| |
|__|
|
|__