About Towne · Willoughby, OH 44094-7140 E-mail: [email protected] For newsletter address changes Cheers, Genealogist: Gail P. Garda 34 Old Stage Rd., Hampton Falls, NH 03844-2021

About Towne Volume XXXI, No. 4 October-November-December 2011

DEDICATION REMARKS

By Arthur Towne

In April of 2010, as my wife Jean was driv-ing along this section of South Main Street, she discovered a sign describing the Tops-field Main Street Foundation's walking path, currently under construction, which quite coincidentally surrounded our Towne ances-tors' forty-acre homestead site. We con-tacted Janet Kmetz, president of the Tops-field Main Street Foundation, to discuss the project and to inquire about an opportunity for the Towne Family Association, Inc., to assist financially in the development of this historic Towne family site. Coincidentally, Janet also lives on original Towne family property. So in conjunction with the devel-opment of the walking path, at the Septem-ber 2010 annual meeting the TFA member-ship voted to donate the granite bench and historic marker which we are dedicating today, having been coordinated and spon-sored by the Topsfield Main Street Founda-tion.

For many years it had been the ardent hope of the Towne Family Association, Inc., also

bench and a historical marker adjacent to a stone plaza that serves as a terminus of the new walking path north of Topsfield’s ancient Witch Hill and the William and Joanna Towne farm property on the Ipswich River. For Towne Family Association members, it marks the inauguration of another historic site—along with the Salem Witch Trials Memorial in downtown Salem and the Rebecca Nurse Homestead in Danvers—tied to their ances-tors.

Created and sponsored by the Topsfield Main Street Foundation with assistance from the Towne Family Association, the new bench, historic marker, plaza and walking path pro-vide a wonderful place to stop and admire rolling hills of beautiful countryside once

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In This Issue

78 . . . . Southern Region Meets 79 . . . . . . . . . President’s Letter 80 . . . . . . Rare Towne RecLOH 81 . . . . . . . . Historian’s Corner: Exports from the New World 82 . .England Tour Stops Added 83 . . . . . .Genealogist’s Corner: U.S. Census Records 84 . . . .Arnold Family of Freston 91 . . . . . . . .Can You Top This? Another Family Tree 95 . . . . . . . . . .Financial Update 96 . . . .Townes in the Civil War: William Harrison Dudley 98 . . . . . .Best Cooks in Towne: Yorkshire Beef Pie 99 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Obituaries 99 . . . . . . . . . . . .New Members

100 . . . . . . . England 2012 Tour

ADDITIONS TO ENGLAND TOUR! See Page 82

REGISTRATION FORM See Page 100

DNA NEWS! RARE TOWNE RecLOH See Page 80

TIME TO RENEW! Dues Form Enclosed

TOWNE-TREADWELL PATH DEDICATED By John Goff

September 25, 2011, was a sunny, warm fall day that will likely be remembered by Salem, Danvers and Topsfield historians for decades. Why? On that day, a new architectural im-provement—the Towne-Treadwell Walking Path—was inaugurated. It features a new granite

TFA president Elizabeth Hanahan (center) cut the ribbon to dedicate the Towne-Treadwell Walking Path in Topsfield, MA. Arthur (left) and Jean Towne (right) were instrumental in

bringing Towne connections to path develop-ers. See About Towne, Vol. XXX No. 3 p. 54,

for more on the path’s origins.

Photo by John Goff

ABOUT TOWNE VOL. XXXI, No. 4

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TOWNE FAMILY ASSOCIATION, INC.

Executive Office 1400 Fones Rd. S.E., #7-101

Olympia, WA 98501 (360) 539-7768 [email protected]

For all new member applications, membership renewals & fees, other membership questions

TFA Website: http://www.TowneFolk.com You can join or renew online

and read the latest membership news

President: Elizabeth Hanahan P.O. Box 367, Bethlehem, CT 06751

E-mail: [email protected]

Executive Secretary and Historian: Virginia Towne

Vice-President: Barbara T. Patterson

VP Programs: Lynn Bolte

VP Publications: Ann Hager-Koshar 1056 Windermere Dr.

Willoughby, OH 44094-7140 E-mail: [email protected]

For newsletter address changes

Genealogist: Gail P. Garda 34 Old Stage Rd., Hampton Falls, NH 03844-2021

E-mail: [email protected] For genealogical data & questions

Treasurer: Linda Bixby Fulmer P.O. Box 5026, Carefree, AZ 85377

E-mail: [email protected]

Recording Secretary and Parliamentarian: Barry Cass

[email protected]

Sunshine: Mary F. Towne 4099 Push Mountain

P.O. Box 22, Norfolk, AR 72658 E-mail: [email protected]

Newsletter Editor: Carole Towne Seaton 15901 W. Killarney Ave.

Tucson, AZ 85736 E-mail for newsletter submissions: [email protected]

Newsletter Indexer: Ann Tuohy About Towne is the official voice of the all-volunteer Towne Family Association, incorporated in Delaware in 1989. Unless otherwise specified by the source person or copyright holder, all submissions become the property of the association for purposes of publication and inclusion in historical files. Pub-lished quarterly: March, June, September and December.

About Towne © 2011, Towne Family Association, Inc.

Best wishes for a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year. It’s a time for taking stock, looking back, and planning ahead. We want to say a big “Thank you” to everyone who has worked so hard on the affairs of your Towne family again this year. Especially, I want to thank all who have contributed articles and otherwise supported the newsletter. Your efforts to make our newsletter interesting and in-formative are much appreciated. I also encourage you to continue to share any story ideas or other thoughts you may have on how the newsletter could be improved.

Because we publish only quarterly, sometimes it’s difficult to keep up with all the family’s news. We also find we sometimes have to post-pone articles to future issues when we must include information about approaching events—the annual reunion registration informa-tion, for example, or the sign-up deadline for our England tour next year. So if you have submitted something that hasn’t appeared yet, have faith—we’ll get to all our stockpiled material as soon as time allows.

Please keep sending along your articles, news and suggestions. Below are deadlines for the coming year.

Cheers,

Carole

About Towne deadlines for 2012: March issue—January 15

June issue—April 15 September issue—July 15

December issue—October 15

Debbie Atchley reports the fourth Towne Family Southern Regional Meeting occurred October 8 at the Regional History and Genealogy Center, Germantown, TN. The next meeting is tentatively planned for April, and all from the region (MO, AR, KY, AL, TN, MS) are welcome. Watch the website for details, or check the March issue of About Towne. Pictured are (L-R) Dan Fuller, Debbie Towne Atchley, Tom Allen, Riley Atchley, Terri Lambing, Anne MacDonald, and Mike MacDonald.

From the editor’s desk…

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]


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PRESIDENT’S LETTER

The unprecedented October snowstorm in the Northeast had many people looking back to the “old days” when our ancestors were always at the mercy of the weather. These days, with proper planning, we are able to survive with only moderate discomfort and inconvenience. Sitting in front of the fireplace at night, with candles for light and the radio for entertainment, it was easy to speculate on what life was like when this was an everyday routine. Having to schedule most activities during the eleven or so hours or daylight, and completing those activities without the benefits of modern conveniences, was challeng-ing; but we have many advantages which our ancestors did not. We knew that power would be restored eventually so could put off tasks like laundry, and could decide to spend days in warm buildings or even in a hotel. They had no such alternatives. Those who survived had to be hardy and resourceful. We are here because they were!

In this issue, you will read about some additions to the itinerary for our trip to England. Charles Farrow, our English genealogist, has been able to add a visit to the Blickling Estate, an historic property of the Na-tional Trust, a narrow-gauge train ride and a boat ride to Friday’s schedule. At last count, we have 34 people already signed up for the trip! Due to the capacity of the bus, we now find ourselves in the posi-tion of having to limit enrollment to 45 people. Registration will continue until April 30, 2012, but if you are planning to go, I would recommend signing up as soon as you are able so as not to be disappointed.

On September 25th, I was delighted to take part in the formal dedication of the Towne-Treadwell Walking Path in Topsfield, MA. We had a beautiful day for this event, which brought together descendants of Wil-liam and Joanna Towne and people from the local community. Many thanks to everyone of the Topsfield Main Street Foundation, Norman Isler of the Topsfield Historical Society, and of course, TFA members Ar-thur J. and Jean Towne for all of their efforts to provide such a fitting memorial. The Tennessee regional group held another successful meeting in October and will be meeting again in the spring. Thanks to Debbie Atchley for keeping this group going! If you are interested in hosting an in-formal get-together in your area, contact vice president of programs, Lynn Bolte, at [email protected] for more information.

We have made some changes to the website www.TowneFolk.com to make it easier to navigate and have added some new features, including access to more of our database. In addition to the database, we also have an archive of all issues of the newsletter, with an updated index for 2010. William and Joanna had many interesting descendents and these newsletters make for interesting winter read-ing. Check out our new recipe section from our original cookbook, Best Cooks in Towne. If you have not already signed up for a user account, I encourage you to do so. Explore and let us know what you think!

I hope you and your family have an enjoyable holiday season, and a safe, healthy winter.

—Elizabeth Hanahan

http://www.townefolk.com/


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DNA NEWS: THE TOWNE FAMILY HAS A RARE RecLOH!

By Paul Towne

At the 2010 TFA reunion in Omaha, I pointed out an interesting Y chromosome characteristic that all male descendants of William Towne share but very few other men in the world share. At a specific loca-tion along the Y chromosome, the Towne men have a chemical code that stutters (repeats) 23 times. If we look at that same specific location on the Y chromosome of men not descended from William Towne, we find that 99.27 percent have the same chemical code but it only repeats 19 times. The specific loca-

tion in question is called YCAIIa. Back then I proposed a hypothesis that the 23-repeat count would be detected in all future TFA men who test positive as descendants of William Towne. To date, testing results have supported my hypothesis.

At this summer’s 2011 TFA reunion, I added a little more to the YCAIIa story by suggesting that the value of 23 repeats that the Towne men have is most likely the result of a special type of mutation called Rec-LOH (recombinational loss of heterozygosity). Before we talk more about RecLOH events, let’s review some DNA basics. Figure #1 shows the DNA molecule that makes up the Y chromosome. Notice how much it looks like a common ladder. The P and S letters are phosphates and sugars that form a backbone on the outside of the DNA molecule. You notice that the rungs of the ladder consist of the letters G, C, T and A. These letters on the rungs represent four chemi-cal bases called Guanine, Cytosine, Thymine and Adenine. These bases A, C, G and T are attached in pairs in the center of the molecule.

Next, we talk about DNA strands. Looking at Figure #2 we see the fa-

miliar ladder shape of DNA, but here is where the DNA ladder differs

from the common household ladder. The DNA ladder has a special

connection point in the middle of each rung that can be broken when

the cell wants to replicate. If a DNA molecule breaks

all its rungs we end up with two half-ladders or

strands, each of which contains a phosphate-sugar

backbone and a set of half-rungs containing the A, C,

G and T chemical bases mentioned earlier.

Now, you know what a DNA strand is. Next, you need to know that a fundamental law of chemistry states that building blocks of DNA match up in com-plementary fashion, A with T and C with G. You will never see T matched with C on a DNA rung. This rule, discovered by Erwin Chargaff in 1949, is very


Figure 1

Figure 2


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Historian’s Corner

EXPORTS FROM THE NEW WORLD

By Virginia Towne

The rich natural resources of New England convinced people in England that the new land was just what they needed to make money. The land was covered in forests, the streams and coast had abundant fish, and fur-bearing animals roamed the territory. To a people living in a land of limited natural resources due to their own excesses, the virgin land was an opportunity for profit.

The untouched American forests created vast prospects for making money. In England, the country was nearly denuded of tim-berlands, other than private woodlands controlled by the wealthy as game reserves. There was a large demand for wood, and so few trees that sawmills were almost non-existent. England had been importing wood from Europe, and increased demand resulted in high prices. With little wood to burn, coal became an attractive fuel in England, leading to the killer fogs of London in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Wood was needed for everything from home-building to ship masts. In New England great numbers of trees, tall and straight, were rafted together and hauled back to England to be made into masts for the ship-building industry. Smaller trees made the spars. Forests were also the source for pitch, tar and resin used to make the boats watertight.

Other industries also relied on wood products. Tannin, extracted from tree bark, was used in the tanning process. Potassium nitrate, also known as potash, was made from heating ashes left from burned wood and was used to make soap and glass. Fur-ther refining potassium nitrate resulted in nearly pure potassium, known as pearl ash. Pearl ash was needed to dye and size cloth.

Around the home, wood was used for almost everything. The house and outbuildings required beams, boards, clapboards, and shingles. Barrel staves, wagons, farm implements, dishes, spoons, furniture and coffins were all made of wood. Easily shaped, wood had been used for every sort of goods for centuries. Small machines, such as printing presses, potter’s wheels and lathes, also were at least partially made of wood.

Fish were another attraction to the profit-ready investor. Fish could be caught in large quantities and made stable when dried or salted, then transported back to England to provide a cheap food source for the lower classes.

Furs, a luxury item, were even more popular than fish. With the decrease in forests and unspoiled lands, wild animals decreased in England. Several animal species are be-lieved to have gone extinct in the British Isles by this time. Therefore furs from America, acquired either by hunting or by trade with the Indians, would have been profitable. Even before the Pilgrims arrived on the shore of New England, adventurers had been sending people to cut wood, to fish and to collect furs to send back to England. Often these were groups of men who would land a ship, acquire what they could, then return to Britain. Usually the loaded ship would return with wood, dried fish, and furs. Some people stayed in settlements like Salem, but these settlements were at best tiny and not very permanent. Weather and hunger, along with illness and disagreements, kept them on the edge of existence.

When Pilgrims reached Plymouth in 1620, half their complement was made up of “Adventurers.” These were people who were interested in trade. They were not of the separatist sect or religious but planned to make money from the venture. John Alden, a cooper on the Mayflower, was enticed to stay so that barrels would be available to ship fish and skins back to England. Early New England settlers suffered hardships and death; but, once the basics of life were found, lived healthy lives. Sadly, most of the profit seems to have gone to a few investors back in England.


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Blickling Hall was home to Sir Thomas Boleyn and his wife Elizabeth between 1499 and 1505. Some sources say their daugh-ter Anne, queen of England as the second wife of Henry VIII until she was beheaded, was born there. Folklore holds that every year, on the anniversary of her execution, Anne Boleyn's headless ghost arrives in a carriage driven by an equally headless coachman. But she hasn't lost her head completely in the afterlife—she carries it along with her during her hauntings. Blick-ling Hall holds the most important book collection in Britain’s National Trust. The estate covers 4,777 acres and is a treasure trove of romantic buildings and beautiful extensive gardens. More information: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/blickling/

The Bure Valley Railway runs from the ancient market town of Aylsham to Wroxham. The 18-mile round trip runs through the picturesque Bure Valley following the meandering river through meadowland and pastures, stopping occasionally at small country villages.

The Norfolk Broads were once thought to be natural landscape features. But in the 1960s, it was discovered they arose from me-dieval peat excavation and subsequent flooding of the peat pits due to rising sea levels. The Broads are Britain's largest pro-tected wetland and home to a wealth of wildlife.

Tour leaders Karen Johnsen and Charles Farrow have been busy tweaking the itinerary for next September’s TFA trip to Eng-land to add more activities. Several days will feature various churches and the family genealogy they provide. But activities unique to Norfolk and Suffolk are also included. On Friday, September 7, the tour will take in the Blickling Estate, a Norfolk mainstay connected to Henry VIII’s doomed queen, Anne Boleyn. After a private tour of the stunning house, participants can take a self-guided tour of the superb gardens and lunch in the restaurant. That afternoon brings a trip on a narrow-gauge steam train from Aylsham to Wroxham on the Bure Valley Railway. Next, board a boat for a one-hour cruise on the Norfolk Broads. End the day with a visit to Walcott Church and the North Sea. Churches at Belton, Lound and Blundeston, which were on the itinerary for September 7, will be visited on other days. A final itinerary will be provided to all who have booked the tour as the departure date approaches. See the back page of this issue for more tour information and your registration form.

Next September’s TFA Tour to England:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Boleyn

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Boleyn

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wetland

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildlife


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The Genealogist’s Corner

UNITED STATES CENSUS RECORDS

By Gail Garda

Do you know why there are no U.S. census records after 1930? In order to protect the privacy of indi-vidual citizens, census records are not released publicly until exactly 72 years from the official census date. 1930, the most recent census year available, was released on April 1, 2002. The 1940 census records will be available in April 2012.

The census can be a valuable source when researching your twentieth-century ancestors because it con-tains records for approximately 123 million Americans. If you had family in the United States during the early twentieth century, you are likely to find at least one relative’s information within these census records. United States census records are publicly available for these years: 1790, 1800, 1810, 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850 (including slave schedules), 1860 (including slave schedules), 1870, 1880, 1890 (frag-ment, census substitute, and veterans’ schedules), 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930.

1790-1840 census years: For years prior to 1850, the original census records only recorded the heads of households and the number of individuals within the household of a certain age category. Every name included on the original records for these years (1790-1840) has been indexed, but not the name of every individual in the United States was recorded in these census years.

Lost or destroyed census records: At different times, certain census records have occasionally been lost, for varying reasons. However, some of these have been reconstructed from various records, viz., tax lists, oaths of allegiance, land entities, militia lists, petitions, road records, and other sources. The following indicates some of the events surrounding these occasions. 1790 Census: Lost records—Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Virginia. The 1790 schedules for Virginia that appear on the National Archives and Records Administration microfilms were reconstructed from state enumerations. Some counties in Pennsylvania are also missing. The pri-mary cause of loss was fire started by invading British forces in Washington, D.C., during the War of 1812.

Kentucky became a state in 1792, so its 1790 census information is included in Virginia’s census. West Virginia did not separate from Virginia until after the 1860 census. You will find records for West Virginia locations in the Virginia census through 1860.

1800 Census: Lost records—Alexandria County (present-day Virginia) in the District of Columbia; Geor-gia; Indiana Territory; Kentucky; Mississippi Territory; New Jersey; Northwest Territory (present-day Ohio), Tennessee; and Virginia. Again, the primary cause was fire during the War of 1812.

1810 Census: Lost records—District of Columbia; Georgia; Indiana Territory; Mississippi Territory; Louisi-ana Territory (present-day Missouri); New Jersey; and Tennessee. Partial losses—Illinois Territory (one of two existing counties) and Ohio (all but Washington County). Yet again, the cause was fire started by in-vading forces in Washington, D.C., during the War of 1812.

1820 Census: Lost records—Arkansas Territory; Missouri Territory; and New Jersey. Partial losses—Alabama (about half of the counties) and Tennessee (about 20 eastern counties). The cause is unspeci-



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THE ARNOLD FAMILY OF FRESTON

By Charles Farrow, Consulting Genealogist, Towne Family Association

An Arnold, who as we saw in my first Esty article [About Towne, Vol. XXX, No. 2] married Christopher Eastie at St. Peter’s Church in Freston on May 5, 1586, was at least the fourth generation there. Thomas Arnold, the first Arnold ancestor for whom we have proof, was certainly there in 1524, when he held £4 “in goodes” on which he paid a subsidy of two shillings. He was buried at St. Peter’s Church on March 22, 1545. His will, proved in Suffolk Archdeaconry Court, survives. [Note that in these wills, as was true of wills printed in earlier issues, original spellings have been retained. In some cases the same word is spelled differently each time it appears. If any word is a mystery to the reader, try pronouncing it aloud.—Ed.]

Will of Thomas Arnold In the yere of oure lorde god A Thowsande fyve hundryth forty & thre and In the name of god Amen the xiii daye of Febrewary in the xxxv yere of the reiyn of oure Soveryn lord Herry the viiith by the grace of god of Inglond Frannce & Irlonde Kyng defender of the Feythe & in Erthe Chyff & Supreme hede of the Cherche of Inglond & Irlond I Thomas Arnold of Freston in the County of Suffolk yoman within the dyocyse of Norwiche make this my laste wyll & Testament in maner & forme folowyng Fyrste I bequethe my Sowle in to the handes of Allmyghty god my body to be buryed in the Cherche yarde of Freston aforsaid to the heigh aulter of whiche Cherche I gyve xiid [12 pence] for my tyhes & Offerynges necclygently forgoten & onpayed yf any be behynde. Also I gyve & bequethe to the reperacione of the Stepyll of the said Cherche of Freston vs [5 shillings]

I gyve & bequethe to George Arnolde Thomas Arnolde & Roger Arnolde my godsones Sones of Roger Arnold my Sone to every of them xs [10 shillings] to be payed to them & every of them by myn Executors or by oon of them or the Executors of the leyngest lever of them whane they my said Godsons do shall accom-plysshe & Com to the age of twenty yeres and yf yt it fortune any of my said Godsons to decease before they Com to the age of xx [20] yeres that thane I wyll that they that shall over lyve shall have the parte or partes of hym or them that shalbe so deceassed and yf they all decease befor the age of xx yeres thane I wyll that the said Roger my Son Father to my said Godsons shall have all ther partes. Item I gyve & bequethe to John Hayle my godson Sone of John Hayle of Thorpe in the Countye of E s-sexe xs to be payed to hym by my said Executores as is aforsaid whane he shall accompleysshe & Com to the age of xx yeres and yf he fortune to dyscease before he Com to the said age of xx yeres thane I wyll that Anne Hayle my dowghter mother of the said John Hayle the sone shall have the said xs. Item I gyve & bequethe to Thomas Arnold Son of Agnes Arnold twenty shyllynges to be payed to hym by myn Executors as is aforsaid whane he shall accomplysshe & Com to the age of xx yeres. I gyve & bequethe to Richard Story Elizabeth Pett John Wade Son of William Wade to every of them a lambe or elles xiid. Item I wyll that Avyce my Wyff shall have my Tenement yt I dwell In & all other my landes & Ten e-

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mentes rentes & services with all ther appurtenances excepte my landes called Skolys to hir for terme of hir lyff and after hir deceasse I will and also gyve & bequethe to Roger Arnold my Sone & Anne his Wyff my said Tenement that I dwelle in with all the landes mdeowes fedynges & pastures belongyng to the said Tene-ment excepte the said landes caled Skolys that I have purchassed of Thomas Petman and also I gyve & be-quethe to the said Roger my Sone & Anne his Wyff my Tenement in Freston callid Newhowse with all the landes fedynges & pastures apperteynyng & belongyng to the said same Tenement and all other my landes & Tenementes rentes & services & other heredytamentes [any inheritable estate or interest in property] with all ther appurtenances excepte before excepte to have & to holde to the said Roger Arnold my Sone & Anne his Wyff & to the heyeres of ther bodys lawfully begoten to entre them after the dycease of Avyce my my Wyff and for defaulte of such Isshewe to remayne to the reighte heires of me the said Thomas Arnold for ever. Item I wyll that and also I gyve to myn Executors my landes landes callid Skolys in Freston whiche I late purchassed of Thomas Petman to the Intent that my said Executors shall sell the said landes callid Skolys and the monys therof comyng to go to the performance of this my said laste Will & Testament. Also I wyll that Roger Arnold my Sone shall have the preemynenc of the bargayne & sale of the said landes callid Skolys and he to have them before any other yf he shalbe able to bye them gevyng therfor so moche mony as any other wyll give withowte coveyn fraude or deceyte. Item I gyve & bequethe to Avyce my Wyff all my horsses nete shepe & all other my catell and also all my moveabyll goodes & dettes she performyng & fulfyllyng this my said laste Will & Testament and yf there be in this my said laste Wyll & Testament any Clause or artycle that is not made suffyciently accordyng to the forme of lawe I will that it shalbe performed redressed & amended by said Executors or by ther lerned Cou n-sell so that ther shall be no matter altred nor changed contrary to the trewe menyng of the me the said Thomas Arnold and I Ordeyne & make myn said Executors the said Avyce my Wyff and Richard Gosselyng of Holbroke myn Executors to execute this my said laste wyll & Testament and I gyve to the said Richard Gosselyng for his delygente payne & labour vis viiid [6 shillings, 8 pence].

And these Witnesses Robert Hicham of Freston John Hollond of Yppysswiche thelder Robert Campell William Hycham of Freston aforsaid & others

Avyse Arnold did not long survive Thomas, making her will on May 22, 1545.

Will of Avyse Arnold In the name of god Amen the xxii daye of maye in the yere of oure lord god thowsand Fyve hundrythe forty & Fyve and in the xxxvii yere of the reign of oure Soveraign lord kyng Herry the viii th by the grace of god of Inglond Frannce & Irland kyng defender of the Feythe and in Erthe of the Cherche of Inglond & Irland the Chyff & Supreme hede I Avyse Arnolde of Freston in the Countie of Suffolk Wedowe late the Wyff of Thomas Arnold de-ceassed make this my laste Wyll & Testament in manner & forme folowyng Fyrste I bequethe my Sowle in to the handes of Almyghty god my body to be buryed in the Cherche yerde of

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Freston aforsaid to the heighe aulter of whiche Cherche I gyve & bequethe iiiid [4 pence]. Item I gyve & bequethe to Anne Hayle my Dowghter the Wyff of John Hayle of Thorpe in the Soken in the Countye of Essex a Cowe and my beste petycote to be delyvered to hir immedyatly after my dyssease The resydue of my goodes & Catalles not geven nor bequethed I gyve them to Roger Arnold my Sone to bryng me honestly to the grounde & se me honestly buryed whome I ordeyne & make myn Executor to Ex-ecute performe & fulfyll this my said laste Wyll & Testament And theise Witnesses Sir Herry Alen Clerke Parson of Freston John Hollond of Yppisswiche thel d-er Richard Gosselyn of Holbroke & others

Like her husband’s, this will too was proved in Suffolk Archdeaconry Court. Clearly both Thomas and Avyse were of some substance. Both mention their son Roger, the next generation of interest to us.

We do not know when Roger Arnold was born, nor do we know when he married, since both events took place before the Freston parish register commences. Moreover, when we come to the parish regis-ters, all is not straightforward. On September 9, 1539, Roger, son of Roger Arnold the elder, was bap-tised there. This implies there was a younger Roger Arnold in Freston at that time. Between 1542 and 1549 a Roger Arnold had four children baptised, but it is not specified whether this is the elder or young-er Roger. From the fact that none of these children (Amy baptised February 5, 1542; Henry, May 6, 1544; Edmond, June 22, 1546; and Edward, April 28, 1549) is mentioned in the will of Roger Arnold the elder, one might assume they are not his. But as will be seen, son Roger is not mentioned either. Only his eld-est son George is named. He certainly had other children, as will be seen. However, since George is the ancestor in whom we are interested, it is largely immaterial. For the purpose of completeness, there is one other child, Fayth Arnold, baptised in September 1551, who is probably another child of Roger. She married George Hayward from Grundisburgh on December 22, 1582.

Roger Arnold the elder made his will on January 2, 1553, and was buried at Freston church on February 13, 1553. His will was proved in Norwich Consistory Court on April 14, 1553. The clerk who copied the will was either rather careless or the original will was badly written since it will be noticed there are odd words omitted, such as “God” in the first line before “Amen.”

Will of Roger Arnold In the name of Amen The second daie of the moneth of Januarye in the yere of oure Lorde a Thowsand [rest

of year written in Roman numerals which are partly faded and partly blotted, but appears to be 1553, which agrees

with the regnal year given]. And in the vi yere of the Reign of oure mooste gracious sovereign Lord Edward the vith by the grace of God kinge of England Frannce and Ireland defendor of the faith and in Erth next unto Christe of the churche of England and allso of Ireland the supreme hede. I Roger Arnolde the elder of the perrishe of Freston Norwich Dioc [Diocese] in the Counti of Suff Hus-bondman being of hole mynde and perfight Remembrannc praysed be God make and ordeign this my present testament conteigninge herin my laste will in maner and forme folowinge. Firste I Bequeth my sowle to allmighti God our heavelye father my master Settinge my Sole truste plea-sure confidence in Jesus Christe His onlie [unreadable word] sone my savior and redemer through whose me-




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rittes gracious and Benefittes in His tender mersi and love I Beleve stedfaslye by faith in him only to be saved. Item I will my bodie to be Buried in the parrishe churche yarde of Freston aforesaid. Item I give to the comon treasur or Boxe of the poore in Freston church xiid to be paied win one hole yeare after deceasse be myn Executors. Item I will that Anne Arnolde my wiffe shall have all that my tenement that my father late dwelte in ac-cordinge to the tenor of his laste will for the terme of hir naturall liffe withall other my landes and tene-mentes Rentes and servises and other hereditamentes withall ther Appertenances apperteninge and be lon-ginge lately to them or me leyinge in Freeston allso with the Landes callid Scoles to performe the legaces a c-cording to my Fathers will. And after the deceasse of Anne my wiffe I give will and Bequeth all my above saied Landes and tenement with all ther Appertennaces to George Arnolde my eldest sonne and heire and to the heires of his Bodie lawfullie Begotten. And if shall fortune the saied George to deceasse withoute issewe that then I will it shall remayne allwaies to the Righte and nexte Ayre And so from Heier to Here And so ever for the defaute of issew allwaies to Remayne to the Righte herers of me the foresaied Roger Arnolde the elder for ever. Item I give and bequeth to Anne my wiffe aforesaied all my Corne and Cattalles with allso all my mo-veables goodes and debtes she to performe and fulfill this my saied laste will and testament Soo that there shalbe nothing altered nor changed from the true meaning of this my present last will and Testament neyther from the trew meaninge of my fathers laste will any thinge not herein expressid notwithstandinge. Item I give and Bequeth to George Arnolde my sonne and to his heiere as aforesaied my landes callid sko-lis after the decease of his mother by the Advise of myn Executors the Legaces being discharged accordinge to my fathers will And they to enjoye and holde the saied Landes to him and his heiers as above for ever and in as ample maner and forme in full strength as any other parte or parcell of all my foresadied Landes in Freston. Item I ordain and make Anne Arnolde my wiffe aforsaied and Richard Gosslynge of Holdbroke my Ex-ecutors to fulfill and performe this my saied laste will and testament to Bringe up my childrin in the reve-rent feare of God and to paye my debtes accordinglie And I give the saied Richarde Gosslinge for his dil i-gent paynes and Labours vis viiid These Bearinge witnes Edward Burrell Clarke Edmund Campsell of Freeston Robert Haiward and William Carter of the same Town with others the daye and yere above writton Approved at Norwich 14th April 1553 and administration granted to the Executors

The reference to bringing up his children indicates that they were all under age, which would accord with the baptisms recorded in the parish registers. George, the eldest, was very probably born about 1537. His marriage in 1563 would then make him 26, which is a reasonable age. About his mother, Anne, and grandmother Avyse, we know virtually nothing, and certainly have no indication of their mai-den names. However, with George we know who his wife was, and we find that he went further afield




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for his bride than one might have expected.

Freston lies on the southwest bank of the River Orwell, some three miles south of Ipswich. The road from Ipswich to Norwich heads roughly due north and after about fifteen miles the road passes through Little Stonham. Less than a mile to the east lies the parish of Stonham Aspal. It was to the church of St. Mary here that George Arnold came on May 13, 1563, to marry Grace, daughter of John Felgate. The parish register records that George was from Freston and Grace of Stonham Aspal. How did they meet? Per-haps they were in some way distantly related? The will of John Felgate, father of Grace, gives no indica-tion of any relationship. However, John gives his daughter Grace Arnold a legacy of £6 13s 4d, payable to her in four years of his death, and a pewter platter. His will, dated June 21, 1566, was proved in Suffolk Archdeaconry Court on March 26, 1569.

The couple returned to Freston and baptised two children there: daughter An on April 30, 1564; and daughter Margaret on April 4, 1567.

There is no more record of George and Grace in Freston, either baptising children or of being buried. Moreover, there is no will or administration for George Arnold in either Suffolk Archdeaconry Court or Norwich Consistory Court, where one might expect it. The Prerogative Court of Canterbury (the highest court), Sudbury Archdeaconry Court and the Bishop of London’s Courts in Essex have likewise yielded nothing. They seem to vanish from Suffolk. Nonetheless, daughter An duly marries Christopher Eastie on May 5, 1586 in Freston church, giving every indication that the family were still in Freston.

Christopher and An Eastie have already been dealt with (About Towne, Vol. XXXI No. 3), but there is one more thing to consider. As we saw, son Jeffery married Mary Salmon at Old Newton Church. Old Newton is about four miles from Stonham Aspal. The Salmon family were entrenched in both Creeting St. Mary and Mendlesham, even closer to Stonham Aspal, and it is most likely that the Salmon and Felgate families knew each other. Through mother An and her Felgate relations, one can plausibly see how Jeffery and Mary met and married.

This brings to end my survey of the Esty family and their Arnold relations. In the next issue I will bring together a few earlier Estys and look at an interesting incident which took place near Freston soon after Jeffery and his family left for New England, involving a namesake who stayed behind.

Further Reading On The Web

on the Towne Family’s RecLOH (See article beginning on page 80—Ed.)

▪http://ymap.ftdna.com This link takes you to Family Tree DNA Y Chromosome Browser. Type a marker name into the Landmark or Region field.

▪http://www.dna-fingerprint.com Use RecLOH as your search term.

▪http://isogg.org/w/index.php?title=RecLOH&printable=yes

▪http://www.smgf.org/resources/papers/GeneConversions.

pdf.

Manuscript sources Suffolk Record Office Ipswich: FB195/D1/1 Freston Parish Registers FB197/D1/1 Stonham Aspall Parish Registers IC/AA1/13/182 Will of Thomas Arnold IC/AA1/18/99 Will of Avyse Arnold IC/AA1/21/87 Will of John Felgate

Norfolk Record Office: DN/NCC 1553 Lyncolne 330


http://ymap.ftdna.com/

http://www.dna-fingerprint.com/

http://isogg.org/w/index.php?title=RecLOH&printable=yes

http://www.smgf.org/resources/papers/GeneConversions.pdf

http://www.smgf.org/resources/papers/GeneConversions.pdf


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fied, though fires in local courthouses caused some losses.

1830 Census: Lost records—some, not all, counties in Massachusetts, Maryland, and Mississippi. The primary cause is unspecified.

1890 Census: Lost records—all except small parts of Alabama, District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, South Dakota, and Texas. The primary cause was fire in the U.S. Commerce Department in Washington, D.C., on January 10, 1921.

The 1890 Census Substitute is a collection of replacement data for the 1890 census information that was destroyed in the Commerce Department fire. With the aid of the National Archives and the Allen County Library in Indiana, this database is the first definitive online substitute for the missing 1890 census. It in-cludes fragments of the original 1890 census that survived the fire, special veterans’ schedules, several Native American tribe censuses for years surrounding 1890, state censuses (1885 or 1895), city and coun-ty directories, alumni directories, and voter registration documents. 1930 Census: There were some differences in census procedures from earlier decades. Servicemen were not recorded with their families in the 1930 census; they were treated as residents of their duty posts. If you’re looking for someone in the military, you should not assume they will be listed in their home town. Children born between the official start date of the census and the actual day of enumera-tion were not included. Individuals alive on the official start date of the census but deceased by the ac-tual day of enumeration were included. Indians were included in the enumeration of the general popula-tion, though they were asked different questions than the general population. Did your great-grandparents own a radio? 1930 is the last census in which individuals were asked whether they could read or write. Unlike previous censuses, this census did not ask individuals for their year of naturalization. This is the first census in which individuals were asked the value of their home or the amount of rent paid each month; their age at the time of their first marriage; and the specific war[s] a man had fought in. The 1930 census is the only census to ask whether the occupants of the home owned a radio. Based on the census, the average number of people in a household was 4.1. In 1930, the average life expectancy for an American was 59.7 years. The leading country for people of foreign birth was Italy, with 1.8 million. The 1930 general census recorded a population of approximately 123,202,624 individuals. According to the US Census Bureau, the resident population of the United States, projected to November 10, 2011, the US population clock shows 312,582,165 individuals.

References: Jason G. Gautier. Measuring America: The Decennial Censuses from 1790 to 2000. U.S. Dept. of Commerce, 2002.

Dollarhide, William. The census book: a genealogist's guide to federal census facts, schedules and indexes: with master extrac-tion forms for federal census schedules, 1790-1930.

Greenwood, Val D. The Researcher's Guide to American Genealogy. 2d ed. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc., 1990.

Hinckley, Kathleen W. Your Guide to the Federal Census: For Genealogists, Researchers and Family Historians. Betterway Books, 2002.

Some information for this article was taken from 1930 Federal Population Census: Catalog of National Archives Microfilm, Na-tional Archives Trust Fund Board (Washington, D.C., 2002), the U.S. Census Bureau, and ancestry.com.

U.S. census, continued from page 83


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tightly tied to the Salem witchcraft persecutions of 1692. Ear-ly owners William and Joanna Towne, who first came to Salem in the 1630s, by 1651 moved to the Topsfield site bounded by Salem Road, River Road and South Main Street. Three of Wil-liam and Joanna’s daughters—Rebecca Towne Nurse, Mary Towne Esty and Sarah Towne Bridges Cloyce—were all ac-cused of witchcraft in 1692. Rebecca and Mary were hanged on Salem’s Gallows Hill, but Sarah escaped to Danforth Farms, now Framingham, where her house remains in need of stabili-zation and restoration. (For more on Sarah’s house, see About Towne, Vol. XXX, p. 59.)

Perhaps there is some real magic associated with the old Towne family property in Topsfield. Janet Kmetz and Kim Philpot of the Topsfield Main Street Foundation, sponsors of this project, spoke at the opening ceremony and described how the new Towne-Treadwell Walking Path project first be-gan five years ago after local runners and walkers realized pedestrian safety improvements were needed along Tops-field’s busy South Main Street. (See About Towne, Vol. XXX, p. 54.)

Planning for the new walking path was well underway before any connection with old Towne history was realized. Kim Philpot explained, “We thought first of calling it simply the Treadwell walking path, both because the Treadwell property was nearby—and we liked the concept of a path allowing people to ‘tread well.’”

After Arthur and Jean Towne learned of the project, they in-troduced the Topsfield Main Street Foundation to early Towne history of the area and offered to have the Towne Family Association help support the project. The TFA appro-priated funds to pay for the granite bench as well as a new historic marker. (See About Towne, Vol. XXX, p. 69.) Arthur and Jean Towne also spearheaded the research and writing to produce an accurate and handsome historic marker.

Just a few days before the dedication, sisters Lisa Milliken and Sarah Szafir drove to Salem to see the name of their an-cestor, Mary Towne Esty, scribed on the granite bench of the Salem Witch Trials Memorial. After finding the bench with Mary’s name, they saw that their ancestor was hanged on Salem’s Gallows Hill on September 22, 1692—precisely 319 years before the day of their Salem visit. The sisters were able to stay on for the walking path dedication in Topsfield.

William and Joanna Blessing Towne, originally from Great Yarmouth, England, produced a large family that was centrally involved with the 1692 events that gave Salem its name, Witch City. Although the new Towne-Treadwell Walking Path lies outside the current city limits of Salem, it is significant for its adjacency to old Towne family land and to Topsfield’s Witch Hill, where Mary Towne Esty was rearrested. From the Salem Gazette Reprinted with permission

Arthur Towne Remarks, continued from page 77

known as TFA, to one day place a historic marker here on South Main Street to designate the original forty-acre homes-tead of our immigrant ancestors William and Joanna Blessing Towne, their children and all of their descendents. Our Towne family history in the founding of Topsfield is well do-cumented in George Francis Dow's History of Topsfield.

In 1651 William and Joanna Blessing Towne purchased forty acres of land from William Paine of Ipswich and moved their family to this site from Salem, where they had been residing since the mid-1630s. Their property was bounded by Salem Road, the Ipswich River and South Main Street. None of the original dwellings of William and Joanna or their children ex-ist today. Their daughter Rebecca Towne Nurse had lived in Danvers at the present-day Rebecca Nurse Homestead. Their daughter Mary Towne had married Isaac Esty, Sr., and had lived on the present-day site of the Essex County Co-Op property. Isaac Esty, Jr., Mary's son, had lived on the south side of the Ipswich River, which had become known as Witch Hill during the witchcraft hysteria of 1692. It was from son Isaac's home that Mary had been taken and imprisoned in Boston during the hysteria. The land of Isaac and Mary Esty was later purchased by Dr. John Goodhue Treadwell, a signif-icant Topsfield landowner, and used as an experimental farm. He later bequeathed his farm to the Essex Agricultural Socie-ty in 1857, and it became the home of the Topsfield Fair, the oldest continuously operating agricultural fair in the country. The location of Dr. Treadwell's house and barns is now the home of the Essex County Co-Op. His home was relocated to Ipswich Road, Topsfield, in August, 1975.

Over the past year a dedicated committee consisting of Janet Kmetz and Kim Philpot of the TMSF; TFA president Elizabeth Hanahan; Richard Trask, archivist for the town of Danvers and a TFA member; Norm Isler, president of the Topsfield Historical Society; TFA members Jim (descended from Mary Esty) and Marie Roome; and Jean and I have worked diligent-ly to develop the text and map for the sign which you see here today. Janet and Kim have meticulously supervised the selection, installation and maintenance of the walking path site.

In closing we wish to recognize all of the past and present owners of this historic property, the town of Topsfield, the Topsfield Main Street Foundation and the Essex County Greenbelt Association, all of whose foresight and planning down through the years have made it possible for this land to be protected as open space in perpetuity for everyone to enjoy. Today the TMSF and TFA are proud to dedicate the Towne-Treadwell Walking Path in memory of William and Joanna Blessing Towne, their descendents, and Dr. John Goodhue Treadwell for the preservation, revitalization and beautification of the town of Topsfield.

For a photo of the path’s historic marker, see page 99 of this issue.—Ed.

Walking path dedication, continued from page 77


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CAN YOU TOP THIS? A DESCENDENT OF THREE TOWNE SIBLINGS

By Karen Johnsen

Karen Johnsen, organizer of TFA’s 2012 tour to England, was challenged by the family tree of Allan Bruce Hale (About Towne, Vol. XXXI, No. 2) to report on her own lines of descent. We welcome contributions from others who want to share their family trees.—Ed.

William Towne & Joanna Blessing

/ / \ Mary (Towne) Estey Edmund Towne Joseph Towne

& Isaac Estey & Mary Browning & Phebe Perkins / / \

Jacob Estey William Towne John Towne & Lydia Elliot Margaret (Wilkins) Willard & Elizabeth Rea

/ / \ Isaac Estey Mercy Towne John Towne, Jr. & Sarah Gould & John Towne, Jr. & Mercy Towne

/ \ / Sarah Estey William Towne & Timothy Richardson II & Catherine Waite / / Timothy Richardson III Sarah “Sally” Towne (“Hepsibeth”) & Sarah Towne & Timothy Richardson III \ / Luther Richardson & Sally Mowe / Adelia Richardson & Adam Hetzler / Harriet Adelia Hetzler & Rev. William Arthur Johns / Clifford R. Johns & Ruth J. Taylor / Harriet Adelia Johns & Harrill Dean Johnson, Jr. / Karen Adelia (Johnson) Johnsen

I descend from three Towne children—Edmund, Mary and Joseph. These lines intersect and come to-gether into one line after six generations. Add to this mix that Margaret (Wilkins) Willard was married to John Willard, who was accused of being a witch and was hanged August 19, 1692, during the Salem witch trials. Ironically, if John Willard had not met his demise, Margaret would not have married William Towne for her second husband and I would not be here today. So the witch hysteria of 1692 led to the tragic deaths of many innocent people and also allowed new genealogical lines of descent to be created.



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Those of us in the Towne Family Association all descend from the common ancestors of William Towne and Joanna Blessing. In addition to those ancestors, many of us have several other ancestors in com-mon. I have met Towne cousins who share ancestors with the name of Gould, Kebble, Wyman, Win, Perkins, Richardson and many more. The families seem to intertwine in many ways.

Joseph Towne married Phebe Perkins and her ancestry goes back to Zaccheus Gould, born about 1588. He married Phebe Deacon, who was born April 3, 1597. They married at Hemel Hempstead, Hertford-shire, England, in 1617/1618. My line follows two of their children: John Gould and Phebe Gould.

Phebe Gould married Thomas Perkins. Their daughter, Phebe Perkins, married Joseph Towne. Zaccheus Gould, born 1588, had a son named John Gould. John Gould and his wife Sarah Baker had a son named Zaccheus Gould, born March 26, 1672, in Topsfield, MA. Zaccheus Gould and wife Elizabeth Curtis had a daughter, Sarah Gould, who married Isaac Estey, grandson of Mary Towne Estey, daughter of William and Joanna Towne. So here is another place that descendent lines intersected.

Following Phebe Perkins’ ancestry through her father, Thomas Perkins, is also of interest. Towne Fami-ly Association member Paula Mortensen has written a book related to the Perkins family. She shares a theory that the Perkins name may go back to Pierre de Morlaix, also known as Peter Morley, alias Perkins, born in 1371 in Oxfordshire, England. Nine generations later we come to Thomas Perkins, Sr., born about 1525. From this point on there are church records and other records that prove the Perkins line to the Towne family. Thomas Perkins married Alice Kebble and had eight sons in Hillmorton, Warwickshire, Eng-land. Church records exist for their birth, marriage and death in Hillmorton. I descend directly from two of their sons—Henry Perkins, born 1555, and Isaac Perkins I, born 1571. Henry was their first child, and Isaac was their eighth and last child.

For those of us who descend from Joseph Towne who married Phebe Perkins, our interest is in the first child, Henry Perkins, who descends to John Perkins to Thomas Perkins to Phebe Perkins, who married Jo-seph Towne. My line then follows Joseph’s son John Towne to his son John Towne, Jr., to his son William Towne to his daughter Sarah Towne, who married Timothy Richardson III. Their son was Luther Richard-son. His daughter is Adelia Richardson. Her daughter is Harriet Adelia Hetzler. Her son was my grandfa-ther, Clifford R. Johns, who married Ruth J. Taylor. This descends to my mother, Harriet Adelia Johns, and then to me, Karen Adelia Johnson. There are generations from Henry to Clifford where the Perkins lines reunite, and then two more generations to me. Note that my middle name, Adelia, comes from my great-great-grandmother, Adelia, her daughter, Harriet Adelia, and my mother, Harriet Adelia.

The eighth child of Thomas Perkins, Sr., and Alice Kebble is Isaac Perkins I. This line descends for thirteen generations leading to my grandmother, Ruth J. Taylor, who married Clifford R. Johns. So my Perkins line separates and goes two completely different directions and then reunites after thirteen generations, when Clifford Johns and Ruth Taylor marry and have my mother, Harriet Adelia Johns.

My ancestry descends as follows: Thomas Perkins, Sr., to Isaac Perkins I, to Abraham Perkins, Sr., to Mary Perkins to Mary Fifield to Eleanor Haines to John Weeks to Benjamin Weeks to Joseph Weeks to Sybbel Weeks to Daniel Benjamin Randall to Mary Emma Randall to my grandmother, Ruth Juanita Tay-lor, who married Clifford R. Johns. Again there are thirteen generations from Isaac to Ruth, where the Perkins lines reunite and lead to me two generations later.

The further back we go in time, the fewer people there were on our planet. With fewer and fewer




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people going back in history, the chance for finding com-mon ancestors becomes greater. This often leads to finding many connections between our many ancestral lines. Likewise, as we propel forward in time and popula-tions increase, we find that we have more and more cousins with each genera-tion. I am connected to TFA member Barbara Holden with the Townes, Wymans and Wins. And I am con-nected to others through the Richardson family. All of us descended from William and Joanna Towne have a com-mon interwoven thread that connects us all. Each of us in turn is a miracle, the result of many generations of an-cestors. Each of us is unique, but a part of something much greater. The fabric of our being is made up of many interconnecting strings of life woven into a beautiful tapestry telling a story of the many generations leading to this very picturesque scene of our present existence.

important because it explains how a DNA molecule can split into two strands and each of those strands can serve as a template to make two new replicated DNA molecules when a cell divides. The simplicity of na-ture and the way it works is truly a beautiful concept. As you look along a DNA molecule, the sequence of bases is not random. The sequence of the bases in the rungs is a code similar in some respects to the code de-veloped by Samuel Morse. Instead of representing the letters of the al-phabet with dots and dashes, the sequence of bases in the DNA code de-fines which type of protein this particular cell in your body is building. Interesting as this code of life is, it turns out that only two percent of your DNA codes for some type of protein. In the field of genealogy we are mostly interested in the 98 percent of the DNA that does not code. That leads us to Short Tandem Repeats (STRs).

Within the non-coding portion of our DNA, one human looks much like another; but there are short stretches that vary a lot from person to per-son. Short Tandem Repeats (STRs) are sections of DNA arranged in back-

to-back repetition. That is, a simple sequence is repeated several times in a row. A short STR may look like CTAT CTAT CTAT CTAT. The number of repeats at STR locations is useful because it forms a type of fingerprint which varies from person to person. The variations in repeat counts are referred to as alleles. The location of STRs on the chromosome is identi-fied by markers like the YCAII I mentioned at the beginning. Out of the 67 markers that we test for, a few—like DYS385, DYS459 and YCAII—are called duplicate markers or bi-allelic markers because two values are present. It is common practice to combine the two values for duplicate markers into a single value (e.g., 19-23) for matching (genealogical) pur-poses. Studies of father/son mutation rates have shown that 96 percent of STR changes involve a single step in the repeat count with most of the remaining four percent being two-step mutations. There is another type of STR count change that involves a gene conversion where the 23-repeat count overwrites the 19-repeat count resulting in a 23-23 value at YCAII. This process of gene conversion is rare, and the Towne men are part of a select group sharing this striking event. Now let’s consider how this may have come about.

Some three to five thousand years ago in a cave somewhere in what is now France, a young man’s body was in the process of making some new sperm using a mechanism called meiosis. Half of his new sperm would have new Y chromosomes and half would not. You recall that chromo-somes are built from DNA and DNA consists of strands. Meiosis will make new Y chromosomes for the new sperm by taking apart existing Y chromosomes strands and then recombining them. (It is a little more complicated than that, but you get the idea of making new from existing material.)

Can you top this? continued from previous page

Towne RecLOH, continued from page 80

Towne RecLOH, continued on next page


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Our young cave man has existing Y chromosomes that at marker (location) YCAII contain genetic code repeats of 19-23. The YCAII marker is quite stable, so probably everyone alive at that point in time has 19-23 as repeat counts for these twin alleles. We can represent these existing DNA strands in the figure below, where the top strand contains the 19-repeat motif and the bottom strand contains the 23-repeat motif.

□ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □

▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲ Original YCAII

Biologists identify this pair as equivalent (homologous) but slightly different (heterozygous) genes. All of a sudden one strand of the young man’s Y-DNA at location YCAII is damaged just as the meiosis process is about to manufacture some new germ cells (sperm). We represent this damage in the figure below.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Damaged YCAII

▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲ The damaged area is where the 19 genetic code repeats (STRs) are located. The cause of the damage will never be known but the count is lost temporarily in that particular portion of that particular Y chromo-some. This configuration of lost data will not last long, because Mother Nature will immediately try to repair the damage by recombinational process (RecLOH). Recombinational repair causes the cell to copy the other strand, with the 23-count information, and insert it in the deleted region and we end up with the strand structure shown below.

▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲

▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲ New YCAII

Things are good now in this cell and in this Y chromosome, but during the recombination we lost the he-terozygosity of 19-23. As a result of the RecLOH event, this man now has one sperm with a 23-23 at loca-tion YCAII. Since YCAII is in a non-coding portion of the Y chromosome, the repaired sperm is still viable and ready for action.

Later that day our cave man gets lucky; and, wouldn’t you know it, the one sperm with the 23-23 also gets lucky and hooks up with a nice energetic egg with lots of mtDNA. A zygote is formed and rapid ex-pansion ensues. Seven days later the fact that the lucky sperm has a Y chromosome is detected and ac-tions are initiated that will result in a male vs. female baby being born. Every cell of this new baby will have a 23-23 at marker YCAII. The William Towne who farmed in Topsfield, MA, is descended from that baby boy and the 23-23 got passed down to him and all of his descendants.

RecLOH mutation events (gene conversion with overwrite) occur more frequently than SNP mutations, which involve a single change on one rung of the DNA ladder; but they, RecLOH, are much less frequent than STR mutations, which involve a single step count change in a repeat motif. The subject RecLOH mu-tation has a very slow mutation rate and appears across various surnames/geographical locations, all of which is consistent with an event that occurred thousands of years ago.

This article is admittedly a little bit on the technically complex side. Therefore, on page 88 I have listed some articles on the web that might clear up any questions you have.

Towne RecLOH, continued from previous page


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FINANCIAL UPDATE

Federal Tax Status Clarified

Towne Family Association, Inc., is now in compliance with new Internal Revenue Service regulations, clas-sified as a 501(c)7 social group. This means that, as long as our annual receipts remain under $50,000, we are exempt from paying federal income taxes. We are required to file an annual electronic tax return, which we have done for the year 2010.

At the annual meeting in Salem, many suggestions were offered and funds were authorized to bring TFA into compliance. Following the meeting, I researched and evaluated the various suggestions, and spoke extensively to an IRS agent. During this conversation, I found it was possible to apply for the 501(c)7 status right then over the phone, without submitting the long-form application. Since this meant a savings of $850 for the IRS filing fee as well as accountants’ fees to compile four years of detailed profit/loss state-ments, estimated at between $750 and $1,250, I took advantage of this option. The only drawbacks to this are that if we were to get any donations, which is a rare happening at present, they would not be tax de-ductible for the donor, and we do not qualify for a tax exemption from the U.S. Postal Service for the mail-ing of our newsletter. It would take many years for any potential savings from the newsletter to equal the up-front savings.

Update Of 2010 Financial Report

Linda Bixby Fulmer was able to redeem the certificate of deposit held by U.S. Bank when it matured in September. She has deposited these funds, $3,562.53, into our Bank of America account designated for restricted life member funds. We have also, after much time certifying our ownership of our other certifi-cate, originally held by National City Bank, discovered that this certificate was inadvertently deemed to be inactive, following the merger of National City with PNC Bank, and escheated to the state of Oregon. Dif-ferent certification of ownership documents were needed for Oregon, but these along with the claim form have now been submitted. Oregon holds “abandoned” funds forever, so even if it takes time to establish our valid claim, the money will be there. It should be noted here that our previous treasurer, Wilber Pur-vis, did not receive the required notification of the impending forfeiture, even though we have documenta-tion acknowledging that the bank had his correct name and address as the contact person. My husband, who is an attorney, has written to the bank on behalf of TFA, requesting an explanation of how this error occurred. Once the funds have been recovered, they will also be deposited into the restricted life member account at Bank of America.

—Elizabeth Hanahan


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Towne Descendants in the Civil War Era

WILLIAM HARRISON DUDLEY

By Virginia Towne

William Harrison Dudley was 35 years old in 1862 when the 25th Regiment, Connecticut Volunteers, was being formed. His son Gustavus was six years old. There was a daughter named Ella and another daughter on the way. He had married Harriet Amelia Frink in 1855 in Sutton, MA, and seems to have worked as a farm laborer, supporting his growing family. He personified the men of the unit who were deemed “young men impelled by patriotic motives” by commanding officer Col. George P. Bissell.

The 25

th Regiment was assembled in the fall of 1862, with the men arriving at barracks about September and then being mus-

tered into service November 11. William Dudley was assigned to Company D. The barracks were rough, and the food was not appreciated. The muster roll showed a total of 811 men, drilled and ready, but they lacked weapons.

On November 14 the men left Hartford and sailed to Williamsburg, RI. From there they walked to the racetrack at Centerville, about ten miles. Here they waited for the next two weeks and then were ordered to embark. Tents, baggage and supplies gone, Companies C, D, F and G, now the Second Division, were suddenly ordered to remain and go with the 26th Regiment later. Left in a driving rainstorm, the men sheltered in a barn with no straw; they slept on the bare boards. On December 4 they final-ly went to Brooklyn, arriving about midnight. Then the men had to find places to stay among the residents—no easy task.

On the morning of December 5 the men embarked on the steamer Empire City. The 26th were sheltered in the holds. The 25th were quartered on deck, a much-unappreciated billet in the December weather. This soon changed when the seas grew rough, housekeeping became difficult, and the odors in the hold built up. By the time the boat entered the Gulf of Mexico with war-mer weather, the men in the hold were the ones envious of the men on deck. They arrived in New Orleans on December 17 and filled up with tasty foods from the venders. Finally on December 18, they arrived at Camp Parapet at Carrollton, LA, and had room to stretch out and sleep, no longer crowded together on the ship. The next day they cleaned up and did their wash and housekeeping. On December 20 they were at last issued their rifles.

After receiving their rifles, the men were kept busy with inspections alternated with drills and with guard duty. This mono-tonous aspect of war was shown them until January 15, 1863, when they moved to Baton Rouge on the steamer Laurel Hill. From there the regiment moved up to Port Hudson, LA. On January 25 they got their first taste of battle, but this soon seems to have descended into a stalemate. A large number of men began to go down, sick with the constant change in weather. By late February, men were dying of “swamp fever.”

Food was also a problem. Hardtack and salt pork seem to have been their main supplies, but they were running short. Men started fishing, “confiscating” food items or scrounging for wild meat to help supply their needs. They missed books, reading the “Testaments” over and over; these might have come from the charitable ladies of Connecticut when the men signed up for service. Newspapers from New York were priced at 25 or 30 cents each, and the men had not had any pay in the time they were deployed. continued on next page

Harriet Amelia Frink married William Harrison Dudley in 1855 in Sutton, MA, and bore him three children. Dudley’s 25

th Regiment, Connecticut Volunteers,

fought north from the mouth of the Mississippi River in 1863.


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In March, the orders changed and after setting up a diversion, the army advanced on Port Hudson. The plan was to slip men and ships up the Mississippi to the Red River. The Red River and Vicksburg, MS, were the real objectives of this campaign. Port Hudson had been heavily armed and fortified in order to keep the Yankees from interfering with the Red River commerce with Texas, since this trade was very important to the Confederacy. The heavy fortifications around Vicksburg were part of this strategy. Both sides knew that taking the Mississippi River and the Red River would isolate Texas and allow the Mississippi cor-ridor to be used exclusively by the Northern forces and commerce.

On February 10 the regiment started marching north; they were detailed to skirmish duty. The next day, a man was reported killed in action, the first mention of a casualty caused by fighting. On February 12 the men witnessed the battle between the Confederate forces at Port Hudson and the U. S. Navy as Admiral Farragut’s forces tried to get past the area. The frigate Missis-sippi was lost and burnt; other ships were wounded and drifted back downriver. Only Farragut’s Hartford and the gunboat Al-batross made it past Vicksburg to safety.

On March 15 the men retreated back to Baton Rouge in a driving rainstorm. By now, their clothing was wearing out, adding hours of work trying to patch their trousers back together. The men were openly foraging for food now. The regiment now marched and sailed up the Mississippi, engaging in a pitched battle at Irish Bend, LA, on April 14 with 96 casualties killed and wounded. After marching to within six miles of the Red River, the regimental report stated that only 248 men were fit for duty out of the original 811 men. “Four engagements and 300 miles’ march in twenty days calls for proportionate suffering which cannot be avoided.” The regiment now returned to Port Hudson and finished their time until the surrender of the stronghold on July 8, 1863, under fire with attack after attack recorded by people who were there. The final casualty report shows that the regiment lost three officers and 26 enlisted men killed due to combat and four officers (including the doctor) and 61 enlisted men by killed by disease for a total loss of 94 men, at least one dying on the boat as they returned home.

On August 8, the return trip to Connecticut started. The survivors were mustered out at Hartford on August 26, 1863. Col. George P. Bissell said, “With very few and unimportant exceptions, they were of the best sort of men who were ever banded together for the defense of their country. They submitted to rigorous discipline cheerfully, they marched promptly and they fought bravely. A review of official records shows the regiment was complimented a great many times by Gen. Grover Birge for the promptness with which it always moved and for its bravery as shown time and again in battle and under severe fire.”

We have no description of William Dudley’s service, but we do know that he returned home and survived until June 21, 1887. He is buried in Ellington, CT, beside his wife, Harriet, who died in 1878. More information on this regiment may be found in the booklet The Twenty-Fifth Regiment Connecticut Volunteers in the War of the Rebellion, which was published by the Rock-

ville Journal Press, Rockville, CT, for the fiftieth anniversary of the Civil War. William Towne, Rebecca Nurse, John Nurse, John Nurse, Thamezin Nurse Bigelow, Abigail Bigelow Putnam, Lucy Putnam Dudley, William Harrison Dudley.


Heading south for part of the winter... The Smithsonian Institution’s Museum on Main Street travel-ing exhibition will be in Arab, AL, February 25—April 3 in Arab’s Historic Village. The exhibition, called "Journey Sto-ries," tells tales of how we and our ancestors came to America. According to the exhibition’s website, “Our history is filled with stories of people leaving behind everything – families and possessions – to reach a new life in another state, across the continent, or even across an ocean.” TFA Member Mary J. Casey of Arab plans to show an exhibit of the Towne family's journeys around the country featuring William and Joanna and their descendants. Arab is 25 miles south of Huntsville, known for its space and rocket industry, and 70 miles north of Bir-mingham. For more on the Smithsonian’s Museum on Main Street project, see http://www.museumonmainstreet.org/ For more information on Arab, see http://www.arab-today.com/

Under the weather... TFA Sunshine person Mary F. Towne had a heart valve re-placed in late September. She was in intensive care for five days. Husband Warren reports she is doing well with her rehabilitation, which will last into the New Year. President Hanahan has appointed the Rev. Barry Cass, TFA recording secretary and parliamentarian, to take on Mary’s duties until she recovers. If you know a TFA member in need of a cheering message, contact Barry: [email protected]


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This reprint of a story and recipe from the TFA cookbook, Best Cooks in Towne—printed in 1992—features recollections and ref-erences from an earlier TFA trip to England. Calligraphy above was by Ella Mae Towne Pero. Additional recipes will be regularly posted to the Members’ News section of our website, www.TowneFolk.com. Susan Yatsinko has volunteered to manage recipe selection for the website and newsletter, with the help of her daughter Rebecca.

From the travel journals of Linda Bixby Fulmer and Jean Warner

In September of 1990, 30 members of the Towne family toured England together. It was a wonderful genealogical experience, and sometimes an adventure in dining as well.

To begin with, breakfast in England can be startling. One is served a thick slice of grilled tomato with the bacon and eggs. It sits there on the plate looking rather out of place, and one does not know if it is for garnish, or if it is truly to be eaten. In Canter-bury, the scrambled eggs were mixed with a bright orange substance that was not cheese. We thought it was best not to ask. The most jarring thing about breakfast in England is the cold toast. It is always served in a little vertical wire holder that looks like a letter holder, and it is always cold and always unbuttered.

We did not have any bubble and squeak, bangers and mash, or toad in the hole, but we did have a number of real English dishes. We had Yorkshire pudding, which is not a pudding at all, but a kind of popover served with roast beef. We had fish and chips in London and found that chips are nothing but ordinary “fries” except they are served with vinegar instead of catsup. We could get a plowman’s lunch in the pubs and that was really quite good: a crisp roll, chunk of cheese, and a small salad. In the village of Braceby at a buffet luncheon provided by the townspeople, we had something called hazlet, a meatloaf/cold cut kind of thing made locally. There were a number of jokes going ‘round the table concerning what it was made from, but some of us tried it anyway. It was rather bland, and unobjectionable. At the Elizabethan banquet at Hatfield House outside London, we had the authentic sixteenth-century drink called mead. Most of us thought it was horrid—thick and sickly sweet. One traveler poured some into a small bottle to take back to the hotel to use as a cough syrup, as her husband had been suffering from a cold most of the trip.

English desserts are really memorable. A three-tiered dessert trolley is wheeled to the table following dinner in most restau-rants. One has a choice of six or eight different desserts. Once I called the trolley a “dessert wagon” and the waitress nearly fell over laughing. The English serve cream with nearly all their desserts, usually not whipped cream and, perish the thought, not Cool Whip.™ Just lovely, thick, sweet cream. It is poured on pie, cake, and all kinds of puddings including wonderful English Trifle. Cream was offered to us one evening when our dessert was a tasty fruit cup. One of the Townes was so puzzled by this she blurted out, “You mean on there?”

English tea, of course, is a marvel—always hot, bracing and always available, a comfort to body and soul. It was so easy to slip into the very civilized English habit of having a “cuppa” each afternoon at four.

Yorkshire Beef Pie Recipe from Cindy Strickland ½ to ¾ lb. ground beef 2 Tbsp. butter or margarine 1 small onion 1 c. milk ¾ c. cooked vegetables 2 eggs 1 10¼ oz. can beef gravy ( or 1 c. leftover)* 1 c. flour ½ c. water ¼ tsp. salt 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce 1/8 tsp. pepper

In large skillet cook ground beef and onion until meat is brown and onion is tender. Drain off fat. Add vegetables and ¼ c. gravy.

Put butter in a 10-inch quiche dish or pie plate and place in a 425° oven. Meanwhile, in small bowl, combine milk and eggs. Add flour, salt and pepper. Beat until mixture is smooth. Remove dish from oven. Pour egg mixture into hot dish. Spoon meat mix-ture evenly over top, keeping meat mixture one inch from edge. Return to oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until browned and puffed. Add ½ c. water and Worcestershire sauce to remaining gravy; heat and serve with pie.

*Gravy may be made from 1 c. water, 1 beef bouillon cube, 1 Tbsp. butter and 1 ½ Tbsp. flour.


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David L. Payne, age 81, of Kiel, WI, sister of TFA’s former genealogist Lois Payne Hoover, died September 10. He was born December 28, 1929, in Cleveland, OH, a son of Lester and Ruth (Springborn) Payne. He graduated from Euclid Central High School in Ohio and served in the U.S. Air Force from 1951 to 1954. On June 4, 1955, he married Shirley Baseler in Euc-lid, OH. The couple moved to Kiel in Septem-ber 1988 after serving as missionaries with New Tribes Mission in Bolivia. David was a semi-truck driver for various companies, retir-ing in 2001. Survivors in addition to Lois in-clude his wife of 56 years, Shirley; four child-ren, Peg Kulp of Huntersville, NC, John Payne of Sheboygan, WI, Patti Burkart of Plymouth, WI, and Karen Taylor of Palawan, Philippines; six grandchildren; two great-grandchildren, and many nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends. A memorial fund is being established in David's name for the Calumet County, WI, hospice program or Radio Mosoj Chaski (Que-chua Radio in Bolivia). William, Sarah, Hannah Bridges, Caleb Barton, John, Azubah, Mary Winter, James Cady, William, Guynettie, Lester Payne, David.

Meredith Akey Smith, age 73, a TFA member, died August 19 in Bayside, CA. She was born October 9, 1937, in Gilroy, CA. She graduated from Oakland (CA) Tech High School and San Francisco State University. After college grad-uation, she married her childhood sweetheart and in 1968 moved to Arcata, CA, where she worked for the Six Rivers National Forest and the Smith River National Recreation Area. In recent years, she taught genealogy classes at Humboldt State University’s senior learning program. In 2005, she and her husband at-tended the TFA annual reunion in Vermont. She is survived by her husband of nearly fifty years, Bruce Smith, their son Kenneth, daugh-ter April, four grandchildren, sister Suzanne Schwenke, brother Warren Akey, and numer-ous nephews, nieces, cousins and extended family. Memorial donations may be made to Hospice of Humboldt, 2010 Myrtle Ave., Eure-ka, CA 95501, or to Humboldt Area Foundation, 373 Indianola Rd., Bayside, CA 95524. William, Joseph, John, Bartholomew, Reuben, Reuben, Marcus, William, Rowena Creager, Nell Akey, Meredith.

Melvina Annis & Frank Maurice Rockaway, NJ Jacob Patricia Towne Brown Langley AFB, Virginia Jacob

Doris Fuller Dalrymple Valley Park, MO Edmund

Janice L. & Michael L. DiGiaimo Totowa, NJ

Jessica Hansen Canyon Country, CA Mary

Barbara Hazzard Paragould, AR Jacob

Above is a reproduction of a historic marker on the Towne-Treadwell Walking Path in Topsfield, MA, which was dedicated September 25. See stories on first page of this issue. For a bigger image of the sign, see www.TowneFolk.com.

Roxanne Town Miller Ballwin, MO Joseph

Charles J. Peterson Columbia, MO Spouse-Edmund descendant

Paul K. Soucy Boxford, MA Rebecca

Gerald & Christine Thiessen Bolivar, MO Sarah

Bradford Michael Towne Barre, VT Jacob

Billy L. & Dorothy C. Towns Bellville, TX Edmund

WELCOME, NEW MEMBERS!


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The Towne Family Association’s trip to the ancestral homes of William and Joanna Blessing Towne and many of their family members is drawing nearer! Tour leaders Karen Johnsen and Charles Farrow have been working hard to pack the itinerary with memorable stops. See page 82 for latest additions to the tour. Why not see these places for yourself? Walk in the footsteps of your ancestors; see where they lived and view some of the records that document their lives.

More than 30 of your Towne cousins are already signed up for the tour, and not many seats remain on the tour bus. You re-ceived all the details in the trip brochure mailed with your June 2011 copy of About Towne. The December 2010 issue of About Towne also contained the entire tour itinerary. Articles by tour co-leader and TFA consulting genealogist, Charles Farrow, have appeared in the last several issues with more information about important events and places in lives of our English ancestors. If you don’t have the brochure or the past issues of About Towne, don’t worry. Both the trip brochure and back issues of About Towne are available at the TFA website, www.TowneFolk.com.

REGISTRATION FORM

Yes! I/we want to join the Towne Family Association England trip Sept. 4-12, 2012. Please reserve ___space(s). I/we enclose deposit of $_____ ($500 per person). Make check payable to TFA, Inc., & mail to Linda Bixby Fulmer, P.O. Box 5026, Carefree, AZ 85377.

1st person _______________________________________ 2nd person __________________________________________ (Please print) (If contact info for 2

nd person differs, please provide it separately.)

Address _______________________________________City ________________________ State _____ ZIP ____________

Home phone ( ) __________________ Cell ( ) __________________ E-mail address _________________________

Member of Towne Family Association? _____ Yes ____ No (Membership required for trip participation.)

Descendant of which child/children of William & Joanna? Rebecca Edmund Jacob Mary Joseph Sarah

____ Non-smoker _____ Smoker List any disability requirements:_____________________________________

Accommodations choice: ____ Double bed for couple OR ____ twin beds for couple. (There are few queen beds in England.)

_____ Twin share with a friend. Friend’s name: ________________________________________

_____ Single room (single room, no roommate: add $500 to final payment). ____ Assign roommate for single traveler if possible.

Signature, 1st person ______________________________________ Passport expiration date, 1st person ________________

Signature, 2nd person ______________________________________ Passport expiration date, 2nd person _______________ If your passport expires before or during the trip, please renew now!

For itinerary and details, see www.townefolk.com and click on England Trip, or see December 2010 About Towne. COST: $2,250 per person not including airfare, hotel transfers, some meals as shown in itinerary. Sign-up deadline: April 30, 2012, when

payment is due in full. Travel insurance available for extra fee. Cancellations 90 days before departure receive refund of one-half of deposit.

Questions? Contact Karen Johnsen, [email protected] or Elizabeth Hanahan, [email protected]

http://www.townefolk.com/


About Towne 101

Documents

About Towne · Willoughby, OH 44094-7140 E-mail: [email protected] For newsletter address changes Cheers, Genealogist: Gail P. Garda 34 Old Stage Rd., Hampton Falls, NH 03844-2021