Individual Details

Robert Townsend

(Abt 1756 - Apr 1846)

Robert, married Vassalborough 1 November 1781 Ruth Sawtell (Vital Records), born Groton, Massachusetts 14 December 1759, daughter of Moses and Elizabeth (Merriam) Sawtell and sister of Nathan who married widow of Daniel Townsend #1, older brother to Robert. Records show that Robert lived in Vassalborough and remained in what is now Kennebec County up to 17 April 1816 when he and Ruth sold land to Moses Sawtell of Sidney as did other members of Ruth's family (Kennebec County deed 66:174). Robert engaged in numerous land transactions. In 1781 he sold land to Joseph Linnell of Barnstable who paid Spanish dollars (Lincoln County deeds 3:307-8). On 30 July 1784, he sold land on the west side of Vassalborough to Joseph Linnell (Lincoln County deed 23:173). On 10 November 1787, he sold land to Reuben Page Jr. of Sandy River (Lincoln County deed 4:49) and again to him 11 February 1789 when Robert was listed as being 'of a place called Washington' (now Belgrade) (Lincoln County deed 3:287-88). Robert was enumerated in Washington town in 1790 (USC) (Reynolds 307).

Beatrice emailed me in Sep 2009 and told me that the source Fisher & Fisher has been discredited as a source. Fisher & Fisher took the data supplied by the DAR. Robert Townsend didn't serve in the Revolutionary War. The Robert who did serve was born in New York. So the following note was removed from Beatrice's narrative above: Robert resided Vassalborough when he enlisted in the Revolutionary War as a private from Vassalborough, Deerfield, Massachusetts and Boston, Massachusetts where he was reported deserted (MS&S 15:923-33). [The DAR Patriot Index confuses him with the Robert Townsend of RI who served at Bristol RI and who is the only Robert Townsend listed in the 1790 RI USC].

Events

BirthAbt 1756
Marriage1 Nov 1781Vassalborough, Lincoln, Maine, United States - Ruth Sawtell
DeathApr 1846Scipio Township, Meigs, Ohio, United States

Families

SpouseRuth Sawtell (1759 - )
FatherDaniel Townsend Sr. (1727 - 1793)
MotherHannah Bibber (1732 - )
SiblingDaniel Townsend Jr. (1753 - 1778)
SiblingAbigail Townsend (1754 - )
SiblingDodivah Townsend (1765 - 1833)
SiblingRebecca Townsend (1767 - )
SiblingHannah Townsend (1769 - )
SiblingBetsy Townsend (1778 - )

Endnotes

1. Beatrice Reynolds, "Townsend, Bibber, Hastings," e-mail messages from (Maine) to Nancy Prouty, Sep 2008 & Nov 2009.

2. Janice., Email of genealogical research on Townsend and Bibber families. (Janice, 10/23/01.).

3. Reynolds, Beatrice Kay. "Daniel Townsend." Maine Families in 1790 v : 5 Maine Genealogical Society Special Publication No. 26 . Ed. Joseph C. Anderson, II, Rockland, ME: Picton Press, 1996., p 307.

4. Beatrice K. Reynolds, "Daniel Townsend, Sr. Early Settler of Pownalborough, Vassalborough, and Sidney, Maine and his Decendants in Calais, Maine," (, 2010, The Daniel Braman Chapter, National Society of the Daughters of the American Colonists; copy at , Victoria, Texas).

5. Beatrice K. Reynolds, "Daniel Townsend, Sr. Early Settler of Pownalborough, Vassalborough, and Sidney, Maine and his Decendants in Calais, Maine," (, 2010, The Daniel Braman Chapter, National Society of the Daughters of the American Colonists; copy at , Victoria, Texas).