One Name Place Study: George Townsend of Columbus Ohio

Townsends of Franklin County OhioIt's once again time to investigate the Townsends of Franklin County, Ohio in an effort to find relatives of William James Townsend who was born around 1842 in Franklin County, Ohio.

The next individual listed 1880 US Census is George A Townsend. George indicates in this census that he was born around 1840 in New York. His parents are also listed as from New York and he says he was a merchant.

Other household members are Louisa Townsend born around 1840 in New York (parents also from New York).  They have a son Charles W Townsend, who is about 11 in their home. Charles was apparently born in New York as well.

At quick glance, this does not appear as close a relation as I would like to see. William was born in Ohio and several records place his parents from Maryland. George and William are around the same age so the different birth places would rule out the possibility of being brothers. Could they be distant relatives?

I continued to research George and found him in the 7th Ward of Columbus in the 1870 US Census.  The very difficult to read census page indicates that George, Louisa V, and Charles are from New York. George is listed as a tinner though an inscription of "Jour" is beside that entry but I'm not certain if it is a correction or second occupation.

I discovered a death entry for George in a ledger for Franklin County.

George Townsend Cause of Death
George Townsend Cause of Death
I was unable to read the above cause of death which began 3 days before his passing. The occupation listing for George is also difficult to read. He was either a Tinner or a Trimmer. George died 3 Jul 1900 in Ohio and his body was transported back to New York for burial. He was buried 6 July 1900
in Homellsville Hornellsville, Steuben County (update courtesy of Elizabeth Handler! Thank you.). Call me crazy, but that seems awfully fast to transport the body after death that far across the country. However, Google Maps says a modern route distance of around 378 miles. Maybe that wasn't too far to travel in 1900 to bury a body.

A few interesting facts are that George's son Charles had died in 1891 and his body was also sent to New York for burial. I also discovered the names of George's parents: Watson L Townsend and Annabelle Crane.

The ties to New York suggests that George is not a close relation of William. However, if I stumble across the names Watson or Annabelle Townsend, I might be able to establish distant cousin relations.


Previous Posts:
What I Know about William James Townsend


Additional Reading:
That's Everyone Now What?

Comments

  1. Linda StufflebeanJune 15, 2015 at 9:40 AM

    Death cause is "Enteritis" and the contributing factor is "Exhaustion."

    ReplyDelete
  2. Elizabeth HandlerJune 15, 2015 at 1:23 PM

    I agree with Linda on the cause of death. Also, note that the town in New York is Hornellsville (not Homellsville). It's in Steuben County, kind of near where my Townsends were (in Genesee County). I think it would be great if you could prove your connection to a branch of my Townsend family!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Devon LeeJune 16, 2015 at 4:25 PM

      Elizabeth, thanks for the comments and the clarification in New York. I keep hoping for a Townsend connection. However, perhaps this George is one of your long lost cousins? That would be cool as well.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Happy Mother's Day Lura Long

Image
When I think of mothers on my family tree, Lura Smith tops the list of those I look forward to meeting in the afterlife. She is the adopted mother of my Grannie,  Louise Eleanor Long .  Grannie adored Lura. Lura was married to Harry Howard Long (1883-1937). The couple married in Columbus, Ohio on Jun 19, 1907. They were unable to have children and finally adopted their first child in 1916. In May 1920, a baby girl was born in Columbus, Ohio to an unwed mother. The mother died of preeclampsia. This baby girl would become my grandmother. Upon her mother's death, Baby Anderson became a ward of the State of Ohio Welfare Department. She had a caseworker, Ethel Huffman Ackerman, who wanted to place Baby Anderson in the home of Harry Long. The caseworker was a friend and classmate (at Ohio State) of Harry's sister Elizabeth Long. As Elizabeth retells the story, Ethel received Baby Anderson's birth mother's history and felt that Harry and Lura were just the parent
Read more

Mystery Monday: Which Karlsberger married Charles Stahl?

Image
Genealogy is kind of addicting. Sometimes, I get rather lost in the branches. As such, I run into mysteries that I can't seem to solve from the top down. I figured the genealogy community is awesome and may have ways to help me solve a mystery. Otherwise, perhaps a Karlsberger from Franklin County, Ohio might stumble upon my blog and help me solve this problem. My potential 3rd great-grand uncle George Paul Karlsberger was born on 10 August 1825 in Bavaria. Another researcher suggested his connection to my 3rd great-grandmother Anna Magaretha Karlsberger who married Christian or Christopher Hoppe. Margaretha was born 29 February 1824. There are no definitive records linking George and Margaretha. And Margaretha's parents were not recorded, though parents for George were suggested. As you can see, I am about to head down a twig on the tree that might be gnarled, or legitimate. George Karlsberger had six children born in Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio to his wife Maria Elizabeth
Read more

Joseph Geissler: Coming to America

Image
The previous post about Joseph Geißler reviewed that he was born in Baden about 1836 and included a brief history of Baden, focusing on the political climate in the 1840s before Joseph's likely immigration to the United States of America. This post considers the migration process, even though I have yet to discover a passenger list with my relative on it. Perhaps you'll see why in reviewing this article. Coming to America Joseph's naturalization process was completed in 1858 when he was around 22 years-old. i The naturalization process generally took about 5 years from start to finish. He would have been 17 when he initiated the process in 1853. If he, and his family, arrived in America during the early 1850s, he was likely in Baden at the time of the 1848 revolutions and was a part of the migration from the home and.  The only question is where he would go and did he travel alone? The primary locations where German immigrated during this time period included: t
Read more