One Name Place Study: Perry Townsend of Groveport

Previously I wrote about the success of finding a relative by using the One Name Place Study method.  Let's continue investigating the remaining Townsends in the 1880 US Census for Franklin County, Ohio. There are four left.

As you'll remember, I am in the process of investigating 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 first of the final four is Perry Townsend born about 1855 in Ohio, with parents originally from Ohio.  Perry is working as a farm laborer.


Perry Townsend Groveport Ohio
Perry Townsend, 1880 US Census, Groveport, Franklin County, Ohio

Perry's household includes his wife Jane, also born around 1885. She's 25 years old and is keeping the house. Her parents are originally from Maryland and Ohio.

In investigating Perry, I could not find records with the name Jane again as a wife. I found spouses named Minerva J Selles, Jennie Townsend, and Louella Lindsay. I finally discovered a Minerva Jane Sallee in the death record for a son named Walter Perry Townsend. This piece of evidence helped me connect the variations of Minervas, Jennies & Jane into one person as I was quite confident Walter was Perry's son. Thus, Perry and Jane of the 1880 US Census had two children:

  • Lille May Townsend b 1883
  • Walter Perry Townsend b. 1887 

I believe that Perry married two women, Minerva J Sallee and Louella Lindsay. Minerva seems to have died between 1900 - 1910. Perry appears to have married Louella (Pickens) Lindsay in 1908 and started a second batch of children. His children from his first wife were married before he remarried and started having children with Louella. 

Now that I have taken Perry forward from the 1880 US Census, I wish to find him going backward.
I found a Perry Townsend in the home of Catherine Helsel in Hamilton, Franklin County, Ohio. Perry is 6 years-old. The instructions for the enumerator placed a significant order to the way the names appear on this census. Perry and the older Townsend named Milby aren't children of Catherine and her likely deceased husband who sired Elias Helsel. However, Catherine could be a relative (aunt, or some such) to Milby and Perry, and that's why they were taken in.

My spidey senses are thinking there is a strong possibility that Perry born in 1855 might be the brother of William born in 1842. William does not appear to be in any Townsend home in the 1860s and 1870s. Something may have happened to his parents and all of his siblings were scattered throughout the county for their support.

By the way... Groveport, Franklin County, Ohio and Hamilton, Franklin County, Ohio are roughly 11 miles apart! If only I had an 1880 plat map of sorts to show Perry and William's land/homes.

So, I'm still in the realm of inferential genealogy, but this is looking promising.

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