"Mill" John Townsend1

M, b. circa 1651, d. 9 May 1705
FatherHenry Townsend I b. c 1620, d. 9 Mar 1695/96
MotherAnne Coles b. c 1634
     "Mill" was born circa 1651 probably at Warwick, Kent County, Rhode Island. "Mill" married Johannah (?) before 1679 in Queens County, Long Island, New York. "Mill" married Ester Smith, daughter of Abraham Smith, after 6 October 1680 in the Town of Oyster Bay, Queens County, Long Island, New York. "Mill" John was the towns surveyor at Oyster Bay from 1686 until his death. He purchased his brother's share of his father's mill and operated it for many years. Ester was known to be a short, stout woman. She was a woman of remarkable energy and business talent. "Mill" departed this life on Saturday, 9 May 1705 in the Town of Oyster Bay, Queens County, Long Island, New York.

Family 1

Johannah (?) d. 6 Oct 1680
Child

Family 2

Ester Smith d. a 1749/50
Children

Citations

  1. [S124] A Memorial of John, Henry, and Richard Townsend & their descendants., page 33 - Mill John d. in 1705; page 193 - JOHN, son of HENRY 1ST. - It is not known who his first wife was, except that her name was Johannah. She died October 6th, 1680. His second wife was Esther Smith. He seems to have had much of the tact and talent of the family, in those days, for public affairs. He was one of the Town Surveyors from 1686 until his death, a period of nineteen years. At almost every Town Meeting, John Townsend at Mill is called on to perform some service for the public. He died May 9th, 1705. His widow lived until 1749 certainly, probably logger. According to the traditions preserved by Dr. P. Townsend, and corroborated by the Town Records, she must have been a woman of remarkable energy and business talent. Dr. Townsend says she fitted out a sloop for a trading voyage to Ocracoke Inlet, N. C., and started off with her son Micajah and her daughter Zeruiah. The cargo being principally cider, the sloop was nicknamed the Cider-Tub by the people of the village. The doctor does not tell us the result of the speculation, further than that Dr. Parish (who was, or had been, a surgeon in the Royal Navy) was of the party, and made himself so agreeable and useful that he captivated Zeruiah, who; page 194 - married him. He tells us, however, that Esther was a short, stout woman. John at Mill had issue, by his first wife, Hannah ; by the second, Hetty, Sarah, Zeruiah, Jotham, Micajah, Jonadab, and John.