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RHODE ISLAND
The Townsend Family, of which Mrs. Chace is a
member, has been prominently identified with Newport since the beginning of the
eighteenth century.
Townsend - Townshend Arms -- Azure a chevron, ermine between three escallops
argent.
Crest -- A stag proper.
Supporters -- Dexter, a stag sable. Sinister, a greyhound argent.
Motto -- Haec generi incrementa fides.
Descendants of the founders of the Newport line, Job and Rebecca Townsend, have
been leaders in the life of the community for several generations. The
late Christopher Townsend, a noted merchant of New York City prior to the Civil
War, and a financier and philanthropist, was a member of the Newport Townsend
family. He was most generous in his gifts to this native city, and among
his gifts made either during his lifetime or by the terms of his will were
$10,000 to the endowment fund for the Home for the Aged; $100,000 for the Home
for Friendless Children; and $100,000 for the People's Library.
(I) Job Townsend, the first of the direct line of whom we have authentic
data, was a resident of Newport, and appears on the vital records of the town at
the beginning of the eighteenth century. He married Rebecca -----, and
they were the parents of seven children, among them Job, mentioned below.
(II) Job (2) Townsend, son of Job (1) and Rebecca Townsend, was born in
Newport, R. I., and resided there all his life, a prosperous and respected
member of the community. He married, May 31, 1753, Deborah Taylor,
daughter of Peter and Thankful Taylor. Among their children was Job
Edmund, mentioned below.
(III) Job Edmund Townsend, son of Job (2) and Deborah (Taylor) Townsend,
was born in Newport, R. I. He learned the trade of cabinet maker, which he
followed for several years. He also served in an official capacity in the
Newport Custom House for a considerable period. He married Mary Clarke
Allen, and they were the parents of Edmund J., mentioned below.
(IV) Edmund J. Townsend, son of Job Edmund and Mary Clarke (Allen)
Townsend, was a lifelong resident of Newport, R. I., where for over fifty years
he engaged in sailmaking. He married (first) April 12, 1830, Mary Louise
Ford, and they were the parents of a son, William Ford. He married
(second) Abby H. Sherman. The children of this marriage were: 1.
Mary Louise, who died unmarried. 2. Wealthy Moore, who married John JG.
Weaver, Jr., of Newport. 3. Sarah Hull, mentioned below. 4. Abby
Catherine, married Samuel M. Blatchford, of New York, and is now deceased.
5. Susan, died at the age of four years.
(V) Sarah Hull Townsend, daughter of Edmund J. and Abby H. (Sherman)
Townsend, was born in Newport, R. I., October 15, 1844. She married, April
10, 1872, Amasa Manton Chace, of Newport.
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