She came with her Mother & Father on the Mary & John in l630 when she was 5 years old. She married Richard Lyman, Jr. when she was l6 years old. They lived in Windsor until l655 when they moved to Northampton, Mass.
Sources:
SEARCH FOR THE PASSENGERS OF THE MARY AND JOHN, VOL. 4
He lived in Yeovil, England.
Sources:
HISTORY AND THE GENEALOGY OF THE FAMILIES OF OLD FAIRFIELD
WILLIAM BEARDSLEY OF STRATFORD
He was a tailor.
Joseph was a member of Second Church, Boston & his first 2 children were baptized there. He was married 3 times. He married his first and 2nd wife in Boston, then moved to Charlestown in l698 and l699, then moved to Malden before the death of his 2nd wife. He was in Malden from l699 until l7l3 or later when he moved to Framingham. While in Malden his second wife died & he married his third wife, Sarah Atwell, our ancestor. He had 2 children by his first wife, 3 by his 2nd wife and 6 by Sarah Atwell. Of the 6 children he had by Sarah, 5 are found on the Malden Vital Records and the 6th is in Framingham. He died in Framingham & the administration of his estate was given to his widow, Sarah.
Ascertaining the parentage of Joseph Townsend has ben quite difficult as almost all records begin with him or end with him as a child. I have relied heavily upon the ESSEX INSTITUTE HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS, VOL. l9 & 20 for my information. There were 3 Joseph Townsends born in Boston. One to James & Elizabeth Townsend Jan. 24, l677; one to Thomas & Mary Townsend born Dec. 23, l665; & one born on the same day with his parents listed as Joseph & Mary Townsend. In the ESSEX INSTITUTE HISTORICAL COLLECTION, Vol. 20, "Sketch of the Family of Thomas Townsend of Lynn" by Henry F. Waters, he states that the parent Joseph's wife was named Dorothy & that the double listing of Joseph Townsend in the birth records as having a Father named Joseph was a copyist error. In Vol. l9 of the same series, he states that the Joseph Townsend born to James & Elizabeth Townsend died at a young age. In James' probate records funeral charges for 3 small children are mentioned. He believes these are 3 children born of his first wife Elizabeth Livermore; their lst son James being the only child who survived from this marriage.
Joseph Townsend, son of Thomas of Lynn, moved to Malden where his 2nd wife died & he married his 3rd wife, Sarah Atwell, there. To me, this would be the strongest case for his being the son of Thomas when taken with the other facts. The fact that the Henry Waters article & CHARLESTOWN GENEALOGIES AND ESTATES lists the same 3 wives for this Joseph further clarifies the problem. I have not had a chance to read a definitive genealogy of this family, however.
Sources:
ESSEX INSTITUTE HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS, VOL. l9 & 20
CHARLESTOWN GENEALOGIES AND ESTATES
HISTORY OF FRAMINGHAM, MASS, by William Barry
HISTORY OF FRAMINGHAM, MASS, by J. H. Temple
BOSTON BIRTHS, MARRIAGES & DEATHS
VITAL STATISTICS OF MALDEN, MASS.
NEW ENGLAND GENEALOGICAL REGISTER
VITAL STATISTICS OF MALDEN, MASS: BIRTHS
Jacob Townsend, son of Joseph and Sarah, Oct. ___, l703.
Sarah, daughter of Joseph & Sarah Townsend, Feb. 28, l705/06.
Priscilla, daughter of Joseph & Sarah Townsend, Jan. 7, l707/08.
Timothy, son of Joseph & Sarah Townsend, Aug. 28, l7l0.
Hannah, daughter of Joseph & Sarah Townsend, March l4, l7l2/l3.
Joseph son of Joseph & Judith Jan. 18, 1700/1701VITAL STATISTICS OF MALDEN, MASS: MARRIAGES
Joseph Townsend married Sarah Atwells, l702, Rev. Wigglesworth.BOSTON BIRTHS, MARRIAGES & DEATHS:
Joseph Townsend born of James & Elizabeth Townsend, Jan. 24, l677, Boston Town Record.
Joseph Townsend & Elizabeth Berry married May 22, l690.
She died Feb. 27, l693. He remarried Judith Woodman Aug. 9, l694, BostonVital Records of Framingham, Mass.
Jerusha, daughter of Joseph & Sarah May 29, 1717HISTORY OF FRAMINGHAM, MASS, by J. H. Temple:
TOWNSEND, Joseph, wife Sarah. Child Jerusha, born Framingham May 29, l7l7.pg. 724, TOWNSEND, Jacob, bo't land of Jos. Buckminster, and land near Moses Parker; was in Framingham l730; died in the service Oct., l756. He married Sarah ___. Children:
Sarah, born Sept. l2, l73l; Jacob, born April 7, l736; Mary, born Jan. 22, l738; Nathan, born Sept. 2, l742; Samuel, born Feb. 2, l744.
HISTORY OF FRAMINGHAM, MASS, by William Barry:
TOWNSEND, JOSEPH, and wife Sarah had in Framingham,
JERUSHA, born May 29, l7l7.
JOSEPH, of Southb. married Hannah Bruce, May 3, l73l, and had, in Marlborough, Lydia, born l73l; Joseph, l734.
JACOB, and wife Sarah, had in Framingham, l. SARAH, born Sept. l2, l73l; 2. JACOB, born April 7, l736; 3. MARY, born Jan. 22, l738; 4. NATHAN, born Sept. 2, l742; 5. SAMUEL, born Feb. 2, l744.CHARLESTOWN GENEALOGIES AND ESTATES
JOSEPH, Son of Joseph of Boston; born Dec. 23, l665; married (l) Elizabeth Berry, May 22, l690; (2) Judith Woodman, Aug. 9, l694, admitted Second Church, Boston, l694, and died Feb. 5, l700/l in Malden; (3) Sarah ___, prior to l703. Issue- i. Judith, baptised at Second Church, Jan l7,l696/7, ii. Judith, born Feb. 20 (bapt. 26) l698/9 here.
She was buried in Columbia Cemetery, Columbia, Marion County, Iowa. Maruah most likely left Ohio after her husband Richard Evans died in 1843. She left McDonough, Illinois with her 3 sons and moved to Iowa probably about 1847. Maruah was also a defendent on a land deed in the estate of her late husband John J. Post on December 5, 1846. This would place them in Illinois until probably 1847. It is possible that Maruah with sons traveled to Iowa with Joshua Twitchell and family in 1847 rather than her brother Ephraim Twitchell, who appears to have left in 1846. The Twitchell families spent the winter of 1847 near Council Bluffs, Iowa. Maruah must have thought herself cursed relative to marriage. Her first marriage to John Fuel, lasted less than 9 years, her second to John Colwell was cut short at about 7 years, the reason is unknown. The marriage to Richard Evans lasted about 4 years and ended tragically when he was killed while at the wheel of a steamboat by a drunken passenger. Finally John J. Post died early leaving Maruah after only two and a half years of marriage.
On October 11, 1843, John J. Post's estate was sold. Maruah purchased the following among other things from the estate sale: Loom & gear, kettle, 14 head of sheep, pickling tup, large chest, trunk, oval basket, 2 stone jars, 5 tin pans, bucket, vinegar keg, washing tub, mowing scythe, a speckled cow, 1 block, 1 bed and rolls, a coffee mill, and a mule. Other items sold were; sheep shears, 3 axes, 2 pitch forks, 1 spade, 2 scythes, 2 log chains, grind stone, 1 rifle, harrow, plows, fan, hay, sled, sleigh, stack of pots, red cow, wagon, brown horse, and 4 acres corn. The total came to $305.41, with the horse selling for $46.50, the wagon for $50.75, and the sheep for $21.00.