Considering the Uncertainty of This Frail and Transitory Life

 

As had so many of our ancestors before him, on May 26, 1877, Allen Townsend sat down to consider the uncertainty of his "frail and transitory" life—at least the part that still lay before him. He was not alone as he considered that future devoid of his presence, for the document he drew up contained the signatures of those several acquaintances whom he had called upon to witness his written wishes.

Allen Townsend's life trajectory—at that point, at least—was not as uncertain as it might have seemed. Within three years, that document would be called upon to put his affairs in order for one final time.

What I was hoping, in finding the Townsend will, was to capture any indication of how Allen was related to any of the other Townsends living in Madison County, Florida. All those among the elder Townsends in Madison County had, in one census record or another, reported that they were natives of South Carolina, not Florida. I wanted to find some sign of their connection.

An ancestor's last testament can sometimes provide us such a gift to guide us through an otherwise unexplained connection between family members. Sometimes, a wife's relative—often a brother—might be named as executor, for instance, to ensure that the widow received all that her husband had intended for her after his demise. The dying man, himself, might mention his own siblings among the details in his will. Even for those dying intestate, the monotonous reading through probate records might point out interested family members present to purchase treasured family relics from among the items in the liquidated estate.

While I had hoped for the same from Allen Townsend's will, his was not one looking backwards to those older than he was—nor even looking to any younger siblings. The closest I could come to family connections within the document was discovering that one of the witnesses had married a Townsend daughter—Josephene, who became wife of Benjamin Duval.

It was Allen Townsend's headstone in the family cemetery which so clearly indicated his origin in South Carolina. One step will be to examine what can be found concerning the Townsend family at the place of their stated origin, Marlboro County, South Carolina. Though Allen was somewhat older than the other two Townsends I have found in Madison County, Florida, perhaps he was not quite the oldest child of the parents I am seeking—if, indeed, he was brother of Delaney at all. Checking what records can be found on the Townsend family in Marlboro County, South Carolina, will be part of our tour of duty for this month's Twelve Most Wanted goal.

In addition, there are twelve DNA matches which connect descendants of Allen Townsend with my own DNA test, according to Ancestry.com's ThruLines tool. I am halfway through checking for documentation on those connections, and six matches provide a solid trail of records to connect those people back to Allen Townsend. Their connection to my test points in the direction of a relationship between my family line and theirs—but whether that is owing to Delaney's own relationship to Allen, or connection through another family line, is something I have yet to determine.