No Will — But Still a Way

 

Just when I was hoping to close in on a will for Benjamin Townsend, possible brother of my third great-grandmother Delaney Townsend Charles, I pull up a record which promptly dashes my hopes. From the court records of Lafayette County, Florida, where Benjamin's family returned to live after leaving Alachua County, I find this entry from June of 1872:

Whereas Benjamin Townsend as is alleged died Intestant having whilst liv[ing] and at the time of his death goods Chattels rights and credits within the said County to the end therefore that the said goods Chattels rights and credits of the said deceased may be well and faithfully administered....

With that explanation, the probate judge for Lafayette County appointed William D. Sears as administrator of the estate of Benjamin Townsend. Thus began my search for records of the proceedings of that business.

Frustratingly—and, I might add, something to have quickly taken as an omen of what was yet to come—the very page upon which that appointment was noted was interrupted by a torn section of the record. Looking further for any mention of what became of Benjamin Townsend's property—not to mention, his family—I discovered one page in the Lafayette County records which included what looked like Civil War era cross-writing, making the deciphering process all the more difficult. 

That page included a record of the names of some of the children of the deceased Benjamin Townsend. What is interesting is that the name of the presiding judge in this case also happened to be Townsend—David R. Townsend. Another brother? I'll add him to my growing list of Townsends who moved from South Carolina to this northern region of Florida, after continuing my process of muddling through the probate file for Benjamin Townsend, late of Lafayette County.