Joseph Townsend was an early leader of Westland and Middleton MMs. He was likely born circa 1764 (the year that his wife Sina was born). He was the son of Francis Townsend, who was living in Bethlehem Township, Washington County, Pa., in 1788.
Townsend was one of the early Friends in the Redstone Settlement. He served as companion to Hugh Judge during his travels through Hopewell MM in 1782, and the passage in Judge's printed Journal was drafted by Townsend (Hopewell Friends History [1934], p. 103).
Townsend purchased land in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, and moved there prior to 1803. He was active in the Beaver Falls Meeting, which was attached to Middleton MM in 1803. It is not clear when he died. Sina and the children transferred their memberships to Westland in 1808, which suggests that Joseph Townsend was no longer living. However, when their son Abel was married in 1817, he was listed as the son of Joseph and Sina Townsend of Beaver County (certificates usually told if a parent was deceased).
Sources: EAQG 4: 63, 660; Hopewell Friends History 1734-1934 (Strasburg, Va.: Shenandoah Publishing House, 1934), pp. 103, 291. |
