Obadiah W. Towson, Silversmith

Obadiah Wilkinson Towson born circa a 1788-1793 in Baltimore, and was a silversmith in Baltimore and Philadelphia in the early 1800s. He was an apprentice to Charles L. Boehme, at least as of April 30th, 1806. [source]

Family of William Oliver Towson and Elmira Reynolds

William Oliver Towson and Elmira Reynolds

William Oliver Towson (1817-1893) was born in Philadelphia, PA. According to his death certificate, he was 76 years old on the date of his death on June 3rd, 1893 and had lived in Baltimore for 60 years. His wife, Elmira Reynolds, was born about 1830. Elmira S. Reynolds was granted letters testamentary for William's estate in June 1893. The family can be found in the following United States Federal Censuses: 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1920.

Family of James W. Towson and Sarah Root

 James W. Towson and Sarah Root

James W. Towson, solider in the war of 1812, was the son of Obadiah and Frances Towson. Born January 17th, 1788 in St. John's Parish, he married Sarah Root of Berks County, PA on October 30th, 1817 at the age of 29. The union would last 15 years, until James's death in 1832. Sarah would outlive her husband by several decades, dying sometime after the census was taken in 1860. The children of James W. Towson and Sarah Root were Margaret A. (1819-1891), wife of  William O. Deaver; Frances A. (1823-1874), wife of John F. Helm; Obadiah George (1825-1900); Mary Ann (1826-1889), wife of James R. Ward; John (1829-1842) and John W. Towson (dates unknown).

Family of Obadiah G. Towson and Lydia T. Richards

Obadiah George Towson

Obadiah George Towson was born August 23, 1825 to James W. Towson and Sarah Root, and was likely named for his grandfather Obadiah Towson. He married married Lydia Tyler Richards (born Nov 17 1829), the daughter of Mundator Tracy Richards and Mary Tyler, of Preston, Connecticut.

Estelle Towson, Woman of Renown

In my last post, I was investigating the family of Charles Towson, a prominent hatter and Methodist in Baltimore. I couldn't find this Towson family in the census for 1850 or 1870, but while doing research for an entirely different matter when I stumbled upon a scandal that occurred in the mid and late 1880s. The figures were Charles's daughter Estelle, her husband Edward Kirkland, and the son of a former judge from Cumberland, George A. Pearre.

Unrelated Towsons

In genealogy research, sometimes you have to research a person to confirm that they aren't the relative that you're looking for. Instead of putting that information to waste, I've decided to share information I've collected on "unrelated" Towsons here. You can find more under the tag "unrelated Towsons."

Charles Towson, Hatter

Doing research for a family named Towson that lived in Baltimore city can be a nightmare, especially when there are more than one Charles Towsons roaming around. I wanted to identify each of the individuals so that I could know when I was looking at a relative and when I wasn't. One of the most interesting individuals I came across is Mr. Charles Towson, Hatter.

Family of Jehu J. Towson and Mary E. Walker

Jehu Towson Sr. was likely the Jehu J. Towson who married Mary E. Walker September 18 1851 (source). The couple had at least the following children: William W. (born June 7 1852), James H. born October 1854, Jehu F. born November 1858, and Ella O. (born August 1861), who married George W. Smith (born July 1870). Jehu Jr. and Ella were listed in the household of their brother James H. Towson in the 1900 Census.

Family of James F. Towson and Louisa Barker

Family of James F. Towson and Louisa Barker

James Franklin Towson, born 1822, was the son of Joshua Towson and Mary Ferrel. He married Louisa Barker, daughter of William Barker, on April 6th 1841 or April 8th 1842 at the First Methodist Episcopal Church in Baltimore.

The Family of Jacob Tolley Towson and Henrietta M. Bishop

I have no known relation to this Towson family. I am posting this information for the benefit of other Towson family researchers. I hope this helps someone make their family connections!

buried babies

My third great grandparents, Charles Towson and Frances Tarr, had ten children. Four of these children died in infancy or childhood and are buried in the same plot, 481 FF in Baltimore Cemetery.

Those children are:
William (born abt. February 1868, died abt. December 1868)
James (born abt. Feb 1868, died abt. July 1868)
Sarah Ellen (born Sept. 9, 1876, died Mar. 27, 1881)
Henry "Harry" (born abt. Mar 1880, died abt. Sept 1880)

I have had the best luck finding evidence of Sarah Ellen's life and death. Baltimore City began recording births and deaths in 1875, the year before her birth, and I have both her birth and death certificates. She also appears in the 1880 United States Census, which also shows younger brother "Harry" at age three months.

The only evidence I have for Harry is, in fact, this census. There does exist a burial record for a "Henry" Towson at Baltimore Cemetery, alongside Sarah Ellen. In addition, a pension record of Charles has him list all of his children, and although he cannot give birth or death dates, he gives his son's name as Harry.

The information about William and James's lives is even more sparse. Neither one of them lived long enough to have been recorded in the 1870 Census. But two infant Towsons were buried in 1868; an James in July 1868, and an unnamed infant Towson in December of that year. Cemetery records list James as being four months old at the time of his burial, and the unnamed infant (who could only be William) as being nine months old, meaning that they were most likely twins born in February.

I've been to the FF area of Baltimore Cemetery, in the very back left corner of the cemetery. The area is sparsely decorated with headstones, and there are none in the area where the Towson children are supposed to be buried– either for them, or the four unknowns also buried in the lot with them (William H Busby, Annie Busby, Mary J Busby, and James Busby). One of my dreams is to buy a headstone for these four long deceased relatives of mine. But before I do that, I'm hoping to find actual birth and death dates for the three boys. I'd like to be able to remember them as best as possible. Their lives may have been short, but that doesn't mean they weren't important.

Towsons and Townsends in the Baltimore City Death Index

Available through the Maryland State Archives is the Vital Records Indexing Project, which contains digitized death record indices from 23 counties for 1898-1944, and for Baltimore City 1875-1972. Baltimore City was the first to start recording records of deaths on a large scale. The periods of 1875-1880 and 1943-1949 can be searched, but for dates outside of these ranges, you must look at PDF scans of the original paper death record indices.

introducing the towsons

I feel like genealogists often have a "main family" that spurs their interest, that family name that they always come back to. For a lot of folks that main family seems to be the surname that they were born with. For me, my interest lies in my mother's family name.

finding the von niedas

A few weeks ago, my friend Chanel and I were shopping on the Avenue in Hampden. For those who haven't visited, Hampden is a bit of hipster heaven in Baltimore. Along West 36th Street, also known as the Avenue, is home to a variety of restaurants, boutiques, and my favorite, antique shops.

the union orphan asylum in baltimore

In addition to fashion and photography, I'm a big fan of genealogy. Late last night I was going through some unfiled records that I retrieved during my last visit to NARA in DC, and I rediscovered mention of a distant relative spending time at a Baltimore orphanage in the 1870s.