Family of Obadiah and Frances Towson

Liberty Bliss 8:10 PM Leave a Comment
 Obadiah and Frances Towson

Who is Obadiah Towson? There appear to have been a number of Obadiah Towsons over the years, including  Obadiah W. Towson (b. 1793) and Obadiah George Towson (b. 1825), but the individual in question today is the Obadiah Towson who died in 1797 leaving behind a widow Frances.


According to Genealogy and biography of leading families of the city of Baltimore and Baltimore County, Maryland (page 784), Obadiah was the son of William Towson and Catherine Allen*, and the grandfather of the aforementioned Obadiah George Towson. The book claims that William and Catherine* had three sons, Obadiah, William, and Roland; other sources give their children as Ezekiel, Rachel, Dorcas, John, Thomas, Ruth, Catherine, and Charles, and say that William remarried Dinah Wilmot after Catherine's* death and the couple had a son, Abraham (from "The descendants of Henry Sater of Maryland" and "Notable Southern Families, Volume 1".) Further, although it is possible that he was indeed William Towson's son, he was not mentioned in William's 1772 will, which mentioned every other living child, making it unlikely that he was a child of William Towson. EDIT 12/7/21: Interestingly, in the inventory of his estate, his relations are listed as "Rolen Overy" (likely Roland Towson Overy, the son of Catherine Towson Overy, daughter of the aforementioned William, and Isaac Overy) and William Towson (probably the grandson of William Towson by his son Ezekiel). I stand by my claim that it is unlikely that Obadiah was William's son, as he was not mentioned in the will, but perhaps he was one of the grandchildren, Roland Towson Overy and William Towson both being grandchildren of the William who died in 1772.

As such, Obadiah's parentage and his date of birth are unknown. However, despite the confusion in the above cited text with regard to the children of William and Catherine* Towson, the book's next claims seem to be sufficiently documented. It says that Obadiah married the widow of a Revolutionary war soldier before dying in 1797; his body is supposed to be buried on the property at Saint James. Their son, James W. Towson, was a soldier in the war of 1812. But what else is known about Obadiah and Frances Towson themselves?

Most of what is known about Obadiah and Frances comes from the records regarding Obadiah's death. In 1797 Obadiah died intestate, and on April 15th 1797 Frances was named the administratix of his estate. As he left no will, Frances was required to file various documents with the court to handle the proceedings of Obadiah's estate, including the inventory of his estate, administration accounts, and orphan court records.

Included in the inventory of Obadiah's estate were four individuals, referred to as "negro man Tom," negro boys George and Bob, and negro woman Rachel. Although Tom, George and Bob were inventoried as objects, Rachel was referred to differently– under her entry in the inventory it was written "8 years of service, negro woman Rachel." This may mean that Rachel was indentured and not a slave, or it may mean that she was set to be made free upon the completion of 8 additional years of slavery. It is unclear and I have not yet located any records of manumission or a certificate of freedom for Rachel.

The administration accounts associated with Obadiah's estate were largely uninteresting, with the exception that in 1800 Frances noted that she retained $564 in her own name as the widow of the deceased, and an additional $1127.50 as the guardian of Charlotte, James and Henry Howard Towson, as their parts of the estate. A year later, only Charlotte and Henry H. Towson were mentioned as orphans of Obadiah. Yet, in the orphan court records from 1801, Frances was named guardians of all three children, and James was both alive and still a minor in 1801, making his omission confusing.
Obadiah was enumerated as head of household in the 1790 census. At the time, the household was said to contain one free male 16 & up (Obadiah), three free males under 16 (James, Henry, and an unknown), and two white females (Frances and Charlotte). No slaves or other free individuals were enumerated in 1790.

In 1794, Obadiah had a number of real estate transactions with a man named Henry Howard, including a conveyance from Henry to Obadiah of part of Gays Inspection, 3 acres" and "part of Gays Inspection, part of Stoney Hills, James' Beginning, Small Valley and Cullisons Choice, 183 1/2 acres." Significantly, Small Valley is said to be where Obadiah is buried, as referenced in the Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties record of Saint James near modern day Parkville, which appears to be been owned by Obadiah's son, James. Frances retained Small Valley following Obadiah's death, and was listed on the tax list of 1798. If there is was relationship between Obadiah Towson and Henry Howard, it is unknown, but it seems likely that the men must've been close, as Obadiah and Frances named a son Henry Howard.

One name mentioned in the administration accounts of Obadiah's estate was William Grimes, to whom a debt was paid out of Obadiah's estate. On December 30th, 1801, the widow Frances Towson married William Grimes, and in 1826, William Grimes mortgaged propertied in Baltimore City to Henry H. Towson.  Interestingly, it also appears that Obadiah and Frances' daughter Charlotte married another Grimes, though the relation is unknown.

What else is known of Frances? An online family tree on MyHeritage gives her name as Frances Deaver/Guthridge, but doesn't provide any sources. Another gives her name as Frances Towson, born Deaver. This is an interesting potential, as her granddaughter Margaret, daughter of James, would marry a Deaver. However, there is no conclusive evidence to as to what her maiden name was. Additionally, at least one source claims that Frances was the widow of a Revolutionary War soldier; if she carried either the name Deaver or Guthridge, it is unknown if they were maiden or married names. Little is known of her life before Obadiah's death, and nothing is known of her life following her marriage in 1801 to William Grimes.

As for Obadiah and Frances's children, a blog post has already been written for James. It appears that the other two Towson children made an exodus to Ohio– or at least, their descendants did. Charlotte Towson and J.D. Grimes were given as the names of the parents of Elizabeth Lourige, who died February 14th, 1913 in Washington, Mercer County, Ohio. Mrs. Lourige lived to the ripe old age of 91, having been born in Maryland on October 12th, 1821. It appears Lourige may have been a misspelling or an alternate spelling, as she appeared in the 1910 Census as Elizabeth Laughridge. Elizabeth Ann Grimes married William Laughridge on July 20th, 1838 in Mercer County, OH [source].

 During the War of 1812, Henry served as a private in the 5th (Sterett's) Regiment of the Maryland Militia. Henry H. Towson married Priscilla Crane on December 12th, 1815 (source). Henry appears in Maryland as late as 1834, but by 1838, Henry H. Towson appears in tax records for Hocking Township in Lancaster, Ohio (source). By the 1840 Census, the household was headed by Pracila Towson is found in Lancaster, Ohio. Enumerated in her household is one male age 15 to 20, one female under 5, one female between 5 and 10 years old, and one female between 40 and 50 years of age (Priscilla herself).
  • Female under 5 – born between 1835-1840 
  • Female 5-10 – born between 1830-1835 (Olivia Towson)
  • Male 15-20 – born between 1820-1825 (James W. Towson)
  • Female 40-50 – Priscilla Towson
This suggests that Henry had passed away by 1840. Priscilla can be found again in 1850, still in Lancaster, though now she can be found with a 17-year-old Olivia W. Towson who was born in Maryland. One household over is J.W. Towson (29, born in Maryland) and Margaret Towson (22, born in Ohio). Priscilla can be found buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Lancaster alongside her son, James W. Towson (presumably named for his uncle), James' wife, and two others named Willie and Olivia.

The known children of Obadiah and Frances are as follows:
  • James W. Towson (b. 17 January 1788) m. Sarah Root on 30 October 1817, d. 1832
    • Margaret A. Towson (1819-1891) m. William O. Deaver
    • Frances A. Towson (1823-1874) m. John F. Helm
    • Obadiah George Towson (1825-1900) m. Lydia Tyler Richards
    • Mary Ann Towson (1826-1889) m. James R. Ward
    • John (1829-1842)
    • John W. Towson
  • Charlotte Towson (b. 21 July 1790) m. James D. Grimes on 29 October 1812
  • Henry Howard Towson (b. 1788?-d. 1838-1840) m. Priscilla Crane on 12 December 1815
*I have found no evidence to support the claim that William Towson married a Catherine Allen, descendant of Oliver Cromwell or otherwise. William appears to have married 1. Ruth Gott in 1735 and 2. Dinah Wilmot in 1743. One of William's daughters, Catherine, married 1. a Mr. Allen and 2. John Overy/Avery, and she may be the origin of the claim that William had married a Catherine Allen. 

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