My great-great-great-grandfather, Charles Towson, was the youngest of six children born to Charles and Mary "Polly" McClung. Charles Sr. died in 1848, and Polly died in 1850. The two eldest children, John Thomas (1828-????) and Margaret (1830-1830), are thought to have died in childhood. So what happened to the other four children?
Family lore says that after the death of their parents, the Towson children went to live with their mother's sister Ann "Nancy" McClung, who married James Christie. The Christies lived in the second census district in Harford County, where James worked as the manager of the Harford Furnace. In the 1850 Census, their household contained James and Ann (both 36), their daughters Margaret A. (15) and Mary J. (4), and sons John W. (10), Thomas W. (8) and James M(cClung, 1). They also had a handful of laborers living with them.
Family lore says that after the death of their parents, the Towson children went to live with their mother's sister Ann "Nancy" McClung, who married James Christie. The Christies lived in the second census district in Harford County, where James worked as the manager of the Harford Furnace. In the 1850 Census, their household contained James and Ann (both 36), their daughters Margaret A. (15) and Mary J. (4), and sons John W. (10), Thomas W. (8) and James M(cClung, 1). They also had a handful of laborers living with them.
No sign of the Towson children living with the Christies– but in January 1851, Rosanna Towson married Joseph Lee at Spesutia Church (also known as St. George's Parish), which is not far from the Furnace. In 1860, an Edward Towson (b. 1837) born in 1835, MD, was living in Abingdon in Harford County and working as a farm hand. A married woman, Rosanna is living in the city with her husband and their three children. Neither Charles (b. 1838) nor Richard (b. 1834) can be found in the 1860 Census, but is known that Charles was serving in the marines at the time.
In late 1858, Charles enlisted in the U.S. Marines in Washington, D.C. He served on the sloop Lancaster. During his time at sea, Charles spent a good deal of it ill. By March 1860 he was admitted to the marine hospital in Brooklyn, New York.
Starting in 1863, we find Charles and Edward both living together at 65 Alice Ann Street when they are both registered for the draft of the Civil War. This likely had something to do with Charles's marriage to Frances Tarr, which occurred July 26th of that year (when Frances's father was hospitalized in 1864, their nearest post office was on Alice Ann). Charles's enlistment for the 1st Maryland Regiment, Company B was included in the draft registration document, as was his discharge on May 18th, 1862. No service was recorded for Edward and his occupation is listed as laborer.
In the 1870 Census, Edward Towson, 28 years old, is living in the household of James Stafford. Edward was working as a laborer in the White Lead works. Six families further along in the census we find Charles, his wife Frances, and their six month old son Charles W. The White Lead Works factory where Edward worked was located in the Locust Point neighborhood, where the Towson brothers lived throughout the 1870s and into the 1880s and, in Edward's case, into the 1890s as well.
After that, Edward disappears with no trace and no obituary. What happened to Edward? Did he die or move? Around the time Charles stops appearing in the city directory, he and his family moved to Philadelphia to work at the Bethlehem Steel Mill there. Charles moved back to Baltimore in the early 1900s, but still no sign of Edward.
Rosanna Lee passed away November 30th, 1886 and was buried in Baltimore Cemetery, where Charles and Frances would later be buried. Is Edward buried somewhere on Baltimore Cemetery's 60 acres? And what about the elusive Richard? Did he survive adolesence?
So many questions, so few answers.
0 comments:
Post a Comment