Towne · ◉ direct ancestor
♂Jacob Towne
Died 1704, Topsfield, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America.
Jacob Towne (died 27 November 1704) was a farmer of Topsfield, Massachusetts, and the brother of Rebecca Nurse and Mary Esty, who were hanged as witches at Salem in 1692. He was the eighth great-grandfather of Nancy Jane Blanchard (1929–2006), through his daughter Katherine Towne (1662–1714).
Life
Jacob was a son of William Towne and his wife Johanna Blessing, and was christened at Great Yarmouth in Norfolk early in 1631/32: the index of the town’s parish registers gives 11 February, a compiled genealogy 11 March, and the register page itself is too faint to settle the day. The family had crossed to New England by 1640 and moved from Salem to Topsfield. When his father’s small estate was finally settled in 1682/3, the heirs asked the court to divide the land equally among “his three sons, Edmond, Jacob and Joseph” and the household goods among the three daughters, Rebecka, Mary and Sarah. Jacob signed the agreement himself; his sisters and their husbands made their marks.
A history of Topsfield records that Jacob and his brother Edmund were commoners of the town by 1661, and that in December 1656 the two brothers together paid William Howard £150 for a farm of fifty acres. His land lay near what is now Hill Street, next to that of John Curtis.
He married Katherine Symonds, daughter of John Symonds of Salem, on 26 June 1657. The Topsfield records enter the births of their children, among them John in 1658, Jacob in 1659/60 and Katherine in 1661/2, who married Elisha Perkins.
1692
In the spring of 1692 the witchcraft accusations at Salem Village reached three of Jacob’s sisters. Rebecca Nurse was hanged in July and Mary Esty in September; Sarah Cloyce was imprisoned but not tried. The records do not say what part Jacob took in their defence. In 1678 he had given evidence in the settlement of his brother Edmund’s estate.
Death
The Topsfield records enter the death of “Jacob, Ensign” on 27 November 1704. His son of the same name was also living in Topsfield, and the entry is taken to be the father’s on the strength of the title; this is an inference.
Parents
◉ William Towne –1673 and ◉ Johanna Blessing –1683 their family
Spouses and children
- Married 26 Jun 1657 to ◉ Katherine Symonds
family page
- ◉ Katherine Towne 1662–1714
Stories
- Rebecca Nurse, Mary Esty and Sarah Cloyce, three daughters of William Towne accused of witchcraft in 1692, and the line that runs from their brother Jacob down to Nancy Jane Blanchard.
Recorded events
| Event | When | Where | Evidence ?on record - the original document has been read from a compiled source - an index, a printed genealogy or a memorial page says so not yet documented - in the family record, no source attached yet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baptism 11 Feb 1631/2 per the index; register image 106 unclear - possibly 2 Feb or 11 Mar (owner's reading) |
11 Feb 1632 | Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England | from a compiled source |
| Death | 27 Nov 1704 | Topsfield, Essex, Massachusetts Bay Colony, British Colonial America | on record |
Sources
- England, Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 - Jacob Towne, Great Yarmouth, 11 Feb 1631 — Baptism
- Vital Records of Topsfield, Massachusetts, to the End of the Year 1849 (Topsfield Historical Society, 1903) — Death
Borders as they stood about 1650 (they follow the event under the mouse), from the historical-basemaps project, the Newberry Library's Atlas of Historical County Boundaries (states and territories, 1783 on) and Natural Earth; the colonies and provinces are drawn along today's lines.
Line of descent
- William Towne –1673
- Johanna Blessing –1683
Descendants
- Katherine Towne 1662–1714
- Thomas Perkins 1681–1761
- Thomas Perkins –1794
- Mary Perkins 1758–1845
- Thomas Perkins –1794
- Thomas Perkins 1681–1761