William Towne and his wife Joanna Blessing came to America in 1635 along with their children settling in Salem, Massachusetts. William was the grandson of Robert Towne of Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England. Three of William's daughters, Rebecca Nurse, Mary Estey, and Sarah Cloyes, later were to be accused of witchcraft in the infamous Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Two daughters, Rebecca Nurse and Mary Estey, were tried and hung as witches. The third daughter, Sarah Cloyes, barely escaped with her life as the people of Salem finally came to their senses and ended the trials. See The Salem Witch Trials for a chronological list of events during the trials.
Our line of descent is through one of the sons of William Towne and Joanna Blessing, Jacob Towne who married Katherine Symonds. A later descendant Elizabeth Town, daughter of William Towne and Mary Reynolds, married Joseph Jessup and their daughter Angeline Elizabeth Jessup married John Henry Sloan in 1829 before moving to Nashville, Tennessee, in 1840. Many of the families marrying with the Towne families between Jacob Towne and Elizabeth Town can be traced back to early families in England. I have provided a 15 generation ancestral chart for Angeline Elizabeth Jessup to show some of these connections.See Charts.
See Charts for my descent from Robert Towne of Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England.
Conventions Used in this Site
Each detail page on this site contains 25 individuals. At the top of the page in the left side bar you will find a table of contents naming the individuals found on that page.
If the surname of an individual is unknown, I have indicated this by a ?.
If the given name of an individual is unknown it is indicated by "Unknown."
Persons whose names are marked with this icon are direct ancestors of the researcher.
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