The Nathan Townsend Family
And
The Townsend Cemetery
Townsend Cemetery is located in the township of Floyd and the township of Marcy. Townsend Cemetery is named after the Townsend family who donated the land to be used as a community burial ground.
The first three recorded burials seem to have been of Dorcas, Nathan Townsend’s first wife, in 1811; of Dr. James Bradish (whose wife was a Townsend) in 1818; and of Rhoda, Nathan Townsend’s mother, in 1825.
Nathan Townsend, following the death of his wife Dorcas, married Dolly Haskin (Cadwell). Dolly Haskin (widow of Dan Cadwell) was an aunt of Eliza M. Haskin Stitt for whose husband Stittville was named, and of Harriet Haskin Raymer from whom so many residents of Stittville have been descended. It is interesting to speculate as to whether Dolly Haskin Townsend might have been responsible for opening the cemetery for burials of people not in the Townsend family. The first recorded burials of people not of the Townsend family seem to have been Dolly’s own niece, Harriet Haskin Raymer, in 1830, and her own grand-niece, Elvira Stitt, in 1833, both of whom lived in Stittville.
Nathan Townsend was born in 1764, while his family was living in Cornwell Bridge, Connecticut, presumably, after leaving Hebron, Connecticut. Shortly after his birth they moved on to Hancock, Massachusetts and then an unsettled wilderness, and became pioneer settlers in that area, where the father remained until his death. The parents of Nathan Townsend were Martin Townsend and Rhoda Ingham Townsend, both of Hebron. Martin was born about 1727. Rhoda Ingham, daughter of Samuel Ingham, Jr. of Hebron was born in Hebron, Conn. November 24, 1733, and was married to Martin Townsend, son of Jonathan Townsend of Hebron, October 19, 1753, at Hebron.
Nathan Townsend was one of the first settlers in Floyd. He brought his family with him and settled on the land opposite the cemetery. When he arrived in Floyd, only a small clearing had been made. He purchased 206 acres of land, mostly woods, of a squatter named Turner Ellis who had erected a log cabin on the same land. A few years afterwards, a tract of 415 acres was purchased from George Clinton, the first governor of New York. Mr. Townsend was supervisor in 1821 and served one term in the state assembly. Nathan was a Universalist and one of the most successful farmers in the town of Floyd. Mr. Townsend died in Floyd on March 30, 1854, in his 90thyear having lived in Floyd and Holland Patent since 1801.
Contributors of this article include Mr. William Blust, Neal Carrier, and the late Raymond F. Ball.