Townsend Family of South Carolina, Florida and Kentucky

Note: This genealogy is best read by first reading the Introduction below and then following the suggestions for browsing  and viewing these pages.

A complete version of this Townsend genealogy in a modified National Genealogical Society Quarterly system format is now available in book form entitled Benedictus Townsend of South Carolina (434 pages) Click here for ordering information.

Introduction

This is a genealogy of the descendants of Benedictus Townsend (1710-1769)and his wife, Lucilla Light of South Carolina. This genealogy focuses primarily on two of his four known sons. They are John Townsend (1740-1786) and Light Townsend (1745-1817), Revolutionary War patriot and soldier respectively, who lived in Craven County (now Marlboro County), South Carolina during the Revolutionary War.  The genealogy starts in 1736 with Benedictus Townsend in Sussex County, Delaware with his wife, Lucilla Light, daughter of William Light. Benedictus removed from Delaware to Granville County, North Carolina in 1750, and in 1764 removed to what was to become Marlboro County, South Carolina.  John Townsend (1740-1786) died in South Carolina. Many of his descendants moved into Georgia, Florida and Texas in the 1800's. Light Townsend (1745-1817) removed to Kentucky in 1788 where he died leaving many descendants. 

This genealogy is a significant expansion of our book Allen Townsend of Madison County, Florida that we published in 1991.   The expansion includes three more earlier generations back to Allen Townsend's, great grandfather, Benedictus Townsend .  

Readers familiar or unfamiliar with this family and its ancestry may wish to read the biography of Benedictus Townsend (1710-1769) and his three sons Thomas Townsend (1735-1796),  John Townsend (1740-1786) and  Light Townsend (1745-1817). Those biographies contain the evidence, our rational and conclusions for the relationships we show for these early Marlboro Townsend's.  Our conclusion is that Benedictus Townsend is the progenitor of the Marlboro South Carolina Townsend Family and that he is father to these Townsend's.  Many people have traced their ancestry back to Thomas Townsend (1735-1796), John Townsend (1740-1786) and Light Townsend(1745-1817) only to run into that proverbial "brick wall" because they could not determine their parents.   This work removes that "brick wall".

In the process of concluding that Benedictus Townsend is the progenitor of this family we also concluded that John, William, Benjamin, James, Rhoda, Mary, Thomas, and Light Townsend, who are found in Marlboro County records in the late 1700’s could not be the children of Light Townsend (1745-1817) as previous researchers had concluded.  That finding caused us great concern as some earlier researchers had convincingly shown that Light Townsend (1745-1817) was the father of these children.    This finding lead us to ask the question "If Light Townsend (1745-1817) is not their father then who is?" Further work aimed at answering that question resulted in our concluding that John Townsend (1740-1786) is the father of these late 1700 Marlboro Townsend's.  One needs to read the biographies of each of these Townsend's to find our evidence and rationale for coming to that conclusion.  

    How To Read This Genealogy

This genealogy is presented in a format that is intended to take advantage of the Internet and web browsers to make it easier for the viewer to read.     A good place to start (after reading this Introduction) is to read the page on Benedictus Townsend, then click on any of his children to read about them.  If there are + signs following the name of a child this indicates that there are children of that child on that child's page.   Another place to start is by clicking on "Descendant Chart for Benedictus Townsend (1710-1769)" you will be taken to a traditional family tree descendancy chart which shows all the descendants and how they are related.    By clicking on the name of any individual on those charts you will be taken to that individuals page.   There are pop-up pedigree charts on each individual that will show you that individual's parents and grandparents.  Also be aware of little icons such as a "camera" icon that when clicked will link you to a photo of that individual.   In addition there is the traditional index and master index for finding individuals.

Biographic and vital information is shown only for deceased persons. People that are still living are not included in this genealogy.  The source of our information is contained in abbreviated source footnotes with each individual.  The abbreviated source footnotes are linked to a full source citation.

    Acknowledgements

This work is the effort of a great many researchers who have generously contributed information on their branches of this family. Their specific contributions are cited in the footnotes and source citations. If you are a descendant of this family we would be most interested in adding your branch to this genealogy. Please contact us. One of our major research efforts is aimed at identifying all our cousins and adding them to this genealogy.

Compiling a family genealogy requires the collecting and comparison of information from numerous sources over a long period of time. Every effort has been made to document all major sources of information and to make this genealogy as error free and as accurate as possible. However, due to the total amount of information and the varying quality of that information it is bound to contain errors. The compilers would be most appreciative of being informed of any errors the reader encounters.

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Joe Burval

This page was created by John Cardinal's Second Site v1.9.9.
This Genealogy last updated on 29 Dec 2006