Isaiah Townsend to Peter S. Townsend

Open Access

Abstract

Isaiah Townsend relates to his cousin Peter S. Townsend (1796-1849) some of the information another cousin, Elizabeth Titus, provided about Peter and Isaiah's shared ancestor, Samuel Townsend (1770-1790) of Oyster Bay, and his family's experiences in Oyster Bay during the American Revolution. Attention is given to memories of the relationships their Aunt Sally (Sarah Townsend, 1760-1842) and Aunt Phebe (1763-1841) may have had with some Hessian officers in the area, along with the family's interactions with Lieutenant Colonel Simcoe of the Queen's Rangers. Also reported are accounts of the three times Elizabeth Titus saw President George Washington in person. This letter was partially printed in a footnote to Morton Pennypacker's book, General Washington's Spies on Long Island and in New York in 1939, at which point Pennypacker claimed the letter was about 90 years old. That date range also fits with when Isaiah Townsend and Peter S. Townsend were focused on correspondence about family history.