THE HISTORICAL AND GENEALOGICAL REGISTER. JANUARY, 1878. SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF WILLIAM B. TOWNE, A.M. By JOHN WARD DEAN, A.M., of Boston, Mass. WILLIAM BLANCHARD TOWNE, an efficient officer in the New England Historic, Genealogical Society, and the founder of the "Towne Memorial Fund," was born in Bow, N. H., Monday, October 12, 1810. He was the eldest of ten children of Jonathan Towne, of whom a biographical sketch has been printed in the REGISTER (ante, xxix. 326); and was descended in the seventh generation from William Towne, of Yarmouth, in Norfolk, England, who emigrated to this country, and after a short residence in Salem, Mass., removed to Topsfield, where he died about 1672. A genealogical record of this family, by the subject of this sketch, has been printed in this periodical. His mother, Clarissa Hoyt, daughter of Capt. John Hoyt, whose ancestry will be found in David W. Hoyt's genealogy of that family (see p. 83 of that work), is still living, in the eighty-eighth year of her age. She is a woman of remarkable vigor of body and mind. One, who remembers her in her prime, writes: "She had not a peer within my knowledge." William began to attend school at the age of five years, and attended it till he was twelve. He then remained at home, assisting on the farm during the summer and going to school during the winter months, till he was fifteen. When he was about twelve years old, he began to have a strong desire to strike out for himself and depend upon his own efforts to maintain himself. When told by his father that a boy of his age could not get a living among strangers, he replied, "If you will let me try, I will never call on home for assistance to the value of a farthing." The spirit of self-reliance and desire to try his fortune in the world increased as he grew older, and he persuaded his mother to use her influence with his father to obtain permission to make a trial. At length his wish was gratified. When he was sixteen years old, Dr. Josiah Crosby, of Concord, the family VOL. XXXII. 2 |