Martin of Watertown, Massachusetts is the earliest known ancestor. Research done a century ago claimed he belonged to the landed-gentry family in Hinton in the Hedges, Northamptonshire, England however he is not found in any records relating to this family. Martin described himself as a weaver and recent research indicates that Martin came from a family of weavers from the West Riding of Yorkshire, an area with a long history of weaving with many families named Townsend or Townend, particularly north of Halifax.

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