John Townsend (Norwich)


John Townsend was an early settler of the American Colonies who emigrated from England about 1630. Townsend was a signatory to the Flushing Remonstrance, a precursor to the United States Constitution's provision on freedom of religion in the Bill of Rights. Because of religious persecution under the Dutch authorities of New Amsterdam, many members of this family who were Quakers settled in Oyster Bay. There is no evidence in either Rhode Island or New York sources that John was a Quaker himself. John Townsend arrived in Oyster Bay in 1661 and it was there where he died and was buried in the Townsend Cemetery on his own land. Members of his family would go on to be distinguished leaders in the Oyster Bay community and on Long Island for centuries to follow.

Biography

Disagreement exists surrounding the facts of John Townsend's birth year, his parentage, and his arrival to America. The work Directory of the Ancestral Heads of New England Families from 1923 states the following: 1) That John Townsend was the son of Thomas Townsend and Mary Newgate He was born at Raynham Hall, Norfolk, England in 1608; and 3) His family emigrated to the colonies in 1637 when his father Thomas was granted of land with Lord Brook and others in the Town of Lynn.
While some disagreement exists surrounding origins, general agreement exists around other aspects of John Townsend's biography. John was one of the original settlers of Flushing, having been granted a patent by Gov. Keift in 1645.
He and his brother Henry Townsend settled there. Henry Townsend supported the Quakers which created political difficulties with the Dutch governor, Peter Stuyvesant, leading the Townsend brothers moved to Warwick, Rhode Island, where they became members of the Provincial Assembly.
In 1656 Townsend and his brothers again attempted to settle in Long Island, this time obtaining the patent of Rustdorp. Here too the Townsends came into conflict. John Townsend was a signer of the Flushing Remonstrance on 27 December 1657. Stuyvesant rejected the petition.
In the following year, 1658, Townsend moved with his brothers to Oyster Bay, which was out of the jurisdiction of the Dutch. Here he spent the remainder of his life, and died at Oyster Bay, in 1668.
He was buried in Fort Hill in what was to become the Townsend Cemetery in Oyster Bay, New York. A stone with marker marks this site, with the words: "This stone marks the grave of John Townsend who came from England about 1630, and settled in Oyster Bay in 1661. He died in 1668. And was buried here on his own land." Having no will prepared, his wife Elizabeth in consultation with John Townsend's surviving brothers Henry and Richard, and John and her eldest sons John and Thomas Townsend, subdivided his property among surviving heirs on 10 May 1671. John Townsend's wife Elizabeth died in 1684 and is also buried at the Townsend Cemetery