TOWNE FAMILY HISTORY

TOWNE FAMILY ASSOCIATION members are the descendants of William and Joanna (Blessing) Towne who came to America from Great Yarmouth, England and settled in Salem, MA about 1635. The couple had eight children and TFA includes descendants of both the male and female lines.

Three of William and Joanna's daughters, Rebecca (Nurse), Mary (Esty) and Sarah (Cloyse) were all victims of the Salem Witchcraft hysteria in 1692. Rebecca and Mary were executed. The witchcraft trials ended nine months after they began when the Colonial Courts recognized their grave error in the execution of innocent people.

Looking for other families? Our 9 generation tree contains nearly 3 thousand associated surnames. Click "Find", then "Surnames", then "9 generation Towne tree" to check them out. (Non-TFA members will instead see the Abbreviated 4-generaton tree.)"

Nothing But Our Best by Richard P. Towne, Jr.

Richard P. Towne, Jr. has sent this information about the book he has written about his grandfather. Additional information can be found in the March 2010 issue of About Towne.

Nothing But Our Best: What the Book is About This book is a two part tale of a company which the author's grandfather, Frank B. Towne, managed in Holyoke, Massachusetts for fifty years, intermixed with biographies of Frank and my father, Richard P. Towne, who became his successor. Interwoven with these stories are my own recollections of National Blank Book Company. A local news reporter describes it thusly: "The book chronicles the family's move from a printing business in San Francisco to a return to the East which included various stops in rural New Hampshire, Frank's parents home state, followed by future moves to Orange New Jersey, and ultimately to Holyoke, where, in 1886, the company was established. The reader moves from the family home to the factory floor, meeting local working class residents who came to Holyoke seeking employment in the mills that thrived here in the late 1900's and on into a large part of the twentieth century. It moves through the years to the company’s Board Room as its Directors wrestle with the decision about to whom the best partner would be as a merger is contemplated." Along the way, it recalls how the business and the Towne family coped with family deaths, the disaster of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire, the First World War, and the Economic Collapses of 1893 and 1929. National Blank Book was a leading innovator and maker of record books for offices, students, and household use for sale by retail stationers. The title comes from a speech made by Frank to his employees which is quoted in a book of remembrances given to Frank on the anniversary of his fiftieth year as the head of the business by the employees.

Where to Buy It

The book is for sale on line by ordering it from Odyssey Book Store, South Hadley MA

The Odyssey Bookshop

9 College Street

South Hadley, MA 01075-1465

413-534-7307, https://www.odysseybks.com/towne.html

There is also a link on the right side of the home page.