The Towle family is one of the oldest in town. By reference to an account of early settlements, on page 19, it will be seen that Elisha Towle came here in 1751. Some of the name have been here ever since, although not in the same family line of descent.
Elisha Towle is called Captain in the town records. His house stood a little north of where the late Col. Lyba Brown lived. Late in life, Oct. 8, 1794, he married Widow Amelia Welch, and died. The only children whose names we have found, were William, who remained on the home place, and Daniel, who lived near Governor’s pond where John Smith lives.
Ensign William Towle’s wife was Elizabeth. All other information we have is that a son was born Feb., 27, 1782, and she died July 12, of the same year, leaving this child, named John. This son went to Maine, in after years, and was killed by the falling of a tree.
Ens. Towle married, second, a woman named Abigail. She had been a school teacher in the Page, and perhaps other districts. She was a woman of more than common powers of mind. Some now living recollect her. At times, after 1815, she was insane. Then she was inclined to be away from home, visiting acquaintances. But these seasons were only temporary. The children were:
1. Elizabeth, b. March 3, 1788, married Silas Willey.
2. Amelia, b. Sept. 20, 1791, married Jeremiah Chandler.
3. Sarah, b. Sept. 14, 1792, died young.
4. Nathaniel, b. Feb. 4, 1794.
5. Elisha, b. March 7, 1801, married Susan, daughter of Josiah Brown, lived in the old house now standing near Ebenezer Prescott’s; afterwards moved to Maine.
Daniel Towle lived near Governor’s pond. Of his children, no full account is at hand. Jeremiah lived on the homestead, but sold and went to Maine. He was a man of large frame, and, as extremes sometimes meet, he married a wife uncommonly small in person.
Capt. James Towle was from Hawke, now Danville, and is said to have been a nephew of Capt. Elisha Towle. He lived on the place where Mr. Mack now lives, at the Branch.
Serg. William Towle was from Epping. It is said he lived on the north side of the town after coming here, near where Samuel West now lives. Afterwards he settled near the village, his house standing where the Willard house now does. He was a soldier in the war of the Revolution, and a man of great energy. He was a pensioner for many years, and died March 28, 1825, aged 85.
Serg. Towle married a daughter of Benjamin Prescott, who lived east of the Harriman road in what has since been the Blake field, afterwards just above David Pecker’s, on the south side of the road. He had a brother Philemon, hence that name in Sargeant Towle’s family. Mr. Towle’s wife died Nov. 25, 1820. Of their children, Philemon lived in town, then in Rumney and afterwards here again. William followed on the home place. Mrs. Asa K. Poor and Mrs. Luther True are daughters. Another daughter of Sargeant Towle married Mr. Bliss and went from town. Mehitable married Stephen Smith, and settled at Oak Hill. Of their children, only Oliver lives in town. Jacob, and Eliza, who married E.H. Giddings, live in Exeter. Irene married, and lives in Manchester. Dolly, William and Stephen have died.
Widow Mehitable Smith is the oldest person belonging to this town, but she resides mostly at Exeter. She will be 96 this year. Her husband was Stephen, son of Jacob, on Oak Hill. Elisha Towle was from Candia, and lived at the Green. Mrs. Dodge, a daughter, also lives there. Howard and Oren Towle were sons of Elisha.
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This is quite interesting to me. I have a list of six (or seven sons) and three daughters of William Towle and Elizabeth Prescott, including a Nathaniel Towle born in 1768, from whom I descend. This information here seems incomplete. Does anyone have any information to corroborate what I have?
Also, I once saw something posted about Sgt. Towle, that I can no longer locate. Among the items posted was that the DAR replaced his gravesite. But I have no information on where he was buried. Also, the same missing post says that he lost his hand in the celebrations after the Revolution. Can anyone confirm this?
Finally, this says that William came from Epping. But my records say that his father was Matthias Towle of Hampton. Anyone else examining this line?
Serg.William Towle was a son of Matthias Towle b 1707 d 1764 but his mother is a question. Many show the first wife as the mother which is wrong. Matthias’ first wife (m 1733 Hannah Jenness) was the dau of John Jenness who left a will dated 1740 naming William’s two older brothers (Matthias b 1734 and Samuel b 1736.) Matthias Towle b. 13 Aug 1707, Hampton, NH m. (1) 13 Dec 1733, in Greenland, Rockingham, NH, Hannah Jenness, b. 17 Mar 1712, Hampton, NH, m. (2) 7 Apr 1737, in Hampton Falls, NH, Hannah Healy. Matthias died 6 Sep 1764, Hampton, NH. Matthias Towle lived at Chester and Raymond, NH (Lindsay, 1889, page 369). Leathers (1975, page 1) states that Matthias Towle married Hannah, daughter of John Jenness of Rye, NH, and probably second Hannah Healy. She states further that he lived in Epping, NH.
“I found Matthias Sr. to be a very interesting character. None of the genealogies give much biographical detail on him. He was a tanner by trade. He was apparently physically quite strong and not afraid to use his strength. He was charged with assault for fighting with another man — the other man was on horseback and he was on the ground! He still managed to yank the fellow of his horse and administered a sound thrashing. Of course, he wound up paying a fine for his behavior, but somehow I think he probably felt it was worth it. He was constantly in court — either suing or being sued. I haven’t been able to go through all of the court records yet. There may be some more interesting tidbits in the ones I haven’t seen.” (Bagnell, Clark, personal correspondance, Fall 1999).
Children:
1st wife
i Matthias Towle. Leathers (1975, pages 1 and 1a) lists indicates that this Matthias Towle is one and the same with his father Matthias Towle, but the dates of birth of these three children do not support that.
ii Samuel Towle b. cir 1738, Hampton, NH?, d. 25 Apr 1796, Hampton, NH?.34 The children of Samuel and Rachel (Elkins) Towle are perhaps not in order of birth (Dow, 1893, page 1007).
2nd wife
iii William Towle, Sgt. b. 1740.
iv Zipporah Towle b. cir 1748, Hampton, NH?.34
v Hannah Towle bp 23 Sep 1753, Hampton, NH?. “Hannah Towle owned the covenant, and was bp. Sept. 23, 1753 . . . (Dow, 1893, p. 1004).
It should also be noted that William names his second son after his mothers father, Nathaniel Healey.
Children of William and Elizabeth (Prescott) Towle:
Mary TOWLE
Elizabeth Prescott TOWLE
unnamed TOWLE
Mehitable DALTON TOWLE b: JAN 1778 in Raymond, NH
Elizabeth TOWLE
William TOWLE
Nathaniel TOWLE
Philemon TOWLE b: 1766
Jeremiah TOWLE b: 13 APR 1772
William TOWLE was at the rail fence at Bunker Hill with Colonel Stark’s men. He had also been a Ranger or French-Indian Fighter during the Indian Wars. Stationed at the rail fence, they were the irst to engage the British and covered the American retreat.”
Descendants of Philip Towle: “He fought with the Raymond, New Hampshire volunteers at the battle of Bunker Hill. H. ret.. “They were the first to engage the British.”
William Towle, Sgt. b. 1740, Raymond, NH, m. cir 1765, Elizabeth Prescott, b 13 Feb 1743, Kensington, NH, (daughter of Benjamin Prescott and Mehitable Dalton) d. 25 Nov 1820, Raymond, NH. William died 28 Mar 1825, Raymond, NH. Did William Towle marry second Elizabeth Sanborn on 23 Oct 1780 in Danville (Hawke), NH? (Collins, 1993, page 179) William Towle was in several battles during the Revolution. He returned uninjured, but lost a hand in the celebrations. He served in Capt. Rowell’s Co., Col. Nathan Hale’s Regt. His gravestone, which was deteriorating badly, was replaced by the DAR, and moved from the old cemetary to the new cemetary in Raymond, NH. The Towles lived at Raymond and Chester, NH (H. Towle, page 59).
Children:
i William Towle b. 1760. The Towles lived in Raymond, NH (Leathers, 1975, page 1a).
ii Philemon Towle b. 1766, Raymond, NH, d. 19 Aug 1841, Raymond, NH. Philemon Towle lived in Raymond, NH, Rumney, NH and then again in Raymond (Fullonton, 1875, page 321). Leathers (1975, page 1a) indicates that he lived in Ellsworth, NH.
iii Nathaniel Towle b. 1768.
iv Jeremiah Towle b. 3 Apr 1772, Raymond, NH?, d. 6 Jul 1855, Dover, NH. Jeremiah Towle purchased land in Wolfeboro, NH in 1820. He and his sons cleared land and farmed there for many years. He spent the latter part of his life in the village. He died in Dover, NH at the home of his son Levi (H. Towle, n.d., p. 125).
v Elizabeth Prescott Towle b. 1775.
vi Mehitable Dalton Towle b. 1777.
It’s good to meet another cousin, especially one descended from Sgt. William Towle who knows the value of that relationship. I have copies of his Revolutionary War pension papers and have visited his grave at Old Pine Grove Cemetery. What other info I have about him came from Fullonton’s book on Raymond, New Hampshire, Herbert Towle’s handwritten manuscript at the New Hampshire Historical Society, and a copy of a 1762 deed conveying land in Epping which he bought from his father, Matthias and sold to William Straw, which is signed by both William and his wife Elizabeth. Glad to share copies of any of it with you, although the copy of the deed is in Florida and I don’t return there until the end of October. My Towle gedcom is now on the Ancestry World Tree if you want a copy of it. Let’s keep in touch. Lorelei
My records show that Sgt. William b. 1740 was from Epping not Raymond and that appears to be confirmed in several places and that he was married only once to Elizabeth Prescott.
My info also shows that the William Towle (Ensign) who married Elizabeth Sanborn was the s/o Capt. Elisha Towle of Raymond, not the s/o Matthias Towle. I also have that perhaps this William was married 3 times first to Elizabeth Sanborn, then an Abigail Unknown and then a 3rd unknown. This is also substantiated by the above.
I’m not of this family but have been working on all of this for quite some time (20 years). I’m not saying mine right just that it’s different from some of the information here.
This information is very confusing. I don’t have any record of Sgt. William Towle that married Elizabeth Prescott never having a brother named Philomen. He had a son named Philomen b. 1766 but I can find no record of a brother named Philomen.
Oops — one more thing. It is very likely that the Elisha Towle of Raymond listed first above as coming to Raymond in 1751 was the one b. 1730 to Caleb Towle and Elizabeth Prescott. This Elisha married an Elizabeth Brown in 1753. Given that the Raymond Elisha lived near a Col. Brown: “His house stood a little north of where the late Col. Lyba Brown lived.” This is a compelling coincidence. AND, this Elisha had a son named William (and also a son, Caleb) who married first Elizabeth Sanborn. William & Elizabeth also had a son (as per above) named William who married a Betsy Runnells/Rundlett.