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Below is a family biography included in The History of Dyer County, Tennessee published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1887. These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary. Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more. There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.
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R. W. Townsend, one of the energetic business men in Newbern, engaged in the livery business, was born in Lunenburg County, Virginia, in 1836. His parents, Thomas and Elizabeth Townsend, had ten children, seven still living. The father was born in 1802; was married in Virginia, and in 1849 came to Middle Tennessee, locating in Marshall County, where he died, in 1855. His mother was a native of Charlotte County, Va.; was born in 1806, and now lives with her son, D. C. Townsend. R. W. Townsend was educated at Chapel Hill. In 1859 he married Miss Martha, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Matt Reynolds. She was born in Maury County, in 1840, and they have six children living: Robbie, Beauregard, Ida M., George A., Blantsy and Bessie. April, 1861, he enlisted in Company A, Seventeenth Tennessee Infantry, but in a short time he changed to the Fourth Tennessee Cavalry, under Capt. Alexander, and was at Murfreesboro, Perryville, Ky., and other places; was captured near Carthage, and confined in the Federal prison eight months, and returned home in January, 1864; moved to Dyer County in 1866, and farmed until 1886, when he moved to Newbern, and engaged in the livery business. He has raised quite a family, and is giving his children the benefit of the best schools. He is a Democrat and a Mason, and with his wife belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church.
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This family biography is one of 128 biographies included in The History of Dyer County, Tennessee published in 1887 by Goodspeed. The History of Dyer County was included within The History of Gibson, Obion, Dyer, Weakley & Lake Counties of Tennessee. For the complete description, click here: History of Gibson, Obion, Dyer, Weakley, and Lake Counties of Tennessee
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