1847 Kimsey-Smith Mo->OT on Barlow Trail: Jesse Townsend?
I'm lokking for information about Jesse Townsend, purported captain of the 2nd Kimsey party migration. They left Independence on 1 May 1847 and traveled the Barlow Road.
The party included 3 generations of Kimseys (elders were James II and Hannah McCracken), intermarried with a bewildering assortment of related Crowley, Smith, Simpson, Townsend and McCracken cousins.
Jesse Townsend was married to Hannah Smith, sister of Absolom, Perry and Doctor Smith, all immigrants. Absolom and Perry were married to Kimsey sisters, daughters of James and Hannah above, and Doctor's daughter Maudana married Duffield Kimsey, son of James and Hannah.
Jesse Townsend and Doctor Smith both died on the Trail (killed?) near Green River, WY.
I'm trying to connect Jesse to Polk, Oregon pioneers John Townsend and wife Lettie Simpson, daughter of Elizabeth Kimsey (sister of James II) and James Simpson (and sister of Massey Simpson who married John Kimsey, brother of Duffield, son of James and Hannah...). John and Lettie named their first son Jesse. I'd also like to know if John and young Lettie were part of this 1847 wagon train.
The 1860 census also lists another Townsend family in Salt Lake, Polk, headed by, perhaps, Ira???
I'd also like to find the connection between these Townsends and Rachel Townsend, b. 1788 NC, who married Samuel Crowley Kimsey, brother of James II (never left Missouri).
This is all clear drawn on a tree! The puzzle is the Townsends. I can't find anything on the Townsend Boards. Can anyone here help?
Thanks, Janelle
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Re: 1847 Kimsey-Smith Mo->OT on Barlow Trail: Jesse Townsend?
If you haven't already done so, you might look around Oregonoverland.com. This site contains info about Absolom Smith and various relations, and the information you're looking for might be buried in there somewhere.
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Re: 1847 Kimsey-Smith Mo->OT on Barlow Trail: Jesse Townsend?
We have some information that might help you. Just a couple of quick things. Jessie Townsend died in Marion Co., MO. He was not the wagon master.
Doc Smith was the wagon master and he died southwest Wyoming near Green River, he fell ill with what they called camp fever and died on the west side of the river. He was buried in the middle of the road and his grave was covered with ashes from the campfire so the Indians and animals would not dig it up.
My main interest has been the Hannah Smith line. Her daughter Martha, married William C. Brown. Many of the people you are interested in are buried in his cemetery. Go on line and type in "William C. Brown Cemetery" and you will get a lot of information. I so have photo's of some graves and some of the individuals.
I have not been able to locate much on Jessie Townsend. Do you have anything on him such as who were his parents, etc.?
If you can go to Ancestry, go to your Jessie Townsend. See if a Beard-McConnell line comes up. I am an editor for this part. It may help you.
I do not have a complete list of who came on the wagon train. My wife's grandmother, said they came by the Southern Rout, which according to my understanding would be the Jessie Applegate Trail, entering Oregon from the South.
If you are still interested, I will check on your question on John Townsend/Lettie Simpson/Kimsey, etc. question.
David
David
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Re: 1847 Kimsey-Smith Mo->OT on Barlow Trail: Jesse Townsend?
One mystery cleared: John W Townsend, son of Jesse Townsend and Hannah Smith, married Lettie McCracken, not Lettie Simpson (right family, wrong Lettie).
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Re: 1847 Kimsey-Smith Mo->OT on Barlow Trail: Jesse Townsend?
To clarify the connection (sort of): Lettie McCracken was a daughter of Effariah Simpson and Nimrod McCracken. Nimrod McCracken was an uncle of Duff Kimsey, who was husband of Maudana Smith, who was daughter of John W Townsend's uncle Doctor Kimsey. That is, Lettie McCracken and Duff Kimsey were first cousins, and John W. Smith and Maudana Smith Kimsey were also first cousins.
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