Townsends recognized as pioneers
The Waupaca Area Geneological Society (WAGS) presented Waupaca County Pioneer Certificates to Richard Townsend and Mark Townsend, whose ancestors settled the area 170 years ago.
The first Townsend who came to the county was Evan Townsend. He arrived in 1848 to Fremont from St. Lawrence County, New York.
He first settled in Little River, township of Weyauwega and built a dam. He then erected a sawmill and a grist mill.
The settlement became known as Evanswood, and today that area is still located at the intersection of U.S. Highway 10 and Evanswood Road.
Evan later moved to the city of Waupaca and was a founding member of the Masonic Lodge and the Waupaca County Republican Party.
Besides Evenswood, he owned acreages along the Wolf River south of Gill’s Landing and another north of Partridge Lake north of Fremont.
Evan Townsend bought land in Waupaca that eventually became the Townsend Addition to Lakeside Cemetery and 160 acres north of Ware Street and east of County Trunk E in Waupaca’s Third Ward.
Townsend Road connects Redfield Street and County E, and Townsend Auto Body is located on Redfield Street, just east of the historic Waupaca Train Depot.
Mark Townsend is the owner of Townsend Auto Body.
In 1854, Evan Townsend was joined by his brother, John, (1807- 1883) and his family from New York state, including his son Ezra (1843-1927) and four daughters.
In 1858, the Townsends purchased 360 acres in the town of Farmington.
Beginning in the spring of 1861, John and Ezra engaged in dairy farming.
Ezra was, at one time, town chairman, town treasurer and donated land on which Townsend School was established in 1895.
The school building still stands, now part of Westly Heating.
The family farm continued with Ezra’s son Harry (1885-1965), Harry’s sons, Robert (1911-2004) and Kenneth (1918-2015).
Ezra Townsend had an adventurous spirit and, along with others, went on the Alaska Klondike Gold expedition in 1898-99.
In 1973, Robert Townsend retired from dairy farming and sold part of the land.
Robert’s son and daughter-in-law, Richard and Bertha, presently live on a three-acre parcel of what remains of the 360 acres originally purchased prior to the Civil War.
Mark Townsend is the son of John R. Townsend (1946-2013), best known as “BJ” in Waupaca, and grandson of Robert. He is also Richard Townsend’s nephew.
October is Family History Month, and a Pioneer Certificate recognizes families whose ancestors came to Waupaca County prior to Jan. 1, 1870.