Ezra Towner
| Charts | Ancestors of Wilford Ervie Billings |
Ezra Towner, son of Elijah Towner and Mary Knapp, was born at Danbury, Connecticut, 27 September 1779.1 He died 1 March 1807.1,2
Ezra married Jane Westbrook, daughter of Leonard Westbrook and Margaret Brinck, say 1801.1
Ezra - the oldest son of Elijah Towner, married Jane Westbrook, a daughter of Leonard Westbrook, who with George Murphy, were also early settlers. John Hicks also settled early in the hollow west of Towner's. Ezra died in 1804, in the month of Feb. The snow was 3 feet deep at the time, & no help could get to him. Dr. Grant tried to get through, but there being no roads he failed. The people of Sheshequin were two days in shoveling a road to his house. He was carried to the river and buried. He left 3 children - 2 sons & 1 dau. - whose posterity are scattered throughout the west. The widow remarried, & went west, where she died.
Craft says Ezra died in Feb 1804; Towner says March 1817. As there were no children after 1806, and Ezra does not appear in the 1810 census for Bradford County, the 1817 date is probably a typo for 1807. Elijah Towner appears to have provided about 60 acres to Leonard and Abraham by deed in 1811 at the same time he was dividing his property amongst his own chlidren. As Leonard and Abraham were both under 10 at this time, one would expect to see a guardian named in the instrument, but none is named.3,1,4
Ezra married Jane Westbrook, daughter of Leonard Westbrook and Margaret Brinck, say 1801.1
Ezra - the oldest son of Elijah Towner, married Jane Westbrook, a daughter of Leonard Westbrook, who with George Murphy, were also early settlers. John Hicks also settled early in the hollow west of Towner's. Ezra died in 1804, in the month of Feb. The snow was 3 feet deep at the time, & no help could get to him. Dr. Grant tried to get through, but there being no roads he failed. The people of Sheshequin were two days in shoveling a road to his house. He was carried to the river and buried. He left 3 children - 2 sons & 1 dau. - whose posterity are scattered throughout the west. The widow remarried, & went west, where she died.
Craft says Ezra died in Feb 1804; Towner says March 1817. As there were no children after 1806, and Ezra does not appear in the 1810 census for Bradford County, the 1817 date is probably a typo for 1807. Elijah Towner appears to have provided about 60 acres to Leonard and Abraham by deed in 1811 at the same time he was dividing his property amongst his own chlidren. As Leonard and Abraham were both under 10 at this time, one would expect to see a guardian named in the instrument, but none is named.3,1,4
Family | Jane Westbrook b. abt. 1778 |
| Children |
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| This person was last edited on | 9 Jan 2020 |
Citations
- [S13] James W. Towner, A Genealogy of the Towner Family: the Descendants of Richard Towner, who came from Sussex County, Eng., to Guilford, Conn., before 1685 (Los Angeles, California: Times-Mirror Printing & Binding House, 1910), 117, further cited as Towner, Towner Family.
- [S1405] David Craft, History of Bradford County, Pennsylvania with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of It's Prominent Men and Pioneers (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: L. H. Everts & Co., 1878), 350, further cited as Craft, History of Bradford Co.
- [S1405] Craft, History of Bradford Co., 350-351.
- [S1457] Luzerne County Courthouse, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, Deeds, 1787-1901; indexes to deeds, 1780-1907, 13:34-39, FHL microfilm 964838, further cited as Luzerne Co. Deeds.