James Wesley Townsend

James Wesley Townsend grew up and went to grammar school in Wicomico county. His mother died about 1889 or 1890 and Jame's father remarried a widow named "Addie" between 1893 and 1895. According to family history, James did not have a very happy home life with his new stepmother and her children by the previous marriage. So he left the family quickly to work elsewhere. He learned the carpenter trade and worked at it most of his life. He married Elizabeth Columbus Ring in Laurel, Delaware on December 21, 1910. He had two daughters Hilda Eliza and Mary about ten years apart. James worked at a number of places in Sussex County and in Wilmington, Delaware. He worked at the Pusey and Jones shipyard in Wilmington building large yachts. He also worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad in the shops refurbishing railroad cars. He was a foreman for a builder in Wilmington by the name of Harry Feldman. The family also rented apartments to increase the their income. On Sundays the family walked from 14th and King to 3rd and Walnut Streets to Old Asbury Church, and attended services twice each Sunday. James died of cancer and is buried in Odd Fellows Cemetery, Laurel, Delaware.

James married Elizabeth Columbus Ring, daughter of Cornelius Ring and Elizabeth Elsworth Williams, on 21 Dec 1910 in Laurel, Sussex Co., DE. (Elizabeth Columbus Ring was born on 10 Oct 1892 in New York City, NY and died on 01 Jul 1974 in Wilmington, New Castle Co., DE.)