Eggleston Dick Townes (abt. 1817 - 1864)

Ancestors

Husband of Martha Cousins (Betts) Townes — married 11 Feb 1845 in Madison, Alabama, United States

Descendants

Died 31 Jul 1864 at about age 47 in Manor, Travis, Texas, United States

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Biography

Major Eggleston Townes served in the United States Civil War.
Enlisted: 1863
Mustered out: December 24, 1863
Side: CSA
Regiment(s): 4th Regiment, Texas Mounted Volunteers

Biography published on Texas State Historical Association Handbook of Texas TOWNES, EGGLESTON DICK (1817–1864). Eggleston Dick Townes was born on June 15, 1817, in Amelia County, Virginia, to John Leigh and Polly Segar (Eggleston) Townes. In 1833 he was accepted to and attended the University of Alabama and graduated A.B. in 1835. He went on to study law at the University of Alabama and was admitted to the state bar at Tuscumbia, Alabama. On February 11, 1845, he married Martha Cousins Betts in Huntsville, Alabama. In 1850 Townes was a successful attorney in Franklin County, Alabama, with a real estate value of $12,000. He and Martha had four daughters—Julia Amanda, age four; twins Virginia Chambers and Pattie Segar, age two; and Mary Bolling, age one. In 1851 he was elected chancellor of the Northern Chancery Division of Alabama and held that position until his resignation in 1852.

By 1856 Townes and his family lived in Manor, Texas, in Travis County. He continued to practice law, and the family remained in Travis County through the remainder of his life. While residing there, the Townes family had four more children—John Charles, Martha Chambers, Henry Eggleston, and Eggleston Dick, Jr. By 1860 Townes was one of the wealthiest men in Travis County and listed his profession as planter in that year’s census. He had a real estate value of $20,000 and personal estate value of $30,000. He owned a slave plantation with an overseer named William Sherling of Arkansas and owned fifty slaves ranging in age from six to sixty.

When the Civil War began E.D. Townes was a forty-three-year-old lawyer with a wife and children who stayed at home. Later in the war he volunteered for service and was given the rank of major serving in the Fourth Texas State Cavalry Battalion This regiment was formed in the late fall of 1863 and served in Northern Texas until the spring of 1864 under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Charles W. Tait. The regiment never engaged in combat and spent most of its six-month term of service stationed at Fort Belknap in West Texas along the Brazos River and just south of the Red River. Its present-day location is eleven miles west of Graham, Texas, in Young County. On December 24, 1863, Townes left his regiment due to an undisclosed illness and returned to his family in Manor, Texas. He was unable to recover from that illness and died on July 31, 1864, at his home.

Texas Legislature

Eggleston Townes was a member of the Texas Senate, 8th Legislature and a member of the following committees: Apportionment; Claims and Accounts; Education; Enrolled Bills; Internal Improvements; Judiciary; Public Grounds and Public Buildings; Public Lands; Roads, Bridges and Ferries; and, State Affairs.

He was also a member of the Texas House, 9th Legislature, serving on the following committees: Education (Chair); Finance, Institutions for the Blind, Deaf, and Dumb and Lunatic Asylum (Co-Chair); and, Judiciary.

Sons of the American Revolution Lineage Application for Membership, National Number 66942, State Number 729, made to the Texas Society of the National Society Sons of the American Revolution made by Edgar Eggleston Townes, grandson of Eggleston Dick Townes, as Descendant of John Townes. Lineal descent as follows:

Edgar Eggleston Townes was born in San Saba, County of San Saba, State of Texas on the 11th day of September 1878.

(1) He was the son of John Charles Townes born 30 Jan 1852 died 18 Dec 1923 and his wife Kate Wildbahn Townes died 3 Jun 1915, married 28 Dec 1871.

(2) He was the grandson of Eggleston Dick Townes born 5 Jun 1817 died 31 Aug 1864 and his wife Martha Cousins Betts died 27 Apr 1894, married 11 Feb 1845.

(3) He was the great-grandson of John Leigh Townes born 15 Nov 1789 died 1846 and his wife Polly Segar Eggleston born 12 Feb 1776, died 7 May 1860, married 29 Dec 1806.

(4) He was the great-grandson of John Townes born 1761 and his wife Elizabeth Leigh, married 21 Jun 1782.

(5) He was the great-grandson of JohnTownes born 1730, died 1805 and his wife Martha Allen.

(6) He was the great-grandson of William Townes born 1711, died 1774 and his wife Rebecca Clark.

(7) He was the great-grandson of James Townes.

Service listed in the application was as follows: "Ensign 11CL November 25, 1776; Second Lieutenant February 7, 1777; regularly designated a 7CL September 14, 1778; First Lieutenant July 1, 1779; taken prisoner at Charleston May 12, 1780; transferred to 6CL February 12, 1781; retired January 1, 1783; Awarded 2,666 acres. He was in Col. John Cropper's Company of Col. Daniel Morgan's Regiment 1776-78. He served at Cowpens."

Sources

• "Texas Deaths, 1890-1976," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K3Z7-6H8 : 13 March 2018), Richard Townes in entry for John Chas Townes, 18 Dec 1923; citing certificate number 36832-A, State Registrar Office, Austin; FHL microfilm 2,074,924.

• "Alabama Marriages, 1816-1957," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FQVY-V2Z : 9 February 2018), Eggleston D. Townes and Martha C. Betts, 11 Feb 1845; citing reference ; FHL microfilm 1305697 V. 4-4A.

• 1860 June 30 Tennessee Baptist Obit of Polly Townes http://media2.sbhla.org.s3.amazonaws.com/tbarchive/1860/TB_1860_Jun_30.pdf

• Ancestry.com. U.S., Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Original data:Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970. Louisville, Kentucky: National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. Microfilm, 508 rolls.

• Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Texas, National Archives and Records Service, Washington. Thomas McAdory Owen and Marie Bankhead Owen, History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography (4 vols., Chicago: S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1921). Vertical File, Historical Research Center, Texas Heritage Museum, Hill College, Hillsboro, Texas (Fourth Texas State Cavalry Battalion).

• James A. Hathcock, “Townes, Eggleston Dick,” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed October 20, 2020, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/townes-eggleston-dick. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.

• Legislative Reference Library, Texas Legislatures: Past & Present, accessed December 29, 2020, https://lrl.texas.gov/mobile/memberDisplay.cfm?memberID=4972