One
My father, Samuel Townsend, moved to Oyster Bay in 1750 along with my mother, Sarah, and my older brothers, Solomon and Sam. Pappy was in his forties, and Mummy in her late twenties. He hadn’t only robbed the cradle, but he’d married an Episcopalian to boot. Pappy’s family were Quakers and came from England in the middle of the fifteenth-century. You might wonder how I know. John Townsend is sleeping in the family plot. They met at Mott’s meeting house that had been built for corn and pork, a well known fact amongst the Friends, as they called themselves. The house became too small being a one up two down, and within a couple of years Pappy had his slaves build a four room addition to accommodate my brother Billy, sister Audrey, and myself, Robert Townsend, born November 26, 1753, under the sign of Scorpio. This is my tale.
My first memory was of the apple orchard in spring; there were a hundred trees, planted from red apples, by John Townsend, himself. He didn’t live long after arriving here, so they were his legacy, and the beginning of our dynasty providing cider, honey, and apples which we traded. That was the beginning. Pappy inherited a ship, Glasgow, from my grandfather, a ship captain, who brought our sweet goods to Scotland.
Pappy was industrious. He had a family of slaves that he treated as well as his own children. Mammy and Papa lived upstairs. We played with their many children, Hezekiah, Jeremiah, Henry, Francis, and Matt as if they were brothers. Of course this put Pappy off amongst the Friends who condemned slavery. Pappy was his own man. He thought for himself and raised us to do the same. He said, “Watch for your chances to do good.” He was an amazing man.
Mammy was midwife, nanny, and wet nurse. Mummy had lost a couple babies but had eight more to make up for it. We heeded Mammy as well as we did Pappy. “Git out of dat mud before I take a switch to you!” She was quite the character, but very loving and treated us as well as her own children. Both she and Papa were born in Oyster Bay, like Pappy who grew up with them. It was their home. The Friends did not get it and never would. We were a family. Pappy taught us not to worry what other people thought of us.
“Don’t concern yourself with things out of your control,” he said. “You cannot change what they think anymore than you can order a honeybee about. Focus on what is in your power; otherwise, forget about it.” He was very wise.
He captained his ship; Solomon and Sam were his apprentices while Hezekiah and Jeremiah were stewards, responsible for keeping everything ship shape, scrubbing, mopping, and polishing. Billy, Henry, and I came along, learning, while playing pirates and looking for mermaids. We had a wonderful time.
Meanwhile Mummy and little Audrey were not idle back at Raynham Hall which was now known as a stately mansion in Oyster Bay. Mammy could read and they taught Audrey to do the same, reading from The Bible, Shakespeare, Fielding, Pope, and Swedenborg. Audrey could spin by the time that she could walk. They helped Mammy with the baking and the laundry. It was a full house, full of laughter and love. There were a lot of us, and we kept coming.
David was born around Easter when I was six, and Sally came along a year after. By the time Phebe followed, three years later, Audrey was helping like a little mother. Papa carved little dolls for them, the Apple Darling family, from fallen branches, broken in storms. Audrey’s were Mr. Johnny Apple Darling and his wife, June. Sally treasured little Blossom, and Phebe kept May. They sewed and embroidered entire wardrobes for them from scraps. Those dolls were better dressed than we were. Quakers dress drably, gray and brown, but Pappy saw to it that our clothes were well made of wool, and even Papa had fancy gold buckles on his black leather shoes. He was proud of those buckles.
We were not proud. We all worked, but we played too, Pappy insisted upon it. We swung from the apple trees, built a treehouse, Solomon, Sam, Hezekiah, and Jeremiah helped with the sawing, and had our own peaceful kingdom amongst the apple trees along with the Little People, birds, squirrels, possums, and bees.
