Charles E. Townsley, Civil War Drummer Boy and Local Postman

       Charles E. Townsley, was born in 1845 in Montgomery County, Ohio, to Jerry and Harriet Townsley, and came to this Montgomery County at an early age. When he was sixteen, he enlisted in the Seventy-Second Regiment Infantry as a drummer boy.

from Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Indiana--1861-1865, vol. 6,

http://old-photos.blogspot.com/2007/09/civil-war-drummer-boys.html

     While stationed at Murfreesboro, Tennessee, in 1863, he contracted typhoid, and had to return to Indiana. Zack Mahorney traveled to Tennessee and fetched him home. As soon as he recovered, he went to Port Jefferson, Ohio, and reenlisted on July 14, 1863. He traveled to Nashville, joined a Union regiment, and continued to serve as a drummer boy until the end of the war. He was discharged in Nashville on August 23, 1865.

     On May 9, 1869, he married Miss Fannie Mack of this county in Kankakee, Illinois. She was the daughter of James T. Mack, early Crawfordsville settler, and subject of an earlier blog post. Mr. Townsley went on to build the Junction Hotel, which was located at the railroad junction on the east end of Franklin Street, in Crawfordsville. He was also the proprietor of the Robbins House. He worked for the local post office for the last six years of his life. He was well known throughout the county as he was the special delivery letter carrier. He was purported to have a jovial, kind disposition, and made friends with all he met. 

     He died January 14, 1908.  Four children survived Charles: Hattie Tyler, Mrs. John Teasdale, Mrs. Maud Cook, and Frederick Townsley.  His service was held at his friend, Newton Wasson, on the corner of Grant and Market Streets.

     (check the post on 3/23/2017 for information about James T. Mack, father-in-law)