From "The Ancestry Of Dudley Wildes" by Walter Goodwin DavisJacob Towne was a boy of three or four when he came to NewEngland with his parents.In Topsfield he was a commoner in 1661, a selectman in 1679,1680 and 1683, and was frequently on Committees to run lines oftown grants and boundaries. He served as a trial juror in 1676and 1681, and as a grand juror in 1692. He was a corporal inthe town's train band in 1681 and ensign in 1687.Towne was one of the committee appointed by the church to choosea minister in 1680, and, Mr. Joseph Capen having come toTopsfield for the preliminary interviews, Towne was directed toaccompany Capen back to Dorchester "and bring him again with hisfriends' consent to continue with us in the ministry." He wasalso on the committee to provide for Mr. Capen's ordination in1684, and the committee to seat the people in the meetinghouse,a task requiring great tact, in 1687. He was one of thetythingmen in 1701.Jacob was seldom in the courts. Mr. Williamm Perkins sued him in1657, but the case was withdrawn, but in 1660, when Mr. HenryBartholomew sued him for withholding a mare and a foal, theverdict was for Bartholomew. He testified in 1681, aged about50, that thirty-five or six years ago his father had boughttwenty acres of land of Jeffrey Massey and paid for it in wheat,and when his father removed from Salem to Topsfield in 1651, hesold the lot, which was at Ryal Side, to Nathaniel Felton. In1682 he acted as agent for his town in the bitter disputebetween Salem and Topsfield over the boundary line, which isconsidered to have had vengeful repercussions in the witchcraftaccusations of 1692.The will of Jacob Towne, husbandman, was made November 24, 1704,and proved January 5, 1704 (5). He left to his son Jacob theland upon which he was already settled consisting of about 49acres on the south side of Ipswich river and an acre and 60poles on the north side. To his daughter Katherine, wife ofElisha Perkins, L5 "not in or as money but other Current pay,"besides what he had already given her. To his daughterDeliverance, wife of John Stiles, L4 "besides what she hath hadof me already." To his son John and his daughter Ruth, equalshares in the land that he (the testator) lived on, nototherwise disposed of, with the house, orchards and all of themoveable estate, they to provide comfortable maintenance for hiswife Katherine and his son Edmund during their natural lives.They were to pay his debts and his funeral expenses. Inaddition, to his daughter Deliverance, after his wife's decease,the (bed?) which his son Edmund hath usually had improvement of.Witnesses: Joseph Capen, William Town, Samuel Town. (Ibid., 308:319-321.)