Bebe;

I didn't find all of the people for whom you search, but here are all the TOWNSES I could find in the 1861 Ontario census:

Essex County, Colchester, pg 10
TOWNS, Watson 75, b. USA, farmer, Episcopal Meth, black

Mary 60, b. USA, Baptist, black

Charles 16, b. USA Baptist, black

TORONTO, St. John's Ward, pg 127
TOWNS, Ben 20, b. Canada, shoemaker, religion = Disciples, black

With regard to Ben, there were no other blacks listed on that page. I also went through all of St. Andrew's ward (and several other wards) looking for a CORDELIA in hopes that perhaps she remarried after the old man died, but no luck.

I'll be happy to do other lookups for you. Sorry, I wasn't able to provide more info. Good luck, my dear.

- Lisa B. Lee
Oakland, CA

: Lisa, thanks for the great Canadian links. I haven't found my
: people yet, but I've learned much from those sites.

: I currently have access to the Canada West/Ontario census for 1842
: and can do look ups for a few names in the coming weeks/months.
: The exact film is FHL US/CAN Census Area 281226. It covers the
: York (city of Toronto) and a few other places. Check the
: familysearch.org library for details. BTW the quality is poor,
: so it's slow going at best.

: I am researching the TOWNS family. I found them last week in the
: 1842 census. I didn't realize that that census was head of
: household only. The TOWNS family was living in St. Andrew's
: ward. According to the census, there were 5 living in the
: household. The census indicated that they had been living in
: Canada for 8 years, since 1834 or so. I know about BENJAMIN
: TOWNS, his wife CORDELIA and infant son BENJAMIN. I now need to
: figure out who the other 2 females are.

: I just checked the LDS library site and it indicated that in the
: 1851 census, the city of Toronto is missing. Sigh... Does anyone
: know another source?

: As for 1861, Lisa, if it is not to much trouble, could you see if
: the TOWNS family is listed. The Elder BENJAMIN TOWNS may have
: died by 1861, CORDELIA was last found in the 1859-60 city
: directory. The son, BENJAMIN TOWNS moved to the USA in 1865 and
: settled in Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County PA. At some point he
: married a woman named SARAH and had at least 2 children.

: Any and all info is greatly appreciated.
: Bebe