TOWNSEND CEMETERY, Hawthorne, Alachua County, Florida

Cemetery History: The Townsend Cemetery was founded in 1872 by Noah and Sarah Townsend at the death of their infant daughter, Martha Jane, who was born February 9, 1872 and died when she was ten days old. There were no cemeteries near at that time. A fence was kept around the grave until later, the founders gave one acre of land to be used for a family cemetery. Since that time, many people have been buried there, friends and relatives of the family. Noah and Sarah Townsend were the parents of eleven children, two of whom still survive. They are Mrs. Mollie V. Stegall of Hawthorne and Mr. Thomas J. Townsend of Gainesville. Two sons, Columbus and John, and two daughters, Martha Jane and Josephine, are buried in this cemetery. Four other sons are Joel, who is buried at Palatka, Asa, who is buried at Wauchula, James at Hicoria, Florida and Robert at Hot Springs, Arkansas. Noah Townsend died in October 1891, and Sarah died in December 1904, so this property passed on to their youngest daughter, Mrs. Mollie Stegall. It remained legally hers till in the late part of 1952, she made a deed for two acres to the Townsend Cemetery Association which has been organized since 1949. Since 1949, through donations of members of the Association, enough money has been collected to put a new fence and posts around the old part of the cemetery and a half acre of the new part of the cemetery. One half acre was left unfenced on the north side for parking cars. In the fall of 1952, columns were put at the gateway with a plaque of Tennessee marble in the right hand column that gives the name of the cemetery, date of founding and date of columns and plaque being installed. Seats and a table have been made inside the northeast part of the cemetery for the convenience of visitors and the cemetery clean ups which are held twice a year, in April and in October. Other improvements on which the Association is planning to do are as follows: lay out and clear up a driveway inside the cemetery, clean off the south side and lay off in cemetery lots, set out evergreen trees on the north side of cemetery by the fence, set out small evergreens in part of cemetery that has already been used. In short, we are planning to do all that we can to beautify and improve our cemetery.