Hugh Dorsey Townsley -- b. 27 Mar 1896, Orlando, Oklahoma. Died 28 Sep 1918 in WW I action in France with the 10 Bn., Canadian Infantry of Alberta. Memorial inscription on the Canadian Memorial at Vimy Ridge, France.
Hugh Dorsey apparently commonly went by his middle name since he is listed
as Dorsey in the 1900 and 1910 censuses.
On January 19, 1916, Hugh Dorsey Townsley joined the
Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force to fight in World War I. This
was before the United States had officially entered WW I.
His enlistment papers list his home address as Nateby, Alberta.
He is described as 6 ft., 3/4 in. tall, dark complected, gray eyes and
brown hair.
child Townsley -- d. Bef 1900
Hugh was the son of Sanford Townsley. Sanford was born Sept. 16, 1816 in New
York and died in 1902 near Davenport, Oklahoma. The information about
Sanford and family was supplied by a great-grandson of Sanford, Fred Townsley
of Chandler, OK. Fred had a photo of his great-uncle Hugh and a
photo of Hugh's children
taken in 1890. The 1890 photo has a caption on it with the children's names
and ages which matches the children's names and ages in the 1900 census.
Fred also stated that he believed that Hugh was an actor.
Hugh Townsley, age 22, is in the 1880 census in Whiteside Co., Illinois with
his first wife, Ida Runion, age 19. His father, Sanford Townsley is running
a hotel. Hugh is a farmer.
