Towles Family
The Towles Family, of Henderson, Ky., and their connections who settled in the Lower Ohio Valley, are descendants of one of the oldest families in America.  The record extends back to Henry Towles, who came from Liver pool, England, and settled in Accomac County, Va., about the middle of the seventeenth century. He married Ann Stokely and to this union there were born two sons, Stokely andHenry. Stokely settled in Middlesex County, and Henry, who was born in 1670, settled in 1711, in Lancaster County, at the junction of the Rappahannock and Corotoman rivers, the place still being known as Towles' Point, and now in the possession of his descendants. He married Hannah Therrott, and died in 1734, leaving one son and four daughters, viz: Stokely, Judith, Ann, Elizabeth and Jan. Stokely was born in 1711, and died in 1755. After the death of his parents he continued to live at Towles' Point, and married Catherine, daughter of Thomas Martin, of Corotoman, Lancaster County. The children of Stokely and Catherine Towles were: Henry, Thomas, Stokely and three daughters, Mrs. Dick, Mrs. Reevely and Mrs. Payne. Henry, the eldest son, was born in 1738 and became closely connected with the history of Virginia during the Revolution; a member of the House of Delegates in 1783; a member of the Virginia convention in 1788; county lieutenant in 1794; and clerk of Lancaster county until his death in 1799. Stokely, the second son, went to Goochland County, where he was a major in the militia during the Revolution. After the war he removed to Spotsylvania. His wife was Elizabeth, the third child of William Downman. Thomas, the third son, was born at Towles' Point, Feb. 21, 1750, and died at Millbrook, Spottsylvania County, May 22, 1800. At the commencement of the Revolution he was quartermaster to the Caroline County battalion of militia, and later in life held the rank of colonel. In 1783 he represented Spootsylvania County in the House of Delegates. He married Mary, daughter of John Morris and Mary (Chew) Smith, of Richahock, King and Queen County. The children born to this marriage were Elizabeth, Mary Smith, John, Thomas, Therit, Oliver, Ann, Larkin, and Frances. Elizabeth first married William Brock, son of Joseph Brock, and after his death Capt. Phil. Slaughter. They were the parents of Rev. Philip Slaughter, a distinguished minister of the Episcopal Church, and author of numerous works on church history and genealogy. Mary Smith married Anthony Thornton and settled in Bourbon County, Ky. One of their sons, Anthony, afterward went to Shelby County, Ill., where he became a distinguished lawyer, represented the county in the legislature, and served on the bench in the highest court of the state. John settled in Louisiana and became a sugar planter. He was twice married: first to Susan Trunbull, and second to Ann Alexandria Conrad, of Virginia. Thomas was born at Millbrook, Va., June 1, 1784. In the spring of 1806 he removed to Henderson, Ky. Before leaving Virginia he was granted license to practice law in the courts of the state. His certificate is dated Dec. 5, 1805, and is signed by Peter Lyons, Spencer Roane, and Francis Brooke, all prominent men in their day. After settling in Kentucky he practiced in the counties of Henderson, Christian, Logan, and Ohio, and was contemporary with John J. Crittenden, Christopher Tompkins, George M. Bibb, and other eminent lawyers, when the court was presided over by Judge Henry Broadnax. He was appointed one of the justices of the Territory of Illinois, which was approved by the United States senate, and he took the oath of office before Ninian Edwards, governor of the territory, March 2, 1816. From 1821 and 1824 he represented Henderson County in the state legislature, and was magistrate for twenty consecutive years. In politics he was an uncompromising Whig, and Old Court man and was for many years prominent in all the affairs of the county. In fact a complete biography of Judge Towles would be a fairly good history of Henderson County in his time, as he was a successful lawyer with a large practice. In religion he was an earnest churchman. Bishop B.B. Smith in his account of the Kentucky church says his greatest troubles were over when he gained the support of several men as Thomas Towles of Henderson. In 1809 he was married to Anny Taylor Hopkins, daughter of Gen. Samuel Hopkins, of Revolutionary fame, and by this marriage had one son, Thomas Towles, Jr., who became widely know throughout the state, both for his legal lore and his spontaneous wit. His toast to water was: "It is valuable for navigation and for its mixable qualities." He served several terms in the Kentucky legislature. After the death of his first wife, Judge Towles, on April 23, 1816, was married to Elizabeth, daughter of Walter and Amelia (Johnston) Alves, and granddaughter of James Hogg, who was sent by the Transylvania Company to Philadelphia, an "embassy" to the continental Congress, in January, 1776, to solicit the privilege of forming the fourteenth colony to gain independence. (American Archives, Vol. IV., and Filson club publications by George Ranack, page 224.)  Her parents came to Kentucky in 1813 from Chapel Hill, Orange county, N.C., and were the representatives and descendant of two of the original member (James Hogg and William Johnston) of the Transylvania or Richard Henderson Land Company. To this marriage several children were born, only three of whom?Walter Alves, John James, and Bettie?lived to maturity. Judge Towles finally retired from the practice of lawn and became a successful planter. He died Dec. 12, 1850, and his second wife on June 28, 1852. Walter A. Towles was born Feb. 2, 1825. On Feb. 12, 1854, he married Susan Daniel Anderson, who was born on Feb. 26, 1834. In this marriage there were born the following children: John Anderson, Lucy Marshall, Elizabeth Alves, Sue Starling, Walter A., Jr., Lillia, Mary Lucy, William and Therit. He has been commissioner for Atkinson Park, for the city of Henderson since 1894. John James, the second son, was born Jan. 22, 1827, and on March 13, 1851, married Louisa Alves. Their children were Minna, Florence, Louisa, John J. and Stokely. Bettie married William T. Barret, May 9, 1850, and their issue was William, Thomas, Strachan and Betty. Henry, son of Col. Thomas Towles, of Virginia, was born June 24, 1786; came to Bourbon County, Ky., and died near Ruddle's Mills in 1854. He joined Capt. William Garrard's company of mounted men, in Maj. James V. Ball's squadron, and was at the siege of Fort Meigs in the war of 1812. He married Sally Bedford and left one son, Larkin S., who married Mildred Gass, of Paris, Ky., removed to Missouri and died there. Frances, the youngest child, came to Henderson, married John H. Sublett, a native of Richmond Va., and bore him the following children: Mary S., Ann, Fanny, Hannah More, John W., and Conrad Speece.
[Memoirs of The Lower Ohio valley: Personal and Genealogical, Volume 2 By Federal Publishing Company, 1905 ? Transcribed by Carla Mascara]