Background
Townsend was the third son of eight children of Samuel and Sarah Townsend, from Oyster Bay, New York. Samuel was a Whig-slanted politician who owned a store in Oyster Bay. Little is known about Robert’s early identity. His mother was an Episcopalian and his father was a liberal Quaker. He held patriotic feelings towards his country but was a Loyalist. Samuel Townsend fought many political battles between traditional Quakers in Oyster Bay, and Robert matured in an atmosphere in which his father routinely acted in ways that were considered dangerous by traditional Quakers.
Despite his father’s political battles, a young Robert showed little interest in public service. During his mid-teens, Samuel arranged for Robert to apprentice with the House of Templeton & Stewart, a merchant firm. During this time, the young Townsend lived and worked among soldiers and residents of Holy Ground, the city’s biggest red light district. Templeton & Stewart catered to the working-class residents of this district. Ultimately, Townsend’s early years were dedicated to making a fortune and not demonstrating his underlying patriotism, which would have undermined his financial goals. Townsend fared well during the war in financial terms (he operated a store even as he was spying for Washington). Between May 1781 and July 1783, he brought in £16,786, while his expenditures amounted to £15,161, for a profit of £1,625 over that span of time.
Read more about this topic: Robert Townsend (spy)
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