She was raised in Philadelphia hearing sermons about the abolition of slavery by her minister, William Henry Furness at the First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia. Influenced by these teachings, Towne answered the call for volunteers when the Union captured Port Royal and other Sea Islands area of South Carolina. With the help of her Quaker friend Ellen Murray (January 31, 1834 – April 7, 1908) they founded the Penn Center on St. Helena Island, the first school for newly freed slaves in the United States.