Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1889, volume 6).djvu/173

Rh (1881); "Mosaic Record and Modern Science" (1881); "Bible Theology and Modern Thought" (1883) ; " Faith- Work, Christian Science, and other Cures" (1885); "Hand-Book upon Church Trials" (1885): "The Bible and other Ancient Literature in the Nineteenth Century" (1885); and "Pulpit Rhetoric " (1886).

TOWNSEND, Martin Ingham, lawyer, b. in Hancock, Mass., 6 Feb., 1810. He was graduated at Williams in 1833, studied law, and established himself, after admission to the bar, in Troy, N. Y. He was district attorney of Rens- selaer countv in 1842-'5, and in 1867-'8 he was a member for the state at large of the Constitution- al convention. He was elected to congress as a Re- publican for two successive terms, serving from 6 Dec, 1875, till 3 March, 1879. He was a member of various important committees, and among the ablest debaters in that body. Declining a renomination, he was appointed dis- trict attorney for the northern district of New York, which office he held for nearly eight years. He received the degree of LL. D. in 1866 "from Williams. — His brother, Randolph Wanton, law- yer, b. in Hancock, Mass., 4 May, 1812, was gradu- ated at Williams in 1836, studied law, was admit- ted to the bar in 1838, and settled in New York city, soon attaining a good standing at the bar, where he has practised successfully for half a cen- tury. Mr. Townsend served for six years on the Metropolitan board of education, is one of the managers of the Presbyterian hospital, and has been for many years counsel for the Importers' and traders' bank, of which he is also a director.

TOWNSEND, Mary Ashley, author, b. in Ly- ons, N. Y., about 1836. Her maiden name was Van Voorhis. She was educated in her native town, married Gideon Townsend, of New Orleans, La., and resides in that city. She began to write for publication about 1856, and under the pen-name of " Xariffa " made a reputation as the author of " Quillotypes," a series of humorous papers that appeared in the New Orleans " Delta " and were widely copied by the southern and western press. Her other works are " The Brother Clerks " (New York, 1859) ; " Poems " (Philadelphia, 1870) ; " The Captain's Story" (1874); and "Down the Bayou, and other Poems" (Boston, 1884). Her most im- portant short poems are "Creed," "A Woman's Wish," " The Bather," and "The Wind." She was officially appointed to deliver the poem on the opening of the New Orleans exposition in 1884, and that at the unveiling of the statue of Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston in 1887.

TOWNSEND, Penn, merchant, b. in Boston, Mass., 20 Dec, 1651 ; d. there, 21 Aug., 1727. His father, William, came to Boston in 1636. Penn was a wine-merchant, an active member of the council, a representative in 1686-'98, and later speaker of the house and chief judge of the Suffolk superior court. He was afterward captain of the Ancient and honorable artillery company, and in 1703 was colonel of the Boston regiment. In 1707 he was an agent to superintend the military forces that were sent against Port Royal. He married a daugh- ter of Gov. John Leverett, was a patron of art and literature, and a public-spirited citizen.— His grand- son, Alexander, lawyer, b. in Boston, Mass., in 1784 ; d. there. 13 April, 1835. was graduated at Harvard in 1802, and studied law. He became a large owner of real estate, was active in city poli- tics, and delivered many addresses in Faneuil hall. In 1810 he was appointed by the authorities to de- liver the Fourth-of-July oration.— Alexander's sis- ter, Eliza, poet, b. in Boston in 1789 ; d. there, 12 Jan., 1854, was educated in her native city, and began her literary career by contributing anony- mous rural and religious essays to the " Monthly Anthology," " Unitarian Miscellany," and " Port- folio." She was the first native woman poet in her state to receive the praise of judicious critics. Her writings include verses on "The Incomprehensi- bility of God " ; an " Occasion Ode " (1809), in which she commented severely on the career of Napoleon, who was then at the summit of his greatness; " Lines to Robert Southey " (1812) ; and the " Rain- bow" — all of which appeared in magazines. Her " Poems and Miscellanies " were collected by her sister, Mary P. Townsend, and printed privately (Boston, 18*56).

TOWNSEND, Robert, naval officer, b. in Al- bany, N. Y., in 1819; d. at sea, off Shanghai, China, 15 Aug., 1866. He was graduated at Union in 1835, and entered the U. S. navy the same year as a midshipman. He served in the Mexican war in 1846-'7, was engaged in the capture of Vera Cruz, became 1st lieutenant in 1850, and resigned from the navy in 1851. At the beginning of the civil war he re-entered the service as acting lieutenant, participated under Admiral David G. Farragut in the passage of the forts below New Orleans, and the taking of that city, and did effi- cient service in command of the " Miami " in the sounds of North Carolina. He was restored to the regular navy in 1862, with the rank of com- mander, was in charge of the iron-clad " Essex " at the siege of Port Hudson, and was subsequently division commander under Admiral David D. Por- ter, and in the Red river campaign. He became captain in 1866, and afterward was ordered to the East Indian squadron, where his conduct of affairs at Newchwang, China, preserved the peace of the port, and at the same time did not interfere with the authority of the native officials.

TOWNSEND, Thomas S., compiler, b. in New York city, 27 Aug., 1829. His father, John R., was a well-known member of the New York bar. The son received a classical education, and at an early age entered the mercantile firm of Lawrence, Trimble and Co., New York city. In 1860 he determined to form a chronological history of every important occurrence in connection with the impending civil war by preserving from the newspapers every statement of value relating to any circumstance that directly or indirectly led to secession, to national complications growing out of the struggle, to the cause, conduct, and results of the rebellion, to personal records of soldiers from the lowest to the highest rank, and to the military and civil history of the Union and the Confederacy. This journalistic record comprises about 120 volumes containing 60.000 pages. William Cullen Bryant said of it : " The age has given birth to few literary undertakings that will bear comparison with this work. The forty academicians who compiled the dictionary of the French language had a far less laborious task." This collection is now in Columbia college library, New York city. He has