Amos Townsend

As printed in 1879

AMOS TOWNSEND.

Amos Townsend was born near Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1831. His father, Aaron Townsend, was a well-to-do farmer, belonging to the Townsend family of Philadelphia. His mother was a daughter of Captain Jacob Cox, who served under Washington in the Revolutionary war. He received a good education, and when fifteen years of age entered a store near Pittsburg, in which he remained until he was nineteen. He subsequently removed to Mansfield, Ohio, and formed a partnership with N. B. Hogg, under the firm name of A. Townsend & Co., for the transaction of a general mercantile business. This firm was dissolved at the end of five years, and the business closed.

[This passage is too damaged in the scanned book to reproduce. See the original book.]

This position proved a dangerous as well as responsible one, but was filled in such a manner as to gain the respect and good will of both parties.

In 1858 Mr. Townsend removed to Cleveland, and accepted a position in the wholesale grocery establishment of Gordon, McMillan & Co., in which he remained until 1861. He then became the junior part, ner in the firm of Edwards, Iddings & Co., engaged in a similar business. On the death of Mr. Iddings, in 1802, the firm became Edwards, Townsend & Co., which it still remains. The house has been very successful, establishing an extensive business and a high reputation for stability and enterprise.

Mr. Townsend has always taken an active interest in public and political matters, and, although not an office seeker, has been chosen to many positions of public trust. In the spring of 1864 he was elected a member of the city council, on the Reiniblican ticket, and was re-elected to the same position five successive terms, serving continuously for ten years. During seven years of that time he was president of the council, and during the last three years was chosen by a unanimous vote. In the spring of 1874 he took leave of that body in an address which presented a clear exhibit of the progress the city had made, during the period of his connection with municipal affairs. In 1873 he was elected a member of the State constitutional convention, serving in that body on the important committees of finance, taxation and municipal affairs. He was one of the most conscientious and pains-taking members, and rendered valuable service.

In October, 1876, Mr. Townsend was elected to the forty-fifth Congress, entering upon his duties in 1877. He took an active part in the business and debates of the session, serving as a member of the committee on post-offices and post-roads. The introduction and successful passage of the letter-carrier bill was mainly due to his efforts. He made an able speech, which attracted marked attention, on the important tariff bill introduced by Fernando Wood. He was re-elected to Congress in the fall of 1878, was appointed a member of the committee on commerce, and will undoubtedly serve in the forthcoming session with his usual vigor and ability.

[This passage is too damaged in the scanned book to reproduce. See the original book.]

The subject of this sketch is of English ancestrv. being descended from the Puritans who, as JIacaulay says, "prostrated themselves in dust before their Maker, but set their feet upon the neck of their king." The following genealogy shows his lineage in this country.

Samuel Townsend was born in England in 1G37, and came to this country about the time (KUD) when the head of Charles First was brought to the block, lie settled at Lynn, Massachusetts, and died there in ITO-i. His son, Jonathan Townsend, was born in 1008, and died at Lynn in 1717. The son of the latter, also named.lonathau, was born in 1097, and entered Harvard College in 1712. After being graduated, he was ordained in 171!) as pastor of the Congregational church, at Needham, Ma,s.sacliusetts, and died there in 1702, after a pastorate of forty-three years; a length of service, especially if compared with the average modern pastorate, creditable alike to the congregation and their evidently trusted minister.

His son, Samuel Townsend, great-grandfather of Oscar, was born in 1729, and died at Tyringham, Berkshire county, Massaclnisetis, in 1822. The son of the latter, William Townsend, a youthful soldier at the close of the Revolutionary war, was born in ITii.i, and died in Huron county, Ohio, in 1848.

His son, Hiram Townsend, father of Oscar, was born August 31, 1798, and removed to Greenwich, Huron county, Ohio, in the spring of 1816, and there married Jliss Eliza Fancher, on the 23d of April, 1823. It was no pathway of roses which opened at that time before the newly-wedded couple. They saw clearly wiiat was before them, and entered knowingly upon a life of labor and.self-denial in a region which at that time, apart from a few small hamlets and some scattering cabins, was a dense wilderness, roamed over by wild bciists, hardly more.savage than the Cliipjtewa and Delaware Indians who occasionally visited the locality. Yet they endured with patience and fortitude all the perils and privations incident to pioneer life in the West, sustained by their mutual affection, till at last, after a long life of usefulness and self-sacrifice, Hiram Townsend passed to his rest on the 9th day of December, 1870, at the age of seventy-two, universally honored and esteemed. His widow still survives, residing in Cleveland, on the West Side.

[This passage is too damaged in the scanned book to reproduce. See the original book.]

The location of the Cleveland, Columbus and Cineiiiiiati railroad across his father's farm, in 1848, had aroused the ambition of young Townsend, then only thirteen years old, to find a wider and more congenial sphere of action than his rural occupation had afforded. Beginning in a subordinate position on the railway just mentioned, his earnest and constjint endeavor was to subserve the interest of his employes by unwearying faithfulness to every assigned duty. This train was soon observed by those who could not only appreciate but reward it; and in the spring of 1850 young Townsend, at the age of twenty-one, through the kindness of E. S. Flint and Addi.on Hills, was transferred from Shelby station to the freight office at Cleveland.

In April, 1802, Mr. Townsend was invited to a position in the Second National Bank of Cleveland, where he remained till 1805, when he was tendered the post of superintendent of the Empire Transportation Co., and assumed the charge of the western department of that line. The energy and ability which had characterized Jlr. Townsend in every position which he had hitherto occupieil were, by this time, so fully recognized that in August, 1808, he was tendered and accepted the offices of director and vice president of the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Indianapolis railroad. When, a few months afterwards, Mr. L. M. Hubby, the president of the com])any, met with an accident which disabled him from i)performing the duties of his position, Mr. Townsend became the-acting executive officer, and in September, 1870, at the age of thirty-five, was elected president of the corporation.

In this position his executive and financial abilities had a wider scope for their display than ever before, and, whatever adventitious circumstances may be claimed to have contributed to the result, Mr. Townsend can certainly point to that term of five years — from 18G8 to 1873 — under his management, as embracing the most prosperous period in the history of the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Indianapolis railroad. In closing his connection with the road, in 1873, Mr. Townsend carried with him a wi-itten testimonial by his successors as to the correctness of all his official transactions in behalf of the company, covering millions of dollars, from first to last, a testimonial which he prized far beyond the prestige gained while at the head of the company.

[This passage is too damaged in the scanned book to reproduce. See the original book.]

He is also a part owner and the president of the Lake Superior Transportation Co., which owns several vessels employed in the iron ore trade between ports on Lake Superior and Lake Erie.

Mr. Townsend was united, December 22, 1856, to Miss Elizabeth Martin, daughter of the late Thomas Martin, formerly of Huron county, Ohio, by whom he has four sons, viz: Frank M., now twenty-one years of age; Jay Frederic, nineteen; Willard H., twelve; and Oscar, Jr., five.

In general personal appearance, that is, in night, weight, massiveness of frame, and in movement, Mr. Townsend is said to resemble the late Senator Stephen A. Douglas, although their faces, as the picture shows, are dissimilar. Mr Townsend is of medium night, with a large, well-shaped head, abundant brown hair, well streaked with gray, dark auburn whiskers, large, blue eyes, a florid complexion, indicating a sanguine temperament, a firm, full neck, very broad shoulders, with a chest that, like Douglas', is of extraordinary size in proportion to his night. His movements are active, and his gait is usually very rapid.

He is genial and kindly in manner, readily accessible to all, but prompt and decided when promptness and decision are necessary. He loves and attracts children, and greets acquaintances with a smiling eye and a hearty grasp of the hand. He possesses and expresses strong feelings and j)references, with sincerity, and is noted for the faithfulness with which he fulfills every promise, no matter how much it may prove to his own disadvantage. Although naturally modest and retiring in his disposition, yet he mingles freely in the social circle, and is ready to do his part in promoting the general enjoyment of any assemblage met for mutual entertainment.

[This passage is too damaged in the scanned book to reproduce. See the original book.]

As printed in History of Cuyahoga County, Ohio .. (1879). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.