Edward Waterman Townsend (February 10, 1855 – March 15, 1942) was an American Democratic Party politician who represented

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

's 7th congressional district in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from 1911 to 1913, and the 10th district from 1913 to 1915, after redistricting following the

United States Census, 1910 The 1910 United States census, conducted by the Census Bureau on April 15, 1910, determined the resident population of the United States to be 92,228,496, an increase of 21 percent over the 76,212,168 persons enumerated during the 1900 census ...

Biography

Townsend was born in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

, on February 10, 1855; his father was Horace Gilbert Townsend.TOWNSEND, Edward Waterman
in ''

Who's Who in America Marquis Who's Who, also known as A.N. Marquis Company ( or ), is an American publisher of a number of directories containing short biographies. The books usually are entitled ''Who's Who in...'' followed by some subject, such as ''Who's Who in A ...

'' (1901-1902 edition), via

archive.org The Internet Archive is an American non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including websites, software applic ...

He attended private and public schools in that city. He went to

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, in 1875 and engaged in newspaper and literary work. He married Annie Lake on April 16, 1884. He moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 1893 and continued his reportorial and literary pursuits. In 1900, he became a resident of

Montclair, New Jersey Montclair is a Township (New Jersey), township in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated on the cliffs of the Watchung Mountains, Montclair is a commercial and cultural hub of North Jersey and a diverse ...

. He was an author of novels, plays, short stories, as well as a textbook on the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally includi ...

. His most popular fictional writings were his "Chimmie Fadden"

Bowery The Bowery () is a street and neighbourhood, neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City, New York. The street runs from Chatham Square at Park Row (Manhattan), Park Row, Worth Street, and Mott Street in the south to Cooper Square at 4th ...

boy stories.(17 March 1942)
E. W. TOWNSEND, 87, FAMOUS REPORTER: Author of Stories' Bringing Fame to Bowery's Mythical Chimmie Fadden Dies - BECAME A CONGRESSMAN - Postmaster in Montclair for Many Years -- Served on The Sun in Days of Dana
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

United States House of Representatives

Townsend was elected as a Democrat to the Sixty-second and Sixty-third Congresses, serving in office from March 4, 1911, to March 3, 1915, but was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1914 to the Sixty-fourth Congress. After leaving Congress, he served as postmaster of Montclair from 1915 to 1923. Townsend moved to New York City in 1924 and resumed newspaper and literary pursuits, and was a member of the

National Institute of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqua ...

Death

He died in New York City on March 15, 1942, and was interred in Forest Hill Cemetery in

Utica, New York Utica () is the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The tenth-most populous city in New York, its population was 65,283 in the 2020 census. It is located on the Mohawk River in the Mohawk Valley at the foot of the Adiro ...

References

External links

* * *
Edward Waterman Townsend
at

The Political Graveyard The Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 277,000 Politics of the United States, American political figures and List of United States political families, political families, along with other informa ...

Article on Edward W. Townsend in August-September 1895 edition of ''The Bookman'' (New York)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Townsend, Edward W. 1855 births 1942 deaths Politicians from Montclair, New Jersey Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New Jersey 20th-century American novelists Burials at Forest Hill Cemetery (Utica, New York) 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives