Washington Townsend (January 20, 1813 – March 18, 1894) was an American lawyer, banker, and politician who served four terms as a Republican member of the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the 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 Article One of th ...

from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

from 1869 to 1877.

Early life

Washington Townsend was born in

West Chester, Pennsylvania West Chester is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough and the county seat of Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. Located in the Delaware Valley, Philadelphia metropolitan area, the borough had a population of 18,671 at the 2020 census. West ...

. His father was botanist David Townsend, co-founder and chief cashier of the

Bank of Chester County Bank of Chester County (also known as the National Bank of Chester County, National Bank of Chester County and Trust Company, and Fidelity Bank) is a historic two-story bank building located in West Chester, Chester County, Pennsylvania, the fir ...

. He attended a private school and West Chester Academy. He was engaged as a bank teller from 1828 to 1844. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1844 and commenced practice in West Chester.

Early career

He was prosecuting attorney of

Chester County, Pennsylvania Chester County (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Tscheschter Kaundi''), colloquially referred to as Chesco, is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in ...

, in 1848. He served as deputy attorney under Attorneys General James Cooper and

Cornelius Darragh Cornelius Darragh (1809December 22, 1854) was an American lawyer and politician from Pennsylvania who served as a Whig member of the Pennsylvania State Senate, a U. S. District Attorney, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and as stat ...

. He was cashier of the Bank of Chester County from 1849 to 1857. He was a delegate to the Whig National Convention in 1852, and a delegate to the

1860 Republican National Convention The 1860 Republican National Convention was a United States presidential nominating convention, presidential nominating convention that met May 16–18 in Chicago, Illinois. It was held to nominate the Republican Party (United States), Republic ...

. He was elected as a member to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

in 1882.

Congress

Townsend was elected as a Republican to the Forty-first and to the three succeeding Congresses. He served as chairman of the

United States House Committee on Public Lands The U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources or Natural Resources Committee (often referred to as simply Resources) is a Congressional committee of the United States House of Representatives. Originally called the Committee on Interior and Ins ...

during the Forty-third Congress. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1876.

Later career

He again resumed the practice of his profession in West Chester, and served as president of the Bank of Chester County from 1879 to 1894.

Death

He died in West Chester in 1894. Interment was in Oaklands Cemetery, near West Chester.

References

Washington 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 ...

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Townsend, Washington 1813 births 1894 deaths Burials at Oaklands Cemetery Pennsylvania lawyers District attorneys in Chester County, Pennsylvania Politicians from West Chester, Pennsylvania Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania Members of the American Philosophical Society 19th-century American lawyers 19th-century members of the United States House of Representatives