John Pomeroy Townsend (1832–1898) was an American financier of the

Gilded Age In United States history, the Gilded Age was an era extending roughly from 1877 to 1900, which was sandwiched between the Reconstruction era and the Progressive Era. It was a time of rapid economic growth, especially in the Northern and Wes ...

. He proudly claimed descent from "old Puritan stock", tracing his ancestry to a Thomas Townsend who settled at

Lynn, Massachusetts Lynn is the eighth-largest municipality in Massachusetts and the largest city in Essex County. Situated on the Atlantic Ocean, north of the Boston city line at Suffolk Downs, Lynn is part of Greater Boston's urban inner core. Settled by E ...

in 1637.

Business career

Townsend was born in

Middlebury, Vermont Middlebury is the shire town (county seat) of Addison County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 9,152. Middlebury is home to Middlebury College and the Henry Sheldon Museum of Vermont History. History On ...

. He began his business career in New York City in 1850. He became Second Vice-President of the

Bowery Savings Bank The Bowery Savings Bank was a bank in New York City, chartered in May 1834. By 1980, it had over 35 branches in the New York metropolitan area. In 1992, it was sold to H. F. Ahmanson & Co. for $200 million. The bank's first branch at 130 Bowe ...

from 1875 to 1883, First Vice-President from 1883 to 1894, and President from 1894 to his death in 1898; he was also President of the Maritime Exchange from 1883 to 1888, Treasurer of the

New York Produce Exchange The New York Produce Exchange was a commodities exchange headquartered in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It served a network of produce and commodities dealers across the United States. Founded in 1861 as the New Y ...

in 1887, a member of the Chamber of Commerce, and from 1889 President of the

Knickerbocker Trust Company The Knickerbocker Trust was a bank based in New York City that was, at one time, among the largest banks in the United States. It was a central player in the Panic of 1907. History The bank was chartered in 1884 by Frederick G. Eldridge, a frie ...

. Other positions included president of the Municipal Gas-Light Company of Rochester; director of the Long Island Railroad Company; and secretary and manager of the

Hospital for the Ruptured and Crippled Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) is a hospital in New York City that specializes in orthopedic surgery and the treatment of rheumatologic conditions. Founded in 1863 by James Knight, HSS is the oldest orthopedic hospital in the United States ...

Writings

Townsend was also a writer on economic matters, his publications including the chapters on U.S. Savings Banks in volume 2 of '' A History of Banking in all the Leading Nations'' (1896), as well as writings on the Free Silver controversy.

Death

On 10 September 1898, Townsend died suddenly of a heart attack shortly after dinner at his summer house in

Tarrytown, New York Tarrytown is a village in the town of Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, approximately north of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, and is served by a stop on the Metro-North ...

."Death of John P. Townsend"
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', 13 September 1898. Accessed 24 May 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Townsend, John Pomeroy 1832 births 1898 deaths American bankers Businesspeople from New York City People from Middlebury, Vermont 19th-century American businesspeople American bank presidents People from Tarrytown, New York Businesspeople from Vermont American people of English descent Knickerbocker Trust Company