Martin Ingham Townsend (February 6, 1810 – March 8, 1903) was an American lawyer and politician from New York.

Early life

Townsend was born on February 6, 1810, in

Hancock, Massachusetts Hancock is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 757 at the 2020 census. History Hancock was first settled in 1762 as the Plantat ...

. He was one of four children born to Nathaniel Townsend and Cynthia (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Marsh) Townsend. He moved with his parents to

Williamstown, Massachusetts Williamstown is a town in the northern part of Berkshire County, in the northwest corner of Massachusetts, United States. It shares a border with Vermont to the north and New York to the west. It is part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolit ...

, in 1816. He attended the common schools, and graduated from

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a col ...

in 1833.

Career

After his graduation from Williams, he studied law with

David Dudley Field David Dudley Field II (February 13, 1805April 13, 1894) was an American lawyer and law reformer who made major contributions to the development of Civil procedure in the United States, American civil procedure. His greatest accomplishment was ...

in Albany, and then moved to

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in prese ...

to become a clerk in the law office his brother, Rufus M. Townsend. He was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

the following year in 1836, and commenced practice as a partner with his brother, later known as the firms of Townsends & Browne, when Irving Browne joined, then Townsends & Roche when W.J. Roche joined, Townsend & Roche upon the retirement of his brother, and Townsend, Roche & Nason. He was District Attorney of Rensselaer County from 1842 to 1845. He was a delegate to the

New York State Constitutional Convention The Constitution of the State of New York establishes the structure of the government of the State of New York, and enumerates the basic rights of the citizens of New York. Like most state constitutions in the United States, New York's constituti ...

of 1867. In

1869 Events January–March * January 3 – Abdur Rahman Khan is defeated at Tinah Khan, and exiled from Afghanistan. * January 5 – Scotland's oldest professional football team, Kilmarnock F.C., is founded. * January 20 – E ...

, he ran on the Republican ticket for

New York State Attorney General The attorney general of New York is the chief legal officer of the U.S. state of New York and head of the Department of Law of the state government. The office has been in existence in some form since 1626, under the Dutch colonial government of ...

, but was defeated by the incumbent Democrat Marshall B. Champlain. He was a Regent of the

University of the State of New York The University of the State of New York (USNY, ) is the state of New York (state), New York's governmental umbrella organization for both public and private institutions in New York State. The "university" is not an educational institution: it i ...

from 1873 to 1903. Townsend was elected as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

to the 44th and

45th United States Congress The 45th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1877, ...

es, and served from March 4, 1875, to March 3, 1879. He was

United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York The United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York is the chief federal law enforcement officer in 32 counties in the northern part of the State of New York. The current U.S. Attorney is Carla B. Freedman who was named on October 8, ...

from 1879 to 1887. He retired from legal practice in 1901. Townsend was affectionately called the "Gladstone of Troy" after

William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...

, the British

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

. He reportedly did not appreciate the nickname however due to Gladstone's support of the South during the

U.S. Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

Personal life

In 1836, Townsend was married to Louisa Bacon Kellogg (1812–1890), a student at the

Emma Willard School The Emma Willard School, originally called Troy Female Seminary and often referred to simply as Emma, is an independent university-preparatory day and boarding school for young women, located in Troy, New York, on Mount Ida, offering grades 9–1 ...

and the daughter of Oren Kellogg, Esq. Together, they were the parents of a daughter: * Frances Kellogg Townsend (b. 1841), who married professor

Henry Bradford Nason Henry Bradford Nason (born in Foxborough, Massachusetts, 22 June 1831; died in Troy, New York, 18 January 1895) was a United States chemist. Biography His father, Elias Nason (born at Walpole, Massachusetts, in 1768; died at Easthampton, Massachu ...

(1842–1895), on September 7, 1864. Townsend became gravely ill in December 1891, but recovered and lived for 12 more years. He died at his home in

Troy, New York Troy is a city in the U.S. state of New York and the county seat of Rensselaer County. The city is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany a ...

, of bronchial pneumonia on March 8, 1903. He was buried at the Oakwood Cemetery in Troy.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Townsend, Martin Ingham 1810 births 1903 deaths Williams College alumni Rensselaer County district attorneys Politicians from Troy, New York United States Attorneys for the Northern District of New York Regents of the University of the State of New York Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) 19th-century American politicians People from Berkshire County, Massachusetts Burials at Oakwood Cemetery (Troy, New York)