Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1889, volume 6).djvu/172

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TOWNSEND
TOWNSEND

1880. During the entire civil war Gen. Townsend was the principal executive officer of the war department, and was perhaps brought into more intimate personal contact with President Lincoln and Sec. Stanton than any other military official. As adjutant-general of the army he originated the plan of a U. S. military prison, urged legislation on the subject, and established the prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. Gen. Townsend is a member of the Societv of the Cincinnati. He is the author of "Catechism of the Bible— The Pentateuch" (New York, 1859) ; " Catechism of the Bible — Judges and Kings " (1862) ; and " Anecdotes of the Civil War in the United States" (1884).


TOWNSEND, Frederick, soldier, b. in Albany, N. Y., 21 Sept., 1825. He wa"s graduated at Union college in 1844, and admitted to the bar. Having a leaning toward military matters, he became adjutant-general of the state in 1856. He found the militia in a most disordered condition and ad- dressed himself to the task of making it what it ought to be. He prepared an annual report from this department for the first time, and he was reappointed by the next governor of the state. To his efficiency is due the fact that the state of New York sent so many troops to the field in the civil war. He declined a reappointment as adjutant- general in 1861, and organized a regiment, being commissioned colonel. He took part in the battle of Big Bethel, but soon afterward he was com- missioned a major in the regular army and re- signed his colonelcy. As major his duties led him to organize troops in Columbus, Ohio. Afterward he participated in the battles of Pea Ridge, Stone River, and other engagements at the west. In 1863 he was detailed as assistant provost-marshal-general in Albany, which position he filled for several years. In 1867 he was ordered to California and made a thorough inspection of all the military posts in Arizona. In 1868 he resigned from the army, and he has resided in Albany since that time. In 1878 he was appointed a brigadier-gen- eral in the state militia, and he afterward became adjutant-general of the state under Gov. Alonzo B. Cornell. In this post he again addressed him- self to the condition of the citizen soldiers and in- creased their numbers to 12,000 effective men. He successfully urged the adoption of a state service uniform and a state military camp. — His brother, Howard, physician, b. in Albany, N. Y., 22 Nov., 1823; d. there, 16 Jan., 1867, was graduated at Union in 1844, and at the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania in 1847. Establishing himself in his native city, he was surgeon- general of the state in 1851-'2, and afterward pro- fessor in the Albany medical college. Dr. Town- send was the author of "The Sunbeam and the Spectroscope " (Albany, 1864) ; " Food and its Di- gestion" (1866); and "Sinai Bible" (1866).


TOWNSEND, George Alfred, author, b. in Georgetown, Del., 30 Jan., 1841. His father, the Rev. Stephen Townsend, a Methodist clergyman for half a century, studied and practised medicine at the age of fifty, and at seventy obtained the degree of Ph. D. by actual university study. The son was educated mainly in Philadelphia, where he began writing for the press and speaking in public, and in 1860 adopted the profession of journalism. In 1862 he was a war-correspondent of the New York "Herald," describing for that journal McClellan's peninsula campaign and Pope's campaign in northern Virginia. Later in the year he went to Europe, where he wrote for English and American periodicals, and lectured on the civil war. In 1864 he became war-correspondent of the New York " World," was permitted to sign his letters, and quickly made a reputation as a descriptive writer. After the war he became a professional lecturer, continuing also his miscellaneous writing for the press, and, going to Europe, described the Austro-Prussian war of 1866. His pen-name, " Gath," was first used in 1868 in letters to the Chicago " Tribune." In 1885 he built a house on the battle-field of Crampton's Gap, South Mountain, Md., where a small village has since sprung up, to which he gives the name Gapland. His publications in book-form are " The Bohemians," a play (New York, 1862); "Campaigns of a Non-Combatant" (1865): "Life of Garibaldi" (1867); "Real Life of Abraham Lincoln " (1867) : " The New World compared with the Old" (1868); " Poems " (1870) ; " Washington Outside and In- side" (1871); "Mormon Trials at Salt Lake" (1872); "Washington Re-builded " (1873) ; "Tales of the Chesapeake" (1880); "Bohemian Davs" (1881); "Poetical Addresses" (1883); "The Entailed Hat" (1884); "President Cromwell." a drama (1885); "Katy of Catoctin," a novel (1886); and a campaign life "of Levi P. Morton (1888). He is now writing a romance entitled " Dr. Priestley, or the Federalists."


TOWNSEND, John Kirk, naturalist, b. in Philadelphia, Pa., 10 Aug., 1809 ; d. in Washington, D. C, 16 Feb., 1851. He was educated at the Friends' school, and in the West Town boarding- school. When he grew older he developed a fond- ness for natural history, and was associated with John J. Audubon in the preparation of his " Ameri- can Ornithology," in which many of the descriptions are from his pen. During 1833-'7 he made exten- sive journeys in the western states and across the Rocky mountains with Thomas Nuttall. Subse- quently he visited the Sandwich islands and South America, and then for some years had charge of the department of birds in the Smithsonian institu- tion. While in Washington he practised dentistry, and so acquired the title of doctor. He was a member of the Philadelphia academy of natural sciences, and a contributor to its proceedings. Dr. Townsend was the author of "A Narrative of a Journey across the Rocky Mountains to the Co- lumbia River" (Boston, 1839), published in Eng- land under the title "Sporting Adventures in the Rocky Mountains" (London, 1840), and of "Or- nithology of the United States," only the first part of which was issued (Philadelphia, 1839).


TOWNSEND, Luther Tracy, clergyman, b. in Orono, Me., 27 Sept., 1838. He 'was graduated at Dartmouth in 1859 and at Andover theological seminary in 1862. and ordained to the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal church. During the civil war he was adjutant of the 16th New Hampshire volunteers. He was professor of exegetieal theology in Boston university in 1867-'8 and of historical theology in 1869-73, and since the last date has occupied the chair of practical theology. Dartmouth gave him the degree of D. D. in 1871. He has published several addresses and sermons, became an associate editor of "Our Day" in 1888, and is the author of " True and Pretended Christianity " (Boston, 1869) ; " Sword and Garment " (1871) ; " God-Man " (1872) ; " Credo " (1873) ; " Outlines of Theology " (New York, 1873) ; " Arena and Throne " (Boston, 1874) ; " The Chinese Problem " (1876); "The Supernatural Factor in Revivals" (1877); "The Intermediate World " (1878); "Elements of General and Christian Theologv " (New York, 1879); "Fate of Republics" (Boston, 1880); "Art of Speech" (1880); "Studies in Poetry and Prose " (1880) ; " Studies in Eloquence and Logic "