Person:Charles Townsend (21)

From "The History of Dutchess County, New York", biographical sketch of Charles Townsend in a section "Commemorative Biographical Record":

Charles Townsend, a prominent young agriculturist of the town of Pawling, Dutchess County, is one of the most progressive and successful men of that locality. His ability in his chosen calling is not to be wondered at, in view of the fact that many previous generations have followed it with marked success. The old home of the family is in the town of Kent, Putnam County, where a large tract of land, on what has long been known as "Townsend Ridge", was acquired by an early ancestor, and has ever been in the possession of his descendants.

Samuel Townsend, our subject's great-grandfather, resided there, and his son Warren, our subject's grandfather, who was born in 1800, was one of the most influential men of the locality, holding the office of justice of the peace for many years. He married Betsy Caldwell, and had seven children: John, our subject's father; Edgar, who lives at Patterson, Putnam County; Mariette, the wife of George Hughson; Charlotte, who married Coleman Hughson; Thomas and Keeler, bith deceased; and Eli, who resides in Carmel, Putnam County, New York.

John Townsend was born in 1824, at Townsend Ridge, and inherited a farm of 100 acres, where he lived until 1867, when he moved to Dutchess County, and bought from William Pearce 230 acres of land about half a mile north of the village of Pawling. He made this one of the best farms of the town, displaying marked ability as a manager, and he made his home there until 1883, when he sold the property to John B. Dutcher. In 1888 he moved to Bound Brook, N.J., and purchased an estate, where he is now successfully engaged in general farming. He is a man of much public spirit, a member of the Baptist Church, and a Republican in politics, being one of the chief advisors of the party in his locality. He is not a seeker of official honors, but has been town auditor and assessor for a number of terms. His first wife, our subject's mother, was Anna Maria Ludington (daughter of Frederic Ludington), by whom he had four children: Fred, a resident of Danbury, Conn., Harriet, the wife of DeWitt Burr; Charles, our subject; and Warren, who died in infancy. By his second wife, Sarah E. Dykeman, he has had two children: Fannie, the wife of James E. Baldwin; and George H., who is at Home

Charles Townsend was born at the old homestead November 20, 1857, and, after attending the public schools of his native place for some time, spent three years at Wilbraham Academy, and one winter at the Eastman Business College, Poughkeepsie. Of these advantages he has made good use, and his later reading has kept him well posted upon all topics of general interest. His first venture into the world of business was a a clerk in the dry-goods house of Lord & Taylor, on Grand street, New York, and after one year in that capacity he was promoted to the office of cashier. He spent nearly three years with this firm, and then engaged in the milk business, but in 1880, he left the city to follow the free and independant life of a farmer, purchasing of Albert Corbin the property neat Pawling, Dutchess county, known as the Stockholm farm.

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1. ↑ History of Dutchess County, New York.