Vol. XI.
No. 4.
BOSTON.
Apr1l, 1899.
HON. MARTIN INGHAM TOWNSEND. By General Edward F1tch Bullard of the New York Bar. MR. TOWNSEND, the subject of this sketch, was born at Hancock, Mass., February 6, 1810. The Townsends came from England in the year 1668 and settled at Weston, Mass. The mother of Martin I. was Cynthia Marsh, who was a descendant of Miles Standish of the Mayflower and of Mary Adams of Braintree. His grandfather, Rufus Marsh, was a soldier in the war of the American Revolution, and was in the san guinary battle at Bemus Heights at the age of nineteen years. His parents removed from Hancock to Williamstown, Mass., in 1 816, when Martin, the son, was six years of age, and he was there brought up on his father's farm amidst the romantic scenery of that historical country. From the farm Mr. Townsend entered Williams College and graduated from that distinguished seat of learning in 1833, and was admitted to the practice of law in New York, May 13, 1836. Mr. Townsend became a resident of Troy, N. Y., December 1, 1833, where he has ever since been an active member of the legal profession, and is now the oldest man in active practice in the State. He has been a prominent figure in public life for more than half a century. He was district attorney of Rensselaer county from 1 842 to 1845, and was United States dis trict attorney from March, 1879, to October, 1887. He was a member of the constitu tional convention of 1867, and of the con stitutional commission of 1894. He was made a member of the board of regents of the University of the State of New York in 1873, and is still a member of that body.
From 1833 to 1848 he was one of the most active Democrats in Rensselaer county, hav ing as a co-laborer during the latter part of that time Col. Charles L. MacArthur, of the " Troy Northern Budget," and Thomas B. Carroll, subsequently mayor of Troy. In 1848 the encroachments of the slave power caused him to abandon the Demo cratic party, and from that time forward he acted with the same zeal in behalf of the Republican party. He has participated in many notable debates at home and abroad on the leading issues of the day. He was, in 1874, elected to Congress, and was hon ored by a reelection, being one of the most conspicuous members of the national legis lature, and his speeches attracted wide attention. Besides devoting a great deal of time to professional and public affairs the venerable gentleman has been an enthusiast in stock-raising and in agricultural matters. In 1863 he acquired a tract of 1,100 acres of land in Iowa, and devoted it to the raising of beef cattle and corn. His enterprise in this direction is still such as to require a very considerable amount of attention. Besides being very active in the political field, Mr. Townsend has participated in the trial of several noted criminal cases, prose cuting as district attorney Henry C. Green, who poisoned his wife in Berlin, in 1844, and acting for the defense in the noted case of Henrietta Robinson, known as the veiled murderess, and Andrus Hall, accused of murdering the Smith family in Petersburgh. He also defended Whitbeck and three other farmers of Rensselaer county, who were indicted for killing Willard Griggs, a 149
