John_Selby_Townsend

John Selby Townsend

John Selby Townsend

American politician (1824–1892)

John Selby Townsend (August 24, 1824 – April 23, 1892) was an American judge and politician. He was a member of the Democratic Party.

Quick Facts Member of the Iowa House of Representatives from the 8th district, Personal details ...

Townsend was born on August 24, 1824, in Morganfield, Kentucky to James Townsend a planter and large slaveowner.[1] When Townsend was age four, his father freed all his slaves and moved with his family to Indiana.[1] Townsend studied at Asbury University (now DePauw University) and, subsequently, taught himself law, passing the bar exam in Monroe County, Iowa.[1]

In 1851, Townsend was elected the county attorney of Monroe County.[1] In 1852 he was elected to the Iowa General Assembly, sitting in the House of Representatives from December 6, 1852, to December 3, 1854.[1][2][3] From 1853 to 1863 he served as a district court judge, before going into private practice with Theodore Bolivar Perry, who had previously read law under him.[2][1] He retired in 1883.[1]

References

  1. [1]
    The Bench and Bar of Iowa: Illustrated with Steel and Copper Engravings. American Biographical Publishing Company. 1901. pp. 168–169.
  2. [2]
    "Senator Frederick Townsend". legis.iowa.gov. Iowa Legislature. Retrieved August 6, 2022.
  3. [3]
    John Selby Townsend, Iowa General Assembly Archived 2012-04-26 at the Wayback Machine
More information Iowa House of Representatives ...


Stub icon

This article about an Iowa politician is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article John_Selby_Townsend, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.