Townsend, Robert 1834 –
TOWNSEND, WEEKS, MCLAUGHLIN, MCGAREY, SILLAMAN, BUTTERS, BOYD, STOCKMAN
Posted By: Joy Moore (email)
Date: 5/7/2015 at 07:31:07
ROBERT TOWNSEND.
Robert Townsend, for many years prominently connected with agricultural interests in Winneshiek county, came to Burr Oak township in 1855 and settled upon a tract of raw land. Afterward through hard work he transformed the property into rich and fertile fields from which he derived abundant harvests year by year, finally acquiring a comfortable fortune upon which to retire from active life in 1912.
He was born in Starkey, Yates county, New York, January 3, 1834, and is a son of Hiram H. and Freelove Archer (Weeks) Townsend. The paternal grandfather, Richard Townsend, was a native of New England. The father of the subject of this review was born in Connecticut or New York, and the mother was a native of the latter state. In their family were the following children: Mrs. Zeruah Sillaman, who died in Missouri; Emma Louisa, who passed away at the age of one year; Mary Butters, a widow residing in Schuyler county, New York; and Clark A., who died in that state.
Robert Townsend was reared at home and resided in his native county until April, 1855, when he came west, settling in Winneshiek county, Iowa. He purchased a farm of one hundred and sixty acres on section 22, Burr Oak township, taking up his residence upon it when pioneer conditions prevailed everywhere and the work of development was scarcely begun. The passing years brought him success, prominence and a substantial fortune and his farm became one of the best in this section of the state for he was at all times practical in his methods and progressive in his ideas. He continued active in the development of his property until the fall of 1912, when he rented the farm, still continuing, however, to reside upon the homestead.
On the 9th of February, 1859, Mr. Townsend was united in marriage to Miss Jane McLaughlin, who was born in Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, November 23, 1837, and went to Illinois with her parents in 1855. In the following year the family removed to Winneshiek county and here Mrs. Townsend has since resided. She is a daughter of Joseph and Rachel (McGarey) McLaughlin, both of whom passed away in Iowa. They became the parents of eleven children, three of whom died in infancy and five of whom are still living. Mr. and Mrs. Townsend have two daughters. The older, Dora E., is the widow of Sidney Boyd, of Canton, Minnesota, and has two children, Harry T. and Claudine Estella. The younger, Dottie B., is the wife of Marcus Stockman, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and they have two children, Fred Parker and Rollin Perry. Mr. and Mrs. Townsend lost one child, Jessie D. F., who died when she was one year old.
Mr. Townsend has voted the republican ticket since he cast his ballot for Fremont. He belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and is interested in the work of that organization. His life has been such as to give him high standing in the eyes of the community and he is generally recognized as a man whose long years of earnest labor have not only contributed to his own prosperity but have also been a boon to the community at large.
Source: History of Winneshiek County, Iowa Vol. II Chicago the S. J. Clark Publishing Company 1913
Burr Oak Cemetery gravestone
Winneshiek Biographies maintained by Bruce Kuennen.
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