John Selby Townsend

JOHN SELBY TOWNSEND was born in Morgansfield, Kentucky, August 21, 1824, being a son of James and Catharine Davis Townsend. In 1830 his parents removed to Putnam County, Indiana, where he spent his boyhood and youth. His brother was clerk of the courts, and in assisting him young Townsend acquired his love for his chosen profession - the law. He came to Iowa in 1850, locating first in Lucas County, but in the spring of 1851, moving to Albia, where he resided for over forty years, taking an active part in the public affairs of his county and State. In August, 1851, he was elected prosecuting attorney for Monroe County. In August, 1852, he was elected to the Fourth General Assembly and his services as legislator were very creditable. In 1853 he was elected Judge of the District Court, Ninth Judicial District, comprising the counties of Appanoosa, Monroe, Lucas, Wayne, Warren, Madison, Union, Ringgold, and Decatur. At the close of his first term he was reelected. When the judicial districts were changed by the new Constitution in 1857, he was elected Judge of the Second Judicial District, and served a full term of four years, making a continuous record on the bench of nearly ten years. In politics Judge Townsend was a lifelong Democrat and until his death took an active part in the councils of his party. Upon retiring from the bench in 1864, he formed a co-partnership with T. B. Perry, under the firm name of Perry & Townsend, a relation which continued for twenty years, when Judge Townsend retired from the practice of the law. Judge Townsend was twice married, first in 1848 to Mary E. Brooks, who died in 1852. In the autumn of 1853 he was married to Annie, daughter of John D. Elbert of Van Buren County. Three sons survive this union, Judge J. E. Townsend and Dr. Wilber Townsend, both of El Paso, Texas, and Fred Townsend, an attorney of Albia. He died April 23, 1892, at his home at Albia.