Townsend Family
Papers; 1795-1914, bulk 1795-1854

SC10441

View catalog record

Biographical Note:

Brothers Isaiah (1777-1838) and John (1783-1854) Townsend were important merchants, iron manufacturers and politicians in the Albany, New York, area in the first half of the nineteenth century.  Born at Sterling, Orange County, New York, they were the sons of Henry Townsend (1752-18l5) and Mary (Bennet) Townsend.  The family was descended from brothers John and Henry Townsend who had settled in Oyster Bay, New York, in 1661.  Isaiah and John had seven siblings including brothers Samuel, William, Peter, Charles, and Noah.

Isaiah Townsend married Hannah Townsend (1784-1854), the daughter of Solomon Townsend, in 1809. Among their children were Frederick (1825-1897), a lawyer who practiced in Albany, served in the Civil War and as the adjutant general of New York State; Franklin (1821-1898), who worked in the family's iron business and served as mayor of Albany in 1850-1851; Robert (1819-1866), a naval officer who died of heat stroke on board the ship Wachusett in China; Howard (1823-1867), a physician and professor at the Albany Medical College; and Isaiah, Jr. (18l3-1859).  Isaiah and his wife Hannah and five of their children are buried in Albany Rural Cemetery in Menands, New York

In 1810 John Townsend married Abby Spencer (1790-1849), daughter of Ambrose Spencer (1765-1848), who had served as mayor of Albany, associate justice and, later, chief justice of the New York Supreme Court of Judicature, and as a member of the House of Representatives in the U. S. Congress from 1829-1831.  Ambrose Spencer's son, and Abby's brother, was John C. Spencer (1788-1855), who had a significant career in state and national politics, becoming a U.S. Congressman, speaker of the New York State Assembly, the New York State Secretary of State, U.S. Secretary of War and U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. As John Townsend's brother-in-law, he seems to have been a close friend and ally, serving at times as the brothers' lawyer.  Some of his papers are contained in this collection.

Of John and Abby's twelve children, only Theodore Townsend (1826-1905) became involved with his father's iron works business. John and Abby Townsend and most of their children are buried in Albany Rural Cemetery in Menands, New York.

Isaiah moved to Albany from Orange County in 1799 as a partner in the firm of Stewart & Townsend, iron merchants.  His brother John joined him a few years later and the firm of I. & J. Townsend was formed.  The Townsends' business involved the buying and selling of both foreign and domestic iron and the production, at their foundry, of mill gearings, machinery castings, chilled and dry sand rolls and railroad car wheels. The firm, under various names, remained in the family until the l890s. While the records overlap at times, the succession of firm names is, generally, as follows:

1799 - 1802                 Stewart & Townsend
1804 - 1838                 I. & J. Townsend
1838 - 1849                 John Townsend
1849 - 1856                 F. & T. Townsend [Franklin & Theodore]
1856 - 1867                 Franklin Townsend & Co.
1867 - 1882                 Townsend & Jackson [George P.]
1882 – [1895?]            Rufus K. Townsend [son of Franklin]

In addition to their interests in the iron business, the brothers built up other businesses comprised of steamboats, salt production, railroads, real estate, banking and insurance.  During the War of 1812 the brothers became heavily involved in activities to supply the army with provisions, supplies and rations, contracting with Elbert Anderson, Jr., and others.

John Townsend organized the Albany Insurance Company and the Albany Savings Bank and aided in the development of the Utica & Schenectady Railroad, of which he held the directorship until its consolidation with the New York Central in 1853. He served as the mayor of Albany for three terms (1829, 1830 and 1832). At the time of his death in 1854 he was president of the Commercial Bank, the Board of Water Commissioners, the Albany Exchange Co., of the Albany Savings Bank, the Albany Pier Company, the Syracuse Salt Co., the Watervliet Turnpike Co., and was acting president of the Albany Insurance Co. The brothers, Isaiah and John, and their heirs, Franklin, Theodore and Rufus King, were active in many of the business and political developments of their day.

Scope and Content Note:

These papers consist of correspondence, both personal and professional, bills and receipts, leases, deeds and bonds, promissory notes, accounts, orders and contracts.  The items have been organized by topic, as follows, and in roughly chronological order:

• Townsend Family Letters and Papers: These include early correspondence between Hannah and Isaiah Townsend and from Hannah's parents, Samuel and Anne, and an 1814 letter from the father of John and Isaiah, Henry Townsend; and some papers from Isaiah's sons, Robert, Frederick, Franklin, Howard, and Isaiah, Jr.  Rather unusually, the collection contains some letters written by the women of the family.  There are several interesting items among these letters:
  •  A first-person account of the anti-rent protests, known as the Helderberg War, in 1839, written by Franklin Townsend, son of Isaiah (Box 1, Folder 12).
  • A long letter from 21-year-old midshipman, Robert Townsend, aboard the U.S.S. Ohio, about his impressions of European ports in 1840 (Box 1, Folder 2).
  • Letters of Theodore Townsend in March and July of 1850, relating details of a sea trip on the steamship Ohio from New York to Havana and back, writing from Havana, Cuba; New Orleans, Louisiana; Mobile, Alabama; and Augusta, Georgia. (Box 1, Folder 8).

• Household Receipts: This interesting and extensive series of bills and receipts from Mrs. Isaiah (Hannah) Townsend, from 1839-1851, documents the running of her household following her husband's death. There are receipts from numerous Albany merchants: china importers, clothiers, engravers, grocers, the apothecary, etc., plus her requests for cash from her brother-in-law.  Also included are some tuition receipts to Isaiah Townsend for his children's schooling.

• Isaiah and John Townsend Business and Political Papers: This series of papers reveals how wide-ranging the interests of the Townsend brothers were.  There are property leases, bills of sale for two ships, receipts for repairs on the mansion of the late Gen. Philip Schuyler, papers from Common Council meetings, petitions, and plans for the visit to Albany of General Lafayette in 1824.

• Isaiah and John Townsend Commercial Ventures: This series of papers contains items related to the War of 1812, including instructions, dated October 25, 1814, to agents concerning the slaughtering and packing of cattle and the making of tallow for the northern army of the United States. One letter indicates the Townsends were "contractors for supplies & provisions for the U.S. Northern Army" during the war. There are also papers concerning the Albany and Bath Ferry Association, 1821-1825; papers relating to the Watervliet Turnpike Company, including lists of shareholders, 1828-1831; and stock certificates for the Albany Basin enterprise, 1823-1825.

• Isaiah and John Townsend Business and Political Correspondence: While Isaiah Townsend appeared to have little interest in holding political office himself, the brothers were deeply involved in the local and state politics of their day, resulting in the election of John Townsend as mayor of Albany three times.  Letters here are from diverse sources and on numerous topics.

• John C. Spencer Correspondence and Papers: Comprised mainly of correspondence, these papers include two letters relating to the case of Philip Spencer (son of John) who was executed for mutiny aboard the U.S.S. Somers in 1842.  Several letters are to John Townsend from Ambrose Spencer and William A. Spencer, father and brother of John C., respectively.

• John Townsend's Mayoral Papers: This group consists mainly of correspondence to the mayor during his three terms and a draft of one of his acceptance speeches, bids and plans for construction of Academy and City parks, and two photographs of Albany City Hall, the building of which Townsend presided over.

Related Collections:

The New York State Library also holds the Townsend Family Business Papers, SC14831, containing extensive records of the family's various business endeavors, mainly during the first half of the nineteenth century.

An additional archive of Townsend family and business records is held at the New York Public Library under the name Townsend family papers. A copy of the finding aid is available in the accession file for this collection. The New-York Historical Society also holds a sizable series of business and personal papers related to various members of the Townsend family of Albany, New York.

Box and Folder List: