Townsend Family

Business Papers; 1802-1883; bulk 1808-1855

SC14831

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Biographical Note:

From the late 1700s to the late 1800s, Townsend family members played a significant role in Albany and New York State businesses.  As the 1886 Bi-Centennial History of Albany put it: "No single family has done more for the progress of Albany's manufacturing interests and the promotion of its commercial welfare than that of Townsend."  Beginning with the involvement of Peter Townsend in the Sterling Iron Works before the Revolutionary War, the family had interests in the purchase, sale, and manufacturing of iron products of all kinds.  Many members of the Townsend family were born in Sterling, Orange County, New York, including brothers Isaiah Townsend (1777-1838) and John Townsend (1783-1854), great-nephews of Peter Townsend.

In 1799 Isaiah Townsend moved to Albany, New York, to become a partner in the firm of Stewart & Townsend, also iron merchants.  When that firm dissolved, Isaiah was joined by his younger brother, John, and together they formed the firm I. & J. Townsend in 1804.  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]

The Townsends also helped establish the Townsend & Corning Foundry in south Albany, which manufactured cast iron ploughs and other agricultural equipment.  The brothers had significant interest in the Troy Iron and Nail Works, which eventually became the Burden Iron Works under the ownership of Henry Burden.

In 1824, Isaiah and John Townsend, with William James and James McBride, purchased land at the site of what would become Syracuse, New York.  The Townsends and James contributed to the development of the city, investing heavily in real estate and other businesses.  The Syracuse Salt Company, which they started in 1824, manufactured salt by solar evaporation.  The brothers also had property and other business interests in several other states, notably Vermont and Michigan.

After the death of his brother Isaiah in 1838, John Townsend continued to engage in numerous business and political activities.  He organized the Albany Insurance Company and the Albany Savings Bank, and aided in the development of the Utica & Schenectady Railroad, for 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., the Albany Savings Bank, the Albany Pier Company, the Syracuse Salt Co., the Watervliet Turnpike Co., and was acting president of the Albany Insurance Company.

Franklin Townsend (1821-1898), the son of Isaiah and Hannah Townsend, was born in Albany, New York.  He attended Albany Academy and Williams College.  He appears to have joined the family business about 1840, becoming involved with Townsend Furnace.  When his Uncle John Townsend died in 1849, he became a partner with his cousin Theodore Townsend (1826-1905), son of John.  Franklin's oldest son, Rufus King Townsend (1853-1895), succeeded him in 1871.  Franklin Townsend served as mayor of Albany in 1850, a member of the state assembly in 1857, and as adjutant general for New York from 1869-1873.

Scope and Content Note:

The Townsend Family Business Papers contain extensive records of the many business ventures in which the family was involved.  The collection includes business correspondence, financial records, orders, account statements, receipts, circulars, legal documents, etc.  While these records have been arranged into four separate series, there is some degree of overlap among them. Incoming correspondence predominates in most of the series.

Various Townsend family members and in-laws were involved in some of the businesses. Thus, there are letters from brothers Samuel Townsend (1785-1849), Peter Townsend (1790-1828?), and Charley Townsend (1795-1822); Ambrose S. Townsend (1812-1841) and Edward Townsend (1836-1884), both sons of John; Isaiah Townsend, Jr. (1813-1859) and Dr. Howard Townsend (1823-1867), both sons of Isaiah.  John Townsend's father-in-law, Ambrose Spencer (1765-1848), brother-in-law John C. Spencer (1788-1855), and son-in-law Allen Munroe (1819-1884) are also correspondents.  These letters mainly concern business matters, but often contain bits of family or political news.

Series I: I. & J. Townsend Business Papers, 1802-1851
(Boxes 1-13)

Beginning with the earliest years in business as Stewart & Townsend, and continuing until the death of Isaiah in 1838, these papers, arranged chronologically, document in detail the workings of this active iron foundry.  Included are orders, invoices, receipts, account statements, advertising circulars, and banking information from customers around Albany and New York State, and from Philadelphia, Newport, Boston, Baltimore, and Detroit.  The company imported supplies from Sweden, England and even Russia, so there are letters from overseas suppliers, including price lists. Some correspondence give detailed descriptions of items being designed and manufactured. Occasionally there are requests for employment and recommendations for prospective employees.  Many of the letters are between the brothers, discussing the running of the business, while one or the other was out of town.  Samuel Townsend, brother of Isaiah and John, sent reports from the Cornwall Cotton Factory in Cornwall, New York.

Series II: John Townsend Business Correspondence, 1823-1853
(Boxes 14-24)

Comprised almost entirely of letters to John Townsend, these cover the wide range of his business interests across the state of New York and in other places, particularly Vermont and Michigan.  While some personal and political material is mixed in, the majority of the series contains letters regarding I. & J. Townsend, financial transactions, the Watervliet Turnpike Co., the salt business, the Troy Iron and Nail Factory, railroad businesses, commercial banking businesses, building construction in Syracuse, New York, and letters from Detroit, Michigan, regarding the Farmers & Merchant Bank there.  Material is arranged chronologically.

Correspondents include, but are not limited to, Isaiah Townsend writing from Syracuse; Samuel Townsend writing from Cornwall, New York; Charles Rhind from New York City; William Jackson from Syracuse; Ambrose S. Townsend from Syracuse; James G. Tracy from Syracuse; Isaiah Townsend, Jr.; Moses D. Burnet from Syracuse; Solomon Townsend from New York City; Philip Ford from Troy Iron and Nail; Franklin Townsend from New York City; Allen Munroe from New York City; and bankers Prime, Ward and King.  One interesting item of the times is an emotional letter from a Lewis A. Adler begging for employment, August 30, 1841.

Series III: Franklin Townsend Business Correspondence and Papers, 1840-1855
(Boxes 25-31)

While Franklin Townsend's name was not officially on the masthead until his uncle's death in 1849, it appears that he became involved in the business around 1840, at the age of 19, probably after finishing at Williams College.  This chronological series consists primarily of letters to Franklin with orders, receipts, production requests, administrative issues, etc., pertaining to the running of the business.  Correspondents include Henry Burden of Troy Iron and Nail Factory; Lemuel Pomeroy of Pittsfield, Massachusetts; his Uncle John Townsend from Syracuse; Samuel Townsend from Cornwall, New York; and Henry Mooers, regarding a plow patent on May 22, 1843.  Also interesting is an apprentice's indenture for Henry V. DeGroot of Cornwall, New York, on April 28, 1846.

Series IV: Other Townsend Business Papers, 1815-1883
(Boxes 26-36)

This series has been organized into three parts:

• The first includes general business correspondence regarding some of the family businesses, notably the iron and banking businesses.  It includes letters to Isaiah Townsend, John Townsend, I. & J. Townsend (firm), Franklin Townsend, and a number of other non-family addressees, such as Erastus Corning and Lewis Benedict.  Also included are some papers of Theodore Townsend, son of John Townsend, and specifications for building the Cornwall Cotton Factory in Cornwall, New York.

• The second part contains the records of the Troy Iron and Nail Factory.  This enterprise, owned by the Townsend brothers, was located on the north side of the Wynantskill Creek in South Troy.  In 1822, Henry Burden (1791-1871) a recent Scottish émigré who was an engineer and inventor, and who had been employed at the Townsend and Corning Foundry, became superintendent there.  Eventually Burden became sole owner of the factory, which later became known as Burden Iron Works.  Much of the correspondence is from him.  Another significant correspondent is Philip Ford, who seems to have been a long-time manager for the firm.

Interesting items in this collection include a description of the buildings belonging to the Troy Iron and Nail Factory in 1824 (valued at $20,000); letters from Henry Burden from Liverpool, England, in 1836; and, in 1842, a salary dispute between Burden and the board of trustees.  Communication from the Troy Iron and Nail Factory can also to be found throughout Series I and II.

• The third part of this series contains correspondence and papers related specifically to the Townsend business dealings in Syracuse, New York, starting in 1824.  Several business ventures were undertaken there, from the salt company to the construction of homes and stores.  There is correspondence from Harvey Baldwin, a lawyer and future mayor of Syracuse, who was in partnership with the Townsends.  Correspondents in this series include William Jackson, Henry Martin, Henry Raynor, Augustus James, A. Van Patten and Thomas Bennett. There also several files of letters to William Soulden (1787-1851) from the Townsends and others in Syracuse.  Soulden was an Englishman, who married distantly into the Townsend family and appears to have managed property for John Townsend.

Additionally, there are a large number of letters to John Townsend from Allen Munroe (1819-1884) of Syracuse.  Munroe married John Townsend's daughter, Julia, in 1846 and thereafter settled in Syracuse.  Munroe seems to have served as a business manager and partner for the many Townsend businesses in Syracuse.  His letters contain information on their banking business with the Bank of Salina and the Bank of Syracuse, canal operations, Townsend & Baldwin business, railroad, iron and salt businesses and, in addition, bits of family news, details of life in Syracuse and political news.  He mentions the fugitive slave law in a letter dated October 7, 1850.  Munroe went on to become mayor of Syracuse in 1854, and a member of the New York State Senate and State Assembly.

Related Collections:

The New York State Library also holds the Townsend Family Papers (SC10441), which contains additional records related to the business interests of the brothers Isaiah and John Townsend, as well as personal and family records, and political records from John Townsend's time as mayor of Albany in 1829-1832.

An extensive collection 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:

Series I: I. & J. Townsend Business Papers, 1802-1851
(Boxes 1-13)

Beginning with the earliest years in business as Stewart & Townsend, and continuing until the death of Isaiah in 1838, these papers, arranged chronologically, document in detail the workings of this active iron foundry.  Included are orders, invoices, receipts, account statements, advertising circulars, and banking information from customers around Albany and New York State, and from Philadelphia, Newport, Boston, Baltimore and Detroit.  The company imported supplies from Sweden, England and even Russia, so there are letters from overseas suppliers, including price lists. Some correspondence gives detailed descriptions of items to be manufactured to design. Occasionally there are requests for employment and recommendations for prospective employees.  Many of the letters are between the brothers, discussing the running of the business, while one or the other was out of town.  Samuel Townsend, brother of Isaiah and John, sent reports from the Cornwall Cotton Factory in Cornwall, New York.

Series II: John Townsend Business Correspondence, 1823-1853
(Boxes 14-24)

Comprised almost entirely of letters to John Townsend, these cover the wide range of his business interests across the state of New York and in other places, particularly Vermont and Michigan.  While some personal and political material is mixed in, the majority of the series contains letters regarding I. & J. Townsend, financial transactions, the Watervliet Turnpike Co., the salt business, the Troy Iron and Nail Factory, railroad businesses, commercial banking businesses, building construction in Syracuse, New York, and letters from Detroit, Michigan, regarding the Farmers & Merchant Bank there.  Material is arranged chronologically.

Correspondents include but are not limited to Isaiah Townsend writing from Syracuse; Samuel Townsend writing from Cornwall, New York; Charles Rhind from New York City; William Jackson from Syracuse; Ambrose S. Townsend from Syracuse; James G. Tracy from Syracuse; Isaiah Townsend, Jr.; Moses D. Burnet from Syracuse; Solomon Townsend from New York City; Philip Ford from Troy Iron and Nail; Franklin Townsend from New York City; Allen Munroe from New York City; and bankers Prime, Ward and King.  One interesting item of the times is an emotional letter from a Lewis A. Adler begging for employment, August 30, 1841.

Series III: Franklin Townsend Business Correspondence and Papers, 1840-1855
(Boxes 25-31)

While Franklin Townsend's name was not officially on the masthead until his uncle's death in 1849, it appears that he became involved in the business around 1840, at the age of 19, probably after finishing at Williams College.  This chronological series consists primarily of letters to Franklin with orders, receipts, production requests, administrative issues, etc., pertaining to the running of the business.  Correspondents include Henry Burden of Troy Iron and Nail Factory; Lemuel Pomeroy of Pittsfield, Massachusetts; his Uncle John Townsend from Syracuse; Samuel Townsend from Cornwall, New York; and Henry Mooers, regarding a plow patent on May 22, 1843.  Also interesting is an apprentice's indenture for Henry V. DeGroot of Cornwall, New York, on April 28, 1846.

Series IV: Other Townsend Business Papers, 1815-1883
(Boxes 26-36)

This series has been organized into three parts:

• The first includes general business correspondence regarding some of the family businesses, notably the iron and banking businesses.  It includes letters to Isaiah Townsend, John Townsend, I. & J. Townsend, Franklin Townsend and a number of other non-family addressees, such as Erastus Corning and Lewis Benedict.  Also included are some papers of Theodore Townsend, son of John Townsend, and specifications for building the Cornwall Cotton Factory in Cornwall, New York.

• The second part contains the records of the Troy Iron and Nail Factory. This enterprise, owned by the Townsend brothers, was located on the north side of the Wynantskill Creek in South Troy.  In 1822, Henry Burden (1791-1871) a recent Scottish émigré, who was an engineer and inventor, and who had been employed at the Townsend and Corning Foundry, became superintendent there.  Eventually Burden became sole owner of the factory, which later became known as Burden Iron Works.  Much of the correspondence is from him.  Another significant correspondent is Philip Ford, who seems to have been a long-time manager for the firm.

Interesting items in this collection include a description of the buildings belonging to the Troy Iron and Nail Factory in 1824 (valued at $20,000); letters from Henry Burden from Liverpool, England, in 1836; and, in 1842, a salary dispute between Burden and the board of trustees.  Communication from the Troy Iron and Nail Factory can also to be found throughout Series I and II.

• The third part of this series contains correspondence and papers related specifically to the Townsend business dealings in Syracuse, New York, starting in 1824.  Several business ventures were undertaken there, from the salt company to the construction of homes and stores.  There is correspondence from Harvey Baldwin, a lawyer and future mayor of Syracuse, who was in partnership with the Townsends.  Correspondents in this series include William Jackson, Henry Martin, Henry Raynor, Augustus James, A. Van Patten and Thomas Bennett. There also several files of letters to William Soulden (1787-1851) from the Townsends and others in Syracuse.  Soulden was an Englishman, who married distantly into the Townsend family and appears to have managed property for John Townsend.

Additionally, there are a large number of letters to John Townsend from Allen Munroe (1819-1884) of Syracuse.  Munroe married John Townsend's daughter, Julia, in 1846 and thereafter settled in Syracuse.  Munroe seems to have served as a business manager and partner for the many Townsend businesses in Syracuse.  His letters contain information on their banking business with the Bank of Salina and the Bank of Syracuse, canal operations, Townsend & Baldwin business, railroad, iron and salt businesses and, in addition, bits of family news, details of life in Syracuse, and political news.  He mentions the fugitive slave law in a letter dated October 7, 1850.  Munroe went on to become mayor of Syracuse in 1854, and a member of the New York State Senate and State Assembly.