BIOGRAPHIES

COMMEMORATIVE
BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD
OF THE COUNTIES OF
HURON AND LORAIN, OHIO
CONTAINING
Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens
and of Many of the Early Settled Families
ILLUSTRATED
CHICAGO
J. H. BEERS & CO.
1894

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Fred F. Thomas	FRED F. THOMAS   Source: Commemorative Biographical Record of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio - Illustrated_ Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. - 1894 - Page 850
	HENRY TOWNSEND.  This gentleman, who ranks among the well-known farmer citizens of Carlisle township, was born in 1831, in Warwickshire, England.  His parents, William and Ann (Darlow) Townshend, were natives of the same county, where they passed their entire lives, the father dying at the age of seventy-five, the mother in about 1863.      Henry Townsend was reared in England, receiving during his youth but limited educational advantages, and after his school days were over followed farming in his native country until the age of twenty-six.  In 1857 he immigrated to America, proceeding at once to Elyria, Lorain Co., Ohio, where he engaged in agricultural work.  He subsequently went to Sugar Ridge, Ridgeville township, and in 1862 came to Carlisle township, locating on the farm where he has since made his home.  He purchased twenty-nine acres, then in the woods, cleared a place to build a house, and has made all the improvements on the tract with his own hands.  He has added to the farm from time to time, and now owns one hundred acres, all highly improved and cultivated, upon which he has erected a good house and barn.  A sister of our subject, the wife of John Smith, who came to Lorain county in 1857, resides on an adjoining farm in Carlisle township.      In 1862 Mr. Townsend was united in marriage, in Eaton township, with Miss Ann Roach, who was born in Northamptonshire, England, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Eames) Roach.  Her parents, who were also natives of Northamptonshire, in 1856 came from England to the United States, locating first in Amherst township, Lorain Co., Ohio, where they remained one year, thence moving to Ridgeville, where they resided for two years.  The family next lived a year at Plum Creek, and finally moved to Eaton township, where they opened up a farm, and made a permanent home.  Mr. and Mrs. Roach were the parents of eight children, as follows:  Mary, wife of Samuel Mattock, of Defiance county, Ohio; Ann, Mrs. Townsend; Joseph, married and residing in Hall county, Neb.; William, who enlisted, in 1861, in Company K, Twenty-third O. V. I., and was killed Nov. 15, 1861, at Camp Ewing, W. Va. (he was accidentally shot); Thomas, who died in infancy, in England; Betsey, wife of Henry Montague, residing in New Chanute, Kans.; Sophia, wife of Peter Watts, of Knightstown, Henry Co., Ind.; and Thomas, a resident of Eaton township.  The mother of this family died in Amherst township in 1856, the father in 1888 at the home of Mr. Townsend.      In politics our subject is a Republican, takes an active interest in the welfare of his party, and has served as trustee and supervisor of his township. lie has always followed farming in the township, and he and his wife are among the most prominent and highly respected members of the community in which they reside.  To their union have come two children, as follows: William, who on Apr. 22, 1886, was united in marriage with Miss Celia Jane Philpott, of Elyria (he is engaged in farming on the home farm); and Martha Sophia, at home. Source: Commemorative Biographical Record of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio - Illustrated_ Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. - 1894 - Page 1143
	JOHN SMITH TOWNSHEND, a rising young farer of Sheffield township, was born there in 1860, a son of John and Ann (Smith) Townshend.      The father of our subject was born in 1809 in England, whence at about the age of twenty-two years he came to America with his parents, the entire family first making their home in Cleveland, Ohio.  Later John Townshend moved to Sheffield township, Lorain county, where he carried on farming during the rest of his life.  He was twice married, his first wife being Hannah Hurst, by whom he had four children:  Martha Fox, living in Sheffield township; Sarah, wife of Joseph Walker; Josiah H., married, and living in Sheffield township, and Alfred, deceased.  His second wife, whom he wedded in Elyria township, was Miss Ann Smith, a native of Leicestershire, England, and two children were born to this union; Mary E. and John S., the former living with the latter.  John Townshend died in Elyria Apr. 15, 1875.      John S. Townshend, the subject proper of this sketch, received his primary education in the district schools of his native place, and at the age of fifteen attended the high school of Elyria, after which he attended school one year at Oberlin.  He then commenced farming, which has been his life vocation; he now works eighty acres of land, and is the owner of fifty-one acres of land, and is the owner of fifty-one acres well improved, and a sawmill.      In 1889 our subject was married to Miss Carrie M. Buck, born in Avon township, Lorain Co., Ohio, and two children, named respectively Ann E. and John, have been born to them.  Mr. Townshend's political views are Republican, and he is a member of the Baptist Church. Source: Commemorative Biographical Record of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio - Illustrated_ Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. - 1894 - Page 1129
	J. H. TOWNSHEND, a progressive and well-to-do agriculturist of Sheffield township, is a native of the same, born in 1839, a son of John and Hannah (Hurst) Townshend, both of whom were natives of England, the father o Warwickshire.      When a young man John Townshend, father of subject, emigrated from England to the United States, coming in 1831 to Lorain county, Ohio, and settling on a farm in Avon township.  He there married Hannah Hurst, and the young couple then moved to another farm, in Sheffield township.   Mr. Townshend was killed by the cars in Elyria, Ohio, in 1875, and Mrs. Townshend died some years ago.      J. H. Townshend was educated in the common schools of his native township, and was trained to farming pursuits, which have been his life work.  He assisted in opening up the home farm, now a well-cultivated piece of land, on which he yet resides.  In 1875 he visited Pittsburgh, Penn., and was there and then married to Miss Mary Shober, by whom he has had the following named children:  Lloyd, Leola, Ina and Florence.  In politics Mr. Townshend is a Republican, stanch and true, and he and his wife are members of the Baptist Church at Avon. Source: Commemorative Biographical Record of the counties of Huron and Lorain, Ohio - Illustrated_ Publ. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. - 1894 - Page 1185