James Townsend
BornAugust 31, 1786[1]
DiedNovember 3, 1851(1851-11-03) (aged 65)[1]
OccupationFarmer
SpouseKatherine Davis
RelativesJohn Selby Townsend

James Townsend (August 31, 1786 – November 3, 1851) was an American farmer, politician, and abolitionist who was among the early pioneers of Putnamville, Indiana.

Early life

Townsend was descended from Richard Townsend, who emigrated from England, settling in Jamestown, Virginia in 1620. He was raised in Snow Hill, Maryland and married Katherine Davis, a cousin of the Radical Republican Henry Winter Davis.[2]

In 1808, Townsend left Maryland and established a plantation near Henderson, Kentucky, operated by 30 slaves he had inherited.[2]

Late life

Between 1828 and 1830, Townsend underwent a religious experience and informed his slaves he had "become convinced of the evils of slavery", thereupon emancipating them.[3][4] He exhorted them to follow him in an exodus to Indiana – a non-slave state – pledging that he would build houses for any who chose to accompany him, while those who opted to remain in Kentucky would instead be paid a cash settlement.[5] Eight of his former slaves ultimately traveled with him to Indiana and assumed Townsend's surname as their own, as was customary at the time.[5][6]

In Indiana, Townsend worked as a merchant and donated the land for the establishment of the Putnamville Presbyterian Church.[3][7]

Townsend was financially ruined by the Panic of 1837.[3] In 1838 he was elected to the Indiana House of Representatives and later moved to Clay County, Indiana.[8][1] He died in 1851.[1]

Family, associates, and legacy

Some historians group the early Townsends of Putnam County into the "Black Townsends" (emancipated persons who assumed James Townsend's surname) and the "White Townsends" (biological relatives of James Townsend). James Townsend and the emancipated persons who accompanied him to Indiana are considered the pioneers of Putnamville, Indiana.[5][9][10] The Townsend/Layman Museum in Putnamville is named after Townsend.[5][9]

Black Townsends

The Black Townsends were the first Black settlers in Putnam County, Indiana.[11]

According to James Townsend's grandson, James Layman, they included Luke, Hetty, Amy, Tom, Sibley, and others.[4] Layman told historian Jesse Weik that Sibley was the oldest of those who removed to Indiana and that she continued pipe smoking until after the age of 90, recalling her doing so during visits to the residence of his grandmother — James Townsend's wife — Katherine Townsend.[4] She was probably the mother of Luke Townsend.[10]

Luke Townsend

Luke Townsend – who was the au pair for James Townsend's daughter, Mary, prior to his emancipation – established the first Sunday School in Putnam County and is credited as the founder of the congregation that eventually became Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Greencastle, Indiana, at one time the largest Black church in Indiana.[12] According to a 1942 article in The Daily Banner of Greencastle, Luke Townsend was after death remembered as "one of the best citizens the county has had."[13]

Luke Townsend had five children.[10] One son, Robert Townsend, served in the 28th United States Colored Infantry Regiment during the American Civil War.[14] Another son was among the witnesses who, in the late 1800s, testified against a man arrested for harassing Black youths playing in a field in Putnam County in what became the first case of a white citizen being criminally convicted on the basis of the testimony of a Black citizen in Putnam County.[14] Luke Townsend's son Jay, who was still alive as of 1933, established a reputation as one of "Greencastle's most respected citizens".[15]

White Townsends

Among James Townsend's children was John Selby Townsend, who later sat in the Iowa General Assembly and served as county attorney of Monroe County, Iowa.[16] James Townsend's grandson, James Robert Townsend, was the first United States man to complete teacher training under the tutelage of Maria Montessori.[17] Another grandson, James Layman, sat in the Indiana State Senate.[2]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Wilmot, Kathryn. "James Townsend Store Ledger" (PDF). indianahistory.org/. Indiana Historical Society. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 Commemorative Biographical Record of Prominent and Representative Men of Indianapolis and Vicinity. University of Wisconsin. 1908. p. 249.
  3. 1 2 3 Lehman, Christopher P. (2011). Slavery in the Upper Mississippi Valley, 1787–1865. McFarland. p. 106. ISBN 0786485892.
  4. 1 2 3 Weik, Jesse (1910). History of Putnam County, Indiana. Bowen & Co. p. 200.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "The History of Putnamville". putnamcountymuseum.org. Putnam County Museum. Retrieved December 21, 2023.
  6. ↑ "African American Genealogy: Surnames". nypl.org. New York Public Library. Retrieved December 21, 2023. Originally slaves had no surnames, only given names, and did not take a surname unless need for a certain type of documentation or after manumission. Some enslaved people or newly freed people may have taken the name of the slave owner, or if they were on multiple plantations it could be the name of a previous slave owner, or once freed taken a different name entirely.
  7. ↑ "Putnamville United Methodist Church". hmdb.org. Historical Marker Database. Retrieved December 21, 2023.
  8. ↑ Rike, Dorothy (1960). Indiana Election Returns 1816-1851. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Bureau. p. 243.
  9. 1 2 "Putnamville offenders recreate history in rehabilitation of Townsend Inn". Banner Graphic. September 5, 2018. Retrieved December 21, 2023.
  10. 1 2 3 Etcheson, Nicole (2023). A Generation at War: The Civil War Era in a Northern Community. University Press of Kansas. p. 81. ISBN 0700635157.
  11. ↑ "Early Black Settlements by County". indianahistory.org. Indiana Historical Society. Retrieved December 21, 2023.
  12. ↑ Cooper, Arnold (Winter 1999). "Plenty Good Room: Bethel A.M.E. Church of Greencastle, Indiana, 1872–1890". Journal of Negro History. 84 (1): 101–111.
  13. ↑ "Stone Wall on Columbia Street". The Daily Banner. June 20, 1942. Retrieved December 21, 2023.
  14. 1 2 Slabaugh, Seth (December 29, 2014). "Was black Civil War soldier poisoned?". The Star Press. Retrieved December 21, 2023.
  15. ↑ "Old Timer Ill". The Times News. November 29, 1933. Retrieved December 21, 2023.
  16. ↑ The Bench and Bar of Iowa: Illustrated with Steel and Copper Engravings. American Biographical Publishing Company. 1901. pp. 168–169.
  17. ↑ McGroarty, John Steven (1921). Los Angeles from the Mountains to the Sea. American Historical Society. p. 503.
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