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MEMORIAL

OF

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DAVID TOWNSEND.

MEMORIAL

OF

DAVID TOWNSEND,

Born, December 13th, lTST,
Died, December 6th, 185S*

WEST CHESTER,
E. F. JAMES, BOOK, & JOB PRINTER,
1858.

CkZS.^7o

MEMORIAL.

When a veteran in the Cause of Human Improve
ment passes away, it well becomes the aged to bear
testimony to his worth, and the young to profit by
his example. When the wise and good devote a long
life to the generous aims, and elevating pursuits of
the community in which they move, their career leaves
a bright page in the history of our race. Of such
was the lamented friend, whose mortal remains we
have recently followed to the tomb, — and whose mem
ory we all fondly and gratefully cherish.
David Townsend son of Samuel and Priscilla
Townsend, A\as born in the village of Pughtown,
Chester county, Pennsylvania, on the 13th of Decem
ber, 1787.
He was brought up to the business of Agriculture,
on his father's farm, and received a plain English
Education, including some elementary mathematical
instruction, at the country school of the vicinage.
Possessed of an intelligent and active mind, — and
being, withal, an excellent penman, — he was appoint
ed, in 1810, a clerk in the office of the Register and
Recorder of Chester county ; which appointment
brought him to reside in the Borough of West Chester,
where he continued (with the exception of a year on
the paternal farm) during the remainder of his life.
After the service of a year or two in the county
offices, he engaged in the business of Conveyancing,

and also became concerned, for some time, in a mer
cantile establishment, in the Borough. In the year
1813, he was elected a Commissioner of Chester
county; and at the expiration of his term, in 1816,
he became (as was then the usage) County Treasurer
for the ensuing year.
On the establishment of the Bank of Chester
County, in 1814, David Townsend was chosen one of
the Directors, and served from November of that
year until November, 1816'. At that period, a rest
less little cabal, among the Stockholders, clandestinely
forestalled proxies enough to revolutionize the Board.
By that operation, several of the most responsible
and judicious members of the Direction — among
whom Mr. Townsend was included — were thrown
out. The new Board, however, were not long in dis
covering the incompetency both of themselves and
their subordinates ; and before tho year expired the
Institution was in such a condition, that David Town-
send was solicited, by the very men who had excluded
him, to accept the cashier-ship, in order to extri
cate it from its embarrassments. He received the
appointment on the first of October, 1817: the old
Board were presently re-instated; confidence was
completely restored ; and the Baiik continued under
the sagacious management of the new Cashier, for
nearly the third of a century, with unparalleled suc
cess. His resignation, in 1849, was induced by an
accidental injury to the brain, which finally disabled
him, and caused his death.
Notwithstanding the drudgery and responsibilities
of his position, as cashier, his public spirit led him to

participate in every useful enterprise; and whenever
a liberal Institution, for the culture of Intellect, was
projected in West Chester, David Townsend was
among the earliest and most efficient in promoting its
success. Iu 1821, he was chosen a Trustee of the West
Chester Academy; and in 1826, was appointed
Treasurer and Financier of the Board, — which office
he held until 1854, by which time he had engineered
the Institution completely out of debt.
In 1827, he was appointed Prothonotary' of Ches
ter county, to fill a vacancy ; but the Directors of the
Bank anxiously interposed to retain his services, —
and he resigned the office of Prothonotary at the end
of two weeks.
In all his varied pursuits, David Townsend was
eminently a practical man, — ingeniously and suc
cessfully adapting the requisite means to the end
proposed. To unite the useful with the agreeable,
was his constant aim.
Trained in the philanthropic tenets of the Society
of Friends — though without their exterior peculiar
ities — he was a noble scion of that estimable stock.
His disposition was ever gentle ; his habits peaceful
and retiring. The public confidence in his integrity
and capacity, it is true, repeatedly drew him into the
service of those around him — as Guardian of the Or
phan, or Trustee of the helpless, — and gratefully do
his wards confess their obligations to their watchful
benefactor. But, it is within the sacred precincts of
the Domestic Circle, that his character of Husband
and Father is most thoroughly appreciated, while

those only who have fathomed such a Parent's love,
can adequately estimate the filial devotion of his de
scendants. David Townsend was one of the Founders of the
Chester County Cabinet of Natural Science, in the
spring of 1826; was the faithful Secretary and Treas
urer of that interesting Institution from its origin
until the failure of his health ; and was at all times
one of the most active, public-spirited and valuable
contributors, — whether to the Treasury, the Museum,
or the Library. About the time the Cabinet was
organized, a taste for Natural History was decidedly
manifested by several of the members, — among whom
Mr. Townsend was ever prominent. He soon, how
ever, had his attention directed to Botanical studies,
and was ever after distinguished for his devotion to
"the amiable Science." The discriminating eye, and
habits of close observation, so important in a Bank
officer, were equally available to the Botanist, and
quite germain to the investigations of genera and
species. The Plants of Chester county, and the sur
rounding districts, became familiar acquaintances,
and were duly arranged in his Herbarium. His apt
itude and pains-taking skill in preparing specimens,
were very remarkable, and led to a delightful corre
spondence with those eminent Botanists, Doctor F.
Boott of London, and Sir William J. Hooker, for
merly of Glasgow, Scotland, now Director of the
Royal Gardens at Kew. The last named gentleman,
writing from Glasgow (while Professor of Botany,
there,) to a friend in West Chester, in March, 1833,
savs : "I thank vou a thousand times for introducing

me to the correspondence of David Townsend. His
copious and beautiful specimens have delighted me."
Sir William — whose contributions flowed in on him
from every region of the globe, subsequently declared,
that the handsomest specimens he ever received, were
prepared and sent by David Townsend of West
Chester, and Professor Short, of Kentucky.
In the latter end of 1833, a genus of plants, allied
to the Asters, was named Townsendia, — in compli
ment to David Townsend (who had done much to
elucidate the characters of that family). The Genus
was established and published by Sir William Hooker,
with a figure, in his splendid work, the Flora of
British North America, — to the description of which
he subjoined the remark, that Mr. Townsend, having
imbibed an ardent love of Botany, had devoted his
leisure hours to the Science with eminent success.
The plant, adds Sir William, "is peculiarly worthy
of bearing his name, because he has studied and ably
discriminated the numerous Pennsylvanian species of
the allied Genus Aster." The Townsendia was first
collected on the banks of the Saskatchawan, in Lati
tude 53 deg. North, by Doctor Richardson, the in
trepid and hardy Botanist who accompanied poor
Sir John Franklin, in one of his hyperborean expe
ditions. Five species of the Townsendia are now known,
and described in Torrey & Gray's North American
Flora. They are all found along the streams which
rise on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains ;
and while those Alpine beauties shall continue to
grow, they will attest the merits of our Chester coun-

ty Botanist, and be perpetually associated with his
honored name.
When the Cashier's feeble health compelled his
resignation, the Directors of the Bank proclaimed
their appreciation of his long and faithful services, by
presenting to him a pair of Silver Pitchers, with an
appropriate Inscription; and around that inscription
was the delicate and significant accompaniment of en
graved representations of the Townsendia.
The whole affair was in exquisitely good taste, and
did equal honor to the givers and the receiver.
The new and classical Banking House, planned by
T. U. Walter, Esq., was erected in 1835 — 6, under
the auspices of David Townsend, — to whose fine
taste and salutary influence most of the Architectu
ral Improvements of the Borough are largely indebted.
On the retirement of Mr. Townsend from the
charge of the Bank, he found a genial employment
in the various branches of Horticulture, — especially
in the culture of Fruits, and ornamental Plants. In
those attractive pursuits, in the bosom of his amiable
family, he quietly passed the residue of his days, —
the latter portion of the time with his bodily strength
greatly prostrated. He departed this life at his res
idence in West Chester, on the 6th of December,
1858, at the age of 71 years, lacking one week ; and
on the 9th, was interred in the family apartment of
the beautiful Oaklands Cemetery, — whither devoted
friends will oft repair to hallow the last resting-place
of an upright Man, and where the Plants that he
loved so well shall long be trained, by the hands of
affection, to bloom upon his grave. W. D.

YALE UNIVERSITY"
LIBRARY