Washington Townsend

Who was Washington Townsend?

Washington Townsend was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.

Washington Townsend was born in West Chester, Pennsylvania. He attended a private school and West Chester Academy. He was engaged as a bank teller from 1828 to 1844. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1844 and commenced practice in West Chester. He served as prosecuting attorney of Chester County, Pennsylvania, in 1848. He served as deputy attorney under Attorneys General Darragh and Cooper. He was cashier of the Bank of Chester County from 1849 to 1857. He was a delegate to the Whig National Convention in 1852, and a delegate to the 1860 Republican National Convention.

Townsend was elected as a Republican to the Forty-first and to the three succeeding Congresses. He served as chairman of the United States House Committee on Public Lands during the Forty-third Congress. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1876. He again resumed the practice of his profession in West Chester, and served as president of the Bank of Chester County from 1879 to 1894. He died in West Chester in 1894. Interment in Oakland Cemetery, near West Chester.