Dwight Townsend

{{Infobox officeholder | name = Dwight Townsend | image = Dwight Townsend (New York Congressman).jpg | alt = Mathew Brady photo, circa 1871. National Archives and Records Administration. | state = New York | district = 1st | term_start1 = December 5, 1864 | term_end1 = March 3, 1865 | predecessor1 = Henry G. Stebbins | successor1 = Stephen Taber | term_start = March 4, 1871 | term_end = March 3, 1873 | predecessor = Henry A. Reeves | successor = Henry J. Scudder | birth_date = {{birth date|1826|9|26}} | birth_place = New York City, New York, United States | death_date = {{death date and age|1899|10|29|1826|9|26}} | death_place = New York City, New York, United States | resting_place = Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York, United States | party = Democrat | education = Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School | occupation = Businessman }} '''Dwight Townsend''' (September 26, 1826 – October 29, 1899) was a U.S. representative from New York. He became chairman of the Bankers' and Merchants' Telegraph Company, competitor of the Western Union

==Biography== Born in New York City, Townsend was educated at Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School.<ref name="Directory">{{cite book |author=Joint Committee on Printing, U.S. Congress |date=1928 |title=Biographical Directory of the American Congress, 1774-1927 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z8lAs_QeKkkC&pg=PA1623 |location=Washington, DC |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |page=1623 |via=Google Books}}</ref> He worked in the sugar refining business, and was active in other ventures including the Equitable Life Assurance Society and the Bankers' and Merchants' Telegraph Company.<ref>Ohio Commissioner of Railroads and Telegraphs, [https://books.google.com/books?id=yxY-AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA1170 Annual Report], 1888, page 1170</ref><ref>The Louisiana Planter and Sugar Manufacturer, [https://books.google.com/books?id=u-koAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA297 Death notice, Dwight Townsend], November 4, 1899, page 297</ref><ref>Equitable Life Assurance Society, [https://books.google.com/books?id=wTY5AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA19 The First Fifty Years of the Equitable Life Assurance Society], 1909, page 19</ref>

Townsend was elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-eighth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Henry G. Stebbins and served from December 5, 1864, to March 3, 1865.<ref name="Directory"/> During this term, Townsend voted "nay" (the minority position) on the question of adopting the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Hart |editor-first=Albert Bushnell |date=1901 |title=American History Told by Contemporaries: Welding of the Nation, 1845-1900 |url=https://archive.org/details/americanhistory03hartgoog |location=New York, NY |publisher=The MacMillan Company |page=[https://archive.org/details/americanhistory03hartgoog/page/n490 467]}}</ref>

Townsend was elected to the Forty-second Congress (March 4, 1871 – March 3, 1873).<ref name="Directory"/> He did not run for reelection, and resumed his former business pursuits.<ref name="Directory"/>

==Death and burial== He died in New York City on October 29, 1899.<ref>New York Times, [https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1899/10/30/100457619.pdf Death List of a Day: Dwight Townsend], October 30, 1899</ref> He was interred at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.<ref name="Directory"/>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{CongBio|T000331}} *[http://politicalgraveyard.com/bio/townsend.html Dwight Townsend] at [http://politicalgraveyard.com/ ''Political Graveyard''] {{Bioguide}}

{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{US House succession box | state=New York | district=1 | district_ord=1st | before=Henry G. Stebbins | after=Stephen Taber | years=1864–1865 }} {{US House succession box | state=New York | district=1 | district_ord=1st | before=Henry A. Reeves | after=Henry J. Scudder | years=1871–1873 }} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Townsend, Dwight}} Category:1826 births Category:1899 deaths Category:19th-century American businesspeople Category:Burials at Green-Wood Cemetery Category:Democratic Party United States representatives from New York (state) Category:Columbia Grammar & Preparatory School alumni Category:19th-century New York (state) politicians Category:19th-century United States representatives