The biographical encyclopœdia of Ohio of the nineteenth century:

BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOP2EDIA.
difficulties by long continued efforts. Although his opportunities to acquire a classical education were meagre, yet in
later life he became a fine classical scholar. Nearly all the
accessible books on science and art he became almost as
familiar with as their authors. The Codes Justinian and
the Code Napoleon he perused in their own languages. His
mind was so richly stored he had no trouble in retaining the
closest attention of his audiences. His best monuments are
his decisions, which are so clear and sound ill law that they
will ever be referred to with pride by every legal citizen of
Ohio. In I87I he received from the Western Reserve College the degree of Doctor of Laws. It was unexpected and
unsolicited, and at that time was the only instance in which
such an honor had been conferred. In politics he has ever
been a Democrat in the best sense of that word-never a
politician, as it was with the greatest difficulty that he could
be persuaded to accept an office. In I862, by request of
Governor Tod, he travelled through a portion of central
Ohio to persuade the people to fill the quotas of the Federal
troops called for by the President. He entered into this
work with his whole soul, and with his great eloquence told
the people that the American institutions were at stake. No
man in Ohio has a larger numbler of acquaintances and
friends, the result of his great kindness, courtesy and benevolence. He is now engaged in all the great railroad, commercial and patent cases which involve severe and contested
litigation. He has been spoken of as a candidate for the
Presidency.
he was elected to the lower branch of the Ohio Legislature,
and was one of thos e who secured th e r epeal of what were
known as the " Black Laws," and the election of Hon. S.
P. Chase to the United States Sellate. In I850 he was
e lected to the Constitutional Co nve ntion that framed the
presen t Constitution of the State, and soon after was chosen
a member of the Thirty-sec ond Congress. Before going to
Washington, Dr. Tow8nshend had discontinued the practi ce
of medicine and remloved his family from Elyria to the old
home in Avon. In I853 he was elected to the State Senate,
but had scarcely taken his seat before he was called home
by the illness and death of Mrs. Townshend. Dur ing that
session he introduced a bill to establish a State institution
for the education and car e o f imb ecile and feeble-minded
youth. Two years afterwards, when a similar bill was
passe(], b e was appointed a trustee of the institution, a trust
he continues to hold by virtue of subsequent appointments.
Toward the close of I854 he was married to Margaret A.
Bailey, of Colu mbus. I n I 855-56-57 he was associated
with other ge ntlemen in the endeavor to establish an Agri -
cultural College in northern Ohio, an undlertak,ing which
did not prove a permanent success. In b858 he w as chosen
a member of the Ohio State Board of Agriculture, was three
times re-elected, and was twice -President of the Board. In
I859 he was a Delegate to the Convention at Chicago,
which nominated Mir. Lincoln for the Presidency. Early in
I863 he received the appointment of Medical Inspector
United States Army, with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel,
and discharged the duties of that office to the end of the
war. In I867 he accepted a Professorship in the Iowa
State Agricultural College, but resigned the place at the
end of the succeeding year. About this time he became a
member of the American Association for the Advancement
of Science. The Ohio Legislature in I87o having determined to establish an Agricultural and Mechanical College,
in accordance with the law of Congress donating lands to the
States for that purpose, Dr. Townshend was one of the trustees chosen to carry the measure into effect. When the
college was opened at Columbus in I873, he was appointed
to the Professorship of Agriculture, to which department
botany and veterinary medicine were temporarily attached.
The acceptance of this appointment necessitated his removal
to Columbus, of which city he is now a resident.
OWNSHEND, HON. NORTON S., M. D., was
born, DecenR.ber 25th, ISI5,atClay Coaton, North ~:.xk~ lamptonshire, Engl!and. At an early age he was
surg place d in a li)oa-ding school at Bitteswell, near Stit T terworth, where he made good progress in e lement ary English studies. In the spring of I830 his
fatther and mother, Joel an d R ebecca (Norton) Tow oTshend,
emigrated to t he Unite ted Sates, and bought a farm in Avon,
L orai n c ounty, Ohio. Here he remaine d at work on th e
farm, with the exception of a w inter term spent in teaching the district schoo l, un til he attained his mNajority. In
1837 he commenced the study of medicine in the office of
Dr.R. R. L. Howard, of Elyr ia, subsequently professor of
surgery in Starling Medical College, Columbius, Ohio.
The winter of 1837 was spent in attendance on medical
lectures at Cincinnati Medical College; the winter of I839
at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York,
where he took his degree at the. close of the term in I840.
From New York he went to London, Paris, Edinburgh and
Dublin, spending in medical studies ill those cities something more than a year. Returning to Ohio he commenced
the practice of medicine and surgery in Elyria in I843, and
in the same year was married to Harriet N., daughter of
James B. Woo(l, Es,q., of Avon, Ohio. Politically, Dr.
Townlshend was identified with the Liberty party. In I848
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PPLEGATE, JOHN WALL, Attorney-at-Law,
was born in Princeton, New Jersey, February 23d,
i8i8. Hi —, father, engaged through life in agri cultural pursuits, was an active participant in the
war of 1812.. He received a liberal general edu cation at Genesee Falls, New York. He subsequently followed the trade of cai-riage-making in his native
State until be bad attained his twenty-tbird year. He then
pursued for about three years a course of literary study in