ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION    

Title
Howard Townsend Memoir

Collection Number
SC 101/23

OCLC Number
122487855

Creator 
Howard Townsend, Jr.,1858-1935

Provenance 
Acquired by Stony Brook University from the Lindmark Collection, c1960s. 

Extent,Scope, and Content Note 
The collection is a one volume, bound typescript, autobiographical memoir by Howard Townsend (1858-1935). It has 53 leaves. Dedicated: "For my children." New York City, 1916. The memoir includes descriptions of his childhood, travels throughout Europe, family history, as well as genealogical information.

Arrangement and Processing Note
Finding aid updated and revised by Kristen J. Nyitray in August 2019.

Language
English 

Restrictions on Access
The collection is open to researchers without restriction.

Rights and Permissions 
Stony Brook University Libraries' consent to access as the physical owner of the collection does not address copyright issues that may affect publication rights. It is the sole responsibility of the user of Special Collections and University Archives materials to investigate the copyright status of any given work and to seek and obtain permission where needed prior to publication.  

Citation 
Howard Townsend Memoir, Special Collections and University Archives, Stony Brook University Libraries.

Historical Note
Howard Townsend, Jr. (1858-1935) was born in Albany, New York on August 23, 1858. His father Howard Townsend (1823-1867) was a prominent physician practicing in Albany, New York and professor at the Albany Medical College and a member of the staff at the Albany Hospital. His mother was Justine Van Rensselaer (1828-1912), daughter of General Stephen Van Rensselaer IV (1789-1868) and Harriet Elizabeth Van Rensselaer (née Bayard). Justine’s paternal grandfather was Stephen Van Rensselaer III (1764–1839), the Lieutenant Governor of New York and a member of the United States House of Representatives, and his great-grandfather was Philip Schuyler, a general in the American Revolution and a United States Senator from New York. 

Townsend, Jr. attended Albany Academy and Harvard, graduating cum laude in 1880, the same class as US President Theodore Roosevelt. He was admitted to the bar in New York in 1883 and begin practicing in 1884 with the firm of Davies, Cole, & Rapallo. From 1894-1915, he practice independently. He also served on the Bar Association of the City of New York as chairman of the grievance committee from 1901-1825 and as vice president from 1916-1917.

Townsend, Jr. was president of New York Hospital from 1915 to 1919 and previously at other hospitals. He served on the executive committee of the Red Cross Relief Commission during the Spanish-American War and managed activities for the organization at the camp in Montauk, New York.

His first wife was Sophie Witherspoon Dickey, daughter of Charles D. Dickey of Brown Bros. He later married Anne Lowndes Langdon, a 5th cousin through the Livingston family (born October 11, 1865 in Hyde Park, New York, died November 30, 1943 in Mount Kisco, New York) in New York City on October 20, 1894. They had three children: Howard Townsend, Jr., Eugene L. Townsend, and Marchesa Anne Pellegrini-Quarantotti. He also had a daughter (Mrs. John Dix) with his first wife. 

Howard Townsend, Jr. died of pneumonia at his residence at 15 East 86th Street in New York City on April 24, 1935.
(Sources: Wikipedia and The New York Times)

Subjects
Townsend, Howard, -- 1858-1935. 
Families -- New York (State)
New York (N.Y.) -- Social life and customs.
New York (N.Y.) -- History.
Families.
Manners and customs.
New York (State)
New York (State) -- New York.