Ionia County MI Archives Obituaries.....Townsend, Larmon Bronson 1898 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/mi/mifiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Sandy Heintzelman sheintz@iserv.net January 2, 2010, 2:25 pm Ionia Daily Standard, 14 Mar 1898 Died at Crown Point, Ind., This Morning End of an Active Life, Identified with the Growth of Ionia. A telegram this morning announces the death at Crown Point, Ind., of L. B. Townsend, at 2 o’clock this morning. Mr. Townsend only left home on Saturday last, in company with his wife, in hopes of staying the disease that had made such sad wreck of him, through the services of a physician at that place, whose previous treatment had apparently been of benefit. Friends who bade him good- bye at the train, looked upon it as a last farewell, as they had a feeling they should never see him alive again, and therefore the news comes not with the shock of surprise. Mr. Townsend has been in failing health for three or four years, and for the last year his condition has been serious, and he has been able to give little attention to business matters. Larmon Bronson Townsend was born in Big Stream, near Seneca Lake, N. Y., July 7, 1833. He was married to Miss Gertrude VanAllen, at Elmira, N.Y., Jan. 13, 1858. They came at once to Ionia to make their home, and have resided here ever since. To this union were born five children: Julia, who married Edward B. Stanton, and died in California several years ago; Sue R; Gertrude, wife of C. B. Wardle, of this city; Larmon G.; and Marion L, wife of Percy D. Edsall, of Greenville. Mr. Townsend came to Ionia in 1855, with the advent of the Detroit & Milwaukee railroad, in the construction of which he was actively engaged. He soon after became associated with Frederick Hall and James Kennedy in the land and insurance business. Mr. Kennedy retired after a few years, and the insurance business was subsequently disposed of to Mr. Wardle, but the partnership with Mr. Hall continued until a short time before the latter’s death, and the firm made considerable money in investments in pine land. Mr. Townsend was a positive, aggressive man, brim-full of energy, without a particle of affectation or the small vanity that seeks display. He had little tolerance for such weaknesses in others; he always wanted to see a manifestation of push in business enterprises, and could not tolerate irresolution, lack of purpose, or want of vigor. He was as positive in likes or dislikes. To his friends, he was considerate, generous and helpful. There was no deceit in his nature, and if he did not like a man, the man usually knew it. In his family relations he was considerate, kind, thoughtful and liberal, and he was a friend to many outside the claims of relationship, who will recall instances of kindness showing generous impulses and tender consideration of others’ feelings and welfare. These things he did secretly, and few things were more displeasing to him than to have anything of this nature paraded for public approval. Indeed, his modesty in this respect was one of his most remarkable characteristics. It is recalled to us at this time, by the absolute absence of anything in print giving biographical information about him. In the several books published containing brief accounts of the lives of local business men, nothing is found about Mr. Townsend, although he has been a prominent figure in politics and business for the forty years he has been a resident in Ionia. His interests in politics showed something of the same peculiarity; always active, frequently a strong aid to the official preferment of others, he could never be induced to stand as a candidate himself, and was apparently averse to holding political official position. He was public spirited to an unusual degree, and has been identified with every large enterprise for the general public benefit. He was a leading spirit in the Ionia & Lansing railroad (now the D., G.B. & W.); he was especially energetic in securing the railroad shops here; he was a leader in the electric light enterprise, in the wagon works, and in the furniture shop. In securing these and in maintaining them, he was as liberal with his money, as staunch in support as any other man. Probably no other single man has done so much to promote the growth of Ionia as Mr. Townsend. Besides the enterprises mentioned, he was also a stockholder from the first in the Michigan Clothing Co., and in the Ionia County Savings bank. At the time of his death, he was president of the wagon works, second vice president of the bank, a director in the furniture company, and the clothing company, and has been officially connected with all these enterprises, and devoted to their success. He had no taste for details in business management, and those he wisely left to others, in whose discretion and ability he had confidence. The men who did most for Ionia in the stirring times immediately preceding, during, and following the civil war are rapidly passing away. They were mostly men of strong personal characteristics, but probably no one has more impressed himself in a permanent way upon the character of the town, or whose loss will be more sincerely felt in the way of public enterprise, than L. B. Townsend. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/mi/ionia/obits/t/townsend2097nob.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/mifiles/ File size: 5.6 Kb