Biographical Sketch of W. M. A. Townsend, Greene County, Missouri,
Springfield

>From "History of Greene County, Missouri," St. Louis: Western
Historical Company, 1883.

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Mr. Townsend is the son of William and Mary (Langston) Townsend, and
was born September 5th, 1832, in Logan County, Kentucky.  He is one of
a family of twelve children, seven boys and five girls.  His father 
emigrated to Missouri in the winter of 1832, and settled about three
miles south of Springfield, where William grew up, attending the 
schools in his neighborhood.  In 1849, he went to California, where he
lived until 1853, when he came back to Missouri, and staid three years.
In 1856, he and his father took a drove of cattle across the great
plains, and reached California just six months after starting.  He 
lived there until 1871, when he returned to Springfield, Mo., where he
has built up an extensive trade in the boot and shoe line, both whole-
sale and retail.  Mr. Townsend is sold proprietor and manager.  He was
married on the 16th of September, 1855, to Miss Nancy L., daughter of
George Rainey.  They have four children, two boys and two girls.  Mr.
Townsend is a Mason, and a prominent member of the Cumberland Presby-
terian Church.  His mother died when he was quite young, and his father
died in Cassville, Barry County, Mo., at about eighty years of age.  He
was one of Greene's earliest pioneers.

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