Norton Strange TOWNSHEND, Congress, OH (1815-1895)
TOWNSHEND, Norton Strange, a Representative from Ohio; born in Clay-Coaton, Northamptonshire, England, December 25, 1815; in 1830 immigrated to the United States with his parents, who settled in Avon, Ohio; educated himself by the use of his fatherâs library; taught a district school for a short time; was graduated from the University of Physicians and Surgeons in New York in 1840; delegate to the Worldâs Antislavery Convention in London, England, in 1840; studied medicine in the hospitals of London, Paris, Edinburgh, and Dublin; engaged in the practice of medicine in Avon, Ohio, in 1841; moved to Elyria, Ohio; member of the State house of representatives in 1848 and 1849; delegate to the State constitutional convention in 1850; elected as a Democrat to the Thirty-second Congress (March 4, 1851-March 3, 1853); member of the State senate in 1854 and 1855; medical inspector of the United States Army with the rank of lieutenant colonel 1863-1865; engaged in agricultural pursuits near Avon, Ohio; director of the State board of agriculture 1858-1869 and 1886-1889; professor of agriculture in Iowa Agricultural College in 1869; appointed in 1870 as one of the first trustees of Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College; resigned in 1873 to become professor of agriculture in the new State college and served until his resignation in 1892, when he became professor emeritus; died in Columbus, Ohio, July 13, 1895; interment in Protestant Cemetery, Avon Center, Ohio.
Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present
