These are various family and related photographs that I have come across in researching my family history. Please be aware that some of these photographs may be copyrighted and may not be used without permission.
This is a photograph of the gravestones of my fourth great grandfather, Eber Townsend, and his wife, Elizabeth (Drew) Townsend, of New York. Their son, Samuel, was the first one to head to the upper midwest. This picture was published without photography credit in the winter 1998-99 edition of The Townsend Newsletter, published by the Townsend Society of America.
This is my great great grandfather, Absalom Townsend, son of Samuel and Sarah Tyler (Longwell) Townsend. He was a very early settler in Wisconsin, settling in the Shullsburg area the year it was founded, in 1827. He became a landowner and politican, elected to many offices, including the Wisconsin Assembly. To this day there are direct descendants of his by the name of Townsend living in Shullsburg. This is a photographic reproduction of a portrait owned by the State Historical Society of Wisconsin.
This is my great great grandmother on my father's side, Johanna (Byrnes) Harty. She and the Harty family came to Wisconsin from Ardmore, County Waterford, Ireland, sometime before 1850, and settled in my hometown of Shullsburg. There is a family story that on the way from Galena, Illinois to Shullsburg, she walked behind the wagon the entire way. From her appearance in the photo she could have. She lived to be 103 years old. The original photo is owned by her great grandson Tom Harty and was copied by his brother-in-law, Tom Jones.
Colonel Elijah "E. C." Townsend, a brother of Absalom and a son of Samuel Townsend, became a politician and wealthy landowner in Shullsburg, Wisconsin. He was elected to the Wisconsin Assembly in 1860 and was recalled for a special session in 1861. He served in countless other positions and operated many large businesses, traveling all over the country. He is known by Townsend genealogists due to a genealogy that he wrote as an old man with a hazy memory. During his life, he was a very respected man and contributed a great deal to the settlement and development of southwestern Wisconsin, being eulogized by the governor and others when he died. A short time before his death, he had addressed a joint meeting of both houses of the Wisconsin legislature, at the age of 95 years old.
This is Halstead, or H. S. Townsend, another one of the sons of Samuel Townsend, and a brother of Absalom. He came west and became one of the first settlers in northwestern Illinois. He lived most of his life in Rush and Warren, Illinois, being very active politically, socially, and economically. He was elected to represent his area in the Illinois State Legislature in the late 1850's and again in 1870. The photograph is in the book, Massacre at Bad Axe, by Crawford Beecher Thayer. Thayer notes that the original is owned by the Illinois State Historical Society.
The second picture of Halstead is from a copy of Colonel E. C. Townsend's Genealogy that has been passed down. At the top of it are pictures of three of the sons of Samuel Townsend: H. S., E. C., and George N.
Yet another brother of my great great grandfather, Absalom, and another son of Samuel Townsend was George N. Townsend. He was an early settler in Illinois and a mover and shaker in that part of the country. The photograph is from a copy of Colonel E. C. Townsend's genealogy.
The Wisconsin Veterans' Museum has a computer file of all Wisconsin Civil War veterans which can be accessed for free by the public. The computer allows unofficial certificates such as this to be printed for a small fee. This is the certificate for Addison Townsend, a son of Absalom Townsend and Mary Ann (Ross) Townsend. He is a half-brother of my great grandfather, Edwin Townsend.
My great grandfather and great grandmother Harty, James and Margaret (London), were both actually born in County Waterford, Ireland, and moved to Wisconsin as children, so I am only third generation Irish. 
These are two different views of them, at two different points in their lives. They had 11 children, seven boys and four girls. These are reproductions of photos that were sent to me by Tom Jones of Asheville, NC. His wife, Kathleen, is the granddaughter of James and Margaret.
This is a photograph of my great grandfather James Harty and his seven sons. It is believed that it was taken at the time of the funeral of my great grandmother, Margaret (London) Harty, as it was reported that all seven boys made it home for that. It is believed that behind the seated James, the boys are in the following order: Michael "Dugan" (my grandfather), William Henry "Ben", Augustus "Gus", Patrick "Patsy", George "Slivers", John "Jack", and Thomas "Tom". This photograph was also reproduced by Tom Jones.
These are my grandparents on my father's side of the family, Michael and Maude (Daacon) Harty. Michael's generation was the first of the Harty family born in the United States. His father, James Harty, and mother, Margaret (London) Harty, were both born in County Waterford, Ireland, and moved here as children.
This is my grandfather, Frank Townsend, as a young ball player. The photograph is cropped from a team photograph from 1905. That picture is from The Sesquicentennial History of Shullsburg, 1827-1977
Two of my grandfather Townsend's sisters, May Townsend Peters and Julia Townsend Adkins are pictured here. This photograph was taken at the house I grew up in and would have had to have been from the early 1960's, as the house was not built until about 1959. Both of them lived in Shullsburg, Wisconsin at the time.
These are the seven sons of James and Margaret Harty. It is believed they are, from left to right, my grandfather, Michael, Patrick, John, George, Thomas, William Henry, and Augustus. This is a copy from the collection of Tom Jones.
These are the four daughters of James and Margaret Harty. They would all be sisters of my grandfather, Michael "Dugan" Harty. It is believed that they placed themselves in the photo from oldest to youngest, which would make the names as follows: Elizabeth "Betty", Margaret, Mary Ellen, Josephine "Dolly". It is presumed that this was also taken at the time of their mother's funeral. This photo is also a copy from the collection of Tom Jones.
This is a picture of my mother, Kathleen Townsend Harty (now Davison), daughter of Frank Townsend and Anna Evelyn McCarty Townsend. She currently lives in Shullsburg, Wisconsin, where my great great grandfather first settled back in 1827. There are two more generations below her living there as well. The photographer is unknown.
This is a wedding photograph, from my mother (Kathleen Townsend) and father's (Chuck Harty) wedding in 1946. The photo is from my collection, but the photographer is unknown.
Charles Franklin Harty was my father. His family also originated in Shullsburg, though he grew up in the west, graduating from high school in Colome, South Dakota. He married my mother, Kathleen Townsend and they had five children. He died of a heart attack at the age of 41 in 1959. This is his high school graduation photograph.
My father, Chuck Harty, was an avid photographer. He had a Brownie camera that he used to take dozens upon dozens of family photographs. After his death in 1959 his camera sat in the back of a closet until my sister, Coleen, discovered it in 1970. In it was a roll of undeveloped film, which she rewound and took to the drug store. Eleven years after this picture was taken it was developed and it proved to be the only color picture of our entire family, as my father died sometime shortly after it was taken. I am on his knee; my brother, Kerry, is in front of us; my sister, Coleen (Mary Coleen, but she has always gone by Coleen) is on my mother, Kathleen's, lap; and my oldest brother, Kevin, is in front of them.
Return to Callen's Home Page
Send e-mail
Get your own Free Home Page