Historical Marker of the Week: William H. Townsend

by Josh



William H. Townsend
Marker Number 2029:

This renowned scholar, raconteur, and lawyer was born in Anderson Co. Educated first in a one-room school at Glensboro, he graduated from U.K. Law School in 1912. Among his books was Lincoln and the Bluegrass (1955). His talk on Cassius Clay, "The Lion of White Hall," now a taped classic. Presented by Mary Genevieve and Joe Murphy.

(Reverse) William H. Townsend (1890-1964) - Townsend had the largest private collection of Lincolniana in U.S. Recognized as a leading expert on Abraham Lincoln, Townsend was a founder of the Ky. Civil War Round Table, 1953. He served as its first president until his death. Named posthumously to Fayette County Bar's Hall of Fame, 1996. Presented by Mary Genevieve and Joe Murphy.

A topic that we will be returning to here quite often (as Callie's post demonstrates) is Abraham Lincoln. Those outside of the Bluegrass State recognize that he was a Kentuckian but in Kentucky the phrase "was a Kentuckian" does not exist. Abraham Lincoln is a Kentuckian. Once a part of the state, always a part of the state.

Now, Lincoln was only a resident of Kentucky for the first nine years of his life (before we sort of kicked his family out... long story). But the first nine years of a life are very important ones.

Illinois might fairly claim itself "Land of Lincoln" but equally impressive are Kentucky's possible state mottos:

Kentucky: "Lincoln's First Breath"
Kentucky: "Lincoln's First Step"
Kentucky: "Lincoln's First Poop"


But this post is not about Lincoln. This post is about one of the great historians who kept figures like Lincoln alive, and that person was William H. Townsend. Without people like him to record history, who knows what our idea of Lincoln might have become? (Vampire hunter, for example.)

In other words, he was one of the stalwart few who tried to preserve the past as fully and as accurately as possible. And now I will try to briefly do the same for the history of this historian.

William H. Townsend was born May 31, 1890 in Glensboro, Kentucky and died July 25, 1964 in Lexington, Kentucky. He was an attorney, public speaker, author, historian, and apparently, even a poet.



He gave a very popular speech in 1952 called "The Lion of Whitehall Cassius Clay." It was obviously about the original Cassius Clay who was an abolitionist and not the boxer who was named after his father who was named after the abolitionist (duh). The speech was recorded and became very popular in its day. He added a lot of humor to the material. Although I was unable to find the whole speech online for free I have listened to bits of it and I love Townsend's voice. He later turned this speech into a book.

This book was just one of many that he wrote in his lifetime, most of which were on Lincoln. I am sure Callie and Becky would find his book titled Lincoln and Liquor to be particularly interesting.

In 1953, spurred by the success of his Cassius Clay speech, he helped start a group called Kentucky Civil War Round Table which is still in existence today. He was elected its first president. He was so popular that when he was about to step down because his four consecutive term limit was coming to a close, they actually changed the rules so he could remain president. He would continue to be reelected until his death.

Lastly, my favorite thing about him is he had the largest private collection of Lincoln material. I know how I can get out of hand collecting things and I give props to Mr. Townsend. Lincoln memorabilia is much better to collect by far than some of my previous collecting efforts...


This, sadly, is just some of the Ninja Turtles items I have in boxes.

His most prized possession was the pocket watch that Lincoln was carrying when he was assassinated. I have tried in vain to find out where this vast collection of Lincolniana ended up. Knowing only of the pocket watch, I looked for it specifically and was at least able to locate it. I found that it now appears to be a part of the Kentucky Historical Society's collection. Unfortunately though, it is not the only watch that seems to have been in Lincoln's pocket when he was assassinated, as The Smithsonian also claims to have it. So you can choose to believe the world's largest research complex or Townsend.

But even if Townsend is proven to just have had the world's largest collection of fake Lincoln items, that is an amazing accomplishment in its own right.

Indeed.