James Townsend

In Indiana, Townsend worked as a merchant and donated the land for the establishment of the Putnamville Presbyterian Church. Townsend was financially ruined by the Panic of 1837. His grandchildren included James Robert Townsend and James Layman, who sat in the Indiana State Senate. James Robert Townsend's son, also James Townsend, was one of the original 1,000 participants in Lewis Terman's Genetic Studies of Genius.

The Townsend/Layman Museum in Putnamville is named after Townsend.