The Townsend family had immigrated from Norfolk, England, to the state of Massachusetts in 1636. They later moved to the state of Maine (early 1700's), where the family had lived for some two hundred years. James Foss was born on 20 February, 1807 in Buxton, York, Maine. He was the second child of Jacob Townsend (born 9 December 1782) and Abigail Elden (born 2 August 1785) in Buxton, York, Maine. The name Foss was his grandmother's maiden name (Dorcas Foss) on his mother's side (Elden).
James spent his early years in Buxton. On 11 March, 1827 at the age of 19 he married Susan Davis, age 32, daughter of John Davis and Hannah Fletcher in Buxton. They had their first child, Mary Jane on 23 August, 1828, James Francis on 26 August, 1830, Martha Ann on 2 March, 1832, and Susan Maria on 10 June, 1834 all in Buxton. On 8 September, 1833, he and his wife were baptized by John Boyington or Boynton and became members of the Mormon Church in Maine when he was 25 and she was 38.
James Foss was a brick mason by trade. Sometime before 1836, he was ordained to the office of an Elder by Wilford Woodruff and for some time was the missionary companion of Brother Wilford Woodruff on his mission to the Fox Islands, off the coast of Maine. They also preached the gospel in the area of Bangor and other towns in that area of Maine. An account of this is found in "Leaves From My Journal", by Elder Woodruff. James was an active member of the church and assisted many Mormon missionaries in their work in that area.
The Townsend's and the Woodruffs were very good friends and traveled together along with other Mormon pioneers leaving Maine sometime between 1838-1840 in route to Kirtland, Ohio; Nauvoo and on to Missouri. Some records say that in route to Missouri James was taken ill and remained in Louisville, Maryland for five years before he moved to Nauvoo, Illinois. On 16 February, 1838 James was ordained a Seventy in the Church by Wilford Woodruff and ordained a member of the 19th Quorum of Seventy on 9 February, 1845 in Nauvoo, Illinois.
They lived in Nauvoo, Illinois from 1840-1846 and were there at the time of the martyrdom of Joseph Smith. They were also at the meeting when the mantle of the Joseph fell on then Apostle Brigham Young, and he spoke with a voice sounding like Joseph Smith's. There was a great amount of work in Nauvoo and James did brick masonry work until he had enough money not only for his family but for other families to migrate to Utah. James and Susan received their endowments in the Nauvoo Temple on 21 January, 1846.
The family started their trek west with other Mormon pioneers leaving Nauvoo in 1846 and crossing the Mississippi River living in Missouri from 1846 to 1852. James did masonry work there also and built a fine house there. They left Missouri in 1852 with teams of oxen traveling with the pioneer group called "John M. Higley, Higbee or Higby Company" crossing the plains (2,000 miles) arriving in Salt Lake City on 12 August, 1852.
They made their home in Salt Lake and it was here that James built the first hotel in the state of Utah called "The Salt Lake House" in 1854. He and his wife bought the ground on which the old Salt Lake House stood on Main Street for $750.00 in 1854 and were offered $90,000 for their property in 1864. Unfortunately, they declined it. He served as a counselor to Bishop Wooley in the Salt Lake 13th Ward. In 1860 he had a real wealth of $20,000.00 and a personal wealth of $1,800.00.
He served a mission to England from 1864-1866 at the age of 56, so had two wives when he left. Susan would have been 69 years old and Elizabeth 40 years old when he left on his mission. Before he left for his mission in 1864 he sold "The Salt Lake House" hotel after ten years of operation for $25,000 and bought the Townsend House corner in 1864 for $8,300 and built "The Townsend House" hotel in 1867-68, remaining there for ten years and making a great deal of money.
In 1870 he had a real wealth of $50,000.00 and a personal wealth of $10,000.00, which was quite a bit at that time. In 1877 or 1878, he became involved in litigation and he lost the hotel property, and then leased the Warm Springs Bath House which he operated until his death. Cemetery records show James died on 2 or 4 April, 1886 of Bright's Disease at the age of 79. James purchased a family plot on 2 November 1870 and was buried on 5 April, 1886 in the Townsend family plot under a large pine tree in the City Cemetery in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Martha Ann Townsend Lufkin was 54 and living in Salt Lake when her father died. His first wife Susan Davis (Martha Ann's mother) died in Salt Lake on 31 October, 1871 at the age of 76 and is buried next to him. James was sealed to his parents, Jacob and Abigail Elden Townsend on 5 February 1907 in the Logan, Utah Temple. His mother died 14 October and his father 3 August, in 1863 and are probably buried in Maine. His 1st wife Susan was sealed to her parents, John and Hannah Fletcher Davis at that same time. There is an inscription on James headstone but only part of it can be read and it says, "Whatever the life he led, he lived the life of a Saint, he had striven". He was described as a man with kindly features.
