MacCoun, Townsend (1845 - September 10, 1932)

Townsend MacCoun (1845 - September 10, 1932) was an American cartographer, publisher and historian active in the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Townsend was born in Troy, New York, the son of John T. MacCoun and Angelica Rachel Douw (Lane) MacCoun. MacCoun attended Williams Collage, from which he was awarded degrees in 1866 and 1869. His composed several cultural and geographical works, including a history of the United States, another of the Holy Land, and a series of five historical maps of New York City. He also developed and proselytized employing a universal color coding system in all maps appearing in a single book or book series - a technique that remains in use today in many text books. He was a member of the Chi Psi Fraternity, the American Geographical Society, and the Paris Société Academique d'Histoire Internationale.