USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > Rehoboth > History of Rehoboth, Massachusetts; its history for 275 years, 1643-1918, in which is incorporated the vital parts of the original history of the town > Part 31
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39
Having an aptitude for business, he was very successful making investments in various stocks, while he constantly improved his farm which came to be one of the best in town. He had great energy and unusual sagacity. He was a member and constant attendant at the Congregational Church in the Village, and was one of the largest givers for its support. He was gifted in con- versation, keen in repartee, a genial companion and a firm friend.
Mr. Bowen married first, Sarah Ann George of Wrentham, Dec. 4, 1837; died Nov. 1, 1861. They had eleven children:
George Reuben, born Nov. 17, 1838; died April 5, 1853.
Edward Lawrence, born March 12, 1841; married Mary Lowe of Providence, R.I., March 12, 1867. No children.
330
HISTORY OF REHOBOTH
Harriet Augusta, born July 3, 1845; married William Henry Marvel of Rehoboth, June 25, 1865; died May 29, 1872. He died May 20, 1909. Two children.
Ellen Maria, born April 11, 1843; married George W. Marsh of Providence, R.I., July 27, 1871. He died July 12, 1897. No children.
Charles Artemus, born April 10, 1848; married Nancy Peck Bowen, daughter of Otis P. Bowen of Rehoboth, March 3, 1871. Four children.
Catherine Walton, born March 24, 1850; married Joseph F. Earle, June 5, 1875. He died May 17, 1912. Four children.
Ida Adelaide, born May 27, 1852; died Sept. 14, 1857.
Clara George, born Feb. 27, 1855; married Christopher C. Viall, April 14, 1881. Two children.
George Warren, born Jan. 26, 1857 ; married Huldah A. Baker Jan. 19, 1881. One daughter, Luella.
Virginia Adelaide, born April 23, 1859; married Oscar Perry, March 17, 1882. Eight children, six living.
Sarah Ann, born Nov. 1, 1861; died Feb. 10, 1884.
Second wife, Sarah Murray Blanding of Rehoboth, Feb. 23, 1865 (died Dec. 31, 1911). Four children as follows:
William Blanding, born Dec. 1, 1865; married Sabina A. (Nichols) Horton, Dec. 6, 1906. Two children.
Elizabeth Carpenter, born March 26, 1867; married Seneca Cole of Attleborough, Aug. 28, 1890. One child.
Murray James, born May 22, 1869; married, first, Mary L. Gib- bons, Skowhegan, Me., Oct. 23, 1894. Second wife, Evelyn E. Bruen of Attleborough, Feb. 17, 1904. One child.
Susan Augusta, born June 19, 1872; married John C. Kingsford, Nov. 18, 1903. One child.
Mr. Bowen died March 20, 1903, aged 90 years.
BOWEN, WILLIAM HENRY, son of Isaiah and Lydia (Goff) Bowen, was born in Rehoboth, Aug. 18, 1819. He was the eldest of three children, a brother, George Washington, with whom he was most closely allied for over seventy years, and a sister Emely Ann, who died at the age of twelve years.
Mr. Bowen was educated in the public schools of the town and at the private school of Rev. Otis Thompson. He was much in- terested in educational matters, teaching in the schools of Rehoboth and Swansea and in later years serving on the Rehoboth School Board. He was a mechanic by trade, as a young man helping his father in the workshop still standing upon the farm where he spent his whole life of nearly eighty-five years. They made handles of axes, chisels and hammers.
In the heart of the deep woods, under a bass-wood tree, stood a little mill, the foundations of which may still be seen, where
331
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
bobbins were turned. There was little machinery and much hand-work. For many years farming was the occupation of the summer months and the workshop the center of winter activities. Mr. Bowen spent his life upon the homestead place, increasing its size by buying land, and he also built, in company with his brother George, a house on the opposite side of the road from the old gambrel-roofed house in which he was born. In 1872 he mar- ried Grace L. Patten of Attleborough, Mass., then teaching at the Wheeler School in Rehoboth, while he was serving on its com- mittee.
Mr. Bowen died March 19, 1904, at the age of eighty-four years and seven months. His widow, Mrs. Grace L. Bowen, a daughter, Emily Bradford (Bowen) Horton, and his aged brother survived him.
Mrs. Bowen's daughter by a previous marriage, Hannah M. Patten, married Francis A. Goff, and their son, Lester Goff, a talented musician, plays the organ at the Village Church.
BOWEN, WILLIAM MANUEL PEREZ, practicing attorney, and an official in Rhode Island corporations of note, was born in Attleborough, Mass., Sept. 8, 1864. He is a son of Amos Miller Bowen, who was a soldier in the Civil War. The family are descendants of Richard Bowen, who emigrated from Glamorgan- shire, Wales, in 1640, and was among the first settlers in Rehoboth. Richard Bowen's ancestry (Owen) descended from the Welsh princes and Henry Tudor of the English Tudors. Maternally, Caroline Mary (Perez) Bowen (mother) descended from the Span- ish and Cuban families of Perez and Capote. The earliest ances- tors are of various colonial origin, including the Mayflower through the Fullers; and many members fought in the Colonial Wars, War of 1812 and Civil War.
W. M. P. Bowen received a liberal education in the schools of Providence, later entering Brown University, and was graduated therefrom, A.B. 1884, and A.M. 1887. He thereupon took up his law studies and was assistant clerk in the County Court, Provi- dence, from 1884 to 1901. He began practice of the law in Prov- idence in 1901, and since that time has been engaged in general practice before the State and Federal bar, and is a standing master in chancery. Mr. Bowen was a member of the Providence School Committee in 1899, and was elected a member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives, 1902-05-06, and State Senator from Providence 1909-10. He was member (1909-12) of the Special Taxation Committee, which revised the tax-laws of the state. For some years he has been chairman of the Republican City Committee of Providence.
Mr. Bowen is a member of St. Stephen's P. E. Church; life mem- ber of League of American Wheelmen, and active in promoting good roads. Also author of important state highway legislation.
P
1
T
-
1
1 -
S
t e 1
1
332
HISTORY OF REHOBOTH
Member University Club, Quarter Century Club, Rhode Island School of Design, Sons of the American Revolution, Military Order of the Loyal Legion, and United Train of Artillery. Past Rhode Island Division Commander, Sons of Veterans; Colonel First Light Infantry Regiment, 1911-13, and on retired list Rhode Is- land Militia with rank of colonel; enlisted in third and fourth military training camps at Plattsburg, N.Y., 1915 and 1916; thirty-second degree Mason and Shriner. Since 1897, secretary of the Providence Building, Sanitary and Educational Associa- tion; secretary Pascoag Water Company; President U. S. Ring Traveler Company, Providence.
BROWN, CHARLOTTE WRIGHT (PECK), daughter of Syl- vanus and Charlotte Wright Peck, was born in Rehoboth, March 15, 1808. She gained the rudiments of learning at the district school known as the "Palmer's River School," or district number eight. She was an apt pupil, acquiring a taste for good reading and became a diligent student of the Bible. She married, Oct. 7, 1827, Eleazer A. Brown, and resided for several years at the "Shad Factory." Later her home was in Rehoboth Village. She united with the Village Church, July 3, 1830, under the pastorate of Rev. Thomas Vernon. Mrs. Brown was a woman of great energy, and was foremost in every worthy enterprise in both the church and community. She did more than any one else in promoting the Bicknell High School. While her own family was large, there was always "room for one more," and ministers and teachers often enjoyed her generous hospitality. Though sorely afflicted in the loss of her children, she bore her many trials without a murmur. As the bitter mingled with the sweet in her life, she could ever say, with unwavering trust in her Heavenly Father, "Thy will be done." She was not only optimistic, but kind and sympathetic. Many a sick-room was cheered by her presence, and the passage of many a one down the dark valley was made smoother by her gentle touch. She passed away April 11, 1888. A brave, gentle, noble woman!
BROWN, ELEAZER ARNOLD, was born in Cumberland, R.I., Aug. 13, 1800. He was third in a family of ten children. His father also was Eleazer and a native of Cumberland, a respected citizen, a farmer and cooper by occupation. In the days of the militia he held the office of ensign in the Diamond Hill Company.
His mother was Elizabeth Cole, daughter of John Cole who went from Rehoboth, where his ancestors had settled. Elizabeth had few advantages for culture, but she was a woman of great firmness, and her children were trained under a strict discipline. Both father and mother died at the advanced age of 84 years.
The father, Eleazer, was the son of Nicholas Brown, who was a man of energy and ability. At the age of eighteen, Nicholas took
-
PP
le
le
nt
ad
th &
MRS. CHARLOTTE W. (PECK) BROWN
a
333
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
his musket and started for Concord, and fought in the battle of Lexington; here he so injured his ankle that the leg had to be amputated, and he ever after wore a wooden leg. He was a chief elder in the Quaker church; he married Susanna Arnold, whose father was one of the proprietors of Arnold's Mills. Nicholas had seven children of whom Eleazer was the second. The father of Nicholas and great-grandfather of the subject of our sketch was Jabez Brown of Smithfield, R.I. His wife was a Whipple and they lived in a little house on Molasses Hill, on the banks of the Black- stone, where they brought up seventeen children.
From these facts we see that Eleazer was descended from a hardy New England stock. Until he was fourteen he lived at Cumber- land with his parents, working on the farm summers and attending school winters. He always remembered the stern old school- master, Arnold Speare, whose heavy ferule kept the boys on a straight line. When he was fourteen the family moved to Georgia- ville and Eleazer was put into the factory to tend spinning-frames. He worked two years at two dollars a week, when he became master-spinner and his wages were increased. After two years more he, went into the factory store and soon had charge of it.
Continuing for four years and a half, he then went to Providence at the age of twenty-two and started a store on his own account. It was located on North Main Street, next door to St. John's Church. After about two years' experience he concluded that he was better adapted for mechanical than for mercantile business. He sold out to a Mr. Hawkes, a watchmaker, in 1824, and went to Branch Village, Smithfield, R.I., as superintendent of a factory, where he remained only a short time. In the winter of 1824, he attended the academy at Uxbridge, and afterwards went into Philip Allen's factory in Smithfield as second hand in the card- room, where he first met Benjamin Peck, who was superintendent of the mill. After two years he went with Mr. Peck to Rehoboth and took charge of the card-room at the Orleans Mill. "There," he says, "my taste for machinery was gratified." The mill then employed from twenty to twenty-five hands.
Sept. 17, 1827, he was married by Rev. Thomas Vernon to Charlotte Wright Peck of South Rehoboth, with whom he lived happily for more than sixty years. On Jan. 3, 1830, they both united with the Village Church on confession of faith. In 1836, he left the Orleans Factory, and after four years at Woodstock, Ct., came to Rehoboth Village, where he became manager and after- wards part owner of the Factory property. He resided here until his death, June 1, 1889, and was a respected citizen and an honored deacon in the Congregational Church. He was ordained to this office March 4, 1841.
Deacon Brown was a man of unusual intelligence. He had an original way of putting things and was very quick at repartee.
334
HISTORY OF REHOBOTH
His language was choice and exact; he knew what he believed and could express his ideas clearly and unequivocally. He was very fond of machinery, and spent a large part of his time in making or mending something. He invented a machine for twisting or winding twine, the idea coming to him in his sleep. He was em- phatically a religious man, and a thorough student of the Bible. When very old, he went to church leaning on his cane until he could scarcely totter to his place. He died May 30, 1889, in his 89th year.
He had eleven children, most of whom died young. Three sons served through nearly the whole period of the Civil War:
Edward Payson in the Fourth R.I. Regiment, breveted major for gallant conduct; became a prominent lawyer.
Arnold DeF., second lieut. in the Third R.I. Cavalry, and
James P., became second lieut. in the Fourteenth R.I. Heavy Artillery (colored). Killed in battle.
BROWN, MAJOR EDWARD P., born Feb. 8, 1840, was son of Dea. E. A. and Charlotte W. (Peck) Brown. He prepared for college at the Rehoboth High School, Thetford Academy, Vt., and the University Grammar School of Providence, R.I. En- tered Brown University in 1859; enlisted Aug. 31, 1862, with commission of 2d Lieut. in Co. I, 4th R.I. regiment; later pro- moted to 1st Lieut., to Captain, and to rank of Major by brevet, for gallant conduct in battle. Returned in 1865, finished his course at Brown, graduating in 1867; graduated at the Harvard Law School in 1869; began the practice of law at North Attle- borough, Mass., and removed to Boston in 1870; for three years was chosen member of the General Court from Boston; con- ducted the noted case of Gen. B. F. Butler, then Governor of Massachusetts, vs. the managers of the Tewksbury alms-house, and won the verdict of acquittal on the charges made by the Governor. He became a well-known lawyer in Boston, and later practiced law in New York.
Major Brown married first Miss Emma I. Clapp, of Boston, in 1866, by whom he had three children, Edith, Ethel and Harold. Mrs. Brown died in 1888. He married for his second wife, April 1892, Elizabeth E. Hough of New York, who survives him. He died July 26, 1909, and is buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, N.Y., where a fine monument marks his resting-place.
BROWN, JAMES, son of John of Wannamoiset and Dorothy, admitted freeman at Plymouth, 1636, at Taunton, 1643, and at Rehoboth, 1658; married Lydia Howland, daughter of John How- land of the Mayflower. Like his father, he was liberal in religious matters and a warm friend of Rev. John Miles, with whom he was fined £5. for setting up a Baptist meeting in Rehoboth in 1667. He was one of the seven charter members of the Miles Church
335
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
formed that year in connection with the new town of Swansea. Mr. Brown was the foremost citizen of the town; he had been Governor's assistant in 1665 and 1666, and between 1670 and 1675; was deputy to the Plymouth Court from Swansea in 1669, '71, and '72. He was active in Philip's war, and on June 14 and 15, 1675, went to Philip to persuade him to be quiet. He would have been killed by the excited Indians had not Philip prevented it, saying that his "father had requested him to do no harm to Mr. Brown, as he had received repeated kindnesses from him." He doubtless lived on his father's large estate at Wannamoiset and is buried at Little Neck.
BROWN, JOHN. The ancestors of the Brown families lived in the south and west of England, and emigrated to Boston and Plymouth between the years 1620 and 1692. Peter Brown, the first-comer, was of Puritan stock, and came in the Mayflower in 1620. John Brown became acquainted with the Pilgrims at Ley- den, prior to 1620. The year of his arrival in America is unknown, probably about 1630, as we find him elected a freeman in 1634, and in 1636 an assistant to the Governor of Plymouth, an office which he held by annual election for seventeen years. Mr. Brown was a man of large intelligence, great energy of character, and deep and earnest piety. He was a grand pioneer in the settlement of the towns on the west of old Plymouth. In 1636 he was a resident of Duxbury. We find his name among the purchasers of the tract of land called Cohannett, or Taunton, in 1637, and he with Miles Standish erected bounds around the purchase in 1640. During the next year he was one of the company to purchase Rehoboth, and his interest in that township was the largest of any, amounting to six hundred pounds. Prior to June 9, 1645, he had removed to Rehoboth, for we find his name first with six others who were chosen to order the prudential affairs of that town for six months. His son James removed from Taunton with him, and his son John followed in 1647. In December, 1645, Mr. Brown, Sr., became sole proprietor of the section known by the Indians as Wannamoi- set, and Wannamoiset Neck (now Bullock's Point and River- side), which originally included a portion of the present towns of Rehoboth and Swansea, with a portion of Barrington and the south part of Seekonk and East Providence. His name appears on all of the important committees of the town. Now he was chosen to carry on a suit at the Court; afterwards "to make dil- igent search to find out the most convenient way between Reho- both and Dedham"; then he, with Mr. Peter Hunt, was ordered to go to Plymouth, "to make agreement about the Indian com- plaints"; and various other records of public duties, which in- dicate his prominence and ability as a citizen of the town and of the colony. His liberal sentiments on religious affairs were positive, and as a colonial magistrate he expressed his scruples as to the
1
1
S 1
S
t
1
336
HISTORY OF REHOBOTH
propriety of coercing the people to support the minister, and of- fered to pay all delinquencies from his own estates. In 1643 the colonies of Plymouth, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Haven united in a confederacy, styled The United Colonies of New England, for their common defence and welfare. Each col- ony sent two commissioners to the meetings of this body. Mr. John Brown represented Plymouth Colony for twelve years, and was associated in these deliberations with such men as John Win- throp, Gov. Haynes, Mr. Eaton, Mr. Bradstreet, and Gov. Wins- low. In this body he exercised a large influence, and served the colony wisely and faithfully. He was captain of the Swansea militia, and built the house in which he lived till his death, on the main road, near Riverside, East Providence. He died April 10, 1662, and was buried at the Little Neck Burial Ground, near Bullock's Cove. His widow, Dorothy Brown, was buried there; she died at Swansea, Jan. 27, 1674, aged ninety years. His daugh- ter Mary and her husband, Capt. Thomas Willett, with other descendants, were buried in this ground. Mr. Brown left three children: Mary, who married Capt. Thomas Willett; John, Jr., who settled with his father in Rehoboth; and James Brown, who was one of the most influential men in the founding of Swansea, as well as one of the leading members of Mr. Miles's church.
BROWN, WALTER DeFOREST, son of Arnold DeForest and Amanda M. (Horton) Brown, was born in Rehoboth, Nov. 6, 1861. In addition to the district schools of Rehoboth, he studied at the State Street Intermediate and Benefit Street Grammar Schools of Providence, R.I .; also two years at the Rogers High School at Newport. After a commercial course at the Bryant and Stratton School in Providence, at the age of nineteen he became entry clerk of the wholesale grocery house of Bugbee & Brownell, remaining four and a half years. He was next employed in the wholesale grain house of Messrs. Day, Sons & Co. on Dyer Street for about the same length of time. In 1899 he became bookkeeper with the National India Rubber Co., holding this position until 1904, when he was elected secretary, and in 1905 he was honored by being chosen treasurer also, and faithfully performed the duties of both offices. This large company employs about nineteen hun- dred people, carrying on an extensive business and requiring a man of large capacity to conduct its finances.
Mr. Brown was married in 1883 to Martha T., daughter of Edward D. Jones, Jr., of Newport. One daughter, Viola T., was born to them Aug. 27, 1888. She married Harold Van Gaasbeek, Aug. 20, 1913. Their daughter Barbara was born Sept. 7, 1915.
Mr. Brown was a member of Capital Lodge, I. O. O. F., of Prov- idence, having passed through all the chairs. He was a member of the New England Order of Protection and several other frater- nal organizations; also a member of the Washington Park M. E.
337
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
Church of Providence. He possessed in a high degree those ster- ling qualities which insure success - business sagacity, power of mental concentration, a sound moral character, and unfailing courtesy. On Dec. 9, 1910, the 'community was shocked to learn that early in the morning while duck-hunting, he had been drowned in the icy waters of Bristol harbor. Funeral services were held in the church of his native village attended by a large circle of friends and he was buried in the family lot beside his father, an honored veteran of the Civil War.
BUFFINTON, JOHN ALLEN, was the son of Benjamin Buffin- ton and Mary Mason of Swansea, Mass. He was born in Warren, R.I., Jan. 24, 1810, and reared and educated in Swansea. He learned the mason's trade and followed it in Providence, Fall River, and Newport. Later in life he became a resident of Milford, Mass., where he lived until 1857. He then removed to South Re- hoboth, Mass. Here he carried on farming on the Bosworth homestead, known as Stone Cottage.
He had married Ann Eliza Winsor Cousins Bosworth, born Aug. 7, 1815, in Smithfield, R.I., daughter of Peleg Bosworth 2d, and his wife Susannah Rounds. To them were born children as follows: John Murray who died in infancy: John Murray 2d, born April 1, 1839; Frank, born Feb. 9, 1841; Dunbar Harris, Walter Smith and Allen Mason.
Mrs. Buffinton was a direct descendant in the eighth generation of Edward Bosworth, who with his wife Mary embarked for New England on the ship "Elizabeth and Dorcas" in 1634. He, how- ever, died as the vessel was nearing the port. His remains were interred in Boston.
Mr. Buffinton, originally a Democrat, became a Republican with strong anti-slavery principles, retaining to the last an active interest in public affairs.
Mr. and Mrs. Buffinton were members of the First Universalist Church of Providence. Later they became closely identified with the Universalist Society of Swansea, in which they were deeply interested. Mr. Buffinton died at his residence, Stone Cottage, Aug. 22, 1893, and Mrs. Buffinton on Dec. 19, 1902.
BUFFINTON, JOHN MURRAY, son of John Allen and Ann Eliza Winsor Cousins (Bosworth) Buffinton, was born April 1, 1839, in Providence, R.I. He attended the public schools of Re- hoboth, the Seekonk (Mass.) Academy, and the High School of Milford, Mass. At eighteen he was apprenticed to Sackett, Davis & Co. of Providence, manufacturing jewelers, and entered upon the business in which he has continued to the present time. In 1869 Mr. Buffinton went into partnership with Col. Isaac M. Pot- ter, with whom he remained until the death of the latter in 1902. He then formed a corporation under the name of the Potter & Buffinton Company (Inc.), of which he is president.
22
n
..
-
f
e it
d
e
e
f
1-
e
.
d S
d r h d e
0
338
HISTORY OF REHOBOTH
Mr. Buffinton represented Providence in the lower house of the State Assembly in 1888-9. For a number of years he was a direc- tor in the Roger Williams National Bank, until its absorption by the Industrial Trust Company. He is a member of the Pomham Club, Providence Central Club, and charter member and past master of Adelphoi Lodge, No. 33, A. F. and A. M., also a member of St. John's Commandery, R.I. For many years he was president of the Society of the First Universalist Church, and for over a quarter of a century a member of the board of trustees.
On June 4, 1874, Mr. Buffinton married Helen Augusta, daugh- ter of Henry and Ann (Kilvert) Carrique, and granddaughter of Lieut. Richard and Elizabeth (Martin) Carrique. To them were born children as follows: Anna Carrique, John Allen, Henry Kilvert (deceased), Henry Carrique (deceased), and Bertha Au- gusta. Mrs. Buffinton died Oct. 25, 1911.
Mr. Buffinton retains as his summer residence the old Bosworth homestead, Stone Cottage, in Rehoboth, and while his business activities are centered in Providence, has never ceased to be in- terested in the welfare of the old town.
BULLOCK, JUDGE STEPHEN, son of Samuel and Anna (Bos- worth) Bullock, was born in 1735. His descent from Richard Bullock, one of the earliest Rehoboth proprietors, is as follows: Richard,1 Samuel,2 Ebenezer,3 Samuel,4 Stephen.5 He married Oct. 30, 1760, Mary Horton, daughter of Hezekiah Horton of Rehoboth, and resided near Burial Place Hill. He was one of the most prominent men of his day, a captain in the War of the Rev- olution, a representative to the General Court in 1782-6, and in 1796 was representative to Congress; in 1797-8, a member of the convention appointed to form the State Constitution, and also judge of the Court of Common Pleas.
Judge Bullock was a man of sound judgment, retentive memory and genuine piety. He had ten children, sixty-seven grandchildren, and two hundred and four great-grandchildren. Among his de- scendants are Darius Goff of Pawtucket, Ex-Governor John W. Davis of Rhode Island, Albert C. Mason of Franklin, Mass., and Hon. George N. Goff.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.