USA > Rhode Island > Memorial encyclopedia of the state of Rhode Island > Part 1
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.
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 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45
Gc 974.5 M92m 1742356
M. L.
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01068 3743
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/memorialencyclop00munr
-- ---
- -
--- -
- -
MEMORIAL ENCYCLOPEDIA
OF THE -
STATE OF RHODE ISLAND
BY WILFRED HAROLD MUNRO, L. H. D. President of the Rhode Island Historical Society
ILLUSTRATED
BOSTON
THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY · INCORPORATED NEW YORK 1916
CHICAGO
494
1742356
yours truly Lev N. Corliss .
.
Both justice and decency require that we should bestow on our forefathers an honorable remembrance-Thucydides
FOREWORD
R HODE ISLAND, though small in area and population, in comparison with her sister States, has however been one of the essential factors in lending her aid to the material progress of the country. Her sons and daughters have contributed to the growth of the industrial interests which have so largely augmented the prosperity and wealth of the nation. In the fields of political prominence, as well as in the arts and sciences, they have contested with their compatriots, and their efforts have enhanced to the benefits of mankind.
The present work, "Memorial Encyclopedia of the State of Rhode Island." presents in the aggregate, from the foundation of the State to the present time, an amount and variety of information of her representative men and women, whose character and standing in their various walks of life have molded the State and added to its importance.
What we know of the past is largely due to records and books; it is the duty of every well deserving citizen to give to the students of coming gen- erations, abundance of historical data so that the foundations laid by our forefathers shall ever be commemorated, and thus familiarize ourselves with their work and personality; for it is they who have lifted us to the lofty position from which we are working out our separate careers. "Lest we forget," it is important that we gather up the fleeting memories of the past and give them permanent record in well chosen words of biography, and in such reproduction of the long lost faces as modern science makes possible.
It is confidently believed that the present work will prove a real addi- tion to the mass of annals concerning important people of Rhode Island, and that. without it, much valuable information would be inaccessible to the general reader, or irretrievably lost, owing to the passing away of custodians of family records and the consequent disappearance of material in their possession.
AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
1
Nathenus,
Rathanatl Greene
N ATHANAEL GREENE, one of the most noted generals in the Revolution next to Washington, a most able strategist and brave commander, was one of the sons of Rhode Island, of whoin the State and the entire nation will ever be proud. His family was among the earliest in the State, descended from Robert Greene, a scion of a family long established at Bowridge Hill, in the parish of Gillingham, county of Dorset, England. This was apparently a branch of the powerful and wealthy family of Greenes of Northamptonshire. Richard, son of Robert Greene, married Mary Hooker, and their son, Dr. John Greene, was born about 1590, in Gillingham.
Dr. John Greene, the immigrant, is usually referred to as Surgeon John Greene, to distinguish him from two other John Greenes who were pioneer residents of Rhode Island. He lived for some time at Sarum (Salisbury), the county town of Wiltshire, and was there married in St. Thomas' Church, November 4, 1619, to Joanne Tattershall, who was the mother of his seven children, all baptized at St. Thomas' Church. After practicing sixteen years at Sarum, Dr. Greene sailed with his wife and six children in the ship "James," arriving at Boston, June 3, 1635. Settling at Salem, he was for a time associated with Roger Williams, and soon after the latter's removal to Rhode Island followed him thither. His home lot was No. 15 on the main street of Providence, and he was one of the twelve original members of the First Baptist Church on the continent, organized at Providence. He was the first professional medical man in the colony, and made the first purchase of land by the English in Warwick, Rhode Island. A prominent man in the affairs of the town and colony, he enjoyed the confidence and respect of his associates, and died in the first week of January, 1659. His fourth son, James Greene, baptized June 21. 1626, was made a freeman of Warwick and Providence Plantations in 1647. His home was in Old Warwick, and he was a member of the general assembly under the first charter, and deputy and assistant under the second. During the Indian troubles he left War- wick to reside in Portsmouth, but returned in 1684, and purchased lands at Potowomut, where an ancient mill existed. There he died April 27, 1698. He married (second) August 3, 1665, Elizabeth, daughter of John and Susanna Anthony, of Portsmouth, Rhode Island, and they were the parents of Jabez Greene, born November 17, 1673, in Portsmouth, who inherited the homestead at Potowomut, where he was admitted a freeman May 5, 1696. A meeting of the Society of Friends was held in his house December 3, 1699, and he was a staunch supporter of the organization. He inherited the forge at Potowomut, where his children and grandchildren manufac- tured iron work as late as 1820. He married, March 17, 1698, Mary, daugh- ter of Benjamin and Susanna (Gorton) Barton, granddaughter of the War- wick pioneer, Samuel Gorton. Their fourth son, Nathanael Greene. born November 4, 1707, inherited and lived upon the homestead, engaged in the
RI-Vol I-1
2
mathanacl Greene
manufacture of iron, was a Quaker preacher, and died in October, 1768. He was buried in the old Friends meetinghouse lot at East Greenwich. He married (second) April 18, 1739, Mary, daughter of Jacob and Rest (Perry) Mott, granddaughter of Jacob Mott, of a famous Quaker family. His fourth son and the second son of his second wife was Major-General Nathanael Greene, the Revolutionary hero.
Nathanael Greene was born July 27, 1742, at. Potowomut, and after receiving an elementary education he was trained to work in the old forge mill. This mill was the family property, and each member was required to bear his share in its labors. With Quaker humility, they called themselves blacksmiths. Nathanael Greene was of robust build, fond of athletic sports, in which he excelled, and was also of a studious disposition. His read- ings and associations made him eager to secure greater knowledge, and his father at length yielded to his appeals for better opportunities. Under the guidance of a Scotchman named Maxwell, he began the study of Latin . and geometry. With his own earnings he purchased a copy of Euclid, and this was his most constant companion on his daily rounds of duty. He was required to assist in the fields and bear his share in the family labors, but his diligent use of every opportunity gave him rapid advancement in knowledge. Prior to 1755 he became acquainted with President Stiles, then a clergyman at Newport, and under his direction became familiar with the works of many of the best authors. About the same time he met Lindley Murray, "gram- marian of three generations of ungrateful school boys," with whom he had frequent discussions on the subject of his readings. The independent char- acter of young Nathanael was shown in 1760, when he submitted to an inoculation as a means of avoiding small-pox, which was then raging in New York City. At that time a strong prejudice against inoculation prevailed, and its practice had been forbidden by the legislatures of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. In order to conduct intelligently a lawsuit in which the family had become involved, he made a thorough study of legal authorities. In 1770 he removed to Coventry, where the business of the Greene Forge required attention of all the partners. Here he was active in organizing the first public schools of the town, and he was ever deeply interested in educational matters. He had been admitted a freeman in Warwick in April, 1765, and three years later he canvassed the county for signatures to the Association Test.
In April, 1770, he was elected to represent Coventry in the General Assembly, and here he took a bold stand in opposition to the home govern- ment, whose disputes with the colonies were becoming frequent and bitter. He continued almost continuously as representative until he was made a commander in the Continental army. In December, 1774, with four others, he was appointed by the General Assembly to revise the militia laws of the colony. "This was the commencement," wrote the late General George Sears Greene, "of his military career, from which he rose to a military rank and esteem second to none but the commander-in-chief, in a contest with the mother country, renowned for her military prowess." Because of his out- spoken position he was suspected of a share in the burning of the "Gaspee" in Narragansett Bay. Becoming convinced that war was the inevitable result of pending troubles, he applied himself to the study of military
3
athanael Greene
science, and derived a theoretical military knowledge which was extremely useful to him in his succeeding career. When an independent company was recruited from East Greenwich, Warwick and Coventry, in 1774, Greene enlisted as a private, after failing of election to the office of lieutenant. Be- cause of a slight limp in his gait there was hesitancy about admitting him even as a private. About this time he visited Boston, whence he brought back military accoutrements concealed under straw in his wagon, and accompanied also by a deserter from the British forces in Boston, whom he had employed to act as drillmaster. His Quaker friends were much scandal- ized by these military manoeuvres, and he was formally excluded from the fraternity. However he maintained till the last his attachment to the simple religion of his fathers.
After the battle of Bunker Hill the Rhode Island Assembly voted to raise a brigade of three regiments, and Greene was commissioned as briga- dier-general. This contingent joined the American army near Boston, June 3, 1776, and the young officer at once engaged in the task of organization and discipline of the men in his command. On the second of July follow- ing, General Washington arrived at Cambridge, and upon Greene devolved the duty of welcoming the commander-in-chief in the name of the soldiers, which task he performed with dignity and credit. During the siege of Bos- ton he was stationed at Prospect Hill, and on the evacuation was ordered to Long Island. During the disastrous operations in the Long Island cam- paign he was seriously ill, and his life was despaired of. The critical situ- ation of the American army at New York led Greene, who had now been promoted to major-general, to propose to Washington the abandonment of New York and the occupation of the east shore of the Hudson from Kings- bridge northward. This plan was approved by the council of war, but the territory was soon abandoned and the army moved across the river to New Jersey. When Cornwallis made a movement to cut off this retreat, Greene engaged him and held him until the troops had crossed. On December 25. 1776, Greene was in command of the left wing of the Continental army, which took part in the capture of the Hessians at Trenton. At this time Greene urged a rapid pursuit of the enemy, but was overruled by a council of war. Throughout this campaign, Greene's conduct and wise counsels commended him to Washington, and he was selected by the latter in March, 1777, to present his views and plans to Congress. A cabal was then at work to discredit Washington and Greene, but the latter succeeded in secur- ing the passage of a resolution relieving Washington from subservience to the council of war. Greene's brilliant strategic movements turned the famous battle of Brandywine to the advantage of the patriots, who were obliged to manoeuvre with considerable skill in contention with a force almost double their own. In this engagement Cornwallis attempted a flank movement. The prompt action of Greene, who marched his reserve brigade five miles in forty-five minutes, thwarted this movement, and the whole army was enabled to gather at Chester without serious loss. On October 4 following, General Greene participated in the battle of Germantown. His division moved in a circuitous course to attack the front of the British right wing, but was delayed by the difficulties of the route and a mistake of his guide, so that the ground assigned him was accidentally occupied by General
1
1
4.
nathanael Grzene
Wayne. When victory seemed assured, an unfortunate mishap turned the tide, and Greene again with wonderful skill covered the retreat. Following this, the army went into winter quarters at Valley Forge. The operations of the war had long been handicapped by the bad administration of the quartermaster-general's department, and in March, 1778, General Greene accepted the office of quartermaster-general, at the earnest solicitation of Washington, reserving, however, his right to command on the field of battle. The British evacuated Philadelphia on June 18 of that year, and General Greene commanded the right wing of the American forces at Mon- mouth Court House. On the arrival of Count d'Estaing with the French fleet, a combined attack on Newport was planned, and, because of local interest, Greene desired to take part in the expedition. In August he took up his quarters with one division of the army at Tiverton, Rhode Island. Through the disablement of the French fleet by a tremendous gale, the movement was a failure, and shortly afterward Greene went to Philadelphia at the request of the commander-in-chief, to give to Congress information of the late expedition and the cause of its failure. There he was received with distinguished consideration. The delays of Congress in providing a systematic method of raising supplies caused great annoyance to the quar- termaster-general and also entailed great suffering upon the Continental troops, through lack of food as well as proper shelter. In June, 1780, General Greene's forces sustained an attack from General Clinton at Springfield, New Jersey, and took up a strong position in the rear of the town. After setting fire to the town, however, Clinton retreated. In September, Greene was left in command of the army while Washington went to Hartford for a conference with Rochambeau. While the army was at Tappan, the unfor- tunate Major André was brought in, and was subjected to trial by a board of inquiry, with Greene as president, September 29. With tears, Greene signed the court's decree condemning the young officer to death. Andre pleaded that he might be shot instead of hanged, but General Greene held that Andre, if punished at all, should receive the punishment meted to spies according to the laws of war.
The dilatory course of Congress in providing supplies, and the suspicion that there was a purpose in this to discredit him, caused General Greene to resign the office of commissary-general in August, 1780. The post at West Point having been left vacant by Arnold's treason, General Greene was placed in command there October 8, 1780, but soon after was asked to take the command in the south, from which General Gates had been recalled. On December 2, 17So, he assumed command at Charlotte, North Carolina, and found himself confronted by an army of more than three thousand men, abundantly clothed and fed, well disciplined, and led by an able general. With a force of little more than two thousand, of whom many were absent on detached service, Greene's position was somewhat precarious. His army was not more than half fed, was scantily clothed, and woefully lacking in discipline. The country at the same time was infested with Tories, and Greene resolved to divide his forces, by means of which he might secure a better supply of food and cut off the supplies of the enemy from the upper country. Soon after followed the battle of the Cowpens, in January, 1781, when the British General Tarlton was compelled to retire, after great losses.
.
5
-
athanael Orcene
By a brilliant march, Greene effected a junction of the two divisions of his army, but the failure of expected reinforcements from Virginia to arrive compelled him to retreat toward them. Upon their arrival Greene again crossed Dan river, and met the forces of Cornwallis at Guilford Court House, March 15. Following this, the enemy retired to Wilmington, and ultimately moved into Virginia. Greene immediately proceeded southward, and soon drove the enemy out of South Carolina. After a sanguinary siege of twenty-eight days he forced the British to evacuate Fort Ninety-six, thus losing their last hold upon the interior of that State. Congress testified its appreciation of Greene's conduct by a gold medal and a vote of thanks. On December 14, 1782, Greene marched into Charleston, South Carolina, at the head of his army, and hostilities were closed in the following spring.
When the army was disbanded, General Greene proceeded homeward, and was greeted by enthusiastic crowds, and treated with high consider- ation by Congress at Philadelphia. The State of Georgia presented to him a plantation at Mulberry Grove, and in 1785 he took up his residence there. This was one of the finest plantations in the State, situated on the Savannah river, some twelve miles from the city of Savannah. This had been con- fiscated from Tory owners, and was presented by the State in appreciation of General Greene's services in driving the British army out of that section. His fortunes had been greatly impaired by the long war; and, through the dishonesty of an army contractor for whom he became security, he was forced to assume heavy pecuniary responsibility. However, his last years were happy amid congenial surroundings, and he died June 19, 1786, at the age of forty-four years, as the result of a sunstroke. Alexander Hamilton declared of Greene that his qualifications for statesmanship were not less remarkable than his military ability, which was of the highest order. The late Professor John Fiske said of him: "In every campaign since the begin- ning of the war, Greene had been Washington's right arm, and for indefati- gable industry, for strength and breadth of intelligence, and for unselfish devotion to the public service, he was scarcely inferior to the commander- in-chief." Major-General Anthony Wayne, who was with him when he died, in notifying the authorities of Savannah of the sad event, said: "He was great as a soldier, greater as a citizen, immaculate as a friend. The honors, the greatest honor of war, are due to his memory." By vote of Con- gress a monument to Greene, consisting of an equestrian statue, was erected in Washington. In the public square at Savannah, Georgia, is a monument dedicated jointly to Greene and Pulaski. A selection from General Greene's despatches, relating to the southern campaign, is preserved in two folio volumes in the State Department. Some of his letters may be found in Force's "Archives," and other in Sparks' "Correspondence of the American Revolution." The bulk of his correspondence still remains in manuscript, and is preserved by his descendants in Rhode Island. His grandson, George Washington Greene, announced his intention of publishing all the general's papers, but this was never carried out.
General Greene married, July 20, 1774, Catherine Littlefield, daughter of John and Phebe (Ray) Littlefield, of New Shoreham, Block Island, born 1755, died September 2, 1814. Their children were: George Washington, Martha Washington, Cornelia Lott.
William Ellery
W ILLIAM ELLERY, a signer of the Declaration of Independ- ence, and an active patriot throughout the entire Revolu- tionary War, was born in Newport, Rhode Island, December 22, 1727, son of William Ellery, a graduate of Harvard in 1722, also a merchant, judge. member of the State Senate and Deputy Governor. His grandfather, Benjamin Ellery, was a wealthy merchant, and was judge, deputy and assistant. The Ellerys were originally from Bristol, England, whence they emigrated to New England late in the seventeenth century.
William Ellery, Jr., was fitted for college by his father, and during his college course at Harvard distinguished himself especially for his knowledge of Greek and Latin, and for which he retained a fondness until his last hour. He was graduated in 1747, and then removed to Newport, to become a mer- chant. He served as naval officer of the colony, and as clerk of the General Assembly in 1769 and 1770. He took a deep interest in the founding of Rhode Island College, in 1764, and was one of its original incorporators. In 1770 he was admitted to the bar, and for many years practiced with suc- cess, but public duties encroached upon his time.
On the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, he became a member of the Committee of Safety, the Committee of Inspection, and the Committee of Military Defences; and also served upon a committee to bear a memorial to General Washington, then at Cambridge. In March, 1776, he was brought forward as a delegate to the Continental Congress to succeed Samuel Ward, who had died, and was elected by a large majority over the opposing candidate, although a slanderous story had been circulated the year before, to the effect that he was unfriendly to Washington. In the Continental Congress he was the colleague of Stephen Hopkins, and he left some unique reminiscences of the scenes attending the signing of the Decla- ration of Independence. He records with a touch of grim humor, that, as he sat by the secretary's table he watched the faces of his fellow members as they successively appended their names to the immortal document which "what might be their death warrant," that he saw in their countenances, "only undaunted resolution." He was a useful member of several important committees, and kept his seat until 1779. During his time the British were in possession of Newport, and in 1778 he took part in the fruitless effort to drive them out. As a leading patriot he was an object of their wrath, and, though unable to secure his person, they burned his house and destroyed much of his property. He was again delegate in Congress in 1781, and in 1783-85, attained some note as a speaker, being active on the board of admiralty. The last among his many services in Congress was the effort, in conjunction with Rufus King, to bring an end to slavery throughout the United States. He became a judge, and then Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Rhode Island; was Commissioner of Loans in April, 1786; and
7
William Ellery
Collector of Revenue at Newport in 1790, holding the last named position until his death.
He was twice married. His first wife was Ann, daughter of Jonathan Remington, of Cambridge, who died September 7, 1764. His second wife, Abigail, died July 27, 1793. He had several children; two of whom nearly rivaled him in longevity. His daughter Lucy -became the wife of William Channing, and the mother of three eminent men, one of whom, Professor E. T. Channing, wrote a memoir of his father for the sixth volume of Spark's "American Biography." William Ellery died at his home, in his chair, while reading Cicero's "De Officiis," February 15, 1820.
liver Hazard Perry
C OMMODORE OLIVER HAZARD. PERRY, hero of the naval battle of Lake Erie in the Second War with Great Britain (1812-14), was born in Newport, Rhode Island, August 21, 1785, eldest son of Christopher Raymond and Sarah (Alexander) Perry ; grandson of Freeman Perry ; and a descendant in the sixth generation of Edward Perry, who emigrated from Devonshire, England, and settled in Sand- wich, Massachusetts, in 1653. His father was 'an officer in the patriot army and navy during the Revolutionary War; was made post captain in the United States navy January 9, 1798; built and commanded the "General Greene," and cruised in the West Indies; participated in the civil war in Santo Domingo, and was appointed collector of the port of Newport, Rhode Island, in 1801.
Oliver Hazard Perry attended private schools, and was a pupil of Count Rochambeau, who commanded the French forces cooperating with the patriot army during the Revolutionary War. Young Perry entered the United States navy as a midshipman, April 7, 1797, and sailed under his father, Captain Christopher R. Perry, to the West Indies. He was ordered to the "Adams" in 1802, and served on board the "Constellation" in the Mediterranean, 1804-05. In the latter year he was promoted to lieutenant, and given command of the "Nautilus," and during the embargo that led to the War of 1812 he commanded a flotilla of seventeen gunboats off Newport Harbor. He was promoted to master of the schooner "Revenge" in 1809. and served on that vessel until she was stranded on the rocks off Watch Hill, Rhode Island, January 9, 1810. Upon the outbreak of the War of 1812, he was promoted to captain, and resumed command of the gunboat fleet off Newport, but was transferred to Sackett's Harbor, New York, February 17, 1813, to assist Commodore Isaac Chauncey in the building of a fleet to operate on the lakes. In March, 1813, he was promoted to master-com- mandant of a proposed fleet to be built at Erie, Pennsylvania, and joined Captain Jesse D. Elliott in the completion of vessels for the defence of the northwest. The fleet of nine vessels, comprising the tugs "Lawrence" and "Niagara" and the schooners "Caledonia," "Scorpion," "Porcupine," "Tigress," "Ariel," "Somers" and "Trippe," armed with long heavy guns, was completed in less than six months, and Perry set sail from Put-in-Bay on the morning of September 15, 1813, to meet the British fleet under Com- modore Barclay. This fleet comprised the "Chippewa," "Detroit," "Hunter," "Queen Charlotte," "Lady Prevost" and "Little Belt." The open- ing shot of the engagement was fired from the British flag-ship "Detroit," to which Captain Perry replied from the "Lawrence." This was immediately followed by a storm of iron hail from the entire British fleet that soon played havoc with the rigging, masts and bulwarks of the Americans. The battle now took the form of a duel, the heaviest vessels in each fleet confronting each other. The "Lawrence" was reduced to a hulk by the steady fire of the
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.