USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > Providence > Governors for three hundred years, 1638-1959; Rhode Island and Providence Plantations > Part 20
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Having been re-elected in 1864, 1870, and 1876, Mr. Anthony's Senatorial career ex- tends over a period of more than twenty years. He is not a frequent speaker, but when he addresses the Senate, is always listened to with marked attention. He has delivered numerous memorial addresses, among which may be mentioned those on Senator Stephen A. Douglas. July 9, 1861; on Senator John R. Thompson, December 4, 1862; on Wil- liam Pitt Fessenden. December 14, 1869; on Major-General Nathanael Greene, June 20, 1870; on Roger Williams, January 9, 1872; on Senator Jonathan Trumbull, March 8. 1872; on Roger Sherman, March 8, 1872; on Chevalier Charles Louis d'Arsac de Ter- nay, December 16. 1873; on Senator Charles Sumner, March 11, 1874; on Senator Wil- liam A. Buckingham. February 27. 1875: and on Vice-President Henry Wilson, January 21,1876.
Mr. Anthony married, October 16, 1838, Sarah Aborn Rhodes, daughter of General Christopher Rhodes, of Pawtuxet, Rhode Island, a descendant of Zachariah Rhodes, an early settler of Rhode Island, and an associate of Roger Williams. She died in New York, July 11, 1854.
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"CLIFTON" GOLDEN HILL CEMETERY NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND
THOMAS ST. AND GOLDEN HILL ST., NEWPORT, R. I.
Clifton ground, at junction of Golden Hill and Thomas Streets, where Thomas Clifton, who owned sixty acres, including this spot was buried. This was a rectangular lot, but at some period a piece was most unwarrantably taken off it, for the purpose of making the present diagonal connection between Thomas and Golden Hill Streets. In this corner of the lot, Thomas Clifton, himself. is supposed to have been buried, as noth- ing remains to mark his resting place. This ground has the memorial of many impor- tant families of a very early period, and the large proportion of children, about 1690-3. seems to indicate a very severe epidemic, probably of small pox, the great scourge of that era.
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PHILIP ALLEN
Governor: 1851 to 1853.
Born: September 1, 1785 in Providence, Rhode Island.
Died. December 16, 1865 in Providence, Rhode Island. Buried: Providence, R. I. North Burial Ground.
ALLEN. HON. PHILIP. Governor of Rhode Island from 1851 to 1853, eldest son of Zachariah and Anne (Crawford) Allen, was born in Providence, September 1, 1785. He pursued his studies preparatory to college under the tuition of Tutor Jeremiah Chaplin, afterwards President Chaplin of Waterville College, in the University Latin School, and was a graduate of Brown University, in the class of 1803. On leaving college he turned his attention to mercantile pursuits, in which his father had been engaged for many years prior to his death in 1801. Mr. Allen carried on an extensive business, especially in the products of the West Indies.
In 1812 he became interested in the manufacture of cotton in Rhode Island, and con- tinued in the business during the remainder of his life, devoting himself for thirty years and more to the printing of calico.
For ten years, from 1827 to 1836, he was President of the Rhode Island Branch of the United States Bank. During the years 1819, 1820, and 1821, he was a representative from Providence in the General Assembly. The Democratic party being in the ascendant elected him, in 1851, Governor of the State, and re-elected him the two succeeding years to the same office. Soon after the close of his third term of service he was chosen a Senator of the United States. He was, in general, friendly to the administrations of Pres- idents Pierce and Buchanan, but opposed the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. He was an important member of Congress. especially as his intimate and extensive acquain- tance with manufactures made his judgment reliable in matters pertaining thereto.
He married, in 1814, Phebe, daughter of Benjamin and Susan (Jackson) Aborn, of Providence. They had eleven children. He died in Providence, December 16, 1865.
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HON. PHILIP ALLEN 1851-1853 By James S. Lincoln Northwest Corridor
Second Floor of State House
North Burial Ground Providence, R. I.
GOVERNORS OF RHODE ISLAND
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FRANCIS MOORE DIMOND
Governor: July 20, 1853 to 1854. Born: June 6, 1796 in Bristol, Rhode Island.
Died: 1858 in Bristol, Rhode Island.
Buried: Bristol, Rhode Island. Juniper Hill Cemetery.
DIAMOND, GOVERNOR FRANCIS M., was born in Bristol, in 1796. Son of Captain Royal Dimond. When a young man he went to the island of Cuba, where he lived for several years. He afterwards represented the United States for some time as Consul at Port au Prince.
For several years his residence was in New Orleans. He was subsequently United States' Consul at Vera Cruz. Mexico, in which position he acquired such knowledge of the country and the government, that when war broke out between the two countries the information which he was able to communicate to the authorities at home was of great value. We are told "when the expedition against Vera Cruz was planned he was summoned to Washington, where his accurate memory quickly supplied the greatly need- ed chart of the Mexican harbor."
In order that he might be an eye-witness of the bombardment of the place, he sailed from Havana in time, as he reckoned, to be present when the place should be attacked. On the passage, the vessel in which he had embarked was wrecked; for two days and nights he was exposed, in an open boat, to the perils of the deep, and did not reach the place of his destination till the day after the bombardment. He was in time, however, to enter the city with the American army, and, as long as his services were required, was the official interpreter. He was appointed Collector of the captured city. He after- wards returned to his native town, and was elected Lieutenant-Governor of the State for the year 1853-54.
On the resignation of Governor Philip Allen, to accept the office of United States Senator, he was his successor for the unexpired part of his term of service. Subsequently he took a deep interest in the construction of the Southern Pacific Railway, and was elected President of the company which had started the enterprise. His connection with this company was of short duration, being terminated by his death, which took place in Bristol, in 1858, at the age of sixty-three.
He married in 1820 Mrs. Maria Eustis (Parker) Greene, and they became the par- ents of two sons and three daughters.
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HON. FRANCIS M. DIMOND 1853-1854 Reproduced by H. Cyrus Farnum Northwest Corridor Second Floor of State House
Juniper Hill Cemetery Bristol, R. I.
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WILLIAM WARNER HOPPIN
Governor: 1854 to 1857.
Born: September 1, 1807 in Providence, Rhode Island.
Died: April 18. 1880 in Providence, Rhode Island.
Buried: Providence, R. I. Swan Point Cemetery. Lot 4A, Group 192 Beach Avenue.
HOPPIN, GOVERNOR WILLIAM WARNER, son of Benjamin and Esther Philips (Warner) Hoppin, was born in Providence, September 1, 1807. The Hoppin family emi- grated from England to the Massachusetts Colony in 1653, and from thence removed to Rhode Island before the American Revolution. It is a family of good repute in colonial and national history, and is closely connected with other prominent New Eng- land names, such as the Cushings. Philipses, Cottons, Rawsons, Warners, and Aylwins. Benjamin Hoppin, the grandfather of Governor Hoppin, was a man of such prominent loyalty that he held the commission of Colonel in the Colonial militia of Rhode Island from George III, but promptly retired from that position at the commencement of the Revolution, and accepted a captaincy in the regiment of Colonel Lippitt in the Rhode Island line of the Continental army, and served with distinction in the various eventful battles participated in by his regiment.
In 1828, Mr. Hoppin, after a full course of instruction, received from Yale College the degree of A. B. On that occasion he delivered the class oration, in pursuance of his election to that position by the members of his class. Of his classmates might be men- tioned the names of John Van Buren. Judge William Strong. United States Supreme Court, President of Columbia College, and Horace Binney, Jr., of Philadelphia. Subse- quent to graduation he entered the law school connected with Yale College, under tui- tion of Judge Daggett and Samuel Hitchcock, and having passed the requisite exam- ination, was admitted to the bar in 1830.
His official political career began in 1838, when he was elected to the Common Council of Providence, his native city, in which he continued to serve until 1842. In 1845 he relinquished the practice of law and travelled with his family in Europe. On his return in 1847 he was chosen a member of the Board of Alderman in Providence, and served in that office until 1852. In the year following he was elected to the State Sen- ate, and while a member of that body advocated the adoption of the ten-hour system of labor, and obtained the enactment of a law that covered the principles and details of his scheme.
In 1854-5-6 he was elected Governor of the State by the Whig party by large majori- ties, and at a time when the numerical strength of the Whig and Democratic parties was about equally balanced. Repeatedly invited to accept the nomination of member of Congress in the Lower House, he declined to consent; and when in 1857 he was urged to be a candidate for the United States Senate, withheld his name and gave his influence in favor of the election of Mr. James F. Simmons. In 1858 he was again a candidate for the United States Senatorship, and in the first informal ballot of the legislative caucus received a plurality of votes.
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HON. WILLIAM WARNER HOPPIN 1854-1857 By Samuel S. Osgood Northwest Corridor
Second Floor of State House
Swan Point Cemetery Providence, R. I.
GOVERNORS OF RHODE ISLAND
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Governor Hoppin resumed the practice of law in 1857. The evils of intemperance and the liquor traffic engaged his attention and prompted him to advocate the passage of what was known as the Maine Prohibitory Liquor Law. The experiment of sup- pressive legislation was well worth the effort, in view of the good it had accomplished in the State of Maine. He also served for many years on the Providence School Board, and worked to bring about needed enlargements in that department.
Governor Hoppin began his political life as a Whig, and so continued until that party ceased to be, when he became a Republican. On the Ist of February, 1861, together with Chief Justice Samuel Ames. Hon. Samuel G. Arnold, Hon. George H. Browne, and Alex- ander Duncan. Esq .. he received the appointment of Delegate to the Peace Congress which met in Washington. He made a conciliatory speech before that body of able and distinguished men. At the opening of the war of the Rebellion, and during its existence, Governor Hoppin contributed of his means, influence, and personal efforts to the enlist- ment of troops, to their comfort in the field and hospital, and to the moral support of the national administration.
In 1862 he was elected President of the Yale Alumni meeting, and in 1866 was again returned to the State. In 1867 his personal friend Chief Justice Chase invited him to accept the judicial office of Registrar in Bankruptcy a post which he held until his resig- nation in 1872. Since 1871 his time had been principally engrossed with the cares of his private affairs, with the exception that in 1875 he was again chosen and served for that year as a member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives. Upon the revival of the Rhode Island branch of the Society of the Cincinnati, he became a member of that body as the hereditary representative of his grandfather, Captain Benjamin Hoppin, of Revo- lutionary memory. Governor Hoppin regarded with satisfaction the fact that he had the honor of representing his State in the Clay, Fremont, and Grant Presidential Conven- tions, at the latter representing the branch of the National Union League organization of Rhode Island, of which he was President.
In those matters which relate especially to the prosperity of his State and native city may be mentioned his successful efforts, in connection with Governor William Sprague, Sr .. Governor Henry Lippiut, General James G. Anthony, Stephen Harris, Esq., and others, in accomplishing, against great opposition, the construction of the Providence and Fishkill Railroad, as far as Waterbury, Connecticut. Governor Hoppin was Treasurer of the road. He was also one of the earliest advocates of the introduction of gas and water into the city of Providence. All of these important undertakings, now accepted as matters of course. were hedged about at their inception with many difficulties. These special facts connected with the life of Governor Hoppin, together with his participation in the official management of many of the prominent moneyed and charitable institutions of the city, proved him to be a willing worker for the general good, and also that his mind was fully imbued with the correct idea of the duties and responsibilities of American citi- zenship.
Governor Hoppin was married June 26. 1832. to Frances A. F. Street, of New Haven, Connecticut, whose parentage is traceable through a long line of Puritan ancestors, dis- tinguished for their deep piety and intellectual attainments. He had two sons, Frederick Street Hoppin and William Warner Hoppin, Jr. He was a member of the Beneficent Congregational Church in Providence, where his family had worshipped for many gen- erations.
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ELISHA DYER
Governor: 1857 to 1859.
War Service: Captain of Infantry and Adjutant General, Dorr War and Civil War.
Born: July 20, 1811 in Providence, Rhode Island.
Died: May 17, 1890 in Providence, Rhode Island.
Buried: Providence, R. I. Swan Point Cemetery. Lot 1 Group 196 Beach Avenue.
DYER, HON. ELISHA, EX-GOVERNOR of Rhode Island, son of Elisha and Frances (Jones) Dyer, was born in Providence, Rhode Island, July 20, 1811. He is a lineal de- scendant of William Dyer, who came from London, England, and settled at Boston in 1635, with his wife Mary. William and Mary Dyer were disfranchised and driven to Rhode Island in 1638 for supporting Quakerism. The former became Clerk of the Newport Col- ony, and the latter, being a firm adherent to the principles maintained by the Society of Friends, it was recorded of her at Boston that "the insane desire for martyrdom led the poor woman back here in 1660 to the scaffold." Their grandson, John, married Freelove Williams, a great-granddaughter of Roger Williams, and John Dyer's son, Anthony, was the grandfather of the subject of this sketch.
Tradition says the Dyers were originally from England. Governor Dyer's mother was a daughter of Esther Jones, a great-granddaughter of Mary Bernon, who was a daugh- ter of Gabriel Bernon, a Huguenot and a refugee from La Rochelle, France. Gabriel Bernon was a merchant of an ancient and honorable family of Rochelle, where he was born, April 6, 1644.
Governor Dyer enjoyed superior educational advantages. He received early and careful training in private schools in Providence, spent a short time at Benjamin Green's boarding-school, at Black Hill, in Plainfield, Connecticut, and was prepared for college in Roswell C. Smith's school, in Providence, from which he entered Brown University, Sep- tember 7, 1825, at the age of fourteen. He graduated from that institution, September 2, 1829, and Septembr 21st, of the same year, entered the store of Elisha Dyer & Co., commission merchants, No. 5 West Water Street, Providence, where he served in a cleri- cal capacity until April 1, 1831, when, Mr. Cary Dunn having retired from the firm to engage in business in New York, young Dyer became the junior partner. On the 8th of October, 1838, he married Anna Jones Hoppin, daughter of Thomas C. Hoppin, Esq., the Rev. James Wilson, then pastor of the Beneficent Congregational Church, being the officiating minister. By this marriage there were seven children.
In early life Governor Dyer became identified with various public interests, and has always taken an active part in promoting useful enterprises and social reforms. On the 23rd of September, 1833, he was tendered the appointment of Vice-Consul of the two Sicilies, which honor he declined. About the time he became a strong temperance man, and by earnest persuasion prevailed on his father to give up the sale of intoxicating liquors, then a large and profitable part of their business, which course, as was expected, proved very damaging to their trade. This incident illustrates a strong characteristic of Gov- ernor Dyer's life. He was a man of high moral principle, and had always been true to his
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convictions. On the 30th of September, 1835, he became a member of the Rhode Is- land Society for the Encouragement of Domestic Industry, of which he subsequently served as Secretary, member of the Auditing Committee, and President, and from 1859 to 1878 was an honorary member, and a member of the Standing Committee. Perhaps no one has done more for the success of this Society than Governor Dyer. He worked earnestly, both at home and abroad, to promote its usefulness. He visited agricultural colleges in Europe, and obtained valuable statistics and information for the Society in this country, while traveling for his health.
In 1835 his father built the Dyerville Mill, in North Providence, and established the Dyerville Manufacturing Company, for the manufacture of cotton cloth. Mr. Dyer be- came the agent of this company, in which position he served until the death of his father, in 1854, when he became the sole owner of the property, and continued the business until 1867, when, on account of failing health, being obliged to retire from business, he sold the mill. During his business carcer he was prominently identified with many of the commercial interests of the city. For many years he was a member and director of the Providence Athenaeum, a director of the Providence Young Men's Bible Society, of which he was President in 1843, and a member of the Providence Dispensary, being among the most generous in caring for the poor and unfortunate. He became a member of the Rhode Island Historical Society in 1837, and was one of the Board of Trustees from September 10, 1845, until the abolishment of the same in 1848.
In politics Governor Dyer was formerly an Old Line Whig, and has been identified with the Republican party since its organization. He was a delegate to the Whig Con- vention at South Kingstown, Rhode Island, October 31, 1839, and Secretary of the same; and a delegate to the Whig Jubilee and Festival at Niblo's New York, in November, 1839. He was Chairman and First Vice-President of the Young Men's Whig Convention at Providence, April 2, 1840. He was a delegate to the Young Men's Whig Convention at Baltimore, May 3, 1840, of which he was Chairman, and at that time addressed ten thousand people in Monument Square, Baltimore. On the 27th of June, 1840, he was elected Adjutant General of Rhode Island, and re-elected for five successive years, in which capacity he rendered very efficient service, being on active duty under Governor Samuel W. King, constantly, from April 3d to July 21st, 1842, having almost entire charge of the plans and movements of the State government during the "Dorr War."
He served as a member of the Providence School Committee from January 3. 1843, to June 6, 1854, when he resigned. He was elected President of Fire Wards September 9, 1850, and served until his resignation, June 2, 1851. In 1851 he was nominated for Mayor of Providence by the Temperance party, and defeated by a small majority. On the 4th of April, 1853, he was nominated for State Senator, but not elected. He was President of the Exchange Bank of Providence at the time it became a National Bank, and served as a director of the same from 1837 to 1879; was elected a director of the Union Bank of Providence, September 2, 1845, and became a director of the Providence and Washing- ton Insurance Company in January, 1850, but soon afterward resigned. He was Second Vice-President of the Rhode Island Art Association in 1853. In 1854 he became an an- nual member of the United States Agricultural Society, and in 1857, a life member, and Vice-President of the same. He was also a member of the Windham County, Connecti- cut, Agricultural Society. In August, 1855, he became a member of the American As- sociation of Arts and Sciences. He was a member of the Butler Hospital Corporation,
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and trustee of the same from January 23, 1856 to June 5, 1857, when he resigned; was Vice-President of the Lake Erie Monument Association; President of the Young Men's Christian Association from May 12, 1857, to April 12, 1858; honorary member of Frank- lin Lyceum in 1858, and of the Providence Association of Mechanics and Manufacturers, in 1860. On the 10th of March, 1853, he was a delegate to the Whig State Convention, and Secretary of the same, and at the same time was Chairman of the Eastern District Convention. He was also a member of the Whig State Convention from February 3, 1851, until 1855.
In 1857, he was elected Governor of Rhode Island and re-elected in 1858, and de- clined in favor of Hon. Thomas G. Turner in May, 1859. Concerning his administra- tion as Governor, the Providence Post, a leading Democratic paper, which was opposed to him thus referred on the 7th of March, 1859: "It is proper to say that his retirement is wholly voluntary. It is not often that men thus voluntarily decline an honorable office, and especially when the office may be used as a stepping-stone to others of still greater value and importance. .. We have from the first looked upon him as an honorable, high- minded opponent, and a straightforward, conscientious man; and candor compels us to say, that he has never failed to reach the standard we set up for him. His abilities have been equal to his official duties, and his integrity has been equal, so far as we know or suspect, to every assault which the intrigues of professed friends have made upon it. He retires from an office which he did not seek, wholly unscathed, and wholly uncon- taminated with the slime which too often clings to men who dispense official favors."
Governor Dyer was made a director of Swan Point Cemetery February 7, 1860. He was one of the founders of the Providence Aid Society, and was one of its board of mana- gers from November 16, 1855, to October 1, 1859. On the 8th of November, 1849, he was elected an honorary member of the Board of National Popular Education, repre- sented by Ex-Governor Slade, of Vermont. He was a member of the Rhode Island Hor- ticultural Society, and one of the Committee on Finance, in 1854. Governor Dyer has taken a prominent part in military matters. He joined the First Light Infantry Company, of Providence, in 1838, was made an honorary member of the Newport Artillery Com- pany in 1858, and an honorary member of the Providence Marine Corps of Artillery in 1859.
During the Civil War he exhibited in various ways his patriotic devotion to the cause of his country. On the 25th of September, 1861, he was chosen Captain of the Tenth Ward Drill Company, of Providence, and May 26, 1862, his son Elisha having been disabled and prevented from continuing in the service, Governor Dyer felt it his duty to volun- teer himself, and accordingly went to Washington and served for three months as Cap- tain of Company B, Tenth Regiment of Rhode Island Volunteers. This Company was composed of about one hundred and twenty-five students from Brown University and the Providence High School. President Sears, of the University, consented for his stu- dents to enlist only on condition that Governor Dyer should go with them.
He was a director of the Providence and Plainfield Railroad, and has been among the first in projecting and promoting various railroad enterprises in the State. He was the originator of the Providence and Springfield Railroad, known at first as the Woonas- quatucket Railroad, and was one of the first movers in the proposed Ponagansett Rail- road. He drew the charter of the Narragansett Valley Railroad, and was one of its incor-
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porators. In 1851, he was a director of the Rhode Island Steamboat Company. The same year he served on a committee sent to Washington to secure the removal of the Providence Post Office. In 1852, he was elected a trustee of the Firemen's Association, Gaspee Company, No. 9. He was at one time one of the directors of the Rhode Island Sportsman's Club. In 1863, he was a delegate from the Rhode Island Society for the Encouragement of Domestic Industry to the International Agricultural Exhibition at Hamburg, in July of that year, and made an able report of the same. He was Vice-Presi- dent of the Roger Williams Monument Association, and Chairman of the Executive Committee. On the 24th of September. 1869, he was elected President of the First Na- tional Musical Congress, in Music Hall. Boston, because of his musical ability, and his extensive acquaintance in musical circles. He was Commissioner for Rhode Island to the International Exhibition at London, in May, 1871, and made a valuable report of the same to the General Assembly.
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