USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > History of Providence County, Rhode Island, Volume I > Part 81
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ALBERT LEE ANTHONY, vice-president and treasurer of the J. B. Barnaby Company of Providence, R. I., is the son of Jonathan C. and Submit A. (Lee) Anthony, and was born at Somerset, Bristol county, Mass., April 26th, 1847. The public schools of his native town and a three months' course at a business college afforded him his only aca- demic opportunities, and at 16 years of age, reliant and reliable, with a firm purpose to deserve success whether he won it or not, and with- out other capital than the forces abiding in his own character, he left the paternal roof to shift for himself. For more than four years, with true Yankee versatility, he turned his hand to whatever offered. Farming in summer, book canvassing and teaching a country school in winter, first engaged his attention. He naturally drifted to Prov- idence, the principal city in the neighborhood, where, in the sum- mer of 1868, he made a short-lived venture in the grocery business, and the next summer essayed the intelligence line, with disastrous results, for in it this precocious business man of 22 exchanged his money for experience, and with less than nine dollars in his pocket, again launched upon the world in search of a fortune.
After various experiences he entered the employ of the great manufacturing house of A. & W. Sprague, as a clerk in one of their mill stores, and with them he remained for three years, and until their failure, at which time he had risen to be assistant agent, in charge of all their seven stores. This proved to be the turning point in his fortunes, for here he attracted the attention of the great clothing firm of J. B. Barnaby & Co., with whom he had been brought into business relations, and when he found himself without a situation, early in 1874, he was promptly taken into the employ of this latter firm as a
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bookkeeper. In January, 1884, he was admitted a partner in the con cern. and in June, 1889, when it was incorporated under the name of the J. B. Barnaby Company, Mr. Anthony was elected secretary and treasurer, and a few months later, upon Mr. Barnaby's death, he also became vice-president.
The confidence reposed in Mr. Anthony's integrity and ability was well illustrated by Mr. Barnaby making him, by will, one of the trus- tees of his estate, which approximated a million dollars. The J. B. Barnaby Company is one of the most extensive ready-made clothing concerns in New England, having large establishments at Providence. Boston, New Haven, Bridgeport, Kansas City and Fall River; and Mr. Anthony has charge of the financial department of all these. He is also one of the directors of the Barnaby Manufacturing Company of Fall River, one of the largest manufactories of ginghams in the United States, auditor of the Roger Williams Loan and Savings Association of Providence, and one of the appraisers of the Providence branch of the National Mutual Building and Loan Association of New York.
Mr. Anthony is a thoroughly self-made man; possessing a calm, equable temperament, acquired by self-mastery rather than by natural endowment, a cheerful, genial disposition, industrious, methodical habits, and a patient, persistent perseverance that will overcome every obstacle, as continual dropping of water will wear away a stone: he is an admirable representative of New England character. He possesses the characteristic Yankee taste for societies, and belongs to the Odd Fellows, Knights of Honor. Royal Society of Good Fellows, and the Order of the Iron Hall, in some of which he has attained prominence. He has taken an active interest in the Royal Arcanum for many years; was the first regent of Unity Council, one of the largest Councils in Rhode Island, and has held some office in this Council each year since it was formed in 1879. At the formation of the Grand Council of the state in 1890 he was chosen to be the first grand regent by acclamation, and is filling the office with signal ability. He is promi- nent in the Masonic fraternity, having attained the 32d degree in Rhode Island Consistory and been at the head of his Council, Chapter and Commandery. He is now deputy grand master of the Grand Council of Royal and Select Masters of Rhode Island and representa- tive of the Grand Council of Pennsylvania. He is grand scribe of the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons in Rhode Island and represen- tative of the Grand Chapter of Illinois. He has been auditor for several years of the Freemasons Hall Company, which owns the Masonic Building in Providence.
September 9th, 1874, he married Anna Elizabeth, only daughter of James W. and Sarah J. (Amsbury) Bullock, by whom he has two children, a son and a daughter, altogether composing an intelligent, happy and loving family. He is now in the prime of manhood. and successful in business. His relations with friends and companions are
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pleasant, and life opens before him with bright prospects of winning wealth and honors .*
ELI AVLSWORTH furnishes a notable example of men, who, by dili- gence, economy and integrity, have risen from poverty to honor and wealth. He loves to relate to his children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren the story of his early years. He was born in Foster, R. I., June 6th, 1802, in an un-clapboarded house of two unplastered rooms, with two windows, no cellar, and a chimney of stones and clay. A married uncle and aunt-his father's sister and his mother's brother -- lived in the same house. The father possessed a small piece of land, enough to make him and his oldest son voters under the old charter by which the state was then governed. Only by unremitting toil and constant frugality was he able to meet the wants of a family which finally numbered 12 children.
The boy Eli did not enjoy the advantage of schools until he was nine years of age. They were then few and from one to four miles away. He went to school one summer, and afterward for three or four months in the winter. Whatever other education he obtained was gained in practical life. When ten years old he earned his first money, except perhaps a few cents occasionally for an odd job. He found employment for the month of July in a hay field, and in pay- ment received four silver dollars. In the autumn following he found a job digging potatoes, his compensation being every tenth bushel. His share, 16 bushels, he sold for two dollars. These six dollars he handed to his mother, requesting her to keep them for him, playfully adding: "I always intend to have money." He has them still, and frequently boasts of his promise to his mother. After the age of eleven years Eli never lived at home. He was hired at farm work in the summer, giving the proceeds to his father to aid in the maintenance of the family. Three years, barefooted and coarsely clad, he worked eight months at one place, and in the winter went to school, doing chores for his board, and paying his own tuition bills. Rising at mid- night to chop wood as he sometimes did, that he might get to school, was no easy way to get an education. When 17 he was allowed to reserve one-half of his wages, and out of the summer earnings he clothed himself and loaned ten dollars to his grandfather. The note then given was repeatedly renewed, and after the death of the maker, in 1843, he received twelve and a half cents on the dollar. "I felt well paid," he says; "I took care of them."
The love and sympathy shown the struggling boy were repaid in the care of the aged pair by the prosperous man. He also took care of his father and mother when sickness and age came upon them, and
* Saturday afternoon, December 13th, 1890, about 2.30 P.M., a destructive fire broke out in the store of the J. B. Barnaby Company, which burned the building to the ground. The corporation. nothing daunted. secured temporary quarters, and ere the ruins had fairly cooled off were on deck again with a full assortment of goods and ready to attend to the wants of their numerous customers.
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aided in the support of the younger children. At 18 he obtained a clerkship in a store for a year, retaining his entire wages, when an- other was obtained in a store where jobs of weaving by hand were given out to the people of the vicinity. The failure of this trader gave him the opportunity of entering business for himself. He was 20 years old, and just married to Miss Martha Bennett, a lady of ad- mirable character, and a member of the Christian denomination.
He had a capital of $149. He purchased a building, and with the help of the neighbors, in country fashion, moved it to the desired lo- cation, where it was literally placed " on a rock." When completed it had cost $108, to be paid "in goods." He then went to Providence and sought the counsel of Mr. Randolph Chandler, an old merchant of the city, whose wise advice he implicitly followed, and returned home with a thousand dollars' worth of goods, mostly bought on credit. He worked hard, sometimes starting at two o'clock in the morning with butter, eggs and other produce for Providence, return- ing at night with a load of new goods. The business was so well man- aged that the first year's profits amounted to $900. For four years his house rent cost him six dollars per annum. Mrs. Aylsworth was a most efficient helper, even bringing her cradle to the store that she might the more readily serve as clerk. For 11 years his stock of goods embraced a supply of liquors, as was at that time the prevalent custom of country merchants. But he noticed the mischievous effects of drinking habits upon the community. His children were growing up around him, and he determined that they should not be drunkards. So he sold out the business, and soon afterward opened a strictly " temperance store," which at that time was a novelty in trade. From that time he has been an uncompromising foe of intemperance.
Mr. Aylsworth thus became one of the substantial men of the town. He did some farming and also something in buying and selling real estate. His neighbors and townsmen trusted him. He was made a justice of the peace, and deputy sheriff, and held other offices. In 1838 he was made judge of the court of common pleas of Providence county, being associated with Hon. Thomas Burgess and Judges Daniels, Potter and Armstrong. Meanwhile, as wealth was increasing and honors were falling upon him, he was called in 1837 to bear the loss of the wife of his youth and the mother of his nine children. Three years later he married Maria Fairman, a lovely and excellent woman, and a member of the Baptist church.
In 1841 Judge Aylsworth sold his store and removed to North Foster and settled on a farm. But he soon found it expedient, in order to save a debt of $700, to purchase three lines of stages running be- tween Providence and Danielsonville, Conn., which rendered necessary his removal to the latter place. After six months he removed again to Brooklyn, just across the river. There was then but one church in Danielsonville, the Congregational. The place was growing and there
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was ample room for another. It so chanced that a Methodist local preacher, by the name of Wheeler, came into town and opened a series of meetings in the conference room of the church, which resulted in about 200 professed confessions. It soon became manifest that a large number of converts desired to be organized into a Methodist society, and another place of worship must be found. The judge, though not a Methodist, promptly gave them sympathy and help. He at once hired for their use the ballroom of the hotel, the only available room in the town that was of suitable size, stipulating for the closing of the bar on Sundays and at all times of service. But the room proved not large enough, and for a time the depot freight house was secured. He resolved on the erection of a Methodist church. He found four men of like spirit with himself, who joined him in the work. A lot was bought, the lot on which the present church stands, and a contract was made by which the edifice was to be erected and when completed, to the turning of the key, the price agreed upon was to be paid. This was done.
The pews were then sold, and the proceeds were enough to reim- burse the projectors of the enterprise and leave a surplus, which was turned over to the young society. It is only just to say that for this fine success the Methodists of Danielsonville are chiefly indebted to Judge Aylsworth. He was made one of the first board of trustees, and was kept in that position for some years after he left the state. In July, 1842, he was called to mourn the loss, by consumption, of his devoted wife, and remained 14 months in lonely widowhood. He then married Miss Eliza Angell, of Scituate, R. I., a lady of beautiful char- acter and well fitted for her new position. She has been for many years a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and still lives to bless his home.
In 1850 Judge Aylsworth removed to Providence, where he was well known and had many friends. His excellent judgment and judicious management of the interests intrusted to him soon brought him plenty of business. He was for a year director of the Atlantic Bank and was the first president of the Jackson Bank. In the same year, 1854, he became a member of the first board of directors of the Mechanics' Savings Bank and of the loaning committee, and for nearly 20 years was its vice-president. His directorship continued until 1878, when he declined a reelection. During this entire period, in full compliance with the spirit of the law of the state, forbidding officers of savings banks becoming indebted to the bank, he would allow no paper bearing his name, even as an endorser, to be accepted. In three years the bank was flourishing and successful, standing in the first rank of such institutions. In 1856 he was elected president of the Westminster Bank, which position he still holds. He has been engaged in many real estate transactions, owning at different times property in six states --- Rhode Island. Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, Iowa
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and Pennsylvania -- it being distributed in 14 towns and three cities. Judge Aylsworth has for the past 50 years carried insurance on all his property, the policies sometimes amounting to as much as $100,000. yet strange to say he has not sustained a single loss.
In political life Judge Aylsworth has had few ambitions, yet in 1854, 1866 and 1867 he was honored with a seat in the general assembly of Rhode Island, and in the last two years was a member of the important committee on finance. He has always been on the side of liberty and right. In the presidential election of 1824, the first after he attained his majority, he cast his vote for John Quincy Adams. He affiliated with the whig party, as in his judgment the most in accordance with human freedom and the best interests of the country. He was always an anti-slavery man, and when pro-slaveryism entered on its struggle for the control of the nation, his whole soul revolted and he heartily joined the republican party at its organization in 1856. He has been all his life an habitual abstainer from intoxicants. He is an intense hater of tobacco in all its forms. He has been a member of the Mathewson Street Methodist Episcopal congregation since his removal to Providence, and is a contributor to every good movement.
The Judge, although in his 89th year, is a remarkably well pre- served man. His faculties are as keen as they were 50 years ago, and he still personally superintends all his many business affairs. His descendants are quite numerous, there having been in all 68. He had born to him 13 children, six of whom are now living. The living grandchildren number 24, and the great-grandchildren 20.
JOSEPH BANIGAN .-- The subject of this sketch was born in the County Monaghan, Ireland, June 7th, 1839, his parents being Bernard and Alice Banigan. It may be mentioned as a coincidence that his mother bore the same name before her marriage. When but six years of age his family found it necessary to leave Ireland, and taking him with them, settled in the city of Dundee, Scotland. Here they remained for two years, and soon after embarked for America, mak- ing the city of Providence their home, where they have since resided. The lad spent one year at the public schools, and when but nine years of age sought and obtained employment in the factory of the New England Serew Company. Later he served three years as an appren- tice to the jeweler's trade, and until the age of 21 worked as a journey- man. On attaining his majority Mr. Banigan engaged with John Haskins in the manufacture of rubber bottle stoppers, and soon after removed to Boston as superintendent of the works located at that point. The business was afterward organized as the Goodyear India Rubber Bottle Stopper Company, with Joseph Banigan as manager, in which capacity he continued until 1866, in the meantime erecting a new factory for the company at Jamaica Plains. Even at this early age he gave ample evidence of the executive ability subsequently de- veloped to such a degree as to place him at the head of the rubber
Jaseph Branigan
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manufacturing business of the world. He is acknowledged not only by the manufacturers of rubber goods, but also by the dealers in crude rubber to be a master in every branch of the business.
In 1866 he organized the Woonsocket Rubber Company as a co- partnership, consisting of Lyman A. Cook. Simeon S. Cook and Joseph Banigan. A small, two story stone mill was leased for the manufac- ture of mechanical articles, with Mr. Banigan as buyer, superinten- dent and salesman. The following year the company was reorgan- ized as a stock company, and under his management the business progressed even beyond the anticipation of those who already recog- nized his executive ability. Year after year additions were made to. the original building, until it was finally deemed advisable to erect a mill embodying in its structure all that was possible in the way of economical and labor-saving appliances. It is conceded that the mill at Millville, Mass., is the model rubber factory of the country, but even this has proved inadequate to the requirements of the business, and another factory is in process of erection at Woonsocket, which when completed will be the largest rubber shoe factory in the world.
It may be of interest to mention that of all those engaged in the manufacture of rubber goods, Mr. Banigan is the only one who has thus far realized the importance of dealing directly with the rubber gatherers in Brazil for the supply of crude rubber, which he did by going to Brazil and establishing a house in Para. He is at present the largest individual importer of rubber in the United States. His. mastery of detail and far reaching comprehension may be understood when it is mentioned that he is obliged to carefully follow the fluctuations in exchange in Brazil and the causes which affect it, in order to buy a block of rubber to advantage or to refrain from buying. as the case may be. He also finds it necessary to follow the exports from and imports to this country to accurately determine the balance of trade and thus regulate his purchases of exchange on London, to meet the drafts of his agents in Para.
Mr. Banigan has also various other business interests. He is the- president of the Bailey Wringing Machine Company, of the American Hand Sewed Shoe Company, of Toledo, Ohio, of the Providence Evening Telegram Publishing Company, and director in the Seamless Rubber Company of New Haven, the Providence Cable Tramway Company, the Glenark Knitting Company and the Providence Board of Trade. Apart from those he is actively engaged in the woolen business, being seven-eighths owner of the Lawrence Felting Company, Millville, Mass.
While achieving success in his business enterprises he has not been unmindful of the claims of charity, as a liberal contributor to benevolent institutions of every denomination. In May, 1884, he com- pleted the erection of a Home for Aged Poor, at Pawtucket, which was on its dedication placed in charge of the Little Sisters of the Poor. In
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his generosity Mr. Banigan knows no race or seet. His mind and heart are broad enough to take in all of God's unfortunates. As a re- cognition of his philanthropic impulses he was especially honored by Pope Leo XIII., who created him a Knight of the Order of St. Gregory the Great, the members of which form the immediate body-guard of his Holiness. That this honor was worthily conferred those who have enjoyed his munificence will gratefully attest.
In 1860 Mr. Banigan was married to Margaret, daughter of John F. Holt of Woonsocket, by whom he had four children: Mary A., wife of WV. B. MeElroy; John J., William B., and Alice, wife of Doctor James E. Sullivan. He was a second time married November 4th, 1873, to Maria T. Conway of New York city.
JEROTHMUL BOWERS BARNABY, the founder of The J. B. Barnaby Company, was one of 14 children of Stephen B. and Lucy H. (Hatha- way) Barnaby, and was born at the Barnaby homestead October 27th, 1830. The family is descended from James Barnaby, who was at Ply- mouth as early as 1660. In 1725 Ambrose Barnaby moved to Freetown, Mass., near Fall River, where he purchased a portion of the estate now known as the Barnaby homestead, which at present is owned by the heirs of Stephen Barnaby, the father of the subject of this sketch.
Mr. Barnaby was educated in the country schools at first, supple- menting this work with a course of instruction at Pete's Academy, an institution then in existence near Fall River. He was 16 years old when he left school and became a clerk in the employ of his brother- in-law, William H. Ashley, at Steep Brook, near Fall River. When 20 years old he entered the clothing store of Andrew N. Dix, at Fall River, where he remained about two years. October 27th, 1852, he came to Providence and opened a store at 15 South Main street, where he continued in business very successfully for 17 years. Then he re- moved to larger and more commodious quarters, which had been spe- cially fitted up for his business, in the new Woods Building, corner of College and South Main streets, in 1869. During this year also the firm of J. B. Barnaby & Company was formed, Mr. Henry B. Winship becoming a member of the copartnership. Success followed the new firm, as it had followed its senior member, and they were compelled to remove again in 1876 to still larger and more eligible quarters, which they secured in the new Dorrance Building, located on Dor- rance, Westminster and Middle streets. From that time to the present the firm has not only popularized itself by certain unique and attrac- tive devices for drawing public attention, but in the legitimate expan- sion of its business it has stretched forth to several other cities, where large stores under the firm's management are also operated. In 1884 the firm was enlarged by the addition of three members-Messrs. Walter A. Scott, George H. Grant and Albert L. Anthony, who had been clerks under the old management. On January Ist, 1889, Mr. Barnaby retired from the business, with which his name had been
Jero thmul M, Banaly
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honorably connected for over a generation, leaving the large clothing concern that he had established in the hands of his late partners.
Mr. Barnaby also engaged in enterprises outside of Rhode Island, among them the Barnaby Manufacturing Company of Fall River, which is engaged in the manufacture of ginghams, and in which he was a di- rector and one of the largest owners. He erected the first iron front building in the state. It was located at the corner of Westminster and Union streets, and was built in 1870. In 1872 he built the Bowers Block, and subsequently the Conrad Building, one of the finest edifices devoted to business in the city.
In politics Mr. Barnaby was a democrat. In former years he paid more attention to politics than during the latter period of his life, ow- ing to the multitude of business affairs. In the first place he was a member of the city council from the old Seventh ward from 1870 to 1879, and for several of the latter years of this period he was succes- sively selected for chairman of the joint committee on finance of the city government. In 1875 he was elected to the general assembly from this city, and served for one year. The year 1877 saw him nominated as the democratic candidate for governor. His opponent was ex-Gov- ernor Van Zandt, republican and prohibitionist. A highly exciting campaign resulted in Mr. Barnaby's defeat by 454 votes out of a total of 24,456. The next year he was made the democratic candidate for congress in the Second district, though his residence was in the First district. Honorable Latimer W. Ballon, the republican candidate, out of a total vote of 10,427, defeated Mr. Barnaby by 717 votes. On the death of his brother, Mr. Abner J. Barnaby, in 1882, who was a mem- ber of the democratic national committee from Rhode Island, Mr. Bar- naby was elected to that position, and he was twice reelected, the sec- ond time in the spring of 1888.
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