USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > History of Providence County, Rhode Island > Part 14
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 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75
Captain Dexter opened the first Sunday school in the United States, under Samuel Slater's direction, and taught it himself. The scholars were the children who worked in the cotton mill. In 1808 he was married to Amey, daughter of Jerahmeel Jencks, of Pawtucket, Rhode Island. In 1858 he celebrated with his wife the fiftieth anni- versary of his wedding, and among the hundreds of his descendants and friends present were two other couples giving additional interest to the occasion. Reverend David Benedict, D.D., who married Cap- tain Dexter 50 years before, was present with his wife; and Captain Josiah Jones, Esq., who with his own fingers set the types that an- nounced the wedding in a paper, was present also with his wife. The parties above mentioned also celebrated their golden wedding in the year 1858. Captain Dexter was for many years a manufacturer of cotton yarn on an extensive scale. In 1855 this business was given up to his two sons, and in 1866 this patriarch of the whole American system of Sunday schools passed to his reward.
Simon W. Dexter received his education from the public schools of Pawtucket. When 15 years of age he decided upon learning the trade of a jeweler. To this end he entered the shop of Joseph Martin of Providence, in 1835, and remained with him till 1841. He worked for different firms in Providence and Boston, closing his career in this line of business when in the employ of Jonathan Sweet. In 1842 he left Boston for Pawtucket, going into the shoe business on Main street. In 1843 he formed a partnership with F. S. Eddy, under the firm name of Dexter & Eddy. In the year following he gave up the shoe business and went into his father's mill, and then it was he began the career of his life, and one which has distinguished him as a manufacturer throughout the whole country. His father's business had by this time grown to considerable proportions. It was now ex- tended under the Dexter Brothers to meet the exigencies of the trade, but in that expansion a great revulsion occurred, and in 1876 a great loss was sustained. A mammoth foundation for a great industry, however, was laid by Mr. Dexter and his brother, who had done a business of from six hundred thousand to a million of dollars annually, and in 1880 the Dexter Yarn Company was incorporated, since which time the business has gradually expanded, having now an enviable
110
HISTORY OF PROVIDENCE COUNTY.
reputation. Mr. Dexter has retired from the more active pursuits of a business life, but is still a stockholder of the company. His son, Samuel F. Dexter, is secretary and general manager of the company.
Mr. Dexter is a quiet, unassuming man. He has used his money freely for the good of the poor, is known for the probity of his char- acter, and for the uprightness of a long and successful business career. He is public spirited, but no politician. He was married in 1842 to Ann Eliza, daughter of Samuel B. and Hannah Bowen, of Attleboro, Massachusetts. She died in 1883. Four children were born to them, two of whom are living: Emma, now the wife of Ed- ward Thayer, and Samuel F., above mentioned. August 17th, 1884, Mr. Dexter married his present wife, Rose Maria Conley, a most estimable lady, and a daughter of Thomas and Catharine (Rush) Conley, who came from England in 1853.
Samuel Francis Dexter, son of Simon W., born in Pawtucket September 3d, 1847, married Fannie, daughter of Doctor James L. Wheaton, and has three children: Nathaniel Wheaton, Fannie W. and M. Anthony.
Samuel Slater Dexter, son of Nathaniel G. B., was born in Paw- tucket April 8th, 1827. His first wife was Elvira Crowell, by whom he had one child, Sarah Frances, wife of Heber J. Graham, of Central Falls. His second wife was Sarah Howland, and the children by this marriage are : Nelly, died aged 4 months; Charles, Nathaniel G. B,, and Maud, wife of Duncan A. Cattanach.
Waterman T. Dexter, son of Nathaniel B., born in Grafton, Mass., June 28th, 1790, married Fannie, daughter of James Orne, of Attle- boro, Mass. Their children were: Horatio, Ann E. B., wife of Caleb Ingraham, resident of East Providence; George Thomas, Fannie Orne, wife of Abner D. Horr, resides in Providence ; Waterman W., Henry B., Sarah L., wife of Ray W. Potter, resides in Brooklyn, N. Y., and Caroline Reed, a single lady, residing in Providence. He died April 9th, 1870. Waterman W., son of Waterman T., was born in North Providence, now Pawtucket, August 8th, 1824, and married Mary J., daughter of Captain Halsey Baker, of Fall River. His children by this marriage were : Grace A., who died young ; Clara W., wife of George A. Luther, of Pawtucket ; Herbert C., born February 29th, 1852, married Ida Bishop and has one child; Florence, resides in Chicago, Il1 .; Annie G., wife of C. M. Farnum, of Chicago, Il1. ; Frank Gregory, born December 8th, 1856, married Stella Manning, has one child Earl, resides in Brooklyn, N. Y. ; Fred W., born March 8th, 1859, married Agnes E. Muir, of Providence, is engaged in the jewelry business in Pawtucket; and Edgar M., born May 14th 1861, married Annie Baker. Waterman W. was for a number of years en- gaged in the jewelry business in Pawtucket, but now carries on an in- surance business. He married for his second wife Caroline J. Baker. Henry Bowers, son of Waterman T., born in Pawtucket, March 27th,
Eng . by F. G. Kernan,NY.
111
HISTORY OF PROVIDENCE COUNTY.
1827, married Emily, daughter of John Campbell. They had but one child, Kate Bowers, wife of Albert H. Stearns, of Boston, Mass.
JOHN D. EARLE .- Of those whom we can mention in the highest terms, John Dexter Earle is one not to be forgotten. He was born in Providence, July 8th, 1837, and was the eldest son of George B. and Cornelia A. (Rhodes) Earle. He was a descendant of Ralph Earle, who came from Exeter, England, in early colonial days, and settled at Portsmouth, R. I. His father was for years engaged in the express business, first known as Earle's Express. Mr. Earle's education was obtained in the common schools and at Lyon & Tree's Academy. He began business life in the employ of his fatlier. Afterward, but be- fore the establishment of the national banking system, he acted as bank messenger, carrying the exchanges between the Merchants' Bank of Providence and the Suffolk Bank of Boston. This position he held for a number of years. In 1865 he was offered a position as agent for the Adams Express Company at Pawtucket, and took charge of that office in October, 1865, increasing the business to such an extent, in a few years, as to make himself almost indispensable to the company.
The firm of Earle & Prew's Express was formed in 1867, and in 1870 Mr. Earle became a partner of that concern, and shortly after- ward assumed the duties of treasurer, besides acting as agent at Paw- tucket, holding the treasurership until shortly before his death. He received a commission from Governor Sprague in 1861 as colonel of the National Cadets of Providence, and was a member of the What Cheer Lodge of Masons. He was also a member of the Templar order, and was connected with the Knights of Pythias and other secret organizations, and was one of the members of the Water Witch Sixes of Providence, in the volunteer fire department. For years he was one of the trustees of the Pawtucket Institution for Savings, president of the Heaton Button Fastener and the Standard Button Companies, and also a prominent member of the Business Men's Association and . the Expressmen's Mutual Benefit Association.
Mr. Earle resided in Pawtucket a score or more of years, and was always very much interested in town affairs, taking a prominent part in all important matters that arose, and serving as senator in the gen- eral assembly. He was married, December 30th, 1862, at New York city, to Emily C., daughter of Joshua and Margaret L. Wilbour, for- merly of Pawtucket. They had three children: Emily Wilbour, John Dexter and James Lloyd. The latter died while quite young; Emily W. is now the wife of Charles H. Porter, of Rockford, Ill., and John Dexter is employed by the Rockford Cabinet Company. Mr. Earle was equable in temperament, and held a high social position. His chief pleasure, however, was the enjoyment of his home and family. At his death, which occurred February 6th, 1887, he left behind many staunch friends, and the associations of which he was a member all sent resolutions of sympathy to Mrs. Earle.
112
HISTORY OF PROVIDENCE COUNTY.
LEWIS FAIRBROTHER, son of Jarvis and Betsey (Field) Fairbrother, was born in North Providence, now a part of Pawtucket, August 2d, 1812. His father was a native of Rehoboth, Mass., and was an excel- lent machinist. He removed from his native town and prosecuted his business in North Providence, and probably assisted in the manu- facture, setting up and starting of the first machinery ever placed in the Old Slater Mill. His wife was the daughter of Hon. John Field. They had seven children: John, Lewis, Betsey, Samuel, Phineas, Na- thaniel and Mary (who died young). Lewis received a good educa- tion, by spending a few weeks each year in the common schools, and subsequently at the Wilbraham Academy, where he studied one year. He was also a member of the Sunday school in his early boyhood, which was instituted by the famous Samuel Slater, who was the first to introduce cotton spinning into this country successfully by power, which industry was commenced in the town of North Providence in the year 1790. When Mr. Fairbrother was a boy he commenced work at about eight years of age in Mr. Slater's mill, now called the Old Slater Mill.
In the general assembly of 1888 an act was passed incorporating the Fairbrother Belting Company, Lewis Fairbrother, treasurer. The house was established in 1834 by the Hon. Lewis Fairbrother, who commenced business in a building measuring about 30x15 feet. He had learned the art of tanning in Attleboro, Mass., and began busi- ness in Pawtucket, R. I., then only a small village, with only one vat, making picker and lace leather. A few years later he entered upon the manufacture of leather belting and other kinds of leather for fac- tory uses. Purchasing the hides, he tanned and finished them for various purposes, as stated. He has contributed largely to the de- velopment of the city of Pawtucket and the state.
In 1855 he was elected representative to the general assembly, and again in 1856, serving two years as chairman of the house committee on corporations. In 1857 he was elected to the state senate, and re- elected in 1858, 1859 and 1860, and again in 1864, here, as in the house, serving all the time as chairman of the committee on corporations. For many years he was agent for the management of the Providence and Pawtucket Turnpike, and set many of the trees on that thorough- fare, and for one season had the track watered. In the erection of the solid stone bridge at Pawtucket Falls, by order of the state of Rhode Island and the towns of North Providence and Pawtucket in 1858, he was chairman of the commissioners. During the rebellion, besides otherwise aiding the Union cause, he was the committee of the town for distributing thousands of dollars for the relief and comfort of the families of the soldiers, aiding about a hundred and fifty families. He was president of the Slater Bank (now the Slater National Bank) at its organization and for many years after. In the old North Provi- dence Bank he was a director, and is now a director in the Slater Cot- .
ยท
113
HISTORY OF PROVIDENCE COUNTY.
ton Company. In 1866 he was appointed by the state an inspector of the state prison, and served in that office eleven years. In every position in life he has been valued for his talents, stability, judgment and faithfulness. His son, Henry L., on reaching maturity, was re- ceived by him as partner in business, and remained interested in the business until his demise in 1886. Coming as he did from noble an- cestors, he was a noble scion of the house of Fairbrother. In politics he was conservative; in business, he was honorable and honored; to the humble poor he was charitable, as thousands can testify who now. honor his beloved memory. This is the oldest picker and lace leather establishment in Rhode Island, and the oldest in the United States, save one in Massachusetts, where Mr. Lewis Fairbrother learned the art of tanning.
SQUIRE FRENCH, born in Seekonk, Mass., January 26th, 1781, died March 12th, 1869. He was a son of John and Lydia (Allen) French. He was engaged in the manufacture of cotton cloth, and was inter- ested, under the firm name of French & Read, in a mill that used to stand where D. Goff & Company's present mill is. He gave up busi- ness at the commencement of the war. He married Betsey F. Buck- lin, and had four children: George, died, aged 43 years; Martha, wife of Charles Barrett, of Taunton; Henry, engaged in mercantile busi- ness in Boston, and Ellen, wife of Henry Dana, of Pawtucket.
DARIUS GOFF .- No face is more familiar upon the streets of Paw- tucket than is that of the subject of this sketch, nor has that com- munity a citizen more deeply interested in its present and future prosperity. Darius Goff was born in Rehoboth, Mass., May 10th, 1809. His father, Richard Goff, was a manufacturer, and in 1790 built a fulling and cloth-dressing mill, and stocked it with the best of ma- chinery of that early day. His mother, Mehitable Goff, was a daughter of Hon. Stephen Bullock, of Rehoboth. His grandfather, Joseph Goff, and his great-grandfather, Richard Goff, also lived in Rehoboth. Darius received his education at home and in the common schools. At an early age he went into his father's mill to help, and to learn the various processes to which the hand- spun and hand-woven cloth was subjected in order to make it of sufficient weight or thickness for winter wear. His father continued the business until 1821, when so great had been the im- provements in machinery by Samuel Slater and others that the hand- loom and all other hand machinery in making woolen goods were superseded. Young Goff then left Rehoboth and found employment in a woolen mill in Fall River, Mass., and a year or two later he was clerk in a grocery store in Providence, he having had some previous experience in that business while in Rehoboth.
Returning to his native town, in 1836 he and his brother Nelson purchased the Union Cotton Mill, a concern which was built in 1808, but which had long been idle, and began the manufacture of cotton
8
114
HISTORY OF PROVIDENCE COUNTY.
batting, which business they prosecuted with success. Soon after- ward they began making glazed wadding, sizing it by hand, a sheet at a time, on a table covered with sheet lead, then hanging it on racks with a common lath to dry. Subsequently it occurred to them that wadding might be made in an almost endless sheet or roll, and after experimenting for nearly two years the object which they sought was attained. This apron process is now so well nigh uni- versal as to render description unnecessary. But to make colored wadding the firm was obliged to color and dry the cotton before it went to the machine. Mr. Goff determined to devise some means whereby the process could be accomplished by the same operation, and in this he was successful. He enlarged the mill and procured the necessary machinery, but shortly after it was set in operation the building was burned.
As early as 1836 Mr. Goff had given considerable attention to the buying and selling of cotton waste, and that year he made a contract with the Lonsdale Company for all their refuse cotton material which they could not utilize in the manufacture of their goods, and has had a written contract with them every year since, being now 54 succes- sive years. In some years their bills have amounted to more than $100,000. Previous to 1836 the refuse of cotton mills was considered useless and thrown away.
In this new business Mr. Goff formed a copartnership in 1846 with George Lawton, of Waltham, Mass., and began dealing in waste paper stock on Gray's wharf, in Boston, that being nearer the center of the paper manufacturing districts. In 1847 Mr. Goff removed to Paw- tucket and purchased the estate on Weeden, Pine and Dexter streets, now occupied by the Union Wadding Company, which is the legiti- mate successor of the cotton-batting industry started by Mr. Goff in Rehoboth in 1836. The mill erected on the aforementioned premises by Goff & Lawton was run by a steam engine, the cotton being carded in the white state, carried through all the processes of coloring and sizing, and brought out in endless sheets. In 1851 the mill was burned, but was at once rebuilt on a larger scale. In 1859 the part- nership of Goff & Lawton was dissolved, Mr. Lawton taking the paper- stock business in Boston and Mr. Goff the wadding mill in Pawtucket. Mr. Goff then united with John D. Cranston and Stephen Brownell, of Providence, under the firm name of Goff, Cranston & Brownell, and carried on a general business in paper-stock and wadding. The en- terprise increased very rapidly, and in 1860 the firm engaged Henry A. Stearns as superintendent of the mill, a position which he still holds. Soon after he became superintendent Mr. Goff sold him an interest in the mill and the business. In 1871 the mill was burned, and rebuilt in 1872 in larger proportions and with more perfect ma- chinery.
Since 1880 the business has been carried on under the name of the
115
HISTORY OF PROVIDENCE COUNTY.
Union Wadding Company, which is now officered as follows: Darius Goff, president; Lyman B. Goff (his youngest son), treasurer, and Henry A. Stearns, superintendent. Mr. L. B. Goff is also manager. The business has grown from an annual sale in 1880 of $700,000 to nearly $2,000,000 in 1890. The name of the company gives the im- pression that the principal business is the manufacture of cotton wad- ding, whereas this branch is only about one-sixth of the product of the establishment, the main business being the manufacture of cotton batting and the buying and selling of cotton waste, a market for which is found not only in the United States, but in England and Germany. The works have been enlarged from time to time until they now cover between four and five acres, and employment is given to 400 persons. The company also own a large plant in Augusta, Georgia, and one half of a mill in Montreal, Canada. The capital stock of the company, which was originally $200,000, is now $1,000,000. A majority of the stock is owned by Mr. Goff and his son Lyman.
In 1861 Mr. Goff began the manufacture of worsted braids, associ- ating with him in business his eldest son, Darius L., who had just graduated from college, the firm name being D. Goff & Son. This was the first worsted braid mill started in this country, although Mr. H. N. Daggett, the manufacturer of the "Gold Medal " braid, com- menced operations the same year. Until 1867 the mill was run at a loss, when a change in the tariff enabled the concern to manufacture goods at a profit and build up the industry. Without the protection afforded by the law of 1867, it was impossible to compete even with the poorer quality of English and German braids put on the market. The change in the tariff made a market for the American manufac- ture, and the foreign braids were shortly withdrawn from importa- tion. The business prospered, and in 1872 Lyman B. Goff, now treas- urer of the Union Wadding Company, was admitted to partnership, the firm name being D. Goff & Sons, under which name the business is still carried on. The same year the large and handsome brick mill on the east side of the river was erected on the site of the old stone structure which had been previously occupied by the firm.
In 1877 an important change was made by the firm in the manner of putting up their goods for the retail market. Previous to that time the braid had been put up in the familiar stick form. Mr. D. L. Goff conceived the idea of rolling the braid and fastening the end with a clasp. The experiment was tried, and Mr. Goff applied for a patent, which was granted as to the clasp. It was predicted by other manu- facturers that this style of putting up braid would not meet with favor on the part of consumers; but the new method at once secured popular approval, and other makers were not slow in following where Mr. Goff had led, although they were unable to use the patented clasp, and had to substitute some other device therefor. "Goff's Braid " is a name which has become as familiar as household words
116
HISTORY OF PROVIDENCE COUNTY.
in all parts of the country, branch houses being established in Phila- delphia, Chicago, St. Louis and San Francisco. The firm is the lead- ing one of its kind in America.
In 1882 Goff & Sons began a new industry. Previous to that time mohair plush had not been made in this country or in England. Being a very difficult fabric to produce, the firm deemed it advisable to send a representative to France or Germany to procure machinery and information rather than attempt to solve the problem themselves. Accordingly a gentleman of ability and experience in such matters was sent to those countries for the purposes named, and after spend- ing considerable time in a fruitless effort to obtain the information desired, and being unable to purchase machinery (the business being kept so secret by those engaged in it), he returned home. The firm at once determined that they would work out the problem themselves, and after five years of persistent thought and labor they were enabled to turn out goods in every way equal to those of foreign make. Since this new industry has been so successfully established, the braid mill has been materially enlarged, until it is now about 500 feet in length. Employment is furnished a large number of persons in both the braid and plush departments.
Mr. Goff is a staunch republican, but has had very little time in his busy life to give to politics; and yet he served in the town council of Pawtucket before it became a city, and was at one time state sena- tor. For many years he was a director in the Franklin Savings Bank, and is now a director in the First National Bank of Pawtucket and in the Pawtucket Street Railway from its inception. For twenty years or more he has been a director in the Pawtucket Hair Cloth Com- pany, and at present is a director in the Royal Weaving Company, of which corporation he is the originator. He is one of the original stockholders of the Pawtucket Gas Company, and for many years has been the only one of its original directors living, having been elected to that position in 1853. Quite a number of years ago he bought a large tract of land in a central part of Pawtucket, laid out and graded wide streets at his own expense, and sold lots at a nominal price, which are now covered with factories and dwellings. Recently he has made large purchases of land in the eastern part of the city, and, with others, has given several acres to the New York, Providence & Boston Railroad Company on which to erect passenger and freight stations and for other railroad purposes, which must prove of great advantage to the city. He has also within a short time bought a valuable estate in the compact part of the city with the intention of building a fine business block thereon. In 1884 he bought the old homestead estate in Rehoboth, where he was born, and erected thereon a handsome structure which bears the name of " Goff Memo- rial." It was dedicated May 10th, 1886, which was also the 77th anni- versary of the birth of Mr. Goff, and the 240th of the handing over of
117
HISTORY OF PROVIDENCE COUNTY.
the deeds of the old town to the English by Massasoit. The dedica- tory exercises were under the direction of the Rehoboth Antiquarian Society.
Mr. Goff is an influential and much esteemed member of the Paw- tucket Congregational church, and one of its most liberal supporters. In him every good cause finds a friend and helper.
He has been twice married ; first, in May, 1839, to Sarah Lee, whose only child died : second, to Harriet Lee. They were sisters, and daughters of Israel Lee, of Dighton, Mass. The children by the second marriage have been Darius L., Lyman B., and Sarah C. His sons, as already stated, are now associated with him in business. His daugh- ter married Thomas S. Steele, of Hartford, Conn.
WILLIAM HENRY HASKELL, president of the William H. Haskell Company, was born in the town of Cumberland September 1st, 1821, His grandparents, Samuel and Mary Haskell, were among the pioneer settlers of this town, locating near Diamond Hill Plains. He died at the age of 95 years, in September, 1849. She died in September, 1849, at the age of 91 years. Turner Haskell, their son and father of Wil- liam H., lived and died in this town. Turner Haskell was a very prominent man; served many years as a member of the town council, was a member of the general assembly for a number of years, and when he died was regarded as a very rich man. His wife was Pa- tience Smith Haskell. She died in 1883, aged 89 years. He died in 1863, at the age of 73. They raised a family of eight children, five of whom were girls.
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.