USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > History of Providence County, Rhode Island > Part 27
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The first act of incorporation in New England, for the special pur- pose of constructing reservoirs for the supply of mills in seasons of drought, originated with the mill owners on the Woonasquatucket river in the year 1822. The following gives a statement of the several reservoirs constructed on the head waters of the Woonasquatucket river:
Acres.
Average depth.
Superficial acres, 1 foot deep.
The Greenville reservoir, con-
structed in 1822, contains ... 153
10
1.530
The Waterman reservoir, con-
structed in 1837, contains .... 318
9
2.862
The Thomas Sprague reservoir,
constructed in 1830, contains 95
13 and 7
.815
Hawkins' reservoir.
30
10
.300
Bernon Mill Pond, 1853.
133
17
.399
Other mill ponds about.
150
2
.300
Acres land . 879
Water acres .... 6.196
The capacity of these reservoirs is sufficient for the storage of a supply of water for the mills below them during four months, the fall being nearly 200 feet of descent to Olneyville.
The Georgiaville Evangelical Society was incorporated in 1856. The following list gives the names of the incorporators: James H. Armington, William G. Perry, William Patt, John C. Westcott, John R. Perry, William H. Hastings, Daniel Champlin, Charles Greene, Benjamin A. Winsor, Thomas Wood, Ellery Slocum, Ethan Sweet, Obed Paine, Mowry Phillips, Henry C. Arnold, Elisha Steere, Zacha- riah Allen, Winsor Farnum, Simon B. Mowry, William Steere, Ephraim Whipple, Ashel Angell. Daniel Angell, Lyman Arnold, Nathan Angell, John A. Mowry, Charles Cozens, Jabez W. Mowry, Ezra Whitford, Robert Harris, John S. Appleby, Arnold Smith, Henry A. Smith, Silas Smith, John A. Farnum, Thomas Mowry and Hezekiah S. Harris, together with others. In 1857 the charter was adopted by the society. May 12th, 1856, a meeting was held and it was decided to build a house for worship. The subscription paper was afterward circulated and $2,700 raised for that purpose. The building was erected on a lot pur- chased of Mr. L. Allen. The society is still active, and of great use to the church.
A religious society of Baptists existed here a number of years before a regular organization took place. The house of worship was
218
HISTORY OF PROVIDENCE COUNTY.
erected in 1857, and the church from this time, being assisted by a well organized society, prospered. Reverend Mowry Phillips was the first pastor. His successors were George W. Wallace, Mr. Handy, M. W. Burlingame, Lewis Dexter, John P. Ward, F. W. George (after- ward missionary to India), and the Reverend G. B. Cutler, the pres- ent pastor, who took charge of the church in 1885. Samuel W. Hubbard is deacon, and J. B. Newell is clerk. The church member- ship is about 100.
St. Michael's church was established here by Reverend W. J. Wise- man, who erected the present church edifice in 1876. He was suc- ceeded by Reverend James Perkins, he by Reverend Thomas Carroll, and he by the present pastor, Reverend James Fogardy, in October, 1887. The membership numbers about 100 families.
The Universalist church is of recent origin. It was the result of missionary work done for years by Doctor Thomas Nutting, an old prominent physician in the place, who utilized every opportunity given him for advancing the cause. Doctor Nutting advanced financial aid, and through his efforts principally the present church edifice was erected. Doctor Nutting died in 1886, aged 76 years, after a practice of medicine of over 40 years. His granddaughter, Mrs. Carrie I. Waldron, lives on the old homestead. The only pastor the church has had is the Reverend Vincent Tomlinson, who came here in 1886.
H. N. Blanchard is the oldest trader in Georgiaville. He carries a full stock of goods and does a lively business. Richard Tobin suc- ceeded James White in the grocery business in 1873, and is still trad- ing. Patrick Burke runs a store in the old hotel building, used for a tavern many years. He succeeded James Barnes in 1874, and run the house till 1883, when the business was changed from a hotel to a store. J. D. Marston succeeded Philip W. Aldrich in 1874. He took the post office July 6th, 1886. James Loomis erected his commodious building for the purposes of general trading in 1873. There is also a blacksmith and wagon shop in the village, run by W. H. Leete, who began here in 1882.
Enfield is a hamlet on the Providence & Springfield railroad, and consists of a few houses, a store and post office, and is the seat of the Enfield Mills. Major William Smith was the first settler in this local- ity. In 1813 the late Governor Philip Allen purchased land of Eseck Smith, a descendant of Major William Smith, and erected a small cotton mill, and the place was then called Allenville. It retained this name till 1881, when a post office was established and the name changed to Enfield. The store at this place remained the property of the company till 1879, when I. B. Sweet took the business, and in 1882 the post office.
There is one church building open to all denominations, and in which Reverend G. B. Cutler, of the Baptist church of Georgiaville, frequently holds services. In 1820 Governor Allen built a house for
219
HISTORY OF PROVIDENCE COUNTY.
the public schools, and for religious worship on Sundays. In 1849 the citizens erected a school house, and in 1851 Governor Allen built a house for public worship and gave it to the citizens of the village. There is a good Sabbath school maintained in the place.
In 1857 the mill property passed from Governor Allen to Earl P. Mason, Henry Lippitt and others; in 1867 into the ownership of the Smithfield Manufacturing Company, and in 1879 to William H. Pope, who runs the business under the style of the Enfield Mills. This company manufacture print goods and employ constantly about 150 hands. Arnold Knight is superintendent of the works.
The Central Union church is situated a short distance north of the Providence and Douglass turnpike, in the extreme north part of the town of Smithfield. The building is a neat structure, erected in 1859, and dedicated September 1st, same year. The society was chartered as Smithfield United Society in January, 1862. Preaching is supplied by the pastors of the different denominations. A good Sunday school is connected with this society, and a valuable library of 500 volumes belongs to the church.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
George M. Appleby was born April 21st, 1818, and was married twice. His first wife was Phebe Mowry, and his second wife was Adah F. Smith, whom he married in 1844. They have one son, born in 1850, Jerome H. Appleby, who was married to Emmiezette Smith in 1875, and they have one son, born in 1879, George H. Appleby. The Applebys are one of the oldest families in Smithfield. Mr. George M. Appleby has done much for the public library of Greenville.
Jabe J. Applebey, born in 1837, is the son of James Applebey, born in 1798. Jabe J. married Susan W. King of New York in 1860. They + have two children: James, born 1865, and Leroy J., born 1870. Mr .. Applebey is a farmer near Spragueville, and holds the office of col- lector of taxes.
John S. Appleby, born in Smithfield in 1830, is a son of John S. Appleby, who was born in 1785. Mr. John S. Appleby, Jr., is a bachelor.
Silas S. Appleby is a retired farmer. He was born in Smithfield in 1812, was married in 1837 to Julia Ballou, and they had six children: Daniel A., F. Marion, Abby M., Sidney M., Emma A. and Clara A. Mr. Appleby's forefathers came from England.
Orrin Barnes, one of the prominent farmers of the town, is a de- scendant of Peter Barnes, who came from England to this country about the year 1700. He is the son of Levi Barnes, who occupied the old homestead, one of the oldest houses now in the town. Levi Barnes was the father of Smith, George W., Orrin and Abby, all resi- dents of Smithfield. Orrin Barnes married Estelle, daughter of Leonard Allen, in 1865, and they have one daughter, Sarah S. Barnes.
220
HISTORY OF PROVIDENCE COUNTY.
Samuel S. Brown was born in North Kingstown, R. I., and owns a farm together with his brother, S. D. Brown. They have a valuable cranberry marsh, which averages from 25 to 50 bushels annually, and raise small fruit with success. Samuel S. Brown married Anna W. Thompson, of Boston, in 1870. They have no children.
George S. Burroughs, son of Samuel N. and Mary (Sherman) Bur- roughs, was born in Newport county, R. I., February 22d, 1828, and was married October 1st, 1855, to Mary J. Aldrich. They have no children. Mr. Burroughs is a farmer.
ADIN BALLOU CAPRON, member of the general assembly of Rhode Island, is the son of Carlile W. and Abigail (Bates) Capron, and was born in Mendon, Mass., January 9th, 1841. In 1848 his father moved to Woonsocket, R. I., to engage in mercantile pursuits, and here the subject of this sketch passed his time until the breaking out of the late war. He received a good common school education, being a graduate of the Woonsocket High School, and subsequently the re- cipient of special instruction in Westbrook University, near Fulton, Maine.
In May, 1861, he enlisted in Company I, Second Rhode Island In- fantry, and was appointed sergeant of his company. The regiment was ordered to Washington, and afterward took part in the second Bull Run fight. After this battle, in recognition of gallant service, he was appointed sergeant major of the regiment, and soon after was commissioned second lieutenant. In December, 1861, he was assigned duty as a member of the signal corps. In March, 1862, he was or- dered to report to General Butler at Ship Island, but before he arrived, the city of New Orleans had surrendered, and having been taken sick while on the way, he was ordered back and sent north to join General McClellan at Harrison's Landing, immediately after the seven days' battles. He had in the meantime been promoted to the rank of first lieutenant, and thereafter he was connected with the department staff of the headquarters of the Army of the Potomac. After General McClellan, he was on the staff of Generals Burnside, Hooker and Meade, participating actively in most of the battles till the close of the war. In the meantime he had been brevetted captain, and sub- sequently major, for gallant and meritorious services. His examina- tion by an army board of officers to a position in the regular army was in accordance with an act which had passed congress March 3d, 1863, from which time his service in that capacity was dated.
After the war Mr. Capron was for a time connected with a publish- ing house in Chicago, but in 1866 he returned to Rhode Island and entered the service of the Lippitt Woolen Company at Woonsocket, where he remained as accountant until April, 1869. He then accepted a similar position for the Stillwater Woolen Mill Company, subse- quently becoming their superintendent in charge. In 1872 the mills at this place were burned, and he was employed to superintend their
.
221
HISTORY OF PROVIDENCE COUNTY.
re-erection. He remained with them until 1875, and then purchased the mills where he at present operates. In 1877 the property was burned, but was immediately rebuilt and enlarged, and now gives employment to a dozen hands, and grinds from three to four hundred car loads of grain annually.
Mr. Capron was elected a member of the lower house of the Rhode Island legislature in 1887 by the republican party, and was re-elected in 1888, 1889 and 1890. He was a vigorous advocate of the enforce- ment of the prohibitory laws while constitutional prohibition was the law of the state. He is a member of the committee on finance.
Mr. Capron was married in August, 1868, to Irene, daughter of Otis D. Ballou, of Woonsocket. She died ten months afterward. His second marriage was in April, 1874, to Phebe A., daughter of John A. Mowry, of Smithfield. Their children are: Helen M., Jolın M., Adin M. and Almira M.
Mr. Capron is a member of the Georgiaville Universalist church and has been superintendent of the Sabbath school at that place ever since the organization of the society.
Mrs. Ellen Colwell is the widow of Harris W. Colwell, son of George and grandson of David Colwell. Mrs. Colwell has two children: Mira E., born 1857, and Frank S., born 1866.
William Gardiner came to Smithfield in 1857 from Cumberland, Providence county. He was born in Exeter in 1820 and married in 1849 Dulcenia B., daughter of William H. Gardiner. They have three children: Leander E., born 1851; Ida E., born 1853; and Luella D., born 1864. Mr. Gardiner is a successful farmer and has refused the office of representative, to which he was once elected.
Mrs. Ella L. M. Gavitt is an adopted daughter of Thomas J. Mowry, who was born September 8th, 1804, in Smithfield, and was a son of Aaron Mowry, born March 3d, 1765, in the same town. Aaron Mowry's father, Stephen Mowry, was born in 1731, and his father, Uriah Mowry, born 1705, was the son of Henry, and he the son of Nathaniel, born 1644. Three brothers of the Mowry family came to this country, Nathaniel, Roger and John, and from the three brothers are descended the Mowrys of to-day.
George P. Grant came to Providence county in 1855. He was born in England in 1829 and was twice married. By his first wife, Lydia C. Peckham, he had seven children. Mrs. Lydia Grant died in 1873. He married Mrs. Mira Davis, widow of Edward Davis, in 1881. Mrs. Davis had one daughter, Susan Mabel Davis, born in 1866. Mr. George P. Grant is a farmer.
Charles E. Ladoux, born in Vermont in 1854, came to Providence county in 1866, was married in 1888, and has one child. He is a fore- man in the employ of the P. & S. railroad.
Almira S. Mowry, widow of John A. Mowry, was married in 1839 and has two children living: Adelaide R., born in 1841, and Phebe A., born in 1850.
222
HISTORY OF PROVIDENCE COUNTY.
ALONZO PERCY MOWRY, member of the upper house of the state legislature, was born December 20th, 1843. He is a son of George W. and Hannah Mowry, she being a daughter of Daniel and Diana Aldrich. Mr. Mowry received his education in the common school, supplementing his work there with a course of studies in some of the best private schools and academies of the county. He attended the Greenville Academy, the Jencks Mowry school in Providence, and the Lapham Institute, North Scituate. When 22 years of age Mr. Mowry became a clerk in a shoe store for his brother-in-law, W. K. Atwood, in Providence, and subsequently established himself in that same line of business on Main street of that city. He traded there and afterward in Olneyville seven or eight years, and then moved on the old homestead, where he still resides. The place is one of the old landmarks of the county. The farm consists of 200 acres of land pleasantly situated and valuable for farming purposes. The house was formerly used for a hotel and was once owned by Thomas Paine, who kept tavern there a number of years, it being on the old Powder- mill turnpike road, where there was much travel until diverted by the introduction of railroads.
Mr. Mowry is a very retiring man, caring little for public notoriety, yet the people of his town, when seeking the right man, selected him for state senator in 1882, and successively nominated and elected him to that office every subsequent year to the present time. He is a stockholder and director in the Smithfield National Exchange Bank, and trustee in the Baptist church of Greenville, of which he has been a member since 1876.
In 1869 he was married to Minnie, daughter of Ezekiel and Betsey C. Gavitt, then of East Providence. Two children, Mattie A. and Bessie M., have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Mowry.
Harley Mowry was born in 1824 in the town of Smithfield, and December 8th, 1851, was married to Lydia W. Brown. They have one son, Harley. Mr. Mowry is a descendant of David Mowry.
Jabez W. Mowry, named for his uncle, Jabez W. Mowry, was born July 29th, 1824, and married Susan Mowry. They have two children living: Arabella F., and Abraham L., who is postmaster at Smithfield. They lost one son, Roger W. Mr. Jabez W. Mowry has represented his town 17 years in the legislature.
Sidney H. Mowry was born in 1848, and was married to Bertha D., daughter of James Pratt, in 1868. They have four children: Edna E., born in 1870; Mabel S., born in 1872; Leland B., born in 1875; and Sara A., born in 1882.
J. B. Newell was born in Somerset county, Maine, in 1835, came to this county in 1877, and settled in Georgiaville, where he has charge ·of the weaving department of the Bernon Mills. He was first married to Mary E. Roberts, who was born in the town of Peru, Oxford county, Maine, in 1839, and died twelve years later in Lewiston, Androscoggin
Alongo Do Incrovy
223
HISTORY OF PROVIDENCE COUNTY.
county, Maine. They had one son, Elmer J., born in Lewiston, in 1864. Mr. Newell was married to Martha E. Loomis, of Smithfield, in 1878, and they have one daughter, Eva G., born in 1880.
Thurston Phetteplace, one of the first residents of Spragueville, still resides in that place, and was born there in 1816. He married Hannah F. Phetteplace in 1843.
Charles A. Phillips is a son of Smith Phillips. He was married in 1883 to Ada Fowler, of Providence. They have two children: Charles H. and Jennie M. Mr. Phillips is a prominent farmer near Greenville.
Henry E. Polk, born in 1832 in Smithfield, R. I., is a son of Edward, Jr., and grandson of Edward, who came to this country with the British army in the days of the revolution, and settled in Smithfield. Edward, Jr., married Hannah Smith Slack, daughter of Joseph and Marcy (Waterman) Slack. They had five daughters and three sons, Henry E. being the youngest son. He is a bachelor.
Daniel Smith was born in 1832, and married Sabra J. Baker in 1883. They have one daughter. Mr. Smith is a large land owner in Smithfield, and is considered a successful business man.
HENRY ESEK SMITH, president of the National Exchange Bank, Greenville, was born in the town of Smithfield, February 27th, 1829. He is the son of Elisha and Melissa Smith, and a descendant of Elisha Smith, Sr., who settled at Smith's Mills, now John Applebey's place, near what is now known as Stillwater, in the town of Smithfield, in an early day. Elisha Smith, Sr., had two sons, Elisha and John. Junia was the son of John, and the father of Elisha, who was the father of the subject of this sketch. Elisha Smith, the father of Henry E., and Melissa Smith were united in marriage on the first day of January, 1825. He was a man of force and character, and represented his town in various capacities as a public official. He was a member of the town council for a number of years, a representative in the general assembly for a long time, and was director and president of the National Exchange Bank, Greenville, for many years also. On his mother's side, Henry E. Smith is a descendant of John and Alice Smith, who came from England with Roger Williams, the lineage being as follows: John1, John2, William3, Daniel4, Emor5, Esek6 and Mel- issa', who was the mother of our subject. John? was the town clerk of Providence for many years, and its representative in the general assembly from 1712 to 1729. In 1730 he was one of the commissioners appointed to build the county court house and jail. William Smith3 was also a very prominent man. He located in Smithfield in 1713, on a thousand acres of land, probably building the old house on the site now occupied by the residence of Henry E. Smith. He married Mary Sayles, a descendant of Roger Williams, and his son Daniel married
224
HISTORY OF PROVIDENCE COUNTY.
Susannah Winsor, another descendant of Roger Williams. Emor, son of Daniel, married Sarah Smith, and his son Esek married Desire Eddy, whose daughter, Melissa, became the mother of Henry E. Smith.
The subject of this sketch was raised a farmer, and he has devoted nearly the whole of his life to agricultural pursuits. He received a common district school education, and in addition to this attended the Fruit Hill Classical Institute a few terms, supplementing the work there with a course of study at East Greenwich, leaving that institution of learning with a fair education, in his 17th year. Work was then taken up on the farm till 1853, when he bought the store at Enfield and ran that till 1856. In 1856 he again renewed his connection with the farm, directing his attention principally to the raising and im- proving of the finer breeds of stock. In 1857 he erected his barn, and since then he has been identified with New England and the country generally as a stock raiser. He became a member of the Rhode Island Society for the Encouragement of Domestic Industry in 1858, and has filled many and important positions; as a member of the standing committee; and was for a number of years vice-president of the society. During these years he has made frequent exhibits, and has never failed to carry off some first premiums. He has been improving largely upon the Ayrshire breed, and his barn at the present time contains 35 head of Ayrshire and Jersey milch cows of his own breeding. For the past 35 years Mr. Smith has been supplying milk to the people of Providence. In 1887 he was elected treasurer of the Ayrshire Breeders' Association for the United States and Canada. Mr. Smith cares little for political offices, though he has served his town frequently as a mem- ber of the town council; he has refused to run for the general assembly. He has been president of the National Exchange Bank at Greenville for the past ten or a dozen years, and is president of the parish organi- zation of the Universalist church at Georgiaville. December 16th, 1862, he was married to Miss Mercy J. Steere, daughter of William P. and Mary Ann Steere. They have four children: Frederick Elisha, born December 18th, 1863; Helen Parker, born June 1st, 1867; Annie Melissa, born April 29th, 1877, and Alice Mercy, born July 16th, 1882.
William P. Steere was a man of considerable force and character. He was in lineal descent a great-grandson of Thomas Steere1, as fol- lows: Elisha', Stephen3, William4. He always lived in the town of Smithfield, and was honored frequently with positions of trust and great responsibility. His education was limited, owing to the circum- scribed opportunities of his day, although he pursued a course of study at Bolton, Mass., in addition to the common district school cur- riculum of his times. He was a brother of the well-known Reverend
E
Henry O. Smith
224a
HISTORY OF PROVIDENCE COUNTY.
Martin J. Steere, formerly of the Baptist but latterly of the Univer- salist church. He was born, lived and died on the farm near Still- water, where George, Sherman now resides. He was in the town council so often as a member, and took such a lively interest in the public affairs of the town that but little of moment was done in this part of the country, in his day, without counsel from him and his sanction. He served the town long and ably, also, in the general assembly, and here again his ability as a man was brought into requi- sition. He was born July 4th, 1810, and died July 6th, 1876. In Octo- ber, 1833, he was married to Mary Ann Parker. She was born July 30th, 1813, and died September 16th, 1890. They had four children, three of whom survive them. Mercy J., the wife of Henry E. Smith, is prominently identified with the Universalist society of Georgia- ville.
Henry W. Smith, son of Appleby Smith, was born in 1824, and married Ann E. Farnum in 1848. They have two children: Emma, born in 1853, and Henry F. Smith, born in 1862. Mr. Smith is en- gaged in business as a butcher at Spragueville. His daughter, Emma, married Jerome H. Appleby, and his son, Henry F., married Jessie H. Tobey.
John L. Smith is a son of Brown Smith, and grandson of Willard Smith. Brown Smith was born in 1805, married Merinda Lewis in 1829, and had eight children: Juni, born in 1830; Crawford, born in 1831: John L., born in 1832; Elsa Ann, born in 1834; Brown, born in 1837; Albert L., born in 1839; Sarah A., born in 1841; and Ellen F., born in 1843. John L. Smith is a bachelor, and lives on a farm at Georgiaville.
Simon Smith is a son of Mowry Smith, who was born in 1798 in Glocester. Mowry Smith's father was Duty, born 1765; his father was Daniel, born 1723, and his father was Elisha, born 1680. They were all residents of Providence county. Simon is married and has three children: Phebe L., Nettie L. and Etta A. Mr. Simon Smith was born in 1828, and Mrs. Smith was born in 1830.
John S. Sprague, born in Smithfield August 13th, 1827, is a son of Nathan B. and Sarah Sprague. Nathan B., born April 7th, 1787, in Johnston, R. I., was a son of Daniel Sprague, born March 28th, 1713. Nathan B. had five children: Esther S., Maria, Hannah B., Daniel and John S. Nathan B. Sprague was the first president of the old Smith- field Exchange Bank of Greenville, and was a member of the general assembly 11 years, and speaker of the house one year. He died on the farm now owned by his son, John S., who married a daughter of George T. and Alzada Phetteplace. They have two children: Nathan B. and Alzada J. Mr. Sprague is engaged in farming and the dairy business.
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