USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > History of Providence County, Rhode Island > Part 46
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Hospital, of which he is also the president. In the year 1871 he spent several months in Europe, devoting a large part of his time to the advancement of business trusts with which he was charged.
Mr. Ballou took an active part in the organization of the republican party in the state. In 1860 he was presidential elector on the Lincoln and Hamlin ticket. At the outbreak of the civil war he labored indefatigably for the enlistment and comfort of soldiers, and while the enlisted men were in the field was the cheerful adviser of their families at home, and to a great extent the unpaid medium of com- munication between them. Throughout the war his services were unabated. In 1872 he was a delegate to the national republican con- vention at Philadelphia which nominated Grant and Wilson. He was elected representative to the 44th, 45th and 46th congresses success- ively, and served as a member of the committees on education, labor, patents and printing. In the committee he was by long experi- ence and training especially fitted to act, and here he made his presence felt. By members of all parties his opinions were respected and he himself honored as a man of incorruptible integrity.
Of his addresses in the house of representatives, perhaps the most important was the one reviewing the relation of the national banks to the currency of the government. In the opinion of competent judges no more concise, logical and effective exposition of the subject was given before congress. His bill asking for the appointment of a com- mission to consider the subject of a reform in the orthography of the English language, grew out of his interest in the cause of education, and the conviction that the acquisition of the rudimentary branches of instruction, by wise and uniform action, may be greatly facilitated. The leading colleges and more than 50 educational institutions of the country have in general terms sustained his views. He was for many years treasurer of Dean Academy in Franklin, Mass., and is now its president.
Mr. Ballou married, October 20th, 1836, Sarah A., daughter of Charles and Ruth Hunnewell, of Cambridge, Mass., a lady of many rare qualities of mind and heart, who died June 24th, 1879. Their children are: Mary Francis, Sarah Jane, Henry Latimer (deceased), and Marie Louise (deceased). Mr. Ballou carried to Washington the atmosphere of a refined domestic life. He entered heartily into the various charitable and philanthropic movements of that city, and was especially active in the cause of temperance, holding year after year the vice-presidency of the Congressional Temperance Society. Early in life he became a member of the Universalist church. For 40 or more years he has held the superintendency of the Sabbath school at Woonsocket, and a greater part of the time has been president of the society. He is at the present time president of the Rhode Island Universalist Convention. His interest in the cause of Christianity, warm and deep at first, has never abated, and most effectively has he
L. M. Ballon
Henry Ballow
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labored to promote the religious and moral welfare of society. Mr. Ballou had conferred upon him by Tufts College the honorary degree of LL. D. in 1887.
HENRY LATIMER BALLOU, the son of Latimer and Sarah A. Ballou, was born in Cambridge, Mass., October 14th, 1841, and removed with his parents to Woonsocket the following year. His education was received at the public schools, supplemented by a business course in a Boston commercial college. Improving these opportunities with study in leisure hours, he became broadly educated, and a gentleman of refinement and polish. In 1861 he entered the Woonsocket National Bank and ·Woonsocket Institution for Savings, as clerk, becoming assistant cashier and assistant treasurer in 1876. Since that date, when his father, the cashier of the National Bank and treasurer of the In- stitution for Savings, was elected to Congress, he had been the active executive officer of both these institutions. He was also prominently connected with several local business enterprises, having been one of the incorporators of the Woonsocket Rubber Company, and an active director, as also director of the American Worsted Company, of the Woonsocket Machine and Press Company, and the Bailey Wringing Machine Company. Mr. Ballou was treasurer for many years of the consolidated school district, and an active member of the Woonsocket Business Men's Association since its formation. He also held the position of treasurer of the Woonsocket Hospital Corporation.
In politics Mr. Ballou was a republican, and while ever desirous for the advancement of his party, nevertheless believed that a party should stand for something more than mere success at the polls. His influence was as wide as the state, and always with a tendency to hold the party to higher aims. He believed in the might of right. He was gifted with the power of prescience, saw further than most men, and was a leader of his party in many popular movements, as in the adop- tion of the Bourn amendment for the extension of the suffrage, the ten hour law, temperance legislation, and convenient hours at polling places. Neither did he hesitate to identify himself with what he deemed a morally just cause which might be unpopular. In all the business interests with which he was connected he was faithful to. every trust and duty. He not only filled with conscientious care every office to which he was appointed, but was a wise and judicious coun- sellor to all desiring advice regarding investments, or in the settle- ment of estates. In such relations he manifested both wisdom and unselfishness, bestowing his counsel in so kindly a manner, that the seeker felt assured of his sincerity and friendship. In the popular mind Mr. Ballou was thought of as a trustworthy and successful banker rather than as a manufacturer, though the industries of the town owed much to his enterprise and forethought.
The arduous duties which occupied his mind finally began to tell upon a constitution, not robust. Chosen as a delegate to the
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republican convention held in Chicago in 1888, he made preparations to attend, but at the last moment gave his place to an alternate. Seeking the more genial climate of Southern California he rallied for a time, but finally succumbed to the malady which occasioned his death on the 22d of May, 1889. In his demise Woonsocket lost one of her most prominent and worthy citizens. He was a member of the Universalist church and assistant superintendent of its Sunday school; a Christian man-Christian in faith, Christian in hope, and Christian in his daily life.
Mr. Ballou was, October 6th, 1868, married to Susan A., daughter of the late Willis Cook of Woonsocket. Their children are: Latimer Willis, Marie Louise and Roland Hunnewell.
Richard Barnett, born in 1844 in Charlestown, Mass., was educated in the vicinity of Boston and South Kingstown, R. I. He enlisted in the Second R. I. Regiment, 1861, and reënlisted in the Second U. S. Infantry in 1864. He came to Woonsocket in 1865 as clerk in a grocery store for Horace Cook. He established business for himself in 1877. He was assistant chief of fire department and afterward chief. He was elected alderman of the Second ward upon the forma- tion of the city government. He married in 1865 Lucinda J., daughter of George Campbell of Woonsocket.
Richard C. Bartlett, son of Elisha and Martha (Inman) Bartlett, was born in 1825 in what was then Cumberland, now Woonsocket, and was educated in the district schools. He worked in the mill until he was 26 years old and for two years at brickmaking; then worked at the car- penter trade for three years, and in 1855 located on his present farm, where he has since that time carried on farming and the milk business. His father followed farming until he was 20 years of age, afterward learned the stone cutting trade and always followed it. He worked on the Blackstone canal, putting in locks and dams. His grandfather and great-grandfather were named Joseph, and his great-great-grand- father was Moses .* He married Emeline White, daughter of William Lawrence of Appleton, Maine, in 1868.
DAVID BASS .- Simeon Bass, the grandfather of David Bass, married Hannah Sawyer. Their children were three sons: Ebenezer, Simeon and David. David was born February 8th, 1798, in Peterboro, N. H., where the greater part of his active life was spent, his regular pur- suits being those connected with a farmer's life. He married Mary Eaton of the same town, whose children were: David, Jr., born March 3d, 1821; Eben, in 1823; Mary, in 1825; William E., in 1827; Charles, in 1829; Lewis G., in 1831: Samuel W., in 1833, and Martha J., in 1836. Mary married Matthew R. Moore, and Martha J. became the wife of George Emory.
David Bass, the subject of this biography, is a native of Deering, N. H., with which locality his early years are associated. He was a pupil of the district school until the age of eleven, after which his
David Bass
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education was limited to nine weeks of study during the year, the re- mainder of the time being devoted to his father's farm, and to such desirable employment as could be obtained in the neighborhood. His first introduction to the world outside his home, was in the city of Boston, where he was variously employed for four years. On the 1st of May, 1845, he married Rebecca J., daughter of Stephen H. Carr of Deering. Their children are: Mary A., deceased, wife of Lyman H. Fulton; Martha J., who died at the age of 14; Lewis C., a resident of New Bedford, married to Mary L. Lomas; and Viola E. Mr. Bass on his marriage returned to New Hampshire and resumed his early oc- cupation, that of a farmer. In 1859 he removed to Antrim, in the same state, and under the contract system then in vogue, engaged in the manufacture of shovels and hoes. Continuing thus employed for four years, he then returned to the farm, which in 1864 he sold. and began in the city of Lowell, Mass., the manufacture of spools and bobbins. This business was afterward removed to Lawrence, in the same state.
Mr. Bass subsequently spent three years in his former home, at the end of which time he became a resident of Woonsocket. Here he assumed control of the Woonsocket Spool and Bobbin Company, which under his successful management has become one of the im- portant industries of the town. The business has largely increased in dimensions, employs 125 hands, and supplies the markets of the United States, Canada and Mexico. Mr. Bass is a director of the First National Bank, and the Peoples' Savings Bank. He is a republican in politics, but neither a politician nor an office-seeker. His religious sympathies are with the Methodist Episcopal church, of which his children are members.
George Batchelor, son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Townrow) Batch- elor, was born in 1850 in London, England. His father came to America in 1854, and located in St. John, N. B., and from there the subject of this sketch came to Woonsocket in 1865, working first in the mills and in the grocery business, until he started the grocery business for himself in 1880. He is fire marshal, also served as such under the town government. He has been town sergeant. He was foreman of Steamer Company No. 1, and also a member of board of fire engineers, and is license commissioner. He married Mary A., daugh- ter of Thomas Miller of Woonsocket, in 1870.
Jonathan Battye, son of Joseph and Ann (Holden) Battye, was born in 1834 in England, came to America and located in Woonsocket in 1853. He worked first in the mills for about two years, then learned the carpenter's trade, working at that about three years, and for a time did carpenter work for Edward Harris. He afterward had charge of different departments of mills up to superintendent. He established himself in the grocery business in 1876, and has been engaged in that ever since, also in buying and selling real estate. He married Mary,
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daughter of James Halliwell of Woonsocket in 1856 .. He was educated in England and Woonsocket. He served twice in town council at different times. He is a member of the board of assessors and clerk of the school district.
Philippe Boucher was born in 1859 in St. Barthelemi, Quebec, was educated in Berthier College, came to Woonsocket in 1872, and first worked in the Hamlet and Social Mills. He established his present business of grocer in 1880. He married Darinaine, daughter of Louis Ménard, of Cuntrecœur, Canada, in 1882. He is president of the St. Jean Baptiste Society, and also president of Ligue-du-Sacrè-Cœur So- ciety. He was elected councilman from the Fifth ward upon the formation of the city government.
Joseph Bouvier, son of Francis and Tharsile (Normandin) Bouvier, was born in 1845 in St. Simon, Province of Quebec, and came to Woonsocket with his parents in 1863. He first began working in the mills, a short time afterward engaged in the grocery business off and on for about three years, was also in the tinware business for two years, and in 1868 started for himself in the grocery business. He was married in 1867 to Celina, daughter of Pierre Vincellette, of Water- ville, Maine. He is a member of the board of assessors, and was mem- ber of the town council two years.
Reverend John Boyden was born May 14th, 1809, in Sturbridge, Mass. He was ordained in Berlin, Conn., in 1830, preached in Dud- ley, Mass., six years, and in 1840 became pastor of the New Society in Woonsocket, where he continued for thirty years. He died in 1869. He married Sarah, daughter of Ichabod Jacobs, of Scituate, Mass., in 1831.
John R. Boyden, son of John and Sarah (Jacobs) Boyden, was born August 22d, 1838, in Dudley, Mass., and came to Woonsocket when only two years old with his parents. He was educated at the high school, Woonsocket, where he graduated, and then entered Tufts Col- lege. He taught school in Woonsocket and at Great Falls, N. H., and afterward entered the employ of Woonsocket Rubber Company as treasurer, and was there until he died in 1867. He married A. Olivia, daughter of Willis Cook, of Woonsocket, in 1862. They had one son, John R., who is in the real estate business in Woonsocket.
James E. Bradford, son of Charles W. and Clarice (Horton) Brad- ford, was born in 1850 in Smithfield, and was educated in the public schools. He was first employed in the finishing department of a mill. He established business for himself as contractor and builder in 1876. He married Harriet T., daughter of Jonathan Wales, of Woonsocket, in 1868. He was elected councilman for the Second ward upon the formation of the city government.
Gilman Brown, son of Laban and Annie M. (Mowry) Brown, was born in 1828 in Woonsocket, and was educated in the public schools. He was married first to Sally S., daughter of Ahas Mowry, of Smith-
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a m Buckland
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field, in 1851. He married his present wife, Ann Eliza Amanda, daughter of Leander Fenner, of North Providence, in 1868. Mr. Brown has been head farmer in charge of the Harris farm since 1870. He has served as member of town council, and was elected to the gen- eral assembly in 1889.
ALPHONZO WATSON BUCKLAND, D.D.S. The earliest representa- tive of the Buckland family in New England was Thomas Buckland, who was made a freeman in Massachusetts in 1635, became a resident of Windsor, Conn., as early as 1638, and died May 28th, 1662. Tem- perance, his widow, died July 26th, 1681. In the direct line of descent were Timothy, son of Thomas; Jonathan, son of Timothy; Alexander, son of Jonathan; Erastus, son of Alexander; Lorenzo M., son of Erastus, and lastly the subject of this biography, who is the son of Lorenzo M. Buckland. Erastus Buckland, the grandfather of Alphonzo W., mar- ried Sally Heath. Their son, Lorenzo M., was born February 7th. 1810, in Broad Brook, Hartford county, Conn., and married Julia Hull, of East Windsor, Conn., on the 3d of August, 1811.
Alphonzo W., the fourth child of this union, was born at Washing- ton, Van Buren county, Iowa, June 19th, 1843, and in early childhood removed to Broad Brook, Conn., where his youth was spent. His ele- mentary education was begun at the district school, his studies con- tinued at the Wesleyan Academy at Wilbraham, Mass., and at the Providence Conference Seminary, at East Greenwich, R. I. He had meanwhile at intervals added to his slender means by teaching school. Determining to enter the service during the late war as an attaché of the signal service, he was diverted from his purpose by an advan- tageous offer to repair to the oil regions of Pennsylvania, where he spent nearly three years. Doctor Buckland, soon after his return and on the 10th of October, 1866, married Helen Augusta Marble, daughter of Joel Waters Marble, and his wife, Mary Ann Harding, of South- bridge, Mass. The children of this marriage are three daughters: Florence M., Alice M. and Bessie M.
Doctor Buckland, after his marriage, chose dentistry as his profes- sion, and removing to Philadelphia, began his studies under the pre- ceptorship of Doctor Charles A. Kingsbury, graduating from the Phila- delphia Dental College in 1871. Having previously located in Woon- socket, he returned and there established himself in his profession. He speedily acquired a reputation for skill as an operator, and with it an extended practice. Among his professional confréres in the state he enjoys an enviable position, and his clinics before the classes in the various New England colleges are highly valued. His status in the profession may well be indicated by the fact that he is a member of the American Academy of Dental Science. He is also a member of the New England Dental Society, of the Rhode Island Dental Society, and of the Rhode Island Board of Registration in Den- tistry.
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Doctor Buckland is president of the Woonsocket Electric Machine and Power Company, and of the Woonsocket Spool and Bobbin Com- pany, and director of both the Producers' and the People's Savings Banks. He is connected by membership with the First Methodist Episcopal church of Woonsocket, and is a member of both its board of stewards and trustees. He is a member of Washington Lodge, No. 70, F. & A. M., of Windsor, Conn .; of Union Chapter, No. 5, and of Woonsocket Commandery, No. 23, of Woonsocket, of which he is past commander. He is also a member of Washington Lodge, No. 1269, Knights of Honor, and of various other social and protective organizations.
Frank A. Campbell, son of Patrick and Jane (Mercer) Campbell, was born in 1858 in Providence, R.I., and came to Woonsocket in 1879. He established his business of merchant tailor in 1880. He was tax collector in 1886-7, and is postmaster of Woonsocket, taking the office in 1888. He was married to Delia Burke, of Woonsocket, in 1883.
Joseph P. Childs, son of John Burnap and Polly (Ganson) Childs, was born in 1815 in Pittsfield, Vt. He came to Woonsocket in 1840 and was employed in a hotel a number of years. He then carried on the grocery business a number of years and afterward went into the florist business and followed that the rest of his days. He died in 1883. He was at one time sheriff. He married Mary A., daughter of Robert Smith, of Bellingham, Mass., in 1844.
Leroy L. Chilson, son of Nathan and Susan R. Chilson, was born in 1833 in Bellingham, Mass., and was educated in district and select schools of Bellingham and North Providence. He taught school in Mendon, Blackstone and Pawtucket. He came to Woonsocket in 1868 and purchased from F. S. Weeks the stationery business that he has since carried on. He was a member of the general assembly and for 10 or 12 years a member of the school board, and president of the same since the formation of the city government. He married Fannie E., daughter of Preston Warfield, of Blackstone, Mass., in 1858.
JOSEPH E. COLE .- Isaac Cole, of Sandwich, in the county of Kent, England, and the progenitor of the family represented by the subject of this sketch, came to America with his wife Joan and two children in the ship " Hercules," and settled in Charlestown, Mass. Their son John Cole, in 1651, married Susannah, youngest daughter of William and Ann Hutchinson, the latter of whom was banished from the colonies on account of her religious faith. Of the ten children of this marriage William Cole died in 1734. He married, in 1701, Ann Pinder, whose children were nine in number. Their eldest son, John, the great-grandfather of the subject of this biography, was twice mar- ried, his second wife being Mary Bissell. They had six children, of whom Captain John Cole, born July 6th, 1749, died May 15th, 1825. He married Virtue Davis, to whom were born children: William, Thomas Bissell, William Davis, Mary, Edward, Esther, Isett, Hannah
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and Lucy. Edward Cole, the fourth son, was born April 18th, 1786, and died February 5th, 1852. He married Margaret, daughter of Joseph Pierce in 1815. Their children were: Sarah Ann, Maria, Sybil Pierce and Joseph Edward.
Their only son, Joseph Edward, the subject of this sketch, was born November 18th, 1824, in North Kingstown, R. I., where upon the farm owned by his father his youthful years were spent. His first educa- tional advantages were received at the country schools, after which he attended successively the Wickford and East Greenwich academies. He then for a period employed the winter months in teaching, and spent the summer in the varied duties pertaining to a farmer's life. He was for a year and a half in charge of the school at Wakefield and met with much success in his avocation. Being desirous to enter the arena of business, Mr. Cole, in his 22d year removed to Providence as bookkeeper and clerk in a drug and dye house, and later accepted a position as bookkeeper in a print works in Johnston, R. I. Here he remained four and a half years, and in 1854 effected an engagement with Edward Harris at Woonsocket. He was very successful soon after in establishing a growing trade in Boston, and made his presence felt in the management of this extensive business. In 1857 he was given an interest and confined his attention specially to the finances and the trade which had been successfully built up in Boston. The happy result of this venture led Mr. Harris to open a house in New York for the sale of the fabrics of his mills, and it devolved upon Mr. Cole to organize the business at that point. This he accordingly did and remained in that city until the enterprise was an assured success.
This extensive manufacturing interest was subsequently reorgan- ized as the Harris Woolen Company, of which he is one of the part- ners and treasurer of the organization. Mr. Cole was made president of the Woonsocket First National Bank on the death of Mr. Harris, and is also president of the People's Savings Bank. In 1876, on a reorganization of the American Worsted Company, he was solicited to accept the presidency and still fills that office. In politics Mr. Cole is a staunch republican and has been to some extent identified with local political issues. He was for nine years a member of the school board and part of this time its president. In 1888 he represented his constituents in the state senate, and acted as chairman of the finance committee of that body. His religious support is given to the Metho- dist Episcopal church, of which Mrs. Cole is a member.
Mr. Cole married, October 12th, 1857, Mary K., daughter of William L. and Mary Ann Peckham, of Bristol, R. I. Their children are: Edward Peckham (deceased), Walter Hutchinson, Mary Louise and Frederic Pierce.
Henry L. Cook, son of Zebina and Phila (Bartlett) Cook, was born in 1840 in Woonsocket, then Cumberland, and was educated in the district schools. He first engaged in farming and the ice business,
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was on the police force for four years, and afterward for four years was superintendent of streets. He married Olive B., daughter of Lu- man Hardy, of Carroll, N. H., in 1861.
Ira B. Cook, son of Aquilla and Olive (Bates) Cook, was born in 1842 in Bellingham, Mass., and was educated in the public schools of Bellingham and Woonsocket, and at the Bernardston Academy, Massa- chusetts. He was married in 1866 to Ida, daughter of Carlile W. Capron, of Woonsocket. Mr. Cook served in the 42d Massachusetts Volunteers, went out lieutenant and was afterward made captain of Company B. On his return from the war he took up the brush man- ufacturing business as manager for his father, who carried on the business in Woonsocket for many years. At the death of his father he sold the business and retired. He is at present interested in real estate in Chicago, is a director in the Woonsocket Institution for Sav- ings, and one of the board of investment, also a director in the Ameri- can Worsted Company.
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