USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > History of Providence County, Rhode Island > Part 69
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Mr. Nichols was first married to Hannah E., daughter of Isaac Wall- ing of Burrillville. She died in 1863. They had one child, now the wife of W. E. Horton, grocer, of Providence. He was married the second time to Amanda M., daughter of Jason Olney of Burrillville. By this marriage two children, a son and a daughter, were born, both now dead. The son Jason died after he had become a young man 19 years of age.
Joseph D. Nichols, born in Burrillville in 1848, is the youngest son of Joseph D. and Harriet S. (Stafford) Nichols. He was educated in Burrillville and at North Scituate. He was elected to the town coun- cil in 1888. He married Henrietta L., daughter of Henry Smith, of Burrillville, in 1876.
37
578
HISTORY OF PROVIDENCE COUNTY.
Myron B. Noyes was born in 1840 in Vermont, and came to Bur- rillville in 1878. He has always been in the mercantile business, and at Pascoag for the past nine years. He is a son of Nathaniel and Betsey (Bartlett) Noyes. He was maried in 1866 to Martha H., daugh- ter of Ivory Hill, of Buxton, Mass. He was recently appointed post- master at Pascoag.
William Orrill was born in 1848, in England, and came to America about 1855 and located at Olneyville. His parents moved from there to Bridgeport, Conn., then to Putnam, Conn., then to Pascoag, where he worked in a mill. His parents moved to Greenville in 1860, where he also, worked in a mill, and came to Glendale in 1865, working there until 1868, when he went to Greenville, then to Belleville, then to Mo- hegan, then to Blackstone, Mass., then to Nasonville in charge of weaving, then back to Mohegan, then to Hampden, Mass., then to Putnam, Conn., then in 1879 to Glendale as superintendent for Francis Carpenter. At the death of Mr. Carpenter, in 1883, he began operat- ing the mill under the firm name of Carpenter & Orrill. He married Mary E., daughter of Edwin and Eliza Brewer, of Wilbraham, Mass., in 1888. His first wife was Alice A., daughter of James and Ann Bradley, of Blackstone, Mass. She died in 1881. He has three chil- dren living: Gertrude, Frederick and Mabel A. He is one of the town committee.
Burrill Paine, born in 1810, in Burrillville, is a son of Sterling and Sarah (Esten) Paine. He married for his first wife Matilda, daughter of Joseph Newell. She died in 1864. He married his present wife, Marinda, daughter of Edward Ross, of Burrillville, in 1866. His chil- dren were: Lorin N., died in 1843, and Sterling. He has been a mem- ber of the council, and a number of years highway surveyor.
JOSHUA PERKINS, manufacturer, of Nasonville, was born in the town of Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England, March 17th, 1842. His father, Joshua Perkins, was a shoemaker by trade, but young Perkins, after ten years of age, left this employ and went to work in a woolen mill, where he remained as long as he stayed in that country. Realizing that his only capital was his labor, his thoughts naturally turned toward this country, where he was informed the munificent sum of one dollar a day was actually paid as wages to common laborers. At the age of 17 he found himself possessed of sufficient means to make the ocean voyage, and on the 16th of March, 1859, he embarked in the " West- ern Empire " at Liverpool, for the United States, and after a 45 days' sail landed in Boston. With no surplus money in his pocket to spare, he immediately set out for Pascoag, where he at once found work as a common hand for James O. Inman at $16 per month. The next year he was advanced by his employer, and made overseer of the finishing room, a position he held while he remained in Mr. Inman's employ. In 1862, he became overseer of the Granite Mills, and remained there three years. In 1865, he was employed by James Legg & Co., as over-
Joshua Perkins
579
HISTORY OF PROVIDENCE COUNTY.
seer for their two mills, and remained with them till 1871. In 1872' Mr. Perkins began business for himself, leasing a little mill in Mohe- gan for the manufacture of shoddy, but soon returned to Mapleville to serve in his former capacity, where he remained till 1877. In the meantime he established a store in Nasonville, which he still owns and operates under the style of J. Perkins & Co.
In 1886, Mr. Perkins was induced to undertake a still greater ven- ture. The mills of Nasonville had been idle for a few months, seek- ing some suitable business man to lease the property. These mills had never proven a success, and failures had become frequent. Mr. Perkins undertook the enterprise, began the manufacture of fancy cassimeres and worsteds in a four set mill of 20 broad looms; and his business has so prospered that the mill has been increased to 33 looms, and the prospects are sufficiently bright to warrant the leasing of the White Mill at Pascoag, to take effect the 1st of August, 1890. The business at the White Mill is conducted under the style of the Perkins Manufacturing Company. Forty-six looms will be placed in the White Mill. About 250 hands are employed. Henry W. T. Mali & Co., New York, are the selling agents for these mills.
Mr. Perkins was married February 7th, 1863, to Miss Emily Gulick. He has had one son, Fred. W. Perkins, now a member of the Perkins Manufacturing Company, and one daughter, Ruth E. Perkins, who died in 1889 at the age of 15 years. Mr. Perkins is a man of public spirit, but no office seeker. He has been assistant postmaster and postmaster of Nasonville since 1877; trustee of the public schools for many years, and at one time a member of the town council. Mr. Per- kins is a successful business man, and a genial, kind-hearted gentle- man.
Henry Phillips, born in 1816 in Glocester, is a son of Madeous and Martha (Sayles) Phillips. He was two years old when his father located in Burrillville. He married for his first wife Fanny, daughter of Jonathan Lackey, of Grafton, Mass., who lived in Burrillville at the time. His present wife is Asha, daughter of John Law, whom he married in 1883. His grandfather on his mother's side was Christo- pher Sayles, a native of Glocester, who served in the revolutionary war while at Newport.
Hiram Ross, born in 1813 in Burrillville, is a son of Samuel and Joanna (Mowry) Ross. He has held the offices of school committee and road surveyor. He married Nancy, daughter of Amos Stone, in 1842. Their children are: Julia Ann, born 1843, and James M., born 1845. His father, Samuel Ross, was representative. His grandfather, Seth Ross, was in the revolutionary war.
Seth A. Ross, born in 1829 in Burrillville, is a son of Samuel and Joanna (Mowry) Ross. He was married in 1856 to Amie Ann, daugh- ter of Brown Angell of Burrillville. Their children are: Adeline F., Fernando C., Maria L., Edward D., Earl A. and Frank W.
580
HISTORY OF PROVIDENCE COUNTY.
ALBERT LEPRELET SAYLES, manufacturer, was born in Harrisville (formerly called Rhodesville), in the town of Burrillville, August 29th, 1826. He is a representative of the third generation of a large family of successful manufacturers in Rhode Island. According to tradition, John Sayles, with his brothers Richard and Thomas, came from Eng- land. Richard settled on what is now called Sayles hill in Smithfield, Thomas settled in Rehoboth and John in Providence. We have no reliable records other than that John Sayles married Mary, daughterof Roger Williams, in 1650, and held for some time town treasurer, town clerk, grand juror and other offices. The grandson of John Sayles was Richard Sayles, a very prominent citizen, who was in 1731 town clerk of Smithfield. His son, Israel Sayles, married Marsa Whipple, and lived in Glocester. Their children were: Richard, Esek, Elisha, Christopher, Royal, Ahab, Daniel, Mary (who married Esek Brown), Roba, Rebecca, and Mercy, who married Benjamin Mathewson.
Daniel Sayles, the grandfather of Albert L., was born in Glocester, in that part of the town since included in the town of Burrillville, October 31st, 1769, and died January 25th, 1849. Phebe, the wife of Daniel Sayles, was the daughter of Captain Pitts Smith. She was born July 21st, 1769, and died December 11th, 1855. They had nine chil- dren: Hardin, born March 7th, 1779, died June 11th, 1861; Smith S., born December 24th, 1794, died August 31st, 1879; Pitts, born August 11th, 1801, died January 11th, 1864; Mary, born September 3d, 1793, died August, 1857; Marietta, born 1798, died 1832; Marcillar, born Sep- tember 5th, 1803, died January 14th, 1835; Phidelia, born March 2d, 1807, died 1887; Elizabeth, born October 15th, 1808; Elsie, born Sep- tember 2d, 1811, died October 5th, 1854.
Hardin and Laura Sayles were the parents of the subject of this sketch. Laura, the wife of Hardin Sayles, was the daughter of Cap- tain John and Roba (Smith) Wood. Their other children were: Maria Maretta, born June 25th, 1832, died July 16th, 1853; Elliot Smith, born February 13th, 1834; Hardin Roscoe, born May 20th, 1835; Ellen Augusta, born September 7th, 1839, died January 11th, 1864; and Addi- son Clark, born July 18th, 1841.
Albert L. Sayles attended the common schools until 15 years of age, when he commenced work in his father's mill. Two years later he obtained employment with Daniel S. Whipple, at Gazza, a manu- facturing village now a part of Mapleville in Burrillville. Mr. Whip- ple was a relative (his mother being a sister of Hardin Sayles) and had learned the business of manufacturing in the mill of Edward Harris, a successful manufacturer, business man, and prominent citizen of Woonsocket. Mr. Sayles remained with Mr. Whipple three years, during which time he learned the art of manufacturing and finishing woolen goods. He then returned to the mill of L. Copeland & Co., of which firm his father was a member, and in 1848 took charge of the finishing department. On the retirement of Mr. Copeland in 1850 he
581
HISTORY OF PROVIDENCE COUNTY.
became superintendent of the mill, which position he held until 1853, when he purchased the interest of his uncle, Pitts Sayles, and the firm was changed to Hardin Sayles & Son. In 1861 his father died, and he continued the business under the same firm, his mother, his three brothers, and a sister (heirs) retaining their share of his father's inter- est. In 1865 he built his new stone mill and fitted it up with machin- ery, all at a cost of about $250,000. Buying out the other heirs except one in 1880 he still enlarged its capacity to 15 sets. In 1874, with other gentlemen, he purchased the manufacturing property at Warren, Mass., known as the Sibley Woolen Mills, the original cost of which was $240,000, and now owns that entire property. He also owns the Huntsville Mill at the upper village, which contains seven sets of cards and 46 broad looms. He has also added machinery to his Warren mill in Massachusetts, which now contains ten sets of cards and 44 broad looms. It is operated by Mr. Sayles and his son-in-law, Mr. William A. Jenks, under the firm name of Sayles & Jenks. Albert H. & F. L. Sayles, his sons, have bought the Fiske & Sayles mill property, which they own and operate under the style of F. L. Sayles & Co., and in which Mr. A. L. Sayles is also interested.
Mr. Sayles was one of the prime movers in originating and build- ing the Providence & Springfield railroad, was one of the largest stock- holders of the company, and has been one of its directors since its organization. He is director and vice-president of the Third National Bank of Providence, a director in the Pascoag National Bank and a director in the American and the Enterprise Mutual Fire Insurance Companies. In politics he is a republican, and was one of the delegates to the national republican convention held at Chicago in June, 1888. He has long been an earnest and practical temperance man, having prohibited the use of intoxicating beverages on his table, and provided a commodious and comfortable hotel free of rent, to be kept strictly as a temperance house for the public accommodation in the village. He is a member of the Free-will Baptist Society at Pascoag, of which he was formerly president and treasurer. He is a liberal supporter of the churches in his town and of all good works.
Mr. Sayles married, December 1st, 1852, Fannie J., daughter of David and Harriet P. (Benson) Warner, of Uxbridge, Mass. They have had four children: Edgar Franklin, born April 20th, 1855, died March 24th, 1858; Ellen Maria, born November 30th, 1857, and married William A. Jenks, who resides in Warren, Mass., and is one of the co-partners in the operation of the Warren Mills; Albert Hardin, born March 25th, 1863; and Frederick Lincoln, born April 13th, 1865, both of the firm of F. L. Sayles & Co.
Albert H. Sayles, born in 1863 in Burrillville, is a son of Albert L. and Fannie J. (Warner) Sayles, and was educated at Mowry & Goff's, Providence, graduating in 1882. He was elected to the general
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HISTORY OF PROVIDENCE COUNTY.
assembly in 1888 and re-elected in 1889. In 1887 he was married to Emma B., daughter of John Griffith and Lavinia Bird of Newport.
Fred. L. Sayles, born in Burrillville in 1865, is a son of Albert L. and Fannie J. (Warner) Sayles. He was educated in Burrillville and at Mowry & Goff's English and Classical School, Providence, graduated in 1885. He began the manufacturing of yarn in 1887 and to make goods in 1888. He was married in 1888 to Phebe M., daughter of Manning Wood, of Pascoag.
Henry C. Sayles, born in 1839 in Burrillville, is the youngest son of Welcome and Maria Sayles. He was married to Amanda F., daughter of Stephen Eddy, of Burrillville, in 1870. He enlisted in Company K, 12th R. I. Infantry in 1862.
Sylvester Sayles, born in 1825 in Burrillville, is the eldest son of Welcome and Maria Sayles. He was representative in 1860 and 1861, has served on school committee, has been collector of taxes and presi- dent of town council two or three years.
William A. Sheldon was born in 1837 in Glocester, and located in Burrillville in 1860. He is a son of George and Marana (Kelly) Shel- don. He married in 1864 for his first wife, Mary, daughter of James Preston, of Foster. She died in 1865. His present wife, Nancy E., daughter of Thomas M. Baker of Grafton, Mass., he married in 1873. He has one child, William R. Sheldon. He has been engaged for thirty-five years in his business of builder and established for himself for twenty years. He built most of the principal buildings in Burrill- ville. He has been a member of the town council.
Sumner Sherman, born in Burrillville in 1830, is a son of Cyria and Maria (Wood) Sherman. He has been highway surveyor for 35 years. He married Lucinda Mowry, of Smithfield, in 1856. They have had two children: Lillian Maria, born October 22d, 1858, died March 26th, 1874, and Everett B., born January 17th, 1862. His father Ezekiel, and S. L. Sherman built the Granite Mill at Burrillville in 1849. It was burned in 1852, and immediately rebuilt, and again burned in 1879. His father died in 1867. He was a mason by trade.
Everett B. Sherman, born in Burrillville in 1862, is a son of Sumner and Lucinda (Mowry) Sherman. He was educated at Burrillville and Mowry & Goff's English and Classical School, Providence, graduating in 1880. He married Alice M., daughter of Charles White, of Ux- bridge, Mass., 1886. They have two children: Lillian Maria. born January 12th, 1887, and Waldo Leonard, January 16th, 1889. Mr. Sher- man makes a speciality of breeding thoroughbred Ayrshire cattle and Hambletonian horses.
Francis Sprague was born in Glocester in 1825, and located in Burrillville in 1863. He is a son of George and Sally Ann (Darling) Sprague. He was married in 1856 to Emily, daughter of Welcome Sayles of Burrillville. He has one son, Edward C. His father and mother lived and died in Glocester. His father lived to be almost 91
Art. Sayles
GRANITE MILLS, PASCOAG, R. I.
583
HISTORY OF PROVIDENCE COUNTY.
years old, and his mother was 86. Mr. Sprague has always been en- gaged in mason work and has been in business for himself over 30 years. He does the principal mason work in Burrillville.
Isaac Steere, born in 1826, in Burrillvllle, is a son of Shadrach and Mary (Fowler) Steere. He was member of the town council in 1888, member of school committee for about 20 years, and also a member 30 years ago. In 1855 he married Avis, daughter of Smith Battey. Their children are: Job W., born 1860; Smith B., born 1863, and Jon- athan M., born 1870. Mr. Steere lives in the same house where he was born, and which was built by Judge Daniel Mowry, of Smithfield, in 1795. His father was born in Smithfield, and located in Burrill- ville in 1806. His mother was from Northbridge, Mass.
T. H. Sweet, born in 1838, in Fall River, Mass., is a son of Henry and Mary Ann (Mathewson) Sweet. He was educated in Burrillville. He established the wholesale and retail butcher business in 1863, and soon after took in his brother. The firm is now T. H. & A. E. Sweet. He was married in 1871 to Lydia S., daughter of Jason Olney, of Bur- rillville. His father was born in Johnston, was a machinist by trade, building and running engines. He located in Burrillville about 1830.
George H. Thayer was born in 1858, in Burrillville, on the same place where he now lives, and was educated in the schools of his na- tive town. He was elected to the town council in 1888, and re-elected in 1889. He was one of the republican town committee.
WILLIAM TINKHAM, president of the Providence & Springfield Railroad Company, was born in Harmony Village, Glocester, July 8th, 1823. He is a lineal descendant of Hezekiah Tinkham, who came from England during the revolutionary war, settled in Glocester, and was a blacksmith by occupation. William Tinkham is the son of the late Nehemiah Tinkham, who died in 1886, at the age of 87 years, and Alzada (Andrews) Tinkham, still living at the age of 90 years. William Tinkham is the oldest of the six children, all now living. He received a good education in the district school, and finished in Smithfield Academy, later widely known as the Lapham Institute of North Scituate. In his earlier days, he learned the trade of a black- smith, but in 1844 he abandoned the trade and entered a store at Greenville, R. I., where he served a short time as clerk, and afterward purchased the business. In 1853 he entered the store of a manufact- uring establishment at Wakefield, but in July of that same year his career as a manufacturer with Job S. Steere was begun, first in Maple- ville, then in 1856 in Harrisville, where the business is still continued under the name of William Tinkham & Co., the firm doing a business of $800,000 annually.
Very soon after Mr. Tinkham entered upon the manufacturing business, he realized that in order to insure complete success, a thor- ough knowledge of the details of the business was essential, and he therefore determined to make himself competent to superintend every
584
HISTORY OF PROVIDENCE COUNTY.
process in the factory. To attain this end, he became an operative in his own mill, dismissed the assistant in the lowest room, and taking his place, began by scouring wool. He then learned the art of dyeing, dismissed the boss and hired an assistant. And so on he went from room to room, working more hours per day than his help, and at the end of three years becoming master of manufacturing woolen' goods. In 1857, when the financial crisis overtook them, Mr. Tinkham went out and made business, manufacturing partly on shares, and buying and selling in person. By his good management they were enabled to tide over the rough times, and by January, 1865, they were able to pay all their indebtedness, besides having a large surplus on hand.
In the fall of 1868, Mr. Tinkham took up his residence in Provi- dence, and at the same time commenced running the Carolina Mills, in the town of Richmond, R. I., in company with his brother, Ellison Tinkham, and F. Metcalf. In 1878 he sold his interests there to his partners. After Mr. Tinkham removed to Providence he became at once identified with the interests of that city. In 1866 he was elected to the general assembly, and served his term acceptably. In 1871 he was elected president of the Providence & Springfield Railroad Com- pany, and in 1876 president and general manager, which positions he has held ever since. He was instrumental in the projection, con- struction and successful operation of this road, and the success of the enterprise from its inception is due mainly to the energy and perse- verance of its president. In 1878, Ernest W. Tinkham, his son, was elected treasurer of the company, and holds that position at the pres- ent time.
Mr. Tinkham was married March 16th, 1847, to Caroline M., daugh- ter of Appleby and Ada (Steere) Smith, of Smithfield, R. I. They have four children, two of whom are living: Ernest W. and Grace L. Ernest W. is a partner in the manufacturing firm of William Tinkham & Co. He married February 12th, 1879, Margaret McCartney, of Dansville, N. Y. They have one child, Miriam.
John S. Walling, born in 1850 in Burrillville, is a son of Isaac and Maria (Stone) Walling. He married Sarah R., daughter of Martin and Nancy Smith, of Burrillville, in 1873, and has one child, Lennox G. He was a member of the town council from 1884 to 1888, and its president in 1887. He was educated at the Lapham Institute, North Scituate, graduated in 1866, and began teaching district school in Fos- ter, Glocester and Burrillville. He later went to Schofield's Commer- cial College, Providence, to learn book-keeping, and was first book- keeper for Horace Kimball two years, then went with Fiske & Sayles and learned the trade of coloring, then was designer for them, and afterward superintendent until 1880, when he went to Plainville and formed a copartnership with Gilbert F. Whipple, under the style Whipple & Walling, which continued until the fall of 1887. Since that time he has been superintendent of the Fred. L. Sayles & Co.
dicker ." NY
IM Hinkham
EBE
HARRISVILLE WOOLEN AND WORSTED MILLS, HARRISVILLE, R. I. WILLIAM TINKHAM & CO.
585
HISTORY OF PROVIDENCE COUNTY.
mill. His father followed farming, and his grandfather was a farmer and hotel keeper in Burrillville.
G. F. Whipple was born in Burrillville in 1855. The Whipple Mill was started by Charles H. Whipple in 1856 and operated by him until 1873. Then it was F. R. White & Co. until 1879. Then G. F. Whip- ple operated it for one year. Then it was Whipple & Walling until the fall of 1887, and since that time W. F. Esten & Co. Charles H. Whipple died in 1885.
George F. Whitford, born in 1845 in Putnam, Conn., came to Bur- rillville in 1870. He married Phebe, daughter of Daniel and Hannah Smith, of North Providence. He was educated at Eastman's College, Poughkeepsie, N. Y., and graduated in 1865. He has been engaged as book-keeper in A. L. Sayles' mill since 1870. He was president of town council in 1884, 1885 and 1886, has been notary public for the past eight years, justice of the peace, and trustee of Pascoag school district for the past two years.
Herbert M. Wilson, born in Burrillville in 1856, is a son of James M. and Elvira Wilson. He was educated in Burrillville and at Mowry & Goff's English and Classical School, Providence. He married Maria, daughter of Albert Sayles, of Burrillville, in 1881. He has always been engaged in manufacturing, and has operated the Wilson shoddy mill since 1878.
William R. Wilson, born in Burrillville in 1815, is a son of James and Deborah (Ross) Wilson. He was overseer of the poor in 1856, and member of the town council in 1861 and 1862. Over one hundred years ago a saw mill was built by William Ross, who died in 1803. His sons ran it until about 1818, when it was idle until 1846, then a grist mill was put in, and in 1847 a shingle mill; again in the winter of 1856 a saw mill was put in. James and William R. Wilson began to make shoddy about 1866. The mill was burned in 1871 and rebuilt the same year. The privilege has been owned by the Wilsons since about 1835.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE TOWN OF SCITUATE.
General Description of the Town .- Early Settlers, with Reminiscences .- Town Meet- ings .- Town Officers .- Scituate in the Revolution .- Early Mechanics .- Secret Soci- eties .- Schools .- Richmond .- The Old Angell Tavern .- Stores .- Churches .- Manu- facturing .- Village of North Scituate. - Stores. - Bank. - Hotels. - Churches .- Saundersville .- Hope Village .- Potterville .- Elmdale .- Kent Corners .- Ashland .- Rockland .- Clayville .- Ponaganset .- Biographical Sketches.
S CITUATE is situated about ten miles from the city of Providence. It is bounded on the north by Glocester, on the east by Johnston and Cranston, on the south by Coventry, and on the west by Fos- ter. Some sections of the town are quite rough and broken, other sec- tions are diversified by hill and dale. In the western part of the town there was formerly a valuable quarry of freestone, from which large quantities were taken and sent to Providence. The soil is generally a gravelly loam, mostly rough and rocky, hard for tillage, but the usual agricultural products common to the state are raised in abun- dance.
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