USA > Rhode Island > Memorial encyclopedia of the state of Rhode Island > Part 13
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With deepest sympathy, I remain,
Faithfully yours, (Signed) ALBERT S. ABBOTT, Secretary Second Quarterly Conference.
RESOLUTIONS.
Whereas, It has pleased Divine Providence to remove by death our late treasurer and fellow director, George R. Loud, and
Whereas, By his death the Callender, McAuslan and Troup Company has suffered the loss of a faithful and efficient officer and his fellow directors the loss of his advice and genial comradeship. It is
Resolved, That the Board of Directors recognize the loss sustained and express their deep sorrow occasioned by his death ; and that our sympathy be extended to his wife and family in their sad bereavement. It is
Resolved, Further, That these resolutions be spread upon our records and the secretary instructed to send a copy of same to Mrs. Loud and family.
C. A. BLAKE, Secretary.
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St.
*** شديد
EN
George William Whitaker
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George William Galbitaker
T HE influence which the artist exerts upon the community in which he lives is not to be expressed in material terms, it is not commensurate with that of the merchant, the business man or even the inventor, although a certain amount of art must enter into the work of the best of these. In the case of the inventor, or the craftsman and artisan, the art but enhances the value of the material object at which he works and does not necessarily change the kind of value that it possesses. In the case of the pure arts, however, in the case of music or painting, the change is not only in degree but in kind so that a common standard cannot be found for the two types, which cannot be compared together. But though this is true, and it must remain forever impossible to compare the work of the artist with that of almost every other kind of man who performs a service for the com- munity, the man of aesthetic sensitiveness knows by a sure instinct that the work of the artist is in its nature a thing far greater than that of the material- ist, that it is incommensurate because the latter is finite, while it is, in a sense, infinite, that is that it's effect is only limited by the capacity of those who re- ceive it, for, while if a man shall benefit a community to the extent of one thousand dollars, nothing will avail either to increase or decrease that bene- fit, if another shall benefit it to the extent of a beautiful picture, the benefit depends solely upon how greatly those who see it are capable of being moved thereby and their increasing appreciation might rise beyond any limit we may set for it. It is for this reason that in speaking of the work of George William Whitaker, whose death at Providence, Rhode Island. March 6, 1916, removed one of the most striking figures from that community, that it is possible to apply to his influence such words as great or powerful, or whatnot, it is beyond the power of anyone to say how great since it is impos- sible for him to know the degree of receptivity with which his message is met. That it was great and not small we may be certain, however, because of the position which he held in the regard of the community and the popu- larity which his work achieved among those who were familiar with art.
George William Whitaker was born September 25, 1840, at Fall River, Massachusetts, a son of James and Elizabeth (Monday) Whitaker, his father being a native of England and his mother an American. James Whitaker came to the United States as a boy and became the head colorer in the American Print Works where he found employment. He was an un- usually intelligent young man, and reached this responsible position while still a mere youth, and was but twenty-two years old at the time of his death. His wife, to whom he was married when they were both very young, died but three months after him and at the same age and left their son, George William, an orphan at the age of two. He was taken and reared by his maternal grandparents, who were good and liberal people and placed no unnecessary obstacles in the way of the ambitions of their youthful charge.
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George Calilliam Whitaker
There is no doubt that these worthy people had a profound influence on the development of the young man and that it was under their firm but gentle direction that his own strong character was trained. His grandfather was Captain George Monday, well known in the great merchant marine of those days and a fine man in every way. In the same delightful household were included four of the children of Captain Monday, three aunts and an uncle of the little orphan who had come to dwell with them, and to these also Mr. Whitaker used to attribute a strong and beneficent influence upon his youthful years. His uncle, Mr. Nathaniel Monday, particularly, was con- nected with his budding artistic genius, being himself an engraver in New York City and taking the lad into his employ for a sort of an apprentice- ship as soon as he reached an age to make it possible. In early childhood the lad was sent to the excellent public schools of Providence and it was while in these institutions that his talent for drawing first made its appear- ance. attracting the attention of the school drawing teacher. He was only eight years of age at the time and it soon became evident that it was a marked natural gift, but in spite of this he remained where he was in his grandfather's household until he had reached the age of fourteen years, getting his instruction, such as it was, from the local school. When he was fourteen, however, he went as an employe to the American Phalanx at Red Bank, New Jersey, and a year later his uncle took him to New York with him and set him to work cutting stencils and it may be said that his art career began at this time and in this humble manner. He studied engraving until he had mastered the craft in every detail, and was associated with his uncle for some seventeen years until he was thirty-one years of age. During that time, however, he had studied much more than engraving and came into contact with many of the best artists of the time in this country as well as many notable ones abroad, and had already begun to meet with recognition himself for his charming landscapes. While still a mere youth he had come under the influence of George Inness and what was known as the Hudson river group of artists and from these men he gained a new and larger out- look upon art. Inness especially influenced him, the highly poetic note in this great artist's work striking a responding cord in his young follower. From these men, also, he gained an overwhelming desire to paint and study abroad and breathe in for a time the art atmosphere of the centers there which even the presence of his friends of the Hudson River School could not wholly supply. Millet was then at the height of his fame and power and it is natural that the young aspirant's heart should turn to Barbizon and its great associations with longing. Accordingly, as soon as he felt himself properly the master of his engraving art, he set sail for Europe and a short time later was one of the group of students in the famous colony on the outskirts of Fontainebleu. It had been his strong desire to study under the great master himself, but this was impossible as Millet was at that time so deeply engrossed in his own work that he could find no time for teaching, so Mr. Whitaker had to content himself with the skilled instruction of Depall, under whom he made rapid progress. The Frenchman strongly appreciated the unusual talent of his young pupil from the outset and paid him some en- viable compliments which Mr. Whitaker remembered with pleasure through-
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George William Adibitaker
out the remainder of his life. At the close of a period somewhat under a year Depall told him that he had learned ali he could teach him and added that all he required to learn when he first came there was how to lay on his first color and that so far as design went he, Depall, might have learned from his pupil. But aside altogether from Depall, Barbizon had had its effect and Mr. Whitaker remained an exponent of its romantic temper for the remainder of his career, carrying away with him what was more than any amount of method, its aims, its enthusiasm, its attitude towards art in the latter's relation to life.
In 1871 Mr. Whitaker removed to Providence, Rhode Island, which from that time became his permanent home. For twenty-nine years he made his home on Jewett street and then moved to the Fruit Hill region where he built his beautiful residence and where he spent the latter part of his life and in which Mrs. Whitaker resides at the present time. From the time that he first came to the city he took a leading part in its art activities and did more than probably any other man to organize and chrystalize effort along that line. There were comparatively few men in the city at that time who were really giving their lives to art, but these few included such men as Edward M. Bannister and C. W. Stetson who warmly welcomed their newly arrived brother to their circle. A man wrapped up in his subject and by nature energetic, Mr. Whitaker burned to consolidate the forces of his favorite cause, knowing full well that no man working isolated from his fellows can accomplish what is possible when associated with others of like purpose with himself. With this in view, as well, of course, as for the mere pleasure of their society, he strongly cultivated the acquaintance of his fellow artists in the city and worked up a sense of their community of inter- ests which eventually, in 1878, culminated in the proposal on his part of an art club in the city. A meeting of the artists there was called at which per- haps twelve put in an appearance. It was a rather discouraging response but Mr. Whitaker and his fellow enthusiasts, Mr. Bannister and Mr. Stetson, worked on and on April 15. 18So, the charter of the Providence Art Club was issued. This organization played from that time on a very important part in the art life of the community and unquestionably gave a great stimulus to general interest in the subject. For some time after its organiza- tion the club met in the old Breck Building on North Main street, Provi- dence, and here meetings of importance were often held with lectures and discussions which were open to the public. It was here that Mr. Whitaker himself began that series of talks on art subjects that afterwards became so popular and brought his remarkable personality so prominently before his fellow citizens.
And this introduces us to another phase of his work and influence in the community, for besides his original work, Mr. Whitaker was a first-rate critic and a student of the history of art so that his talks on the subject were of great value and he was a teacher of distinction, a thing which cannot be claimed for all artists, even those of high personal achievement. At the time of the founding of the Rhode Island School of Design, in which he played a prominent part, Mr. Whitaker was chosen its first teacher in oils, a position which he held for many years and in which he did a really great
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Øcorge Calilliam Whitaker
work. Many of the young artists to-day received their early instructions under him, and for those of his pupils who showed real enthusiasm and talent he conceived the strongest interest which did not end with their withdrawal from the school but followed them out into the world, and not a few aspirants have received assistance other than that of instruction from him at the outset of their careers. In latter life he also became art critic for the school and reviewed the work of the students generally, his personal zeal and interest acting as a spur to their efforts.
Devoted as Mr. Whitaker was to his art, he did not allow it to claim his every attention, however, realizing that such a course results inevitably in narrowing the outlook, even in the chosen matter itself. He kept himself, on the contrary, keenly alert to all that was going on in the life of the com- munity and especially in the department of politics and public affairs. Indeed, in scarcely any department were his characteristics more clearly shown than here, his independence of thought and action standing out vividly and to his great credit. There was a strong independent movement at that time in Providence and he was one of its leaders, working strongly for reform and the overthrow of the corrupt Republican party. So promi- nent was he that he was candidate for Senator several times both on the Independent and Democratic tickets, but the intrenched machine was too strong for the reformers and he was in each case defeated with the rest of his associates. In spite of this, however, he did a great deal toward shaking this intrenched power and preparing a way for its eventual collapse. Mr. Whit- aker was actively interested in the development of Fruit Hill in North Providence, where his own charming home was built, and a member of the Fruit Hill Improvement Association, it being his influence in no small degree that caused the work of that organization to be of such an artistic nature and so great an element in the improvement of the city's general appearance. He did a great deal for the Fruit Hill Volunteer Fire Depart- ment, and was the chairman of the Park Fund Committee which founded Lyman Park and erected the monument to Major Lyman therein.
On May 27, 1863, Mr. Whitaker was united in marriage with Sarah L. Hull, a daughter of John and Lydia M. (Sherman) Hull, originally resi- dents of Fall River, but who later removed to Providence, where they dwelt during the latter part of their lives and finally died. Mr. Hull was a con- tractor and builder, his specialty being mills of which he constructed a great number in many parts of the country. Mrs. Whitaker was one of six chil- dren as follows: John Edward, who died in childhood; Sarah L., and Eliza- beth L., twins, the latter being the deceased wife of Albert Tripp, of Provi- dence; Mary Ann, now Mrs. William K. Paine, of Dudley, Massachusetts; John Mason, deceased; and William Henry, who died at the age of ten years. Mr. and Mrs. Whitaker have one daughter, Elizabeth Wood (Whit- aker) Stiff, wife of James P. Stiff, and resides in Providence. Mr. and Mrs. Whitaker were members of the Church of the New Jerusalem on Trinity Square, Providence, and on several occasions he served as secretary of the parish:
A word concerning Mr. Whitaker's attitude towards his art will serve to close this all-too-brief sketch of a remarkable man. Enough has already been
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George Calilliam Kdibiraker
said to indicate that he was of strongly independent mind and character and one not apt to fall in lightly with accepted ideals and methods, merely because they were accepted. He early came under the influence of the romantic Barbizon School which was in itself a rebellion against a stiffened classicalism which had bound French art for a considerable period. Of this great movement abroad Mr. Whitaker and his colleagues, Inness, Wyant, Batchellor, were a reflection on this side of the water, and in his own case the aims and manner of the Barbizon School remained his normal atmosphere and medium of expression to the end. But because this was his individual mode of expression he did not begrudge others theirs, but was keenly and responsively appreciative to others even when their manners were far other than his own. Always prompt to recognize and proclaim originality, he exhibited that final test of the broad intellect, a generous tolerance, by no means incompatible with the strongest enthusiasm for one's own line of work, but which is, alas, none too common among artists. But although he was ever ready to acknowledge originality, that did not mean in his case that he was easily imposed upon by the countless new movements that were in his time, and are still forever cropping out in the field of art. He knew originality when he saw it, but he had no patience with the mere novelty mongers who would pass off their vageries as originality, knowing well the profound difference between the two. He had, for instance, no sympathy with the "Futurists," so called, whom he considered mere fadists whose activities were rather detrimental to the normal development of art than otherwise. He perceived the taint of degeneracy in much of the modern European art and the likelihood of its gaining a foothold in this country among the less virile of the younger artists, and he repelled it with all his might. He stood for the healthy, the individual, the normal in art and he was a living example of Matthew Arnold's dictum that an artist must never take his eyes from his object, and a rebuke to those who forget the object in a futile preoccupation with themselves. For in art as in religion, he who seeks his life shall lose it and it is only in self forgetfulness in some larger objective that we attain at length to true self expression.
MeRop Lewett Chilson
F OR forty years Mr. Chilson had been closely identified with the business, political, religious and educational life of the city of Woonsocket, Rhode Island, and during his long and honored career stood a just and upright man, ever ready to help a friend, ever willing to forgive a wrong. In his busi- ness life as stationer and news dealer he came in contact with hundreds of boys who served as his assistants, and to-day there is many a business man in Woonsocket and vicinity who was grounded in the ethics of commercial life and taught a spirit of helpfulness and honesty by their busy employer, who, however, was never too busy to lend a helping hand or to give a friendly word of counsel and cheer.
As a legislator he served well his party and State, as financier he was a wise counselor, and a tower of strength to the directorate of the bank he served, but it is his connection with the school department for which he will be best remembered in his public service. For twenty-eight years he was connected with the school board, and for half of that time was its chairman and directing spirit. To his forethought and desire to bring the full benefits of the schools within the means of the poorest citizens, was due the introduc- tion of free text books, Woonsocket adopting the plan twenty-five years before the State law required it. Said one who served upon the board with him for many years, "Few people realize the sacrifice of time and the heart interest which Mr. Chilson gave the public schools. For years a portion of his time every day was given to this work and always with the sole purpose of impartially and unselfishly serving the cause of public education.
His political career was one of honor and included service in the State Legislature as assemblyman and senator. While he was a strong party man he was held in high regard by voters of both parties, and ever held that up- rightness in politics was just as essential as in business. When he retired from the stationery and news dealing business in which he had been engaged in Woonsocket for thirty-three years, he was the oldest merchant in the town in point of years in business and had attained an actual age of sixty- eight years.
Mr. Chilson was of the sixth generation of the family founded in Amer- ica by Walsingham Chilson, who came to Massachusetts in 1645, and settled at Marblehead. His son, Walsingham (2) Chilson, settled at Bellingham, Massachusetts, and there died aged seventy-nine years, leaving a son, Joseph Chilson, who married Mercy Shuttleworth, and left a son, Joshua Chilson, who like his father and grandfather resided in Bellingham, Massa- chusetts. He was a soldier of the Revolution, serving under several enlist- ments between his first marching on the Lexington .Alarm of April 15, 1775, and the Twerton Alarm of July 27, 1780, his last service. He married Margaret Wright and left a son, Nathan Chilson, born at the old homestead in Bell- ingham, Massachusetts, October 9, 1795, and there residing until his death in 1870. He married Susan Lewett, born in South Mendon, Massachusetts,
I. L. Chilson
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LeRoy Lewett Chilson
died in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, daughter of Stephen and Phoebe (Thompson) Lewett. They were the parents of one son and two daughters, the son being LeRoy Lewett Chilson, to whose memory this evidence of appreciation and respect is offered.
LeRoy Lewett Chilson was born at Bellingham, Massachusetts, August 20, 1833, died in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, March 6, 1907. He was edu- cated in the schools of Bellingham and North Providence, and when twenty years of age himself became an instructor, teaching his first school at Men- don, Massachusetts, receiving a monthly salary of twenty dollars. From Mendon he went to a school in South Milford, Massachusetts, thence to a Millville school, thence to Pawtucket, Rhode Island, where for three years he taught in the grammar school. He continued a teacher for twelve years, most of that period in Blackstone, Massachusetts. In 1865 he entered the manufacturing field as a member of E. Jenckes & Company, manufacturers of silk and cotton yarn at South Walpole, Massachusetts. After two years he retired from the company and in 1868 first came to Woonsocket, Rhode Island. He there bought the newspaper and stationery business of Francis S. Weeks, a business he conducted successfully for thirty-three years, then selling to W. S. Preston and retiring to the management of his other inter- ets and the executive position he held, president of the First National Bank of Woonsocket. When the news of his retiring from business was noised about town, a reporter of the "Journal" obtained some interesting reminis- cence from Mr. Chilson which are here preserved. (April 19, 1901).
I struck town thirty-three years ago, said he. I bought out the newspaper and sta- tionery business of the late Francis S. Weeks in Music Hall block, which was then in the dead centre of local business activity. The heft of the grocery business was then between that block and the Globe bridge, and as many dry goods stores were on the west side of the block as were on the east. Among the grocers below me were Horace Cook and Albert Cook and Messrs. Sinclair and Vaslett had dry goods stores below me. The shoe store of Fletcher & Leech was down that way. I also had John Currier, dry goods merchant, as a neighbor. James Smith was in the shoe business and the Bigelow Brothers, Jonas and Augustus, sold hats and caps. My only competitor was William J. Lally, at Mechanics' corner, now Monument Square, George C. Wilder and J. Barton Aldrich had grocery stores. I have lived to see all of these men dead or out of business, most of them dead, and when I retired some days ago, selling out to William S. Preston, I was the oldest merchant in town. That honor I think now belongs to Charles H. Stebbins, of South Main street, whose father was in the liquor business when I came here. E. L. Simmons, since retired, was in the clothing business here when I struck town. Then there were but two or three drug stores in town. Now there are fifteen or sixteen. The banks have remained the same as far as the number is concerned, but of course the deposits and volume of business have largely increased. When I came here I deposited with the First National Bank and have continued to do so for thirty-three years, and I am now the President of that institution.
My going into business in Woonsocket was a little peculiar. Mr. Weeks was an old teacher and at the time I came from Walpole, where I had been in the manufacturing business as one of the firm of E. Jenckes & Company. I had previously taught school for twelve years, most of the time in Blackstone. Mr. Weeks spoke of selling the store. I said I would like to buy it and we struck a bargain. Horace Cook had backed a man in the hat and cap business in Webster and had been obliged to take the stock. He wanted me to go to Webster and sell it out, but I could not do so, but made him a proposition that we might go into business together and I could work off the hats and caps. At that time I was in need of capital and I was gratified when Mr. Cook accepted my offer and we went into the newspaper and stationery and hat and cap business under the firm name of Horace Cook & Company. The latter's nephew, S. P. Cook, now
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LeRoy Letoctt Coulson
cashier of the Producers' Bank and also City Treasurer, worked for us a while and after that Horace Cook's son, Hosea, was in the store. Mr. Cook, my partner, who died years ago, was the father of Horace and Austin S. Cook. well known in business circles. and was as nice a man as ever stood in two shoes. That man never came into the store to dictate and left the entire management to me. We struck a dividend in six months and in due time we had cleaned out all the hats and caps and had put in more stationery and fancy goods.
After a couple of years I went to Mr. Cook and offered to buy out his interests, stating that I had got on my feet and could afford to do so. He said he did not care to sell, as he was making good profits on his investment, but after a few minutes reflection said: "If you've got on your feet you ought to have the store," and then we closed the bargain. About this time I had an opportunity to make a change and become the Treas- urer of the Woonsocket Foundry. Some twenty-three years ago I moved up Main street and located in the building which I now own and in which the Chilson store has been for that time, next to the old Baptist Church, upon the 'site of which the Longley build- ing now stands.
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