USA > Rhode Island > Memorial encyclopedia of the state of Rhode Island > Part 15
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Darbon Manchester Stone
engaged in the manufacture and sale of jewelry, and in this employ he remained five years in all, the firm in the meantime having become Willard & Hicks. Four of these five years he spent as an apprentice, but the last he worked as a journeyman at his trade, becoming extremely proficient therein and a master of his craft. He was twenty-three years of age at the time and of an extremely enterprising nature which urged him to engage in business for himself. He finally decided to take this step and in this matter received the support of a fellow craftsman, Lucius Weaver, the two joining forces and establishing the firm of Stone & Weaver in the year 1842. For a long period they were extremely successful, the jewelry turned out by them being of a first-class character, gold lockets forming a specialty of their line. Fenner street, Providence, was the location of their first shop, which, how- ever, was rapidly outgrown by the developing business. They removed thence to much larger quarters on Point street and there for some time did a most prosperous trade until they encountered a most serious setback in the shape of a fire that destroyed their entire plant. Neither Mr. Stone nor Mr. Weaver, however, were men to surrender easily and they were soon busy again, this time at the corner of Jackson and Fountain streets, recovering the lost ground by dint of hard work and patient effort. They were extreme- ly progressive in their ideas and nothing was too new for them to refuse to examine it. It was a day when almost all kinds of manufacture was done by hand, and it was regarded as a great innovation when in moving to their new quarters the partners introduced horse-power. The experiment was eminently successful, however, and the business once more reached propor- tions that rendered it necessary to remove to larger quarters, the site chosen this time being the new five-story Gorham building, then regarded as the model business block in the city. This building was situated on Canal street and here the firm enjoyed a period of great prosperity, the name being changed in 1858 to Stone, Weaver & Company, upon the admittance to part- nership of Henry C. Tallman and James Paine. About this time, however, there became imminent the first of those great reverses which befell Mr. Stone and which, arising from matters entirely outside of his control, and entirely independent of any action of his, made it almost appear that he was the victim of an adverse destiny, yet which seemed rather to strengthen his character and fortify his faith and good cheer, than to break his spirit as it would have with most men. The immediate cause of this impending misfortune was the great growth of Gorham & Company which gradually forced competing concerns out of business. Mr. Stone and his associates began to feel the effects of this competition about 1860, and it grew more and more serious until the year 1862. when they were obliged to remove to another part of the city, the new establishment being located on the corner of Mathewson and Sabin streets. About the same time Mr. Weaver with- drew from the firm which then became P. M. Stone & Company under which style it continued to do business up to the time of its final dissolution. In 1869 one more move was made to a place on Pine street, but even here the grip of their great rival was felt and eventually the firm went out of business. Without showing any signs of discouragement, however, Mr. Stone soon re- covered from this setback and with Jonathan Boyd and Charles Heptonstall
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as associates, began the manufacture of woven corsets. Once more success attended his efforts and for twelve years or more a flourishing business was done and then, at the dictate of fashion, a type of corset came into vogue so different from what had preceded it as to render all the machinery of Mr. Stone and his partners utterly useless, so that they were simply forced out of business and sustained a loss of some seventy-five thousand dollars. Noth- ing daunted Mr. Stone again engaged in an industrial venture, and became a quarter owner of the American Ring Traveler Company in the manufacture of ring travelers. Ten years of success followed the organization of this concern, but once more an unfriendly fortune forced the abandonment of the business and Mr. Stone once more found himself with a debt of several thousand dollars upon his hands. It was at this time that one of those acts of gratitude which warm the heart and increase our faith in humanity was performed, a friend of Mr. Stone, whom the latter had befriended in earlier days, came forward with a gift of a valuable farm, from the sale of which Mr. Stone was enabled to meet all his obligations. Although the enterprises in which Mr. Stone was most directly engaged were thus con- secutive failures, his reputation as a business man was never suffered to diminish among his associates or fellow citizens generally, and he held in- fluential posts in a number of large concerns and financial institutions. He was, for instance, a member of the firm of Edward Field & Company, which was engaged in the manufacture of watch cases, and he was a director of the Firemen's Insurance Company, the Bank of America and the Union Rail- road Company, which has since become the Rhode Island Railroad Com- pany.
Not only in the realm of business was Mr. Stone prominent in the affairs of the community. In politics also he was a conspicuous figure, and although he never sought public office of any kind, filled several important ones to the great satisfaction of the entire community. Three times he was elected to the Common Council of his adopted city, from the sixth ward in 1851 and 1853 and from the seventh ward in 1865, and in 1857 and 1858 Providence sent him as its representative to the General Assembly of Rhode Island. During this time, also, he served on the staff of Governor Elisha Dyer with the rank of colonel.
No account of Mr. Stone's life would be complete without a word con- cerning his religious activities which played a most important part therein. He was converted very early in life, while still a youth on his father's farm, and after coming to Providence he joined the Mathewson Street Methodist Episcopal Church, March 30, 1851. He was thus at his death within six days of completing his fifty-fifth year of membership in this body, during which long period he served it with the utmost devotion. In all matters connected with the church work or with the cause of religion generally he was most active and contributed much effort and wealth to the support of these things. At the first quarterly conference of the Mathewson Street Methodist Epis- copal Church, May 29, 1889, a vote of thanks was unanimously passed to Brother P. M. Stone for his long, faithful and acceptable service as a mem- ber of the board of trustees of that church. He was keenly interested in the denominational school known as the East Greenwich Academy which he
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served both as treasurer and as a trustee for a number of years, during which time he did most effective work to increase its usefulness as an educational factor in the community. Another denominational work in which he was profoundly interested was the Martha's Vineyard Camp Meeting Associ- ation, being a member of its financial committee and a zealous worker to extend its influence.
On July 8, 1847, Mr. Stone was united in marriage with Mary F. Mason, of Fall River, Massachusetts, a daughter of Perez Mason, a prominent resi- dent of that city. Mrs. Stone survives her husband and still resides in Provi- dence, where with Mr. Stone she made her home during their long married life of nearly fifty-nine years.
If trials and misfortunes are the test of human character as they are said to be, surely Mr. Stone's character was well tested and surely it well withstood the test. It is easy enough to cast the blame for our failures upon the shoulders of fate and most of us are only too prone to do so. Yet in the case of Mr. Stone when, if ever, this was justifiable, there was no attempt to do so. He was unembittered by ill fortune, just as he was un- spoiled by those periods when he enjoyed more than common success, and so tranquil and steadfast was his outlook upon life that it was well nigh impossible to tell by his manner whether the world was smiling upon his fortunes or not. It will be appropriate to close this brief sketch with the words of a personal friend who was long associated with him in his religious experiences and who at the time of his death wrote an eloquent tribute to his memory. From the words of this author the following is taken :
Epitomized the career of Bro. Stone is the fulfillment of all that is pure, noble and self-sacrificing in the weal of a common Christian brotherhood, with whom and for whom he tirelessly labored. Modest, his gracious presence was gentle yet resolute for genuine and undefiled righteousness. Unassuming, he lived a life of loyal trust in the Son of God. Urbane, his influence aptly taught the completeness of the Christian faith. Quietly dignified, his unostentatious ethical bearing emphasized the sublimity of uni- versal salvation by the Saviour of mankind. Sympathetic, his generous nature exempli- fied the beauty of devoted Christian service, the fruition of which will alone be fully realized in the final plaudit of the Master, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren ye have done it unto Me." * * * Hardy and well pre- served, Bro. Stone was active in the daily walks of life until within a few days of his death. Fidelity marked his attendance, on all the means of grace. Constant at public service on Sunday and the midweek prayer service, he was present on the last Sunday of his earthly life, only six days before his death. * *
* He needed no preparation for death ; that had been made sure through a righteous life of more than sixty years.
- There is no Death! What seems so is transition ; This life of mortal breath Is but a suburb of the life elysian, Whose portal we call Death.
These lines of the poet Longfellow are impressively true in the passing to the im- mortal life of Pardon M. Stone. His departure from us is not without a halo of blessing. His unimpeached character, his beneficent life, have left a posthumous influence, frag- rant with ennobling deeds, which will linger for good, and the import of which will not be fully determined until the great assize of humanity. A devoted husband, a kind neigh- bor, a useful citizen, an unsullied Christian, are mourned in his death, but the world is richer because he lived.
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SESSIONS
Darius Sessions
F `IVE GENERATIONS of the Sessions family, Alexander, "The Founder," Nathaniel, his son, Darius, his son, Colonel Thomas, his son, and Darius, his son, resided in England- from whence came Alexander Sessions, the members of the family locating in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. It was not until Darius Sessions, of the third Ameri- ican generation, that permanent settlement was made in Rhode Island, where he was very prominent in public life. The family, somewhat widely scattered, is not a numerous one, and descend from Alex- ander Sessions, the only head of a family of that name as far as the records show, who settled in New England in early times. The Sessions coat-of- arms is as follows: Per fesse crenelleé, or and azure, three griffin's heads erased, counterchanged.
(I) Alexander Sessions, believed to have been a native of Wantage, Berkshire, England, born in 1645, in a deposition recorded in the office of the clerk of. the courts of Essex county, Massachusetts, in the case of Simon Bradstreet against John Gage, stated that he was twenty-four years of age, and that he was in Andover in 1666. Alexander Sessions and wife Elizabeth were members of the church in Andover in 1686 and from that time until their decease. He was a witness to the will of John Aslet, of Andover, Essex county, May 15, 1671, and was at the court when it was proved "27 4 mo. 1671," as appears from the papers in the office of the clerk of the probate court. An inventory of the estate of Alexander Sessions, the name being in the original spelled "Elexsander Seshins," who died February 26, 1687, mentions eighty acres of land and other property, valued at one hundred and nineteen pounds. Elizabeth Sessions, widow of Alexander Sessions, presented the inventory of the estate to which she made oath "25 I mo. 1690," and letters of administration were granted her after she had given bond for two hundred pounds, with John Spofford, of Rowley, and Thomas Patch, of Wenham, as sureties. Later Elizabeth Sessions, alias Low, admin- istratrix, presented an account of her administration to the court. As she was "Alias Low," it seems she had married again. On March 8, 1679, the widow made final settlement, received her portion, and the remainder was divided among the children of Alexander Sessions, to wit: Elizabeth, John, Alexander, Timothy, Samuel, Nathaniel, Josiah, Joseph, Abel. The oldest is given as about twenty-four years old, and the youngest about eight years old. The town records give the marriage of Alexander Sessions with Eliza- beth, daughter of John Spofford, of Rowley, April 24, 1669. Children: John, born October 4, 1674; Alexander, October 3, 1676; Timothy, April 14, 1678; Samuel, March 8, 1680; Nathaniel, mentioned below; Josiah, May 2, 1684; Joseph, March 28, 1686.
(II) Nathaniel Sessions, son of Alexander Sessions, was born at An- dover, Massachusetts, August 8, 1681, died at Pomfret, in March, 1771. Samuel Sessions was not his father, as stated by Governor Sessions and
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others. In fact, there was no early settler of this name. Doubtless the brother Samuel was in some way confused with the father, though it may be that the father of Alexander, the immigrant, was nanied Samuel. Na- thaniel Sessions settled in Pomfret, Connecticut, as early as 1704, and was one of the first white settlers of the town. He was a farmer and became an extensive landowner. He opened the first cart road from that town to Provi- dence in 1721, when from Killingly to within ten miles of Providence, a distance of sixteen miles, there was no human dwelling. He transported the first cartload of West India goods from Providence to Connecticut. Enjoying good health he was enabled to cultivate his farm and conduct business until he was eighty-eight years of age, when he became blind. He committed to memory the entire New Testament, after he was eighty years old, as well as the Psalms and many parts of the Old Testament. He bought, June 12, 1721, of William McCoy, of Pomfret, a thirteenth of the town of Union, Connecticut, but never lived there. He sold this land, December 31, 1741, to his son Darius, who deeded or mortgaged it back two weeks later. He married Joanna Miller. Children: Elizabeth, born December 15, 1707, died May 26, 1767; Nathaniel, October 22, 1709; John, August 14, 17II, died May 24, 1737; Alexander, October 4, 1713, settled in Warner; Amasa, August 13, 1715, died April, 1799; Darius, mentioned below ; Simeon, February 11, 1720; Abner, May 4, 1722, settled at Union; Mary, August 4, 1724; Abijah, February I, 1726, settled in Union; Joanna, January 19, 1729.
(III) Governor Darius Sessions, son of Nathaniel Sessions, was born August 17, 1717, at Pomfret, Connecticut, died in April, 1809, is buried in the North End Cemetery. His son Thomas, in 1845, wrote of him: "Darius, my honored father, was a scholar, a merchant, a statesman, a Christian, a man. His sound judgment and legal information were generally considered conclusive, and the numerous applications to him gave a very extensive acquaintance. He was Lieutenant-Governor and acting Governor of Rhode Island for many years and held that position at the commencement of the Revolution. He was in very delicate health, and declined public honors ; bought a farm at Killingly, Connecticut, and lived thereon during the war. He lived single after the death of my beloved mother, and was to me a father and mother thirty years, nearly. He died in his ninety-second year, to appearance in full strength of mind. Captain Amasa Sessions (brother of the Governor) was a remarkably capable man and my father's favorite. He commanded a company in the old French War and my father spared no pains or expense to enable him to accomplish and make complete the raising of the company." Darius Sessions graduated from Yale College in the class of 1737, and engaged in business in Providence, Rhode Island. He was deputy governor from May, 1769, to May, 1775. He was chiefly responsible in the locating of Brown University in Providence, using his influence in interesting Mr. Brown and others. An attempt had been made to locate the university at either Newport or Warren, but Providence seemed better suited for the home of a large university. He married, March 26, 1750, at Providence, Sarah Antram. Children, born at Providence: Mary, April II, 1751, died December 20, 1836; Sarah, April 1, 1753; Anne, October 28, 1754; William H., January, 1757, died August 6, 1841 ; Darius, February
Anna H. Sessions
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8, 1759; George, December 23, 1760; Elizabeth, March 8, 1763; Amy, De- cember 6, 1764; Nathaniel, February 11, 1767; Thomas, mentioned below. Thomas also wrote: "My father's family was large-ten living children when I was born; four died from two to twenty-five years of age-two boys and two girls; the other six-three men and three women-will average about seventy-five years, perhaps eighty or more. I was the youngest of the family, and am the only remaining, and am like a pasture walnut."
(IV) Thomas Sessions, son of Governor Darius Sessions, was born at Providence, Rhode Island, April 2, 1769. In the same year that he wrote the letter from which we have quoted, he died at Providence, October, 1845, aged seventy-seven years. Of himself he wrote: "I am a widower ; lost my wife by death five years last September ; was married in 1791 ; lived together nearly half a century; have seven children in all, five living and two called from earth to heaven. Two sons and three daughters are now living in this city; one of my sons is a farmer, the other a distiller. Two daughters mar- ried and settled; one single, who is my housekeeper. I married the Hon. Henry Marchant's daughter, of Newport; he was the first judge appointed by President Washington for the Rhode Island district. She had a farm given her in Newport by her honored father, which I visit annually, and being there last June, as usual, I had a letter presented to me by my cousin, Harvey Sessions." I reside on my farm in the city of Providence, about one and half miles from the centre of Old Market or Great Bridge." Thomas Sessions was a prominent merchant of Providence. He lived in the city in winter and on the old Glebe farm in summer. The Sessions farm was after- ward cut into house lots and sold. Sessions street runs through what was his old farm. He sold the land, which was a part of the old Marchant farm, to the United States government, upon which land is now located Fort Adams, at Newport, Rhode Island, June 21, 1824. He was active in the State militia and held a colonel's commission from the Governor. He was a man highly respected for his excellent qualities of mind and heart. He was successful in business and had a substantial fortune. He was an excellent neighbor and citizen. Colonel Sessions married Elizabeth Marchant, daugh- ter of Judge Marchant, one of the first judges of Rhode Island after the Revolution. She died at Providence. September 7, 1839, aged sixty-nine. Children: Darius, mentioned below ; Francis; Rebecca; Elizabeth, married Joshua Bicknell. The land sold by Colonel Sessions to the United States government as a site for the Fort Adams reservation was owned by Judge Marchant and after his death was sold by the widow and heirs, although some of the original tract is yet owned in the Sessions family.
(V) Darius (2) Sessions, son of Thomas Sessions, was born in 1794, at Providence, Rhode Island, died in 1869. He attended the Greenwich Academy. He began his business career as clerk and afterward engaged in business in partnership with his brother-in-law, Joshua Bicknell, under the firm name of Bicknell & Sessions. The firm sent several vessels abroad with various cargoes. After a time the firm was dissolved and Mr. Sessions left commercial business to engage in the manufacture of New England rum, which at that time was one of the important products of the West India trade. He had a distillery on the Fox Point property, which came to him
طبيب
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when the firm dissolved. He continued very successfully in this business as long as he lived. He bought a residence on the southwest corner of West- minster and Eddy streets. During the Dorr rebellion he was a member of the Home Guard and he and Edward Carrington stored the ammunition in the cellar of his house. He was an attendant of the Unitarian church, on Mathewson street, now used for a theatre. In politics he was a Whig until the Republican party was formed and in later years he was a Republican and took an active part in public affairs. His children remember his teaching them the popular campaign songs, such as "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too." He invested extensively in real estate in Providence and was one of the leading citizens for many years, a man of substance and influence. His sideboard was always supplied with liquor of his own manufacture, but even before the beginning of the temperance movement he never allowed his children to touch or taste the liquors. He was kindly, generous, sym- pathetic, and gave to the poor and unfortune with a liberal hand. Through- out her life he cared tenderly for the old negro nurse who cared for him in his childhood.
He married Elizabeth Young Hicks, born in 1802, died at Providence, April 28, 1849, daughter of Captain David and Rosamond (Seamans) Hicks. Captain David Hicks, a man most highly respected, was captain of the ship "Neptune" and while on a trip with that vessel to the port of Wilmington, North Carolina, died. The Hicks coat-of-arms is as follows: Gules, a fesse wavy between three fleurs de lis or. Crest : A buck's head or, gorged with a chaplet of laurel, proper. Darius and Elizabeth Young (Hicks) Sessions were the parents of nine children, two of whom are yet living, Sarah F., widow of Charles C. Walden, and Anna M. Sessions, of Providence. The children in order of birth are as follows: Rosamond, who died unmarried; Sarah Frances, who married (first) William P. Taft, (second) Charles C. Walden, of Savannah, Georgia; Eliza Young, who died unmarried; Rebecca Cook, who died unmarried; Anna Maria, who resides at 76 Benefit street, Provi- dence; Darius, who died aged about sixteen years; David Hicks, who died in 1869, in young manhood; George, who died in 1873, in young manhood; Jane Farley, who died when sixteen years of age.
Dicks
Grorgr Ill. Bagtry
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ساعدات سعد والجقدم سيارة شيه
لهمارشيد
George W. Bagley
IN DECEMBER, 1828, at the Bagley homestead in Pawtucket, which stood where the Cummings Block and Park Place Church on Park place now stands, a child was born, whom the city was later to know as one of her most valued citizens, George W. Bagley, a son of William and Clarinda (Tabor) Bagley. He lived to almost the number of years entitling him to rank with the octogenarians and was one of the best known men of his city. He was a member of one of the oldest and most influential families of Rhode Island, tracing his ancestry in one line to Roger Williams, the founder of Providence. The family generally attained great age and but a short time previous to his own death he attended the funeral of a very aged member of his family, Aunt Waitie Williams. He was a familiar and an interesting figure on the streets of Pawtucket, living retired during the last years of his life, deeply interested however in the care of the Bagley estate, a remnant of the farm. The old farm homestead still stands, but was moved to Mineral Spring avenue just in the rear of its original location. The original portion of William Bagley's farm, father of George W. Bagley, extended from the cemetery to now Slater street and from its area the city of Pawtucket was presented by William Bagley with its beauti- ful Collyer Park. Mineral Spring Avenue Cemetery is also a gift from the Bagley family although the Jenks property is included within its borders.
George W. Bagley was born as stated, in December, 1828, died in his native city, at his home 116 Mineral Spring avenue, September 12, 1906. He was educated in the schools of Pawtucket and when the time came that a business was to be chosen he elected to learn the molder's trade. He served a full term of apprenticeship, then became associated with Zebulon White at his foundry, that being the forerunner of the present White plant with which Mr. Bagley was long connected. He became an expert molder and designer and so great was Mr. White's regard for his associate that he paid for a substitute every time Mr. Bagley was drafted for service during the Civil War. This occurred some half dozen times but Mr. White cheer- fully paid the money rather than let his trusted molder go. Mr. Bagley, however, was loyal in his devotion to the Union cause, aiding in many ways, and but for an infirmity of hearing would no doubt have over-ruled his friends' objections and gone to the front. He continued in active business until 1884, spending the last twenty-two years of his life retired. Much of his time during those years was spent on his portion of the family farm, which he managed with special, almost loving, care, but during the last few years of his life even that was too great a burden for his enfeebled body. He was the owner of the Bagley block on Main street, and several smaller estates. He was a Democrat in politics, but although offered office many times he always refused to be a candidate.
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