USA > Rhode Island > Memorial encyclopedia of the state of Rhode Island > Part 17
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William Dersfall
as may be supposed his reputation rapidly spread through a community where many were interested in the same industry and were experiencing the same difficulty in procuring adequate help. For a short time he remained in the employ of the Enterprise people, in charge of the combing and drawing departments in which he had set up the machinery, but he then received a better offer from the American Worsted Company on Main street, Woon- socket, and for a long time superintended the work in these same depart- ments there. The American Braid Works, also of Woonsocket, was the next concern with whom Mr. Horsfall went, and here again he was the foreman of the combing and carding departments. It was not until 1885 that he left this concern, going in July of that year to Troy, New York, where he formed an association with the Roys, the great worsted manufacturers of that place, and was given complete charge of their worsted mills. For eleven years he remained in this responsible position, but at length, in 1896, he severed his connection with the concern. Mr. Horsfall's reason for doing this was twofold. The strain of such great responsibility, combined with the exceedingly exacting demands made upon his time and energies, was such that he felt a strong inclination for a more quiet life, and he also desired to be in business for himself where he should be his own master and might enjoy a greater freedom. As he was amply able to do this, and as he was very fond of the first city he had come to in the new world, he returned to Woonsocket, where he once more made his home, and where he established himself in a grocery business. In this enterprise he was successful, the reputation he had already made in the city for absolute integrity and trust- worthiness turning to him the patronage of many who had known him, either personally or by hearsay. He continued to conduct this business successfully until 1908, or up to the time of his death, and his later years were thus the peaceful ones he desired.
While the exacting nature of his work prevented Mr. Horsfall from taking as active a part in the life and affairs of the community as his inclina- tion urged, he was by no means one of those who in consequence of this retire entirely into their own interests and withdraw from those of others. On the contrary, he was always keenly interested in the welfare of his adopted city and did what he could to assist all the movements undertaken with that end in view. He was a Republican in politics, but never allied himself with the local organization of the party, and avoided rather than sought political advancement of public office. He was interested in the social and fraternal activities of the place also, and was a member of the Woonsocket Lodge, No. 10, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In religion he was a Universalist and was always a strong supporter of the church and of the cause of religion generally.
On November 1, 1879, at Woonsocket, Mr. Horsfall was married by the Rev. Charles J. White, D. D., then rector of the Universalist church in that city, to Eva Rhodes, of Bradford, England, a daughter of Abraham and Jane (Fryer) Rhodes. To Mr. and Mrs. Horsfall two children were born, a daughter who died in infancy, and a son, William Rhodes Horsfall, now a resident of Woonsocket.
Allen Ormabee Peck
T "HE PECK family, which was so worthily represented for many years by the late Allen Ormsbee Peck, one of the rep- resentative citizens of Providence, Rhode Island, where he resided during his entire lifetime, is one of the old and honored families of Rhode Island and Massachusetts, members thereof having resided in those States for the past two hundred and fifty years. The Peck coat-of-arms is as fol- lows: Quarterly. First and fourth argent. ' On a chevron engroilled gules, three crosses formee. Second and third gules, a cross flory or on a chief azure three round buckles of the second (gules). Crest: Out of a ducal coronet or, a cubit arm erect, vested and cuffed, the hand proper holding a sprig of three roses. Motto: Crux Christi salus mea. The generations pre- ceding Allen O. Peck, beginning with the immigrant ancestor, were as fol- lows: Joseph, Joseph, Jr., Samuel, Samuel, Jr., Allen, Benjamin Peck (father of Allen O. Peck) who was born December 25, 1781, died in the year 1843. He was a resident of Providence during the greater part of his life, and was there occupied with mercantile pursuits. His wife, Roby (Orms- bee) Peck, who died in 1806, bore him two children: Allen Ormsbee, of whom further, and Mary Spurr, born May 19, 1806, became the wife of Esek Aldrich, and they located in Providence.
Allen Ormsbee Peck was born in Rehoboth, Massachusetts, November 17, 1804. He was a student in the high grade schools of his native city, and the knowledge thus obtained was supplemented by a course in the Uni- versity Grammar School, where he prepared for admission to Brown Univer- sity, from which institution of learning he was graduated in 1824. Having decided upon the profession of law as his life work, he placed himself under the competent instruction of Judge Thomas Burgess, and after a competitive examination was admitted to the bar in 1826. He immediately began the active practice of his profession, in which he was highly successful, but this line of work not proving as desirable a vocation as he had imagined, he accepted the secretaryship of the American Insurance Company upon its formation in 1831. The duties of this position were performed in such an acceptable manner to his superiors that he was advanced to the position of president, being the third to fill that office, he succeeding President Wil- liam Rhodes. Under his skillful and efficient management the business assumed large proportions, and Mr. Peck gained a reputation as a safe and sound official, interested in all that pertained to the welfare of the corpor- ation. At the expiration of thirty-six years of faithful service, as secretary and president, he was compelled to resign owing to impaired health, but later, in 1862, after a period of rest and recreation, he again engaged in busi- ness life, becoming the executive head of the Narragansett Insurance Com- pany, in which capacity he served until his decease, in 1871, having been a member of the board of directors of the same from the time of its incorpor- ation in 1857, and he also served as a member of the board of directors of
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PROBITATEM QUAM DIVITIAS
PECK
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Allen Dimsbee Deck
the American Bank. He held various offices of trust and responsibility, among which may be mentioned clerk of the Common Council, serving from June, 1832, to June, 1834. He was an active factor in the work incidental to the incorporation of the city of Providence, which became a city by special act of the General Assembly in November, 1831, which act went into oper- ation the first Monday in June, 1832. To him is due the credit of raising the sum of $30,000 from the business men of Providence for the installation of the first public lighting plant in that city. He was active in the work of the Unitarian church, and was a member of the Rhode Island Historical Soci- ety. He was a man of strict integrity, honorable and upright in all his transactions, and was also a most philanthropic man, donating generously of his time and means to the alleviation of suffering and distress.
Mr. Peck married, July 25. 1855, Mary Elizabeth Whittaker, a native of Providence, Rhode Island, daughter of Josiah and Parmelia (Andrews) Whittaker, who were the parents of five other children, as follows: James Greene, Henry Clay, Benjamin Andrews, Ellen Maria and Parmelia An- drews Whittaker. Mr. and Mrs. Peck were the parents of five daughters: Ellen Ormsbee; Mary Talbot, deceased; Maria Storrs, deceased; Elizabeth Andrews; and Jessie Comstock, deceased.
Samuel Bosworth Swan
IN THE DEATH of Samuel Bosworth Swan, March 3, 1890, at his home in Providence, that city lost one of its foremost and most useful citizens. A self-made man, Mr. Swan enjoyed the friendship of all who were privileged to know him. From worthy ancestors he inherited a clear mind and sound body, and was ever willing to labor, not only for his own advance- ment, but that of his fellows. The Swan family is an old one in New England, and several immigrants bearing the name are found among the earliest settlers of that section. Dr. Thomas Swan was an early physician of Boston, and later of Roxbury, Massachusetts. His house in Roxbury was burned July 11, 1681, by a Negress servant Maria. He died in Roxbury in February, 1688. His wife Mary was a daughter of Thomas Lamb. Dr. Thomas and Mary (Lamb) Swan were the parents of Ebenezer Swan, born May 12, 1686, in Roxbury, who was a sea captain, and was in command of a brigantine sailing between Boston and Nevis. He died at sea in 1716. He married, December 23, 1707, Prudence Foster, who was admitted to the church in Charlestown. Massachusetts, July 9, 1710. She married (second) Rev. John Prentice.
Ebenezer (2) Swan, eldest child of Ebenezer ( I) and Prudence (Foster) Swan, was born in 1708-09, in Charlestown, and resided in Boston. The records of that city show three of his marriages. The third marriage occur- red June 22, 1744, when Margaret Woodbury became his wife.
She was the mother of Thomas Swan, born about 1750, in Boston, who resided in Bristol, Rhode Island, where he married, April 17, 1774, Elizabeth Bosworth, daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth (Peck) Bosworth, born May 25, 1753, in Bristol. Captain Thomas Swan commanded some sort of craft sailing out of Bristol before the Revolution, and is supposed to have par- ticipated in the burning of the British ship "Gaspee" in Providence Sound, in 1772. There were sixty-four men in the party and Captain Swan is credited with the authorship of a poem relating to that affair, which was widely circulated at the time. In November, 1776, he was ensign in Captain Moses Turner's company, of Colonl John Sayles', Jr., regiment. In Decem- ber of the same year he was second lieutenant in Colonel Thomas Allen's company, Colonel Benjamin Talman's regiment. In 1796-97-98 he was jus- tice of the peace of Bristol.
Their son, Thomas Swan, born about 1782, married in Bristol, Decem- ber 2, 1805, Sally Norris, daughter of Captain John and Hannah Norris. Captain Thomas Swan was the owner of a vessel sailing from Bristol in the East India trade.
Samuel Bosworth Swan, son of Captain Thomas and Sally (Norris) Swan, was born June 26, 1827, in Bristol, the youngest child of his par- ents, and grew up in that city, where he received the ordinary schooling of his time. As a youth and young man he followed the trade of moulder, and subsequently went to Providence, where he joined Mr. Henry C. Clark
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Samuel Bosworth Sman
and another in forming the firm of Tucker, Swan & Company, to engage in the coal business. This was the oldest firm of the sort in Providence, formed about seventy years ago. Mr. Clark at that time was an old man, and asso- ciated with himself the two young men in order to continue the business. After many years of successful trade, the firm was dissolved, and Mr. Swan subsequently became president of the Board of Public Works of Providence, and superintendent of street lighting, filling this position up to the time of his death. Mr. Swan was among the most public-spirited citizens of the city, and enjoyed the friendship of all who knew him. In political sentiment he was a staunch Republican. He was a member of St. John's Lodge, No. I, Free and Accepted Masons, the St. John's Commandery, and had attained the thirty-second degree of Free Masonry. As a young man he had joined the Christian church at Bristol, and after coming to Providence took an active interest in and was a constant attendant at the Union Congregational Church, and was ever ready to promote any movement calculated to raise the moral standard, and otherwise benefit the people about him. A self- made and self-educated man, he was able to sympathize with the troubles of others, and was always ready to aid any who appeared to be deserving.
He was married, November 28, 1852, to Annie Brown Winslow, born in Robinstown, Maine, daughter of Abner and Rebecca (Brown) Winslow, natives respectively of Massachusetts and of Maine. Abner Winslow was a ship builder, and readily found occupation in the shipyards of Maine, which have turned out so many famous vessels. Mr. and Mrs. Winslow were the parents of the following children : Hannah, Annie Brown, Bradford, George, Benedict and William. Mr. and Mrs. Swan were the parents of the follow- ing children: 1. Annie Augusta, died at the age of nineteen years. 2. Har- riet Lewis, wife of Charles A. Gale, a druggist, associated with the firm of Blandin & Blandin, of Providence, Rhode Island. 3. Sallie Rebecca. wife of Albert C. Larkin, Canadian representative of the firm of Babcock & Woll- cock, boiler manufacturers, whose headquarters are in Scotland. 4. Samuel B., electrical engineer of the Narragansett Electric Lighting Company of Providence, Rhode Island. He married Annie Snow Brown, of Providence. These children and the surviving widow may ever point with pride to the spotless character of Mr. Swan.
The employees of the lamp department of Providence, following his death, adopted the following memorial: "Death has claimed our late super- intendent, Samuel B. Swan, a good and respected citizen, and we the em- ployees of the lamp department have assembled to give expression to our feelings and make a tribute to his worth. The duty we owe to the memory of our departed friend demands that a record of his many qualities be pre- served that his good name be perpetuated and the knowledge of his worth be made manifest. To know Samuel B. Swan was to prize his friendship. Genial, generous and kind, he was a true father, a good husband, and a friend to us, whose every instinct was honorable and every impulse right, a man who in every situation of life demonstrated his characteristics of integrity and honesty. To his wife we would add that the good name of her cherished husband will ever be a consolation, especially in this her deep affliction; to
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Samuel Bosworth Swan
his son and daughters, they will in after years refer with pride to their father's spotless character and right life. Providence, March 5, 1890.",
The Winslow family of which Mrs. Swan is a descendant has been traced to a remote period in England. William Winslow, or Wyncelow, the first of the lineage as traced in England, had children: John, of London, afterwards of Wyncelow Hall, was living in 1387-SS, niarried Mary Crouch- man, who died in 1409-10, styled of Crouchman Hall; William, mentioned below. William (2) Winslow, son of William (1) Winslow, had a son Thomas, who was of Burton, County Oxford, and had lands also in Essex; was living in 1452. He married Cecelia, one of the two daughters and heiress of an old family-Tansley. She was called Lady Agnes. William (3) Wins- low, son of Thomas Winslow, was living in 1529, and had children: Kenelm, mentioned below; Richard, had a grant from Edward VI. of the rectory of Elksley, County Nottingham. Kenelm Winslow, son of William (3) Wins- low, purchased in 1559, of Sir Richard Newport, an estate called Newport's Place, in Kempsey, Worchestershire. He had an older and very extensive estate in the same parish, called Clerkenleap, sold by his grandson, Richard Winslow, in 1650. He died in 1607, in the parish of St. Andrew, and his will, dated April 14, 1607, proved November 9 following, is still preserved at Worcester. His wife's name was Catherine, and their only son, Edward Winslow, borri 'October 17, 1560, in the parish of Saint Andrew, County Worcester, England, died before 1631. He lived in Kempsey and Droitwich, County Worcester, and married (first) Eleanor Pelham, of Droitwich; (sec- ond) at St. Bride's Church, London, November 4, 1594, Magdelene Oliver, the records of whose family are found in the parish register of St. Peter's, Droitwich. Kenelm (2) Winslow, youngest child of Edward and Magde- lene (Oliver) Winslow, was born April 29, 1599, in Droitwich, baptized May 3 following. He came to Plymouth, Massachusetts, probably in 1629, with his brother Josiah, was admitted a freeman, January 1, 1633, was surveyor of the town in 1640, and removed to Marshfield about 1641. He had received a grant in that town called Green's Harbor, March 5, 1638, in a section which was considered the Eden of the region. His home was on a gentle eminence by the sea, near the extremity of land lying between Green's Harbor and South River. A few of the groves of oak and walnut which adorned the grounds were standing at the beginning of the last century. He married, in June, 1634, Eleanor, widow of John Adams, of Plymouth. She survived him and died at Marshfield, where she was buried December 5, 1681, aged. eighty- three. He died at Salem, while on a business trip, September 13, 1672. His youngest child was Job Winslow, born about 1641, lived in Freetown, Mas- sachusetts, where he died July 14, 1720. His house at Swansea was burned by the Indians in 1675, and he removed to Freetown, where he was select- man in 1686, town clerk in 1690, and a leading man in both civil and religious affairs, a shipwright by occupation. His wife's name was Ruth, and their youngest son was John Winslow, born February 20, 1695, in Freetown, where he was a carpenter, and filled various offices, moderator, selectman, treasurer, assessor and representative in 1746-47-48-49. He married, Octo- ber 9, 1729, Betsey Hathaway, daughter of Ensign Jacob and Philippa (Chase) Hathaway, of Freetown, granddaughter of John and Christian
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Samuel Bosworth Stan
Hathaway, and great-granddaughter of john Hathaway, a pioneer of Taun- ton. Abner Winslow, eldest son of John and Betsey ( Hathaway) Winslow, was born May 17, 1732, in Freetown, was selectman three years, a member of the committee of correspondence and safety during the Revolution, and died April 13, 1800. He married, August 16, 1759, Rebecca Hathaway, and their second son was John Winslow, born November 24, 1778, in Freetown, lived in Livermore, Maine, and Freetown. and died November 13, 1854, in Lakeville, buried in Freetown. He married in Freetown, Novmber 5, 1801, Keziah Hincks, born October 5, 1777, in Middleboro, Massachusetts, daugh- ter of Ebenezer and Charity ( Canedy) Hincks, of that town, died August 23, 1853, in Freetown, where buried. Their eldest son, Abner Winslow, was born May 8, 1804, in Freetown, lived in Assonet, Massachusetts, and died April 10, 1867. He was a ship builder by occupation. He married Rebecca Brown, of St. Stephen, New Brunswick, born 1804, died October 24, 1875, in Warren, Rhode Island, aged seventy-one years. They were the parents of Annie Brown Winslow, who married Samuel Bosworth Swan, as above noted.
William Allen Goodmansee
A T THE age of five years William Allen Woodmansee was deprived of a father's care and support, and at the age of four- teen left school to work the farm left to his mother. From that age until his death, half a century later, he was an active worker, a farmer and merchant, principally the latter. The business he established in Johnston-now a part of the city of Providence-in 1886 is now conducted by his son, Wil- liam Allen Woodmansee, Jr., who prior to his father's death had been his partner. He was the only son of William and Betsey (Walker) Woodman- see, whose only daughter, Abbie A. Woodmansee, married Chester King.
William Allen Woodmansee was born in the town of Foster, Rhode Island, May 11, 1850, died at his residence, No. 10 Jewell street, Providence, October 10, 1914. His father, a farmer, died in 1855, and in 1864, after attending public school and Lapham Institute, Scituate, Rhode Island, Wil- liam Allen became manager of the home farm owned jointly by his mother, his sister and himself. This arrangement continued until he arrived at legal age, when he purchased the other interests and became sole owner. He con- tinued the cultivation of his farm until 1876, then entered mercantile life. He established a harness and leather goods business at Rockland, Rhode Island, and there continued very successfully for ten years. In 1886 he sold his Rockland business and moved to the town of Johnston, now Providence, where he opened a grocery store. He built up a large and prosperous busi- ness, admitting his son, William Allen, Jr., to a partnership after he reached manhood years, trading from that time as William A. Woodmansee & Son. He was a man of energy and thrift, his early life at the farm teaching him the value of time and the necessity of carefully safeguarding his earnings. He was honorable and upright in his dealings and prospered through the exercise of sound business principles. He was independent in political action, never sought public office, but in Rockland served as assessor of taxes. He was a charter member of Lafayette Lodge, No. 42, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and took a deep interest in work for the cause of temperance. Love of home and family was one of his strongest character- istics, and no interest ever won him from the home hearth. In all things he was true to his obligations, his sterling qualities winning the esteem of a very wide circle of friends.
Mr. Woodmansee married, July 18, 1869, Mary E. Williams, born in Foster, Rhode Island, eldest daughter of Pardon and Lydia S. (Bishop) Williams, granddaughter of Sheldon and Naomi ( Randall) Williams, and of Ezekiel and Mary (Smith) Bishop. Pardon Williams, a farmer of Foster, was of the sixth generation of the family founded by Roger Williams, the founder of Providence, and for many years was president of the Family Organization, the Roger Williams Association. He had issue by his wife, Lydia S. (Bishop) Williams : Mary E., Warren B., Ann E., Martha, Almira,
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William Allen Mondmanser, Sr.
William Allen Mondmanser , Jr.
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William Allen Goodmansee
Lydia M., and Estella Williams. Mrs. Woodmansee survives her husband, a resident of Providence. Her only child, William Allen, 2nd., became his father's associate in business as soon as he left school, and succeeds him as proprietor of William A. Woodmansee & Son. He married Ruth A. Cap- well, and has a son, Willam Allen Woodmansce, 3rd.
osiah Allen Blake
T HE MAN who faithfully discharges every duty and obligation, who shuns the snares and pitfalls surrounding this life, and gains the approval and esteem of his fellows, who never com- plains, who persistently adheres to the right, is a benefactor of his race, and sets an example which all may well follow. It is not necessary to gain the greatest height in political or official life, or to make phenomenal discoveries in order to be a good and true citizen and merit the good wislies of others. In the effi- cient and useful career of Josiah Allen Blake is found one of the millions of instances which deserve emulation. Mankind is prone to criticise the erring, to condemn the fallen, and cast suspicion upon many good names, but never to commend during his lifetime the worthy qualities of any one of their fellows.
Josiah Allen Blake was a descendant of a very ancient English family, and his forbears have been useful and leading citizens down through the American generations. He cast no reflection or stain upon the good name which he inherited. The Blakes are an ancient family in England, men- tioned on the Wiltshire rolls of subsidies granted by Edward I., A. D. 1286, and Robert de Blakeland was assessed to that king's requirement. The pro- genitor, Robert Blake, dropped the particle "de" and the suffix "land" from the name. He was a resident of Calne, adjoining the family estates in Blake- land, where he was assessed to the subsidies of Edward III. in 1347 to an amount far exceeding any other inhabitant of the town. He married Anne Cole, daughter of William Cole. Henry Blake, son of Robert Blake, mar- ried the daughter and co-heir of Robert Durant. Their son, William Blake, married Elizabeth -----. Henry Blake, of Calne, son of William Blake, married Margaret Bellett. Robert Blake, of Calne, son of Henry Blake, married Alice Wallop. Their son, William Blake, of Calne and White Par- ish, of Wiltshire, was the father of William Blake, of Andover, White Par- ish, in Old Hall in Eastontown, who married Mary Cole or Coles. Hum- phrey Blake, son of William and Mary (Cole) Blake, removed carly in the sixteenth century to Over Stowey, Somersetshire, and became lord of the manor of Plainfield in that parish. His wife's name was Agnes. John Blake, son of Humphrey and Agnes Blake, born in 1521, succeeded to the manor of Plainfield, and had a wife Jane. William Blake, son of John and Jane Blake, bought land in Pitsminster in 1586 and went there to live. William Blake, son of William Blake, eleventh in descent in the English line and first in the American, was baptized July 10, 1594. and married, September 23, 1617, at Pitsminster, England, Agnes Band, a widow. Their son, William Blake, born in England, baptized September 6, 1620, at Pitsminster, came to Amer- ica with his father. In 1660 he received an allotment of land in that part of Dorchester set off in 1662 as Milton. He owned a large farm on Brush Hill in Milton, was very closely identified with Milton, both in connection with church and business affairs, served on the committee to build the new meet-
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