USA > Rhode Island > Memorial encyclopedia of the state of Rhode Island > Part 20
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(II) Joseph Hartshorn, son of Thomas Hartshorn, was born July 2, 1652, at Reading, Massachusetts, and died July 30, 1727, at Walpole, Massa- chusetts. He moved from Reading to Dedham, of which Walpole was originally a part. He was a soldier in King Philip's War. He married Sarah . Children: Susanna, born 1677; Sarah, 1679, married Samuel Guild, of Dedham; Mary, 1681, married, February 3, 1702, Jonathan Fair- banks, of Dedham; Abigail, 1686: Joseph, 1688, died at Walpole, December 28, 1758; Tabitha, 1690; Rebecca, December 7, 1693; Thomas, May 8, 1695; Ebenezer, July 10, 1697, of Walpole; Martha, July 2, 1700; Jacob, mentioned below.
(III) Jacob Hartshorn, son of Joseph Hartshorn, was born about 1702, in Dedham or vicinity. He appears to have had three wives, according to the Rhode Island Records. He lived from 1725 to 1729 at Bristol, Rhode Island, and afterward at Providence. The two eldest children were born at Bristol, but all are recorded at Providence. Children of Jacob and Martha Hartshorn: Hannah, born November 6, 1725; John, September 7, 1729. Children of Jacob and Hannah Hartshorn: Charles, mentioned below;
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Amos Idilliam Snow
Stephen, born September 30, 1737; Dorothy, June 2, 1739; Sarah, April 22, 1741, married, 1760, Jonathan Belcher. Children of Jacob and Martha Hartshorn: Martha, June 30, 1743, married Isaac Field; Lucretia, March 17, 1746.
(IV) Charles Hartshorn, son of Jacob Hartshorn, was born at Provi- dence, October 18, 1735. The records of Providence are incomplete and the names of his children are not recorded.
(V) Charles (2) Hartshorn, son of Charles (1) Hartshorn, was born September 22, 1765, in Providence, died September 2, 1832. He was a mason by trade. He removed to Easton, New York, but returned to Providence and engaged in business as a wholesale merchant there. He married (first) January 15, 1789, Polly Leavenworth, daughter of James Leavenworth, born July 8, 1737, and Jehodah (Moss) Leavenworth, granddaughter of James and Hester (Trowbridge) Leavenworth. James was son of Thomas, and grandson of Thomas, the immigrant. Mr. Hartshorn married (second) Nancy Walker. Children by firt wife: Dr. William; Sylvester, a merchant tailor ; Sylvanus, a politician ; Leander, a mariner. Children by second wife: John, Thomas C., Samuel W., mentioned below, Jacob.
(VI) Samuel W. Hartshorn, son of Charles (2) Hartshorn, was born at Providence, February 6, 1802, and died March 2, 1885. He was educated in the public schools of his native city. In politics he was a Republican. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity. He married, January 19, 1826, Mary A. Warren. Children: Georgianna, who died young; Charles Pay- ton, mentioned below; Amelia, who died young.
(VII) Charles Payton Hartshorn, son of Samuel W. Hartshorn, was born at Norfolk, Virginia, July 3, 1833, and died at Providence, Rhode Island, August 13, ISSO. He received his early education in the public schools, and acquired his profession as architect in the office of Thomas A. Tefft, one of the leading architects of his day. He entered into partnership with Charles Wilcox and the firm continued until Mr. Hartshorn died. The firm had offices in Providence, and designed many of the finest buildings in the city. Among other buildings they erected the Old Ladies' Home, the Olney Street Unitarian Church, the Wayland building, and many of the finest residences. In early life he was a Unitarian, afterwards a prominent member of the First Congregational Church of Providence. He was kindly and charitable, and an earnest, consistent Christian. He took an active part in the Union for Christian Work. In politics he was a Republican, and he served on the school committee of the city. He married, June 5, 1865, Rev. Dr. Woodbury officiating, Helen Almira Snow, who was born May 14, 1833, and died March II, 1897 (see Snow VII). They had one daughter, Stella Josephine Hartshorn, born January 3, 1869, who resides at No. 189 Way- land avenue, Providence, unmarried.
"Unostentatious in his manner, pure in his life, untiring in his devotion to his work, actively engaged in works of philanthropy, he quietly and firmly fulfilled the duties which devolved upon him with unswerving fidelity and honor. He was secretary of the Rhode Island Chapter of the American In- stitute of Architects."
1
William Francis Joslin
A LTHOUGH a resident of Providence at the time of his demise, Mr. Joslin was engaged in mercantile business in Westerly, Rhode Island, having sold his business in Providence in 1902. He was one of the successful men of his day, and from the age of seventeen years until his death at age of fifty years operated his own stores. .
He came from distinguished English ancestry and in America the Joslin name dates from 1635. The English family history traces to Sir Gilbert Jocelyne, who came from Normandy with William the Conqueror in 1066, a descendant of a Count Joceline who married a daughter of the Emperor Charlemagne. Sir Gilbert Jocelyne received from his monarch gifts of land in Lincolnshire, among his estates being the lordships of Sempringham and Tyrington. His son, Gilbert (2) Jocelyne, devoted his life to religion, founded the order called Gilbertines and was canonized a saint by Pope Innocent III. in 1202. One of his descendants married Anne, the heiress of the Percys, and became Duke of Northumberland. Another descendant was a signer of Magna Charter, and in the family have been many men of high rank and title. Thomas Josseline came from England to America in the ship "Increase" in 1635, settling at Hingham, Massachusetts, with wife and children.
William Francis Joslin was a son of Charles H. Joslin, a merchant of Hope Valley, Rhode Island. He married Susan Tripp, also of Rhode Island parentage, who bore him four children: William Francis; Mary, married Irving True, whom she survives; Alice C., a teacher in Providence public schools ; and Louis A.
William Francis Joslin was born at Exeter, Rhode Island, October 22, 1859, died suddenly at his desk in his store at Westerly, Rhode Island, Au- gust 8, 1910. He was educated in the public schools of Hopkinton, Rhode Island, and East Greenwich Business College. He had been deprived of a father's care at the age of fifteen, the father, prior to his death, having taught his son the rudiments of business and employed him around his grocery store at Hope Valley. After leaving school William F. Joslin worked for a short time for another, but at the age of seventeen opened a grocery store at Hope Valley where he had many friends. His father's old friends and customers also became his customers and he rapidly acquired a good business and in time became the leading merchant of Hope Valley. In 1892 he bought out a grocery business in Providence and until 1902 operated stores in both Hope Valley and Providence, residing in the latter com- munity. In 1902 he sold both stores and purchased a thriving grocery busi- ness in Westerly, Rhode Island, which he successfully conducted until his death in 1910. He became prominent in other lines of business activity and was regarded as wise in counsel, and capable in executive management. He , was vice-president of the Wood River Railroad Company and a member of the board of directors of the Hopkinton Savings Bank. He was a past noble
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William Francis Joslin
grand of Hope Valley Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, a member of the Junior Order of American Mechanics, and at Westerly was an efficient member of the Board of Trade.
Mr. Joslin married, October 1, 1891, Harriet Lillibridge, born at Rich- mond, Rhode Island, youngest daughter of Wanton and Sarah A. (Champ- lin) Lillibridge, both of Rhode Island parentage, her father a farmer. Wan- ton and Sarah A. Lillibridge had children: Sarah, married Robert Moore; Charles; Edward H .; Jeannette, married Frank R. Brown; John; William; Jennie, married Charles Stevens, and Harriet, widow of William Francis Joslin, residing at No. 101 Whitmarsh street, Providence. She has two children: Hope L., a student at Wellesley College; and Dorothy T., a graduate of Providence High School, class'of 1916.
الساعه
William I. Luther
T HE LUTHERS of Rhode Island are descendants of the Eng- lish Luther family, represented in the first American gener- ation by Captain John Luther, of Dorset, England, who came in 1636. Swansea, Scituate, Cranston and Providence have been their principal seats of residence in Rhode Island and in the last named city the parents of William H. Luther resided.
His father, also William H. Luther, married Rachel Towne, who bore him four children: Mary, deceased wife of John Edward Brown; William H., of further mention; Edwin T., deceased ; Susan E., widow of Thomas H. Carrique.
William H. Luther, the eldest son, was born in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1839, died at his home, No. 110 Melrose street, in his native city, January 13, 1915. He was educated in the public schools and variously employed until his enlistment in 1861 in response to the call of President Lincoln upon his loyal sons. He enlisted in the Eleventh Regiment, Rhode Island Volunteer Infantry, a regiment that through no fault of their own never was engaged in actual battle. The Eleventh was dubbed "the march- ing regiment" and while no regiment was more willing to fight, there were influences that kept them on the march, and away from the battle front. After his term of service expired, Mr. Luther returned to Providence, where he became engaged in stucco work, a line of activity he pursued for several years under Henry Wood. Later he formed a partnership with William Sheridan and conducted a successful business for many years, under the name of Sheridan & Luther. Mr. Luther retired from the firm several years prior to his death spending his last years in the quiet of his home. He was a quiet, reserved man, very polite and gentlemanly, very fond of his home and his family, faithful in his friendships and a man of strict integrity.
Mr. Luther married (first) Kate Knowles, who bore him a son, Charles E. Luther, who married Mary E. Hollowell and has a son, Charles E. Luther. Mr. Luther married (second) November 3, 1894, Laura Whipple, daughter of Amasa and Pamelia M. Whipple, the latter born in Connecticut, but reared in Hudson, New York. Amasa Whipple was born in Rhode Island and was one of the early thread manufacturers of the State, and owner of a fine farm at Cumberland Mills. His maternal grandfather, Elisha Waterman, was one of the pioneers of Providence, a farmer and large land owner, whose family name is perpetuated by Waterman street. Mrs. Luther survives her husband, residing at No. 110 Melrose street, Providence.
- ملعقة شعوب
Seth Wilkinson
Seth Wilkinson
IT MAY BE maintained with great cogency that the American people of to-day, the American race of to-morrow, owe much to each of the various races that has entered into its complex fabric, this quality to one, this characteristic virtue to an- other, qualities and virtues which shall doubtless in the end be properly amalgamated to a harmonious whole. But, if this be so, there can be no doubt that for the very basis of the national character we must turn to that great mass of English, who in the first period of colonization and for many years thereafter came in such generous numbers to our shores. It was these, the most enterprising mem- bers of that dominant race, that laid the foundation of our social structure, who for many years formed the majority of our people, who still, in the persons of their descendants, form the chief factor of our citizenship, and who, whatever change in racial proportions the future has in store for us, may be counted on still to leaven the whole mass, to furnish the prevailing ideals for that future as they have for the past, to give the fundamental tone and color to our customs, our manners aud our institutions. It is because we feel this in regard to them, because we believe that our present character has been determined in the first instance by them, and because we would preserve that character, that it is still pleasant to welcome to this land the descendants of our common ancestors, the men of whom more than any others we can think of as our cousins from abroad. Of the best type of the English people with whom we have so close a bond was Seth Wilkinson, the distinguished gentleman whose name heads this brief sketch, an immigrant here in his young manhood, whose death at Central Falls, Rhode Island, on July 11, 1915, removed from the community one of the most successful of its manufacturers, one of the most public-spirited of its citizens, a man of up- right and virtuous life.
Born in Bradford, Yorkshire, England, June 5, 1866, a son of William and Elizabeth ( Roper) Wilkinson, old and highly respected residents of that place, Seth Wilkinson passed his childhood and the first portion of his youth in his native place. His father was a skilled machinist who prospered, and the son was sent to school in Bradford where he was the recipient of an ex- cellent education. He was an apt scholar and completed his studies at an early age, whereupon he at once gave his attention to the question of win- ning success in the world of business. He was an ambitious and enterpris- ing youth and he decided to embark on a venture of his own, and accordingly established a plant for the manufacture of silk wipers for cleaning machinery. This plant was situated in his native Bradford and was the scene of his suc- cessful operations for a number of years. But all during this time his natur- ally venturesome character was urging him to another move which eventu- ally he carried into effect. The great opportunities for new industries exist- ing in the United States appealed to the imagination of Mr. Wilkinson and, his judgment approving, he decided upon the courageous step of transferring
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Seth Cailkinson
his business to the new world. Accordingly in the year 1893 he came to this country, and choosing the flourishing city of Pawtucket for the scene of his new establishment, he settled there and was soon actively at work. The location of his first mill was on North Main street, Pawtucket, where he at once began the manufacture of the silk wipers that had brought him success in the mother country. He was successful in the United States from the out- set, and after four years spent in the new mill he was obliged to remove to larger quarters, this time on Front street, Pawtucket. This time the quarters chosen were large enough to give some considerable opportunity for expan- sion, but in eight years they were outgrown and Mr. Wilkinson found it necessary to move again. This time he removed to a large factory at No. 403 Mill street, Central Falls, Rhode Island, which he erected and there continued his business until the time of his death, and where it is still being carried on successfully by Mrs. Wilkinson and her son, Edgar W. Wilkinson, and her daughter Ada. The product of the Seth Wilkinson Works grew to have a wide reputation of the best kind and the market spread over a large area, and a large business was done. The development of this great industry from its humble beginnings to its present proportions was due entirely to the business genius and good judgment of Mr. Wilkinson himself. From the first he displayed an intention to deal honorably with his associates which quickly won him their confidence and his name from that time forth was inseparable from business probity and integrity. To this basic qualification he added a keen insight into trade conditions and a thorough grasp of practical affairs that quickly brought him into the front rank of manufacturers in that region and made him a prominent figure in the industrial world. In the details of the work he was himself an expert and never left the final management of anything to others, but always overlookd the matter himself, and that both in the actual work in the mill and in the business end of the enterprise. But, although he kept all the strands of the business in his own hands and made the final decision in all matters of importance, he was well liked by all those who worked for him and he well knew the best way to gain from them their goodwill and consequent good work. It has been said that he showed an evident intention to deal with all associates in honor and justice and his employees were counted by him in this class. He was consequently in all things rather generous than mean, regarding their interests with the same jealousy that he did his own, and it was his reward to find his attitude recip- rocated and his interests safe in the hands of his subordinates.
The same broad-minded and even altruistic attitude which he preserved toward his business associates and his employees, Mr. Wilkinson had for all the world. His interest in the welfare of his adopted community was keen and he took part in its general life with energy and the most disinterested of motives. He was a Republican in politics and took an active part in the local organization and yet consistently refused to profit in any way thereby, refusing every public office that was offered him. He was a member of the First Baptist Church of Pawtucket and a liberal supporter of its work, espe- cially its benevolences.
On June 6, 1885, Mr. Wilkinson was united in marriage with Eleanor Caygill, of Bradford, England. To Mr. and Mrs. Wilkinson were born five
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Seth Wilkinson
children as follows: Arthur, born October 7, 1887, deceased; Percy, born October 13, 1888, deceased; Lily, born August 11, 1889, deceased ; Edgar W., born December 8, 1890; and Ada, born July 24, 1892. Mrs. Wilkinson sur- vives her husband and now makes her home at No. 158 Cross street, Central Falls, Rhode Island.
Mr. Wilkinson was a conspicuous figure in the social and fraternity life of the place and was a member of many orders and associations in the work of which he took a deep interest. He was a prominent Mason and was a member of Union Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, Pawtucket Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Pawtucket Council, Royal and Select Masters; Holy Sepulchre Commandery, Knights Templar; and Palestine Temple, Ancient Accepted Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. In business associations he was a member of the Pawtucket Board of Trade and the Pawtucket Business Men's Association and extremely active in the work of each. He was also a member of the Pomham Club for many years. Mr. Wilkinson was a man of quiet and retiring disposition, a man devoted to his home and family and who spent as much of his leisure time as he might by his own fireside, where his greatest happiness was found. Another taste of his was for travel and he and Mrs. Wilkinson spent much time en route, both in this country and in Europe whither they made several trips. It was also their habit to spend a portion of the winter months in Florida each year, a custom that they both enjoyed greatly. A fine type of man, honest and straightforward in all his dealings, it is the duty of all to preserve his memory green in order that it may serve as an example and the more so as his own retiring modesty served rather to withdraw him from the public notice that his virtues and abilities merited.
James Francis Stetson
I T IS ONLY in comparatively recent times that the inesti- mable benefits conferred upon the community by the sober business man and merchant are coming to be given their due share of recognition, and that the records of these men are being set down alongside of those more showy ones con- nected with military service and the affairs of State, as most truly representative of human life on the average and most largely contributive to the sum of human happiness in the aggregate. This growing appreciation of the part played by those concerned with the com- mercial and financial interests of the community has been coincident with a profound change in the organization of society itself, a change that has involved the shifting of its base from war to industry. Before this change had taken place, although the value of the merchant was realized in a dim sort of way by the warlike lords of creation, it was tinged with scarcely more consideration than that accorded to the creatures of the chase, that were thought valuable, but merely valuable as a prey for their fierce and insatiable desires, a consideration typified by that of the robber barons of medieval Germany for the traders whose caravans they hoped to plunder. In the gradual emergence into popular notice and respect of a mode of life essen- tially far more noble than that which originally despised it, this country, with its republican institutions, its democratic ideals and independent defi- ance of old formulae, has played a prominent, perhaps the most prominent part. In the United States of America, while we have amply honored those who have sacrificed themselves in war to the common weal, as we have hon- ored those who sacrificed themselves in any calling, we have refused to accept the dictum of a past age and foreign clime that there is anything intrinsically honorable in the warlike calling, giving our admiration instead to pursuits which, in their very nature, tend to upbuild, not to destroy, which would give and preserve life, not take it. It therefore becomes our appro- priate function to set down the records of such men as have established themselves in the regard of the community as examples of ability in these occupations which, more than any other, are typical of life as we find it here in our midst to-day. There is probably no other region which has been, and still is, more productive of such records than that of New England, the devel- opment of whose great commercial interests is associated with a host of names recognized by all as those of the leaders and captains in this wholly beneficent campaign for the conquest of the realms of inanimate nature, and the spread of human power and comfort. Among these names there is one that holds a high place in the regard of the people of Rhode Island, especially those of Bristol and Pawtucket, in which cities it was most closely identified with the lives of his fellows. This name is that of James Francis Stetson, widely known as one of the largest manufacturers of cigars and dealers in tobacco in the State.
Born in Central Falls, Rhode Island, September 21, 1828, Mr. Stetson
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James Francis Stetson
was a son of Isaac and Nancy (West) Stetson of that city, and it was there that he passed his childhood and early youth and received his education, or the first portion of it. He afterwards went to the public schools of Paw- tucket and there completed his studies. Upon reaching his majority, Mr. Stetson set himself to learn the trade of cigar-making and was soon suffi- ciently expert to make his services in demand. He worked in several places in Boston and Worcester, Massachusetts, and eventually settled in Bristol, Rhode Island, where he went into business for himself and which remained his home until the close of his business career. For twenty-three years he remained in Bristol and his trade, which had begun humbly enough, rapidly developed and expanded, until its present great proportions were reached. Without any break in this development, the business grew from start to finish and the reputation of Mr. Stetson grew with it as a man of the sound- est business methods and an unimpeachable probity and trustworthiness. His business would probably have grown still larger but that in ISSo Mr. Stetson's health began to fail in so marked a manner that he was obliged to withdraw entirely from buiness cares and responsibilities. He removed from Bristol to Providence, where he remained for a short time, and then to Pawtucket, where he made his home up to the time of his death on Septem- ber 3, 1896. . During the sixteen years spent by him in Pawtucket, Mr. Stetson enjoyed but very indifferent health and, as has already been stated, took no part in business of any kind. This did not, however, prevent him from becoming a well-known and popular figure in the community, or of taking part in a certain informal manner in the life of the place.
It was on July 25, 1853, that Mr. Stetson was married to Mary A. M. Hoar, a daughter of William and Mary (Brown) Hoar, old and highly re- spected residents of Bristol. Born to Mr. and Mrs. Stetson were two chil- dren, Eliza H., who now resides with her mother in Pawtucket, and Emma Edwards, deceased. Besides his wife and daughter, Mr. Stetson is sur- vived by his sister Susan, who became the wife of John L. Ross, well known. all over the East as one of the largest cotton manufacturers in New England. Mrs. Stetson is proud of the fact that she possesses Indian blood and can trace back paternally to Pocahontas, the famous daughter of an Indian chief.
Mr. Stetson was a fine type of the New England manufacturer and merchant, absolutely honest and square in his dealings with all men, a strict disciplinarian where his own conduct was in question, keeping himself closely to work at his daily tasks, yet tolerant of other men. A great lover of home and all its associations, he found his chief happiness by his own fire- side and was a most devoted husband and father. He was of a retiring dis- position as may well be observed in his connection with politics. He was a strong supporter of the Democratic party and the principles and policies which it stands for, but he neglected to press his position of influence as one of the most important citizens of the community, and never held any office. It is of such men that it is more than ever the duty of posterity to preserve the records in order that they may be insured of their true mneed of praise that might suffer a certain eclipse in their own too modest treatment.
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