USA > Rhode Island > Memorial encyclopedia of the state of Rhode Island > Part 22
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Benno Wolf married, February 2, 1862, Emma B. Hahn, daughter of Joseph and Rosalie (Heyneman) Hahn. Joseph Hahn was born in Austria, there was educated in the best schools, and when a young man came to the United States. He located in Cohoes, New York, and there conducted a general store along the lines now known as department stores. The last years of his life were spent in New York City. His wife, Rosalie Heyneman, born in Munich, was a daughter of Dr. Heyneman, an eminent medical doc- tor, physician to the king and court of Bavaria. Joseph and Rosalie Hahn were married in the United States and were the parents of four children, Mrs. Wolf being the last survivor of her family.
Her early life was spent in Cohoes, New York, but since her marriage in 1862 she has resided in Providence. About 1878 Mr. Wolf bought the "Chapin place," No. 1251 Westminster street, designed by Stanford White, the murdered architect of New York City, and said to have been one of his masterpieces. In that beautiful home Mr. and Mrs. Wolf spent twenty-five happy years, and there she still resides and with her daughter, Alice R. Wolf, manages the estate left by her husband. Benno and Emma B. (Hahn) Wolf were the parents of four children: Alice R., of Providence; Henri- etta C., Joseph A. and Julian B. Wolf.
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John M. Fournier
John M. Fournier
A LTHOUGH born in Canada, Mr. Fournier came to the United States at the age of twenty,and from 1866 until his death in 1908 was a resident of Central Falls, Rhode Island, a very successful business man, a trusted public official and an hon- ored citizen. He was the architect of his own fortunes, was of quiet, retiring yet forceful nature, very charitable, yet so quietly did he perform his many deeds of kindness that the community little knew how far his benevolence extended.
John M. Fournier was born in Marieville, Canada, October 19, 1845, died at Central Falls, Rhode Island, january 24, 1908, eldest child of James and Elmira (Chagnon) Fournier, his father a farmer. He attended public schools until he was twelve years of age, then being the eldest child he was put at work on the home acres. At the age of sixteen he began learning the trade of carriage builder, and he completed his three years' apprenticeship. A year later, in 1865, he came to the United States and settled at Troy, New York, where he worked for one year. In 1865 he came to Rhode Island, locating at Central Falls, where he found employment as a house carpenter, his carriage building experience having given him a general knowledge of all woodworking trades. He carefully saved his earnings, lived a life of fru- gality and self-denial, and in a short time had a small capital which he invested in a piece of land. He made a profit on his first venture, invested again, and in 1871 had sufficient capital to open a meat market in Central Falls, taking in his brother Joseph, and trading as Fournier Brothers. The market prospered and from the profits of their first year in business they added, in 1872, a stock of groceries. Their business grew constantly, but in 1874 Joseph Fournier sold his interest, and until 1879 the firm operated as Fournier & Company. In 1879 Hector Schiller was admitted a partner and the name, Union Cash Store, Fournier & Schiller, proprietors, was adopted.
In 1882 the partners extended their lines to include gentleman's furnish- ings, boots. shoes, hats and caps, the store thus being converted into a gen- eral trading centre. The business now assumed large proportions and an- other partner was admitted, Alphonse Schiller. The following year, 1883, a bakery was added to the general features of the store, the ovens being located on Sheridan street. Every branch of the business prospered and in 1885 the firm began the manufacture of preserves, jams and jellies. This branch also proved profitable, and in 1888 a canning factory was added to the firm's activities. They had now outgrown their quarters and as trade was constantly expanding they decided to erect a suitable building, one ample in dimensions for future needs. This was done and in due season the firm moved to their new commodious and well equipped quarters. The busi- ness grew too large with its varied departments to be profitably continued under one management and in 1892 it was divided, Mr. Fournier and Al- phonse Schiller taking the baking, canning and preserving departments.
They put their energy and ability into the development of these depart-
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ments with the result that they built up the largest business of its kind in the State, at 9 and II Sheridan street, Central Falls. To their original lines . they added several articles of their own manufacture, catsup, mustard, maple syrup and similar products of household use. In 1893 the firm became a cor- poration, The Fournier & Schiller Company, John M. Fournier. president and treasurer. Mr. Fournier continued the able executive head of the com- pany until his death, fifteen years later, prosperity attending all his efforts.
Since his death his holdings have passed to others, but the great business he founded and built up still continues a monument to his ability as a mer- chant and manufacturer.
Mr. Fournier was a Republican in politics, becoming influential in the party and potent in its councils. He was town auditor of Lincoln; member of Town Council in 1887-88; town auditor, 1892-95; commissioner of the sinking fund of Central Falls; member of the Legislature from Lincoln, 1892-95, and member from Central Falls, 1895-96. He was most faithful in the discharge of every official duty and when he could not consistently take sufficient time from his growing business interests, retired from the Legis- lature rather than accept an office he could not give the time its importance demanded. He was a member of Lafayette Lodge, Knights of Pythias, of Providence, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows of the same city, the Knights of Honor of Pawtucket, and a charter member and director of the Providence County Savings Bank of Providence. He was broad and liberal in his religious views, belonging to the Church of Notre Dame, Central Falls (Catholic).
Mr. Fournier married (first) in 1867, Louise Ruel, who died in 1870, leaving two children, Exeline, who married Oliver Fountaine, of Central Falls, and Delia J., who married Diogene Parent, of Phoenix, Rhode Island, and has a son, John M. Fournier Parent. Mr. Fournier married (second) January 17, 1876, Louise Schiller, who survives him without children.
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William Hoffman
IN THE YEAR 1858 there came from Germany to the United States a young man of twenty years who selected Provi- dence as his home. Ere sufficient time had elapsed to acquire citizenship, he demonstrated his fitness by service in the Union army. Later this young man became a resi- dent of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and as William Hoffman, florist, became one of Pawtucket's best known business men and most highly respected citizens. He was a son of Henry and Emily (Miller) Hoffman, of the Kingdom of Bavaria, now a state of the German Empire.
William Hoffman was born in Bavaria in 1838, died at his home, No. 669 East avenue, Pawtucket, Rhode Island, July 5, 1905. He was variously employed until the outbreak of the Civil War, when he enlisted with the three months' men first called for by President Lincoln and went to the front as a private of Company G, First Regiment Rhode Island Infantry. At the close of his term of service he reenlisted for three years, but at the close of his first year of army life he was so incapacitated by a severe attack of fever that he was honorably discharged and returned to his home in Providence.
After regaining health and strength Mr. Hoffman entered the employ of the Seckett & Davis Company, jewelry manufacturers, and served an apprenticeship at the jewelry trade, becoming an expert maker of gold chains. Later he accepted a better position with a rival firm, the William Smith Jewelry Manufacturing Company, continuing with that concern until 1875. During that period he had married and had devoted a great deal of his time to the study of botany, being a natural lover of flowers and always inter- ested in their culture. In 1875 he decided to abandon his trade as a jewelry worker and to devote himself to the growing of flowers and plants as a busi- ness. Having so decided he closed out his business in Providence and moved to Pawtucket, Rhode Island. He located at No. 669 East avenue and began business in a modest way, grounds and greenhouse in keeping with the small capital he had to invest. His business became a very successful one and expansion was soon necessary. As patronage increased he added greenhouse after greenhouse until an area of an acre was under glass and devoted to the growing of flowers and plants, many of them rare and valu- able. He was a florist of high repute and the "Hoffman greenhouses" were known far and near.
Not only was he widely known as a successful florist and highly re- garded as a business man, but his sound judgment and deep interest in pub- lic affairs commended him to the voters of his district who twice elected him to represent them in the State Legislature. He served during the ses- sions of 1887 and 1888, declining a third term which was offered him. He was offered other political honors by his party, but the demands of his busi- ness made it necessary for him to decline them. He was a Democrat in his
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political faith and all through his life took an active part in city affairs as an interested, patriotic citizen. In Providence Mr. Hoffman was prominently identified with Germania Lodge, Order of Harugari, and Unity Council, Royal Arcanum, and in Pawtucket affiliated with his army comrades in Tower Post, No. 17, Grand Army of the Republic.
Mr. Hoffman married, in 1864, Charlotta Engel; the ceremony being performed by Rev. Howe, of the Olneyville church. Mrs. Hoffman was born in Germany, coming to the United States when a miss of fifteen years, residing the first four years of her American life in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She then came to Providence, Rhode Island, where she met and married William Hoffman. They resided for the first eleven years of their married life on Richmond street, Providence, then moved to Paw- tucket, where for thirty years they resided at No. 669 East avenue and there Mrs. Hoffman yet maintains her home. Three sons and a daughter were born to William and Charlotta (Engel) Hoffman, all living: 1. William Henry, now a member of Arnold Hoffman & Company, wholesale dealers in dyes and chemicals, Providence, Rhode Island; he married Myra Smith, of New Bedford, Massachusetts, and resides in Barrington; children: Arnold and Harold William Hoffman. 2. Emma O., married Henry Meyer, and resides on Glenwood avenue, South Woodlawn, district of Pawtucket; children: Frederick William, married Mary Negus, of Taunton, Massachu- setts; Henry Rupert ; and Alma Florence, married Lyman Briggs, of Taun- ton. 3. Frederick Charles, his father's successor in the florist's business; he married Harriet Weston, of Exeter, New Hampshire, and resides on East avenue, Pawtucket ; children: Elsa, Frederick Weston, and Richard Ander- son Hoffman. 4. Henry Albert, traveling salesman for Arnold, Hoffman & Company ; he married Mae B. Bates, of Pawtucket, and resides at Barring- ton; children: Constance and Eleanor Hoffman.
Abram Aby
Abram Almy
TT IS not only the old world, with its systems of caste, its classes and well protected aristocracies, that presents to us the sight of families who for generations have maintained with un- wavering stability the high place in public esteem, the power and influence gained by some talented ancestor, for even democratic America can show us the same, and many are the great houses presenting, as it were, a kind of aristocracy of brains and ability, whose members never seem to fall below a high standard of intelligence and character, and who continue to establish and reestablish their high standing and prominence in the community. This was strikingly true in the case of the Almy family of Newport, Rhode Island, of whom the late Abram Almy, whose death occurred there on January 29, 1902, was a worthy scion. It is, of course, a much more noteworthy achievement for a family to so maintain its standing in a country where there is a perfectly open rivalry between its members and all men than in a country where they are hedged about with aristocratic institutions which enable even inferior talent to assert superiority over genius if the latter be without the pale. The Almy family is one of the oldest in New England, and although its branches are now pretty well distributed throughout these states the oldest branch is that which has had its home in Rhode Island for many generations.
The founder of the family in this country was William Almy, who was born in England as early as the year 1601 and who came to this country in 1631. He settled in Lynn, Massachusetts, remaining there for a few years, and then returned to England to bring over his family. This voyage suc- cessfully accomplished in 1635 on the ship "Abigail" the family remained a few years in Lynn and then removed to a still newer settlement. It was in 1638 that Portsmouth, Rhode Island, was settled, and in 1644, but six years later, William Almy and his family joined the little band of settlers and from that time onward for many generations this town became the head- quarters of the Almy family. William Almy became a prominent man in Portsmouth as it grew to greater dimensions, but it was in the person of his son, Christopher Almy, that the fortunes of the family reached what was perhaps their highest point. Besides holding many important posts in the community, he was chosen in 1690 governor of the colony, but declined to serve. From this a long line of worthy forebears, most of whom were sea- faring men, led downwards to the immediate ancestors of Abram Almy, with whose career this sketch is concerned. The parents of Mr. Almy were Abram and Martha B. (Simpson) Almy, he a native of Portsmouth and she of Newport. Abram Almy was one of four children, there being a sister, Ruth Amelia, and a brother, Theodore, older than himself, and a brother, Samuel S., younger.
Abram Almy was born March 25, 1848, in Fall River, Massachusetts, less than three years before his father's death, after which event his mother removed to Newport which became his home and the scene of his busy activ-
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Abram AImp
ities for the remainder of his life. The death of the elder Mr. Almy left his family in limited circumstances and it thus happened that the young, man's education was much abbreviated by the necessity of aiding in securing the family living. What schooling he did receive was gained at the Newport public schools, but he was obliged to give up his studies when only fourteen years of age and go to work. He was possessed, however, of a healthy ambition and an unusual power of observation, so that in after life he made up for these early deficiencies in his training and came eventually to have rather a better education than the average. It was as a boy of fourteen, how- ever, that he gave up his studies and in his desire to assist his mother in the care of the family, he apprenticed himself to a painter, one John C. Stoddard, of Newport. His apprenticeship, however, was not destined to be completed at that time, for in 1861, the breaking out of the Civil War cut rudely across the current of his career, as it did in the cases of so many, and the young man enlisted in the Union's cause. From the time of his enlistment to the end of the colossal struggle the youth was engaged in the United States revenue service. He then returned to Newport and once more took up paint- ing as a trade and followed it for several years as a journeyman. He was a man of an unusually enterprising spirit, however, and his ambitions were strong to be independent of others in his business. As soon, therefore, as it became possible, he gave up his position with his employer and set up as a contractor on his own account and soon had the satisfaction of finding him- self well established in the business. He was highly successful from the outset, and many people who knew him as a skillful painter sought his serv- ices in their work and all who did so were satisfied. His reputation for abil- ity and integrity came to be second to none in the city and his business grew to very large proportions because all knew that work put into his hands would be well done. So large, indeed, did the business become that it neces- sitated the employment of upwards of fifty men and it would undoubtedly have reached an even greater size had not the precarious nature of Mr. Almy's health intervened. It was the discomforting discovery that the character of the work was injuring his health that eventually forced him to wind up this business and seek for another. In January, 1891, he purchased the coal and wood business of the late William J. Swinburne, of Newport, and not- withstanding the fact that, as he himself remarked humorously, he scarcely knew how to measure a cord of wood, he embarked boldly upon this new enterprise. And here it was that his reputation for honor and integrity served him well. His standing among his fellow citizens in this respect was such that no one feared to give him his patronage, despite his unfamiliarity with this particular line. They knew too well that whatever he undertook to do that he would accomplish and that obligations would be fulfilled in spirit as well as letter. The result was that he was as successful in this enter- prise as he had been in the painting and continued it up to the time of his death without interruption. His business was not alone with the private citizens of the place, but he had as a customer the government and supplied it with many hundreds of tons of coal. His success in this business was due in no small degree to the judgment and business talent of Mrs. Almy, with whom he consulted as to the conduct thereof, and who, since his death, has
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Abram Almp
continued it with the highest degree of success, it having grown consider- ably larger under her able management. She has retained in her employ most of the old and reliable men who worked for her husband and main- tains the same high standard in service and material that he inaugurated.
Mr. Almy took an active part in the general life of the community, and was a prominent figure in political and social circles. A staunch Republican in political faith, he served his party well in local affairs and was allied con- spicuously with the city organization. But although he was thus active and although he served as a member of the Republican City Committee, he would never accept any office for himself, and proved in many other ways the com- plete disinterestedness of his activity. In the social world he was also active and was a member of Coronet Council, No. 63, Royal Arcanum, and of sev- eral other fraternal and beneficial bodies.
It was on October 28, 1884, that Mr. Almy was united in marriage with Anna W. Hazard, of Newport, a daughter of Simeon and Mary Ann (Stev- ens) Hazard, well-known residents of that city. By this marriage Mr. Almy became connected with another of the old New England families, the Haz- ards tracing their descent unbrokenly to Thomas Hazard, who was born in England in the year 1610, and came to the American colonies sometime prior to 1635, upon which date his name appears in an old Boston record, and who later removed to Newport. Mrs. Almy is the youngest of four children, the others being as follows: George S., now deceased; William S .; Sarah W., the widow of Edwin G. Spooner, of Newport, Rhode Island, and the mother of two children, Sarah C. and George H. Mrs. Spooner now resides with Mrs. Almy. To Mr. and Mrs. Almy one child was born, Octo- ber 27, 1886, a daughter, Mary Stevens, who died January 21, 1897.
The character of Mr. Almy was a most exemplary one, his personality at once strong and attractive. Besides the obvious talents and the no less obvious virtues, upon which his success in the practical affairs of life de- pended, he was possessed of that great power of winning and keeping friend- ship and he was able to boast of an unusually wide and devoted circle of friends from every walk in life. He was himself strongly devoted to his home life and it was in the intimate intercourse of his household and family that he found his greatest happiness.
Jefferson Aldrich
N O COUNTRY has ever been too democratic to object to the aristocracy of merit. Indeed it may well be held that one of the most obvious raison d'etre of democracy is that it causes this aristocracy to prevail and take the place of a more artificial order. That such an aristocracy may have many of the ap- pearances of the older and more formal types is very true, that it may retain wealth, position, influence within the pos- session of one family from generation to generation is well shown by the records of such a family as that of Aldrich, which for many generations has held a distinguished place in the affairs of the State of Rhode Island. The distinguished gentleman whose name heads this sketch, Jefferson Aldrich, was one of the representatives of the family in the generation just passed, and in him we see the same strong personal characteristics as have appeared in his forebears for many generations. Note, however, that it is the charac- teristics that win worldly possessions and fortune that is inherited, not the fortune itself, a matter very different and vastly more noteworthy and honorable. Thus are the titles to fortune handed on from father to son in this aristocracy of merit so that Mr. Aldrich's death on June 27, 1910, merely marked the end of another link in a chain of high achievements and deserts.
Jefferson Aldrich was born August 10, 1836, in the flourishing town of North Smithfield, Rhode Island, one of the eight children of Burrill and Mirandy (Ballou) Aldrich, old and highly respected residents of that place. Both his parents were members of very old Rhode Island families, his father's ancestors having been among the first settlers in the State. Mr. Aldrich, Sr., was a very successful farmer in the region of Woonsocket, his farm, which is accounted one of the largest and most perfectly run places of the kind in Rhode Island, being in plain sight from the Woonsocket car line. It was upon this beautiful old place that Jefferson Aldrich passed his child- hood and grew rapidly to a full and capable manhood, here in the wholesome environment of nature subjected to the strengthening influences of a rural life. But the lad had large ambitions and a remarkable capacity for grasp- ing the details of whatever subject he turned his attention to, a fact that be- came apparent as early as during his attendance in the Woonsocket public schools where he was sent as a child to gain the rudiments of his education. Here he disclosed the fact that he was a remarkably apt student, and always stood high in his classes to the point of winning great regard from his mas- ters and instructors. Here his general education was gained, but Mr. Aldrich, who from the early years of his life took a keen interest in business and financial questions determined to take special courses to fit him for a career in this line. Accordingly he went to Providence and there entered the old business college then known as the Mowry and Goff Business Col- lege, but which has since become Bryant and Stratton's well known institu- tion. From this he graduated, and at once secured a clerical position in the office force of Harris & Company, of Woonsocket. Rhode Island. Here he
Jefferson Aldrich
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Jefferson alutich
remained for several years, giving excellent service to his employers, and was advanced by them. Subsequently he was offered a much better position in the office of Charles B. Aldrich, of Waterford, Massachusetts. a distant relative of his who was engaged in the lumber business. Here the young man gained a very thorough knowledge of practical business methods, and here, also he gained a strong desire to embark upon a business venture of his own, in which he would be free to put his own ideas into effect without consulting superiors. In order to accomplish this it was necessary for him to exercise frugality and practice a severe thrift so that he might become possessed of the amount of capital requisite for a start. A few years in Waterford with his relative's concern, however, accomplished his object, and returning to his home town of Woonsocket, he there established himself in a brokerage business, dealing in stocks, bonds, real estate mortgages and investments of all sorts. From the very outset he was successful and soon was recognized as one of the influential figures in the financial world of that region. He was by nature possessed of the qualifications for a successful business man and financier and these were sharpened and directed by his long years of training, both practical and theoretical, so that he was con- sidered as the authority on matters financial in that part of the State.
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