USA > Rhode Island > Memorial encyclopedia of the state of Rhode Island > Part 3
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45
Gilbert Stuart married, May 10, 1786, Charlotte Coates, the daughter of Dr. Coates, of Berkshire, England. The eminent painter died in Boston, Massachusetts, July 27, 1828, aged seventy-two years. His remains were deposited in the cemetery adjoining Park Street Church, contiguous to Boston Common.
Cristam Burges
T RISTAM BURGES, lawyer, jurist and man of letters, was born at Rochester, Plymouth county, Massachusetts, Feb- ruary 26, 1770, son of John and Abigail Burges, and a descendant of Thomas Burges, who came to Salem, Massa- chusetts, about 1630, and subsequently settled at Sandwich, Plymouth county. " Tristam Burges' father was a cooper and farmer, and a soldier in the Revolutionary army.
Young Burges worked in his father's shop, and had less than three months' instruction until he attained his majority, but he had a thirst for knowledge, and read eagerly every book that came in his way. At the age of twenty-one he entered the academy at Wrentham, Massachusetts, and afterward became a student at Brown University, where he distinguished himself in oratorical exercises, and was graduated valedictorian in the class of 1796. He was occupied as a teacher in a school for a time, and then devoted himself to the study of law, which he had already begun while at the university, and in 1799 he was admitted to the bar. He was a strong Federalist, and early came to be recognized as a leader in the party. In 18II he was elected to the General Assembly of Rhode Island, and in 1815 was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, but held the office for a year only. In 1815 he was elected Professor of Oratory and Belles Lettres in Brown University, and occupied the chair with ability until 1828. In 1825 he was elected to Congress, as a Federalist, and by successive reelections his service was extended to ten years. His ability as an orator gave him a prominent place in the national councils; he favored a protective tariff in speeches of great power, and attracted much attention by his masterly and witty replies to the abuse heaped upon New England by John Randolph, the brilliant but erratic Virginian. He failed of a reelection because he would not accept Clay's compromise on the tariff, and the remainder of his life was spent in Rhode Island, chiefly at East Providence, in the practice of his profession.
He was married, in 1801, to a daughter of Hon. Welcome Arnold, of Providence, who bore him several children. He died at East Providence, October 13, 1853.
.
Joseph % Frales,
11
Joseph Coward FFales
T HERE is a popular notion to the effect that talent and worth are rarely appreciated during the life of their possessor and that their reward is almost always withheld until after death or at least until old age has rendered its payment vain. It is not wise to condemn off-hand popular notions which, almost without exception, have a basis in fact, and if we examine this specific instance we shall find that it applies truly enough, but only to one type of talent, or only to those types that happen to be at a discount in popular esteem. It is certainly far from true in the case of those abilities which are valued generally, such as that particular kind that excels in dealing with material affairs, the possessors of which are often raised to the highest pinnacles of popular regard while scarcely out of their youth. Such is especially the case in this country, where in the less conventional conditions of society, all inen have a chance to attract the notice of their fellows without regard to the position in life that they occupy initially. Indeed it seems probable that the difficulties that stand in the way of the man with a good position are quite as great as those that the appar- ently less fortunate must encounter. But aside from this, the original propo- sition remains true that in the United States the man of talents is almost sure to win recognition promptly if his abilities are of the kind to command the desires of his fellows. The examples that might be adduced to prove this are legion, and nowhere more so than in the New England States where the great majority of men are what may truthfully be called success- ful. It was in a more striking manner, however, that the career of Joseph Edward Fales illustrated the truth of the above. ex-Mayor Fales having won a quite exceptional success in a number of departments of activity, so that his death at Central Fails, Rhode Island, on June 1, 1913, was felt as severe loss by the whole community.
Joseph Edward Fales was a member of a very old New England family of Welsh origin which migrated to the United States in the early part of the seventeenth century and settled in that part of North Wrentham, Mas- sachusetts, formerly known as Tuckertown. From this region the great- great-grandfather of ex-Mayor Fales, Peter Fales by name, moved to Attle- boro, Massachusetts, where the family resided for many years and Joseph Edward Fales himself was born. Here also his father, James G. Fales, was born March 17, 1814, he being the seventh child of John and Roby (Gilmore) Fales. Mr. Fales, Sr., was brought up on the old homestead, attending the local schools until he had reached the age of thirteen years. He remained on the home farm a few years longer and then learned the machinist's trade. He was unable to follow this for any length of time, however, because the work affected his health and after three years of effort he was obliged to abandon the attempt. He worked then for a time at retailing garden produce and found this a much more wholesome occupation and in time had earned enough to enable him to open a grocery store in Pawtucket on the
.
22
Joseph Comuto foles
site of the present office of Lewis Fairbrother on North Main street. This was in the year 1847 and it was the real origin of the great grocery establish- ment that was afterwards run by his sons. In 1852 he removed the establish- ment from Pawtucket to Central Falls, Rhode Island. Besides his business, which rapidly increased in size and which he eventually sold to his two sons, Mr. Fales, Sr., dealt to a large extent in Central Falls real estate, his invest- ments being uniformly successful so that in time he became a large prop- erty holder and a wealthy man.
Joseph Edward Fales was born November 12, 1841, at Attleboro on the ancestral place, but he has no early associations with it as he was but one and a half years of age when his parents removed to Pawtucket, where he passed the first portion of his childhood and for a time attended the local schools. In 1852, when he was about eleven years old, his parents once more removed, this time to Central Falls and there he continued his education in the public schools. He completed his studies at the A. G. Scholfield Business College at Providence, graduating therefrom at the age of seventeen years. He then entered the employ of John P. Arlin, a successful interior decorator, and under his supervision learned that trade. For three years he worked with Mr. Arlin and during that time the Civil War broke out as a culmina- tion to the long disputes between the North and South. In the meantime Mr. Fales had joined the Pawtucket Light Guard and this organization at once volunteered at the call of President Lincoln in 1861. Mr. Fales was extremely anxious to go with his comrades, but he was under age and his parents would not listen to his pleadings. In 1862 Mr. Fales left the employ of Mr. Arlin and went to work for Mr. C. L. Dorsey as a sign painter, his work in this line being of a very fine quality. Later he worked in the same capacity for Eli Newell, of Pawtucket, and still later as a carriage painter for Stephen Berry in the latter's mill at Central Falls. It was a strong ambition of Mr. Fales to engage in business on his own account, and with this purpose in mind he worked hard and saved his earnings consistently and subsequently he bought a house painting business and, in partnership with E. H. Wade, continued in this trade for some time. Their store was located in a building that at that time occupied the site of the present Far- well Worsted Mills. Eventually Mr. Fales bought out his partner and still later sold the business to T. P. Steere of that city after enjoying a very successful period of business. Mr. Fales' reason for thus disposing of a trade which he had worked up largely by his own efforts was that he was at that time greatly impressed with what he believed to be the opportunities open in the West to the young man of enterprise, and determined to take advantage of the same. The event proved the wisdom of his belief. He went to Cameron Junction, Missouri, which was at that time enjoying a rapid development, and there he speculated in real estate with a high degree of success. A few years later, having disposed of all his holdings in that part of the country, Mr. Fales returned to Central Falls, where he did not im- mediately establish himself in any business although he took several con- tracts for painting work. The old grocery business of James G. Fales was at that time being carried on by George Morse, its founder's partner, and from this gentleman and their father, Joseph E. Fales and his brother, J.
23
Joseph Coward Fales
Henry Fales, bought the establishment on the corner of Central and High streets. Here the two brothers, forming a copartnership under the name of Fales Brothers, carried on a large and successful business up to within a few years of ex-Mayor Fales' death when they sold out and retired from active life. The firm of Fales Brothers was the largest of its kind in Central Falls and possessed a reputation for integrity and square business methods second to none. Their delivery wagons might be seen covering a very large terri- tory, not only in the city itself, but its environs.
But it was not so much in connection with his private business that the reputation of Joseph Edward Fales was made, but rather with his career in public life and politics in the course of which he came very much into popular notice and was given the highest office in the city government. For many years he was a prominent figure in the Republican party and was a member of the Common Council, both in Lincoln, before the separation of the two parts of the community, and later in the new community of Central Falls. In 1901 he was president of the Common Council and in that same year was the successful candidate of the Republican party for mayor. The adminis- tration under Mr. Fales of the mayor's office was admirable in every respect and its business-like character and disinterestedness won the approval of the whole community, political friends and foes alike.
There were not many departments of the city's life in which Mr. Fales was not prominent and he was a member of many important clubs and organizations in the region. Among these should be mentioned Jenks Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, of Central Falls, the Central Falls Veteran Firemen's Association and the Lincoln Republican Asso- ciation. In the matter of religion he was a Baptist and attended the Broad Street Church of that denomination in Central Falls.
It was on February 5, 1877, that Mr. Fales was united in marriage with Sarah Emeline Dunham, a daughter of Arza and Emeline (Parmenter) Dunham, old and highly respected residents of Pawtucket. To Mr. and Mrs. Fales four children were born as follows: 1. Annie Everett, deceased. 2. Bertha Dunham, who is now Mrs. Roy B. Cook, of Bristol, Rhode Island, and the mother of three children: Irma Dunham, deceased; Beatrice Fales and Doris Bigelow. 3. Lester Parmenter, who married Emeline H. Kilroy, of East Providence, Rhode Island, and has one child, Bessie Emeline. 4. Flossie Louise, widow of John C. Connery, of Bristol, Rhode Island, and the mother of two children, Avis Ellen and Charles Parker. Mrs. Connery and her two children now reside with Mrs. Fales in Central Falls.
-
nehemiah Rice Knight
TEHEMIAH RICE KNIGHT, seventh Governor of Rhode Island (1817-21), was born at Knightsville, Cranston, Rhode Island, December 31, 1780, son of Nehemiah and Eleanor (Hudson) Knight. The father was an Anti- Federalist representative in Congress from 1803 until 1808.
Nehemiah Rice Knight was reared on the farm culti- vated by his father, and received such education as was to be obtained by attendance at the local schools. He came to be a man of ability, both natural and acquired, and in 1801, the year in which he attained his majority, was chosen to represent the town of Cranston in the General Assembly of Rhode Island, and doubtless would have been reelected had he not removed the next year to Providence where he spent the remainder of his days. He was appointed clerk of the Court of Common Pleas for Provi- dence county in 1805 and served until I811, being supplanted by a Federalist. He was appointed clerk of the United States Circuit Court for the District of Rhode Island in 1812, and served until 1817. During the War of 1812- 14 he received the unsolicited appointment of Collector of Internal Revenue for the District of Rhode Island and served until 1817, in which year he was elected Governor of Rhode Island by the Anti-Federalist party, and held the office by annual reelection until 1821. While chief executive, he repeatedly recommended measures to the Legislature for the establishment of public schools throughout the State, and urged the necessity of free common schools-at that time a most unpopular scheme. In 1820 a committee was appointed to prepare and report a bill establishing free schools, but no report was made, and it was not until 1828 that a bill was passed committing the State to such action. Governor Knight was elected as a Whig to the United States Senate from Rhode Island in 1821 to fill the vacancy caused by the death of the Hon. James Burrill, and served by reelection until March 4, 1841, a period of twenty years, the last time he was elected to that office being on the National Republican ticket. He was an active delegate to the State Constitutional Convention in 1843 that adopted the present constitu- tion of the State. He reflected great credit on Rhode Island and on himself by his public career, which was an example of integrity, sagacity and trust- worthiness. After the last service above mentioned, he retired to private life and spent his remaining years in Providence, where he was honored and esteemed. He was chosen president of the Roger Williams Bank of Providence in 1817, and served in that capacity until 1854.
He was married early in life to Lydia Waterman, who survived him but a few months. Governor Knight died in Providence, Rhode Island, April 18, 1854.
Joseph Rogers Brown
O F THE SEVERAL families of Brown, prominent in Rhode Island, that of David Brown and his son, Joseph R. Brown, enjoys a preeminence in the industrial world which is per- petuated in the name of the Brown & Sharpe Manufacturing Company, whose plant is located in Providence.
David Brown was born in what is now Attleboro, in 1781. In his young manhood he became a manufacturer of jewelry and silverware in Warren, Rhode Island, and for three years, during intervals when business was slack, he traveled through the valley of the Connecticut, disposing of his silverware. In 1828 he removed to Pawtucket, and late in the year 1833 he formed a copartnership with his son, Joseph R. Brown, with a location in Providence, which enterprise was the beginning of what afterward became the Brown & Sharpe Manufacturing Company. He married Patience, daughter of Joseph Rogers, of Newport, Rhode Island, and they were the parents of several children. David Brown died at Paw- tucket, Rhode Island, in 1868, aged eighty-seven years.
Joseph Rogers Brown was born in Warren, Rhode Island, January 26, 1810. He inherited the mechanical taste and ability of his sire, and in boyhood, outside of school hours, was accustomed to assist him in his work. At seventeen years of age he entered the machine shop of Wolcott & Harris, at Valley Falls, where he developed unusual ability. After some months spent on the manufacture of cotton machinery, he returned to Pawtucket and assisted his father in the construction of various clocks for the towns of Pawtucket, Taunton and New Bedford. In 1831, the year in which he attained his majority, he opened a shop on his own account, and began the manufacture of small tools and lathes. Two years later, father and son again joined their efforts, and engaged in business at No. 60 South Main street, Providence. In the fall of 1837 the shop and contents were destroyed by fire, but they rebuilt the shop, and shortly afterward removed to No. 69 South Main street, where it was continued until 1848. After 1841 it was under the sole care of the son, in which year the father retired and went to the West. In 1848 Joseph R. Brown received as an apprentice Lucian Sharpe, who remained with him in that capacity until March 1, 1853, when he became his partner, under the firm name of J. R. Brown & Sharpe. At this time the business, after twenty years' establishment, enjoyed the repu- tation for producing the best and most accurate of work, consisting of clock and watch repairing; the making of a variety of measuring instruments, in which Mr. Brown was an adept ; and a variety of light mechanical work which would naturally come to a shop of its character. In 1858 the partners made a contract with the Wilcox & Gibbs Sewing Machine Company to manufacture their entire product. This connection, in a large degree, stimulated the invention and development of the machines and tools later made by the company. From this time forward the old South Main street location became crowded, and was gradually extended to embrace a con- siderable portion of the block. In 1872 removal was made to more adequate
26
Joseph Rogres Proton
quarters, there also being then three hundred employees. Not long after the removal, Mr. Brown's failing health obliged him to withdraw from his per- sonal activities, but the business was generally carried out on the mechanical lines which he had been instrumental in establishing.
To Mr. Brown is due not only the foundations of the mechanical repu- tation of the business, but also many inventions of far-reaching importance in the mechanical world. Perhaps encouraged by his familiarity with clock mechanism and its making, he early became interested in making scales of measurement, and in 1852 produced a linear dividing engine -- the first auto- matic machine of the kind put in use in America. In the following year he perfected the vernier caliper; this was the 'first practical tool for exact measurements which could be sold at a price within the reach of the ordinary machinists, and its importance in the attainment of fine work can hardly be overestimated. Probably the most noted invention made by Mr. Brown was that of the universal milling machine, patented in 1865, a machine which is used over the world wherever a progressive machine shop exists. Other devices were cutters that could be sharpened without changing their form, patented in 1864; a revolving-head screw machine, patented in 1865; the universal grinding machine, devised by him shortly before his death and patented in 1877; screw-slotting machines ; tapping machines ; a gear-cutting attachment for the milling machine ; frietion clutch pulley, patented in 1864; and a large number of gauges and exact measuring instruments which are in common use to the present day. The list of Mr. Brown's inventions suggests the character of his thoughts throughout his life, but perhaps does not include his reasons for his work. He worked chiefly because it was his greatest pleasure. He possessed a genuine love for all mechanical and mathematical problems, and he was as willing to take up some difficulty which was disturbing his associates as he was to work out some problem pertaining more entirely to himself. This earnestness in aiding others, and this love of mechanics, were perhaps his chief attributes; and these qualities, with his unusual skill and his determination to sell only the best work, were the very great influences which he contributed to the business. He had no ambition to make a large amount of money, or to establish a very large industry, but his inventions were of such a character that when made known they were at once appreciated, and were of inestimable value to the business. How important these inventions were and how permanent is their useful- ness we often do not fully appreciate. They are so much a matter of every- day use we frequently take them as a matter of course, but the principles of many of them were entirely novel, and they will be as permanent as they are advantageous-for instance-the principle embodied in cutters that can be sharpened without changing their form has wonderfully increased the efficiency of milling and gear-cutting machines, and probably will be used as long as these machines are used.
Mr. Brown married (first) September IS, 1837, Caroline B. Niles, daughter of Jonathan and Susan Niles, of Providence, who died in 1851. He married (second) May 3, 1852, Jane F. Mowry, of Pawtucket. Two children were born to the first marriage, of whom one, Lyra Frances, be- came the wife of Edward I. Nickerson, of Providence. Mr. Brown died at the Istes of Shoals, New Hampshire, July 3, 1876.
.
Philo Elisha Thayer
Philo Elisha Chaper
A BOUT 1820, Alanson Thayer, a brother of Samuel Thayer, and uncle of Philo E. Thayer, located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, where he became a prominent and wealthy manufacturer. From that time Thayers have been leading business men and high in the official life of that city. The original seat of the family in this country was Braintree, Massachusetts, where Richard and Thomas Thayer settled in 1630, the latter bringing his wife Margery and three children: Thomas, Ferdinanda) and Shadrach. Ebenezer Thayer, of the fourth American generation, settled at Bellingham, Massachusetts, where five generations of his descendants lived and where Philo E. Thayer, of the ninth generation, was born. Eight generations of his ancestors were tillers of the soil, land owners and men of importance in the community, but in the eight gener- ations many Thayers became well known as manufacturers. Philo E. Thayer's brothers purchased a brush factory at Pawtucket, Rhode Island, in 1870, and from that year dates his own residence in that city.
The Thayers mentioned as the American founders of the family came from Braintree, Essex, England, in 1630, and in memory of their English home the Colonials named their Massachusetts settlement Braintree. The family was a distinguished one in England, bore arms, registered in the Her- ald's office in London and held important position. In America the descend- ants of Thomas and Margery Thayer are numerous and in the nearly three centuries that have elapsed since the coming of the Pilgrims, each gener- ation has produced men of eminence in the business world, the professions, in military and in civil life. The coat-of-arms of the Thayer family is as follows: Per pale, ermine and gules, three talbots' heads, erased, counter- changed. Crest: A talbot's head, erased, or. Motto: Foccundi Caliceo.
The line of descent from Thomas and Margery Thayer to Philo E. Thayer is through Ferdinanda, second son of the founders, and his wife, Huldah (Hayward) Thayer; their eighth child Isaac and his first wife, Mercy (Ward) Thayer; their third child Ebenezer and his wife Mary (Wheelock) Thayer; their eldest child Captain Ebenezer and his wife Han- nah (Greene) Thayer; their second child Ebenezer (3) and his wife Martha (Thayer) Thayer (a relative) ; their fifth child Ebenezer (4) and his wife Sabra (Darling) Thayer; their third child Samuel and his wife Miranda (Sherman) Thayer; their youngest child Philo Elisha Thayer, to whose memory this sketch is dedicated.
. Samuel Thayer, born April 22, 1804, at Bellingham, Massachusetts, was a man of splendid proportions, over six feet in height, strong and well pro- portioned, and like all big men, big hearted, friendly and greatly admired. He was a large land owner and stock raiser, also a partner with a Mr. Cook in brush manufacturing. He came to his death while but in the prime of life, an accident received on his farm causing his early death. He married, in 1826, Miranda Sherman, of Foxboro, Massachusetts, who bore him four
28
Philo Glisha Chaper
sons and two daughters. Allen, the eldest son, was a grocer of Woonsocket, Massachusetts, where he died. The other three sons all became manufac- turers of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and all are now deceased. Julia Ann, the eldest daughter, married George F. Greene, a brush manufacturer of North Attleboro; her sister, Sarah Wilber, married Henry E. Craig, of Walpole, Massachusetts.
Philo Elisha Thayer was born at the home farm, Bellingham, Massa- chusetts, March 4, 1847, ninth in descent from Thomas and Margery Thayer. He died in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, March 12, 1908, aged sixty-one years. Beginning his education in public school at Bellingham, he was taken to Woonsocket, Rhode Island, by his mother after her husband's death and during their residence there attended grammar and high school. Later Mrs. Thayer married Samuel Kelley, a woolen manufacturer of West Milton, Ohio, and there Philo E. completed his studies and was graduated from high school in 1863. While a boy in Bellingham he had spent a part of his time at his father's brush factory and had acquired some knowledge of brush making. In 1864 he left West Milton and returned East, entering the employ of his brother Ellis, a brush manufacturer of Worcester, Massa- chusetts. He stayed with him but a few months, then entered the employ of his brother Allen, a grocer of Woonsocket, Rhode Island. He remained with him as clerk until 1870, then joined his two other brothers, Ellis and George Wesley Thayer, who had purchased Thomas Greene's brush factory on East avenue, Pawtucket, Rhode Island. He was made foreman of the factory, but after two years he returned to Woonsocket, again entering the grocery business as clerk for A. B. Warfield.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.