USA > Rhode Island > Memorial encyclopedia of the state of Rhode Island > Part 34
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
John Francis Dates
John Francis Dates
S PECIALISTS in all lines are common enough in this day of boasted high efficiency, and all'men must in a measure be- come specialists if they would succeed in the game of life in competition with others who are. This is the demand of the age and we, its children, must conform to it if we desire to live. But though this be true, we need not therefore come to disregard and undervalue those larger, if less acute, facul- ties, the concomitants of an age of less violent application; nay, we can honor most highly and deem thrice fortunate all who are able to retain something of this more general outlook along with the specialization of their faculties so necessary to the practical affairs of life. He is indeed the large-minded man who, amid all the stress and hurry of modern life as we see it about us, can keep himself open to the influences of outside nature and art, a well-rounded man, free from the provincialisms and prejudices of his particular craft or occupation, a man to whose heart the interests and feel- ings of all his fellows penetrate freely and are sure to awaken an answering thrill or pang there. The ability to do this is somewhat rare; it bespeaks a nature originally of larger mould than the average, and it carries with it its own reward, a reward beyond the power of the world to give, the reward that "all the dreary intercourse of daily life can ne'er prevail against him," that it sweetens rather than embitters, that in the aspect of nature he per- ceives not an implacable enemy, but the face of a friend, aye, a father. The character of John Francis Oates well exemplifies the truth of our thesis dur -. ing the course of a life in which he was able in a marked degree to specialize his endeavors to the point of conducting a very successful business enter- prise and yet remaining a faithful votary of an art which, perhaps, less than any other tolerates an outlook upon life not the broadest and most catholic.
Early in life Mr. Oates opened a drug business in the city of Providence, Rhode Island, and by dint of the most painstaking application to the detail of his business worked up a very large and successful trade, gaining at the same time a most enviable reputation for fair dealing and adequate business methods. In his business relations Mr. Oates was well known, but he was still better known in quite dissimilar connections. He was not a public man in the sense that he sought or found any public distinction. Although pos- sessed of strong political views, and these of the most independent and non- partisan sort, he never actively entered politics and still less allied himself with any party organization. Neither was he a conspicuous figure socially, nor prominently identified himself with any large organization, his instincts being rather domestic, so that he sought the happiness of relaxation in his home rather than the lodge or club. He was somewhat reserved, also, and careful in making a friend, although when once he had he did not easily let him go again.
That for which Mr. Oates was best known was his musical talent and
312 .
John Francis Dates
the fine voice which was his organ of expression. He sang a great deal both in public and private and among a large number of his fellows no form of entertainment was more highly prized than that his voice afforded. His taste in his art was wide and highly cultivated and he could both appreciate and interpret the types of it. Such time as, was not devoted to music -Mr. Oates did a great deal of singing in connection with the concerts of various choral societies-was spent in his own home, for as has already been mentioned his instincts were strongly domestic and he found in the intimate intercourse of his own family the happiness that so many others seek without. He was devoted to all the members of the household and always placed their interests before his own. A disposition so good as this could not fail to be the center of much affection, not only in his house- hold, but among his friends and even those more casual associates that were thrown with him in the course of business. He was also possessed of a cer- tain ability that is always calculated to foster goodwill and that was an almost infallible memory for faces, and it is said that any customer once entering his store would always be remembered afterwards. Beneath all characteristics, however, at the base of his nature were the essential virtues of honor and purity, courage and charity.
Mr. Oates married, June 29, 1894, Mrs. Joanna Tucker, the widow of Henry Greene Tucker, of whom a sketch precedes in this work. She sur- vives her husband, whose death occurred August 25, 1906, and was felt as a loss by a large circle of his fellow-citizens.
Thomas Axton Richards
Thomas Arton Richards
A LTHOUGH we remain true to our traditions of keeping open the door to all who would seek refuge in America from the oppressive conditions obtaining in the "Old World," although there are many who even regard with pleasure the thousands of aliens who yearly take advantage of our wel- come, yet they are few indeed who do not feel that it is only because we already possess so firm a foundation in Anglo- Saxon blood and tradition that we can afford to be so complaisant in the face of the inroads of these multitudes of foreigners. For it is upon this blood and tradition and upon the institutions we have derived from the same source that the social structure of the future in this country must be erected if it is to remain true in any way to the ideals we have always held for America. For which reason we are the more happy to welcome mem- bers of that sturdy race, from which we are in the main derived, who still find their way to these shores with the intention of making this country their home. Such, for instance, was Thomas Axton Richards, the distin- guished citizen and business man of Providence, Rhode Island, whose death in that city, February 15, 1916, was a loss to the entire community, and who, although a native of England, so closely identified himself with the life and affairs of his adopted community.
Thomas Axton Richards was born at Bristol, England, March 20, 1836. He was the eldest of the seven children of William and Jane ( Phillips) Rich- ards, old residents of that city, where they died, both having attained the venerable age of eighty-two years. Mr. Richards spent his boyhood in his native city, and at an early age displayed many of the sterling qualities that so marked him in later years. His love of study and scholarship appeared very early and brought him into the favorable notice of his teachers and masters during his school life. He was what is known as a government pupil in the schools of Bristol, and he displayed so great a talent that it was determined by his parents that he should be sent to the Continent to com- plete his education. While still little more than a boy, he went to France and there, among other things, mastered the language of the country. At the age of seventeen years he came to the United States, unattended by any other member of his family, and at once settled in Providence, Rhode Island, which was his permanent home for the remainder of his days. He served an apprenticeship with a jeweler in that city, became highly interested in the work, and in due course of time became an experienced and skilled jeweler, becoming thoroughly familiar with every department of the manu- facture of jewelry, winning and meriting the high praise of his employer.
At that period, however, there occurred that which for a number of years turned his thoughts entirely away from his business career and from all thoughts of peaceful occupation of any kind. This was the same cause that for a time disrupted the entire national life and threatened the fate of the existence of the Union itself. When the great conflict between the
314
Thomas Arton Richards
North and South broke out into open hostilities, Mr. Richards was one of the first to answer the call of President Lincoln for troops and thus demon- strated his entire allegiance to his adopted country. He enlisted in Com- pany H, First Regiment, Rhode Island Volunteer Cavalry, as sergeant. On November 11, 1861, he was promoted commissary sergeant; on December 14, 1861, quartermaster sergeant; reënlisted on January 5, 1864; became commissary sergeant of non-commissioned staff, November 1, 1864; trans- ferred from non-commissioned staff to old organization; January 1, 1865, became regimental commissary sergeant; mustered out of United States government service, August 3, 1865. During all this time he took part, always with honor, in many battles, and few men gave more faithful service to the cause of the Union than he. It is a curious fact, little dreamed of at the time by Mr. Richards, that his father-in-law to be, Philip Rounds, of Providence, was serving in the same regiment and lost his life in that service.
Upon the completion of hostilities and the discharge of the troops, Mr. Richards returned to the North, taking up again the manufacture of jewelry, and shortly afterward established the firm of Richards & Manchester, con- ducting the business on an extensive scale. The concern was first located on Eddy street, but later, as the business increased, removed to Calendar street. They made a specialty of solid gold work and became well known in the trade all over the country, the work being of a specially fine grade. The practical knowledge of every part of the work possessed by Mr. Richards made him a most valuable man and he was recognized as the chief factor in the prosperous business. In 1875, however, the firm was dissolved, and Mr. Richards went to Philadelphia and therc took up the manufacture of watch cases. He returned eventually to Providence, however, and for a time was associated with the firm of John T. Cuddy & Company until it discontinued business in 1900. Mr. Richards then retired from business pursuits, content to manage his private affairs and he thenceforth devoted considerable of his time to his favorite occupation of reading and study.
Mr. Richards was a man of far too broad sympathies and interests to permit his activities to be confined entirely within the realm of his business, and there were many aspects of the life of the community with which he was identified. In religious matters he was affiliated with the Episcopal church and was generous in his support of the work of the parish, especially its philanthropic activities. He always held strongly to the associations formed by him during the Civil War and was a member of a number of vet- eran associations, notably Slocum Post, Grand Army of the Republic, the Cavalry Veteran Association and the Pawtuxet Veteran Association. He always kept up the old feeling of camaraderie between himself and his old comrades, many of whom attended his funeral services in uniform.
Mr. Richards married at Providence, August 6, 1874, Mrs. Ellen F. Baker, of that city, a daughter of Philip J. and Pamelia (Jackson) Rounds, also of Providence, and widow of Henry A. Baker. She was the mother of one child by her first marriage, Harry F. Baker, who married Effie L. Vick- ery, of Providence, and died at the age of twenty-nine years. Since the
315
Thomas Arton Richards
death of Mr. Richards, Mrs. Richards has made her home in the old Jack- son mansion at No. 2 Ringgold street, Providence, where she was born. Mrs. Richards is a member of a fine old New England family in one of her paternal lines of descent, one of her great-grandfathers having been Benja- min Kinsley, well known as Deacon Kinsley in the Revolution, in which he took an honorable part. He lived to the great age of ninety-six years. Her father, Philip J. Rounds, as has been mentioned above, served during the Civil War in the First Rhode Island Regiment of Cavalry, the same in which Mr. Richards served. He did not live to see the end of the war, however, dying in a hospital from the result of exposure when but thirty-eight years of age. Mrs. Richards is thus descended from the best type of Americans, the men who from generation to generation lived and died for their country and its integrity. On the maternal side of the house she is of English de- scent, both her grandfather, James Jackson, and her mother having been born in that country, though the latter named came to this country as a very young child. James Jackson was a manufacturer of thread, and came to this country accompanied by his wife and four children. He erected the house in which Mrs. Richards is now residing, and in that house his death occurred. His daughter, Pamelia, the mother of Mrs. Richards, was the third of his children, and she married Mr. Rounds when very young. She died at the early age of twenty-two years.
As has already been mentioned Mr. Richards was a great student and a wide reader, a scholar by choice and inclination and familiar with the best in the literature of the world. His knowledge of the French language was always a great pleasure to him, and his large library was well stored with the masterpieces of English and French literature. He was an especially learned grammarian and his wide reading made him a delightful and in- structive conversationalist. His friends were among the best people of Providence and deeply appreciated the privilege of his companionship. He was never a wealthy man in the sense of the term to-day, but his business was successful and the money that he possessed was made by his own effort, skill and industry. Mr. Richards in his personal appearance was very attrac- tive, always seemingly young, even towards the latter end of his life, a man of high spirits, putting himself out to be agreeable to those he came in con- tact with. As a result he was much beloved and few men have been so greatly missed in the large circle of those who were privileged to call him friend.
.
Gilbert Anthony Phillips
F `OUR generations of the Phillips family, of which Gilbert An- thony Phillips was representative, lived at Foster, Rhode Island, descendants of one of the prominent Colonial fam- ilies of New England. John Phillips and his son Ephraim were both farmers, but Anthony, son of Ephraim, grandson of John Phillips, settled in Providence in 1861 and there spent the remainder of his life, dying October 26, 1891. He married Huldah Marietta Hopkins, born May 7, 1825, in Foster, died in Providence, February 2, 1893, daughter of Anthony Hopkins. Their only son was Gilbert Anthony Phillips, to whose memory this memorial is dedi- cated.
Gilbert Anthony Phillips was born at Foster, Rhode Island, June 30, 1843, died at his home in Providence, November 25, 1908. His boyhood was spent at the home farm in Foster, his education obtained in the public schools and at East Greenwich Academy. In 1861 the family moved to Providence, Rhode Island, where Gilbert Anthony secured a position as clerk in the Mechanics' Savings Bank, continuing with that institution for two years, resigning his position in 1868 to become cashier of the West- minster Bank. Four years later, in April, 1872, he entered the service of the Manufacturers' National Bank as general clerk and for twenty-eight years was actively connected with that institution, rising through the intermediate ranks to that of president. He was promoted cashier, January 5, 1874, later served as vice-president, and on January 8, 1895, was elected president, suc- ceeding Newton D. Arnold. He continued executive head of the Manufac- turers' National Bank until January 1, 1900, and during those five years under his masterly management placed the bank at the head of Rhode Island's financial institutions in amount of business transacted, its strength keeping pace with its growth. During the year 1899, the last year of his administration, the Manufacturers' National Bank did the largest business of any national bank in Rhode Island.
During the latter part of 1899, William Goddard, president of the Provi- dence Institution for Savings, the largest and oldest bank in Rhode Island, resigned after an executive service of twenty-five years. It was necessary that a man of recognized strength in the financial world be called to succeed him and after mature deliberation the board of finance unanimously chose Gilbert A. Phillips to fill the office made vacant by the resignation of Presi- dent Goddard. When offered the position Mr. Phillips accepted the high honor and on January 1, 1900, he assumed the duties of his exalted position. During the months which intervened he completed the transformation of the Manufacturers' from a bank to a trust company, a change made to enter the larger field of financial operations open to a trust company. When he resigned the executive management, Mr. Phillips did not sever his connec- tion, but remained a member of the board of directors of the Manufacturers'
317
Gilbert Anthony Phillips
Trust Company for several years. Upon his retirement from the presidency resolutions of regret and laudation signed by all the directors were pre- sented to the retiring president. The close relations existing between the executive and the board were commented on most favorably and the great service he had been to the bank was most freely acknowledged. From Janu- ary I, 1900, until his death, November 25, 1908, Mr. Phillips continued the honored head of this largest and oldest Rhode Island bank, chartered in 1819. He held true to his own high ideals and to the honored traditions of the bank, each gaining additional honor from the other. He held other posi- tions of honor and trust, but the banks over which he exercised executive control are the truest monuments to his greatness as a financier and execu- tive. He was a director and member of the executive committee of the board of directors of the Swan Point Corporation, was a director of the Rhode Island Hospital Trust Company, co-executor and trustee under the last will and testament of Eli Aylesworth and also of Caleb G. Burrows.
A Republican in politics, Mr. Phillips was firm in his party allegiance, but beyond his four years of service ( 1893-1897) in Common Council as chair- man of the finance committee representing the Seventh Ward he accepted no political office. He was a member of the Union Congregational Church ; the Rhode Island Historical Society; Orpheus Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons ; Providence Chapter, Royal Arch Masons ; St. John's Commandery, Knights Templar ; the Hope, Squantum, Central, Elmwood, Art, Congrega- tional and Commercial clubs. He was held in the highest esteem by his friends and possessed the confidence of the public to an unusual degree. He was a lover of his home and there spent most of his hours off duty and there he exhibited those sterling traits of character which ever distinguished him.
Mr. Phillips married (first) April 13, 1870, Emma Burgess Dunbar, born in Providence, daughter of John B. and Cornelia Dunbar, who died July 21, 1897, aged fifty-one years. He married (second) June 20, 1906, Ella Richmond Matteson, daughter of George W. R. and Emily Robinson (Kent) Matteson, of Providence, a sketch of her father following this in the work.
eorge T. R. Matteson
V ITH the passing of George W. R. Matteson, the financial world of Providence lost one of its brightest lights, as his life had been devoted to investigation of investment prop- erties, real estate and corporative, and to the management of financial institutions and large estates. His knowledge was acquired through experience and covered a very wide field, New England, New York City, the cities of the West and the best agricultural region of the Far West. He was one of the first of New England financiers to avail themselves of the investment opportunities of the great West and in his many business trips in securing safe outlets for New England funds he became well known through the Western States and cities. Vast sums of investment moneys flowed through his hands over which he had complete control, and of these sums small indeed was the percentage of investments made by hint or through his advice which were not profitable to the principals. He was connected with several well known Providence financial institutions, serving some of them officially, but his greatest reputation was inade as an investor of corporate, trust and private funds, a line of financial activity in which he had no superior.
George W. R. Matteson, son of Corey and Martha (Richmond) Matte- son, was born at Dighton, Massachusetts, July 10, 1834, died at Providence, Rhode Island, November 16, 1908. His mother was a daughter of Peter Richmond, a very prominent resident of Massachusetts. His parents moved to Sag Harbor, New York, when he was very young, later locating in Paw- tucket, Rhode Island. Corey Matteson was an expert millwright and was employed in erecting mills in different parts of the country. In 1870 he located in Providence, Rhode Island, where he died. The early opportun- ities granted George W. R. Matteson were limited, but they were well improved and later he made up this lack under private tutors and by night school study. One of his early positions was as tender of a toll gate and later he became clerk in the Pawtucket postoffice. The city was much smaller then than now and he often recalled that in those days he could call all the patrons of the office by name.
He finally obtained a foothold in the financial world and was made in- vestment agent. After locating in Providence, in 1870, he rapidly acquired a good reputation in his line and was given abundant opportunity to demon- strate his ability. He became an authority on western investments, and in his many trips became thoroughly familiar with the investments in that section which were safe and with those to avoid. He entered the invest- ment field unheralded and unsung, but by sheer ability forced recognition from the financiers and investors. His first official recognition was in De- cember, 1875, when he was chosen a director of the Rhode Island Hospital Trust Company, a position he ever afterward held, serving from 1888 as a member of the finance committee. Honors came to him rapidly thereafter.
319
George Ca. R. Satteson
He was elected a director of the Providence National Bank, first vice-presi- dent of the Providence Institution for Savings, trustee of the estate of John Carter Brown, and succeeded by his son, Colonel Frank W. Matteson, direc- tor of the Providence Gas Company, and trustee of the Public Library. In these positions and as trustee of other large estates he became thoroughly familiar with financial operations and was able to perform valuable service to those who confided their affairs to him. To his knowledge of western real estate values he added a wide knowledge of New York City realty, railroad and bank stocks, in fact, every legitimate form of investment secur- ities. The successful handling of commercial paper calls for wide acquaint- ance, complete understanding of commercial law, practice or procedure, keen knowledge of human nature and the moral courage to act upon the evi- dence of facts or conviction. No other class of investment requires so com- plete an equipment to successfully and profitably handle. That Mr. Matte- son ranked as an expert in such investments is to bestow highest praise. He was constantly called in consultation on matters financial, and seemingly there was no subject presented pertaining to finance with which he could not successfully cope.
He was a member of the Hope Club, the Squantum Association, Benefi- cent Congregational Church, and took a lively interest in all those affairs of life of interest to a healthful, virile man of affairs. His wide acquaintance bespoke a host of friends and he carefully observed the law of social obliga- tion.
Mr. Matteson married Emily Robinson Kent, of Pawtucket, daughter of Willington and Lydia (Robinson) Kent, her father a prominent notary and solicitor of Pawtucket in his day. Mrs. Matteson died in Providence at the family residence, 485 Broadway, April 14, 1907, leaving two children : Colonel Frank Willington, who succeeded his honored father in some of his trusteeships; Ella Richmond, widow of Gilbert Anthony Phillips, whose life and service are chronicled in the preceding sketch.
MAilliam Reilson MuDickar
T HERE are not lacking to-day many of extreme opinions who in their dislike of religious things do not hesitate to criticize the church on the score of its having lost the vitality essen- tial to an institution which would take upon itself the func- tion of guiding a vast, multiform and decidedly headstrong humanity. Were they a little better acquainted, however, with some of the more intimate, details of the question, de- tails that they never by any chance take the trouble to inquire into, they might find it difficult to accommodate their statements with the facts. Worn- out, effete institutions are not apt to attract to their service strong and vigor- ous men, men who might well take part in any of the most strenuous aspects of the struggle of life and inspire such as they to a lifelong devotion to the causes that they represent. It would not be far from the truth to say that one may judge of the character of an institution by the men who are identi- fied with it, and, with this criterion, the claims of these extremists would appear to be somewhat devoid of force.
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.