USA > Rhode Island > Memorial encyclopedia of the state of Rhode Island > Part 39
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Captain Briggs was born July 1I, 1843, at Central Falls, Rhode Island. He was a son of Charles and Delight ( Rathbun) Briggs, the father of an old Nantucket family, so that he came most directly by his love of the seafaring life. Charles Briggs and his wife were the parents of four children of which Captain Briggs was the second. Captain Briggs attended the public schools of his native region, but never pursued his studies further than through the grammar grades, leaving them to go to sea. Some years he sailed the high seas as a sailor before the mast and there learned every last detail of his calling. He then became a coast pilot and followed this dangerous and responsible business for many years, and he never got wholly away from it, although during the latter years of his life he was engaged in other lines as well. He took a position as travelling salesman with the firm of H. Mid- wood & Sons, engaged in the grocery business, and continued in this for a number of years, and for some time before his death he went into the real estate field and dealt in Providence property with considerable success. But although he thus entered other lines of business, his interest in the water never abated and he was always active in the work of improving the harborage and other conditions under which vessels made use of Providence
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Captain Dathan a. Briggs
as a port. For years he was port warden and in that office did much to im- prove conditions. He was also an active factor as president of the Marine Association and treasurer of the Business Men's Association, holding the former office for many years and the latter from the time of the organization of the society. Captain Briggs was but twelve years old when he left school to begin his career and for sixty years or until the. time of his death he may be said to have followed the sea. He was greatly interested in all transpor- tation problems, particularly if they concerned Providence and still more particularly if they involved marine matters. He was treasurer of the Rhode Island branch of the Travelers' Protective Association. During all the forty years in which he was master of coastwise vessels he had many interesting experiences such as the occasion upon which he had to pilot an English and a French battle ship into Newport. For the last five years of his life he was marine surveyor in addition to the office of port warden and was recognized as one of the most influential figures in marine circles in this part of the country. In his capacity as president of the Rhode Island Business Men's Association he made several trips to Washington to urge upon Congress the coastwise improvements known as the Point Judith Harbor of Refuge as well nigh a necessity for rendering that stormy coast safe for mariners. Captain Briggs is said to have been acquainted with every inch of land on Narragansett Bay and every owner of property border- ing thereon.
Captain Briggs was always extremely interested in the great inter- national yacht races for the America's cup, and for that matter in yacht racing generally. He was himself exceedingly skillful in the management of racing craft. He was master in a number of the trial races for the inter- national mastery, and handled the "Puritan" several times. Another of his exploits was on the occasion of the Brenton Reef races, in which he acted as sailing master for James Gordon Bennett, winning the cup for him.
On Christmas Day, 1865, occurred the marriage of Captain Briggs to Olive B. Gardiner, of Warren, Rhode Island. Mrs. Briggs was a native of Central Falls and a daughter of Joseph M. and Juliette M. (Warren) Gardi- ner. Mr. Gardiner was a contractor and mason and a prominent man in the community. To Captain and Mrs. Briggs one daughter was born, Addie B., who became the wife of Sidney S. Blaisdell, a prominent business man in Providence, where he operates a large and successful machine shop. They are the parents of two children, Sidney B. and Olive H. Captain Briggs was, and all his family still are members of Trinity Union Methodist Epis- copal Church of Providence, and Captain Briggs was an active supporter of the work of the congregation and a liberal contributor to its various philanthropies.
Aside from his activities in connection with his duties as port warden and marine surveyor and as pilot for so many years, Captain Briggs was a powerful influence in the community purely as a man of sterling virtues and strong character whose influence upon all those who associated with him was very marked. A very definite personality, his example was a potent one and always exerted on the right side. His friends were many and de- voted and his death has left a gap in the city's life impossible to fill and most difficult to forget.
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Eugene Washington Darling
A T THE AGE of seventeen years, Mr. Darling entered the rail- road employ as fireman. At the age of twenty he was pro- moted to the right hand side of the cab and at his death, aged sixty-seven, was still an engineer in the service of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, nearly the entire half-century of service having been with that com- pany. Ill health had prevented his running during the last fourteen months of his life. He was in active service as engineer fifty years, and during that time had very few accidents, although he ran every sort of train the company operated during his long term of service. He was one of the old and valued engineers and held the confidence of those who were in authority and familiar with his long and honorable record. He was the son of George W. and Louisa (Savory) Darling. The former was a lifelong resident of Burrillville, Rhode Island, a farmer, and the latter before mar- riage lived at Charlton, Massachusetts. He had a younger brother, Jerome A. Darling, and a sister, Ruth M.
Eugene W. Darling was born at the home farm at Burrillville, Rhode Island, March 29, 1847, died at his home, 109 Jewett street, Providence, Rhode Island, December 9, 1914. He attended public schools until seven- teen years of age, finishing with a high school course at Oxford, Massachu- setts. He had no liking for farm work although in his youth he aided in the cultivation of the home farm. In 1864 he entered the employ of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Company as fireman and with the exception of a short time with the Boston & Albany was in the service of that road until his death, half a century later. The first three years were spent as fireman and three only, so closely did he apply himself to master- ing the technical and mechanical problems that must be mastered before he could hope for promotion. He was made engineer and given a regular run when he was but twenty and from that time was never disrated as is often the case when an engineer proves incapable. His last run was made at the age of sixty-six, on October 26, 1913, between Providence and Worcester. Those fifty years held many strange and thrilling experiences, for the engi- neer's life is one of peril and exposure to dangers seen and unseen, but he finished his course with honor and few were the occasions when he was "on the carpet."
He was an honored member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engi- neers and passed all the chairs of the local lodges. He was a member of lodge. chapter, council and commandery of the Masonic order. At his death the beautiful Templar burial services were conducted by his brother sir knights of St. John's Commandery at his home. His remains were interred in Prospect Hill Cemetery.
Mr. Darling married (first) Ella G. Knight, of Uxbridge, Massachu- setts, who died leaving no children. Mr. and Mrs. Darling adopted his
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Eugene Washington Darling
sister's son, Ernest L. Tufts, a graduate of Brown University, who died October 12, 1914. Mr. Darling married (second) Isora G., (Batcheller) Walling, widow of Lester A. Walling and mother of a son and daughter: Frank Walling, a millwright, of Woonsocket, who married Isabel H. Nason and they are the parents of four children : Lester A., Howard .N., Dorothy B. and Wealthy G. Walling. Etta G. Walling became the wife of Wilson A. Pickering, a merchant of Nasonville, Rhode Island, and they are the parents of four children: Gladys B., Edna M., Eugene W. and Isora G. Pickering. Mrs. Darling is a daughter of J. Harrison Batcheller and his first wife, Rachel (Walling) Batcheller, who bore him another daughter, S. Etta Batcheller. J. Harrison Batcheller's second wife was Keziah (Sayles) Batcheller and they were the parents of five children: Sarah E .. J. Harrison, Mary L., Eva L. and Ida F. Mrs. Darling survives her husband and resides at the old home No. 109 Jewett street, Providence.
Judge Edward Church Dubois
TO PREFACE an account of the life of former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island, Edward Church Du- 3 bois, is a task almost impossible as it is unnecessary. It is a story which fairly leaps to a beginning, casting aside any effort at explanation of the impelling motives which guided the life recorded herein. The vital, pulsing determination and high purpose, which made his achievement possible, are written indelibly into every line of this account of his career. Further to explain the motives and forces engineering the accomplishment is to be- come fulsome and boring on a subject which is self-evident. Judge Du- bois was that greatest of the works of the Almighty, a strong man, free from petty prejudices and conventions, liberal, tolerant, wise-a just man. No greater tribute can be paid him for there is none.
Edward Church Dubois was born in London, England, the son of Ed- ward and Emma (Davison) Church, on January 12, 1848. His ancestry on the paternal. side is traced to Captain Benjamin Church, the noted Indian fighter of early Colonial days. His paternal grandfather, Edward Church, was a resident of the State of Kentucky, where he was prominent in politics. He was appointed United States Consul at L'Orient, France, and while in France married Marie Dubois, of Paris. Their son, Edward Church, father of Judge Dubois, married Emma Davison, who is a descendant of the well known English families of Davison and Moore. Edward Church was a distinguished lecturer, teacher and author, and achieved a high degree of prominence in the literary and scholastic world. He was a learned student of the French language, on which he concentrated a large portion of his efforts and time, and in which he wrote copiously, putting forth several publications in French. It is a known fact that students of Frenchi learn more easily and have grcater confidence in a native teacher, though the teaching ability of a teacher not native born may greatly exceed the ability of the native. Mr. Church realized this, and the fact that his books would have a better hold on students if they were secmingly the work of a native Frenchman, and in the year 1857, in New York City, he assumed his mother's name, Dubois, for himself, his wife and his children. Some of his works were: "French Spoken," by Church, written before he had assumed the name Dubois; Dubois' "Method of Teaching French," and the journal "Le Petit Couricr," published in Boston.
Judge Dubois was brought back to America from England shortly after his birth, by his mother, who was there on a visit. He received his education at Russel Military Academy at New Haven, Connecticut, at the New Haven High School, the High School of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and the Friends' Academy in New Bedford. He was made captain of the military class of the latter named institution, which it is said he considered rather an odd thing. This circumstance is not at all to be wondered at, for the average man asso-
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Judge coward Church Dubois
ciates Quakerism with an utter abhorrence and intolerance of things mili- tary. While in New Bedford, he was made a member of the New Bedford ยท City Guards. The wild military fervor and recklessness of the Civil War times were sweeping the country, and under that impetus, urged on by a desire for excitement and adventure, second only to his desire to serve his country in her hour of need, young Dubois enlisted as a volunteer. He actually got as far as a camp in Readville, Massachusetts, but here the recruiting officers sent him home, because of his lack of years. He remained a member of the New Bedford City Guards, however, and was made a corporal.
After completing his schooling in 1865, he entered the employ of Thomas Otis, a New Bedford druggist, whose employ he left on account of Otis' inability to pay him higher wages than he was receiving. Judge Dubois next went to sea on the "Andrew," a whaler, owned by Jonathan Bourn. The whaler went to the African coast and stayed there for several months. When he again reached New Bedford, he was sought out by Thomas Otis, who then offered him higher wages. He went back to the pharmacy, where he remained for one year, at the end of which time he left New Bedford, armed with a reference of superior quality from Thomas Otis, to seek an opportunity to accomplish his purpose of studying the law. The reference read as follows: "This is to certify that there is no discount on the bearer of this, Edward C. Dubois. He has been in my employ two years and is a good druggist and a good salesman, of more than ordinary ability. I would give him $1,000 a year more than any other man if I had the business to warrant it."
Edward Dubois came to Providence in 1868, and secured a position with the wholesale drug firm of Corelis, Platt & Metcalf, after which he be- came a clerk in the employ of William E. Clark, druggist, and late city clerk of Providence, with whom he remained until fire destroyed the business. He then received his long-sought opportunity to study law with John E. Risley, a Providence attorney, in a new office which the latter was about to open in Boston, Massachusetts, in partnership with Charles J. Noyes. He completed his studies and was admitted to the bar in Boston, March 19, 1870, on an oral examination. In 1871 Mr. Dubois went to Haverhill, Mas- sachusetts, to assume charge of the business in Mr. Noyes' office there, where he remained until January 1, 1872, when he and Mr. Noyes formed a partnership under the firm name of Noyes & Dubois. After a short time
Mr. Dubois took entire charge of the Haverhill office, and the partnership was dissolved. On September 6, 1872, he was appointed to the clerkship of the Police Court of Haverhill, by Governor Washburn, upon the resigna- tion of Joseph J. Jenness from that office. He filled the clerkship until No- vember, 1877, in which year he came to Providence, Rhode Island. In 1877, before coming to Providence, he was admitted to the bar of the United States Circuit Court in the District of Massachusetts. An adequate esti- mate of Mr. Dubois' standing in Haverhill may be gained from the fact that upon his leaving the city the leading citizens of the place held a meeting at which Mr. Dubois was urged strongly to remain. He was given a handsome
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Judge Enmaro Church Dubois
gold watch and tendered a memorial inscribed with over a hundred names, headed by that of the mayor, Joseph K. Jenness.
On the day before Thanksgiving, 1877, Mr. Dubois arrived in Provi- dence, where he lived for the remainder of his life. In December of that year he was admitted to the Rhode Island bar. In the spring of the follow- ing year he went to East Providence to live. Here he started a general practice, and was shortly afterwards elected as town solicitor, and held the office as long as he desired to keep it. From May, 1883. to May, 1885, he was a member of the State Senate of Rhode Island. In May, 1894, he succeeded the late Robert W. Burbank to the office of attorney-general. During his incumbency in this office, which lasted until. May, 1897, he prosecuted a dozen or more of the most celebrated criminal cases in the State of Rhode Island. During the time in which he served as attorney-general, Mr. Dubois abandoned his private practice and devoted all his time to the interests of the State, aided only by his brother, Henry J. Dubois, who was appointed assistant attorney-general. At that time the office of probation officer had not been established and all cases brought before the office were tried. Among these were an unusual number of cases of importance, including eleven cases of murder, one of them being the trial for murder of Lawrence J. Keegan, accused of the murder of Emily Stevens, a case ranking among the most important ever decided in New England on circumstantial evi- dence. In May, 1897, Judge Dubois declined reelection to the office, to which he was succeeded by Charles F. Stearns, of Providence, who is now on the bench of the Supreme Court.
In 1898 Judge Dubois was elected to the House of Representatives, where he was the Republican leader, and occupied the desk in the southwest corner of the House chamber always given to the leader of the party. He was elected associate justice of the Supreme Court of the State of Rhode Island on February IS, 1899, and took his seat on March 3rd of the same year. On February 28, 1899, Judge Dubois was elected to fill the vacancy caused by the death on the first of the same month of Justice Benjamin M. Bosworth, of the Supreme Court. In the election Judge Dubois received ninety-two votes, the late Mayor Edwin McGuinnes, of Providence, re- ceived five votes, and Judge Nathan B. Lewis, of Kingston, justice of the Second District Court, received one. He was the last justice of the Supreme Court to be elected under the old provision requiring a second election by the succeeding General Assembly. Justice Dubois' duties embraced prin- cipally the Common Pleas division, where he sat with a jury hearing civil cases in Providence county. His work in this division was marked by quick and clear judgment and apprehension. During the time he was serving in the Common Pleas division he held court in a small chamber next to Col- lege street, on the second floor of the Providence County Court House. Justice Dubois' work in this section was of such quality that upon the resig- nation of Justice Horatio Rogers, Chief Justice Stinness promoted Justice Dubois to the Appellate Division. This promotion was obviously not be- cause of seniority, for he was not a senior judge. In addition to his keen- ness and fairness of judgment, the decisions and written opinions of Justice
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Judge Coward Church Dubois
Dubois were always characterized by minute research into every phase of the case at hand, and by a sort of dry humor which evidence'd not only his broad acquaintance with human life, but also his deep understanding of it and sympathy with it. Because of his active experience in the realm of criminal law, gained through his service as attorney-general, Justice Dubois was eminently fitted to render services of an unusual nature on questions of criminal law which were brought before the Supreme Court. This quality, with the others mentioned, was a moving factor in his election to the chief justiceship, beyond the fact of his seniority in the service.
One of the first duties facing the General Assembly, when it met in January, 1909, was the election of a chief justice of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island, to fill the vacancy caused by the retirement of Chief Justice William W. Douglas. The Assembly, ineeting in grand committee, on Jan- uary 13, 1909, elected Associate Justice Edward Church Dubois. There was no opposing candidate and the secretary of the grand committee cast a single ballot for Judge Dubois, who was succeeded in office as associate jus- tice by the presiding justice of the Superior Court, William H. Sweetland. The oath of chief justice was administered by Clerk Bertram S. Blaisdell, of the Supreme Court. He had served as associate justice under John H. Stinness, the late Pardon E. Tillinghast, and William W. Douglas. After the adjournment of the General Assembly in May, 1912, Governor Pothier appointed Chief Justice Dubois a member of the commission to revise the State Constitution, in which capacity he declined to serve. He had been, however, a member of several State commissions.
The degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred on Chief Justice Dubois by Brown University, in 1910. In the spoken superscription of President Faunce, of Brown University, the honor was granted to "Edward Church Dubois, LL. D., Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island, who has climbed by studious and faithful years to become the interpreter of the sovereign law, guardian by training and by office of the rights of the peo- ple." Chief Justice Dubois served for four years, retiring four years to a day after taking the office. His retirement occurred on January 13, 1913, at which time he was sixty-five years of age. He was succeeded by the present chief justice, Clarke H. Johnson.
On February 24, 1872, Edward Church Dubois was married at Haver- hill, Massachusetts, to Jennie Roberts, daughter of Henry and Mary J. (Potter) Roberts, old residents of Gardiner, Maine. Their children were: I. Desiree Dubois, who is now the wife of Jonathan Albert Chaffee, stenog- rapher of the Superior Court of Rhode Island. She resides in East Provi- dence, and is the mother of two children, Dorothy Dubois and Jonathan Albert Chaffee. Two other children of Justice and Mrs. Dubois are now dead. Mrs. Dubois survives her husband and resides at their home, No. 202 Waterman avenue, East Providence, Rhode Island.
Former Chief Justice Dubois was a member of the Rhode Island His- torical Society, the Metacomet Golf Club, the Sakonnet Golf Club and the University Club.
The opinions written and printed of two men high in public office,
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brought into constant contact with the chief justice professionally and in other ways, give more accurately and adequately than could any others, the status of the man in the minds of the leaders of men, the nation's strongest and best, keen judges of human nature and worth. Governor Pothier said:
In the death of Edward Church Dubois the State has lost one of its best citizens. He was a man noted for his ability, and his attributes for judicial positions were par- ticularly marked. He served the State faithfully and well. I have known Judge Dubois for many years and knew him as a staunch friend and man.
Chief Justice Johnson, of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island said :
I am inexpressibly shocked to learn of the sudden death of former Chief Justice Dubois. I cannot at this time say anything that will do justice to his character. An excellent citizen, a careful, capable and conscientious servant of the State in many capac- ities. he has rounded out a public career with a long period of splendid service on the bench.
Less than a year has elapsed since he retired from the office of Chief Justice. His many friends were hoping that, recovered as he seemed to be from the illness which hastened his retirement, he might have many useful years before him. In his death the people of this State have sustained a great loss and to his close friends and associates, who respected, admired and loved him for his many excellent qualities, the loss is irreparable.
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Andrew Comstock
T HERE are some natures in which abilities and talents are so well balanced and of so wide a scope that it almost seems as if success were a birthright to be won with the same cer- tainty in whatever direction it be sought for. It is fortunate when such a nature is entirely dominated by good and worthy impulses for then the community that counts it as a member is sure to benefit in. at least one department of its life, and very possibly in many. The death of Andrew Comstock at his home in Providence, Rhode Island, on November 30, 1898, terminated the career of one who well represented the above type and caused a loss to that city of one who had for many years been closely identified with all that was best and worthiest in its general life.
Andrew Comstock was a member of a very old family, or rather fam- ilies, being descended on both sides of the house from ancestors distin- guished in New England history from the early Colonial times. The Com- stock line, indeed, is a very old one and had its origin in Germany, where it can be traced as far back as somewhere near the middle of the fourteenth century, but from the year 1547 up to the time of its coming to America it made its home in England, where Charles Von Komstohk escaped after the failure of the movement known as the Von Benedict treason, in which he was implicated. In the archives of the old Muniment Office at Frankfort- on-the-Main there is a record which gives the pedigree of the Komstohk house for nine generations before the emigrant to England carried the name thither. The same record also gives the arms of the house as: Or, two bears rampant sable, muzzled gules in chief; in base a sword issuing from a crescent, the point downward, all the last gules. The crest, a baronial hel- met of the German Empire mantled or and gules surmounted by a baron's coronet jeweled proper, issuing therefrom an elephant proper and rampant.
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