USA > Rhode Island > Memorial encyclopedia of the state of Rhode Island > Part 42
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
On November 4, 1873, Mr. Bush was married to Martha Matilda Wood, a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Johnston) Wood, she a member of an
380
Tesse egetralf Bush
old New York State family. Mr. Wood was a son of the Rev. Robert Wood, of England, in which country he was himself born fourteen years before his father came to this country, bringing his entire family with him. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Bush as follows: I. Edwin Arnold, now the general manager of the Bush company; married Florence Kimball, of Providence. 2. Jesse Metcalf, Jr., died at the age of thirteen years. 3. Eliz- abeth, died at Bath-on-the-Hudson, New York. at the age of four years.
Mr. Bush was a man of unusually strong character and at the same time attractive personality, possessed of an alert mind which was quick to adapt itself to new situations and circumstances. His friends realized his abilities and it was their custom to request him to write their difficult business letters for theni, trusting to his ingenuity to grapple with the problems, whatever they might be. He was devotedly attached to his home and family and found his greatest happiness in the intimate intercourse of the household. He spent whatever time he could spare from his business in this manner and was a most devoted husband and affectionate father. The same char- acteristics that rendered him so well beloved at home also won for him the devotion of many warm friends and there were few men in the city whose deaths were so generally mourned as his. His funeral was a very simple one and was held from his residence at No. 17 Adelphi avenue, the Rev. Mr. O'Connell, pastor of the Union Congregational Church, conducting them. The floral tributes were many and of unusual beauty, bespeaking the many friends that he possessed, but in every other particular the utmost of quiet- ness was preserved and the ceremony, without either singing or the presence of honorary pall bearers, was unusually impressive and dignified in its sim- plicity.
-
Henry Clay Skimball
N THE nearly three centuries that have elapsed since the English first trod the soil of Massachusetts, no name in all New England has become better known through the emi- nence of its bearers than that of Kimball. Originally a Mas- sachusetts family, founded by Richard Kimball, who came in the "Elizabeth" in 1634, the family has spread to every State and in New England especially has borne conspicuous part in the affairs of colony and Commonwealth.
Henry Clay Kimball, whose latter years were spent in retirement in the city of Providence, was the son of Silas and Mary ( Evans) Kimball, his father for many years agent (general manager) of the Blackstone Manu- facturing Company, better known as the "Blackstone Mills."
Henry Clay Kimball was born at Slatersville (then Smithfield), Rhode Island, lived to more than man's allotted "three score and ten" and died in Providence, Rhode Island, in December, 1897. He was about four years of age when his parents moved to Blackstone, Massachusetts, where he attended public school, later completing his education at Andover Academy. While still in his teens, he entered the employ of the Blackstone Manufac- turing Company, of which his father was general manager, beginning at the very bottom at a small wage. As he increased in experience he was ad- vanced in rank, but his early years at the mills were years of small pay and long hours, his day beginning at five in the morning and continuing for fourteen hours. But he mastered every detail of cotton manufacture. and when finally his father laid down the reins of management, his son was thoroughly qualified to succeed him as general manager. although the term used as a title was "agent." He was in the employ of the Blackstone Mills Corporation about forty years, rising from the lowest to the highest posi- tion. The "Blackstone Mills" are famous in New England, and in their earlier history and until 1890 the Kimballs, father and son, were potent in their management and responsible for their greatness in the cotton manu- facturing field. About 1890 Mr. Kimball was obliged to resign his position on account of failing health. He returned to his native State, located in Providence and there lived in quiet retirement from all business cares until his death seven years later. He was a Democrat in politics, but never sought nor accepted public office. He was a man devoted to home and family, but delighted in the society of his many friends, was most hospitable and at his home extended to all a most generous hospitality.
He married (first) in Blackstone, Massachusetts, Miss Farnham. daugh- ter of Captain Welcome Farnham, who bore him three children: Frank F .. deceased; Gertrude S., deceased; and Edith. He married ( second) in 1872, Sarah, daughter of Lewis and Mary (Angell) Dexter.
John Redwood Tillinghast
W HILE the American ancestor, Pardon Tillinghast, was a min- ister of the gospel and bore the title of reverend, he became a prominent merchant of Providence and seems to have trans- mitted to his descendants his commercial tastes and execu- tive ability rather than. a desire to follow the holy calling. Every generation has furnished eminent business and pro- fessional men and the name is a prominent one in public life, the Rhode Island branch particularly inclining to manufacturing pursuits. John Redwood Tillinghast and his father, John Willard Tillinghast, de- scendants of Rev. Pardon Tillinghast, "the founder," were both of Provi- dence, Rhode Island.
John Redwood Tillinghast was born in Providence on the nation's natal day, July 4, 1858, died in Pasadena, California, September 20, 1905, son of John Willard and Rebecca ( Easton) Tillinghast, his father manager of the Rhode Island News Company. He attended the public schools, and after completing his studies in the grammar school, completed a course of study at Mowry & Goff's Private School, whience he was graduated in 1877. He then became clerk in the establishment of which his father was manager, there remaining several years. He left that employ to represent the Mor- gan Envelope Company, continuing as such until his health failed, and he then sought a home in California, where he spent the remainder of his days. He was a man of quiet and retiring disposition, and although closely associated with ex-Mayor Baker, of Providence, and other public men, did not take active part in public affairs. He was an honored member of the Masonic order, but beyond that affiliation had no connection with the fra- ternal or social organizations of his city. He was a member of St. James Protestant Episcopal Church for a number of years, and a man of high character, energetic and progressive in his business life. He was most genial in disposition, had a host of true friends in his own city, and after going to Pasadena to reside was equally popular there. He was a Repub- lican in politics, interested in public affairs, but found the quiet of his home more to his tastes than public or club life.
Mr. Tillinghast married, October 3, ISSI, Florence L. Foster, born in Providence, wlio survives him, daughter of John and Ellen Louise (An- drews) Foster, both born in Providence. John Foster, after leaving high school, entered the service of the Bank of Commerce in Providence, con- tinued after it became the National Bank of Commerce, passed through all grades of promotion, finally becoming vice-president and at the time of his death was the oldest employee of the bank in years of service. Mr. and Mrs. Foster had two daughters, Florence L., widow of John R. Tillinghast, and Annie Andrews, who married William Spicer Chambers. Mr. and Mrs. Chambers are both deceased. They left a son, Professor Robert Foster Chambers, who is professor of chemistry in Brown University, and a daugh- ter Mildred, who married Wyman Pendleton, of Youngstown, Ohio.
-
Manchester Ward Wielo
IT IS the error of superficial thinkers to suppose that only the striking phenomenon is worthy of notice, that among the careers of men only those to whom is customarily given the name of great are worthy to be set down in the pages of history for the edification of coming generations. How great is this mistake becomes apparent when we note the characteristics generally possessed by the great of the earth and ask ourselves the question if they are the ones we should most desire our own friends and relatives to possess, or the ones upon which in the long run humanity has set the mark of highest approval. No doubt that some of the great possess besides their talents those simple virtues upon which society are based, yet they have no monopoly of them, while with many it has been quite the reverse of these upon which their fame has been founded. It is not, in any case, the sudden storming of fortune that forms the matter most worthy of study by most of us, but rather those slower, quieter suc- cesses that mark the working of honor, courage, patience, and the industry that benefits mankind, that creates wealth and other advantages, not vio- lently wrenches them into other channels than their wonted ones. The quality of life exhibited by Manchester Ward Weld, late of New York City, from which place his death on January 2, 1877, removed an honorable and capable attorney and a public-spirited citizen, was such that it may very strongly be urged as appropriate matter for the perusal of the young man about to start upon his career.
Manchester Ward Weld was born December 18, 1842, in New York City, a son of Henry and Ann Elizabeth (Ward) Weld, the father a native of Guilford, Connecticut. The Weld family is divided into two principal branches in this country, the one whose history is centered about Boston and the other identified with Connecticut. At the time of the Welds' immi- gration to this country there were three brothers of the name who thus sought a new home in the western land. One of these was a Roman Catho- lic priest, but the other two, settling respectively in Boston and Connecticut, left descendants, and it is of the latter that the Mr. Weld of this sketch was sprung. From early youth onward Mr. Weld showed himself of a studious turn of mind and evidently possessed the qualities that would best display themselves in some professional calling. His education further developed these characteristics and was obtained, at first, in the public schools of the city, and later at a boarding school which the lad left home to attend. Here it was that he prepared himself for his professional studies, which he in- tended to pursue upon his return to New York City. He had determined upon law as his career in life and accordingly entered the Law School at Columbia University and graduated therefrom with the class of 1870. He was admitted to the New York bar the same year, and began practice in the city. He was extremely successful in his profession and established an
384
Manchester Quato idfeld
enviable reputation for the most honorable and scrupulously just dealings with his clients and, indeed, with all men. His career was cut short by his death at a time when his powers were at their height, his achievement at its zenith, and the future seemed to give its brightest promise. His age at the time of his death was only thirty-five years, yet he had already made a name for himself, not only among his numerous clients, but also among his fellow members of the bar who regarded him as one of the able young rising lawyers of the time. Mr. Weld served for about two years in the United States navy during the momentous struggle between the North and South, and at the end of that period had attained the rank of acting ensign on the United States monitor, "Canonicus." For some time after the close of hostilities, during the troublous times that followed, Mr. Weld re- mained in the South and during the years 1867-68 was agent for the "Freed- man's Bureau" at Fayetteville, North Carolina. Mr Weld was a man of strong religious feelings, a member of the Episcopal church and very active in all church affairs.
On April 15, 1867, Mr. Weld was united in marriage with Mary E. Peirce, a native of East Greenwich, Rhode Island, and a daughter of Cap- tain Charles and Roby W. (Gorton) Peirce. Mrs. Weld, who survives her husband, is a descendant of good old Rhode Island families on both sides of the house, and through her mother is able to trace the line directly back to Samuel Gorton, of Colonial fame. Her father was a native of East Green- wich and her mother of West Greenwich, Rhode Island. She was one of two children, the other being also a daughter, Oceana. To Mr. and Mrs. Weld three children were born at follows: I. Elizabeth, who resides with her mother. 2. Charles H., who was engaged in business at Marshall, Michi- gan, until his death in 1902: he married Charlotte G. Phelps and they have one daughter, Elizabeth Phelps. 3. Manchester W., who is now engaged in the electrical business in Norwich, Connecticut ; he married Ellen A. Mc- Cauly and they have one son. Chetwynd Peirce Weld.
William Henry Jenks
W
ILLIAM HENRY JENKS was born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, December 9, 1835, and died in Pawtucket, March 20, 1901.
The Jenks family is of Welsh origin, and its history has been traced back to the year 150 B. C., through many kings of Britain and warriors of ancient times.
The first ancestor of this'family in America was Joseph Jenckes, of Lynn, Massachusetts, an inventor, who came to this country about the year 1630. He has been called "The greatest genius in the colo- nies." In the "History of Lynn" he is honored by Lewis, who says: "Joseph Jenckes deserves to be held in perpetual remembrance as the first founder of brass and iron on the western continent. By his hands the first models were made and the first castings taken of many domestic implements and tools." The first patent recorded at Washington was one granted to Joseph Jenckes. On the 6th day of May, 1646, the Massachusetts Bay Colony Court granted a petition to Joseph Jenckes "for liberty to make experience of his abilityes and inventions for ye making of Engines for mills to go with water for ye more speedy dispatch of work than formerly, and mills for ye making of Sithes and other Edged tools, with a new invented Saw Mill, that things may be afforded cheaper than formerly and that for fourteen years without disturbance by any others setting up the like inventions." In 1655 he made improvements, and this style of scythe, made two hundred and sixty years ago, is in use to-day, remaining unaltered.
His eldest son, Joseph Jenckes, Jr., born in England, settled in Paw- tucket about the year 1655. It is said: "The civil history of Pawtucket begins with Joseph Jenckes." He also was an iron worker, and was very prominent in both business and politics, occupying the office of Assistant (Senator) in the General Assembly for a number of years. He married Esther Ballard, of Lynn, and had four sons and three daughters. Of these, the eldest son, Joseph, Jr., became Governor of Rhode Island. The second son, Nathaniel, was a major of militia. He was a very large man, noted for his great strength. He married Hannah Bosworth, granddaughter of John Howland, a passenger of the "Mayflower" on her first voyage to America in 1620. Their son, Nathaniel, Jr., married Lydia Arnold, and had Stephen, who married Sarah Hawkins. In 1775 Stephen Jenks was a manu- facturer of muskets for use in the Revolutionary War. Moses, his son, mar- ried Lois Tingley, of Attleborough, Massachusetts, and had among others, Pardon Jenks. Pardon married Freelove Pitcher (Rand), a descendant of Major Nathaniel's younger brother, Judge William Jenckes. They had two sons ; the first son, William, married Freelove, daughter of David and Sarah (Browning) Douglass, of North Kingston, Rhode Island. Their youngest son was William Henry, the subject of this article. Other names included in the various ancestral lines of this family are: Glover, Short, Fosdick. Wilbor, Milleman, and Clark of Newport, Rhode Island.
R 1-1-25
386
William Denty Jenks
William Henry Jenks was at one time associated in business with his father, who was a grain dealer, and in the town records of early date his occupation is given as "miller." He possessed a remarkably quiet and thoughtful disposition, and was extremely fond of music, having a thorough understanding of musical theory and composition. He was an excellent violinist, and was the maker of a number of violins of exquisite tone and workmanship. He married Ruth Augusta Alexander, a descendant of many of the "Mayflower's" passengers, among them John and Priscilla Alden, whose daughter, Elizabeth (Betty) Alden, married William Pabodie. Their daughter Elizabeth married John Rogers, and had a daughter Elizabeth, who married Sylvester, son of Edward Richmond, a lieutenant in King Philip's war, a lawyer by profession, and Attorney-General in the years 1677-1680. Their son William married Anna Gray, and had a large family. The second son of William and Anna Richmond, Ephraim Richmond, mar- ried Elizabeth Cook, daughter of Jolin and Alice (Southworth) Cook, and had William Richmond, who married Deborah Searle. Their daughter, Betsey Cook Richmond, married Rufus Alexander, of Attleboro, and had Nathaniel Searle Alexander, who married Sophia Malvina Hooper, born in Newport. These were the parents of Mrs. Jenks. Other early Colonial family names which Mrs. Jenks' ancestry includes are: Sprague, Ballou, Bartlett, Sturtevant, Warren.
William Henry and Ruth (Alexander) Jenks had six children who are now living. They are: Sarah Augusta, William Browning, Elizabeth Sophia, Frank Richmond, George Caleb and Ruth Dring. William Brown- ing Jenks married Cora Belle Sherman, and had Avis Browning, who mar- ried Charles Bradley Fuller, and one son, Joseph Harold, who married Lil- lian Harland. They have one son, William Browning Jenks (2nd). Eliza- beth Sophia Jenks married George Bion Allen, and has one son, Joseph Par- sons Allen. Frank Richmond Jenks, M. D., a graduate of the New York Homeopathic Medical College, married Annie Louise Thayer. They have two sons: Richmond Thayer Jenks and Harry Arnold Jenks. George Caleb Jenks married Myra Ellis Clark, and has three children: Hester Clark Jenks, Ruth Augusta Jenks and William Gardner Jenks. Ruth Dring Jenks married Walter Louis Frost, a lawyer of Providence, Rhode Island, gradu- ate of Harvard Law School. They have two children: Deborah Richmond Frost and Sarah Elizabeth Frost.
The coat-of-arms granted to the Jenks family of Wolverton, of which William Henry Jenks is a descendant, is described: Or, three boars' heads couped, sa. a chief indented of the last. Crest: A lion rampant regardant, or, carrying in its paws a boar's head couped, sa. Motto: Above, "Audax at cautus," below, "Modo Dominus adsit."
Comund Blodgett Fucket
A CENTURY ago there lived at Conway, Massachusetts, Dan- iel and Lucy (Hawkes) Jucket, to whom in course of time five children were born, Henry, Daniel, Mary, Edmund Blodgett and Charles Bryan Jucket. These children all grew to man and womanhood at the home farm and one of them, when his country called, marched away to the war and never returned. One of the, family, Edmund B. Jucket, became a noted builder of fire engines and it is to his memory this tribute of respect and affection is inscribed.
Edmund Blodgett Jucket was born at Conway, Massachusetts, in 1825, died April 17, 1879. He attended public schools in Conway, but after his mother's death he was bound for the years of his minority to a Connecticut family. He received additional schooling in Connecticut and on arriving at suitable age was apprenticed to a machinist in Hartford. He became an expert machinist, and in addition to his acquired skill possessed rare me- chanical genius. With the development of fire fighting apparatus, Mr. Jucket became interested in the steam fire engine and finally adopted that line of manufacture as his own, locating his plant at Roxbury, Massachu- setts.
In the old days when the hand engine was the sole reliance in time of conflagration, Mr. Jucket was a builder of that class of machines and his connection with fire fighting engines covered the period between the hand pump and the graceful, powerful Amoskeag giant, capable of throwing tons of water to a great height. The first steam fire engine shipped abroad was the work of the Amoskeag Fire Engine Company at Manchester, New Hampshire, of which he was an employee and he went to Europe with the engine, but upon returning to the United States he engaged in the business for himself. In 1870 he built and delivered to the city of Boston the first Northern Liberty Fire Engine. He became known far and near as a builder of fire engines and as an authority on their construction, testimonials in number yet being preserved that were sent him by individuals and civic representatives.
Later Mr. Jucket located in Providence, Rhode Island, where he became an employee of the Allen Supply Company. During his connection with the Amoskeag Company, he traveled a great deal in the interest of the com- pany, instructing municipalities in the use of their purchase, demonstrating and generally safeguarding the interests of both maker and purchaser. One of his treasures was a solid gold watch presented him by the Eagle Engine Company of New Orleans in memory of his visit to that city. He was a man of very quiet, retiring nature, but always busy and never happier than when engaged on a difficult piece of machine work. Machinery was his first and last love as an occupation and there were few men more expert as metal workers. Temperance was a strict rule of his life and he was firmly wedded to all the virtues of true manhood. He was highly esteemed, very popular
388
Edmund Blodgett Fucket
and possessed a host of warm friends. He died at the age of fifty-three, just in the prime of his manhood. He was an attendant of the Universalist church, took little active part in public affairs, but met all the obligations of good citizenship.
Mr. Jucket married, August 20. 1848, Huldah M. Keeney, born at South Manchester, Connecticut, daughter of Ira and Betsey (Keeney) Keeney, her father a custom boot and shoe maker. Ira and Betsey Keeney had chil- dren: Norris, Collin, Marble Dwight, John, Albert Wilbur, Huldah M., Jane and Martha. Edmund B. and Huldah M. (Keeney) Jucket were the parents of two children: Emma M., a resident of Providence; Nellie L., married Herbert Jackson, superintendent of a department of the Gorham Manufacturing Company, residing in Providence, and they having one son, Earl Edmund, a graduate of Brown University, now a mechanical engineer of New York City.
-
John Thomas Cuddy
JOHN THOMAS CUDDY, a successful jewelry manufacturer of Providence, passed away at his home there, May 11, 1893, in the thirty-seventh year of his age, and thus was cut short a most promising and successful business career. Mr. Cuddy was a man of generous impulses, of industrious and upright character, and had many friends in the city of Providence.
He was born in that city. June '7, 1855, on the site where the Point street school now stands, a son of Patrick and Margaret (Quinn) Cuddy. Patrick Cuddy was a native of Ireland, and came to this country, settling at Providence, Rhode Island, where he died in 1866. He was twice married ; the first wife was the mother of two sons. Peter and Edward, the latter now deceased. Peter Cuddy is a Roman Catholic priest of the Order of Lazarus, with a parish in New Orleans, his parish composed entirely of colored people. By the marriage of Patrick Cuddy to Margaret Quinn there were born two sons and a daughter, the latter, Mary Jane, is the only one now living, residing in Providence. One of the sons, Michael, died in that city ; the other is mentioned below.
John Thomas Cuddy attended the grammar schools of Providence, and was compelled to abandon his studies at the early age of eleven years be- cause of the death of his father ; being the oldest of the family his services were needed in supporting the family. For a few months he was employed in a nail mill, and then entered a jewelry manufactory, where he made rapid advancement. He was industrious and attentive and made rapid progress, so that at a very early age he became foreman in the establishment where he was employed. When only twenty-six years of age he started in business for himself in a small way in a shop at No. 25 Calender street, Providence, making plated jewelry. After conducting this business about one year with a partner, he continued alone at the same address and continued in this business up to the time of his death. After this sad event the Providence "Journal" said of him: "John T. Cuddy, well known in the jewelry trade, died suddenly at his residence, 24 Dartmouth avenue. yesterday. About eleven years ago Mr. Cuddy started business for himself as a manufacturing jeweler, on Calender street. Later he took his brother Michael into partner- ship. and on the latter's death continued the business under the name of John T. Cuddy & Co., at 25 Calender street. Mr. Cuddy's early demise cuts short a most promising and successful business career. He was in the thirty- seventh year of his age, and leaves a wife and three sons." As a business man he was respected, and as a citizen esteemed and loved. Mr. Cuddy was a Roman Catholic in religion, faithful to its tenets, as are all of his family. In politics he was a Democrat, but did not care to mingle in public affairs, and neither sought nor accepted office. He married Margaret Dugan, a native of Ireland, daughter of John and Rose (McGinn) Dugan, both natives of that country, where they were married, and where the father
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.