USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > Providence > Men of progress; biographical sketches and portraits of leaders in business and professional life in the state of Rhode Island and Providence plantations > Part 17
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Honor, Veteran Firemen's Association and the Paw- tucket Business Men's Association. He was mar- ried, December 19, 1876, to Miss Florence Damon Wetherell ; they have one son, Charles P. Moies, Jr.
MOFFITT, GODFREY, superintendent of planing mills, Newport, was born in Killingly, Conn., July
GODFREY MOFFITT.
24, 1824, son of Simon and Ruth (Smith) Moffitt. His ancestors on both sides are Americans. He received his early education in the public schools, and served an apprenticeship in woodworking in all its branches. He has taken an active interest in public affairs both in the city and state. He has been a member of the City Council of Newport since 1891, and in 1895 was elected a Represen- tative in the General Assembly. In politics he is a Republican. He married, May 1, 1865, Miss Amelia C. Spooner ; they have no children.
MOWRY, ELISHA CAPRON, attorney-at-law, Provi- dence, was born in what is now North Smithfield " R. I., December 26, 1836, son of Harris Jenckes and Fanny Capron (Scott) Mowry. His ancestors were English on both sides, and he is descended from the following, who came to Rhode Island with Roger Williams, or were contemporaries with him :
Roger Mowry, Edward Inman, John Steere, John Whipple, Thomas Harris, Thomas Angell, Thomas Arnold, William Wickenden, Richard Scott, Joseph Jenckes and Banfield Capron. He received his early education in the public schools of Providence and of Sheboygan, Wis., and was fitted for college in the University Grammar School of Providence. He entered Brown University in the class of 1857, but was compelled to leave in the junior year on account of ill-health. He was out of college four years, during which time he was clerk in a large commercial house in Buffalo, N. Y., for a part of the time, and also taught school in Erie county, N. Y., and in Rhode Island. He again entered Brown University and graduated in the class of 1861. Having adopted the law as a profession he entered the office of the Hon. Samuel Currey of Providence and studied there until his admission to the Rhode Island bar, May 14, 1865, supporting himself by teaching school winters. In 1864-65 he was Prin-
E. C. MOWRY.
cipal of the High School of East Douglass, Mass. During the civil war he enlisted and served for three months in the Tenth Rhode Island Infantry. Since May 1865 he has practiced law continuously in Providence, from January 1879 to January 1884 in company with Richard B. Comstock, under the firm name of Mowry & Comstock, and for the last three years in company with Livingston Scott,
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MEN OF PROGRESS.
under the firm name of Mowry & Scott. He was admitted to the United States Circuit Court bar in 1866 and to the United States Supreme Court bar in 1887. He has taken a prominent part in municipal and state politics. He was a member of the Com- mon Council of Providence from 1871 to 1877, of the Board of Aldermen from 1878 to 1880, and of the School Committee from 1872 to 1881. He was elected Senator to the General Assembly from Prov- idence in 1880. He was the Democratic candi- date for Mayor of Providence in 1880, but was de- feated by Hon. William S. Hayward, the Republi- cans being largely in the majority in the city at that time and united upon Mr. Hayward. He married, October 7, 1869, Miss Hannah Richardson, who died March 17, 1882. September 18, 1884, he married Mrs. Harriet Marble Page ; he has child- ren : Fanny Richardson, Benjamin Richardson, Emma Augusta, Charles Matteson, Sarah Ross, Harris Jenekes, Daza Page, Albert Erastus and Elisha Capron Mowry, Jr.
NICKERSON, ASA HARDEN, physician, Central Falls, was born in South Dennis, Mass., July 1, 1854, son of Asa Whelden and Ruth Ann (Nicker- son) Nickerson. He comes of old Pilgrim stock and his ancestors on both sides were among the first settlers of the town of Cape Cod. He is descended in the eighth generation from William and Annie (Busbie) Nickerson, who came from Norwich, Norfolk county, England, landed in Bos- ton in 1637 and settled in Yarmouth, Mass Their son Nicholas married Sarah Bassett and died in Yarmouth. Their granddaughter Hester married a son of the first white child born in Plymouth, Pere- grine White. Another granddaughter, Mary, mar- ried Simeon Crosby, one of the first settlers of Eastham. A grandson, William, married Mary Snow and was one of the founders of Chatham. Other descendants intermarried with leading fami- lies of the Cape and Plymouth. Asa received his early education in the public schools of his native town and at Mowry & Goff's School in Providence. He graduated from the New Hampton Literary and Biblical Institution, New Hampton, in July 1873. He is also a graduate of the Harvard Medical School, receiving from the University the degree of M. D. June 28, 1882. Since that time he has been a member of the post-graduate medical schools of Boston and New York. While fitting for his pro· fession he worked in a drug store and taught a
grammar school in Harwich, Mass. Dr. Nickerson began the practice of medicine and surgery in Central Falls, R. I., in September 1882, where he has since remained. In 1895 he was appointed Assistant Eye and Ear Surgeon to St. Joseph's Hospital, also Externe to the Eye Department of the Rhode Island Hospital, Providence. He was a trustee of the Union School District, which is now the city of Central Falls, in 1886 and 1887, a mem- ber of the School Committee of the town of Lin- coln from 1887 to 1890, and Superintendent of Schools in Lincoln in 1889. He is a member of Jenks Lodge A. F. & A. M., Pawtucket Royal Arch
ASA H, NICKERSON.
Chapter, Holy Sepulchre Commandery, the Grand Lodge of Masons of Rhode Island, Royal Society of Good Fellows, Washington Lodge K. of P., Paw- tucket Medical Association and the Harvard Medi- cal Alumni Association. In politics he is a Republican, but has not taken an active part in public affairs. He married, October 12, 1887, Miss Carrie E. Bunker of Bethlehem, N. H.
PALMER, WILLIAM HENRY, physician and sur- geon, Providence, was born in Woodstock, Conn., May 25, 1829, the son of Hezekiah and Lucy (Bugbee) Palmer. He is a descendant in the sixth generation of Thomas Palmer, who was one of the
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founders of the town of Rowley, Mass., in April 1639. His mother was of the fifth generation in descent from Edward Bugby, who settled in Rox- bury, Mass., in 1634. His ancestors on both sides were of the sturdy yeomanry of New England, who lived honorably and peaceably, serving their coun- try and generation to the best of their ability and opportunity. His maternal grandmother was the daughter of Dr. Daniel Holmes, of Woodstock, Conn., grandfather of Oliver Wendell Holmes, and a soldier in the war of the Revolution. His pater- nal grandfather was also a soldier of the Revolution. Acquiring his early education in the public schools
WM. H. PALMER.
and at the Academy in Woodstock, he entered Yale College and graduated in the class of 1854 with the degree of B. A. Adopting medicine as a pro- fession, he studied in the Harvard Medical School, and at the University of the state of New York, re- ceiving a diploma therefrom in 1859-60. Return- ing from the war in 1866, he settled in Providence, where he has since been engaged in the practice of his profession. He is a member of the American Medical Association ; a Fellow of the Rhode Island Medical Society and served as President for two terms, 1891-1892 ; a member of the Providence Medical Association ; a member and first President of the Rhode Island Medico-Legal Society for 1885 ; a member of the New York Medico-Legal
Society ; a contributor to various medico-legal and medical journals, and is often called in court as an expert on medico-legal questions. He served in the war of the Rebellion, was commissioned August 26, 1861, Surgeon and Major of the Third New York Volunteer Cavalry by Governor Morgan, and served three years in the field. On April 10, 1865, contracting as Acting Staff Surgeon, U. S. A., he served as Surgeon in charge of the hospitals in and about Richmond, Va., until September 1866. He has been a member of the Grand Army of the Re- public since 1867 ; was Assistant Adjutant-General of the Department of Rhode Island for two years, and Surgeon for two years ; is a Companion of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, and a member and first President of the United States Veteran Volunteers' Association. In 1876 he was appointed acting Surgeon to the Provi- dence Police Force and continued in service until 1891, when he was elected Police Surgeon, and is still serving in said office. In June 1884 he was appointed by the Governor of Rhode Island a Med- ical Examiner for District Number Ten, county of Providence, and served for six years ; was reap- pointed in 1891, and is still serving. On June 10, 1872, he was elected by the City Council, Deputy Superintendent of Health for the city of Providence, and a Coroner from 1875 to 1884, inclusive. He is a member of Corinthian Lodge A. F. & A. M., of Providence Lodge K. of H., and of other beneficial societies. In politics he was an Abolitionist before and during the war, and since has been a Republi- can. In October 1862 he married Fanny Purdy, author, of New York city ; they have two children : Henrietta Raymer and Granville Ernest Palmer.
PECK, SAMUEL LUTHER, member of the firm of Arnold, Peck & Co., importers, jobbers and com- mission merchants in chemicals, drugs and dye- stuffs, Providence, New York and Boston, was born in Warren, R. I., December 17, 1845, the son of James M. and Elizabeth (Luther) Peck. He was educated at the Warren high school and at Bryant, Stratton and Mason's Commercial College. His first occupation was as clerk for Charles E. Boon & Co., from 1864 to 1869. Then he became book- keeper for B. B. & R. Knight until 1872, and was salesman for Butts & Mason until 1874, when he entered the firm of Mason, Chapin & Co., which in 1896 was succeeded by the present firm. He has always held his residence in Warren, where he has
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been Assessor of Taxes three years, was first Chair- man of Standing Committee of the George Hail Free Library, was Superintendent of the Methodist Episcopal Sunday School for ten years, and Master of Washington Lodge A. F. & A. M. No. 3 for one year. He has also been Vice-President of the New England Paint and Oil Club, and is a member of the Providence Athletic Association, Union Club, Rhode Island Yacht Club and Southern Press Club. He is now Vice-President of the National Hope Bank, and serving his second term as Representative to
SAMUEL L. PECK.
the General Assembly. In politics he is a Republi- can. He married, June 23, 1870, Miss Esther Alice Gardner; they lost their only child, Howard Gardner, at the age of three years and nine months.
PECKHAM, THOMAS CLARKE, woolen manu- facturer, Coventry, was born in Westerly, R. I., December 21, 1836, son of Daniel and Olive (Kenyon) Peckham. His education was acquired in the common schools, and at an early age he de- voted himself to woolen manufacturing, in which he has been engaged continuously from 1861 to the present time. He was elected to the Rhode Island House of Representatives in 1875 and served in that body two years, then served as State Senator three years, and was again chosen Representative
in 1894, which office he now holds. He was also elected and served as delegate to the Republican National Convention of 1884 in Chicago, when James G. Blaine was nominated for president of the
THOS. C. PECKHAM.
United States. He has been a Free Mason for more than thirty years, and is a member of Man- chester Lodge of Coventry. He is also a member of the Pomham Club of Providence. In politics he is a Republican. Mr. Peckham was married, March 7, 1858, to Miss Mary Vaughn Reynolds ; they have had eleven children -two sons and nine daughters : Daniel W., Hannah A. F., Mary L., Grace G., Hattie V., Amy G., Susie E., Isabella B., Bertha V., Bertha E., and Charles H. Peckham. Of these one son and five daughters are now living, viz., Hannah A. F, Grace G., Hattie V., Amy G., Isabella B. and Charles H. Peckham.
PRICE, WALTER, druggist, Westerly, was born in Plainfield, Conn., June 18, 1845, the eldest of three children. His father was a native of Wales and his mother of Bristol, England ; they came to America in 1838. He was educated in the public schools, leaving school at the age of sixteen to enlist in the war of the Rebellion. He served three years in the army, and after receiving an honorable dis- charge returned to his home, then in Mystic, Conn.,
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MEN OF PROGRESS.
where new duties and responsibilities awaited him, his father and mother having died during his absence. On his return he found it necessary to obtain immediate employment of some kind, with- out waiting for a choice in entering upon a career,
WALTER PRICE.
in order to educate his two younger brothers. He obtained a position as purser of a steamship running to Southern ports and later to the West Indies, which berth he held until he was made Agent of the Steamship Company and located at Samana Bay, Santo Domingo, W. I. This was in 1870, and dur- ing that period, in connection with his business as steamship agent, he was naval storekeeper for the United States, and also acted as commercial agent for our government. He was at Samana Bay during all the period of agitation concerning the proposed annexation of the island to this country. Mr. Price returned to the United States in the fall of 1874 and engaged in the drug business at Westerly, R. I., which business he has carried on at Nos. 26 and 27 Main street continuously for the past twenty-one years. In politics he has always been a Republican - is serving his second term as Town Councilman of Westerly, also his second year as a member of the Republican Town Committee, and this year was elected a member of the General Assembly. He is in no sense a club or society man, having led too active a business life to find time for such form of
recreation ; he is a member of the Pawcatuck Seventh-Day Baptist Church, Hancock Post G. A. R., and the Westerly Business Men's Association. His life has been a busy one, with many severe struggles through early years of poverty and privation, until now he is entering upon his second half-cen- tury with the satisfaction of having reached a point of comparative ease and competence. Mr. Price was twice married : October 24, 1872, to Miss Laura Adelaide Greenman, and February 14, 1877, to Lucia Annette Greenman. His first wife and second wife were sisters, daughters of the late George Greenman of Mystic, Conn., for more than fifty years a noted shipbuilder of that place. His first wife died at Samana Bay, Santo Domingo, W. I., March 17, 1874, leaving no children. Four children were the fruit of his second marriage : Abby C., Fanny Annette, Walter Smith and Catherine Greenman Price, all now living except the firstborn, who died January 10, 1882.
READ, HARWOOD EDWARDS, Chief of Police of Newport, was born in Newport, July 28, 1838,
HARWOOD E. READ.
the son of Eleazer J. and Mary Ann Tilley (Cook) Read. His father was a descendant of John Read of Cornwall, England, who was an officer in Crom- well's army, and upon the restoration of Charles II. fled to America and settled in Providence. His
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mother's ancestors came from Exeter, Devonshire, England, in 1638, and settled in Newport. Of their descendants many werc officers and soldiers in the early wars of the colonies, of the Revolution and the war of the Rebellion. He received his early education in the public schools of Newport. He entered business at an early age, first as a boy and clerk in a grocery store, and then learned and worked at the printer's trade. He has been honored by many offices of trust and importance by his fellow citizens. He was City Marshal of New- port in 1871-72, and from 1876 to 1881. He was Overseer of the Poor in 1871-72. He has been Chief of Police from 1893 to the present time. He was a member of the Common Council from 1886 to 1889, and President of that body in 1888-89. He was License Commissioner from 1889 to 1891. He is a member of the Second Baptist Church and treasurer of the corporation. He is a Past Noble Grand of R. I. Lodge, I. O. O. F., Past Chief Patri- arch of Aquidneck Encampment, and Past Grand Chancellor of Redwood Lodge K. of P. In politics he is a Republican and for many years a member of the City Committee from Ward 3, and also a mem- ber of the State Central Committee. He married, December 25, 1864, Miss Amanda M. Crosby, who died November 4, 1888 ; they had three children : Georgiana Shaw, Bessie Murphy and Harwood E., Jr. He married, October 1, 1890, Miss Sarah Weeden Lee.
REMINGTON, JOHN ALFRED, physician and surgeon, Central Falls, was born in Coventry, R. I , November 2, 1867, son of Albert D. and Caroline M. (Knight) Remington. He comes of old Colo- nial stock, being connected with some of the oldest families in Rhode Island - the Remingtons, Knights, Potters, Coles, Gardiners, Mattesons, Watermans and others. He is a descendant of James Cole of Plymouth, who was the first occupier of the hill back of Plymouth Rock which bears his name. He is also a descendant of Thomas Rem- ington of Prudence Island, who fled to the main- land when the British were coming up Narragansett Bay in the war of the Revolution ; " Prudence Tom," as he was called, became one of the minute men who patrolled the shore of Narragansett Bay watch- ing for the British. He received his early education in the district schools of Quidnick, in the town of Coventry, R. I., until thirteen years of age, and afterwards attended a private school in Providence for a year. He adopted medicine as a profession
and studied two and a half years in the office of the late Dr. James E. Tobey of Central Falls, whom he succeeded in practice. He studied for three years in the Bellevue Hospital of New York City, and graduated March 30, 1891, afterward locating in Central Falls, where he has since remained. At the last election he received the vote of the Democratic members of the City Council for City Physician. He is a member of the Pawtucket Medical Associa- tion, of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, at present being Past Master Workman and Repre- sentative to the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts for
J. A. REMINGTON.
one year, of the Knights of Pythias, A. F. & A. Masons, of the American Order of Druids, and the dramatic order of the Knights of Kohassen; also associate member of the Veteran Firemen's Associa- tion of Central Falls. In politics he is a Democrat, and a member of the John W. Davis Club of Cen- tral Falls. He is unmarried.
ROELKER, WILLIAM GREENE, counsellor-at-law, Warwick, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, June 12, 1854, the son of Dr. Frederic and Catherine Ray (Greene) Roelker. Frederic Roelker became an American citizen in 1837, coming from the kingdom of Hanover, where he had succeeded his father as Rector and Master of a great public foundation
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school in his native city. On his mother's side the subject of this sketch is descended from Colonial and Revolutionary ancestry ; his great-great-grand- father William Greene was Governor of Rhode Isl- and during most of the period of the Revolution.
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W. G. ROELKER.
He received his early education in private classical schools in Cincinnati, and went to Europe in 1867, where he pursued his studies in the College of Freiburg, the University of Berlin, the Academy of Geneva and other prominent educational institu- tions, until 1873. On his return to this country he adopted the law as his profession and studied in the Harvard Law School, graduating with the degree of LL.B. in 1875. He then entered as a student the office of Browne & Van Slyck, Providence, and was admitted to the Rhode Island bar in 1876. He formed a co-partnership with Francis W. Miner, one of the leading lawyers of the state, and since the retirement of Mr. Miner from active business has successfully managed a large practice, and is coun- sel for many large concerns. He was elected a Representative to the General Assembly in 1877, and was a Senator from Warwick in 1894 and 1895. He was Chairman of the Commission to revise the General Statutes of Rhode Island from 1890-95, a Presidental Elector on the Republican ticket in 1892 and Chairman of the Rhode Island delegation
in the Republican National Convention at Minne- apolis in 1892. In 1894 he was favorably mentioned as a candidate for United States Senator, but with- drew his name in a letter recommending Hon. George Peabody Wetmore. He is a member of the American Bar Association, Rhode Island Historical Society, Sons of the American Revolution and most of the leading social clubs of Providence as well as of others in New York and Washington. He was married, October 19, 1880, to Miss Ella Jenckes, daughter of Hon. Thomas A. Jenckes, the distin- guished advocate of civil service reform, lawyer and statesman. They have had four children : William Greene, Thomas Jenckes (deceased), Eleanor Jenckes and Edith Goddard Roelker.
SACK, AUGUST ALBERT, one of the leading man- ufacturers of Rhode Island, is a native of Germany, where he was born August 16, 1843. After acquir- ing a liberal education and gaining a thorough knowledge of all the details of woolen manufactur-
A. ALBERT SACK.
ing in his native country, he came to America in 1867. He was first employed as designer by the Harris Woolen Company of Woonsocket, R. I., and later served in a similar capacity in the Everett Mills at Lawrence, Mass., and the Bates Mills at
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Lewiston, Me. This was followed by a brief service in the commission house of Leland, Allen & Bates, Boston, where he had full supervision of all the woolen mills operated by this firm. In 1873 he came to Providence as superintendent of the worsted mill of Owen & Clark. In 1879 he pur- chased the business of Mr. Owen, incorporated as the Geneva Worsted Mill. After successfully man- aging it until May 1884 he sold his interest in this enterprise. He then organized the Lymansville Company and under his personal direction built the Lymansville Mills, which are acknowledged to be the most modern, best equipped and managed worsted mills in the country. From the inception of the enterprise to the present time Mr. Sack as Treasurer of the company has been the dominating force in the management, and to his thorough knowledge of the business, his untiring energy, financial ability and keen business judgment, its notable success can be largely ascribed. The prod- uct consists of worsted yarns and worsted goods ; the mills employ four hundred and fifty persons, and about ten thousand pounds of wool is con- sumed daily. Mr. Sack is also interested in various other cotton and woolen mills, but his principal at- tention is directed to the management of the Lymansville Company. He is a man of unusual executive ability and untiring industry, and despite his careful supervision of extensive business inter- ests, he has managed to find time for mental culti- vation and improvement, and is well posted as to the progress of affairs in the political and literary worlds. He is a Republican in politics, and is a thorough believer in the wisdom of reciprocity and a protective tariff in the interest of home manufac- tures, holding that labor and the material progress of the country would be best advanced by this policy. Mr. Sack resides in Providence, and is a member of various clubs and societies, but has never taken a prominent part in them, or in public life, finding his chief pleasures after the close of the day's business within his home circle. He was married, September 25, 1879, to Miss Alice R. Davis, eldest daughter of the late George L. Davis, senior member of the Davis & Furber Machine Company of North Andover, Mass .; they have two sons : George D. and A. Albert Sack, Jr.
SACKETT, FREDERIC MOSELEY, Adjutant-Gen- eral of the State of Rhode Island, is a native of
Providence, born February 26, 1840, son of Adnah and Eliza (Adams) Sackett. He is a descendant in the seventh generation of Simon Sackett, who came to America from the Isle of Ely, Cambridge- shire, England, in 1628. He received his early education at Mount Pleasant Academy, Amherst, Mass., and Phillips Academy, Exeter, N. H., grad- uated at Brown University, class of 1861, and went from college into the army at the first call of Pres- ident Lincoln for volunteers in 1861. He served as Second Lieutenant and afterwards First Lieuten- ant of Battery C, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, and at different times was in command of the
F. M. SACKETT.
battery. He was severely wounded at the battle of Chancellorsville. Following his retirement from the army he engaged in woolen manufacturing from 1864 to 1882, and from 1882 to 1892 was Treasurer of the Richmond Paper Company. He was appointed Adjutant General of the State, No- vember 4, 1895. Mr. Sackett is a member of the Hope Club of Providence and the University Club of New York, and is also a member of the military order of the Loyal Legion. He was married, November 15, 1866, to Miss Emma Louisa Paine, and has four children : Fred M., Jr., Elizabeth Paine, Henry Weston and Franklin Page Sackett. He resides in Providence.
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