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 2
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E. C. BUCKLIN.
and of the New England Cotton Manufacturers? Association. He married, February 4, 1874, Miss Jessie Howard, daughter of Ex-Governor Henry Howard ; they have had six children : Henry Howard (deceased), Edward Carrington, Jr. (deceased), Harris Howard, Thomas Peck, Janet and Dorothy Bucklin.
BALLOU, HON. LATIMER WHIPPLE, LL. D., Woon- socket, was born in Cumberland, R.I., March 1, 1812, son of Levi and Hepzibah (Metcalf) Ballou. He is a member of the numerous and long distinguished
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family of Ballous that are descended from Maturin Ballou, who was one of the earliest emigrants to America from England, and who in 1745 was a co- proprietor of the Providence Plantations in the Colony of Rhode Island. Latimer W. Ballou at- tended the district schools, and at the age of sixteen was given by his father the option of a collegiate education or a mechanical trade. He chose the latter and became apprentice to a printing firm in Cambridge, Mass., near Harvard University, in which his maternal uncle, Eliab Metcalf, was a partner. After serving his ap- prenticeship, his next two years were spent as assis- tant foreman in the University printing office, Cam- bridge, following which he united in partnership with two others and started the Cambridge Press with which he remained seven years. At this time impaired health admonished him to leave the printing business, and in 1842 he entered into mercantile partnership with his brother-in-law, William O. Bisbee, at Woonsocket, R. I. Here a few years' experience convinced him that mer- chandise was not his element, and in 1850 he became Cashier of the Woonsocket Falls Bank, and Treasurer of the Woonsocket Institution for Savings, where he proved to be the right man in the right place, having retained these responsible positions ever since, and to the great prosperity of both institutions. In politics, as in finance, his life has been a useful and successful one. Be- longing to the progressive wing of the old Whig party, he naturally advanced into the Republican ranks, and was a prudent counsellor, eloquent speaker and popular leader. He was a Presidential Elector in 1860, Delegate to the Republican Na- tional Convention of 1872, and Representative in Congress three successive terms, from 1875 to 1881. All these offices he filled with honor to himself, satisfaction to his constituents and benefit to his country. He was a model Congressman, not only as a legislator, but as an exemplary moralist, being an active Vice-President of the Congressional Temperance Society, and in other ways an earnest worker and a shining example. In all matters relating to the education of youth, moral and philanthropic reforms, and the common charities of the general community, Latimer W. Ballou is a practical devotee to human welfare. In religion he is a Universalist, and an emphatic worker and upbuilder of his denomination and all its internal institutions. He has been a model Sunday School teacher, first in Cambridge, and
later in Woonsocket where he has led the school of the Universalist Society as Superintendent with great success for over fifty years. In the colleges, academies, conventions, conferences and various organizations of the denomination, he has held and adorned many dignified offices, to the pleasure and profit of all concerned. Mr. Ballou was married, October 20, 1836, to Miss Sarah A. Hun- newell of Cambridge, Mass. They had four children : Mary Frances, born August 3, 1837 ;
L. W. BALLOU.
Sarah Jane, born March 20, 1839; Marie Louise, born August 15, 1846, and Henry Latimer Ballou, born October 14, 1841, now Assistant Treasurer of the Woonsocket Institution for Savings, and Treasurer and Trustee of several societies, estates and institutions.
BOWEN, WILLIAM HENRY, M. D., Providence, was born in Scituate, R. I., April 18, 1840, son of Lyman and Phebe Ann (Burgess) Bowen. His father, born in the same town July 16, 1815, still survives ; his mother, who was born in Johnston, R. I., May 8, 1822, died August 29, 1856. The Bowen ancestors in America were of English origin and date back to 1640, when Richard and Griffith Bowen came to this country from Glamorganshire, Wales, and settled, the former in Rehoboth, and the latter in Weymouth, Mass. From these progenitors the
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Bowen families now living in Rhode Island are probably descended. William Henry is a direct descendant of Richard Bowen, who lived and died in Rehoboth. He was born and reared on a farm in the western part of the town of Scituate, the eldest of eight children, three of whom were girls. At an early age he was put to work on the farm, and sent to school only winters. Despite these disadvantages he early developed a taste for books and study, and when not more than twelve years old he had decided to become a doctor. But the family was large and money was scarce, and not much help could be
WM. H. BOWEN.
expected from his father ; so at the age of fourteen he went to work for a neighboring farmer, in order to earn money for his education. As soon as he had saved enough for the purpose, he entered Smith- ville Seminary, walking daily to and from the school, a distance of four miles. In this way, by working out, and after a time by teaching school, he was able in five years, through hard work, rigid economy and close application, to prepare for college, and also to take extra courses in chemistry and the French lan- guage. Three of the five years were spent at East Greenwich Academy. At the age of nineteen he entered the office of Dr. Charles H. Fisher, in North Scituate, and commenced the study of medicine. After the necessary preliminary study he entered
Dartmouth College, graduating from that institution as Doctor of Medicine, October 30, 1863, at that time being but twenty-three years of age. He im- mediately commenced practice in the village of Clayville, and after remaining there four years removed to Rockland in the town of Scituate, where he lived for twenty-one years. After practising in the country twenty-five years, he removed in No- vember 1888 to the city of Providence, where he is now actively engaged in an extensive medical prac- tice. Dr. Bowen is a member of the Providence Medical Association and the Rhode Island Medical Society. He is a Mason and a member of St. John's Commandery Knights Templar, and has been Master of Hamilton Lodge and High Priest of Scituate Royal Arch Chapter. In politics he has always been an Independent ; but notwithstanding his indepen- dence, he was elected to the School Committee of the town of Scituate for ten successive years, and was nine years Superintendent of Schools. Dr. Bowen is quiet and reserved in manner, but decided and fearless when assailed, and always prompt, active, straightforward and self-reliant. He labors hard to keep abreast with the best scientific thought and the improvement of the times, and whatever measure of success in life he may have achieved has been due to his own exertion, perseverance and hard work. He was married, February 22, 1865, to Miss Phebe Smith Aldrich, daughter of Arthur Fenner Aldrich, who for many years was a leading citizen of Scituate ; two daughters and five sons were born to this union, four of whom are living : Cora Aldrich, Harry Lyman, William Henry and Frank Aldrich Bowen.
BUFFUM, WILLIAM POTTER, civil engineer, New- port, was born in Middletown, R. I., August 29, 1858, son of Thomas B. and Lydia R. (Potter) Buffum. He is descended from Quaker ancestry ; his father, Thomas B. Buffum, his grandfather David Buffum, and his great grandfather David Buffum, were prominent in the Newport branch of the de- nomination ; the first of the name in the country, Robert Buffum, who came to Salem, Mass, about 1634, was a Quaker, and the majority of the family have since belonged to that sect. He received his early education in private schools at Newport and at the Friends' School in Providence, from which he graduated in 1875. He then entered Brown University and graduated in the class of 1879. He devoted himself to farming in Middletown until 1886, when he entered the office of J. P. Cotton,
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MEN OF PROGRESS.
civil engineer, at Newport, and remained with him for six years and a half. Since August 1892, he has carried on the business of civil engineering inde- pendently. He was elected a Representative from Newport in the Rhode Island General Assembly in
W. P. BUFFUM.
1894 and re-elected in 1895, and has been a mem- ber of the Board of Reference of the Charity Or- ganization of Newport since 1887. He is a mem- ber of the Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity, Ninigret Lodge, and the Newport Business Men's Association. He married, April 5, 1883, Miss Joanna Sophia Kimber of Germantown, Pa .; they have three chil- dren : Margaret, William P., Jr., and Marmaduke Cope Buffum.
BARNEY, WALTER HAMMOND, attorney-at-law, Providence, was born in Providence, September 20, 1855, the son of Josiah K. and Susan H. (Ham- mond) Barney. He is descended on both sides from old Massachusetts families, the Barneys, Pecks, Hammonds and Browns, who were distinguished in the Revolutionary and Colonial services. He is also connected on both sides with Commodore Oliver H. Perry. He received his early education in the public schools of Providence and Pawtucket, R. I., and Silver City, Nevada, and attended Mowry & Goff's Classical School in Providence from 1868
to 1872, graduating with the valedictory. He grad- uated from Brown University in the class of 1876 with the degree of A. B., receiving that of A. M. in 1879 ; he was the valedictorian of his class. He studied law in the office of Colwell & Colt (Hon. Francis Colwell, now City Solicitor, and Hon. Le Baron B. Colt, now Judge of the United States Circuit Court of Appeals), and was admitted to the Rhode Island bar in February 1879. He practiced by himself from 1879 to 1882, and then was associ- ated with his old instructor, Hon. Francis Colwell, until 1893, since which time he has been by him- self. His principal practice is in equity and cor- poration law. He has taken an active interest in public affairs. He was a member of the General Assembly in 1889-90; has been a member of the School Committee from 1889 to the present time, and its President since 1890 ; and was a member of the Common Council in 1891-92-93 and '95. He is a member of the Providence Athletic Association, the Elmwood and Pomham clubs, the Providence Whist Club and the Narragansett Whist Club, of
W. H. BARNEY.
which latter he is the President. He was one of the organizers of the American Whist League, and was its Secretary from its origin, in 1891, to the present year, when he was elected Vice-President. He has been President of the New England Whist
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MEN OF PROGRESS.
Association since its organization. In politics he is obtain, studying nights and Sundays, and literally a Republican He married, June 1, 1882, Miss Sarah Lydia, daughter of Ezra I. Walker ; they have one child : Walter H., Jr.
BARKER, WILLIAM, Dental Surgeon, Providence, was born in Springfield, Mass., August 5, 1842, son of William S. and Hersey (Knowlton) Barker. His father was a son of Deacon Nathan Barker, who was a soldier in the Revolutionary war; his mother was a daughter of Nathan Knowlton of
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WILLIAM BARKER.
Wilbraham, Mass. All his grandparents moved to Massachusetts from Ashford, Conn., and settled in adjoining towns. Their ancestors were among the earliest settlers of New England, and were all of English lineage. His father died when he was but twelve years of age, leaving his mother with six children, and a heavy debt on the farm, too heavy to permit her to liquidate it. The family were necessarily scattered and he found a home with a Wilbraham farmer, where he had a school privilege of three months in the year, with a three-mile walk to attend it. He worked on a farm until 1859, attending the district schools, and was for a short time at the Wesleyan Academy at Wilbraham. He has obtained the greater part of his education by private study, reading the best literature he could
" burning the midnight oil." The breaking out of the war of the Rebellion found him in New York engaged in mercantile pursuits. On April 19, 1861, he entered the Seventy-first Regiment N. Y. S. M., for three months, going to Annapolis by steamer, making with the First Rhode Island the somewhat famous " first march of the war " from Annapolis to Annapolis Junction -"Only Nine Miles to the Junction." Just previous to the advance of the troops into Virginia, which led to the first battle of Bull Run, he and some hundreds of others were discharged by reason of disability, at which he was much mortified, being eager to take part in the battle. He again engaged in mercantile pursuits until August 1862, when he enlisted in the First Massachusetts Cavalry for three years or during the war, and served in the Army of the Potomac most of the time as orderly and bugler, participating in nearly all the engagements of his term of service. He then engaged in various occupations, the mer- cantile, mechanical and insurance business occupy- ing him at different times. He spent about two years in Kansas and Minnesota, drifting back to New England and into the practice of dentistry in Suffield, Conn., in 1875, remaining there, however, but a short time. From there he went to Browns- ville, Texas, and Matamoras, Mexico, where he re- mained only long enough to convince himself that New England was the best place for him. He first opened an office in this state in East Greenwich, and in 1876 removed to Providence. He pursued a course of study in the Boston Dental College, securing his degree of D. D. S. in 1880. He was elected Professor of Operative Dentistry at the Boston Dental College in 1886, occupying the chair for four years, when he resigned. He is a member of the Rhode Island Dental Society and was one of its first Presidents ; of the New England Dental Society and one of its Presidents; of the American Academy of Dental Science, and an ex- member of the American Dental Association and the Connecticut Valley Dental Society. He is President of the Rhode Island Single Tax League, an office to which he attaches more honor than any he has ever held. He is a member of the Provi- dence Athletic Association, the Grand Army of the Republic and various other army organizations. In 1866 he married Miss Jane E. Mellows of Spring- field, Mass., who died in 1872, leaving one daugh- ter : Beatrice J. In 1878, he married Miss Charlotte B. Farnum of Providence.
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BARSTOW, AMOS CHAFEE, iron founder, Provi- dence, was born in Providence, November 2, 1848, the son of Amos Chafee and Emeline Mumford (Eames) Barstow. He is a descendant of William Barstow, who came from Yorkshire, England, and settled in Massachusetts in 1636. His grandfather, Nathaniel Barstow, came from Hanover to Provi- dence early in life, and his father, Hon. Amos C. Barstow, was born in Providence in 1813, and was for many years identified with the growth of his native city, having been one of the early Mayors of Providence, and prominent in temperance, in poli-
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AMOS C. BARSTOW.
tics and in religious work. Mr. Barstow received his early education in the public grammar schools, and in Ladd & Mowry's, afterwards Mowry & Goff's English and Classical High School. He lacked about a year of completing preparation for college, when on account of illness a college course was abandoned, and after two years' training in office work he made a vovage to California, before the completion of the first through railroad, spending a few months in travel, after which his business life was begun in earnest. He began his business career in February 1866, with the Barstow Stove Company, iron founders. This business had been started by his father in 1836 and was incorporated in 1859. He was elected Treasurer in 1869, and has since continued in that office, having been man-
ager of the business the greater part of the time. He was elected President in February 1895, suc- ceeding his father in this office a few months after the latter's death, which occurred in September 1894. He served as a Director in the Commercial National Bank of Providence for twelve years, com- mencing January 6, 1879, representing a family in- terest on his wife's side. (Mrs. Barstow's grand- father, Nathan Mason, had been for many years a Director in this bank.) He has been a Director of the City National Bank of Providence since January 9, 1877, and in the Slater Cotton Company of Paw- tucket since 1889. He was Vice-President of the Providence & Springfield Railroad several years and arranged the sale of that property to the New York & New England Railroad in 1890, and has been con- nected with other railroad corporations. In 1873 and 1874 he was a Colonel on Governor Howard's personal staff. He was elected a Representative to the General Assembly on the Republican ticket in 1888, and shared in the general defeat of that ticket the two succeeding years. On returning from a journey in France, Italy, Austria and Germany, he married, June 27, 1876, Miss Grace Mason Palmer, daughter of the late John Barstow Palmer, a well- known and successful manufacturing jeweler of Providence, whose mother was a Barstow from a Connecticut family, but the relationship is too re- mote to trace ; they have had four children : Amos Chafee, Jr., who died in June 1879, aged two years, Mary Mason, John Palmer and Grace Emeline Barstow.
BALLOU, BARTON ALLAN, manufacturing jeweler, Providence, was born in Cumberland, R. I., October 25, 1835, son of Barton and Deborah Catherine (Rathbone) Ballou. He is descended in the sixth generation from Maturin Ballou, one of the early settlers of Providence and a contemporary of Roger Williams. His father, Barton Ballou, graduated from Brown University in the class of 1813 ; he was the son of Levi Ballou, Esq., of Cumberland, who was a prominent citizen of his town and state. His maternal grandparents were Abraham Borden Rathbone and Waity Thomas of Wickford, R. I. His early education was obtained in the public schools of his native town. His father died before he had completed his ninth year, leaving the widow and children to depend upon their own resources. At the age of sixteen he was apprenticed to learn the jewelers' trade in Providence. During the long depression in the jewelry business which followed
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MEN OF PROGRESS.
the panic of 1857, he became for a few years a resident of New Hampshire. He enlisted in the army, and was largely influential in organizing a military company that formed a part of the Six- teenth Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers. He was elected Lieutenant, and served with his regi- ment under the command of General Banks in the Department of the Gulf. He began his career as a manufacturing jeweler early in 1878, and in a few months formed with his brother-in-law, the late John J. Fry, the firm since known as B. A. Ballou & Co., which acquired and has maintained a high rep-
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B. A. BALLOU.
utation in the business. He is an official member of the National Free Religious Association and an active member of the Free Religious Society of Providence, always on the executive committee and at one time its president. He is a member and supporter of the Union for Christian work, a Director of the Manufacturing Jewelers' Board of Trade, a member of the Manufacturing Jewelers' Association, the Advance Club, and other organizations based on the idea of the common good. In politics he is a Republican, but not sufficiently partisan to engage in active political work. He married, May 7, 1858, Miss Delia A. Wesley, who died without children. He was again married, November 28, 1867, to Miss Mary Rathbone Kelley; they have three children : Fred- erick Allan, Charles Rathbone and Alice May Ballou.
CARR, GEORGE WHEATON, M. D., Providence, was born in Warwick, R. I., January 31, 1834, son of John and Maria (Brayton) Carr. He is a de scendant in the seventh generation of Robert Carr of Portsmouth and Newport, R. I., who was born in England in 1614 and died in Newport in 1681, leaving six children. Robert and Caleb Carr, broth- ers, sailed from London in the ship Elizabeth and Ann in 1635, and settled in Newport, R. I. Caleb was subsequently Justice of General Quarter Sessions and the Court of Common Pleas, and in 1695 be- came Governor of the State of Rhode Island, under the Royal Charter. Both Robert and Caleb had families, and became large landed proprietors, owners of Gould and Rose islands at Newport, with nearly the whole of Dutch and Conanicut islands, and extensive tracts of land in Narragansett and Coweset, purchased chiefly of the Indians. Robert's son Caleb married Phillis Greene, lived in James- town, R. I., and died there in 1690. The latter's son Robert, born in Jamestown in 1683, married Hannah Hall, and had three children, and died in Warren, R. I. His son Caleb, of Newport, born there in 1719, married Ruth Miller and had ten children, and died in 1767. His son Caleb, of Warren, was born there in 1743, and married Lillis Barton of Warren, a cousin of Gen. William Barton, and granddaughter of Governor Samuel Gorton, who though suffering much at the hands of Massachu- setts, came off finally triumphant, and in 1651 was Governor of the United Colonies of Providence and Warwick. Captain Caleb Carr and his son, Captain John (born in Warren in 1771 and died there in 1815, having married Patty Davis and had eight children), were joint owners of the brig Rambler, which sailed from Baltimore in February 1799, under the command of Captain John Carr, was captured by a French privateer sailing under the authority of the French Republic, and was subsequently taken from them by a Spanish man-of-war, carried into the port of Barracoa and sold ; the claim arising from this case was allowed by Congress under the provisions of the French Spoliation Act, and amounts to a considerable sum, not yet paid. John's son John, of Warwick, who was born in Warren in 1795, married in 1824 Maria Brayton, had six children, and died in 1873, was the father of the subject of this sketch. As indicative of his thoroughly Rhode Island ancestry, and to illustrate the custom of inter- marriage among the older families of the colonies, it may be stated that he is descended from a large number of prominent Rhode Island families, among
George W. Car Cars
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MEN OF PROGRESS.
others those of Brayton, Greene, Almy, Barton, Law, Rhodes, Arnold, Hail, Miller, Watson and Gorton. George Wheaton Carr prepared for college at the Fruit Hill Classical Institute, at that time a flour- ishing seminary, and entered Brown University in 1853, graduating in the class of 1857 with the degree of Master of Arts. He was elected and served as Class Poet, and delivered the class poem on class day in Manning Hall. On leaving college he entered upon the study of medicine in the office of Dr. J. W. C. Ely, Providence. He pursued his studies at the National Medical College in Wash- ington and in the University of Pennsylvania, grad- uating from the latter institution with the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1860. Returning to Providence he entered upon the practice of medi- cine and surgery, became Surgeon to the Providence Cadets and later was appointed Assistant Surgeon General of the State. The civil war broke out the following year and he was called away from private life. With other members of the General Staff of the State he was transferred to the first troops raised in Rhode Island, and commissioned Assistant Sur- geon of the First Regiment Rhode Island Detached Militia, commanded by Colonel (afterwards Gen- eral) A. E. Burnside. He continued with the regiment during its short but active service, serving under General Patterson in Maryland and General Winfield Scott at the battle of Bull Run. After the First Regiment was mustered out he was ap- pointed Assistant Surgeon of the Second Rhode Island Volunteers, under Colonel (now General) Frank Wheaton, and was subsequently promoted to the post of Surgeon, serving in that capacity and as brigade operating surgeon, and as brigade surgeon in the Fourth and Sixth Army Corps, and in General Couch's Division, in the battles of Yorktown, Mechanicsville, Gaines Mill, Fair Oaks, Seven Pines, Malvern Hill, Antietam, Fredericks- burg, the Wilderness, Gettysburg, Mine Run, Rappahannock, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, Han- over Junction, and in other engagements. At the close of the war Dr. Carr resumed the practice of his profession in Providence. He was admitted to the Rhode Island State Medical Society and to the Providence Medical Association in 1860, and from March 1870 to March 1872 was President of the latter organization. He was appointed Physician of the Rhode Island State Prison in July 1868, and filled that position until the re- moval of that institution from Providence in 1878. In 1868 he was appointed United States Examin-
ing Surgeon of Pensioners, and served twenty-five years ; was Surgeon of the Rhode Island Hospital twenty years, receiving his appointment in 1868 and resigning in 1888 ; and was six years a member of the Board of Examiners of the Rhode Island Medical Society. He has been closely identified with the State Militia and National Guard, serving as Brigade Surgeon many years; on the reorgan- ization of the State Militia he was made Medical Director, and served in that capacity thirteen years. He was the first Surgeon of the Grand Army of the Republic in the state, and for several years was Medical Director of that body. He is also Consult- ing Physician of the Butler Hospital for the Insane, Consulting Surgeon of the Rhode Island Hospital and of St. Elizabeth's Home, and a member of the American Medical Association, American Academy of Medicine, and the Association of Military Sur- geons of the National Guard. Dr. Carr was mar- ried, April 17, 1871, to Miss Imogen Matthewson, a lineal descendant of Dr. John Hoyle, prominent in the early annals of the city of Providence, whose character and benevolence not only made their im- press upon the history of his time, but have perpet- uated his name to the present day; and who in 1710-20, when the fires of religious controversy raged fiercely throughout the New England Colonies, proved himself, by deed and by gift, the defender and patron of freedom in religious worship. They had one child : George Wheaton Carr, Jr., born November 12, 1879, died March 16, 1881.
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