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 26
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Knight purchased the whole property from Mr. Clark for $40,000. The next year Mr. Knight bought his partner's interest and gave the village its present name of Pontiac. The main facts relating to his subsequent business career are narrated in the sketch of Benjamin Brayton Knight, wherein mention more or less detailed is made of the origin, development and present extent of the immense business con- trolled and operated by the brothers Benjamin B. and Robert under the firm name of B. B. & R. Knight. Robert Knight has been distinctively a business man, never having held any public office, but devoting his time and energies exclusively to business affairs. He was a Director in the National
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ROBERT KNIGHT.
Bank of Commerce, Providence, from 1867 to 1884, when he was elected President, which office he now holds. He was an incorporator of the People's Sav- ings Bank, was elected Vice-President in 1874, and in 1884 became its President. He has also been connected officially with other banking institutions and several insurance companies, and was for several years a Director in the New York, Providence & Boston Railroad Company. Mr. Knight was married, March 5, 1849, to Miss Josephine Louisa, daughter of Royal A. and Hannah C. (Parker) Webster, of Providence ; they have had nine children, of whom five are now living : Josephine E., Webster, Clinton Prescott, Sophie and Edith Knight.
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MEN OF PROGRESS.
LADD, HERBERT WARREN, merchant, and Gov- ernor of Rhode Island for two terms, 1889-90 and 1891-92, was born in New Bedford, Mass, Octo- ber 15, 1843, son of Warren and Lucy (Kingman) Ladd. Governor Ladd's life has been a busy one, crowded with incident and successful adventure. Few men have ever been called upon to endure, at times, more discouraging experiences, or greater trials or sorrows, but against these his indefatigable effort, indomitable will and good judgment have brought him successes and honors attained by few. He was educated in the public schools of New Bedford, and graduated from the high school of that city in 1860. Following graduation, he en- tered a wholesale drygoods house. After a year of this experience he accepted a position on the staff of the New Bedford Mercury, where his abil- ities for newspaper work were at once recognized, and he soon became one of the most efficient reporters and correspondents of that paper. As a writer he was graphic and accurate, and his letters to the Mercury from the South and West during the war were of exceptional merit and in- terest. The first Sunday newspaper published in New England, outside of Boston, was an "extra " Mercury issued by him to announce the battle of Fredericksburg. In 1864 he retired from journal- ism and re-entered the drygoods business, with White, Brown & Co., Boston, then the largest im- porters of foreign dress-goods in the United States. In the spring of 1871 he came to Providence and started in a fifteen-foot-front store a retail drygoods business. His excellent taste in the selection of goods at once brought him the best trade of the city, while the systematic methods he first introduced into the retail business in this country and the special abilty he manifested as an organizer rapidly developed his enterprise, his business increasing until for years the H. W. Ladd Company occupied one of the largest blocks on Westminster street, widely known as one of the finest retail establishments in all New England. During the development of his successful business career in Providence, Mr. Ladd declined all solicitations to become a candidate for public office - his uniform reason given being that he was a business man and not trained in the school of politics - until in 1889 he was induced to become the Republican candidate for governor. Upon taking office, Governor Ladd undertook the advocacy of many measures in the interests of his state and its people, that bore abundant fruit before his final retirement from administration, bringing
to his executive duties the same energy and pro- gressive spirit that had characterized him in his private business. He received an emphatic en- dorsement for re-election at the hands of his party in 1890, but owing to causes for which he was in no wise responsible, the Republicans were that year defeated. He was again made the standard- bearer in 1891, however, and was elected to his second term. His record of two years in the exec- utive office is a brilliant one, marked everywhere by energetic and progressive work. He was among the first in the country to actively push the movement for good roads, the result of his efforts being that Rhode Island now has a model road law. The State Agricultural School at Kingston, in its infancy when he took the reins of government, was rapidly developed through his interest in its behalf. The establishment of the Soldiers' Home at Bristol is another notable feature of his public work. The agricultural and educational interests of the state commanded his enthusiastic support, and biennial elections, improved tax laws, the early closing of polls, the elevation of the office of Governor to that enjoyed by the executives of other states, were all urgently advocated. A notable awakening in the state's educational affairs followed an address before the Rhode Island Institute of Instruction on illiteracy and educational methods pursued in the state, and he gave practical em- phasis to his interest by the presentation of a mag- nificently equipped observatory, said to have cost $40,000, to Brown University, the University recog- nizing the splendid gift by conferring on the donor the honorary degree of Master of Arts. An enduring and notable monument that will long serve as a worthy tribute to his administration is the new State Capitol building, now in process of construc- tion, to be the finest marble edifice in America. Governor Ladd took up the question of Rhode Island's need for a State Capitol in his usual enter- prising fashion, his first message containing pictures of the state buildings all over the country, by which was contrasted Rhode Island's poor edifice. The plans for the new capitol were secured after a scheme that is to-day quoted by architectural authorities as a model for the whole country. Through all his business and political career Governor Ladd took an unfailing interest in public and social affairs. He was the founder and father of the famous Provi- dence Commercial Club, an organization of busi- ness men that meets monthly, and after a good dinner, discusses leading questions of the day, and at
Herbertw, hadd
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MEN OF PROGRESS.
whose board distinguished men from all over the land consider it an honor to be invited to sit. The club reached the highest point of prosperity and influence under his Presidency. Eminent states- men addressed its members from time to time, and its notable entertainment of the Commercial Club and the Merchants' Club of Boston and a com- mittee of the United States Senate, will never be forgotten. He was for two years vice-President of the Providence Board of Trade, was for several years President of the Rhode Island Society for the Pre- vention of Cruelty to Children, for which society he was chiefly instrumental in securing a fine home, and is a member of and has been a large contributor to the Young Men's Christian Association. He is also vice-President of the New England Genealogical Society of Boston, has been for several years Presi- dent of the Rhode Island School of Design. and is a member of the Hope, Athletic and Press clubs of Providence, and other organizations. He is a Director in the Atlantic National Bank of Provi- dence, but although frequently invited to fill a similar position in the larger financial institutions of the city, he has been unable to give to them the time which he felt their importance demanded. The movement for enlarged and improved railway ter- minal facilities for the city and faster train service, in 1876, found in him an earnest supporter. He called the meeting of the famous committee of one hundred that met before the municipal election to take steps to elect a city council favorable to the so- called "Goddard Plan" for railroad terminals, a movement that in 1884 was the beginning and in- spiration of the awakening that has slowly and surely resulted in the plans finally adopted, after hard battles and despotic jealousies that time has not even yet obliterated. Governor Ladd was married, May 25, 1870, to Miss Emma Frances, daughter of Caleb Gerald and Elizabeth (Holmes) Burrows of Provi- dence ; she died just as her husband entered upon his duties as Governor. Of six children, only two are living : Elizabeth Burrows and Hope Ladd.
LAPHAM, OSCAR, lawyer, was born in Burrill- ville, R. I., June 29, 1837, son of Duty and Lucinda (Wheelock) Lapham. His great-grandfather, Solo- mon Lapham, who came from Massachusetts to the town, then Gloucester, about 1750, was an exten- sive land owner and farmer. His grandfather, Wil- liam, was a farmer. His father was first a carpenter, then a farmer, a leader in town affairs, frequently
President of the Town Council, and member of the General Assembly, and an authority on probate law. He received his early education in the district schools of the town, such as they were, and in dif- ferent boarding schools, prepared for college at the University Grammar School of Providence, entered Brown University and graduated in the class of 1864. During the Civil War he served as Lieuten- ant, Adjutant and Captain in the Twelfth Regiment Rhode Island Volunteers. His training for active life consisted in manual labor on the farm, study at home, teaching school, the instruction of a father of extraordinary good sense, and the school of expe- rience in the army. He adopted the law as his
OSCAR LAPHAM.
profession, was admitted to the Rhode Island Bar in 1867, and established an office in Providence, where he has continued to reside and has enjoyed an exten- sive and lucrative practice up to the present time. Mr. Lapham has always taken an active part in poli- tics as a Democrat, and has been honored by his party by many important nominations in municipal and state campaigns. In 1887-88 he represented the city of Providence in the State Senate and was Chairman of the Judiciary Committee. He was elected a Representative in Congress for the First District of Rhode Island in 1891, and re-elected for the succeeding term. He is a trustee of Brown University and a member of the Advisory and Ex-
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ecutive Committee of the University. For many years he was Colonel of the United Train of Artillery, of Providence. He is a member of Squantum and Hope clubs, of the Providence Athletic Association and the Press clubs. He was married, June 20, 1876, to Miss Clara Louise Paine, of Providence ; they have no children living.
LEACH, GEORGE, engineer and architect, Prov- idence, was born in Naples, Maine, September 16,
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GEO. LEACH.
1843, son of Samuel and Martha (Mayberry) Leach. His parental grandparents were Samuel and Anna (Clark) Leach, and his maternal Daniel and Betsy (Nash) Mayberry, all of Cumberland county, Maine. He received his early education in the public schools. His father was a millwright and the early portion of his life was spent with him in that and kindred trades. Later he took up machinery designing and mechanical engineering. He has been employed in responsible positions connected with that class of work by the Saco Water Power Machine Shop, Biddeford, Me .; the South Boston Iron Works ; the United States Navy Yard, Portsmouth, N. H. ; the Whitehead & Atherton Machine Company, Lowell, Mass., and the Brown & Sharpe Manufacturing Company, Providence. Since coming to Providence in 1891 he has been
engaged in the designing and erection of the new buildings of the Brown & Sharpe Manufacturing Company, superintending the construction of the Merchants' Freezing & Cold Storage Company's plant, designing and superintending the construction and fitting up of the Oakdale Manufacturing Com- pany's plant, and other work of a similar nature in and about Providence. He takes no active interest in politics, societies or religion, although he is very much interested in them all to the extent of being enlightened in all points pertaining to them and a life of morality. His pursuits being entirely mechanical and not being of very robust health, his time is largely taken up with his business, with only slight variation for recreation and rest. He married, in 1868, Miss Ester J. Edgecomb ; they have one child : Mattie M. Leach.
LEAVITT, EDWARD CHALMERS, artist, Provi- dence, was born in Providence, March 9, 1842, son of Rev. Jonathan and Charlotte Esther (Stearns)
EDWARD C. LEAVITT.
Leavitt. His paternal ancestor was John Leavitt, who came to Massachusetts Bay in the first ship and settled in Hingham, and on the maternal side he is descended from John Alden and Priscilla Mullens, who came to Plymouth in the Mayflower. He was educated in private schools in Providence, and at Kimball Union Academy, Meriden, New
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MEN OF PROGRESS.
Hampshire. During the Civil War, in 1862 and 1863, he served in the navy on the U. S. S. Galena. In his profession of artist Mr. Leavitt is especially noted as a painter of fruit, flowers and still life. He exhibited in the National Academy for several years, and has made many successful exhibitions in Providence and Boston. He is a member of the Boston and Providence art clubs, and the Providence Press Club. He is also a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. In politics his proclivities are mainly Republican. He has been twice married : first, May 19, 1877, to Ellen M. Fuller ; and second, April 22, 1880, to Elizabeth S. Chace.
LEE, THOMAS ZANSLAUR, Justice of the District Court of the Twelfth Judicial District of Rhode Island, was born in Woonsocket, September 26, 1866, son of Thomas and Ellen ( Monahan) Lee. His education was acquired in the public schools of Woonsocket and at St. Bernard's Academy, supple-
THOMAS Z. LEE.
mented by special courses of study with private tutors. His earlier experience in the active duties of life was in the mechanical department of news- paper work, during a connection of two and a half years with the Woonsocket Reporter. Following this he read law in the office of the well-known legal
firm of Browne & Van Slyck, was admitted to the Rhode Island bar in August 1888, and after a short professional association with Col. Walter R. Stiness, of Providence, established himself in his native city, where he has won a large and lucrative practice. In May 1888 he was elected Recording Clerk of the Rhode Island House of Representatives, and held the position until May 1889. In January 1889 he was elected Coroner of the city of Woon- socket, and served in that capacity three years. In May 1891, he was elected Reading Clerk of the House of Representatives, was re-elected in 1892, was again elected in 1894, unanimously, and unani- mously re-elected in 1895 and 1896. On February 3, 1893, at the age of twenty-six, he was elected Justice of the District Court of the Twelfth Judicial District, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Judge Charles F. Ballou, being at the time of his election the youngest justice presiding over a court on record in the United States. Two years later, in May 1895, he was unanimously re-elected, after one of the most spirited political contests that Northern Rhode Island has ever seen. It is a noteworthy fact of his judicial career, that since his elevation to the bench no decision of Judge Lee's court has ever been overruled, nor has any exception to his rulings been sustained, by either division of the Supreme Court. Judge Lee is a member of the Providence Athletic Association, the Union Club, the Rhode Island Yacht Club, the Providence Press Club, the United Company of the Train of Artillery, all of Providence, and of the High School Association, Young Business Men's Club and St. Anne's Gym- nasium, of Woonsocket. He is a Past Grand in Woonsocket Lodge No. 10, and a member of the Grand Lodge of Rhode Island, I. O. O. F .; also Past Chancellor in Myrtle Lodge No. 1, and mem- ber of the Grand Lodge of Rhode Island, Knights of Pythias. In politics he is a Republican. He is unmarried.
LEWIS, JAMES NOYES, M. D., Ashaway, was born in Pawcatuck, town of Stonington, Conn., October 30, 1849, son of Dr. Daniel and Ann Frances (Kenyon) Lewis. The Lewises were among the first settlers of what are now the towns of Westerly and Hopkinton, R. I., and the genealogy can be traced back six generations. His grandfather, Christopher C. Lewis, was the town clerk of Hop- kinton for more than forty years, and his great-grand- father, Dr. James Noyes, was a practitioner in
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MEN OF PROGRESS.
Westerly fifty years ago. His mother was the daughter of Dr. Joseph D. Kenyon, latc of Hopkin- ton. Thus it is seen that his professional tastes, to say nothing of his skill, were inherited from both sides. His father died in Ashaway, R. I., in 1859, when James was but ten years old. He was edu- cated in the common schools of his native town and at Hopkinton Academy, spent one year at Alfred University, Alfred, N. Y., and graduated in medicine at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia
JAMES N, LEWIS.
College, New York City, March 3, 1874. Before graduation he studied and practiced medicine four years with Dr. John D. Kenyon at Ashaway, R. I. Since his graduation he has practiced continuously in the town of Hopkinton, R. I., with the exception of four years spent in Killingly and Plainfield, Conn., and for the last fourteen consecutive years in Asha- way. Owing to the long illnessand subsequent death of his father, Dr. Lewis's early life was spent in farm labor and in teaching to obtain the means of com- pleting his education. But by perseverance, hard work and strict attention to business, he accomplished his purpose in life, and now enjoys the fruits of a successful and lucrative practice. He was one of the charter members, and is at present Vice-President of the Washington County Medical Society, but although strongly Republican in politics, has never held any public office. He was married, November
29, 1876, to Miss Lois Clarke, daughter of Hon. Hal- sey P. Clarke of Richmond, R. I., and the union has been blessed by two daughters : Susie C., born July 5, 1882, and Hattie D. Lewis, born Dec. 9, 1891.
LINCOLN, LEVI COOK, Treasurer and Manager of the Woonsocket Electric Machine and Power Company, was born in Providence, April 15, 1858, son of Samuel and Olive (Cook) Lincoln. His father was a native of Hingham, Mass., and his mother was a daughter of Capt. Amos and Olive (Darling) Cook, of Cumberland, R. I. He was educated in the public schools, and after leaving the high school in Lonsdale he entered Mowry & Goff's English and Classical School in Providence, from which he graduated June 16, 1875. From May 1, 1877, to January 1, 1888, a period of nearly eleven years, he served as clerk in the Citizens' National Bank of Woonsocket. In October 1883 he took charge of the Woonsocket Electric Machine and Power Company, and has served as the Treas-
L. C. LINCOLN.
urer and Manager of that corporation ever since. Mr. Lincoln is a member of Woonsocket Lodge and Palestine Encampment of Odd Fellows, Myrtle Lodge Knights of Pythias, Fountain Division Sons of Temperance, and the Woonsocket Business Men's Association. In politics he is a Republican. He
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MEN OF PROGRESS.
was married, April 27, 1877, to Miss Anjanette Bailey ; they have one child, a daughter, Florence C. Lincoln, born May 14, 1878.
LITTLEFIELD, NATHAN WHITMAN, attorney-at- law, Providence, was born in East Bridgewater, Plym- outh County, Mass., May 21, 1846, son of Rufus Ames and Abigail Russell (Whitman) Littlefield. Both parents are living at East Bridgewater and cele- brated their golden wedding June 10, 1895. Rufus Ames Littlefield is a lineal descendant of Edmund Littlefield, who came to Boston from England in the year 1636 and who afterwards settled at Wells,
NATHAN W. LITTLEFIELD.
Me., where he erected the first mill in that region and did much to develop the manufacturing indus- tries of that place. One of the descendants of Edmund Littlefield was Daniel Littlefield, who very early settled in what is now West Bridgewater, Mass., and was the progenitor of the branch of the family of which several generations have resided in that and neighboring towns. Rufus Ames Little- field is related to the Ames family of North Easton, Mass., of which Ex-Gov. Oliver Ames was a member, and also to the Standishes of the Old Col- ony. Abigail Russell (Whitman) Littlefield is a lineal descendant of John Whitman of Weymouth,
Mass., whose son Thomas was one of the first resi- dents of the ancient town of Bridgewater, Mass., where he settled about the year 1662, and who was the progenitor of a family which has given to the nation Dr. Marcus Whitman, the Savior of Oregon ; Ezekiel Whitman, for many years Chief Justice of the Superior and Supreme Courts of the State of Maine, and a large number of men who have been eminent in professional life, in business and as educators ; like their ancestor, John Whitman, his descendants have been broad-minded and liberal men, very self-reliant, yet unassuming, tenacious of their own opinions, yet tolerant of the opinions of others even in times when toleration was rare. She was educated at the Charlestown Female Seminary, at that time the best school for young ladies in Massachusetts, and was a very proficient scholar, especially in mathematics ; her mother was Saman- tha (Keith) Whitman, a lineal descendant of James Keith, the first minister of Bridgewater, Mass., and a woman of great amiability and strength of char- acter ; she is also a descendant of John and Priscilla Alden. Nathan W. Littlefield was educated in the common schools of East Bridgewater, at Bridge- water Academy, and at Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass., where he was graduated in 1865. The same year he entered Dartmouth College and was gradu- ated in 1869, the Centennial of the College, with the highest honors. At that time Dartmouth had the finest college gymnasium in the country, and he was a recognized leader in athletics from the first, being chosen captain of his class during his fresh- man year, which position he held during the entire course, and was also for two years an assistant in- structor of gymnastics in the college. After gradu- ation he entered upon educational work and was for several years Principal of the High School of Newport, R. I. The report of the Superintendent of Schools of that city for the year 1872-73, refer- ring to his departure to another field, says: " Mr. Littlefield is a man of sound and liberal scholarship, and an efficient teacher and earnest worker. His amiable disposition and rare virtues have endeared him to his pupils and associates ; and I am sure that we share deeply in their regrets that the school must lose his labors and influence." The following year he was Principal of the High School and Superintendent of the Schools of the village of Westerly, R. I., which position he resigned, although assured of a large increase of salary if he would remain, to enter upon the work of preparation for his chosen profession ; and in October 1874 he
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MEN OF PROGRESS.
entered the Law School of Boston University, from which he was graduated in 1876, and was soon after admitted to the Boston Bar, but entered upon the practice of the law at Providence in January 1877. His practice has been exclusively upon the civil side of the court, and largely in equity and probate cases and in the law of real estate, in which, from the beginning of his professional career, he has been engaged in some of the most important litigation which has conie before the Rhode Island courts, both as regards the legal principles involved and the pecuniary interests at stake. A recent case involv- ing the titles to several large tracts of land taken by the city of Providence for park purposes was one of the most involved and difficult which ever came before the Supreme Court of Rhode Island, and resulted in the complete establishing of the titles of his client and an award of nearly a quarter of a million of dollars as damages. In 1893 he was appointed a Standing Master in Chancery. He is a member of several fraternal organizations, also of the Business Men's Association, and the Patria Club of Pawtucket. In politics he is a Democrat of the Jeffersonian school, and has been the candidate of his party for State Representative and Senator from Pawtucket. On August 13, 1873, he was married to Miss Arletta V. Redman, daughter of Hon. Erastus Redman of Ellsworth, Me., who died at Providence, October 18, 1879 ; on April 20, 1877, a son was born to them, Nathan W. Littlefield, Jr. December 1, 1886, he was married to Miss Mary Wheaton Ellis, daughter of Asher Ellis of Paw- tucket ; on December 19, 1889, a son was born to them, Alden Llewellyn Littlefield.
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