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 27
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LYNCH, JOHN EDWARD, Providence, was born in Blackburn, England, August 22, 1867, son of Mau- rice and Margaret (Downey) Lynch. IIe came to America with his parents at an early age, and was educated in the public schools of Rhode Island. Entering into mercantile life, he followed the retail grocery trade from 1879 to 1890, and in the latter year engaged in the undertaking business, which he has since conducted successfully to the present time. Mr. Lynch has served three terms as Re- cording Secretary of the Young Men's Lyceum and Social Club, is Treasurer of Court Thomas A. Doyle, No. 21, Foresters of America, and is a mem- ber of Tyler Council Knights of Columbus and Branch 399, Catholic Knights of America. He is unmarried.
McGUINNESS, EDWIN DANIEL, Mayor of Provi- dence in 1896, was born in Providence, May 17, 1856, son of Bernard and Mary (Gormley) Mc- Guinness. His ancestry on both sides is Irish. He received his early education in the public schools of Providence, was fitted for college in the high school, entered Brown University and gradu- ated in the class of 1877. He adopted the law as a profession, entered Boston University Law School in 1877, and graduated therefrom with the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1879, and was admitted to the Rhode Island Bar July 1, 1879. Since that time he has been engaged in active practice, and has re- ceived an extensive and profitable clientage. Mr. McGuinness has always taken an active interest in public affairs. He was elected Secretary of State of Rhode Island in 1887, and again in 1890. He was Alderman from the Third Ward from Septem- ber 1889 to January 1893. He received the unani- mous nomination of the Democratic convention for Mayor in 1893 and 1894, and, although not elected, his vote was a flattering testimonial of his personal popularity among his fellow-citizens. In the muni- cipal election of 1895 he was elected Mayor of the
J. E. LYNCH.
city of Providence for the year 1896, receiving the support of a large independent vote. In politics he is a Democrat and has always been active and influential in the councils of his party. He was
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Adjutant of the Fifth Battalion Rhode Island Mili- tia from 1879 to 1881, and Major from 1881 to 1887. He has been Supreme Trustee of the Cath- olic Knights of America since 1889, and was Presi- dent of the Brownson Lyceum for two years. He is a member of the American Bar Association, the
E. D. McGUINNESS.
Rhode Island Historical Society, the Brownson Ly- ceum, the Providence Athletic Association, the Press Club, and Reform Club of New York. Mayor McGuinness was married, November 22, 1881, to Miss Ellen T'. Noonan ; they have one child : Mary Frances McGuinness, born October 8, 1882.
MASON, ARTHUR LIVINGSTON, Treasurer and Gen- eral Manager of the Continental Steamboat Com- pany, Providence, was born in Providence, February 24, 1852, son of Earl P. and Lucy Ann (Larcar) Mason. Mr. Mason's mother was descended from an old French family. His father, Earl P. Mason (March 10, 1804 -September 21, 1876), tenth child of Pardon Mason and Anna Hail, was identified with many of the important industries of New England. Pardon Mason (August 14, 1758 - May 18, 1845) was eleventh child of Nathan Mason and Lillias Hail. He was the youngest of the six broth- ers whose names appear so frequently on the rolls of the Revolution. The history of Cheshire, Mass.,
tells us that Pardon and four of his brothers were in the hot fight at Bennington and that they were so begrimed with powder they did not recognize each other when they met on the field after the battle. Pardon returned to Providence but the other brothers remained in the New Providence settlement, later incorporated with Adams. Nathan Mason (May 10, 1705 - May 1758) was one of the ten children of Deacon Isaac Mason (July 15, 1667 - June 25, 1742). He in turn was one of thirteen children of Sampson Mason and Mary Butterworth. Sampson, a dragoon in Oliver Cromwell's army, and one of the famous Ironside Troop who received the trite advice to "Trust in God and keep your pow- der dry," emigrated to Boston about 1649, and after living in Dorchester about seven years, started with Obadiah Holmes in search of greater freedom and became a large proprietor of land in Rehoboth and one of the owners of the North Purchase, since Attleboro ; he died September 15, 1876, respected by all. The subject of this sketch received his early education in private schools in Providence,
A. LIVINGSTON MASON.
until 1865, then three years in France and Germany. In 1868 he returned to America, entered Mowry & Goff's English and Classical High School, and in 1870 took a special course in Brown University. From 1871 to 1873 he worked in a woolen mill to learn the details of the manufacture of woolen goods,
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and about 1873 became junior partner in the woolen manufacturing firm of Needham, Mason & Company. A few years later Mr. Needham retired from the business and the firm name was changed to C. F. Mason & Company. The new firm had hardly paid for Mr. Needham's interest when the manufactory, Farnum Mill Number Three, situated in Waterford, Mass., was totally destroyed by fire, involving a heavy loss. With a reduced capital the firm commenced business again in the Saxon Mills, situated in Put- nam, Conn., and later purchased the property. Through the failure of their commission house in New York the firm became financially embarrassed, and after making a satisfactory settlement of its in- debtedness, went into liquidation. During the fatal illness of his father, Earl P. Mason, in September 1876, Mr. Mason was appointed one of the Trustees of the estate, which position he held for ten years. When the property was merged into the Earl P. Mason Land Company he was elected Vice-President of the corporation. He was also a Trustee of the estate of Isaac Hartshorn in 1877. In 1883, April 28, Mr. Mason was elected Treasurer and General Manager of the Continental Steamboat Company. After getting an insight into the business he found that many reforms would have to be made, as well as great economies, before the business could be made remunerative to the stockholders. He found the position a most difficult one at first, as he knew but little of the details of the business and his efforts at reform and economy met with but little favor from his subordinates. Finding that it was impossible to do justice to his stockholders or to himself under the existing circumstances, he made a clean sweap of all the employes who were hostile to him and put in new men who would work in his interest. A change for the better soon became apparent, the business increased largely, and the fleet of boats had to be augmented. During his administration two lines of opposition steamboats have been satisfactorily disposed of, the entire float- ing indebtedness has been retired and the company put upon a permanent dividend-paying basis. Mr. Mason is also Secretary of the Rhode Island Loco- motive Works, to which position he was elected May 1, 1883. He is a member of the Providence Art Club, Lincoln Library Association, Rhode Island Historical Society, New York Society Sons of the Revolution, and while in college was a member of the Psi Upsilon Society of Brown University. He resigned his membership in the Hope Club of Prov- idence in 1895, having moved his residence to New-
port. He is also a member of the corporation of the Providence Lying-in Hospital. Mr. Mason is the founder of the Providence Symphony Orchestra and has been its Business Manager since its organi- zation about 1879. The orchestra numbers over fifty of the leading amateur musicians of the state, members coming from Newport, Bristol, Pawtucket and the suburbs of Providence to attend the weekly rehearsals held in the rooms of the Providence Art Club. The orchestra is strictly private, no public concerts being given. Mr. Mason was born in the Mason homestead on Benefit Street, and lived there until his marriage, spending his summers in New- port. Shortly after his marriage he purchased a residence on Keene Street, Providence, and in June 1894 removed to Newport, occupying Halidon Hall, the handsome residence formerly occupied by Dr. Isaac Hartshorn. He was married, June 30, 1875, to Miss Edith Bucklin, daughter of Dr. Isaac and Eliza Dayton (Gardiner) Hartshorn ; they have had four children : Earl P., Edith Livingston, Marguerite Schuyler and Liona Gardiner Mason ; the last named died October 6, 1893, in Paris, France.
MASON, ROBERT ALBERTUS, Chief Engineer of the Westerly Fire Department, was born in Paw- tucket, October 16, 1850, son of Henry Franklin and Matilda Rider (Lapham) Mason, of English and Scotch ancestry. He attended the public schools of Providence, graduating from the Bridgham- street grammar school in 1865. Between the ages of sixteen and nineteen he worked on a farm at Evans Centre, Erie county, New York, and in 1869 entered the foundry of the Rhode Island Locomo- tive Works in Providence to learn the moulder's trade. He remained in that establishment until 1880, and from that time until May 1882, was em- ployed in the foundry department of William A. Harris, Providence. He then started a foundry for the Lamphear Machine Company, at Phenix, R. I., but left there in the following August to take charge of the foundry of C. B. Cottrell & Sons' printing press manufactory at Westerly, which position he now holds. Mr. Mason has served as Captain of Capt. George W. Steadman Camp Sons of Veterans, of Westerly, from December 1889 to February 1891 ; Major of the Rhode Island Division Sons of Veterans, from February 1891 to February 1892 ; and as Chief Engineer of the Westerly Fire Department from November 1892 to the present time. He received the Master Mason's degree in What Cheer Lodge
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No. 21 of Providence in 1872, joined Pawcatuck Lodge No. 90 of Pawcatuck, Conn., in 1886 and was elected Worshipful Master in 1894. He joined Palmer Chapter Royal Arch Masons No. 28 in 1884, was chosen High Priest in 1887, 1888, 1889 and 1892, joined Narragansett Commandery No. 27
ROBERT A. MASON.
of Knights Templar in 1885, and was elected Emi- nent Commander in 1893 and 1894; he was made a shriner in Palestine Lodge, Mystic Shrine, at New- port in 1887, and received the thirty-second degree, Scottish Rite, at Providence in 1888. He is first Past Chancellor of Bowen Lodge Knights of Pythias, of Westerly. He is also a member of the Westerly Business Men's Association. In politics he is a Republican. Mr. Mason was married September 7, 1876, to Miss Fannie Earl Hixon. They have two children : Fannie Alice, now eighteen years of age, and Robert Edgar Leroy Mason, aged sixteen years.
MATHIEU, JOSEPH EDOUARD VICTOR, M. D., Central Falls, was born in St. Barnabé, county of St. Hyacinthe, Province of Quebec, August 8, 1856, son of Edouard and Rosalie (Lapré) Mathieu. His ancestors on both sides came from Normandie, France, about the sixteenth century, and with others of the name were among the first settlers of the Island of Orleans, near the city of Quebec. His
father was born in St. Ours, Richelieu, P. Q., and when twenty-two years old removed to St. Barnabé, where he engaged in business, keeping a country store and exporting the farmers' produce ; he was Postmaster for sixteen years, and Mayor for twenty years ; in 1872 he removed to the city of St. Hya- cinthe, accepting a railroad agency, a position which he occupied until his death in 1895. Joseph's mother was born in St. Barnabé, and was educated in the convent of La Presentation at St. Hyacinthe. He received his early education in the parochial school until the age of eleven, when he entered the St. Hyacinthe Seminary and pursued a classical course. He studied medicine at the Victoria Uni- versity of Montreal, from which he received his degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1879, and soon after graduation came to Rhode Island, engaging in the practice of his profession in Central Falls, where he has since resided. Dr. Mathieu has held the office of Coroner for the city of Central Falls since 1893, and is Medical Examiner for the Equitable Life Assurance Society of New York, and the New
J. E. V. MATHIEU.
York Mutual Reserve Fund Association ; also Phy- sician for the Loyal Mount Hope Lodge of Odd Fellows, Court Flower Dexter of the Ancient Order of Foresters of America, Lodge 277 Order of the Sons of St. Georges, Lady Lincoln Lodge 46 Order of the Daughters of St. Georges, the Association of
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St. Jean Baptiste, of Central Falls, and the Catholic Knights of America. He is a member of the Pawtucket Medical Society and the Rhode Island Medical Society, also of most of the local socie- ties and social organizations. Dr. Mathieu was married, February 14, 1882, to Miss Amanda Blanche Richer, of St. Hyacinthe, P. Q .; they have had three children : Yvonne, born February 22, 1883, died February 28, 1885 ; Bertha Corinne, born December 25, 1885, and Estelle Marie Mathieu, born in September 1890.
MATTESON, CHARLES, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island, was born in
CHARLES MATTESON.
Coventry, R. I., March 21, 1840, son of Asahel and Julia M. (Johnson) Matteson. His father was a merchant of Coventry, and served for sev- eral years as a State Senator. His early education was acquired in a private school in Providence, and at the Providence Conference Seminary in East Greenwich, after which he served a clerkship of two years in his father's store. He then re-entered Greenwich Academy, and in 1856 began a college- preparatory course of studies in the University Grammar School, Providence. The following year he entered Brown University, and in 1861 graduated from that institution. For a year after leaving college he studied law in the office of the United
States District Attorney for Rhode Island, Hon. Wingate Hayes, and then entered Harvard Law School, in which he remained during the years 1862 and 1863. Upon admission to the Rhode Island Bar, in January 1864, he began practice in Provi- dence, at first alone, but the succeeding year became associated with Mr. Hayes, his former pre- ceptor, under the firm name of Hayes & Matteson. The copartnership continued until July 1871, when Mr. Matteson retired and devoted himself especially to corporation practice, becoming attorney and counsel for various corporations and later serving as Director and Trustee of several corporate institu- tions. His marked ability as a lawyer and his fidelity to important trusts led to his election to the bench of the Supreme Court in February 1875, to fill the vacancy resulting from the promotion of Judge Durfee to the Chief Justiceship, and in April 1891, he succeeded to the position of Chief Justice, in which capacity he has since served, with honor to himself and with credit to the state. Judge Matteson was married, August 22, 1872, to Miss Belle Himes, daughter of Paul Himes, of Warwick, R. I .; they have three sons : Archibald C., George A. and Paul Matteson.
MILLER, AUGUSTUS SAMUEL, attorney-at-law, was born August 13, 1847, at Plainfield, Conn., the son of Simon Williams and Ann (Lawton) Miller. He is descended from Rev. Alexander Miller of Plain- field, Conn. (1711-1798), a staunch advocate of religious liberty in that state, a leader among those who " soberly dissented from the church established by Connecticut." Alexander Miller was the son of Robert Miller (1672-1727) who came to this coun- try at the close of the seventeenth century, and settled in Voluntown, Conn. He is also descended from Roger Williams through his paternal grand- mother, whose grandfather, Major Benjamin Potter, married Jemima Williams, daughter of Joseph Wil- liams, Esq., grandson of Roger Williams. On his mother's side he is descended from the Lawtons of Portsmouth, R. I., who settled in Aquidneck in 1638. His grandfather, Darius Perry Lawton, was one of the earliest manufacturers in New England, having built a mill and begun the manufacture of woolens in Plainfield in 1811. He received his early education in the public and private schools of Plainfield and prepared for college in Mowry & Goff's English and Classical school, Providence. He entered Brown University and graduated in the class of 1871 with
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MEN OF PROGRESS.
the degree of A. B., afterward receiving the degree of A. M. He adopted the law as his profession and was admitted to the Rhode Island Bar, April 2, 1874. He was assistant clerk of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island from May 1873 to October 1876. In June 1878 he formed a law partnership
AUGUSTUS S. MILLER.
with Hon. H. J. Spooner. The firm afterward be- came Spooner, Miller & Brown, by the admission of Arthur L. Brown, Esq. The firm became Miller & Brown, January 1, 1885, and so continued till Janu- ary 1, 1894, when it was dissolved. He was ad- mitted and qualified as attorney and counsellor in the United States Supreme Court Jan. 9, 1890. He has always enjoyed a large practice and been employed in a number of important cases. He has taken an active part in public life and politics. He was chairman of the Democratic City Committee in 1881-83, member of the Common Council of Provi- dence 1885-87 and its President in 1887. He was elected a member of the House of Representatives of the General Assembly in 1884-85 and in 1889- 91, and was Speaker of the House 1889 91. He was the Senator from Providence in the Rhode Island Senate 1893-94, and has received other im- portant nominations in State and municipal cam- paigns. He is President of the American Enamel Company, incorporated in 1866, the oldest and largest establishment of the kind in the country,
doing enamelling of all kinds on wood and metal. He was President of the Franklin Lyceum in 1880. He is a member of the American Bar Association. He was a member of the Hope Club for nineteen years and its Vice-President for several years. He is a member, and was the first President, of the Young Men's Democratic Club. He is a member of the Athletic Club, Elmwood Club, Press Club, Art Club, Rhode Island Historical Society and Rhode Island State Fair Association. He has marked literary taste, and has written for the magazines and news- papers, when his avocation permitted. He mar- ried, February 17, 1881, Miss Elizabeth LeMoine Davis ; they have had two children : Mary Eleanor Davis (deceased) and William Davis.
NEYLAN, DANIEL JAMES, M. D, Bristol, was born in New York city, November 27, 1852, son of James and Mary Neylan. He received his early education in the common schools, and entered the University of New York, from which he graduated
D. J. NEYLAN.
in 1885. He was a teacher of gymnastics for several years, an acrobat and professional gymnast for fifteen years and an animal trainer four years, with the John Robinson show, the Great Eastern, Stone & Murray's, Starr & Orton's, and several minstrel and variety shows. Dr. Neylan served as
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Surgeon in the Rhode Island Militia in 1888-89. He is a Thirty-second degree Mason, is Past Regent in the Royal Arcanum, Past Master Workman of the Ancient Order United Workmen and is a member of the Knights of Pythias. He was married, July 5, 1880, to Miss Elizabeth Baxter of Providence.
NICHOLSON, SAMUEL MOWRY, President and General Manager of the Nicholson File Company, Providence, was born in Providence, February 25, 1861, son of William Thomas and Elizabeth Dexter (Gardiner) Nicholson. His paternal ancestors were among the early Puritan settlers along the eastern shores of Massachusetts. On the maternal side he' traces back to Sir Roger Mowry and Sir Thomas
S. M. NICHOLSON.
Gardiner, of England, and to Gabriel Bernon, the noted Huguenot, and is connected by birth with some of the oldest and most prominent families of Rhode Island. His early education was acquired in his native city, first in Miss Warren's Primary School, then in the public schools, and afterwards in Mowry & Goff's Classical School. In 1879, at the age of eighteen, he entered the employ of the Nich- olson File Company, of which his father was the founder and President, devoting the first year and a half to the mechanical department, and learning the different processes of the manufacture of files and rasps. He then entered the main office as clerk,
acquiring a thorough knowledge of the book-keep- ing departments, and in 1881 was elected Secretary of the company. He subsequently made numerous trips throughout the United States and British Provinces in the interest of the company, widely extending his commercial acquaintance. In 1890 he was elected a Director of the company, and in 1891 he was made Vice-President. In November 1893, upon the death of his father, he succeeded to the position of President and General Manager, which position he now holds. The company at present operates, in addition to the factories at Providence, the American File Works at Pawtucket, R. I., and the Great Western Works at Beaver Falls, Pa. There are about twelve hundred skilled work- men on the company's pay-rolls, and the products are sent to all parts of the globe. Mr. Nicholson is a Director of the following institutions and com- panies, located in Providence : Rhode Island Na- tional Bank ; Enterprise, State and American Mutual Fire Insurance companies ; and the Providence, Fall River and Newport Steamboat Company. He is Vice-President for Rhode Island of the National Association of Manufacturers, and a Director in the Exporters' Association of America. He is a mem- ber of the Hardware clubs of New York, Boston and Philadelphia, and of the Home Market Club of Boston ; also a member of the Providence Board of Trade, the Rhode Island Historical Society, the Hope, Squantum, Commercial and other clubs of Providence. In politics he is a Republican. He was married, November 17, 1886, to Miss Mary Jewett Coe, of Brooklyn, N. Y .; they have two children : Paul Coe and Martha Jewett Nicholson.
NOYES, ROBERT FANNING, M. D., Providence, was born in South Kingston, R. I., February 8, 1850, son of Thomas W. and Julia Elma (Allen) Noyes. Dr. Noyes is a descendant of Rev. James Noyes, who was born in Cholderton, Wiltshire, England, in 1608, bred at Brazen-Nose College, Oxford, and emigrated from London to America in 1634, in the ship Mary and John, in company with his brother Rev. Nicholas Noyes and his cousin Rev. Thomas Parker. He and his associates above referred to were Puritans and Nonconformists. They finally settled in 1635 in Newbury, now New- buryport, Mass., where Rev. Mr. Noyes and Rev. Mr. Parker were associated as teacher and pastor over the first church established in that town, and where Rev. Mr. Noyes in 1647 erected the Noyes
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house which has been owned and occupied by those in lineal descent almost to the present day, or until within about two years. The subject of this sketch acquired his early education in the public school and at Mrs. S. H. Weeks' seminary in his native town, supplemented by private instruction in mathe-
ROB'T F. NOYES.
matics and languages under the tuition of Rev. J. H. Wells. Later he attended the Providence Conference Seminary at East Greenwich, the Friends' School in Providence, and the Connecticut Literary Institute at Suffield, Conn. At the age of nineteen, in March 1869, he began the study of medicine with Dr. Job Kenyon in Providence, and after one year at the Harvard Medical School in Boston and two years at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City, graduated from the last named institution in February 1873. In December of the same year he engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery in Providence, and has continued as a practitioner in that city ever since. Dr. Noyes was for several years Physician to Out-Patients at the Rhode Island Hospital in Providence, and is at the present time Visiting Physician to that institution, also Consulting Phy- sician and member of the Advisory Board of St. Joseph's Hospital in the same city. He has served as President of the Providence Medical Association (1891-93) and as President of the Rhode Island
Medical Society (1893-95), and besides his member- ship in these medical organizations is a member of the Clinical Club of Providence. Although not a frequent or voluminous writer, Dr. Noyes has con- tributed a number of valuable articles to the Trans- actions of the Rhode Island Medical Society. He was married, May 15, 1888, to Miss Katharine Howland Gifford, daughter of Abraham R. and Meribah A. Gifford, of Westport, Mass. ; they have one child : Emily Gifford Noyes, born March 26, 1892.
O'LEARY, CHARLES, M. D., Providence, was born in Ireland in May 1832, son of Denis Wallace and Catherine (Cantel) O'Leary. He is descended on the paternal side from the old historic family of Wallace, of the Barony of Ardagh, County Cork, and one of his near relatives was Arthur O'Leary, the distinguished wit and writer. He was educated for Trinity College, Dublin, studied for honors and made entrance examination in October 1848; but owing to his father's death and reduced family circum-
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