USA > Rhode Island > Rhode Island : three centuries of democracy, Vol. III > Part 28
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Mr. Hurley then returned to the practice of law at Providence, but in 1923 he was called to the post of Assistant Attorney-General of Rhode Is- land. He filled this office until 1925, having given eminent satisfaction by his service therein. He is recognized as one of the leaders of the Rhode Is- land bar. In the organized bodies of his profes- sion he enjoys high standing, and is a member of the American Bar Association and the Rhode Island Bar Association.
He was affiliated with the Association of Amer- ican Rhodes Scholars, and with the Delta Upsilon and Phi Beta Kappa fraternities. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus and the University Club, Catholic Club, Brown Club, East Side Tennis Club, and Turks Head Club.
George Hurley married, October 27, 1917, Marie Rose Walsh, of Brooklyn, New York, and they are the parents of two children: George, 2d, and Constance. The Hurley city home is on Charies Field Street in Providence.
WILLIAM BOHUN McBEE-Closely identi- fied with commercial and industrial enterprises in Rhode Island for nearly half a century, William Bohun McBee, of Providence, president of the Blackstone Mutual Fire Insurance Company, long since attained a position of influence and impor- tance in the affairs of New England. Mr. McBee has always devoted his energies assiduously to his business affairs and by a high ambition, an unim- peachable code of business ethics and unflagging persistence has made himself one of the leading mutual insurance operators in the northeast sec- tion of the United States. He has always been independent in his political attitude, selecting the man for office who seems to him to offer the best answer to the riddle that confronts the citizen in his desire for sound government, and never con- sidering office himself. He is an active, although quiet, supporter of all civic propositions that ap- pear for the benefit of the entire people, giving his aid wherever it may be of avail. His position in the community is substantial and his progressive operations of great value to Rhode Island and the district into which his activities extend.
He was born in Greenville, South Carolina, June 3, 1862, a son of Alexander and Jane (Alex- ander) McBee. His father was a planter and merchant and a veteran of the Confederate Army of the Rebellion. Beginning his education in pri- vate schools as a preparation for advanced in- struction, he first attended the Greenville Mili-
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tary Institute and then the Furman University in Greenville. This was followed by a course of two years at the University of the South Sewanee, Tennessee, and in 1882 he came to Rhode Island; where he became associated in business with Lockwood, Greene and Company, mill engineers, of Providence, and later with the Lockwood Com- pany's cotton mills at Waterville, Maine. In 1890 he entered the service in a humble capacity of the Blackstone Mutual Fire Insurance Company, worked his way steadily upward and in 1901 be- came president and treasurer of the institution. He is also president of the Providence Building Company, owner of the Grosvenor Building, and president of the Merchants Bank Building, Incor- porated, and is a director of the Providence Na- tional Bank.
On Mr. McBee's father's side the progenitor of the family was Vardry McBee, who came from Scotland and settled in Maryland in the late 1600's, later removing to North Carolina, and then settling in South Carolina. On his mother's side the progenitor of the family was Charles William D'Oyley, who came from Nancy, France, settling in Charleston in 1636. They were all prosperous, progressive men and women and highly respected in the communities in which they lived.
Mr. McBee is a member of the Protestant Epis- copal Church and belongs to many clubs and organizations, among them being the Providence Athenaeum, Art and Turks Head clubs; the Sans Souci Country and Poinsett of Greenville, South Carolina; the Rhode Island and Wannamoisett Country clubs, and the Alpha Tau Omega college fraternity.
William Bohun McBee married, September 15, 1886, at Riverside, Rhode Island, Emily Edith Hudson, daughter of Thomas Charles and Emily Edith (Goodwin) Hudson. Mrs. McBee died May 9, 1925. Their children are: I. Alexander Charles, born May 30, 1889, deceased. 2. Emily de Bohun, born May 21, 1891, deceased. 3. Wil- liam Rhodes LeRoy, born November 26, 1892. 4. Marguerite Edith, born April 25, 1898, now Mrs. Clifford B. Denison, of Providence. 5. Floride d'Oyley, born January 31, 1901, now Mrs. Thomas D. Holford, of Providence.
WALTER LANE PRESTON-In the busi- ness and commercial worlds, one of Rhode Island's citizens who for many years took an important part was Walter Lane Preston, a native of Providence,
this State, who was engaged in different types of endeavor in this city. The Preston interests, in- cluding those of both him and his brother, were extensive in scope and volume, not only in New England, but in other parts of the world as well. Mr. Preston was a man of unusual abilities, strongly public-spirited, eager to support the worthiest projects in his city, State and Nation, and kindly and generous in his personal qualities. For his achievements in connection with the guid- ance of the affairs of J. H. Preston and Com- pany, of Providence, and its numerous affiliated organizations, he was esteemed and respected by his fellowmen; so that his life was a useful one, and his death a cause of deep sorrow.
The family from which he was descended was an old and honored one. The name is of great anti- quity in North Britain, and was assumed by the family from territorial possessions in Mid-Lothian in the time of Malcolm, King of Scots. Leolphus de Preston, of the time of William the Lion in 1040, was grandfather of Sir William de Preston, one of the Scottish noblemen summoned to Ber- wick by Edward I in the competition for the Crown of Scotland between Bruce and Baliol, the division having been referred to Edward. After the death of Alexander III, in 1291, this Sir Wil- liam was succeeded by his son, Nicol de Preston, one of the Scottish barons, who swore fealty to Edward I. He died in the beginning of the reign of David II of Scotland, son of Robert Bruce, and was succeeded by his son, Sir Lawrence de Pres- ton, who in turn was succeeded by Richard de Preston, who was seated at Preston in Westmore- land in the time of Henry II. Sir Richard de Preston, fifth in descent from the above, Richard of Preston, represented the county of Westmore- land in Parliament in the seventeenth year of Edward III. His son, Sir Richard de Preston, had likewise the honor of being knight of the shire of Westmoreland in the same reign, twenty-seventh Edward III, and in the same year, 1368, obtained license to embark five hundred acres. His suc- cessor, Sir John de Preston of Preston Richard and Preston Patrick, was member of Parliament for Westmoreland in the thirty-sixth, thirty-ninth and forty-sixth years of Edward II. His son, Richard, had no male issue; his son John was judge of the Court of Common Pleas in the reigns of Henry IV and VI, and retired from the bench in consequence of great age in 1427. Children of Judge John Preston were the Rev. John, Richard (his heir), and a daughter. The American fam- ilies of Preston are undoubtedly descended from
Natu L. Prestar
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some branch of this house. The Connecticut line has been traced to George Preston, of Valley Field, who was created a baron of Nova Scotia in 1537, through his son, William, who died April 23, 1585, and through William's son, John. Wil- liam Preston, the Connecticut immigrant, son of John, came in 1635, died in 1639, leaving land in Yorkshire, whence he came to this country.
Roger Preston was born in England in 1614, took the oath of allegiance in London in 1635, and sailed for America in the "Elizabeth and Ann"; his name was on the records at Ipswich, Massachu- setts, in 1639, and his wife, Martha, whom he mar- ried in 1642, was born in 1622; after 1657 they lived in Salem, Massachusetts, where he died Jan- uary 20, 1666.
Their son, Samuel Preston, born at Ipswich in 1651, went to Andover with his mother and settled there; he married (first), May 27, 1671, Susanna Cutterson, who died December 29, 1710.
Their fourth son, John Preston, born May I, 1685, in Andover, was among the patentees of the town of Killingly, Connecticut, October 10, 1709; he later removed to Ashford, that State, settling . in the part of the town that is now Westford, where he was a pioneer, purchasing a large tract of land at twenty-five cents per acre, and becom- ing a leading citizen; he married, in Andover, January 10, 1707, Mary Haines, of Haverhill, Mas- sachusetts, born March 3, 1687, daughter of Jona- than and Sarah (Moulton) Haines.
John (2) Preston, son of John and Mary (Haines) Preston, was born about 1710, in Kil- lingly, and removed to Westford parish with his parents ; there is no marriage record for him.
His son, John (3) Preston, born in 1737, was a soldier in the Revolution, marching from Ash- ford in Colonel Thomas Knowlton Chester's regi- ment, 6th Battalion, General Wadsworth's brigade, which went to reinforce General Washington's Army in New York; in 1777 he was in the Con- necticut militia, serving on the Hudson, being a sergeant in Captain Aaron Foote's company, of the regiment commanded by Colonel Hooker; he mar- ried, in 1759, in Ashford, Sarah A. Eastman, daughter of Captain Peter Eastman.
Their son, John (4) Preston, was born and lived in Ashford, where he was a deacon in the church. He married Persis Works.
Silas Preston, son of John (4) and Persis (Works) Preston, and grandfather of the man whose name heads this review, was born Feb- ruary 28, 1798, in Ashford, where he was a cus-
tom shoemaker on a large scale, employing sev- eral apprentices. He cultivated the homestead farm, twice represented his town in the General Assem- bly, and was an active business man, having organ- ized the bank at Eastford and served as its first president, and having been connected for several years with the Stafford bank. After having had to support his widowed mother for several years, he came into possession of large land tracts in Illinois by the purchase of soldiers' land warrants. In reli- gion he was a Baptist; in politics he was at first a Whig, then a Republican and finally a supporter of the Prohibition party; he died December 19, 1893, aged ninety-six years, and his wife passed away November II, 1883. He married, in 1820, in Plainfield, New York, Betsey Wright, born there January 13, 1800, daughter of Ezra and Rhoda (Preston) Wright.
Their son, James H. Preston, father of Walter Lane Preston, was born September 3, 1826, in Westford, where he attended the public schools and the academy. Later he went to Providence, Rhode Island, entering the employ of a Mr. Buf- fington, a flour dealer, and subsequently took up carpentry. Still later he was a manufacturer of jewelry, but in the panic of 1857 lost heavily by the delinquency of his debtors, though he was able to pay all that he owed at the cost of quitting business. In 1862 he became a commission mer- chant, as head of the firm of J. H. Preston and Company, with a store on North Main Street, continuing in active commercial work until his death in Providence on August 20, 1899, at the age of seventy-two years. He married, in Prov- idence, October 23, 1854, Sarah Ann Pearce, born November 4, 1829, in Cumberland, this State, daughter of Jeremiah and Mary Ann (Craig) Pearce; she died in Providence May 17, 1900. Their children were: I. Julius Hervey, a record of whose life and works appears elsewhere in this volume. 2. Walter Lane, of further mention herein.
Walter Lane Preston was born on September 6, 1859, in Providence, and here received his early education. After he had completed his studies, he became associated with his father in the fruit and produce business established by the elder man dur- ing the Civil War. Throughout his active career he was closely associated with his brother, Julius Hervey Preston, not only in the management of J. H. Preston and Company, of which the brother was president, but also in the conduct of a num- ber of subsidiary groups. The business covered a vast territory and a wide scope of usefulness.
R. I .- 10
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In Texas he gave personal attention to sheep rais- ing; in San Domingo, helped to form the Samana Bay Fruit Company, dealers in bananas; in New England, owned and operated, with his brother, the Connecticut Valley Onion Company, at South Deerfield and North Hatfield, Massachusetts; in Tampa, Palmetto and other parts of Florida, owned large orange groves, and aided in organizing the Manatee Fruit Company, of Palmetto and Tampa, of which he was treasurer at the time of his death; and in Providence, was always prominent in the operation of J. H. Preston and Company, the parent of all the other interests.
As may be understood by a glance at his rec- ord of achievements and business affiliations, Mr. Preston contributed more than a little to the pros- perity of his State and Nation; but he was also active in other fields. He was a member of the Squantum Club, the Rhode Island Country Club, the New York Yacht Club, the Society of Colonial Wars, and the Free and Accepted Masons. In the Masonic Order his affiliation was with Adelphi Lodge, and he held the thirty-second degree of Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite. Into all of these groups he ever put his fullest energies and his greatest devotion, with the result that his life was wholly worthwhile and of outstanding value to others.
Walter Lane Preston married Mary M. Hay- den, daughter of James H. Hayden, a Rhode Is- land mill man. Mrs. Preston was, before her mar- riage, a resident of Willimantic, Connecticut. By their union, Mr. and Mrs. Preston became the par- ents of three children: I. Marian Hayden, who became the wife of C. Coburn Darling; they have two children, Eleanor, and C. Coburn, Jr. 2. Whit- ing Hayden, who continues his father's interest in the Manatee Fruit Company, of Tampa, Florida ; he married Alice De Veau Whitner; they have one son, Walter L., and the family home is in Tampa. 3. Hayden Preston, of Providence.
The death of Walter Lane Preston occurred on December 23, 1924, and was a cause of widespread and sincere sorrow among all whose privilege it was to know him. He had contributed substan- tially to civic life in Providence and to the indus- trial well-being of a great country; and had, by his personal characteristics and his delightful traits as companion and friend, won a large circle of ac- quaintances. He will long be remembered in Prov- idence and Rhode Island, as well as throughout the business world; and his memory will serve as a source of encouragement and inspiration to others.
JUDGE ROBERT STEPHEN EMERSON
-For more than a quarter of a century his native State, Rhode Island, has been the scene of Judge Emerson's eminently successful professional ac- tivities as a lawyer. He is regarded as one of the leading members of the Rhode Island bar and has become especially well known for his ability as a practitioner of business and corporation law. Be- fore he took up his legal career, he had spent sev- eral years with a large and prominent industrial concern, and this varied and extensive business training combined with his exceptional legal abil- ity have made him a recognized authority and leader in business circles. He is also prominently active in Masonic affairs and is a member of sev- eral of the leading clubs of Providence and Pawtucket.
Robert Stephen Emerson was born September I, 1876, at Pawtucket, the oldest of the four sons of Charles A. and Elizabeth G. (Price) Emerson. He received his early education in the public grammar and high schools of Pawtucket and in the fall of 1893 entered Brown University, from which he was graduated in 1897 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Immediately after leaving college he entered the employ of the National India Rubber Company, of Bristol, Rhode Island. His business and executive ability and his keen judgment were quickly recognized and, at a com- paratively early age, he was placed in charge of important matters, usually entrusted only to men of more mature years and much longer experience. Eventually he was transferred to the New York City office of the National India Rubber Com- pany. There he took up the study of law, to which he devoted his leisure hours, beginning to attend the New York Law School in 1901 and being graduated from it with the degree of Bach- elor of Laws in 1903. At that time he resigned from the National India Rubber Company and, returning to Rhode Island, he devoted six months to the study of Rhode Island law in the office of Comstock & Gardner, Providence. Ad- mitted to the Rhode Island bar in December, 1903, he associated himself with George H. Huddy, Jr., with whom he commenced the practice of his profession, with offices at No. 86 Weybosset Street, Providence. When, in 1909, Judge Charles B. Mumford resigned from the Superior Court of Rhode Island, he decided to associate himself in the practice of law with Mr. Emerson and Mr. Huddy and, at that time, the law firm of Mum- ford, Huddy & Emerson was formed, with offices in the Grosvenor Building, Providence. From
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the beginning this firm enjoyed a large practice and became at once one of the leading law firms in Rhode Island. The growth of their practice made larger quarters necessary and, on being en- gaged as counsel for the Industrial Trust Com- pany in 1916, they took offices in the Industrial Building. After the death of Judge Mumford, in 1918, the firm became Huddy, Emerson & Moul- ton. In more recent years Mr. Emerson's law offices have been located in Suite 611 Turks Head Building, Providence.
In February, 1905, Mr. Emerson was the unani- mous choice of the Republican members of the General Assembly, and was elected to the posi- tion of clerk and associate judge of the Tenth Judicial District Court of Rhode Island, located at Pawtucket. He held this position for nine years and at the same time he continued the gen- eral practice of law at his Providence office. In 1915 the health of Judge William W. Blodgett, who had been judge of the Probate Court of Paw- tucket for over forty years, was so impaired that the office of associate judge of probate was created by a special act of the General Assembly, and Mr. Emerson was unanimously elected to the position. This he held until the death of Judge Blodgett in 1916, whom he succeeded. The posi- tion of judge of probate he held until he resigned in 1926.
Early in his practice Judge Emerson developed a marked preference for business and corporation law, the management of estates, and he is recog- nized as one of the leading members of the Rhode Island bar in this class of work. From 1915 to 1918 he was president and a director of the Til- den-Thurber Corporation of Providence, and he is at the present time secretary and director of Webster Company of North Attleboro, Massa- chusetts. From January 1, 1920, to July 1, 1928, he was president and director of the Cadillac Auto Company of Rhode Island, which controlled the output and sale of Cadillac and La Salle auto- mobiles in Rhode Island. His early commercial training, together with his natural ability in this line of work, have made his services of particular value in the handling of large estates and the liquidation and reorganization of commercial en- terprises. He was receiver of the Harrison Yarn & Dyeing Company of Pawtucket; the Cataract Rubber Company, of Wooster, Ohio; Howland & Wheaton Company, handkerchief manufac- turers of Warren, Rhode Island; and the Con- sumers' Rubber Company, of Bristol; trustee in bankruptcy of D. Goff & Sons of Pawtucket and
temporary receiver of Mandeville Brooks & Chaf- fee, stock brokers of Providence. His knowledge and experience in the rubber industry were such that he was selected during the war to serve on the rubber footwear committee, one of the im- portant advisory committees of the War Indus- tries Board. He was also the government appeal agent for the First District of Pawtucket during the entire period of the operations of the Selec- tive Draft Law during the World War. In addi- tion he was in charge in the city of Pawtucket of the work of the American Protective League, op- erating under the Secret Service branch of the United States Department of Justice.
While at Brown University he was initiated into Zeta Charge of Theta Delta Chi Fraternity, and he has since maintained a keen and active interest in this organization. He is well known in the gen- eral fraternity, and has served on the national Grand Lodge. He is president of Theta Delta Chi Founders' Corporation, which holds and man- ages the permanent funds of this national fra- ternity. Mr. Emerson is a thirty-second degree Mason and a Shriner. He is also a member of the Chamber of Commerce and the To-Kalon Club of Pawtucket, the Turks Head and Squan- tum clubs of Providence. He has always been an active participant in athletic sports and outdoor life. He is also interested in the collection of antique furniture and postage stamps, his collec- tion of postage stamps being one of the largest in the United States.
Judge Emerson married, February 7, 1905, Marian Butterworth, of Providence. Judge and Mrs. Emerson have no children and make their home at No. 20 Maynard Street, Pawtucket.
HORACE ARNOLD KIMBALL-The span of years in which Horace Arnold Kimball lived and took part in the large industrial affairs of New England was from 1837 to 1911. The Amer- ican Woolen Company, the Clicquot Club ginger ale enterprises and other such groups were but a few of the nationally and internationally known undertakings with which he had to do; and it may be truthfully said that he added much to the development of these companies and their proj- ects. A man of extensive interests, he yet had time for social and civic affairs, and was never too busy with his numerous activities to take part in the work of Rhode Island institutions. Kindly and generous by nature, eager to help others, and
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strongly civic-spirited, Mr. Kimball well deserved the honors that came to him; and while the fam- ily home was in Providence, Mr. Kimball's labors were equally important in Rhode Island, Con- necticut, Massachusetts, Maine, and other New England states.
He was born at Chepachet, Rhode Island, on November 1, 1837, son of Horace and Ann Phyl- lis (Arnold) Kimball, and a member of one of the oldest American families.
The name Kimball is of ancient English origin, and is found with great frequency in the county of Suffolk, where it is of notable antiquity. It appears in early records as Kembould, Kembolis, Kemboulde, Kemball, and Kimball, but only the two latter forms are still in use. The arms are described as: "Argent, a lion rampant gules, upon a chief sable, three crescents or"; and the crest: "A lion rampant holding in the dexter paw a dag- ger, all proper." The American families of the name were established early in the seventeenth century by two brothers, Richard and Henry Kimball. The Rhode Island branch is an offshoot of the Massachusetts Kimballs, and has numbered among its members men who have been promi- nent in the industries and the public life of the State.
Richard Kimball, progenitor and immigrant an- cestor, was born in Rattlesden, County Suffolk, England, and came to America in 1634 in the ship "Elizabeth" with his family, landing at Boston and going thence to Watertown, Massachusetts; he was made a freeman in 1635 and in 1636 or 1637 became a proprietor, and later moved to Ipswich, where he was a skilled mechanic and wheelwright; he married (first) Ursula Scott, of Rattlesden, daughter of Henry Scott. Their son, John, born in England in 1631, a wheelwright and a farmer, married, about 1655, Mary Bradstreet, born in England in 1633, who came to America in the same ship as the Kimballs; he died May 6, 1698. Their son, Joseph, born in Ipswich, Massa- chusetts, January 24, 1675, died in 1761; married Sarah Their son, Philemon, born at Ipswich, died at Marblehead, Massachusetts, where he was a farmer; married, March 3, 1734 or 1735, Katherine Lowen. Their son, Asa, born in 1737 in Ipswich, removed later to Barton, Ver- mont, which town he once represented in the State Legislature, and served in the War of the American Revolution and was later lieutenant- colonel of the 2d Rhode Island Regiment of Militia; he married, January 14, 1762, Hannah Sweet, who died February 3, 1797, in Barton. Their son, grandfather of Horace Arnold Kimball,
was Amherst Kimball, born at Glocester, Rhode Island, September 20, 1762, and died there in Jan- uary, 1834; he married Jerusha Hoyt, a woman of education and piety and a member of the Uni- versalist Church. Their son, Horace Kimball, father of Horace Arnold Kimball, was born at Chepachet, Rhode Island, on November 22, 1806, and became one of the leading business men of the town, where he was also postmaster and presi- dent of the Franklin Bank. He married, July 12, 1828, Ann Phyllis Arnold, descendant of a Colo- nial family.
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