USA > Rhode Island > Rhode Island : three centuries of democracy, Vol. III > Part 33
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Edward Strong Clark married, in 1880, Miss Theo Taft, of Whitinsville, Massachusetts, the daughter of Gustavus E. Taft. Mr. Clark passed away on January 23, 1913, his death removing a gentleman of the old school, a member of a large circle of admiring friends and kindred spirits, a highly-placed financial executive, and a most kindly disposed exponent of the gospel of love and good cheer for his fellowmen.
EDWARD C. BIXBY-Providence long has been known for its progressive financiers and brokers, who make possible the expansion of indus- try creating new vitality in this field for all New England. Mr. Bixby, native of Providence, who has engaged as broker of securities and investments for a score of years, is one of the city's outstand- ing men in financial affairs. His operations have proven a great constructive factor in the com- mercial and industrial progress of Rhode Island. His record is of interest.
Born June 30, 1860, Mr. Bixby is a son of Bernadotte and Susan Jackson (Moses) Bixby. His father, native of Hopkinton, Massachusetts, became widely known as commercial traveler. He was on the road until his death. Susan Jackson (Moses) Bixby was a native of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. For many years the family lived in Providence, out of which the elder Mr. Bixby traveled.
Edward C. Bixby secured a sound academic in- struction in the public schools of Providence, and entered Brown University. He took therefrom the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1882. Three years later he received the degree of Master of Arts.
Meanwhile he had begun his career, in 1882 hav- ing become assistant librarian in Providence Pub- lic Library. He continued with the library work twenty-seven years, until 1909, then left his post to enter the investment and securities business. After a good experience, from 1910 to 1912, Mr. Bixby went into business for himself, establish- ing the firm of Edward C. Bixby and Company, dealers in investment securities. Success followed his efforts, as he held a wide acquaintance, and all who knew him valued his judgment and re- posed confidence in his integrity. In 1928, after he had conducted the affairs of his business with increased success for sixteen years, he incorporated the firm, with himself as president and treasurer. The company deals in both listed and unlisted securities, and ranks as one of the oldest and most reliable investment houses in Providence. Offices are in the Hospital Trust Building.
Despite the pressure of his business responsi- bilities, Mr. Bixby finds time for public-spirited works, and is known as a loyal citizen deeply inter- ested in the future of Providence and Rhode Is- land. A Republican, he adheres to the principles of the party, and owns influence within its ranks. He is a member of the Providence Art Club, University Club, Association of Alumni of Brown University, Economics Club, Brown Club, Provi- dence Athenaeum, Rhode Island School of Design, Town Criers' Club, University Glee Club, the Chamber of Commerce, Warwick Country Club, and the Brown Club of New York City. He attends the Universalist Church. His favorite rec- reations are golf and gardening.
The assistance which Mr. Bixby has given to the progress of his city and State has been very real and of enduring value. As a business man of vision, which he applies practically, and as a citi- zen of loyal public spirit, which he turns into useful channels, he continues to exert an influence on contemporary affairs which will bring added benefit.
MORTIMER ALOYSIUS SULLIVAN- Serving his fifth term as the mayor of Newport, Hon. Mortimer Aloysius Sullivan, former judge of the Probate Court, is known as a leader of the State bar, and in the practice of his profession has attained distinction. That he has a large and constant partisan and non-partisan following is at- tested by the fact of his elections to public office on repeated occasions. His contributions to the best traditions of the bar, the courts and the fields of
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service, in which he is and has beeen engaged, are well known to the public in Newport and through- out the Commonwealth.
Timothy C. Sullivan, father of the mayor of Newport, was a native of Ireland, who came to the United States in his youth. He settled in Newport, where he became identified with the business and community life. He entered the serv- ice of the Federal Government in the Civil War at the inception of the struggle, and was wounded in the first battle of Bull Run, where he lost an arm. After his recovery he returned to Newport, and resumed his merchandising interest, in which he continued engaged until his death, May 9, 1905. He married Mary Blake, who was born in Ireland in October, 1846, and was a young girl when she arrived in this country. They were the parents of ten children, eight of whom survived, among the former being Mortimer Aloysius, of whom further, and John Blake Sullivan, who became postmaster of Newport.
Hon. Mortimer Aloysius Sullivan, son of Tim- othy C. and Mary (Blake) Sullivan, was born in Newport, Rhode Island, January 2, 1880. He at- tended St. Mary's Parochial School in his native city, and thence entered the Rogers High School, where he completed his preparatory training in 1902. His professional course was taken at the Columbia University Law School, where he re- ceived his degree of Bachelor of Laws at gradua- tion in his class of 1905.
Admitted to the bar in the same year, Mr. Sul- livan opened an office in the city of Newport, where he established himself in practice, in which he began at once to rise, and ere long he arrived at the point of a leader of the bar, which position and standing were long since assured. He con- tinued to draw to his office representative people of the city and its environs, numbering among his clients many of the most important individuals and business concerns of the community. Mr. Sullivan has always been a member of the Democratic party, and on more than one occasion has been instrumen- tal in leading it to a decisive victory.
In 1914, Mr. Sullivan was elected Judge of Probate of the city of Newport, and in the dis- charge of the exacting duties of that office, fraught with so many and various responsibilities, he made a notable record. Among other things, he attained an enviable reputation for judicial qualities and the display of a sense of equality and fairness in his handling of the problems presented to him for adjudication. He filled the position until March, 1923. On that date he relinquished the duties of
his successor, having been elected to the office of Mayor of Newport. So favorable an impression did his first administration of this office make upon the electors that they reelected him for a second term, and this action they have since repeated on three occasions, giving him five successive terms, and being at this writing the holder of the office. He has served consecutively the longest of any one to hold this office in the history of the city. The municipality of Newport has benefited in many ways from the far-sighted, businesslike and tactful elements that have made his administrations fruitful of eminent results contributory to the prog- ress and prosperity of his native city.
Popular in fraternal circles, Mayor Sullivan is affiliated with the Knights of Columbus, the An- cient Order of Hibernians, Loyal Order of Moose, Friends of Irish Freedom, Sons of Union Vet- erans, and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He is well liked in social organizations, belonging to the Wanumetonomy Golf and Coun- try Club and the Ida Lewis Yacht Club. He is also a member of the Newport County Democratic Club, in whose proceedings he is a moving spirit. His religious fellowship is with St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church.
Mayor Sullivan married, June 29, 1920, at New- port, Mary Dorothy Rooney, daughter of Henry F. and Margaret (Collins) Rooney. Their chil- dren: I. Mary Dorothy, born July 3, 1921. 2. Margaret Louise, born January 7, 1924. 3. Mor- timer Aloysius, Jr., born August 2, 1927.
GEORGE FRANCIS O'SHAUNESSY-Dis- tinguished alike in the practice of law and in the sphere of public service, George Francis O'Shau- nessy in his long career has won important success and wide reputation. Both Rhode Island and New York have benefited by his services in public office. His several terms in the United States Congress were of great value to the Nation.
Mr. O'Shaunessy was born in Galway, Ireland, on May 1, 1868, a son of Stephen and Margaret (Flynn) O'Shaunessy. When he was only four years old he came to the United States with his parents, settling in New York City. From 1875 to 1881 he attended St. Theresa's Parochial School, while for three years following he studied at the De La Salle Institute. The funds for his educa- tion he himself provided by working during vaca- tions as a messenger and errand boy, and later, when his determination to take up the study of the
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law brought about his enrollment in the Law School of Columbia University, he worked as a night clerk in the New York post office, attending lectures by day. Mr. O'Shaunessy was graduated with the Bachelor of Laws degree in 1889, and in the same year was admitted to practice at the New York bar. For a period of eighteen years he continued his professional activities in and about New York, and during this time his career of pub- lic service was well begun. As a previous biogra- pher has well written, the ambition and deter- mination that held him to his chosen course in the face of such obstacles as confronted him when he was working night and day to prepare himself for his career, have sustained him in his public service and private work, and during a public and political career, long and active, he has stood faithfully and unswervingly for high standards and ideals. Mr. O'Shaunessy has been a consistent Democrat, and a firm believer in the principles of his party. He has loyally supported its cause and spared no effort to promote its welfare. When he was a young man in Brooklyn, he was a member of the group organized by Edward M. Shepard, noted student and leader of reform, known as the Shep- ard Democracy, and in the deliberations and activ- ities of this organization he took an important part. In 1893 he worked in support of the Citi- zens' Union ticket, a fusion of Democrats and Republicans headed by Charles A. Shieren, who was elected mayor of Brooklyn, and by William J. Gaynor, afterwards mayor of New York City, who was then a candidate for justice of the Su- preme Court.
During this period Mr. O'Shaunessy had risen to a place of importance among practitioners of the law in Brooklyn, and after moving to New York City in 1898 he continued active, both pro- fessionally, and in political affairs. While a strong Democrat, he has never blindly followed party leaders, making his own decisions in matters of consequence to the party, and courageously fol- lowing the principles which he felt to be right. As a young lawyer he gained a notable decision over Richard Croker, Tammany leader, in the Court of Appeals, in a case concerning the inter- pretation of laws governing the contest for State Senator from the Twenty-first Senatorial District, and subsequently as attorney for Perry Belmont, congressional candidate, he was again successful in a similar case. In these matters Mr. O'Shau- nessy helped materially to purify politics and break the unhealthy influence of a too-powerful boss.
In the year 1904 Mr. O'Shaunessy became deputy
attorney-general of the State of New York, filling that responsible position throughout the following year. During 1906 he served as assistant corpora- tion counsel of New York City. His New York residence and public service were terminated in 1907 when he removed to Providence, Rhode Is- land, where he has since made his home. His reputation had preceded him here, and progressive leaders of Democracy, as well as members of the bar were glad to welcome him to this city. In the year following his arrival, Mr. O'Shaunessy be- came a candidate for alderman from the Ninth Ward of Providence, being defeated in the sub- sequent campaign. In 1909, however, he was elected to the Legislature of the State as one of the nine Democrats to hold seats in that session. During his membership in the Legislature, he actively sponsored or supported much important legisla- tion. He introduced the bill to make Columbus Day a legal holiday in Rhode Island, and before the expiration of his term of office' he was chosen as the Democratic candidate from the First Dis- trict of Rhode Island for representative in the United States Congress. In the election of Novem- ber, 1910, Mr. O'Shaunessy received a plurality of seventeen hundred and fifty-one, taking his seat at the opening of the Sixty-second Congress. In suc- cessive elections he was returned to the House for three additional terms by pluralities of thirty-five hundred, nine hundred, and twenty-nine hundred. The latter period of this term of service included the most trying days of United States participation in the World War and the months preceding, days which magnified the weakness or strength of men in public life. Mr. O'Shaunessy was an advocate of the staunchest Americanism, and stood with the most loyal patriotism in support of the administra- tion. During the Sixty-fifth Congress he served as a member of the committee on ways and means, and in that capacity, as in all others of his public career, he gave his important duties his best time and effort. He never neglected the needs of his constituency, and he worked to secure govern- mental interest in numerous projects of benefit to his State, in connection with coast and river work, public buildings, and service training stations. He was a constant friend of the naval stations in Narragansett Bay, and the port of Providence also benefited by his active interest. Mr. O'Shaunessy having been at one time a post office clerk under civil service rules and regulations, he was always concerned with this branch of the service, finding time to champion the cause of those employed
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under civil service direction and working with the greatest zeal in their behalf.
In 1918 Mr. O'Shaunessy was the Democratic candidate for the seat held by United States Senator LeBaron B. Colt, and although defeated in a very close contest, he brought new honor to himself in the campaign. Soon afterwards he was appointed collector of internal revenue for Rhode Island by President Wilson, filling this posi- tion with distinction and success until his resigna- tion in 1921 to resume the private practice of his profession. At that time he organized the firm of O'Shaunessy and Cannon in Providence, of which he is now senior member, and which has become under his guidance, one of the leading law firms of the State.
Mr. O'Shaunessy is a member of the Roman Catholic Church, a communicant of St. John's · Congregation at Providence, and a member of sev- eral clubs, including the University Club of Wash- ington, District of Columbia, the Columbus Club, and the Catholic Club of this city. For more than a quarter of a century, he has been an active mem- ber of the Royal Arcanum, which honored him in the State of Rhode Island by electing him Grand Regent.
On June 24, 1902, George Francis O'Shaunessy married Julien M. Keily, of Providence, and they now maintain their residence in this city at No. 215 Broadway.
For many years Mr. O'Shaunessy has made the welfare of State and Nation his chief concern, and although the people of Rhode Island were loathe to part with so able a public servant, they recognized that he had served them faithfully and well, and witnessed his retirement to private life with every wish for the success which he has fully attained.
LEROY GILBERT STAPLES-In the edu- cational circles of Rhode Island, Leroy Gilbert Staples is well and favorably known. As superin- tendent of schools of the town of Warren, he has filled that position for over twenty years, during which period he has been a large factor not only in administration of the system generally but also in modernizing many of the school plants and in heightening of the morale and efficiency of the teaching personnel. Mr. Staples enjoys high standing in the major educational bodies.
Born in North Berwick, Maine, November 25, 1878, Leroy Gilbert Staples is the son of Gilbert B. and Abbie M. (Quint) Staples, both parents
natives of that town, the former engaged as a farmer there until his death. The son, Leroy Gil- bert, obtained his elementary and high school education in his home town, afterwards entering Bates College, from which he was graduated Bachelor of Arts in the class of 1900. He supple- mented that training with special courses at Brown University, and was then fully equipped to enter upon the practice of his chosen profes- sion, that of teaching.
Mr. Staples first served as principal of the Burrillville High School, in which capacity he was retained for three and one-half years. Then the school board elected him to the position of superintendent, in which he gave a fine account of his abilities, making a considerable name for himself as a school system administrator. In 1910, Mr. Staples was called to the town of Warren to take over the superintendency of the schools there. This then more recent position came to him as something of a compliment of the record he had made at Burrillville, and his reputation has since been most agreeably sustained.
Mr. Staples is affiliated with the National Edu- cation Association, the Rhode Island Institute of Instruction, and the New England Association of School Superintendents. In political affairs he is classed as an independent, a voter with an open mind, one of that type which is of invaluable aid in the cause of good government and desirable candidates for office, whether of one party or another. His fraternal life is centered in Granite Lodge. No. 96, Free and Accepted Masons; and his social organizations are the Lions Club and Barnard Club. He is an attendant of St. Mark's Protestant Episcopal Church, of which he is a vestryman. His chief recreation is golf in the outdoor sports, while he plays a strong game of auction bridge.
Mr. Staples married, in 1899, Alberta W. Small, who was born in East Providence, and their children are Richmond E., Gerald C., Dorothy L., and Marjorie V.
CLIFFORD A. KINGSLEY-Member of the law firm of Clason, Brereton and Kingsley, Clif- ford A. Kingsley is a well-known attorney of Providence and an important figure in the busi- ness life of the State. He has risen to prominence through his connection with several firms, and has come to specialize in insurance and corpora-
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tion law, together with probate work. Mr. Kings- ley is also a director of several important com- mercial organizations and to all of these his serv- ices have proved of great value.
Clifford Albro Kingsley was born at East Green- wich, Rhode Island, on May 21, 1889, a son of John H. and Angeline E. (Sheldon) Kingsley, the former born in North Kingstown, Rhode Is- land, and the latter at North Scituate. The father, who is now deceased, was engaged for years in the grocery business. The mother is still living, and makes her home in Edgewood with her son. Clif- ford A. Kingsley, of this record, received his pre- liminary education in the Bridgham Grammar School, at Providence, and later attended the Technical High School here. Having determined upon a legal career, he next took up the study of law privately, and in 1913 was admitted to prac- tice at the Rhode Island bar. Mr. Kingsley was assistant librarian of the State Law Library from 1905 until 1918, and it was during this period of service that he himself took up the study of the law. In 1918 he left this position to become asso- ciated with the law firm of Green, Hinckley and Allen, continuing in this connection until January I, 1923. To his thorough knowledge of legal theory Mr. Kingsley now added a practical acquaintance with modes and methods of pro- cedure, and gained experience which has been of the greatest value in his subsequent career. On January I, 1923, he was taken into the firm as a partner, and the firm name then became Hinckley, Allen, Tillinghast and Phillips. On April 1, 1927, Mr. Kingsley severed his connection with this organization and entered into his present connec- tion as a partner of the firm of Clason, Brereton, and Kingsley. Offices of the firm are situated at Turks Head Building, Providence, and these are the center of a large and rapidly expanding practice. Mr. Kingsley and his partners have been very successful in the field of their specialization, and Mr. Kingsley's own talents have contributed no little to the continued success of their enter- prise.
Mr. Kingsley is a member of the Rhode Island State Bar Association and of the American Bar Association. Aside from his legal connections he is secretary and a director of the Consolidated Mortgage and Investment Corporation, secretary and a director of the Dayton Rubber Company of Rhode Island, a director of the Frank E. Rem- ington Company, Inc., a director of the Victor Cleansing Company, and of the Providence Spe-
cialty Company. He is also a member of the Supreme Court Complaint Committee of Rhode Island, having joined that organization in 1927 and become chairman in 1929.
Fraternally, Mr. Kingsley is affiliated with the Free and Accepted Masons and in this great order he is a member of What Cheer Lodge, No. 21, a member of Harmony Chapter of Royal Arch Masons, at Pawtuxet, and a member of several clubs, including the Turks Head Club, the Shrine Club, and the Massasoit Country Club. Mr. Kingsley is also a member of the Men's Club of Edgewood.
On June 10, 1912, Clifford A. Kingsley married Katheryn C. Bennett, of Providence, Rhode Island, daughter of Adams J. and Carrie C. (Wil- son) Bennett. Mr. and Mrs. Kingsley are the par- ents of one son, Donald A., born on August 26, 1914. The residence of the family is situated at No. 29 Rhodes Avenue, Edgewood, Rhode Island, while Mr. Kingsley's offices are maintained at No. 1211 Turks Head Building, Providence, Rhode Island.
REV. JAMES A. CRAIG-The Church of St. Sebastian's, of Providence, Rhode Island, was founded by its present pastor, Rev. James A. Craig, and its history is the story of Father Craig's labors in its behalf and of the interest and encouragement of the Right Rev. William A. Hickey, D. D., Bishop of Providence.
St. Sebastian's parish was formed from por- tions of St. Joseph's and Holy Name parishes, set off by the late Bishop Harkins in 1915, with Rev. James A. Craig as pastor. Having received his appointment, Father Craig said the first Mass for his people in St. Joseph's school hall, March 14, 1915. Thus St. Sebastian's began its life "without a bit of land or a blade of grass," and on that first Sunday Father Craig announced that the Masses on the following Sunday would be cele- brated in the building formerly known as the Cable Power House and later occupied by the Rub Dry Towel Company, on South Angell Street. A house was procured on Irving Avenue as a residence for the pastor and a place where week-day Masses could be said. During the week following the first celebration of the Mass a meeting of the men of the parish was held in St. Joseph's Hall, and the next week a meeting of the women was held and a land and building fund started. The response to the appeal for funds was prompt and generous
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and the first Sunday after Easter, 1915, was the last on which Mass was said in St. Joseph's Hall. The temporary chapel was then transferred to a large garage on Orchard Avenue belonging to Mrs. William B. McElroy and a Sunday school was opened in the children's play-house attached to the home of William H. O'Connor on President Ave- nue, several young women volunteering their serv- ices as teachers. Loyalty, devotion and enthusiasm carried the work rapidly forward, and the organ- ization of the parish work and the establishment of the church societies, the Apostles, Holy Name, Women's Guild and other established church socie- ties were all outlined and begun on the Sundays when Mass was being celebrated in Mrs. McElroy's garage, and have remained essentially the same through the passing years. With the approval of the Rt. Bishop Harkins, land was selected and purchased on Cole and Lloyd avenues on the east side of the city and a provisional chapel was built in which Mass was said for the first time on Sun- day, June 13, 1915. At that service announcement was made of plans for a permanent church to be erected within the year. The corner-stone was laid by Right Rev. Bishop Doran, on Columbus Day, and on the following Christmas the people of St. Sebastian's entered their present beautiful chapel for the observance of the Feast of Our Lord's Nativity. The pastor spared no effort to suitably adorn and beautify the dwelling place of the Lord selecting with such care and discrimina- tion altars, shrines, statues, windows, mosaics, paintings, vestments, sacred vessels and everything pertaining to divine worship, that the modest chapel became an ideal church for a parish of the propor- tions of St. Sebastian's. The first trustees were the Hon. John W. Sweeney and Mr. Timothy E. Dwyer, the last-named of whom is still serving. When Judge Sweeney removed to another parish he was succeeded by the late J. B. Sullivan, who, in turn, was followed by the present associate of Mr. Dwyer as a member of the church corpora- tion, Dr. Albert L. Midgley. Early in 1917 Bishop Harkins appointed Rev. William B. Carty as as- sistant to Father Craig, and to the time of his death in 1928, a period of more than eleven years, he served most faithfully. Bishop Hickey then ap- pointed Rev. John F. Tully as assistant, and a few months later the present assistant, Rev. John Ells was appointed. Father Ells is a man of fine Chris- tian character and is much beloved by the people of St. Sebastian's.
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