USA > Rhode Island > Rhode Island : three centuries of democracy, Vol. III > Part 35
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The death of Mr. Parker, which occurred May 28, 1924, removed one of the most exemplary citizens of his community and there was general regret at his passing. His life and service were a fitting complement to a fine old family name and its history.
ALBERT EDWIN POTTER-A member of an old Rhode Island family, Mr. Potter, like his father before him, entered, at an early age, the employ of the Union Railroad Company, one of the predecessors of the United Electric Rail- ways Company of Providence. Again, like his father, he worked his way up through positions of ever-increasing importance and responsibility, un- til he became president of the company with which he started in a comparatively modest position al- most thirty years ago. He is one of the most able men in the street railway field in New England and enjoys to a remarkable degree the liking and respect of his associates and of his employees. He is a member of several of the leading clubs of Providence, as well as of several civic and other organizations, and he is regarded as one of the substantial and representative business execu- tives of Rhode Island's capital.
Albert Edwin Potter was born in Cranston, June 16, 1873, a son of the late Albert T. and Minnie H. (Wilber) Potter. From both his par- ents he is a descendant of old Rhode Island fam- ilies, one of his mother's early ancestors having been Stephen Hopkins, signer of the Declaration of Independence, from Rhode Island. Mr. Pot- ter's father was a native of Cranston, while his mother was born in Foster. His father, at the age of sixteen years, became associated with one of the early horse car systems that later became part of the present United Electric Railways Com- pany. He eventually became general manager of
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the company and later vice-president which lat- ter position he occupied at the time of his death, April 23, 1920. Mr. Potter's mother died April 2, 1927, in her seventy-fifth year. Albert Edwin Potter received his early education in the pub- lic schools of Providence and then attended the Bryant and Stratton. Business College. When he was eighteen years old, he entered the employ of the United Electric Railways Company of Providence. Showing unusual ability and strict devotion to the various duties assigned to him from time to time, he received frequent promo- tions and eventually was elected president of the company, a position which he has filled with much ability and success and which he still occupies. His offices are located in the headquarters of the United Electric Railways Company, No. 100 Fountain Street, Providence. Mr. Potter is a member of the Providence Engineering Society, the Providence Chamber of Commerce and its Traffic Club, the Providence Safety Council, of which he is one of the directors, and of the Sons of the American Revolution. His clubs include the Pomham Club, the Warwick Country Club, and the Turks Head Club, and he is also a mem- ber of Corinthian Lodge, No. 27, Free and Ac- cepted Masons.
Mr. Potter married, December 21, 1896, Blanche Mason Shaw, of Providence, a daughter of Eddy Mason and Clara C. (Mitchel) Shaw. To this union were born two children: I. Barbara, who died at the age of six years, one month and one day. 2. Charlotte, who was educated in the pub- lic schools of Edgewood, at the Lincoln School, a private girls' school in Providence, and at the Erskine School, one of the leading girls' finishing schools of Boston, Massachusetts; she is now Mrs. Alfred D. Hill, of Brookline, Massachusetts. The family residence is located at No. 148 Shaw Avenue, Edgewood, one of the most attractive suburbs of Providence.
FREDERICK P. CHURCH-For more than three decades Frederick P. Church has ably served the people of Barrington, Rhode Island, as town clerk, and he is one of the outstanding citizens of that community.
Frederick P. Church was born in Chelsea, Mas- sachusetts, September 18, 1856, son of Samuel T. and Clarissa C. (Clark) Church. The father, born in Bristol, Rhode Island, was in early life a mar-
iner, and he became a ship's carpenter at the Charlestown Navy Yard, where he remained until his death. The mother, also deceased, was born in Cumberland. The son was educated in the Bar- rington public schools, at Cady's Academy, and at the Bryant & Stratton Business College.
His business career began by employment with the R. D. Horton Company, manufacturing jew- elers of Providence, with whom he remained for seventeen years, advancing to more and more re- sponsible posts. For a year he was in the office of the Old Colony Cooperative Bank, and in 1898 he received the appointment which has since been his year after year to the office of town clerk of Barrington. Mr. Church served as a member of the Barrington School Committee and as superin- tendent of schools from 1883 to 1886, and from 1893 to 1896 as moderator of Barrington. He is an independent in politics, keenly interested in men and measures which seem promising for the community, rather than in political parties. He is a member of the New England Town Clerks' As- sociation, and a communicant of the Barrington Congregational Church, which he serves as dea- con and as chairman of the finance committee. For twenty-five years Mr. Church has been super- intendent of the Sunday school conducted by his church. Reading and gardening are his favorite forms of recreation.
Frederick P. Church married, November 14, 1883, Florence N. Heath, born in Barrington, where she died December 10, 1928.
WILLIAM R. HARVEY-A member of an old and prominent New England family, dating back to Colonial times, Mr. Harvey himself was born in Newport and has been a life-long resident of this city. There he has practiced for a quar- ter of a century his profession of law and today he ranks very high among Rhode Island lawyers. A man of great public spirit, he has given much time to civic affairs, having held at various times different important local offices, which he has invari- ably filled with much ability and with great devo- tion to the public welfare, thus rendering impor- tant services to civic progress. He is also a direc- tor of numerous important financial and other cor- porations, maintains membership in several legal, patriotic, civic and social organizations, rendered important services in a civil capacity during the World War and, indeed, in every respect, rep-
William RSaway
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resents the highest type of useful, vigorous and public-spirited citizenship.
William R. Harvey was born in Newport, Au- gust 31, 1877, a son of the late Charles E. and Nettie P. (Tew) Harvey. His father, a native of South Kingstown, served as clerk of the Superior Court during 1889-1907, the year of his death. He was a veteran of the Civil War, during which he served in the United States Navy. After the war he became one of the most popular members of the Charles E. Lawton Post, Grand Army of the Republic, of which he served as quartermaster for many years. Mr. Harvey's mother, now also deceased, was a native of Newport. Having re- ceived his early education in the public grammar and high schools of Newport, Mr. Harvey, after he had graduated from Rogers High School, ma- triculated at Brown University, from which he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1901. He then took up the study of law at the Harvard Law School, graduating there with the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1904. Admitted to the Rhode Island bar in the following year, 1905, he entered the office of the late William P. Sheffield, and in 1912, formed a partnership with Mr. Sheffield under the name of Sheffield and Harvey. In 1919, upon the death of the latter, Mr. Harvey formed a partnership with Mr. Sheffield's son, William P. Sheffield, Jr., and John R. Haire, and the firm has continued under the same name. In 1910 Mr. Harvey was appointed by Governor Pothier as a member of the commission to redis- trict the House of Representatives. Mr. Harvey is especially well known as a practitioner of corpora- tion and probate law and in that branch of his profession ranks very high. A man of exceptional business and executive ability and of clear and keen judgment, he has been called upon to participate actively in the management of various leading financial and other corporations. He is a vice- president and director of the Aquidneck National Exchange Bank & Savings Company, as well as a director of the Newport Cooperative Association for Savings & Buildings, the Colonial Finance Cor- poration, the United Bond & Mortgage Company, of Rhode Island, the Aquidneck Realty Company, and the Newport Gas Light Company, of which latter he was a director for several years. In spite of the fact that naturally his large and important law practice has always required and received the major share of Mr. Harvey's time and attention, he has also found it possible to take a very active part in public life. From 1906 to 1914 he served as a member of the Newport Representative Council,
the last two years being chairman of this body; from 1910-19 he was a member of the Newport Board of Health; and since 1914 he has been a member of the Newport School Committee, and chairman since 1927. During the World War he served as a member of the Appellate Board for the First District of Rhode Island under the Selec- tive Service Act and was also prominently and effectively active as a "four-minute" speaker. In many other ways, too, Mr. Harvey has continu- ously and consistently devoted himself to the furthering of civic progress. He is an active member of the Newport Chamber of Commerce, of which he served at one time as director; a member of the board of directors of the New- port Young Men's Christian Association; a direc- tor of the Legal Aid Society; and the president and a trustee of the Newport Hospital. Ever since his college days he has maintained membership in Phi Delta Theta Fraternity and he is also a mem- ber of St. Paul's Lodge, Free and Accepted Ma- sons; Newport Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; De Blois Council, Royal and Select Masters; Wash- ington Commandery, Knights Templar; Newport Lodge, No. 104, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; the Improved Order of Red Men; the Miontononi Club; the Wanumetonomy Club; the Ida Lewis Yacht Club; the Newport Rotary Club ; Miskiania Camp; the American Bar Association; the Rhode Island State Bar Association; the New- port Bar Association; and the Newport Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution, of which he is a past president. In politics he is a supporter of the Republican party, while his religious affiliations are with the Unitarian Church.
Mr. Harvey married, in 1908, Ann Sarah Ward, a native of Middletown. Mr. and Mrs. Harvey are the parents of four children: Annette Ward, graduate of La Salle Seminary and now attend- ing Pratt Institute of Brooklyn, New York, and Bernice Sherman, graduate of Wellesley College, 1930 (twins) ; William Ward, student of Dart- mouth College; and Hope Harvey, now in high school.
CHARLES T. TOOMEY-Beginning his busi- ness career as a drug store clerk when he had completed his early educational training, Charles T. Toomey, of Providence, soon determined upon a different pursuit and is now actively and pros- perously engaged in the conduct of an insurance and real estate enterprise located at No. 49 Westminster Street. Although one of the younger
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business men of this city, Mr. Toomey has at- tained a high reputation in his field and is regarded with esteem by all who have had the benefit of business or social relations with him. He is a man of action, fond in his recreational moments, of golf, football, baseball, and other outdoor sports, and devoted in his social activities to a number of popular organizations. Interested in public affairs, he has been called to office and has served with credit and distinction. He is a sound churchman and an active worker in all public affairs in which he finds himself qualified to be of service to his fellow-citizens.
He was born in Roslindale, Massachusetts, November 8, 1899, a son of John T. Toomey, a stationary engineer, who was born in South Bos- ton, where his death occurred, and Winifred T. (Nolan) Toomey, a native of Westville, Connecti- cut. He was educated in the public schools of Johnston, Rhode Island, and graduated from La Salle Academy in 1916. He then attended the Sweeney School of Shorthand and afterward took a course at the Northeastern University Law School. After working at the drug business until 1921, he became engaged in real estate and in- surance in Providence, continuing until June, 1929, when he was appointed vice-president of the Win- field Fuller Corporation, operating in general insurance at No. 49 Westminster Street. A Re- publican in politics, he was elected, in 1926, to membership in the Rhode Island Legislature from the town of Johnston, and in 1928 was reelected. Prior to his engagement with the corporation with which he is now associated he was a mem- ber for six years of the real estate and insurance firm of Toomey Brothers, which still functions. He is a member of the Rhode Island Republican Club, the Johnston Republican Club, Providence Young Men's Christian Association, the Pocasset Social Club, and the Providence Lodge, Benevo- lent and Protective Order of Elks. He attends St. Brigid's Roman Catholic Church.
JUDGE HOWARD BOWEN GORHAM- A member of an old and prominent Rhode Island family and himself a native and lifelong resident of Providence, Judge Gorham has been success- fully active in the practice of law for almost three decades, ever since his admission to the Rhode Island bar in 1900. For the greater part of his time he has been associated with the District
Court of the Sixth Judicial District of Rhode Island, of which he is still judge. He is widely known as a very able and resourceful lawyer and as a courageous and invariably fair judge. Though his professional work has always received the major share of his time and attention, he has also a number of other interests, being a member of several fraternal and social organizations, having served as alderman and as a city councilman, and being fond of outdoor life and sports.
Howard Bowen Gorham was born in Provi- dence in 1876, a son of the late Samuel and Abby H. (Fish) Gorham, both now deceased. His father was for many years a successful and prominent wholesale tobacco, tea and coffee merchant in Providence. Judge Gorham received his early education in the public schools of Providence and, after graduating from the Providence Classical High School, became a student at Brown Uni- versity, where he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1898. Following his gradu- ation he pursued post-graduate work at his alma mater. At the same time he took up the study of law and, in 1900, he was admitted to the Rhode Island bar. For the first few years of his legal career he was engaged in the private practice of law, but since 1906 he has been associated with the Sixth Judicial Court of Rhode Island as its judge. He is now also a member of the committee on the revision of criminal law of Rhode Island, to which he was appointed by the Governor. Judge Gorham is known for his extensive knowl- edge of the law and is greatly interested in all aspects of his profession, his inclination toward a legal career dating back to his high school days. At one time he was a member of the Providence Board of Aldermen and later of the Providence City Council. During the World War he served as a member of the Legal Advisory Board of Providence under the Selective Service Act. He is a member of the Rhode Island Bar Association and of the Providence Central Club, the Shrine Club, the Anawan Club, and the Young Men's Republican Club, as well as of St. John's Lodge, No. I, Free and Accepted Masons, and Manufac- turers' Lodge, No. 15, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, all of Providence. In politics he is a sup- porter of the Republican party, while he finds his chief recreation in hunting and fishing.
Judge Gorham married, at Boston, Massachu- setts, in 1905, Helen W. Whittemore. Judge and Mrs. Gorham are the parents of one son, David Keniston Gorham, like his father a graduate of
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Brown University, where he completed his studies in 1929, receiving at that time the degree of Bach- elor of Philosophy. The family residence is lo- cated at No. 290 Doyle Avenue, Providence, while Judge Gorham's offices are at No. 85 West- minster Street, Providence.
PROF. JEREMIAH LEWIS DIMAN, D. D.
-A member of an old and prominent Rhode Island family, the late Professor Jeremiah Lewis Diman, D. D., was born in this State and prac- tically spent his entire life here, the exception being the years he studied in German universities, and the eight years that he spent in the active ministry as the pastor of two Congregational churches in Massachusetts. The greater part of his career and, perhaps, its most brilliant and use- ful portion was devoted to teaching at his alma mater, Brown University. His brilliancy as a teacher not only brought him great success in this work, but also resulted in numerous offers from other leading universities in this country, which, however, he invariably refused, preferring to con- tinue his teaching at Brown University. He was regarded as one of the most effective members of that institution's faculty, and as one of the out- standing citizens of Providence.
Jeremiah Lewis Diman was born in Bristol, on May I, 1831, a son of Governor Byron and Abby Alden (Wight) Diman. His father was a man of strong character and intellect and served as Gov- ernor of Rhode Island in 1846. Through his mother, Professor Diman was a direct descendant of John Alden and a collateral descendant of Benjamin Franklin, the latter having been a great- uncle of his mother. He received his early edu- cation in the public schools of Bristol and then attended Brown University, Providence, from which he was graduated in 1851 with high hon- ors, standing third in his class. Next he spent a year in the study of philosophy and theology, as well as of the classics, with a scholarly clergyman in Newport, Rhode Island. He then became a student at the Andover Theological Seminary, where he spent the years 1852-54. This was fol- lowed by two years of study at the universities of Halle, Heidelberg, and Berlin, Germany, where he studied theology, philosophy, history and art. Returning to this country, he took his Bachelor of Arts degree at Andover Theological Seminary in 1856. Later, in recognition of his eminent serv-
ices as a teacher, Brown University conferred upon him, in 1870, the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity. Ordained a minister of the Congre- gational Church in 1856, he served as pastor of Congregational churches at Fall River and Brookline, Massachusetts, until 1864. In that year he was appointed Professor of History and Polit- ical Economy at Brown University, a position he filled with eminent success until his death seven- teen years later. In 1879, he gave a course of lec- tures on history at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, and in 1880, a course on theism, at the Lowell Institute, Boston, Massa- chusetts.
As a teacher, Professor Diman made a brilliant success from the beginning, but grew in power and influence with each year. He instructed wholly by lectures, and they were so deep and vital in substance, so luminous, polished and witty in manner that his popularity as a teacher was second to none. His sketches of life and char- acters, his humorous pictures of past times and events, his inimitable method, not only served to render complete the students' conception of his- tory, but also to exemplify the model of an in- structor. He was offered professorships at Prince- ton, Johns Hopkins, and Harvard universities, and could have had the presidency of Vermont University or the University of Wisconsin, but he steadfastly refused all these offers, preferring to remain at Brown University. He was in great demand as a speaker at civic occasions and as a lecturer before many educational institutions. Candor and intellectual fearlessness were con- spicuous characteristics of his lectures. He was also noted for his writings and historical addresses. He was the author of numerous articles, pub- lished in the leading magazines of his times, and was the editor of "John Cotton's Answer to Roger Williams" (1867), and of "George Fox Digg'd Out of His Burrowes" (1872). However, it was only after his death that any of his writings of a creative type were published. The more impor- tant of these are: "Theistic Argument as Af- fected by Recent Theories," (1882), and "Ora- tions and Essays" (1882). His writing, as his orations and lectures, were deeply satisfying to the most critical, yet so simple, sincere and log- ical, that they captivated all who read or heard them. His culture was remarkable for its com- pleteness and symmetry. The spiritual, the intel- lectual, and the aesthetic met in him in most satisfying harmony. His mental and spiritual
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breadth, his historical sense, his love of art, all united in creating in him an understanding sym- pathy for both the Roman Catholic and the Protestant faiths.
Dr. Diman married, May 15, 1861, Emily Gard- ner Stimson, a daughter of John J. Stimson, of Providence. Dr. and Mrs. Diman were the par- ents of four children: I. Maria Stimson, born February 12, 1862, who was killed in an accident April 29, 1881. 2. John Byron, born May 29, 1863, who was graduated from Brown University, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1885, and from the Episcopal Theological School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, with the degree of Bachelor of Divinity in 1888. In 1896 he received the degree of Master of Arts from Harvard University. Af- ter the completion of his theological studies he was ordained a deacon and later a priest of the Protestant Episcopal Church and for three years was minister in charge of St. Columba's Church, at Middletown, Rhode Island. In 1892 he took up educational work and became a teacher at the University Grammar School, Providence, a posi- tion he continued to hold until 1895. In 1896 he became head master of St. George's School, Middletown, Rhode Island, in which capacity he continued to serve for many years. In 1924 he joined the Bencdictine Order of the Roman Cath- olic Church and at that time took the name of John Hugh Diman. He is now head of the Portsmouth,, Rhode Island, Priory School and Prior of his Order for Rhode Island. 3. Louise, born December 23, 1869, makes her home in Providence. 4. Emily, born April 4, 1873, for twenty-five years lived at St. George's School, Middletown, Rhode Island.
Dr. Jeremiah Lewis Diman died at his home in Providence on February 3, 1881. His untimely death at the age of nearly fifty years cut short a notable career of exceptional brilliancy and use- fulness. As a' clergyman and teacher he left his impress on thousands of lives, who were better for having come in contact with his scintillating in- tellect, his fine moral courage, his inspiring leader- ship and his sympathetic kindliness. How greatly he was loved and admired, is proven by the fact that today, though almost a half century since his death, his memory is still revered by all who knew him. His achievements will always form one of the brightest pages in the annals of Rhode Island's intellectual history and in the records of Brown University.
RIGHT REV. JOSEPH ALFRED LALI-
BERTÉ-From the founding of St. Matthew's parish of Central Falls, Rhode Island, in 1906, to the completion and dedication of the magnificent $600,000 church in December, 1929, Right Rev. Joseph Alfred Laliberté has been the devoted leader, the inspiring teacher, and the able and suc- cessful financier of the parish he brought into ex- istence. He is still the honored pastor of the devoted and energetic people of the parish of St. Matthew.
St. Matthew's parish is one of the typical French- Canadian parishes of the United States, a splendid example of what can be achieved by limited re- sources when there is thrift, self-denial, and gen- erous devotion. It was originally a part of the parish of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart of Mary, of Central Falls, a French-speaking parish; but on October 13, 1906, the Right Rev. Matthew Harkins, bishop of the diocese of Providence, separated three hundred families living in the northern and north- western parts of the parent parish and erected the new parish of St. Matthew's. In an official letter dated October 13, 1906, he appointed Rev. Joseph Alfred Laliberté, then vicar of St. Anne's Church in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, pastor of the newly created parish, and instructed him to immediately set about the task of organizing the parish and pro- viding the necessary housing for church and school. The three hundred families of the new parish were all in modest circumstances, all depending upon their labor for their living, most of them engaged in manual labor, but they were also thrifty, zealous, and generous. On October 16, 1906, the charter and statutes of the parochial organization were drawn up, and Father Laliberté was made treas- urer, with authority to expend $8,000 for the pur- chase of land as a site for the parochial buildings. He chose a triangle of land, southward-sloping, and enclosed on the northwest by Lonsdale Avenue, on the northeast by Dexter Street, and on the south by West Hunt Street. That triangle was then a bank of sand twenty feet above the sidewalk, cov- ered with underbrush, and requiring a vast amount of work to put it in shape. The parishioners ob- jected vigorously to the choice made, but Father Laliberté made a tactful appeal, asking that they imagine the land divided into three hundred lots and that every family buy one, at thirty dollars each. He appealed to their loyalty and their relig- ious zeal, collected the $9,000, and began work, sup- ported by a fine spirit of loyalty and cooperation on the part of his people. Three months after the
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