USA > Rhode Island > Rhode Island : three centuries of democracy, Vol. IV > Part 13
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East in 1861 and located in Providence, becoming a partner in the firm of Taylor, Symonds & Com- pany, with which firm he continued to be asso- ciated until his death in 1913. He also served as a member of the City Council of Providence during 1864-66. Mr. Thomas' mother was a daughter of Amos Chafee and Emeline (Eames) Barstow. Her father was long a prominent merchant of Providence and served as mayor of this city dur- ing 1853-54.
Arthur Abbot Thomas received his early edu- cation in the English and Classical School and the public schools of Providence, and then became a student at Phillips-Andover Academy, from which he was graduated in 1897. Next he attended Yale University for four years and was graduated from there with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1901 and later from Harvard Law School with the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1904. Admitted to the Rhode Island bar on January 5, 1905, he estab- lished himself in the practice of law at Providence. After six months as a student in the office of Edwards & Angell, he became associated with Tillinghast & Tillinghast, with which firm he was identified until illness necessitated his absence from Providence for about fourteen months. Having recovered his health he returned to Providence and became associated with Charles E. Salisbury and Percy W. Gardner and, in 1912, with Cyrus M. Van Slyck. After the latter's death he continued his association with several other lawyers in this office until May, 1921, when he again became asso- ciated with Mr. Gardner. In recent years his offices have been at No. 170 Westminster Street, Prov- idence. He is now associated in his legal activ- ities with several other prominent Providence law- yers, Messrs. Ernest P. B. Atwood, Charles C. Remington and Arthur J. Levy. He is vice- president and a director of the Westminster Real Estate Company of Providence, and secretary, treasurer and executive manager of the National Coated Paper Corporation of Pawtucket, which carries on the business of embossing, printing and glazing paper.
Always greatly interested in politics, he has been a member of the Providence City Council since 1919, having been elected in November, 1918, from the Second Ward, his present term not expiring until 1930. He is at present a member of the com- mittee on departmental organization, of the com- mitteee on conditions at Dexter Asylum, of the Hall of Records committee, of which he was formerly chairman, as well as chairman of the committee on ordinances and of the traffic board.
Since 1913 he has been a member of the board of trustees of the Providence Lying-in Hospital and, since 1924, director of the Legal Aid Society of Providence. During the World War he served as Government Appeal Agent for Ward Two, Prov- idence, and also was a member of the Commer- cial Economy Board under the Rhode Island State Council of National Defense. Three times he served as a member of the National Conference on Street and Highway Safety under the auspices of Herbert Hoover, then Secretary of Commerce, and he was appointed by Secretary Hoover as a mem- ber of the committee to draft a model traffic or- dinance, serving as chairman of its drafting com- mittee. He is a member of the Rhode Island com- mittee on Street and Highway Safety, by appoint- ment of Governor Case. Also, he is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution and the So- ciety of Colonial Wars, the Alpha Delta Phi Fra- ternity, and the Elihu Club of Yale. For many years he has been active in Masonic affairs. He is a member of Adelphoi Lodge, No. 33, Free and Accepted Masons; Providence Chapter, No. I, Royal Arch Masons; and Thomas Smith Webb Commandery, No. 51, Knights Templar. His clubs include the Providence Art Club, the Providence University Club, the Graduates' Club at New Haven, the Yale clubs of New York and Boston, the Harvard Club of Boston, and the Town Criers, Providence. Since 1927 he has been vice-president and a director of the Automobile Club of Rhode Island and he is also a member of the legal com- mittee of the American Automobile Association. His religious affiliation is with the Protestant Epis- copal Church. He finds his recreation chiefly in horseback riding and in the study and solution of traffic problems.
Mr. Thomas married (first) at Easton, Mary- land, June 1, 1910, Pauline deW. Bartlett, of Easton, Maryland. He married (second) in New York City, December 15, 1928, Norma R. Her- mann, of Providence, Rhode Island. He is the father of three daughters, two by his first and one by his second marriage. They are: I. Jane Bart- lett Thomas, born July 7, 1912. 2. Barbara Ann Thomas, born March 27, 1915. 3. Nancy Thomas, born January 4, 1930.
HON. NATHANIEL W. SMITH-Distin- guished alike in the practice of law and in his service to the State, the Hon. Nathaniel W. Smith has been for many years a well-known figure in
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Rhode Island life. The Smith family is an old one in the State, and his career has been one to reflect great credit on an ancient Rhode Island name.
Mr. Smith was born at Providence, Rhode Is- land, on November 18, 1873, a son of Nathaniel Wait and Emily F. (Cole) Smith. His given name has appeared in this branch of the family for the last six generations, Mr. Smith being the fifth in direct descent to bear it. The first Nathaniel Smith was a son of James and Sarah (Kent) Smith. He was a farmer by occupation, continuing in agri- cultural pursuits until the time of his death in 1823 at the age of seventy-six. In an interval from this peaceful occupation during the period of the Revolutionary conflict, he was a strong fighter in the patriot cause, serving successively as minute- man, recruiting officer for the navy, sergeant of the Continental Army, and colonel of his own regi- ment. His services were of the greatest value in the war for independence, and ever afterwards, al- though he had no further occasion to leave his large farm at Adams Point, he remained an ardent supporter of the patriot cause. He married Lillis Humphrey, and they became the parents of seven sons, of whom Nathaniel, in the second genera- tion, was the second son.
Nathaniel (2) Smith was born on January 23, 1772. He was a farmer of Barrington, and rep- resented that town in later years in the State Leg- islature. He married Wait Mauran, daughter of Joseph Carlo and Olive (Bicknell) Mauran.
Nathaniel Church Smith, son of Nathaniel (2) and Wait (Mauran) Smith was born at the family home in Barrington, on October 2, 1811. He too was a farmer, and all his life remained on his own land in his native town at Rumstick. He was a member of the school committee and town coun- cil for many years, was captain of the Barring- ton Militia, and is thought to have been the Na- thaniel Church Smith, who, in 1836, was made major of the Bristol County Militia. The advent of the Civil War served to shake him from his previous allegiance to the Democratic party, and from that time on he was a staunch Republican. As the standard bearer of that party he was a member of the Rhode Island State Legislature from 1865 to 1869, and again in 1871 and 1876. Of him it was written in a standard history of the State :
He was devoted to the growth and interests of Barrington, was public-spirited, firm in his adher- ence to conscientious beliefs, possessed of genial, social nature, looked at men and events from the
hopeful standpoint, spoke evil of no one, was re- spected by all, and beloved by those who knew him best. His family, parents and children, have been ornaments of Barrington.
Nathaniel Church Smith married, on April 8, 1835, Sally Bowen, daughter of Judge James Bowen, of Barrington, and their son, Nathaniel Waite Smith was born at the Smith homestead on December 18, 1842. His death occurred at Provi- dence on January 7, 1875. Abandoning the tradi- tions of his family, he chose to enter upon a busi- ness career after the completion of his education in the public schools, and thus became a clerk with Snow and Claflin, a wholesale drug firm of Prov- idence. Rising rapidly through the merit of his service, he became an active member of the firm of George L. Claflin and Company at its forma- tion in 1873, only two years before death ended his career of brilliant promise at the tragically early age of thirty-three. In April, 1870, he married Emily F. Cole, daughter of Edmund and Olive Maria (Wheeler) Cole. Edmund Cole was the son of Luther and Sally (Salisbury) Cole, grandson of Benjamin Cole, and great-grandson of Ebenezer Cole, who was a prominent resident and patriot of Warren, Rhode Island. From this Ebenezer Cole the line of descent is traced back through Eben- ezer and Mehitable (Luther) Cole, Hugh and Mary (Foxwell) Cole, to James Cole, who was the founder of this branch of the Cole family in New England. Nathaniel Waite and Emily F. (Cole) Smith became the parents of two sons: I. Walter Cole, born on January 9, 1871, who became an officer of the Vermont Farm Machinery Com- pany. He married Bertha D. Somers, of Pough- keepsie, New York, and they had three children, Margaret Dunham, Walter Cole, and Esther Lyman. 2. Nathaniel Waite Smith, 2d, of this record.
Nathaniel Waite Smith, subject of this record, received his preliminary education in the public schools of Providence and Vermont. Later he entered Yale University, and from this institution was graduated in 1896 with the degree of Bach- elor of Arts. Having decided upon a legal career, he next undertook the course of study at the New York Law School, and in 1898 was admitted to the bar of New York State. In the following year he was admitted to the Rhode Island bar, and began the practice of his profession at Prov- idence. At once he became associated with the law firm of Edwards and Angell as law clerk and assistant, and several years of meritorious service were followed by admittance to the firm as a
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partner in May, 1903. In January, 1904, he was appointed assistant attorney to the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Company, and in 1907 became counsel for the road with offices in Providence. Later he became general attorney with headquarters at New Haven, Connecticut. By this time Mr. Smith's exceptional qualifications as an attorney were well recognized and his career of success was well under way. From 1907 until 1914 he was also general counsel for the Rhode Island Company, the leading street railway company of the State, while he was connected in advisory capacity with many other important corporations of Rhode Island. He is now a member of the firm of Swan, Keeney and Smith, with offices in the Turks Head Building, Providence. His practice has brought him frequently into the courts of the State in important cases, and there he has scored many notable victories for the causes which he supported.
Hardly less distinguished is Mr. Smith's ca- reer of public service, which he began early in life. From June 12, 1905, to May 1, 1909, he served as assistant judge advocate general, brigade Rhode Island Militia. For four years after that he was judge advocate of the Rhode Island Na- tional Guard, and from February 1, 1913, until September 29, 1916, judge advocate general of the Rhode Island National Guard. From September 30, 1916, to June 30, 1917, he was judge advocate, retiring from this service on the latter date. In 1924 he was elected lieutenant-governor of Rhode Island as the candidate of the Republican party, and served with distinction in that office from January, 1925, until January, 1927.
Aside from his other connections Mr. Smith is also a director of the Providence Terminal Com- pany, of the Brown and Sharpe Company, and of the Twin Mutual Insurance companies of Boston. He is a trustee of Butler Hospital at Providence and of the Mary C. Wheeler School. Among the various organizations of the men of his profession he is a member of the Rhode Island Bar Asso- ciation, and of the American Bar Association, while he is also a member of the New York State and Connecticut bars. Fraternally, Mr. Smith is affiliated with the Free and Accepted Masons, and in this order he is a member of Orpheus Lodge, No. 36, the Chapter of Royal Arch Masons, St. John's Commandery of the Knights Templar, and of all bodies of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, including the thirty-second degree of the Consis- tory. He is also a member of Yale Chapter of the Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity, and of many clubs,
among which may be mentioned the Turks Head Club, the Providence Art Club, the Hope Club, the Agawam Hunt Club, the Jacob's Hill Hunt Club, the Point Judith Country Club, the Yale Club of New York City, and the Graduates Club of New Haven.
On September 25, 1905, Nathaniel Waite Smith married, at South Kingstown, Rhode Island, Ellen Howard Weeden, daughter of William B. Weeden, of Providence. Mr. and Mrs. Smith became the parents of two children: I. Mary Weeden, who married Nicholas B. T. Burke, of Alexandria, Virginia. 2. Nathaniel, a graduate of Yale Univer- sity in the class of 1930.
EVERETT E. WHIPPLE -- A member of one of the oldest Rhode Island families, Mr. Whipple himself was born in this State and has been a life-long resident of it. At an early age he came with his parents to Westerly, and during the many years of his residence in this city he has become one of the well-known inhabitants. After having been connected for more than a quarter of a century with one of the leading manu- facturing concerns of the city, he severed his con- nection with the company to accept the office of town clerk. So effectively did he serve in this important and responsible position, that he has been continued in it ever since, a proof of his efficiency as a public official and of the confidence placed in him by his fellow-citizens. In many other ways, too, he has shown himself a public-spirited, upright, and useful citizen, and it is only natural that he should be regarded as one of the most representa- tive and substantial men in Westerly.
Everett E. Whipple was born at Hopkinton, Washington County, July 30, 1857, a son of Henry and Mary (Spicer) Whipple, both natives of Rhode Island. His mother was born at Hopkin- ton, his father at Coventry, and the latter was for many years one of the most prominent men in Washington County, serving as sheriff of the county for many years, as town clerk of Hopkin- ton, and also as judge of the Third Judicial Dis- trict Court. In 1868, when he was only ten years of age, Mr. Whipple with his parents came to Westerly. He was educated in the public gram- mar and high schools of that city. After leav- ing school he learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed until 1881. In that year he became connected with the C. B. Cottrell & Sons Com- pany, of which he was foreman of the carpenter
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shop until June, 1907. At that time he resigned this position, which he had filled with much ability, in order to accept election as town clerk of West- erly. To this office he has been reelected con- tinuously since then. He has served as secretary of the Westerly Savings Fund and Loan Asso- ciation for nearly forty years and for thirty years has been a member of the board of trustees of the River Bend Cemetery Association. For twenty- eight years a member of the Rhode Island State Militia, he served as captain with the Ist Rhode Island Volunteers during the Spanish-American War and for two years was a member of the military staff of Governor George H. Utter. Greatly interested in the history of his native State, in the settlement of which his early ancestors par- ticipated and played an important part, he is a member of the Westerly Historical Society and is now the president of this organization. He is also a member of the Westerly Lions Club and of the Colonial Club. In politics he is a supporter of the Republican party. His religious affiliation is with the Seventh Day Baptist Church.
Mr. Whipple married (first) Annie L. Camp- bell, of East Providence, who died March 23, 1890. He married (second) Mary E. Clark, who at the time of her marriage to Mr. Whipple was the widow of Edward E. Randolph. He has no chil- dren and makes his home at No. 49 Elm Street, Westerly, while his offices are located in the town hall.
GEN. S. FRANK NOLAN, city engineer of Providence, was born in Providence, Rhode Island, on June 14, 1874, son of James J. and Mary A. (Reilley) Nolan, both natives of Dublin, Ireland, and both now deceased. His father was engaged for many years as a contractor, and was highly esteemed by hosts of friends. S. Frank Nolan received his early education in the public schools of his native city, and subsequently was graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design. After- ward he took special courses in engineering at Brown University. In June, 1891, he became asso- ciated with the city engineer's department of Providence, Rhode Island. In 1920 he was made superintendent of the Providence Water Works, and served until 1927, when he was made city engineer, which position he still (1931) holds.
Mr. Nolan is affiliated with several professional groups, including the Providence Engineers' So- ciety and the American Society of Civil Engi- neers. He is also affiliated with the Providence
Post, American Legion, and is a member of the Rhode Island Town Criers. He is a member of Saint Sebastian's Roman Catholic Church.
In the military affairs of his country, too, he has taken a prominent part, having enlisted, in 1909, in the Rhode Island National Guard, in which he received the appointment of captain. He was also artillery engineer with the Rhode Island Coast Artillery, and in 1912 was made a lieutenant- colonel. In 1914 this was reorganized, and Mr. Nolan was given the rank of major in the Rhode Island Coast Artillery Corps. In July, 1917, after the entry of the United States into the World War, Mr. Nolan entered the service of his coun- try, taking command of Fort Standish, in Boston Harbor. Later he had the command of Fort War- ren, Boston Harbor, until, he was ordered to the Coast Artillery School at Fortress Monroe, Vir- ginia. In April, 1918, he was assigned to the 7Ist Regiment of the Coast Artillery Corps with the rank of major, and in June of that year sailed overseas with this body. In October, 1918, he served with the 44th Regiment of Heavy Artillery, taking part in the Meuse-Argonne offensive. In December, 1918, he was assigned to the party ac- companying the Peace Commission to Italy to esti- mate the amount of damage done to Italian rail- ways during the war. Subsequently he was sent to Germany to organize a supply line from Cob- lentz to Rotterdam, and went into that country by way of the River Rhine. In July, 1919, he was dis- charged with the rank of major. Four years later, in 1923, he organized the 118th Regiment of Engi- neers of the National Guard; and, beginning as major, continued his valuable work with this group until November, 1928, when he was made colonel, and in 1929 was retired with the rank of Brigadier- general. In the different fields in which he has participated he has done much to advance the inter- ests of his native State and its people.
S. Frank Nolan married, in 1912, Ellen H. O'Leary, a native of Providence, who has been a lifelong resident of this city. By this union there have been two children: John and Mary.
PIERCE HILL BRERETON-Though the beginning of his legal career was delayed by his service in the United States Navy during the World War, Mr. Brereton today is one of the suc- cessful lawyers, of Providence, of the younger generation. His legal ability has found public rec- ognition on the part of his fellow-townsmen in
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Warwick and they have elected him to several important local legal offices. He is a member of various fraternal and social organizations and takes an active part in religious affairs.
Pierce Hill Brereton was born at New Bed- ford, Massachusetts, March 2, 1894, a son of Lieu- tenant Percy H. and Mary H. H. (Pierce) Brere- ton. His father was for many years a lieutenant in the United States Coast Guard, but for the past thirty years he has been retired and now makes his home, together with his wife, at Warwick, one of the most beautiful of Providence's suburbs. On his mother's side Mr. Brereton is a descendant of Richard Peirce or Pearse, who was born in Eng- land in 1615 and who probably came to this coun- try with his father early in the seventeenth cen- tury, settling eventually at Portsmouth, Rhode Is- land. Mr. Brereton received his education in the public schools and, after graduating from the Hope Street High School at Providence, entered Yale University, where he was graduated with the de- gree of Bachelor of Philosophy in 1915. He then took up the study of law at the Harvard University Law School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, graduat- ing there with the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1918. Postponing the active commencement of his legal career, in order to bear arms for his coun- try during the World War, Mr. Brereton enlisted in the Naval Reserves in January, 1918. He was attached to the New London Base, serving on a submarine chaser, and was commissioned an ensign in October, 1918, just prior to the signing of the Armistice. Having received his honorable dis- charge, he returned to civilian life and took up the practice of law in Providence. Since 1927 he has been a member of the Providence law firm of Clason, Brereton & Kingsley, with offices in Suite 12II, Turks Head Building, Providence. During 1925-26 he was president of the Elizabeth Mills at Hills Grove, Rhode Island, manufacturers of cotton yarns. He is now a member of the board of directors of the Paterson Company. At one time he served as probate judge of Warwick, and at present writing he is town solicitor of Warwick.
For many years active in Masonic affairs, Mr. Brereton is a member of Mount Vernon Lodge, No. 4, Free and Accepted Masons; Providence Chap- ter, No. I, Royal Arch Masons; St. John's Com- mandery, No. I, Knights Templar; and Palestine Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mys- tic Shrine. He is a member of the Turks Head Club, the Wannamoisett Country Club, the Vine- yard Haven Yacht Club, the New York City Yale Club, the Boston Yale Club, the University Club of
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Providence, the Colony Club, Psi Upsilon Frater- nity, and the Alumni Association of Hope Street High School, of which latter he is president. His religious affiliation, like that of the other members of his family, is with the Central Congregational Church of Providence.
Mr. Brereton married Marion Stockard, of Providence, a daughter of James M. Stockard, the latter for many years prominently active in the automobile and garage business in Providence and now retired. Mr. and Mrs. Brereton are the par- ents of two children : Pierce Hill, Jr., and Mary Ann. The family residence is located at No. 17 Weymouth Street, Providence.
HARRY LOEB JACOBS-One of Rhode Island's citizens who has contributed most substan- tially to the well-being of his State through his work in the cducational world, Harry Loeb Jacobs is now president of the Bryant-Stratton College of Business Administration, in which position he has served since 1906. This institution has been for years an outstanding organization of its kind in New England, as well as one of Providence's foremost centers of education. Qualifying well for the post that he fills, Mr. Jacobs has proven him- self not only a loyal worker in the cause of advanc- ing commercial study, but also a civic-minded, public-spirited citizen. His place in the esteem of the people of Providence is sure, and the youth who seek and obtain instruction under his guidance are fortunate in having such a preceptor.
Mr. Jacobs was born in Dayton, Ohio, on Octo- ber II, 1875, son of Loeb and Philmena Jacobs, the former of whom was a beef and pork packer. Harry Loeb Jacobs attended in early boyhood the elementary schools of his native city, and later followed his work there with studies in high school and university. From the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, Michigan, he was graduated in the class of 1894, receiving his Bachelor of Arts de- gree; and then, for a time, he served the State of Pennsylvania as official reporter in the Legis- lature. Many different experiences and affiliations in the business world fitted him well, by hard prac- tical training, for the work that he is now perform- ing at the head of a great School of Business Ad- ministration and Secretarial Science.
He was, for a period, a director of the Imperial Printing and Finishing Company, president and treasurer of the College Hill Land Company, and for two years Chief Crier of the Town Criers.
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He has also served as chairman of the Public Welfare Commission of the State of Rhode Island, and as president of the Eastern Commercial Teach- ers' Association. The Bryant-Stratton College of which he is president, was authorized by the State to grant degrees, the college being approved as maintaining collegiate standards. It was in 1906, as noted above, that he was appointed to his pres- ent position, president of the Bryant-Stratton Col- lege of Business Administration, the position in which he has served faithfully and well since that year. This institution is an old representative of its type in the East, having been founded Jan- uary I, 1863, a pioneer among business schools. Since that time, many an institution that has been doing valuable work has mapped out its policies and shaped its work along the lines laid down originally by this college. Of course, the changes in industrial procedure that have come into effect in the last two decades, with the growth of great business corporations and the invention of all sorts of new machinery for use on land and in sea and air, have made it necessary to institute correspond- ing changes in the work of the school and of similar business schools; and in this work of re- vision and change, Mr. Jacobs has been a leader who has gained nation-wide confidence and esteem. He has never permitted other schools to outstrip the Bryant-Stratton College; but has maintained it, through times of most rapid development, in a place of outstanding importance.
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