USA > Rhode Island > Rhode Island : three centuries of democracy, Vol. IV > Part 38
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Mr. Clinton was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, on August 1, 1876, son of John G. and Jane (Delahunt) Clinton, both of whom are now de- ceased. His father was a native of Dublin, Ireland, where his parents were mill owners and operators for many years. John G. Clinton was engaged for many years as a wigmaker until his death; having come to the United States early in his career, he
was a soldier in the Union Army in the Civil War, having served with the Massachusetts Vol- unteer Infantry; he was also a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. His wife, Jane (Delahunt) Clinton, was born in New York City.
George C. Clinton received his early education in Dublin, Ireland, having gone back to his father's land after a short period of early boyhood in the United States; and he also went to the public schools in London, England. After he fin- ished his formal schooling, he returned to America, settling in Boston, Massachusetts, where he remained for several years until he de- cided to come to Providence, Rhode Island. In Providence he took a position as deputy city clerk, in which capacity he served for seven years, at the end of which period he became clerk of the Municipal Court, an elective office which he held during the time when he was studying law. Then, in 1920, after having attained a knowledge of his profession by spending a great deal of time on the side in study and observation, Mr. Clinton was admitted to the bar. He opened, in that year, a law office wherein he has since conducted a general practice. This office is situated at No. 919 New Industrial Trust Building.
Along with his many other activities, Mr. Clin- ton has always taken an interest in public affairs. An ardent Republican in his political views, he served from 1925 to 1929 as a member of the City Council of Providence, having been elected to this office on his party's ticket. He is a member of the Sons of Veterans, the Rhode Island Bar Association, and the Flag Association of , Phila- delphia. He served for some years as a member of the Navy Day Committee for the State of Rhode Island, and was also a member of the Rhode Island City Aviation Committee for two years. His religious affiliation is with the Roman Catholic Church, of which he is a devout com- municant. His favorite recreations are books and pictures, which he enthusiastically enjoys, while a subject of his constant and untiring study has been the history and growth of the American flag. A patriot at heart and in action, Mr. Clinton has always been keenly interested in all work whose object is to help the Grand Army men. On Memorial Day, 1926, he persuaded Mr. Edwin F. Albee to present to the Grand Army a beau- tiful silk flag and also to take a moving picture of their parade that day, which was shown a few days later at the Albee Theater here, and mem- bers of Grand Army, State and city officials in-
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vited. The film was then presented to the Rhode Island Historical Association and is not to be again exhibited for fifty years.
George C. Clinton married, in 1909, Florence H. Martin, a native of London, England, whose father was a London barrister.
SIDNEY WALTER DEAN-The era in which we live has been called the "commercial age," the "material age." Certain it is that the application of the discoveries of science to the satisfying of human wants has developed industry and business to vast proportions, and they have of necessity divided into highly specialized units. The size of these units and the rapid pace of development has led to the establishment of highly specialized pe- riodicals whose function it is to make these de- velopments known as soon as they appear; so that those who are interested may inform themselves about the general economic condition of their line of business. Such publications also discuss the many and varied problems with which their readers are concerned. The editorial management of these journals calls for men of peculiar mental equip- ment and broad training-they must combine with a nose for news and a flair for writing, a critical mind, a bent toward that which is technical and, withal, a fine business acumen.
Sidney W. Dean, a native of Warren, Rhode Island, but for the past eighteen years identified in an editorial capacity with trade journals in New York City, is an able representative of the genus of writers just described. Mr. Dean comes of an old New England family, each generation of which by marriage has brought into his lineage other old New England families, so that Mr. Dean's ancestry includes such patronymics as War- ren, which has been traced back to the time of William the Conqueror, Howland and Alden of the Mayflower Pilgrims, Rider (Ryder), Kemp- .ton, Edson, Brintnell, Williams, Holley, Eddy, Munn, Foster, Paddock, Smith, Cummings, Miller, Cole, Lobel and Maxwell, to mention only a few.
(I) The Dean family here under consideration was established in this country by two brothers, Walter and John Deane. The former known as "Deacon" Walter Deane, is the ancestor from whom Sidney W. Dean traces. He was a tanner by trade, and was born in Chard, near Taunton, Somersetshire, England, between 1615 and 1617. He came first to Dorcester, Massachusetts; but he and his brother were among the first settlers
of Taunton, Massachusetts, in 1637. They and five others were made freemen there in 1638. Their names appear among the original proprietors of the town. Walter Deane married Eleanor Cougan, or Cogan.
(II) Deacon Ezra Deane, their son, married, in 1675, Bethniah Edson.
(III) Dr. Ezra Deane, their son, born in 1680 and died in 1737, married Abigail Brintnell.
(IV) Solomon Deane, their son, born in 173I and died in 1793, married Mary Williams.
(V) Sylvester Deane, their son, born in 1757 and died in 1817, a resident of Taunton, Massa- chusetts, married Abigail Holley of Edgartown, Martha's Vineyard.
(VI) Amos Dean, their son, the first to spell - the name without the final "e," was born in 1794. He was a native of Taunton, but died and was buried on Foster's Bar, Yuba River, California, September 29, 1849. His death is recorded on the Dean monument in Mount Auburn Cemetery. He married, August 30, 1814, Nancy Robinson Kemp- ton of Glastonbury, Connecticut. Nancy Robin- son Kempton was in direct descent from the Kemp- tons of Plymouth, Massachusetts, going back to Ephraim Kempton on her father's side, and to Samuel Rider and Lydia Tilden, who were married in 1680, on her mother's side.
(VII) Rev. Sidney Dean, son of Amos and Nancy Robinson (Kempton) Dean, was born in Glastonbury, Connecticut, November 16, 1880. He was educated in the common schools of his native town and at the famous old Wilbraham Academy. His father ran a silk and woolen mill in South Glastonbury, and all his seven boys (he had no daughters) went into the mill and learned the trade. Later they separated and located in seven States of the Union-one with John Brown in Kansas, another in Wisconsin, another became president of Allegheny College, now part of the University of Pittsburgh. At the age of twenty, Sidney Dean was made superintendent of two woolen mills for the DuPonts on the Brandywine in Delaware, and because he was not of age it was necessary for Sidney's father to become his bondsman.
Later Sidney returned to Connecticut. His par- ents were pious and devout Congregationalists ; but after reaching manhood he joined the Meth- odist Church, was licensed to preach and rode on the Haddon-Lyme-Saybrooke "circuit" in that State. In due time he was ordained and held pas- torates in Woodstock and Danielson, Connecticut, and in Pawtucket, Providence and Warren, Rhode
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Island. While in Danielson he identified himself with the Free Soil movement and became an ardent Abolitionist. Such was the confidence of his fellow-citizens in his judgment, patriotism and loyalty to lofty ideals that they sent him to the Connecticut Legislature in 1843 and to the thirty- fourth and thirty-fifth Congresses. That was dur- ing the stirring period of the defeat of the slave- power of the South, just prior to the outbreak of the Civil War. While in Congress he was the Washington correspondent for Henry Bowen's fa- mous old "New York Independent." But the crookedness of the political game was obnoxious to his sense of right living and dealing, and he quit politics to become the business partner and associate of war governor James Y. Smith of Rhode Island, in publishing the "Providence Press," "Providence Star" and "Rhode Island Press." It was on March 3, 1859, that he removed to Rhode Island, and the following year he became pastor of a church in Pawtucket. He was editor of the "Providence Press" until 1880, when he terminated his newspaper career. During the last named year he served as a member of the Rhode Island Senate from Warren. He died in Brookline, Massachu- setts, October 29, 1901. Rev. Sidney Dean married Annie S. Eddy, daughter of James M. Eddy, a manufacturing jeweler of Warren, Rhode Island.
(VIII) Sidney W. Dean, their son, grew up in the atmosphere of the newspaper business. And no doubt this early environmental influence had much to do with his choice of a career. When he had completed the public school courses in Warren, Rhode Island, he learned the printer's trade in his father's old office in Providence and in Boston. Later he went to Brookline, Massachusetts, as editor of the "Brookline Chronicle," and then to the "Bos- ton Journal" under O'Meara and General Ban- croft. Mr. Dean's next and first venture into busi- ness on his own account was as editor and pub- lisher of "The Suburban" in Brookline. Later he went back to the "Boston Journal" after Frank Munsey had taken over that famous old Repub- lican paper. Mr. Dean remained there two years as city and as managing editor. Then he was associated with the "Record-Advertiser" and the "Boston Herald," remaining for four years with the latter as managing editor.
Following this Mr. Dean removed to New York City to become managing editor of "Pharmaceu- tical Era" and "Soda Fountain." Later he became managing editor of "Oil, Paint and Drug Re- porter," one of the most important trade journals published in this country. In 1919 followed his
New York City association as managing editor and director of the Trades Reporting Bureau, Incor- porated, which issues "Chemicals," "Groceries" and several other publications for national business as- sociations. His experience thus covers the whole gamut of the newspaper and periodical field from reporter on the street to managing editor and pub- lisher. Mr. Dean is a member of the following clubs: New York Press, of which he was pres- ident in 1926-27; Adventurers', Montclair Athletic and Rockaway Point Yacht.
Sidney W. Dean married Marion Hamilton Perry of Brookline, Massachusetts, who died in 1914. Three children were born from this union: I. Sidney Walter, Jr., who graduated from Yale University in 1926, winning a chemical fellowship. He did post-graduate work for a year and then became associated with the J. Walter Thompson Company, widely known advertising agency. 2. Warren K., who was educated at New York Uni- versity and has chosen a commercial career. 3. Dorothy M., a member of the class of 1931, Cor- nell University. Mr. Dean married (second), on June 3, 1916, Marguerite Mooers Marshall, who was born in Kingston, New Hampshire, Septem- ber 9, 1887, daughter of Herbert Walter and Lela Mooers (Brown) Marshall. Mrs. Dean was grad- uated from Tufts College in 1907 with the de- gree of Bachelor of Arts, and from that time has been engaged in newspaper work. From 1908 to 1909 she was on the "Boston Herald"; 1909 to 1910 with the "New York World" (morning and Sunday editions) and from 1910 with the "Eve- ning World." For the latter she conducted the column, "The Woman of It," which was widely syndicated. With the merger of the "World" with the "Telegram" in 1931, Mrs. Dean joined the staff of the "New York Evening Journal," continuing her column under the title "Just Like a Woman." It is widely syndicated through the King Feature Service. She also contributes prose and verse to many magazines and is the author of a volume, "The Drift." Mrs. Dean won the Phi Beta Kappa key at college and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa Alumnae in New York City. She is also a mem- ber of the Woman's City Club. Mr. and Mrs. Dean reside in Montclair, New Jersey.
(The Eddy Line).
(I) The history of the Eddy family is traced from Rev. William Eddye, who was born in Bris- tol, England, about 1550. He received the degree of Bachelor of Arts at Trinity Hall, Cambridge,
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in 1583, and in 1586, Trinity College of the same university conferred upon him the degree of Mas- ter of Arts. Probably he first became curate of St. Dunstan's Church, Cranbrook, County Kent. He was made vicar of that parish, January 12, 1591, and served in that capacity until November 23, 1616. Of him his biographer says: "He was a man of some learning, neat and methodical, a sincere adherent of the reformed faith, anxious for the spiritual advancement of his people, but somewhat impulsive." He married, November 20, 1587, Mary Fosten, who died July 18, 1611, daugh- ter of John and Ellen (Munn) Fosten, who were married January 19, 1561-62.
(II) Samuel Eddy, their son, was born in May, 1608, and died in 1685. His widow, Elizabeth, died in 1689. He came from England with his brother John in the ship "Handmaid." They arrived in Plymouth, Massachusetts, October 29, 1630 (Old Style). On January 1, 1632, Samuel Eddy was admitted to the freedom of the society. He re- ceived his first allotment of land, November 7, 1637 and later became possessed of other holdings until, in 1633, his assessment was the same as that of Captain Standish. On October 7, 1651, his wife was fined for wringing out clothes on the Lord's day. In 1684, he was a drummer whom the town refused to pay. He was one of the orig- inal purchasers of Middleboro, Massachusetts.
(III) Zechariah Eddy, son of Samuel and Eliz- abeth Eddy, was born in 1639 and died Septem- ber 4, 1718, in Swansea, Massachusetts. At the age of seven he was bound out to a Rehoboth shipwright. Later he became a resident and land- owner of Plymouth, and at other periods resided in Middleboro and Swansea. On May 7, 1663, he married Alice Paddock, born March 7, 1640 and died September 24, 1692, daughter of Robert Pad- dock of Dartmouth (now New Bedford), Massa- chusetts. For his second wife Zechariah Eddy mar- ried the widow Abigail Smith, whose daughter Bethiah married his son Caleb.
(IV) Caleb Eddy, son of Zechariah and Alice (Paddock) Eddy, was born September 21, 1678. He married, January II, 1703, Bethiah Smith.
(V) Edward Eddy, son of Caleb and Bethiah (Smith) Eddy, was born October 7, 1703. He married Elizabeth Cummings.
(VI) Caleb Eddy, their son, was born June 25, 1738 and was lost at sea in 1770 on a voyage from New York City to Warren. He married, March 14, 1765, Sarah Cole, born December 3, 1746 and died March 15, 1835, daughter of Ebenezer and Prudence (Miller) Cole. She was of the fifth
generation from James Cole, who came from Highgate, a suburb of London, England, with his wife and two children, to Saco, Maine, in 1632. The following year they removed to Plymouth, Massachusetts. He married Mary Lobel, daugh- ter of Mathieu Lobel, the noted botanist and phy- sician, from whom the plant Lobelia gets its name. James Cole was the first settler on the hill that is still known as Cole's Hill in Plymouth, where the Pilgrims laid out their first burying ground. In 1637 he was a volunteer against the Pequots. He opened the first inn, or public house in Plym- outh.
(VII) Caleb Eddy, son of Caleb and Sarah (Cole) Eddy, as born June 12, 1768. He married, December 2, 1790, Abigail Maxwell of Warren, Rhode Island.
(VIII) James M. Eddy, their son, was born February 8, 1811. He married (first) Nancy Smith of Warren, born there February 8, 1811. Their daughter, Annie S., married Rev. Sidney Dean, as above stated.
MARGARET BINGHAM STILLWELL- Directly descended from Lieutenant Nicholas Still- well, of Surrey, England, an early landholder in York County, Virginia, who removed to New Amsterdam, now New York City, before 1645, Margaret Bingham Stillwell, of Providence, holds a position in library circles as one of the author- ities on Incunabula and early Americana.
She was born in Providence, Rhode Island, Jan- uary 26, 1887, daughter of Edward Augustus and Mary Elizabeth Bingham (Pindar) Stillwell, and granddaughter of Abraham Hermann Stillwell. She was graduated from Brown University with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1909 and re- ceived from that institution the honorary degree of Master of Arts in 1925. From 1899 until 1905 she was a special student at the Rhode Island School of Design. Her professional career began with her appointment as assistant at the John Carter Brown Library, Providence, where she con- tinued until 1914 from the year of her graduation. From 1914 to 1917 she was cataloguer in the rare book division of the New York Public Library and since that time has been curator and librarian of the Annmary Brown Memorial Library. She is author of "Washington Eulogies," check list of funeral orations on George Washington, 1916; "The Influence of William Morris and the Kelm- scott Press," 1912; "The Heritage of the Modern
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Printer," 1916; "General Hawkins as He Revealed Himself to His Librarian," 1923; "The Fasciculus Temporum," (survey of editions before 1480) 1924; "Incunabula and Americana," a key to Bibliographi- cal study, 1931; editor of the Second Census of Fifteenth Century Books Owned in America (in preparation) ; American secretary to the Kommis- sion für den Gesamtkatalog der Wiegendrucke Berlin, and honorary American secretary of the Wiegendruck Gesellschaft of Berlin. She also has membership in the Bibliological Society of Amer- ica and in the English organization of like name; and she belongs to the Providence Art Club, the Boston College Club and to the Rhode Island Short Story Club. Miss Stillwell is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, of which she served as president of the Rhode Island Women's Chapter in 1925-26. Her religious faith is Episcopalian.
VINCENT J. McALOON-For three decades Vincent J. McAloon has been successfully engaged in business as a funeral director and during that time he has established a reputation for expert service and fair dealing. Associated with him in the business is his son, Leo R. This business is now located at No. 260 Pawtucket Avenue, Paw- tucket, Rhode Island.
JOHN EDWARD KEEFE-Well known and highly esteemed among the people of Providence and surrounding towns, the late John Edward Keefe was for thirty years the head of the modern undertaking business located at No. 168 Academy Avenue, which still (1931) bears his name and is operated by his sons.
John Edward Keefe . was born in Providence, Rhode Island, September 5, 1870, son of Edward and Margaret (Cahill) Keefe, both deceased. He attended the public schools of Providence and be- cause of the necessity of earning his livelihood, en- tered the employ of one of the local mills. He was a lad possessed of energy and ambition and while in the mill kept a careful lookout for a better oppor- tunity for advancement. Eventually, he formed a partnership with his brother and engaged in the grocery business, in which he continued until 1898, when the partnership was dissolved. He then en- gaged in the undertaking business, locating at No. 136 Academy Avenue, where he remained until 1906. In that year he erected the modern and con-
venient building which now houses the business at No. 168 Academy Avenue, and here he continued the building up and developing of a business enter- prise which today is known as one of the leading establishments of its kind in the city of Providence. Mr. Keefe, who was an expert mortician, devoted his time and energy to the service of a steadily increasing number of patrons, improving his equip- ment as the years passed and new methods and processes came into use, and consistently giving courteous and sympathetic service and a square business deal, a course which he maintained from the beginning to the end of his career of three decades. A man of the highest integrity and of sound ability, he steadily advanced his business until at the time of his death, in 1928, he ranked as one of the leading funeral directors of Rhode Island. Loved and admired by a large circle of friends, Mr. Keefe's passing was deeply mourned and those who knew him best honored him most. He was a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Modern Woodmen of the World, also Providence Council, Knights of Columbus, The Catholic Club, Holy Name Society, and of the Father Simmons Branch of the I. C. B. U. His religious affiliation was with the Church of the Blessed Sacrament.
John Edward Keefe was married September 18, 1901, to Annie M. Reilly, who was born in Woon- socket, Rhode Island. Mr. and Mrs. Keefe became the parents of four children: I. Edward L., who received his early education in the public schools of Providence and then entered La Salle Academy ; after graduation from the academy he entered Providence College from which he received his pre-medical certificate; he then entered St. Louis University School of Medicine at St. Louis, Mis- souri, intending to become a physician. But his father died and he returned to Providence and be- came associated with his brother in the undertaking business. 2. Thomas A., the second oldest son, also received his early education in the public schools and at La Salle Academy. After attending the academy he entered business with his father. Both young men hold a certificate from the State Board of Embalming of Rhode Island. 3. Marie L., who attended the Academy of the Sacred Heart and then entered the Rhode Island College of Edu- cation, from which she was graduated, is now (1931) a teacher in the Mt. Pleasant Avenue school. 4. Gerald J., who is a graduate of La Salle Academy and is now (1931) a student in Provi- dence College, studying for the degree of Bachelor of Arts.
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KAROL A. ROMENSKI-The only Polish undertaker in the State of Rhode Island is Karol A. Romenski, whose modern and well-equipped establishment is located at No. 470 High Street, Central Falls, and whose patronage is drawn from all parts of the State.
Karol A. Romenski was born in Poland on December 24, 1878, and received his education in his native land. In 1907, when he was twenty- nine years old, he left the place of his birth and came to this country to make for himself a place in the New World. After gaining some experience in the ways of the strange land to which he had come, he located in Chelsea, Massachusetts, where for a period of four years he was associated with the Revere Rubber Company. Mr. Romenski was able and ambitious and while working for the Revere Rubber Company lost no opportunity to improve his knowledge of the English language and his familiarity with the customs of the people among whom he had chosen to make his home and build his career. He also kept a careful lookout for an opportunity to better his position. At the end of four years spent with the rubber company he entered the employ of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. During this time he con- tinued his education by enrolling in an evening school under the instruction of the famous Dr. Robinson, and so effectively did he apply himself to the work of these courses that at the end of nine months he received his diploma. By this time Mr. Romenski had decided that he would engage in business for himself as a funeral director, and with this end in view he began the course of study necessary for entrance into that profession. With characteristic thoroughness he mastered the vari- ous subjects required and in 1916 passed the examinations of the State Board of Embalming. Shortly afterward he engaged in the undertaking business in Providence, but later he removed to Central Falls, Rhode Island, where he has con- tinued to build up his business. Here he built a beautiful home, devoting the upper floor to the use of his patrons as a funeral home. There are well-appointed show rooms displaying caskets of latest designs and a full line of trimmings and robes, and in the rear of the house is a spacious garage which houses modern hearses and funeral cars. Mr. Romenski keeps here a number of fine coaches which he supplies for both weddings and funerals. Being the only Polish undertaker in the State and having during fifteen years of service established a reputation for efficiency and fair deal- ing, Mr. Romenski receives calls for his services
from every section of Rhode Island and some from beyond the State borders. He is a member of the Polish National Alliance, Order of Pulaski, Benev- olent and Protective Order of Elks, and of many other societies and social organizations, in all of which he is well liked and highly esteemed. His religious affiliation is with St. Joseph's Church and he is a member of St. Joseph's Church Society.
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