USA > Rhode Island > Rhode Island : three centuries of democracy, Vol. IV > Part 5
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vigorous and prosperous and include a Holy Name Society, a Ladies Sodality, a League of the Sacred Heart, a League for the Propagation of the Faith, a thriving council of the Knights of Columbus, Daughters of Isabella, a chapter of Hibernians, and a Society of St. John the Bap- tist. During the World War seventy young men enlisted for service from the parish of St. Joseph, of whom four died and two gave "the last full measure of devotion" in action.
Father Downing is doing a splendid work in the community and is greatly respected by all who are associated with him, whether of his own faith or of other denominations. His sincerity and his gen- uine piety enable him to exert a powerful influence for good in his parish, and under his wise leader- ship St. Joseph's parish is steadily growing in spiritual and material resources.
CHARLES T. ALGREN-A general con- tractor and builder of East Greenwich, Rhode Is- land, Charles T. Algren has been as vitally con- cerned with building up the community along lines of educational and social welfare as in constructing houses. As a man of recognized ability and prob- ity, commanding expert laborers, he is much sought after for the erection of private and business structures. At the same time, he takes an active part in many civic developments, is a member of the Board of Education and on the executive com- mittee of the Chamber of Commerce.
Charles T. Algren was born in Sweden, April 28, 1887, son of Solomon and Josephine (Johnson) Algren. The father, a native of Sweden, was a stone mason by trade and brought his family to America in 1893, landing in the new country on May 28. Settling in East Greenwich, for a time he followed his trade, then found more suitable and more lucrative employment as a florist in the local greenhouses in which he is still engaged. Charles T. Algren is one of six children, the others being : Fritz, Olga, Ingrid, John, and Edna.
Charles T. Algren attended the East Greenwich public schools and took a course in building and drawing. He then worked with a carpenter in order to learn his trade from the ground up, and at the age of eighteen was able to pursue his trade inde- pendently. In 1922 he established his building and contracting enterprise, and has been much in de- mand throughout these years, constructing many buildings in and around East Greenwich, and build-
ing up his force until he now employs some twenty- five men. His workmanship is of high quality, and his buildings are put up to stay, with no inferior materials or construction. Mr. Algren is a Repub- lican in politics, and was elected, in November, 1930, a member of the General Assembly to serve during 1931 and 1932 as representative from East Greenwich. He is also a member of the local Board of Education and is local building inspector. A member of the Swedish Lutheran Church, he is also secretary of its board of trustees. He belongs also to King Solomon Lodge, No. 1I, Free and Ac- cepted Masons; Narragansett Council, No. 6, Royal and Select Masters; and Narragansett Chap- ter, No. II, Royal Arch Masons, all of East Green- wich. Other of his fraternal affiliations are with the Order of the Eastern Star, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Modern Woodmen of America, and the Knights of the Maccabees.
In 1910, Charles T. Algren married Ellen Ander- son, daughter of Carl V. and Hannah Anderson, of East Greenwich, and they are the parents of three children : Louise, Mildred, and Doris.
ALBERT V. MOULTON gave to Providence, the city where he was born and lived to the ripe age of eighty-two, an example of how fine and inspiring can be the life of an intelligent, con- scientious, public-spirited man, awake to life's potentialities for himself and his fellows and eager to help both the individuals about him, and the community-at-large, to a realization of their best ambitions. His long term of public service as a United States customs inspector, marked him as a representative American of the highest type and his accomplishments proved a spur to greater effort on the part of those who had opportunity to observe his faithfulness and high intelligence. Both in public and private life, he was always a God-fearing Christian gentleman, a firm believer and a sincere follower of the apostolic injunction: "Do unto others as you would that others do unto you." In all his rela- tionships with his fellows, Mr. Moulton was up- right and honorable, and he served his govern- ment with unflagging zeal, carrying on his work through the years with perseverance and industry and the strictest honesty even in small details. The interests of his native town he made his own, and no effort to better and improve Providence asked for his aid in vain.
Charles T. Algren
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Born December 10, 1843, Mr. Moulton was a son of Ephraim B. and Maria (Olney) Moulton. In the public schools of Providence he received his education and when his course had been com- pleted, he entered the employ of his father, a carriage builder of world repute whose establish- ment was at the corner of Eddy and Friendship streets. Mr. Moulton's father had been a manu- facturer of carriage on a large scale in his earlier years, exporting a large share of his factory's output. Mr. Moulton's next place of employment was with Thomas W. Whitford, who eventually became his father-in-law, conductor for many years of the old Railroad Stables at the corner of Fountain and Union streets, an establishment famous half a century ago and one of Providence's historic business places. Mr. Whitford was also well known as a landscape gardener, for among other important pieces of work he developed the famous gardens of General Charles T. James, of Broadway, Providence, and those belonging to Thomas J. Hill in East Greenwich. Mr. Whit- ford won his way to success entirely through his own efforts, for he began in business with abso- lutely no capital, and he possessed a personality that endeared him to all who were privileged to know him. Genial, convivial and hospitable, he delighted to keep open house to his friends in the beautiful home which he built at Apponaug, where he had in earlier times conducted a general store.
From the experience he gained in connection with the businesses of his father and father-in- law, Albert V. Moulton acquired a wide knowl- edge of commercial operations and an insight into the workings of everyday industry, as well as a practical understanding of many phases of me- chanics, but as conditions in a changing world relegated carriages and horses to a position of minor importance in the general scheme of things, he turned his attention to public service, a field which held great interest for him as a result of his patriotism and public-spiritedness. In 1890 he entered the Internal Revenue Department of the United States Government. From 1894 until his retirement in 1919 he was ship inspector in the customs service in Providence, devoting him- self to the responsible duties involved for nearly a quarter of a century. He became a familiar figure along the waterfront and was known to thousands of excursionists and sea-faring men, who recognized his loyalty to his duty and to the best interests of the public, and who liked him for his friendly geniality. Politically, Mr. Moulton was a member of the Republican party.
He was a communicant of the Methodist Episco- pal Church.
On January 10, 1872, Mr. Moulton married Mary E. Whitford, daughter of Thomas W. and Mary Ellen (Cole) Whitford, the ceremony be- ing performed by Elder Brayton. Mrs. Moul- ton survives her husband and resides on Elm- wood Avenue in Providence.
The death of Mr. Moulton on February 8, 1927, left a vacant place in his large circle of friends about the city. A generous and kindly man, he won the love of all who came in contact with his ready sympathy and prompt aid, his affability and his engaging personality. His hearty support was given to all worth-while civic institutions. He was a man of unusual courage, a stranger to fear, an advocate of all things right, a bitter foe to all wrong. His passing lost to city, county, State, and country one of the bravest, best, and ablest citizens, and to his home and friends a lovable and loving man.
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WILLIAM GAMMELL-One of Rhode Is- land's successful business men, William Gammell, of Providence, is affiliated with a number of the leading enterprises of his city and State. His family is an old and honored one in New Eng- land, having been seated originally in Massachu- setts, whence it spread to other parts of the United States. Mr. Gammell has not only been an unusually active man in his own career, but has reared three sons whose labors have been of value to State and Nation, all three having distinguished themselves in the late World War, as well as in commercial and professional life since that time. A record of their lives and achievements appears under the separate heading of the sons' names in this work (q. v.): Major William Gammell, Jr .; Arthur Amory Gammell; Robert Hale Ives Gammell.
The father of this family, William Gammell, was born in Providence, Rhode Island, on May 20, 1857, second son of Professor William Gam- mell and his second wife, Elizabeth Amory (Ives) Gammell. A word might be said here regarding the ancestry of this family and its hereditary background. There have been six gen- erations in America, beginning with William Gammell, of Boston, Massachusetts, in 1723, and coming down to the present William Gammell, Jr., of Providence, born in 1885, who have borne
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the name of William, with the single exception of the third generation, in which the eldest son was named John, though he had a brother. Wil- liam. The original William Gammell, of Bos- ston, had a son, William, who married Anna Page, of Medford, Massachusetts, and had two sons, John and William, both of whom served in the War of the American Revolution, in which William enlisted at the age of fourteen. John Gammell, the older of these two sons, enlisted in the American Army on June 18, 1775, and after the war was ended returned to Boston, where he and his wife, Margaret (Vrann) Gammell, were members of the Federal Street Congregational Church. Their son, the Rev. William Gammell, A. M., became an eminent divine in the Baptist faith, his pulpit oratory having attracted large gatherings; he was pastor of the Second Baptist Church of Newport, Rhode Island, from August, 1823, until his death at forty-one, and during that period was an earnest advocate of the establish- ment of the first school in Newport, an under- taking which, strange as it may now seem, en- countered strong opposition. He was a trustee of Brown University, of Providence, and in 1817 received from the university the honorary degree of Master of Arts.
His son, Professor William Gammell, LL. D., father of the man whose name heads this review, was graduated from Brown in 1831 with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and in 1859 the Uni- versity of Rochester conferred the degree of Doctor of Laws. For thirty-two years he was connected with Brown University as tutor, assist- ant professor and professor, filling the chair of rhetoric and English history from 1836 to 1851, and the chair of history and political economy, in which he was the first incumbent, from 1851 until his resignation in 1864. After his resignation and until his death in 1889, he devoted himself to literature and lecturing, in which he possessed the rare ability of his father. He was a constant contributor to the "Christian Review," the "Ex- aminer and Chronicle," and other magazines and papers, and was a writer of editorials and obitu- aries for the Providence "Journal." He prepared biographies of Roger Williams and Governor Samuel Ward for Sparks' "American Biography," and published a "History of American Baptist Missions" and numerous addresses, reviews and monographs on a variety of subjects, including the annual necrology list of Brown graduates, which he prepared for more than thirty years. Some of his eloquent addresses before literary
and learned societies have been preserved in print, and the records of the Providence Athe- næum teem with his deeds; he was president of that body from 1870 until his death. He was president of the Rhode Island Bible Society, first vice-president of the Rhode Island Histori- cal Society, and corresponding member of the Massachusetts Historical Society. He also held official relation with several financial and chari- table institutions of Providence. In 1870 he was elected a fellow of Brown University, and many honors were from time to time conferred upon him. He married (first) Elizabeth A. Whipple, who died in November, 1839, scarcely more than a year after their marriage, which took place in Octo- ber, 1838. She was a daughter of the Hon. John Whipple. He married (second) in September, 1851, Elizabeth Amory Ives, daughter of Robert H. and Harriet (Bowen) Ives. By the second union there were three sons and three daughters: I. Robert Ives, who took his Bachelor of Arts degree from Brown in 1872, and his Master of Arts in 1875; he was a manufacturer and finan- cier, and president of the Providence National Bank until his death on January 8, 1915. 2. Eliz- abeth Hope. 3. William, of this review. 4. Arthur Amory, died in March, 1887, aged twenty-five years. 5. Harriet Ives. 6. Helen Louise.
Of these, William Gammell, whose name heads this review, was graduated from Brown in 1878 with the degree, of Bachelor of Arts, and was given Master of Arts degree in 1881. Like his older brother, he chose a business career rather than a professional one; and after passing through a preliminary business training of two years, he became associated with the Berkeley Company in 1881. As the years passed, he increased his activities and responsibilities until reaching his present secure position in the commercial life of Providence. He became president of the Berkeley Company; president, treasurer and director of the Beverly Land Company, which was formed in 1898; president and director of the Providence National Bank; president and director of the Hope Company; trustee of the Providence Insti- tute for Savings; trustee of Brown University and Butler Hospital and a member of the firms of Brown and Ives, and of Sturges and Gam- mell. He was also connected with numerous other business institutions at different periods of his career.
Mr. Gammell is now a member of the Psi Upsilon Fraternity; the University Club, the Hope Club, the Agawam Club, the Squantum
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Club, and other clubs of Providence; the Uni- versity Club and the Garden City Golf Club, of New York; and the Newport Country Club, the Newport Reading Room Club, and others.
William Gammell married, on February 20, 1884, Bessie Gardner Bowen. They became the parents of three sons: I. William. 2. Arthur Amory. 3. Robert Hale Ives.
MAJOR WILLIAM GAMMELL, JR .- A figure of prominence in New England business life for many years, Major William Gammell, Jr., is prominently associated with several of the most important Rhode Island commercial and industrial enterprises. His services have been of decisive importance to the success of these organ- izations and his career has been one of great distinction and success. Equally distinguished is Major Gammell's army record, which covers the important period of American participation in the World War, as well as previous years of service.
Major Gammell was born at Providence, Rhode Island, on March 8, 1885, a son of William and Bessie Gardner (Bowen) Gammell, of this city. An account of his ancestry is to be found in the biographical record of his father, William Gam- mell (q. v.). He attended the English and Classi- cal School of Providence, prepared for college at Groton School, Groton, Massachusetts, and finally entered Yale University, from which he was graduated, in 1908, with the Bachelor of Arts degree. Following the completion of his academic training he made a trip around the world which lasted for a year, and at his return he became associated with the Lonsdale Company at Providence. Major Gammell is now treasurer of this organization, though he began his business career as a clerk.
Major Gammell's military service began almost as soon as his business career. On December 5, 1910, he enlisted in Battery A, Field Artillery, Rhode Island National Guard, and on October 15, of that year, was commissioned second lieu- tenant. On March 5, 1914, he was commissioned first lieutenant, and on November 16, 1916, he resigned from the National Guard service to ac- cept a commission as captain in the Army Reserve Corps. After the entry of the United States into the World War, he was called into active service. He joined the first Officers' Train- ing Camp, at Plattsburg, New York, was com-
missioned captain and served as assistant instruc- tor. On June 7, 1917, he was placed in charge of the organization of the reserve corps field artillery, for service in the World War, at Camp Devens, Massachusetts. Here he was assigned to the 302d Field Artillery, and soon afterwards appointed senior field instructor at the third Of- ficers' Training Camp with the 76th Division. While in command of this organization, on April 16, 1918, he was promoted and commissioned major of the 302d Field Artillery. On June 28, 1918, he went overseas with his command, passing through various artillery schools, including the school at Souge. At this time he was detached from his regiment, but at Souge he rejoined his regiment which was assigned to the 15Ist Inde- pendent Field Artillery Brigade. When this brigade was ordered up to the lines, Major Gam- mell was put in charge of the motor transporta- tion from Bordeaux. He participated in several notable engagements of the war, including the battle of the Meuse-Argonne, the St. Hillaire offensive, and others, while when the Armistice was signed he was located at Tresavaux. He was a member of the 2d Field Army whose offensive had as its objective the Fortress of Metz. For the convenience of the government, Major Gam- mell continued his service until May 7, 1919.
He returned to the United States on May 4, 1919, and immediately took up again the pur- suits of peace, settling down to his business re- sponsibilities at Providence. In addition to his connection with the Lonsdale Company, of which he is now treasurer, Major Gammell is promi- nently connected with the well-known Rhode Is- land firms of Goddard Brothers, and Brown & Ives. He is also a director of the American Mutual Fire Insurance Company, the Beverly Land Company, of which he is also assistant treasurer; the Enterprise Mutual Fire Insurance Company, the Manufacturers Mutual Fire In- surance Company, the Mechanics Mutual Fire Insurance Company, the Providence Community, Inc., the Providence Institution for Savings, of which he is also a vice-president; the Providence National Bank, the Providence-Washington In- surance Company, the Raytheon Manufacturing Company, the Rhode Island Mutual Fire Insur- ance Company, the Spencer Thermostat Com- pany, of which he is president; the State Mutual Fire Insurance Company, and the Raytheon, Inc., of which he is president and a director. He is treasurer and a trustee of the Rhode Island Hos- pital.
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Aside from his business connections, Major Gammell is prominent in the social life of Rhode Island. He is a member of many clubs, and is affiliated with Yale Chapter of the Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity. With his family he worships in the faith of the Protestant Episcopal Church, being a member of the Vestry at St. John's Episcopal Church in Providence.
On February 23, 1925, William Gammell, Jr., married Susanna Valentine Mitchell, of Phila- delphia, a daughter of Langdon Elwyn and Marian (Lea) Mitchell. Mrs. Gammell is de- scended of old and distinguished American fam- ilies. Her grandfather was Dr. S. Weir Mitchell, of Philadelphia, one of the notable figures in American medical science, and a well-known author of his time. Other prominent figures found in the record of her ancestry include Gov- ernor John Langdon, first governor of New Hampshire, signer of the Declaration of Inde- pendence, and first secretary of the navy; and Pierce Butler. The Middleton family of Charles- ton, South Carolina, and the Kearsleys and Henrys, of Virginia, are also related to Mrs. Gammell. Major and Mrs. Gammell became the parents of two children: I. Helena Hope. 2. Mary Langdon Elwyn. The residence of the fam- ily is maintained in Providence at No. 25 Charles Field Street, while Major Gammell's offices are situated at No. 50 South Main Street.
ARTHUR AMORY GAMMELL-As a law- yer, of New York City, Arthur Amory Gammell has rendered valuable service to his profession and his fellowmen, and has, at the same time, upheld the lofty levels of Providence citizenry in his career in the Nation's metropolis.
He was born on September 5, 1888, son of William and Bessie Gardner (Bowen) Gammell. A record of his father and his ancestry in America appears under the separate heading of "William Gammell" (q. v.). Arthur Amory Gam- mell received his education in the Groton School, and at Yale University, from which he was grad- uated in 1911 with the degree of Bachelor of of Arts. During his academic course, as a result of his high scholarship, he was elected to mem- bership in the honorary scholastic fraternity, Phi Beta Kappa. He then attended the Harvard Law School, of which he was one of the first ten graduates. He received the degree of Bach-
elor of Laws from that institution. Then pro- ceeding to study law in the offices of Byrne, McCutcher in New York, he acquired a working knowledge of his profession.
It was in 1916 that he began his military activ- ities on the Mexican border, where he became a member of Squadron A. Later, when the United States entered the World War, he took part in that conflict, having been made captain of artil- lery at Plattsburg Training Camp in 1917, and later having been made regimental adjutant of the 305 Artillery, 77th Division. Subsequently he was promoted to the rank of major, the rank that he held thereafter.
He is now a member of the law firm of Mur- ray, Aldrich and Webb, one of the leading organ- izations in his profession in New York City, where he makes his home.
ROBERT HALE IVES GAMMELL-The diversity of interests of the Gammell family testi- fies to an extensive admixture of traits of char- acter and personality. Though other members of the family have been universally professors or lawyers, and though all of the present genera- tion have distinguished themselves in military af- fairs, Robert Hale Ives Gammell has gone into still a different kind of work. An artist of note, he makes his home in Boston, Massachusetts; and, fitted both by native talent and by study in the United States and abroad for the work that he is doing, he is highly regarded by his fellow- artists and by hosts of friends.
He was born on January 7, 1893, son of Wil- liam and Bessie Gardner (Bowen) Gammell, and member of an old family whose record appears under the separate heading of his father, "Wil- liam Gammell," in this work (q. v.). Robert H. I. Gammell received his formal education in the general academic field in the Groton School, from which he was graduated in 1911. He then studied art in Paris, France, and proceeded to distin- guish himself for his skill in this field.
Then came the World War, in which he served well his country and its cause, after having served previously with the Harvard Battery at the Mexican border in 1916. He went overseas with the IOIst field Artillery in the World War, first as a non-commissioned officer. Later he was commissioned first lieutenant and was trans- ferred to Section G-2 of the S. O. S., with which
Privian Jeary
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he served until the close of hostilities. He was retained in the service even after that time, how- ever, having been held in France until July, 1919.
Once again free to follow his own inclinations, Mr. Gammell resumed his artistic endeavors, which have been highly productive; and he now lives in Boston, at No. 22 St. Botolph Street. He is a member of the Artists' Guild, in Boston, and of several Boston clubs.
His service overseas in the war extended from September 5, 1917, to May 7, 1919, when he was honorably discharged. His promotion to first lieu- tenant came on November 13, 1918; and his first service was as second lieutenant of infantry, a post to which he was appointed on January 17, 1918.
P. WILLIAM GEARY-For almost two dec- ades his native city, Providence, has been the scene of Mr. Geary's successful professional activities as a lawyer. As a member of one of the well-known law firms of Rhode Island's capital he enjoys a very high standing in the legal profession, a stand- ing which was reflected by his appointment to vari- ous important positions of a legal nature during the World War. These he filled with much ability and fidelity, rendering valuable services to his city, State, and fellow-citizens. He is also prominently active in several legal, fraternal, social and relig- ious organizations.
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