USA > Rhode Island > Rhode Island : three centuries of democracy, Vol. IV > Part 6
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P. William Geary was born in Providence, March 31, 1887, a son of John F. and Johanna (Hayes) Geary. Both his parents are residents of Provi- dence, where his father has been connected with the city highway department for some forty years. Mr. Geary received his early education in the pub- lic grammar schools and then attended LaSalle Academy, from which he was graduated in 1905. Next he took up the study of law at the Boston University Law School, graduating there with the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1912. Having been admitted to the Rhode Island bar in October, 1911, he has since then been successfully engaged in the practice of law in Providence and for a number of years has been junior member of the well-known law firm of Murphy, Hagan & Geary, with offices in Suite 617, Turks Head Building. During the World War he served as a member of the legal advisory board under the selective service act, as special attorney for soldiers and sailors, and was a representative of the Alien Property Administra- tor for the district of Rhode Island. He has also served as secretary of the American Citizenship
Campaign Committee. Besides practicing in the various district, State, and Federal courts, he has also been admitted to practice in the United States Supreme Court. He is a member of the Rhode Island State Bar Association, the Providence Law Association, the Boston University Law School Alumni Association, member of the executive com- mittee of the LaSalle Alumni Association, the Oakland Villa Association, Boston University Club of Rhode Island, the Columbus Club, the Masters' Club of Boston, Providence Lodge of Elks, the Holy Name Society, the Knights of Columbus, of which latter he is an ex-chancellor, and life mem- ber of the Providence College Debating Society. In politics he is a supporter of the Democratic party. He was a Democratic member of the Prov- idence City Council, 1919-21; was elected recorder of deeds of the city of Providence on January 5, 1931, and is now in office. His religious affiliation is with the Roman Catholic Church. He assisted in editing the "Providence Visitor," Catholic news- paper, for many years. Ever since his college days he has been a member of Phi Delta Phi legal fra- ternity.
Mr. Geary is not married. He makes his home at No. 639 Smith Street, Providence.
CHARLES SUMNER TANNER-Important in the industrial development of Rhode Island, and particularly significant to the community in which his interests were located was the late Charles S. Tanner, president and treasurer of the Charles S. Tanner Company, of Providence, Rhode Island.
Charles S. Tanner was born in Centerville, Rhode Island, January 9, 1852, son of George and Tamson Tanner. He was educated in the Providence schools and spent most of his life in Providence and Cranston, where he became an outstanding business man. His first business association was with Orray A. Taft, Jr., manu- facturer of starch, dextrine and glue. After the death of Mr. Taft, Mr. Tanner purchased the enterprise and continued it until 1904, when it was incorporated as the Charles S. Tanner Com- pany. Of this business Mr. Tanner was president and treasurer until his death, and he made it a remarkably prosperous and well-run concern, ably serving a large and growing market. Mr. Tanner was modest and kindly, but a most indus- trious and able man, with excellent business judgment which he liberally placed at the service of his friends or of his community.
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For many years Mr. Tanner was sinking fund commissioner for Cranston. He was long a com- municant of the Roger Williams Baptist Church in Providence but during his later years attended the People's Baptist Church at Auburn. A prom- inent Mason, he was for twenty-seven years treasurer of Doric Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons.
Charles S. Tanner married (first) Amy W. Phillips, daughter of Pardon A. and Helen Mar (Carpenter) Phillips, of South Providence. Her father, a merchant, handled in his general store groceries, meat, and dry goods. Mr. Tanner mar- ried (second) Loretta Phillips, sister of his first wife. Two children were born of the first union: I. Bertha P., who married Harold B. Andrews, former representative and Republican floor leader. 2. C. Milton, who is conducting the manufactur- ing business developed by his father, C. S. Tan- ner Company, and who married Florence Youl- den, by whom he has two children: Charles Sumner, and Jay Delmont Tanner.
Mr. Tanner lived to the ripe age of seventy- five and passed quietly away on August 29, 1927. His was a happy life, filled with gratifying suc- cesses and with the abiding comfort of happy domesticity. He loved his wife and children and friends and was in turn encouraged by their love and admiration. His memory will long remain green in the hearts of his friends and neighbors.
FREDERICK C. FREEMAN -- Concentrat- ing his engineering training and ability upon the problems of public utilities, Frederick C. Free- man, president of the Providence Gas Company, has made an enviable reputation for himself in that field. In Providence, he is known in busi- ness, social, and fraternal circles as well as among those in his own work, for Mr. Freeman has a variety of interests and activities; but throughout New England his name is a familiar one to men interested in the progress of public utilities. Mr. Freeman helped to organize and he served as first president of the New England Gas Association; and he does all in his power to promote other public utility and engineering organizations. Recognition of his capacities for leadership, and his popularity with his fellows, have caused Mr. Freeman to be elected to official positions, both of a business and social nature, in many Providence organizations, to which he belongs.
Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, September 5, 1882, Mr. Freeman was educated in the pub- lic schools of Hoboken, New Jersey, where his family made their home during his boyhood. Fol- lowing his graduation from high school there, he enrolled at Stevens Institute of Technology, where he received his degree in mechanical engi- neering in 1903. Mr. Freeman's first position after his completion of school work was with the United Gas Improvement Company, of Phila- delphia, Pennsylvania; and, unlike most youths fresh from school who try themselves out in two or three jobs before finding one to their liking, here he remained for sixteen years. As engineer for the company, he worked in connection with a variety of public utility activities, gaining invaluable experience. It was on March 1, 1919, that Mr. Freeman became associated with the Providence Gas Company. At first he was engi- neer only, but later he became vice-president as well as engineer; and in that dual capacity con- tinued until his election to the presidency of the company in July, 1930.
A past president of the New England Gas As- sociation, Mr. Freeman is also a director of the American Gas Association. He is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, and the Providence Engineering Society; and in the last-named of these, he was formerly coun- selor. His other professional affiliations are with the New England Association of Gas Managers, of which he is a past president, and the New York Society of Gas Lighting.
Also a prominent figure in Providence business circles, Mr. Freeman is a former president of the Providence Rotary Club and an active worker in the Chamber of Commerce. He is a member, too, of the board of governors of the University Club, and a member of the Turks Head Club, the Wanamoisett Country Club, and the Rhode Island Country Club. He is also vice-president of the Providence Boys' Club. Active in the Free and Accepted Masons, he belongs to Corinthian Lodge, No. 27, of Providence.
Mr. Freeman married, in 1913, Marion Cowie, born in Webster, Massachusetts.
ALBERT HARTLEY-A man of demon- strated ability and wide experience in the textile industry, Albert Hartley has been general super- intendent of the Collins and Aikman Corporation
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at Bristol, Rhode Island, since February, 1927. He is of English birth and parentage, born at Queensbury, England, on August 10, 1889, a son of William and Sarah (Clarkson) Hartley. The father, who was born at Thornton, England, was engaged in textile work until the time of his retirement. The mother was born at Queensbury.
Albert Hartley was educated in the public schools of his birthplace. When he was sixteen he was apprenticed to John Foster and Sons, Ltd., owners of the Black Dye Mills at Queens- bury, and in that position acquired his first ex- perience in the textile industry. The merit of his services won him rapid advancement, and at the age of twenty-three he became manager of the Trafalgar Works, at Halifax, England, owned by Francis Willey and Company of Bradford. In 1912 Mr. Hartley took final honors at the Halifax Technical College, the Bradford Technical Col- lege, the City and the Guilds of London In- stitute in textiles.
Following twenty-one years of textile experi- ence in England, Mr. Hartley came to the United States in 1922, stopping for a brief period at Boston. Soon afterwards he accepted the super- intendency of the Ashworth Odell Worsted Com- pany at Salamanca, New York, and later went to Passaic, New Jersey, where he was employed with the Passaic Worsted Spinning Company previous to his coming to Bristol, Rhode Island. Mr. Hartley's connection with the Collins and Aikman Corporation which began in the early months of the year 1927, has proved decidedly valuable to the company, and as superintendent at the Cranston Worsted Mills he has built up a smooth-functioning organization.
Mr. Hartley is a Republican in politics, while with his family he attends the Congregational Church. He is very fond of music, possessing an excellent voice, and is soloist at the Bristol Church. Mr. Hartley has always been equally fond of athletics. Outdoor sports of all kinds attract him, and one of his favorite recreations is rifle-shooting. He was largely instrumental in forming the baseball team of the Cranston Wor- sted Mills. Mr. Hartley holds many medals for expert marksmanship. He is first lieutenant of Company C, at Bristol and a member of its rifle team, and he won the championship trophy of Bristol County in rifle-shooting in both 1929 and 1930. During the period of the World War, Mr. Hartley served as a member of the city of Bradford Volunteers, in England, while carry- ing on his duties in the textile industry. He is
affiliated fraternally with the Masonic Order, be- ing a member of St. Albans Lodge.
In 1916, Albert Hartley married Ethel Walker, daughter of Smith and Mary Ann Walker, of Great Horton, England. There are two children of this marriage, both born in England: Charles Edward, and Irene.
ZENAS WORK BLISS, B. S., A. M., D. Sc., former Lieutenant-Governor, engineer, economist and organizer of the Department of State Taxa- tion of Rhode Island, his native State, was born in the town of Johnston, Providence County, January 10, 1867, a son of the late Major-General Zenas Randall Bliss, United States Army, and Martha Nancy (Work) Bliss. He received his early education in the University Grammar School, Providence, and then attended the Mas- sachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, Mas- sachusetts, where he was graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Science in mechanical en- gineering in 1889. In more recent years, in rec- ognition of his interest in educational matters and of his eminent services in the field of public finance, Brown University conferred upon him the honorary degree of Master of Arts, and the Rhode Island State College that of Doctor of Science.
For some thirty years Mr. Bliss has been a rec- ognized leader in public affairs in Rhode Island. His public career began in 1901, when he was elected to the town council of the then town of Cranston, of which he remained a member until 1909, serving as its president during 1905-09. During 1903-09 he was also a member of the Rhode Island State Legislature. He quickly made his influence felt in this body and his ability won him assignments to important committees. During 1904-09 he served as chairman of the committee on finance of the House of Representatives, in 1909 as deputy speaker of the House, and also as chairman of the committee on rules and orders.
In 1909 he was appointed a member of the legislative committee to revise the revenue system of the State, in which capacity he continued to serve until 1912, rendering services of the utmost importance to Rhode Island and its citizens. It was due largely to his work as a member of this committee that the revenue system of the State was revised in 1912 and placed under the super- vision of a State Board of Tax Commissioners,
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upon the organization of which board he became its chairman, a position which he has continued to hold up to the present time. In this field of activity he has proven himself an exceptionally able and conscientious public official, and has gained to an unusual degree the respect and confi- dence of his fellow-citizens and commanded the attention of economists and tax administrators throughout the country. By direction of Governor Aram J. Pothier, he conducted the investigation upon which the present Department of State Finance is based. The work he has accomplished in connection with the financial affairs of the State has been of a most important character and will always stand as a monument to his ability and foresight.
During 1904-05 Mr. Bliss served as aide-de- camp with the rank of Colonel on the staff of Governor George H. Utter. While a member of the committee on revision of the taxation laws he was elected Lieutenant-Governor, and by virtue of this office was presiding officer of the Senate in 1910-12, the first to hold this office under the amendment to the State constitution. He has at various times contributed to the work of several important boards and committees, both in the official and civic life of the State. His deep inter- est in educational matters led to his appointment by the Governor as a member of the Board of Managers of the Corporation of the Rhode Island State College in 1912, of which he is vice-presi- dent. He was also a member of the commission to revise the laws relative to public education in 1922. He was a member of a legislative commit- tee created in 1918 to investigate the affairs of the Rhode Island Company, the leading traction system in the State, and the signal character of his services on that committee led to his appoint- ment by the Governor, when the system was reor- ganized under the name of United Electric Rai' ways Company, as one of the State's representa- tives on the board of directors, a position which he continues to hold. His engineering and finan- cial training and experience won him immediate recognition here, and he was elected president of the company on its reorganization, from which position he later resigned. He was also one of the receivers of the Rhode Island Company before its reorganization, representing the interests of the State of Rhode Island in that capacity, and was also a receiver of the Interstate Consolidated Street Railway Company. He is a member of the board of directors of the Morris Plan Company
of Rhode Island, and is also connected with sev- eral other important corporations.
Mr. Bliss is the author of numerous official reports and monographs on State and local taxa- tion and other branches of public finance, and a member of a number of economic and scientific associations active in this field throughout the country. He is a past president of the National Tax Association and of the New England State Tax Officials' Association, and also of the Eco- nomic Club of Providence. He is also chairman of the committee of inquiry into joint levies and ap- propriations by the Congress of the United States, created by the Legislature to investigate and protest against encroachments upon State rights by the Federal government. In 1927 his services as tax expert were sought by the House committee on ways and means of Congress to revise and simplify the administration of the Fed- eral Income Tax, an honor which the require- ments of his official and business connections in Rhode Island compelled him to forego.
His fraternal and social affiliations include the various bodies of the Masonic order including the thirty-second degree, the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, the Sons of Union Veterans, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Providence Engineering Soci- ety, and the Providence Chamber of Commerce. He is a member of the University Club, the Turks Head Club, the Rhode Island Yacht Club, the Edgewood Yacht Club and the Atlantic Tuna Club.
In politics Mr. Bliss is a staunch supporter of the Republican party, having served as a mem- ber of the executive committee of the Repub- lican State Central Committee for a number of years.
Mr. Bliss is a member of one of the oldest Rhode Island families. His earliest American ancestor was Thomas Bliss, born at Belstone, England, in 1591, who came to Braintree, Mas- sachusetts, in 1636, removed to Rehoboth in that State in 1640, where he died in 1649.
Mr. Bliss married, at Providence, October 26, 1892, Lydia Collins Kelly, a daughter of John Balch and Susan Houghton (Metcalf) Kelly. Mr. and Mrs. Bliss are the parents of one son, Zenas Randall Bliss, born March 3, 1898, who is now a professor in the engineering department of Brown University. The family residence is at No. 238 Armington Street, Edgewood.
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WILLIAM H. ADAMS-The life of William H. Adams, which was a most useful one in this State, especially in the Barrington community, where he lived, extended from 1855 to 1927, years of growth and development in the industrial world and of advancement in social and civic fields. In this development he took his full part, having given his time and his energies untiringly to business endeavors and having done a great deal to maintain at high level the standards of commercial relationships. During his lifetime he headed the firm of William H. Adams and Son, dealers in builders' materials and masons' sup- plies. And in business circles, as in his private associations, he ever manifested those qualities of geniality and kindliness that caused him to be so widely loved by his fellowmen; with the result that his life was in the highest degree helpful to others, and his death an occasion of wide- spread sorrow.
Mr. Adams was born in Barrington, Rhode Island, on November 14, 1853, son of George Adams, and lived all his life in this place. Here he attended the public schools, and afterward entered the express business. As a young man, he became a leader in commercial affairs, main- taining, along with his express business, a retail masons' supply establishment, which he conducted for twenty years before death came to him. He also set up, several years before his passing, the Riverside Hay and Grain Store, at Riverside, Rhode Island, which he operated along with his other enterprises. Into all of his many activities, he ever put his fullest measure of energy and devotion, with the result that his place in Rhode Island life was one of great usefulness to his fellowmen.
William H. Adams married Alice Riley, daugh- ter of Charles Riley. Their children were: I. Franklyn A., whose life and works are the sub- ject of the following biography. 2. William Leroy. 3. Earl Read. 4. Edith, who became the wife of Dennis O'Neil.
The death of Mr. Adams occurred on Septem- ber 20, 1927, and was a cause of vast regret in his community and State. For here he had labored constantly in a number of different fields of endeavor, and had done much for the promo- tion of the best interests of his fellow-citizens. A man of fine instincts and abilities, he achieved a great deal in his work, and well merited the trust that was placed in him and the love that others bore him.
FRANKLYN A. ADAMS-Since 1927 the head of the firm of William H. Adams and Son, and its sole proprietor, Franklyn A. Adams has been extensively engaged for many years in the operation of this enterprise, which deals in build- ers' materials and masons' supplies. He was formerly associated with his father, but since the elder man's death has conducted the business independently.
Mr. Adams was born in Barrington, Rhode Island, son of William H. and Alice (Riley) Adams. A record of his father's life appears in the preceding biography. The public schools of Barrington furnished to Franklyn A. Adams his early education; and when the time came for him to enter upon his own life's work, he became associated in business with his father. He was made a partner in William H. Adams and Son, in 1910. In 1921 this company was incorporated, and has so continued since that time. After his father's death, in 1927, the son took sole charge of the firm and its activities, and so remains at the time of writing (1930).
Along with his work in this commercial field, Mr. Adams takes part to a considerable extent in the affairs of a social and fraternal nature in his community. He is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, in which his affiliations are with St. Andrew's Lodge, and Warren Chapter of Royal Arch Masons. He is also a member of the Metacoma Country Club. His religious faith is that of the Congregational Church, of which he is a devout communicant. In his politi- cal views, he is a staunch supporter of Repub- licanism, although he has never sought office on his party's ticket, preferring to exert what in- fluence is his in a quiet and modest way. Mr. Adams' life in Barrington has been most useful to his fellowmen, and here he holds a position of importance and esteem.
Franklyn A. Adams married Margaret Day.
ROSWELL SEWELL BOSWORTH -- AI- though born in Maine, Roswell Sewell Bosworth has spent much of his active life in Rhode Island and is now managing editor of the "Bristol Phoe- nix," at Bristol, this State. He was born at Port- land, Maine, on September 17, 1898, educated in the public schools of Bristol and later at Brown University, from which he was graduated, in 1918, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. After
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the completion of his college course he went to New York City, becoming associated there with the National City Bank.
After six months of training in New York City, Mr. Bosworth was sent by the National City Bank to the branch at Valparaiso, Chile, and there remained for three years. When he re- turned to the United States, he became cashier of the C. A. Kilvert Investment House, of Prov- idence, Rhode Island. After two years in this position, Mr. Bosworth decided to take up edu- cational work. He taught school for six months at Fall River, Massachusetts, as acting head of the commercial department of the technical high school, and then took a position as principal of the high school at Little Compton, Rhode Island, continuing in that capacity for two years. For another period of two years, Mr. Bosworth taught in the commercial high school at Providence, re- signing finally to come to Bristol, where he has since been managing editor of the "Bristol Phoe- nix." On January 2, 1930 the business was incor- porated and he was made secretary and treasurer of the Bristol Phoenix Publishing Company. Mr. Bosworth's earlier experiences have all been of value to him in his present work, and his services have contributed decisively to the growth and suc- cess of this publication.
Mr. Bosworth is a member and a director of the Bristol Rotary Club. He attends the Con- gregational Church, of which he is a member of the standing committee, while in politics he is a supporter of Republican principles and candi- dates. He is affiliated with the Brown University Chapter of the Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity. Mr. Bosworth finds his chief diversion in sing- ing, reading, and in outdoor sports, particularly football.
On December 29, 1918, Roswell Sewell Bos- worth married Edith Evelyn Howard, of Prov- idence, Rhode Island. They are the parents of two children: I. Nancy Dimond. 2. Roswell Sewell, Jr.
PHILIP HERBERT WILBOUR-In official life the Insurance Commissioner of Rhode Island, and known in the business world as the owner and operator of the most extensive poultry farm in the United States, Philip Herbert Wilbour is of a fam- ily which traces its line back to 1633 of the Colonial era. He is of the ninth generation from Samuel Wilbore, founder of the family in New England,
who because of religious persecution was forced to flee from Massachusetts, and on the advice of Roger Williams established with his fellow-exiles a settlement in Rhode Island, with which State the descendants of this hardy and faith-filled pioneer have since been prominently identified.
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