The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 101

Author: National biographical publishing co., pub
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Providence, National biographical publishing co.
Number of Pages: 868

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Chat, Fisher M. D.

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Council and of the Board of Aldermen. There were three children by the first marriage : Edward Payson, Samuel W., and Jennie. The last named died in infancy. To his eldest son he gave the farm at Long Meadow, where he now resides. His other son is a clerk in the Rhode Island National Bank.

ISHER, HON. CHARLES HARRIS, M.D., son of George Clinton and Harriet (Cady) Fisher, was born in Killingly, Connecticut, June 30, 1822. His ancestry in the different lines of genealogy were nearly all in easy pecuniary circumstances, the result of personal industry; they also occupied very respectable social positions, and in several instances, civil positions of distinction. His grandfather, Barzillai Fisher, was an active participant in the War of 1812. His great-grand- father, Barzillai Fisher, Sr., and five sons, were connected either with the army or navy during nearly the whole of the Revolutionary struggle. Nearly all held official posi- tions; one was a member of Washington's body guard for three years, and another commanded a vessel in the navy. Among those connected with his ancestry who acquired distinction were, Fisher Ames, the eloquent orator and professor of law, Professor John D. Fisher, M.D., of Har- vard University, an author of some note, Judge Fisher of the Supreme Court, and Hon. Samuel S. Fisher, United States Commissioner of Patents. The maternal grand- father of George C. Fisher (James Aldrich, of Scituate, Rhode Island) was for nineteen years a member of the General Assembly of Rhode Island, and is said to have drawn lots, in a rude way, with Hon. Elisha Mathewson to decide between them as friends which should be the candidate for the United States Senatorship with the cer- tainty of an election, and which resulted in favor of Math- ewson, who received the cordial support of Aldrich. Gov- ernors Arthur and James Fenner, and Governor Jones, were intimate personal friends of Mr. Aldrich, and spent many days every year in social intercourse at their several resi- dences. Mr. Aldrich was one or more times a presidential elector. A great-grandson of Mr. Aldrich, James B. Angell, LL.D., President of the University of Michigan, is Min- ister Plenipotentiary to the Court of the Emperor of China, 1880. Dr. Fisher lost his father at eight years of age, and was thenceforward dependent on his own labor. His early educational advantages from schools were quite limited, but by private study he acquired a very fair knowledge of the higher mathematics, the natural sciences, and the Latin language. The expenses of his education, general and professional, were defrayed wholly by his personal exer- tions. His professional education was acquired at Dart- mouth, Harvard, and the University of New York. He was also a student in the office of Professor Alfred C. Post, M.D., LL.D., of New York. He commenced the practice of medicine at North Scituate, Rhode Island, where he still

resides, although his duties and professional engagements require a considerable portion of his time in the city of Prov- idence, where he has an office. Dr. Fisher has had a very large and varied practice, including many important surgical operations, and a large part of the consultation business of the surrounding towns. He early became identified with the educational interests of the town of Scituate, and suc- cessively occupied all the positions of oversight and super- intendence of the public schools of that town; was active in the formation of the Public Library, holding the position of director and president of the same for many years; and was also a trustee of Lapham Institute. During the War of the Rebellion he served, under a commission from the Governor, as Surgeon on the Board of Exemption from Draft, and was also one of the Inspectors of Recruits. In 1869 he was elected to the State Senate, where he served on the Committee on Corporations, and also on several joint and special committees, including a commis- sion, of which he was chairman, to inquire into the expe- diency of stocking the inland waters of the State with more esculent fish. In 1870, upon the establishment of the State Board of Education, he was appointed a member by the General Assembly, and has by successive appointments con- tinued a member to the present time, 1880. He was active in procuring the establishment of the State Normal School, and with Governor Seth Padelford, and Commissioner T. W. Bicknell, visited the Normal Schools of other States to ascertain their plans of organization and methods of in- struction. He has been a trustee of the Normal School continuously from 1871. In 1877 he was returned to the State Senate, serving two years on the Judiciary Committee, the Committee on Executive Communications, and other joint and special committees. Upon the establishment of the State Board of Health, in 1878, he was appointed a mem- ber, and having been elected secretary of the Board, was, in 1880, by legislative enactment, in order to define his duties more clearly, made State Registrar of Vital Statistics, and Commissioner of Public Health. He was also a Pres- idential Elector for Rhode Island in 1876. Early inter- ested in the establishment of railway facilities between his adopted town and the city of Providence, he was active in the organization of the Providence and Springfield Railway Company. He occupied the position of director of the Citizens' Union Bank for fifteen years, and was for two years President of the same. He was, also, for eleven years, President of the Scituate National Bank. The vari- ous religious, benevolent, and literary associations have had his warm support, and with many of them he has sus- tained active official relations. He has been an active member of the Masonic Fraternity, having been the Master of a Lodge of Master Masons, presiding officer of a Chapter of Royal Arch Masons, and an officer in the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons. He is now a member of the State Grand Lodge of Master Masons, and is also a Knight Templar. In his professional relations, he has been the

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president, and has held several other offices in the Rhode Island State Medical Society ; is a member of the American Medical Association and the American Social Science Asso- ciation, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Public Ilealth Association. Ile marricd, February 22, 1849, Sophia R., daughter of Russell Smith, of Scituate, Rhode Island, who was the grandson of General William West, Deputy Governor, under the charter, an active coadjutor with the revolting colonists in the struggle for independence. Dr. Fisher has four children, George Russell, Mary Sophia, Ruthie Rem- ington, and Elizabeth Harriet. George R. graduated at Lapham Institute, in 1868, at Brown University in 1872, and after pursuing medical studies at home, at Yale College, and at Bellevue Hospital Medical College, graduated at the latter institution in 1874, at twenty-one years of age. He spent a year in practice with his father, and then settled in Olneyville, adjoining Providence, where he is now engaged in a large practice. He is Assistant Surgeon-General of the State, and a member of the general staff of the Gover- nor. Mary S. married, in 1877, Franklin P. Owen, assist- ant Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas, Providence. Lizzie H. married, in 1879, Albert W. Chapman, of Provi- denee, who is connected in business with his father as con- tractor. Ruthie M. married, in 1879, Walter J. Smith, M.D., at the time a resident of Scituate. Dr. Smith is the grandson of Professor Nathan Smith, M.D., first President of the Medical Faculty of Dartmouth College, and after- wards of Yale College. Dr. Nathan Smith was one of the two most eminent surgeons and practitioners of medieine in New England. Professor Nathan R. Smith, M.D., of the University of Maryland, an uncle of Dr. Walter J. Smith, was for forty years the leading surgeon of that State. Rev. John D. Smith, M.D., the father of Dr. Walter J. Smith, was in early life a Congregational minister, but for many years has been in the service of the United States govern- ment in the capacity of Surgeon. A cousin, David P. Smith, is Professor of Surgery in the Medieal Department of Yale College. Dr. Fisher's life has been one of in- cessant activity, and from youth he has been almost contin- uously intrusted with large responsibilities.

PHILLIPS, REV. MOWRY, was born in New Berlin, now Lancaster, New York, August 20, 1820. His parents, Augustus and Asenath Phillips, had re- moved from Glocester, Rhode Island, to that place. In 1840 he united with a Methodist church. In 1842 he came to Rhode Island, and en- gaged in teaching. He also united with the Free Baptist Church in Blackstone, Massachusetts, of which Rev. M. W. Burlingame was then pastor. He received license to preach in 1843, and ordination in 1845. From 1844 to 1846 he was pastor of an Independent Methodist church in Millville, Massachusetts. In 1846 he became pastor of

the Free Baptist Church in Georgiaville, and continued in this relation until 1864. 1Ie then became the pastor of the Free Baptist Church in Pascoag. After ten years of efficient serviee he was compelled by failing health to re- tire from this field to a small farm in Glocester, near the village of Harmony. In connection with his labors on the farm he acted as pastor of the Free Baptist Church in West Scituate from 1875 to 1881. This outline statement is barely suggestive of the character and usefulness of his work. Though his early opportunities for culture were not extensive, he was a thorough and lifelong student. As a religious teacher he was loyal to his convictions of truth, and evinced great independence and vigor of thought. His long pastorates speak of his exalted ideas of the pastoral relation, the extent of his resources, and of his excellent administrative ability. He was genial and dignified; cautious, but never cowardly, and always detested shams. He was a firm and bold advocate of moral reforms, such as peace, anti-slavery, and temperance, and was greatly interested in popular education, which he did much to pro- mote as a sehool officer in the town in which he resided. His intellectual, moral, and religious views were such as to render him a man of high personal character, command- ing marked respect, and exerting a deeided influence. He was married in 1846 to Sally Sargent, of Millville, Massa- chusetts. He died July 4, 1881, after a long and painful illness, in the sixty-first year of his age. Mrs. Phillips and six children-two sons and four daughters-survive him.

ARNOLD, HON. SAMUEL GREENE, LL.D., the his- torian of Rhode Island, son of Samuel Greene and Frances (Rogers) Arnold, and grandson of Wel- come Arnold, was born in Providence, April 12, 1821. The homestead, corner of South Main and Planet streets, was the house in which was planned the capture and burning of the Gaspé in 1772. His father's sister, Mary Arnold, was the wife of the famous orator, Hon. Tristan Burges. Samuel G. prepared for college in the sehools of Providence and also under the tutelage of the celebrated Dr. W. A. Muhlenberg, at Flushing, Long Island, New York, in the school known as St. Paul's Col- lege, which for a time had a wide fame. In 1836 he en- tered Brown University, and soon afterward, for the bene- fit of his health, accompanied Rev. William Hague, D.D., to England, and visited portions of the Continent. Re- turning he resumed his University course, and graduated in the elass of 1841. After graduation he entered the counting-room of James T. Rhodes, in Providence, and sub- sequently went as supercargo of a merchantman to St. Petersburg, Russia. There hearing of the " Dorr War," he left the vessel and returned home to find the rebellion ended. Pursuing a course of law study at the Harvard Law School, he received the degree of Bachelor of Laws in 1845, and was admitted to the bar of Rhode Islnad. His

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passion for historical study and writing had already pos- sessed him. Having the means at his command and an ardent desire to know more of the life and history of other nations, he travelled in Europe, to the North Cape, in Rus- sia, in classical regions, in Egypt, in Syria, and in South America. In England and France he spent much time and means in examining and copying records and state papers relative to the colonial history of our country, as he had previously, while a law student, projected the histori- cal work that finally gave reputation both to himself and to his native State. He prepared and delivered valuable pop- ular lectures on South America and Northern Europe. In 1850 he delivered the Annual Address before the Ameri- can Institute in New York. In 1852 he was chosen Lieu- tenant-Governor of Rhode Island. In 1861 he was a del- egate to the Peace Convention, in the hope of averting the Civil War. An ardent champion of freedom and the Union, he served as an aid-de-camp to Governor William Sprague, with the rank of colonel, and commanded a battery of light artillery. In 1861 he was again elected Lieutenant- Governor and re-elected in 1862. On the resignation of Hon. James F. Simmons, he was elected United States Senator, and served in 1862-3. Everywhere his talents, scholarship, and character gave him social and public prominence. In 1848 he was chosen a trustee of Brown University, and in 1878 received from the University the degree of Doctor of Laws. His chief work, The History of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, the first volume published in 1859, the second in 1860, was highly commended by scholars at home and abroad. Of a high order also are his published addresses, among which may be mentioned A Historical Address, published in the North American Review in 1851; The Spirit of Rhode Island History ; memorial papers on Albert G. Greene, William R. Staples, and Usher Parsons, read before the Rhode Island Historical Society ; his Centennial discourses in 1876; the History of Providence, and the Ilistory of Middletown. All his literary productions are models of method, clearness of view, and felicity of statement. In 1868 he was elected President of the Rhode Island His- torical Society, on account of his thorough knowledge of the State and of his important contributions to its literature. This position he filled until his death. As President of the Charitable Baptist Society of the First Baptist Church, in Providence, he performed valuable service, writing its Cen- tennial History, in 1875, and contributing largely to its treasury. For many years he served on the Providence School Committee; for eleven years he was a trustee of the Reform School; and for a like period a trustee of the Butler Hospital. In 1876 he was a Republican Presiden- tial Elector. In 1848 he married Louisa Gindrat Arnold, daughter of Richard J. Arnold, of Providence, and had three daughters, one of whom, Mrs. Louisa C. (A.) Apple- ton, resides near Savannah, Georgia. He died in Provi- dence, February 13, 1880, at the age of fifty-nine. Funeral

addresses were made in the First Baptist Church by Rev. Drs. E. G. Robinson, S. L. Caldwell, and William Hague. Dr. Robinson appropriately observed: " He abhorred shams of every description; every species of cant, and especially religious cant, to him was hateful. He had his long-settled and deep-seated religious convictions. Of these convictions, which were manifest in all his acts, he rarely spoke-never obtrusively-but without reserve when there was due occasion. . . . Among all the men whom it has been my lot to know, I have met with no one who has equalled him in unwillingness to appear, or to be ac- counted, anything else than exactly what he was."

SHEFFIELD, HON. WILLIAM PAINE, was born in New Shoreham, Rhode Island, August 30, 1820. His parents were George G. and Eliza (Paine) Sheffield, both descendants of early settlers of Rhode Island. After completing his academical studies he entered Harvard Law School, from which he graduated in 1844, and the same year was admitted to the Rhode Island bar. In 1841 he was a delegate from New Shoreham to the " Landholders' Convention," to frame a new State Con- stitution, and in 1842 was a member of the General As- sembly, standing firmly for "law and order" as against " Dorrism." He was returned to the General Assembly by New Shoreham in 1843 and 1844 while pursuing his legal studies. He commenced the practice of his profession in Tiverton, where he was brought into intimate friendly and professional relations with Hon. Job Durfee. In 1849 he was elected to represent Tiverton in the General Assembly, and re-elected in 1851 and 1852. He soon afterward re- moved to Newport, where his talents and legal abilities were at once recognized, and in 1857 he was returned to the General Assembly by that city. He continued to serve as a Representative to that body until 1861, when he was chosen a Representative from Rhode Island to the Thirty- seventh Congress as a Republican, and served the nation in that capacity from July 4, 1861, to March 3, 1863. In 1863 he was again elected to the General Assembly by the city of Newport, and with the exception of the years 1873 and 1874, he has been annually re-elected until the present time (1881). He has long been a member of the Standing Com- mittee of the House on the Judiciary. In 1869 he served on the Select Committee to revise the laws of Rhode Island, and has had more to do with shaping the statutes as they now stand than any other person. Having become so thoroughly familiar with the legislation of the State from its beginning, he is generally regarded as the best interpreter of Rhode Island law. Mr. Sheffield is a ready and forcible speaker in court-rooms and legislative halls, and an able writer, especially on historical subjects. In 1876 was pub- lished his " Historical Sketch of Rhode Island," and the same year an " Historical Address on the City of Newport," besides the publication at different times of various papers,

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reports, and speeches before the General Assembly. He has very valuable writings and notes, the product of his unwearied historical rescarch, that may yet be given to the public. He married, in 1847, Lillias White Sanford, daughter of Samuel Sanford, of Boston, a descendant of John Sanford, one of the first settlers of Rhode Island, the issue of the marriage being three children. His son, Wil- liam P. Sheffield, Jr., graduated with honor from Brown University, and is engaged in the practice of law in the city of Newport.

ASON, GEORGE CHAMPLIN, is descended from some of the old Rhode Island families-the Ayraults, Champlins, and Grants. The Ay- raults were Huguenots, the Champlins settled in Rhode Island in 1638; the Masons came to America in 1635, and the Grants in 1725. Benjamin Mason married Mary Ayrault, January 24, 1754. Their eldest son, Benjamin, married, Novemher 8, 1788, Mar- garet Champlin, daughter of Christopher Champlin, and granddaughter of Sueton Grant, and had four children. George Champlin Mason, who was the youngest, married, October 28, 1818, Abby Maria Mumford, daughter of Ben- jamin B. Mumford, and their eldest son, George Champlin Mason, born July 17, 1820, is the subject of this sketch. Of a delicate constitution, and frequently an invalid, he could give but little attention to study in his youth. At the age of fifteen he entered a drygoods house, as clerk, in New York, where he was employed for six years. At the end of that time his health was such that he had to give up the calling; but in the meantime he acquired a good business training. From childhood he has cultivated a taste for drawing, and, in 1844, having attained to some proficiency, he sailed for Europe, where he studied nearly two years, in Rome, Florence, and Paris. On his return to the United States he entered upon his profession as a landscape painter, chiefly of architectural subjects. At that time there was no resident architect in Newport, and he was frequently called upon for aid in perfecting and getting up architectural drawings, which led him, in 1858, to give his whole attention to this branch of art. Since then he has made architecture his profession. At times his pen has been employed in various ways. In 1851 he became the editor of the Newport Mercury, from which position he retired in 1858. From 1854 forward, for a number of years, he was a correspondent of the Providence Fournal, over the signature of " Aquidneck." Since the summer of 1876 he has been a regular correspondent of the New York Evening Post. The books that he has written are, Pen and Pencil Sketches of Newport, illustrated; I vol. 12mo., pp. 127. Charles E. Hammett, Jr., Newport, 1854. Reunion of the Sons and Daughters of Newport, I vol. 12mo., pp. 297, 1858. The Application of Art to Manufac- tures, I vol. 12mo., pp. 344; 150 illustrations. George P. Putnam, New York, 1858. Newport and its Cottages, I vol.

quarto, pp. 109, 1875; illustrated. Edition limited to one hundred copics; subscription price, $50. James R. Os- good & Co., Boston. The Old House Altered. I vol., small quarto, pp. 179; illustrated. George P. Putnam's Sons, New York. The Life and Works of Gilbert Stuart, I vol. small quarto, pp. 283; illustrated, 1879. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York.

UTLER, HON. CHARLES RUSSELL, manufacturer, was born in Ballston, Saratoga County, New York, December 10, 1822, and is the son of Eli and Mary (Darlan) Cutler. His father's ancestors were English, and his mother's French. He was educated in a country school and also pursued a course of study in the Chicago High School. In 1839 he removed to War- ren, Rhode Island, where he engaged as a seaman. He rose rapidly in the service, and for twelve years was a successful ship-master. During this period he cruised in nearly all the waters of the globe, and twice sailed around the world. At the close of 1858 he gave up going to sea and began the manufacture of cotton cordage at Warren, in mills built by himself, known as the Cutler Cordage Mills. This business he carried on successfully until after the commencement of the Civil War, when his establish- ment was converted into a manufactory of cotton yarns used in the manufacture of a great variety of fabrics, such as silk goods, hose, suspenders and other articles. In 1869 he associated with him as partner Mr. George Hail, and a stock company was incorporated, styled the Cutler Manu- facturing Company, of which Mr. Cutler is at present (1881) treasurer and agent. The business has steadily increased from the start, and has an invested capital of over $400,000. Since the formation of the company one large mill has been built, and another is now being erected, each having a capacity equal to a print-cloth mill of 30,000 spindles. In 1872, Mr. Cutler was elected Lieutenant-Governor of Rhode Island, which office he filled for one term. He has served as a member of the Town Council of Warren since 1862, and is now its President, which office he has held since 1870. He has also served the town acceptably in various other positions, having been for twelve years Chief Engineer of the Fire Department, and for several years Superintendent of Lights. He has taken a deep interest in educational matters, and was a member of the com- mittee which built the Miller Street school-house of War- ren. On the 3d of November, 1862, he was initiated into Freemasonry, in Washington Lodge No. 3 of Warren, and was Master of that lodge for the year 1863. In 1877 he was elected Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Rhode Island, which office he held for two years, during which time, at the invitation of the City of Providence, he had the honor to dedicate, in behalf of the Grand Lodge, the large and beautiful monument erected to the memory of Roger Williams. Mr. Cutler is a zealous worker in the Masonic

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order, and is recognized as one of its most efficient and influential members. He has been a member of the order of Odd Fellows since 1845, and for several terms held the office of Noble Grand. He married, May 4, 1845, Celinda Carpenter, daughter of Nathaniel Carpenter, of Seekonk, Massachusetts. Her father was a lineal descendant of one of the celebrated Carpenter brothers, who came from Eng- land, and whose descendants are now very numerous in this country. She died in Warren, August 27, 1870. On the 15th of November, 1871, Mr. Cutler married L. Lydia Gushee, daughter of Dr. Almond Gushee, a prominent physician of Warren, to which place he removed from Dighton, Massachusetts. Her grandfather was an eminent Congregational divine, and preached in one church in Dighton, Massachusetts, for fifty-seven years. The chil- dren by the first marriage were Charles R. and Mary Dar- ling. The former died at sea, of yellow fever, in 1874. The children by the second marriage are Edward Russell and Charles Williams. Mr. Cutler ranks among the most prominent and successful business men of Warren, and is noted for his readiness and liberality in contributing to the advancement of every good cause.

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The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 101

Author: National biographical publishing co., pub Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Providence, National biographical publishing co. Number of Pages: 868

Author: National biographical publishing co., pub
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Providence, National biographical publishing co.
Number of Pages: 868