The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 110

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

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land, to which we are indebted for most of the facts con- tained in this sketch. Mr. Knight has never held any public office, but lias devoted his time entirely to his busi- ness. He has been connected officially with several bank- ing institutions and insurance companies. Since January 1, 1867, he has been a director in the National Bank of Commerce of Providence, and was an incorporator of the People's Savings Bank, October 7, 1874, at which time he was elected a director, and served until October 4, 1876, when he was elected vice-president of that institution, which office he has continued to hold until the present time, having also been a member of the Standing Com- mittee since January 17, 1876. He has been a director in three insurance companies. He married, March 5, 1849, Josephine Louisa Webster, daughter of Royal A. and Han- nah C. (Parker) Webster, of Providence. They have had nine children, Josephine E., Robert, deceased, Webster, Franklin, deceased, Clinton Prescott, Harriet, deceased, Sophia, Edith, and Royal, deceased.

IRCE, HON. WILLIAM ALMY, son of Hon. Benjamin and Abigail (Johnson) Pirce, was born at Hope, Scituate, Rhode Island, February 29, 1824. His father was originally a farmer ; finally became the owner of a cotton mill at Simmon's Upper Village, Johnston, Rhode Island; and after holding various public offices, represented the town of Johnston in the General Assembly for several years prior to his death, which oc- curred February 13, 1868. William A. began life on a farm, and afterward engaged in the manufacture of cotton goods. He was educated in the public schools and at Smithville Seminary (now Lapham Institute), North Scit- uate, Rhode Island, and was for several terms a teacher in the district schools. For ten years he had charge of the store and counting-room of the company of which his father was a member, at Simmon's Upper Village, and in 1854 commenced business at that place on his own account as a manufacturer of cotton goods, in which he continued successfully until 1863. In 1855 he was chosen to repre- sent the town of Johnston in the State Senate, and in 1858 and 1862 he was elected a member of the House of Repre- sentatives. During the latter year he resigned his position as Representative to accept the appointment of Assessor of Internal Revenue for the Second District of Rhode Island, which office he held until it was abolished in May, 1873. In 1879, 1880, and 1881 he was again elected to the House of Representatives; served as chairman of the Committee on Charities and Corrections, and was a member of the Joint Committee on Rules and Order. He was chairman of the Rhode Island delegation to the Republican National Convention at Chicago in June, 1880, and is a member of the Republican National Committee. In 1863 he was ap- pointed Paymaster, with the rank of Major, on the staff of Major-General Gould, commanding the State Militia. He

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has served as Justice of the Peace and Assessor of Taxes, and held other offices in Johnston. On the Ist of January, 1865, he married Asenath S., daughter of James and Abi- gail (Colwell) Aldrich, of Scituate, Rhode Island. They have four children : Mary Elizabeth C., William B., James A., and Abby A. Major Pirce is a successful manager in party politics and an effective campaign speaker. In the Second Congressional District Convention for the nomina- tion of Representative to Congress, in October, 1880, he held a plurality of the votes until the sixty-eighth ballot, when he withdrew his name and nominated the successful candidate.

MITH, COLONEL GEORGE HENRY, Superintendent of the North Metropolitan Tramway Company, London, England, was born in Marlborough, Mas- sachusetts, October 24, 1824. His parents were Gaius W. and Lucy (Walkup) Smith. His child- hood and youth were spent in the town of his birth, where he enjoyed good opportunities for education, attending the public schools, and also an academy. His father, who was a harness-maker by trade, having moved to the neighboring town of Charlestown, young Smith finished his education in the excellent public schools of that place. At the early age of fourteen he engaged in farming in the adjoining town of Malden, continuing in this healthful employ- ment until his manhood, when he took charge of the freight department of the Boston and Maine Railroad. Here his remarkable executive ability and tact were de- veloped, and speedily attracted attention. At the end of a year he was sent for by a well-known gentleman of Attleborough to take the entire charge of his farms and business. Here he became acquainted with Cynthia Amanda Capron, whom he married on the 14th of De- cember, 1851. She was the daughter of Jacob and Deb- orah Capron, and a lineal descendant of Governor Carter, who came over in the Mayflower. At the age of twenty- three he was employed by A. S. Matthews, Esq., then Chief Engineer of the Stonington Railroad, to assist him in the construction of a branch of the road, five miles in length, to its present terminus in Providence. The work was com- menced in the fall of 1847, and completed in the summer of 1848. On the 28th of January, 1849, he embarked at Warren, Rhode Island, in the ship Hopewell, for Califor- nia, where he remained several years. In the summer of 1852 he established the Lawton Express, so-called, to New London, Connecticut, on the Stonington Road, which ex- press he run until 1853, when he was appointed conductor on the road, running the steamboat train. He continued as Conductor eleven years, during which time he opened, and for a period run, the Shore Line Express. In the fall of 1864 he was appointed to superintend the construction and running of the Union Horse Railroad Company in Providence. This enterprise he managed with his usual tact and success eight years, or until 1872, when he was

appointed manager of the North Metropolitan Tramway Company, London, England. This extensive corporation, with a capital of five millions, was opened in May, 1870. From small beginnings they have increased, under the efficient management of Colonel Smith, until the annual transit of passengers amounts to thirty-five millions, paying dividends to the fortunate capitalists of from five to ten per cent. While superintendent of the Union Horse Railroad Company he was actively engaged in other enterprises. He was secretary of the Narragansett Park Association, and had the entire management of affairs, from the opening of the Park, in the summer of 1867, until he left Providence for London. He was also secretary and treasurer of the National Trotting Association, which was organized in the spring of 1870. Mr. Smith's military experience com- menced about the year 1854, when he became a member of the Providence Marine Corps of Artillery. From a private he passed through all the successive grades of promotion, having been paymaster, quartermaster, lieutenant, cap- tain, major, until he attained the position of colonel com- manding. During the War of the Rebellion he rendered most efficient and important service, being the first man called upon in fitting out the first battery from Rhode Island. Ten batteries in succession were fitted out under his directions and sent to the front, every battery carrying the impress of his energy and patriotism. For his services in securing volunteers and equipping them for duty, he was early rewarded with a special appointment as lieutenant- colonel by his Excellency, Governor William Sprague. At a complimentary dinner given him September 4, 1880, by the Veteran Association of the Artillery, he being on a visit from London, all these facts were proudly recounted by the several speakers at the banquet, as reflecting honor not only on the association and the State, but on the whole country. Colonel Smith has been an active and useful member of the Masonic Fraternity. In January, 1849, he joined the Asylum Lodge in Stonington. He joined the Providence Royal Arch Chapter in 1857, and the St. John's Commandery of Knights Templar. He was also a charter member of Calvary Commandery. He has four children, viz., Charles Bates, Carrie Lee, Mary Carver, and William Sprague. Charles, the eldest, who is associated with his father in business, married, December 12, 1878, Mary Ada Lane, daughter of George Lane, of Nottingham, England.

GE BECK, LIEUTENANT WILLIAM EDWARD, was born October 13, 1821, in Wrentham, Massachusetts, where he spent his boyhood. His parents were William and Sarah (Arnold) Peck. He attended school in his native town, and subsequently pur- sued his studies at Scituate, Rhode Island ; then for some time engaged in teaching in different places, and was prin- cipal of the High School of Franklin, Massachusetts. In 1847 he commenced the study of law in the office of Rich-

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ard W. Grecne, of Providence, late Judge of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island. He was admitted to the bar in 1850, and entered upon the practice of his profession in Providence, in company with Thomas C. Greene. In 1852 he was elected a Representative from Providence to the General Assembly, and served as one of the judges of the Court of Magistrates. In 1855 he removed with his fam- ily to East Greenwich, Rhode Island, but continued his office business in Providence. In 1857 he was elected Senator from Greenwich. He continued his professional duties there and in Providence until the Civil War, in which he took a deep interest, not only in raising soldiers and means for protecting his country, but also by his own enlistment in the Rhode Island Cavalry, where he was commissioned first lieutenant. While connected with his regiment in Louisiana he was appointed Judge Advo- cate, and officiated as such at Thibodeaux, where he was taken ill, and after going to Napoleonville, died there Au- gust 13, 1865. His remains were placed in a metallic coffin and buried with military honors. Lieutenant Peck will long be remembered for his patriotism. He was mar- ried, June 28, 1853, to Harriet A. Newell, daughter of Nelson and Amanda (Arnold) Newell, of Franklin, Massa- chusetts. Their children are Hattie A. and William E. It is worthy of note as an index of longevity, that Lieuten- ant Peck's eldest sister, Mary Ann, had at one time two grandmothers, four great-grandmothers, and one great- great-grandmother, making seven generations then living.

CCABE, VERY REV. M., was born in the county of Leitrim, Ireland, September 12, 1826. After a preparatory education in the public and clas- sical schools in the neighborhood of his native place, he came to this country in 1851, and finish- ed his ecclesiastical education in St. Mary's Seminary, Baltimore, Maryland. He was ordained to the holy or- der of priesthood June 11, 1854, by the Rt. Rev. Bernard O'Reilly, second Bishop of the Diocese of Hartford, who was lost in the unfortunate steamer Pacific, in 1856. After his ordination he was assistant at the Cathedral till Feb- ruary 28, 1855, when he was appointed pastor of St. Charles Church, Woonsocket. The death of Rev. Patrick Lamb left a vacancy in St. Patrick's Church, Provi- dence, which was filled by the transfer of the subject of this sketch. He remained in Providence till Febru- ary 2, 1869, when, owing to financial troubles caused by building the new church in Woonsocket, for the erection of which he had collected ten thousand dollars before going to Providence, the Bishop requested him to return to Woonsocket. Here he remains at this date, pas- tor of St. Charles Church, at which there is an attendance of ahout 3500. The school at the church was built in 1859, and the school on River Street in 1878. The church was dedicated in 1870, in which year the Sisters of Mercy

came to Woonsocket. The church and the schools named were built up by his enterprise and supervision.

EAGRAVE, GEORGE AUGUSTUS, manufacturer, son of Josiah and Lois (Taft) Seagrave, was born in Uxbridge, Massachusetts, January 6, 1823, and is the youngest of a family of twelve children. His father was a well-known farmer in moderate circum- stances. We learn from a genealogical record being pre- pared hy Daniel Seagrave, Esq., of Worcester, Massachu- setts, that the family probably came to this country from Leicestershire, England, where the Christian names, to a

great extent, are synonymous with those of the families in New England. The family name in English history is variously spelled Segrave, Seagrove, and Seagrave. The great ancestor in New England was John Seagrave, who left England for America between 1725 and 1730, and died on the passage; so says tradition. His widow and four children landed in Boston. His sons Edward and John removed to Uxbridge, Massachusetts, when quite young, and there became thrifty farmers and respected citizens. Thither their mother removed in 1774, where she died in 1786. The daughters remained in Boston, where one of them was married. Edward was first lieutenant of the company of minute-men, who marched from Uxbridge for Lexington on the morning of April 19, 1775, and was sub- sequently captain in the Continental army, and for his brav- ery and self-possession at the battle of White Plains was tendered a colonel's commission, which he declined. He is also mentioned as a private in one of the companies which volunteered to put down the Shays Rebellion. John enlisted in the French and Indian war and died during his term of service. Edward's son Josiah was the father of George Augustus, the subject of this sketch. George A. was employed on his father's farm until the age of fifteen, and attended the district school during the winters. In 1838 he went to Providence, where he served as clerk in the wholesale grocery house of J. T. Seagrave & Co. until 1842, except a few months spent in Uxbridge, where he attended a private school during that time, his brother being one of his employers. In the year last mentioned he and James S. Phetteplace purchased the stock and trade of his employers, and leasing a building on Market Street, Providence, carried on the business successfully until 1872. In 1850 Mr. Seagrave became interested in the woollen manufacturing business carried on by J. T. Seagrave & Co. at Graniteville, Burrillville, Rhode Island, to the manage- ment of which he began to devote most of his time about 1856, the grocery business being conducted by Mr. Phette- place. In 1865, in company with James S. Phetteplace and J. L. Pierce, he purchased the Fales & Jenks eotton mill and machine-shop, on the Blackstone River, at Cen- tral Falls, Rhode Island, which they let until 1869, and in the spring of that year built a new mill and made other

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general improvements about the place. In 1870 their lease at Graniteville expired, and they started the new mill at Central Falls, making doeskin and fancy cassimeres. The corporation is now known as the Central Falls Woollen Mill, Mr. Seagrave being the treasurer, and having the general management of the business. Mr. Seagrave was one of the originators of the Continental Bank of Provi- dence, which finally became the Fourth National Bank, of which he has been a director most of the time during its existence. On the 4th of September, 1854, he was chosen a director in the Weybosset Bank, and has been president of the same since May 18, 1867. He has been a director in the Northern Bank of Providence since April, 1879, and is also a director in the American Mutual Insurance Company, and in the What Cheer Mutual Insurance Company, of Providence. He is a member of the First Congregational (Unitarian) Society, and takes an interest in all benevolent work. He married, June 24, 1856, Mary Greene, daughter of Duty and Ruth (Owen) Evans, of Providence. They have had seven children, two of whom, named George A., died in infancy. The names of the others are Frank Ev- ans, Lincoln Taft, Clifford Phetteplace, Mary Lois, and Carrie Foster.

ATERMAN, HON. STEPHEN, son of Stephen and Eliza (Aldrich) Waterman, was born in Provi- dence, December 13, 1826. He prepared for college at the University Grammar School, and graduated at Brown University in the class of 1846. Among his. classmates were Hon. S. S. Cox, M.C., Judge Thomas Durfee, William and T. P. I. Goddard, and Hon. Francis Wayland. Soon after he graduated he embarked in business pursuits, for which he had eminent qualifica- tions and in which he achieved success. In due time he came to be recognized as a man of marked ability in the community. His fellow-citizens showed their appreciation of his character by choosing him as their representative in each branch of the municipal government. For four con- secutive years he occupied the chair of the President of the Common Council. He was chosen also to represent his native city in the General Assembly, of which he was a prominent member at the time of his death. The quali- ties of his character were such as belong to men of earnest purpose and promptness of action. Although a "man of affairs," he did not neglect the cultivation of those tastes which had been developed by his liberal education. He was a lover of good books, and took pleasure in the society and friendly intercourse of intelligent people. It is said of him that few men subject their daily lives to the control of conscience and reason more habitually than did Stephen Waterman; and an honest application of his best faculties to the business of the hour, whether public or private, was always characteristic of him. His temperament was a san- guine one, and at times gave to his expression of opinion a force which to more cautious men seemed like exaggera-

tion; yet his reasoning was almost always sound, and the steps were well considered. He died in the prime of life and in the midst of his usefulness. The event took place November 3, 1871. He married, October 26, 1852, Har- riet Pearce, daughter of William P. and Sarah P. Bullock, by whom he had four sons. Mrs. Waterman died February 7, 1866.

ELLEN, JAMES, a distinguished aeronaut, son of Sylvester and Mary (Luther) Allen, was born in Barrington, Rhode Island, September II, 1824. His father was liberally educated at An- dover, Massachusetts, but, from considerations of health, took to a maritime life, and was a sea-captain for twenty-five years. While in the brig " Busy" he had a severe conflict with pirates, was wounded in the thigh and taken captive. He died in Providence in 1832. The mother of James was of the old and highly honorable family of Luthers of Eastern Rhode Island. The Allens and Luthers were of English origin. Sylvester and Mary Allen had ten children,-Martha Watson, Samuel, Joseph Kinnicutt, Ezra Stiles, James, Luther, Cyrus, Nancy, Eu- nice Brown, and Lydia Monroe. James received a good common-school education, which he afterwards enlarged by reading, study, and his extensive travels on the whole American continent, and large intercourse with all classes of men. Being of a bold and progressive spirit, full of the enterprise of a genuine Yankee, and perceiving what ad- vantages might accrue to the world from aerial explorations and observations, after studying the history and science of ballooning, he finally determined upon the perilous career of an aeronaut. He was the first to choose this airy voca- tion in New England. Prior to his beginning his ascen- sions but one person had made aerial voyages in this coun- try, and that was the Frenchman, Lauraette, who in about 1833, made ascensions in Boston and Providence, and was the first man to manufacture sulphuric acid in America. Mr. Allen was charmed with the idea of navigating the air. He, in this daring undertaking, was finally remarkably suc- cessful, and attained wide reputation, having now (1881) pursued his career about thirty years, during which time he has made about one hundred and fifty ascensions. At present he has no superior among the aeronauts in America. Professor John Wise, who led his profession in his time, was unfortunately drowned by his descent into Lake Mich- igan, in 1878. Mr. S. A. King, who for some years was associated with Mr. Allen, has ceased making aerial voy- ages, and now resides in Philadelphia. After Mr. Allen had sufficiently studied the history and science of balloon - ing, especially as it had been developed in France, he con- structed his balloon, the "Zephyrus," and began his ascen- sions at Providence, Rhode Island, in 1856. He was at this time assisted by Mr. King, of Philadelphia. In 1857 he made ascensions from various cities and towns in New England, and began to take a few courageous passengers

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with him. His flights were made on occasions of celebra- tions, and from fair-grounds, to the wonder and delight of thousands of spectators. After the "Zephyrus," his next balloons were the "Frolic" and the "Monarch of the Air;" the capacity of the latter being 33,000 cubic feet of gas, and the "Goddess of Liberty," constructed in 1860. The story of his aerial voyages would fill a volume. Ilis average elevation was from one to two miles. His greatest height was attained during his ascension from Providence in 1856, when he reached an altitude of three and a quar- ter miles. In 1861, at the opening of the Rebellion, Mr. Allen offered his services to the nation to reconnoitre the front of the rebel lines for the benefit of the Federal army. His first ascensions were made in Washington. He then followed the Army of the Potomac to the Peninsula and to the front of Richmond. Here his discoveries were of special importance. He took up with him engineers and photographers, who sketched and pictured the country ly- ing along the fronts of the contending forces. The rebel evacuation of Yorktown was first discovered from his bal- loon, at day-dawn, by General Custer, who accompanied him. His army services were many and arduous, and were well appreciated by our government. In 1865 he constructed the " Monarch of the Air," a very remarkable balloon, that served him on a multitude of occasions with great success, till having been entangled in forests at its descents it was finally abandoned in 1879. This balloon cost about a thousand dollars. When ready for flight it weighed about nine hundred pounds, and was capable of carrying about nine hundred pounds. In 1867 Mr. Allen was chosen by the government of Brazil to visit that coun- try and assist the united forces in subduing the Paraguayan rebellion. In this expedition he was assisted by his bro- ther, Ezra Stiles Allen. On reaching Paraguay he found that the forces of Brazil, of the Argentine Confederacy, and of Montevideo had been lying fourteen months without venturing to attack the enemy's front. In sixteen days after his first ascension here these forces moved success- fully upon the enemy. Ile served the Brazilian govern- ment with signal success for thirteen months, and was handsomely rewarded. His most magnificent balloon was named " Allen's Castle in the Air," in which he made an ascension from Boston during the second Jubilee celebra- tion in 1872. Its capacity was seventy thousand cubic feet of gas, and it took up ten passengers at a time. From a height of one thousand feet a photographer in this aerial ship secured a splendid view of the city and harbor of Boston. On two occasions Mr. Allen has remained up in his balloon for ten days in succession ; first, after his ascen- sion from the Soldier's Home in Dayton, Ohio, in 1880, and second, from Lynn, Massachusetts, July 4, 1881. These feats added to his fame as a skilful, daring, success- ful aeronaut. He has met with but few accidents in his descents. Once he fell into Thomaston Bay, in the State of Maine, but escaped by his life-preserver. He has built

fifteen balloons, and has himself used about a dozen. He has made about one hundred and fifty ascensions from various points, from Quebec, in Canada, to Paraguay, in South America, and from Bangor, in Maine, to the Golden Gate, on the Pacific. Commonly he has used carburettcd hydrogen gas, such as is used for the illumination of cities. On special occasions, when away from gas-works, he has used pure hydrogen gas, gencrated from water by means of sulphuric acid and iron. The greatest speed that he ever made in his voyages was twenty-eight miles in eighteen minutes. His son, James K., has for some years assisted him, and has become an expert in both the science and practice of ballooning. Politically Mr. Allen is a stanch Republican. In the spring of 1878 he became a member of St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal Church, in Providence. For twelve years he has been an active and prominent member of temperance organizations, holding the highest offices in the various socicties. He married, October 15, 1849, Agnes Jane Fields, born in Johnston, Rhode Island, May 26, 1830, daughter of Dr. William Fields, and has three sons and two daughters: James Kin- nicutt, Ezra Stiles, Malvern Hill, Elizabeth Mary Cook, and Minetta. The eldest son, now associated with his father as an aeronaut, has attained a high rank in his pro- fession.

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The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 110

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