The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 116

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

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and public life he has maintained a high and influential position. For three years he officiated as Lecturer in the Law School of Harvard University. In 1876 he was chosen Professor of that school and filled the chair with remarkable ability till 1879. On his retirement the Board of Overseers through their chairman, Judge Lowell, said : " We have suffered a great loss in the resignation of Hon. Charles S. Bradley, whose lucid and practical teaching was highly ap- preciatcd by the students, and whose national reputation added to the renown of the school. We had hoped that some incidental advantage of quiet and freedom from care might be found to outweigh other considerations, and that the professorship was permanently filled." Judge Bradley has travelled widely in our own country and at different times has visited nearly all portions of Europe. With his love of letters and broad scholarship he unites a genuine and strong love for agricultural scenes and rural enjoyments, which he himself is disposed to regard as in no small degree an inherited passion. The grounds about his elegant pri- vate residence, his farm property and products, and his at- tachment to ancestral estates, are a proof of his appreciation of all that belongs to the oldest and most important of human employments. Ilis taste and culture are manifest in his strong passion for superior works of art, some of the rarest specimens of which enrich and embellish his residence. His oration before the Alumni Association of Brown University in 1855, his oration on the 250th anniversary of the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, his remarks on the retirement of President Caswell from the presidency of the University in 1872, and his oration before the Phi Beta Kappa Society of Harvard University in 1879, were models of rich thought, graceful diction, and lucid argument, vindicating his right to be classed as one of the most impressive orators of our country. Of this last effort the Boston Daily Advertiser observed : " If there were any need for justification of the custom of annual addresses before the college societies, such an address as Judge Bradley's yesterday gave that justification completely. It is, indeed, remarkable to see an audience of so distinguished men of leading position in every walk of life. It is remarkable to have so much good sense, so many important suggestions, nay, so many of the fundamental truths upon which civilized society rests crowded into one hour. The power of the speaker on his audience, the hold with which he compelled their fascina- ted attention were again and again referred to through the afternoon. This is not simply the attention which people give to what they liear with pleasure, it was the satisfaction with which the audience received important principles, of which they felt the value, whether they were or were not new to the hearer. Vera pro gratiis indeed might well be taken as the motto of the address. The passage which showed how the bar of the country must be relied upon to maintain at the highest the dignity of the bench was received with profound sympathy and interest. It deserves the care- ful attention of the bar in every part of the country." His

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oration on "The Profession of the Law as an Element of Civil Society," pronounced June 29, 1881, before the So- cieties of the University of Virginia, was regarded "as a learned and profound discussion of this subject," in which he argued that " the bar is essential to the administration of justice, that the administration of justice is essential to the existence of society, and the existence of society essen- tial for the protection of man in his endeavors to live ac- cording to the laws of his being." He married ( 1) April 28, 1842, Sarah, daughter of Joseph and Mary (Whipple) Manton, of Providence. She was born March 10, 1818, and died December 12, 1854, leaving three sons, two of whom are now (1881) living, Charles and George L. Joseph Manton died March 7, 1879. Judge Bradley mar- ried (2) August 4, 1858, Charlotte Augusta Saunders, of Charlottesville, Virginia. She died in May, 1864, leaving a son, James Saunders, who died January 19, 1880. He married (3) in May, 1866, Emma Pendleton (Ward) Chambers, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She died Feb- ruary 28, 1875.

AN SLYCK, NICHOLAS, lawyer, was born at Pine Plains, near Kinderhook, New York, July 28, 1829, and is the eldest son of Hugh and Orminta Matilda (Pulver) Van Slyck. His ancestors on his father's side were among thie earliest settlers of Kinderhook, having come to this country in 1655, and his maternal ancestors lived at Pine Plains for several genera- tions. He pursued his elementary studies in the district school of his native town; prepared for college at the Kinderhook Academy, under the tuition of Silas Metcalf, an able instructor ; and in the autumn of 1846 entered the Sophomore class of Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts, from which institution he graduated in 1849. Among his classmates were several persons who have since become distinguished in literary and professional walks. Mr. Van Slyck studied law at Kinderhook, and was admitted to the New York bar December 2, 1850. He pursued his profession in the city of New York until the fall of 1855, when he removed to Providence, where he soon acquired a lucrative practice. Upon his removal to the latter city he formed a law partnership with Hon. George H. Browne, a graduate of Brown University, with whom he is still associated. Mr. Van Slyck's professional career extends over a period of twenty-five years, and has been attended with eminent success. Although engaged in a general practice, he has been especially successful as an advocate in jury trials. At the outbreak of the Civil War, in 1861, he was Colonel of the Providence Artillery, and in command of a company detached therefrom, he entered the service of the United States, in response to the first call for troops, his company forming a part of the First Regiment, Rhode Island Detached Militia. He participated in the first battle of Bull Run, and afterward served as lieutenant-colonel. He aided in organizing the

Ninth Rhode Island Regiment, and soon afterward re- signed his commission, returned home, and resumed the practice of his profession. His professional abilities were early recognized, and caused him to be called upon to fill various positions in public life. He has served for many years with great efficiency as a member of the Providence School Committee, of which body he is now President. He was a member of the City Council, from the Fifth Ward, from June, 1870, to August 10, 1874, and was pre- siding officer of that body from June, 1873, to August, 1874, when he was elected City Solicitor, which position, by various elections, he still holds. As chairman of the Joint Special Committee on Education, of the Common Council, he was influential in obtaining the plans and se- curing the erection of the school-house on Point and Plane streets. In 1875 he was elected to the General Assembly of Rhode Island, and served three years as a member of that body. He has been a member of the Masonic Fra- ternity since 1858, and has held various positions in that order, including that of Grand Master of Masons in Rhode Island, and Grand Commander of Knights Templar of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. He married, November I, 1854, P. Elizabeth Manchester, daughter of Captain C. B. Manchester, of Providence. Their children are Cyrus Manchester, a graduate of Brown University ; Mary Helen ; Abbie Lizzie; and Emma Matilda.

ATTESON, HON. CHARLES, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island; son of Asahel and Julia M. (Johnson) Matteson, was born in Coventry, Rhode Island, March 21, 1840. His father, a merchant in Coventry, has served for several years as a State Senator. The subject of this sketch re- ceived his early education in a private school in Providence, and at the Providence Conference Seminary in East Green- wich, after which he served for two years as a clerk in his father's store. Hethen re-entered the Greenwich Academy, and in 1856 began studies in the University Grammar School in Providence, preparatory to entering college. In 1857 he was matriculated in Brown University, from which he was graduated in 1861. Choosing the legal profession, he studied for one year in the office of Wingate Hayes, then United States District Attorney for Rhode Island, and then pursued a thorough law course at Harvard Law School. In January, 1864, he was admitted to the bar in Rhode Island, and began the practice of his profession in Provi- dence, at first alone, but in 1865 became associated with Mr. Hayes, under the law-firm of Hayes & Matteson. This copartnership continued until July 1, 1871, when he re- sumed practice alone, and became the attorney for various corporations. He likewise served efficiently as director and trustee of several corporate institutions of the State. His ability as a lawyer, and his fidelity to important trusts, led to his election, in January, 1875, to the bench of the Supreme Court of the State, which position he assumed the

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following montli, and where he is still serving with honor. Ile married, August 22, 1872, Belle Hines, daughter of Paul Ilines, a manufacturer of Warwick, Rhode Island.

AN ZANDT, HON. CHARLES COLLINS, ex-Gover- nor of Rhode Island, son of Edward and Lydia Bradford (Collins) Van Zandt, was born in New- port, Rhode Island, August 10, 1830. His father was a native of New York, where he spent most of his life, and died in Brooklyn, in May, 1868. His grand- father, Wynant Van Zandt, descended from one of the oldest of the Dutch families that settled in New York, the progenitor having come over in the first ship that brought colonists. His grandmother was Maria Underhill, of West- chester County. She lived to the advanced age of about ninety years. Her grandfather held a grant, from the King, of the whole of Westchester County, under the title of "Lord Mayor of Westchester." His mother, who is still living (1880), is the daughter of Hon. Charles Collins, of Bristol, Rhode Island, for nine years Lieutenant-Governor of Rhode Island. She was granddaughter of Hon. Wil- liam Bradford, of Mount Hope, a lineal descendant of Governor William Bradford of Plymouth Colony. Hon. William Bradford was Speaker of the House of Repre- sentatives of Rhode Island, Lieutenant-Governor of the State, and a Senator to Congress from March, 1793, to October, 1797. Charles Collins Van Zandt was brought up under the particular care of his grandfather Collins, and after passing through the schools of Newport and a select school in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, entered Trinity College, Connecticut, graduating in the class of 1851. One of his classmates was Charles J. Hoadley, State Li- brarian of Connecticut. After pursuing a course of law study with Hon. Thomas C. Perkins, District Attorney of Hartford, Connecticut, and with Hon. Alfred Bosworth, of Warren, Rhode Island, afterwards Judge of the Supreme Court of the State, he was admitted to the bar in March, 1853, and commenced the practice of his profession in Newport, where he has continued to reside. His strong literary tastes, love of books, and oratorical gifts fitted him to be an advocate rather than office counsellor. He has contributed largely to many periodicals. In 1855 he was elected City Solicitor of Newport, and filled that position for many years. In the same year he was chosen Clerk of the House of Representatives of the State, and served for two years in that office. In 1857 he was elected a member of the House of Representatives, from Newport, and served the State in the Assembly for many years with signal suc- cess, being chosen Speaker of the House from 1858 to 1859, and from 1866 to 1869, and again from 1871 to 1873. He was elected to the State Senate, from Newport, from 1873 to 1874, and was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. From 1873 to 1875 he was the Lieutenant- Governor of the State, and also served as President of

the Senate. In 1877 he was clected Governor, and, after serving for three years, declined a re-election. In the presidential campaign of 1864, with Governor Morton, of Indiana, and Governor Brough, of Ohio, he spoke through- out the Middle States in favor of the re-election of President Lincoln. Hc has also taken a prominent part in other po- litical campaigns. At the Chicago Convention, 1868, that nominated General Grant for the Presidency, he was Chair- man of the State Delegation, as he also was in the Repub- lican Convention in 1876, that nominated President Hayes. His literary ability, scholarly attainments, broad political principles and Christian urbanity have been apparent throughout his public career. Numerous have been his ora- tions and poems, before literary societies, and his addresses at mass meetings and political assemblies, State conven- tions, temperance conventions, and benevolent and social gatherings. Special praise was awarded to his orations delivered at the laying of the corner-stone of the State monument for soldiers and sailors that fell in the Civil War, and at the semi-centennial of the Rhode Island So- ciety for the Encouragement of Domestic Industry; also to his poems delivered before the Literary Societies and Alumni of Brown University, Dartmouth College, Colby University, Waterville College, Norwich University, and Trinity College, his poem delivered before the Army of the Potomac and the Grand Army of the Republic, at New Haven, and the Centennial Poem before St. John's Lodge of Rhode Island. Rhode Island has never had a readier and more pleasing extemporaneous speaker-a man equal to all occasions-than Governor Van Zandt. President Hayes offered him the position of United States Minister to Russia, but he declined the honor. He is an attendant of the Congregational Church. On the 12th of February, 1863, he married Arazelia Greene, daughter of the well- known poet, Albert G. Greene, one of the Presidents of the Rhode Island Historical Society.

STEERE, HENRY JONAH, son of Jonah and Alice (Smith) Steere, was born in Providence, Rhode Island, April 11, 1830. His father, a saddler and harnessmaker, and an esteemed and prospered citizen, died September 25, 1871. The lineage of the Steere family is traced to John Steere, one of the first settlers of Providence, whose grant of land, fronting on South Main Street, lay south of Hanover, now College Street. Henry J. had a sister who died in infancy, hence, on the death of his parents, as the only surviving child, he inherited the estate for which his parents had long and prudently toiled. He received excellent home training, pursued the regular course of study in the public schools, and after graduating from the High School was engaged as a bank clerk, serv- ing at different periods the Merchants', the Traders', and the Grocers and Producers' Banks. Capability and fidelity secured his advancement. His extensive business career was commenced with the firm of Olncy & Metcalf (Stephen

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T. Olney and Jesse Metcalf), having an interest in the business, which at first was simply dealing in wool, but was gradually enlarged to include the manufacture of woollen goods. He became associated with them in their manufacturing enterprise. After operating different mills, the firm in 1862 erected the large, thoroughly appointed, and now widely known Wanskuck Mills, in the Tenth Ward of Providence. This successful firm is now known as the Wanskuck Company, and is engaged chiefly in the manufacture of plain and staple woollen goods. Since 1869 Mr. Steere has been the treasurer of the com- pany. On the death of Mr. Olney the affairs of the firm fell substantially into the hands of Mr. Metcalf and Mr. Steere. In the manufacturing interests of Rhode Island this company holds a prominent position. Though Mr. Steere's duties confine him much to his office, and are of a quiet nature, he has yet taken a deep interest in all public affairs, particularly those of a monetary and benevolent character, but has studiously avoided political offices. He early identified himself with the military force of the city, being a member of the First Light Infantry Company, and during the Civil War was a lieutenant on duty at Ports- mouth Grove, near the Lowell General Hospital. He accompanied the corps in 1860 in their visit to Cleveland, Ohio, on the occasion of the dedication of Commodore Perry's monument. He is a director of the Northern Bank, the Globe National Bank, the Fifth National Bank, the City Savings Bank, the Providence Washington Insur- ance Company, and the Economical Insurance Company. He is a member of the Franklin Society, of the Rhode Island Historical Society, and a trustee of the Rhode Island Hospital. His interest in the church he attends, and of which his father was an honored member for more than fifty years,-the Beneficent Congregational Church,-has been manifested by building for the society a beautiful and substantial chapel at a cost of more than thirty thou- sand dollars, designating the building as a memorial to his father. His contributions have been constant and large to various needy churches, and to all the charitable insti- tutions of the city. Though much confined by his business interests, he has travelled in the western and southern por- tions of our country. His large and elegant mansion on Benefit Street, purchased in 1876, contains rare paintings, statuary, and books, which have been the means of stimu- lating the artistic taste of the city.

JOSE, REV. JAMES GARDINER, D.D., pastor of the Beneficent Congregational Church, Providence, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, March 3, 1830. His father, Colonel Josiah H. Vose, was an officer in the United States Army, and served in Florida in the Seminole War, and in the War of 1812. His mother's maiden name was Charlotte Cushing. She was a descendant of one of the earliest settlers of New

England. The Vose genealogy in this country is traced hack to Robert Vose, who came from England and settled at Dorchester, Massachusetts, in 1654. Dr. Vose's paternal grandfather, Colonel Joseph Vose, commanded the First Massachusetts Regiment in the Revolutionary War, and was brevetted Brigadier-General by order of Congress, September 30, 1783. He was an original member of the Massachusetts Society of Cincinnati. Dr. Vose received his preparatory education at Worcester, Milton Academy, and Phillips (Andover) Academy, where he graduated in 1847. He entered Yale College the same year, and gradu- ated from that institution in 1851. On leaving Yale Col- lege he entered Andover Theological Seminary, from which he graduated in 1854. From 1856 to 1865, he served as Professor of Rhetoric and English Literature in Amherst College ; was ordained to the work of the ministry in Am- herst Chapel, October 20, 1857, and has been pastor of the Beneficent Congregational Church, in Providence, since January, 1866. In 1855-6 he visited Europe and spent several months in Italy and Germany, and revisited Europe in 1880. In 1874 Brown University conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity. He has long been an active worker in the cause of education, and for the past five years has served as a member of the School Committee of Providence. He is an hereditary member of the Mas- sachusetts Society of Cincinnati, and a corporate member of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Dr. Vose possesses fine literary taste and supe- rior ability as a writer. He is a close thinker, and his ser- mons, addresses and lectures exhibit deep research and scholarly finish. He is very popular with the membership of his own society as pastor and teacher, and is very effi- cient and successful in the administration of all departments of church work, including that of the Sabbath-school, in which he takes special interest. He married, August 19, 1856, Charlotte E., daughter of Hon. Franklin and Char- lotte (Barrett) Ripley, of Greenfield, Massachusetts. They have five children, Charlotte Ripley, Sarah Franklin, Josiah Howe, Elizabeth Eliot, and Robert Henry.

ENGELL, HON. JAMES BURRILL, LL.D., President of the University of Michigan, Minister Plenipo- tentiary to China, was born in the town of Scitu- ate, Rhode Island, on the 7th of January, 1829. His parents were Andrew Aldrich and Amey (Al- drich) Angell. His father was a farmer, in comfortable circumstances, who, in addition to his other employments, kept a hotel known as the " Angell Tavern." His mother was a woman of rare worth, exceedingly amiable in dispo- sition, and vivacious in temperament. From her the son inherits many of those traits of character which have so eminently distinguished him. He early developed a love for study and reading, which soon placed him far in ad- vance of his playmates and associates at the village school.

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Having decided upon a college course, he was, at the age of fourteen, sent to the University Grammar School in Providence, where he enjoyed the superior instruetion of Dr. Merrick Lyon, and of Dr. H. S. Frieze, who has for many years been Professor of Latin in the University over which Mr. Angell now presides. In the fall of 1845 he entered the Freshman class of Brown University, under the presidency of the celebrated Dr. Wayland. From this institution he was graduated in 1849, with valedictory hon- ors. The period of his residence in college is still remcm- bered as distinguished for the number of its accomplished scholars, and among them, by testimony alike of officers and students, President Angell was first. He had a surprising aptitude for all kinds of knowledge. Prom- inent as a elassical scholar, he showed equal facility in mastering the sciences, while in the departments of literature, history and philosophy he was an enthusiast. It was during his collegiate course that he became espe- cially interested in religious truth, attaching himself, after long and thoughtful examination of denominational pecu- liarities, to the Congregational Church. Immediately after graduating he was appointed assistant librarian, under Dr. R. A. Guild, who presides over this department of the University. Here, in this choice and well-selected library, was fostered and developed a taste for bibliography, and that knowledge and love of books which has been of such signal service to him in his professional life. He was also engaged in private teaching, one of his pupils being the late Thomas P. Ives, Esq. In 1851 he went to Europe, where he spent two years in study and travel. From his foreign residence he was recalled to take the chair of Mod- ern Languages and Literature in Brown University. This position he filled with the most gratifying success until the year 1860, developing the highest qualities of a teacher, and inspiring enthusiasm on the part of the undergraduates, who learned to love him as a man, and to reverence and respect him for his rare culture and gifts. During the last two years of his professorship he had written many of the leading articles in the Providence Journal, a paper which has always been distinguished for superior editorial ability. Upon the election of the Hon. Henry B. Anthony to the Senate of the United States, he offered Professor Angell the entire editorial care of his paper, which offer was accepted. For six years he held this important and trying position, conducting the Journal through the entire period of the Civil War, preserving it loyal in all its utterances and unfaltering in its support of the government. In the midst of political life he still retained his academic tastes, and when in 1866 the presidency of the University of Ver- mont was offered him, he promptly accepted the position, and in August of that year entered upon his new duties. His inaugural address, prepared in the shortest possible notice, attracted universal attention for the eloquence of its delivery, its classic finish, and the grasp it showed of the educational problem with which he was called to deal.

During the five years that he remained in Vermont the in- stitution prospered under his care, while he became widely and favorably known as a citizen. His native State did not meanwhile forget him. His Alma Mater, in 1868, gave him her highest degree, that of Doctor of Laws, and in 1869 selected him for the address before the Alumni. In 1871 he resigned his position in Vermont to enter upon the more arduous and important duties of President of the University of Michigan. This position he has continued to hold until the present time, with constantly increasing usefulness and success. The number of students under his administration has increased from one thousand to four- teen hundred, and all the departments of instruction have been materially extended and enlarged. On the 9th of April, 1880, the United States Senate, in executive session, confirmed President Angell as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to China, constituting him, with John F. Swift, of California, and William H. Trescott, of South Carolina, a Commission to negotiate and conclude by treaty a settlement of such matters of interest to the two governments now pending between the same as may be confided to it. He sailed from San Francisco in June, expecting to be absent from college duties one year. Mr. Angell married, November 26, 1855, Sarah S. Caswell, daughter of the late President Alexis Caswell, of Provi- dence. Two sons and a daughter are the fruits of this marriage-Alexis Caswell, Lois Thompson, and James Rowland-all of whom are now living.

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The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 116

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