The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 12

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

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cause which interested his energies and taxed his best powers to bring to the point of success which it subse- quently attained. Like so many of his relatives and per- sonal friends, Mr. Brown was originally a Baptist and worshipped in the meeting-house of the First Baptist Church in Providence. Following his own convictions, and what he recognized as the teachings of the Divine Spirit, he became, at the age of thirty-five, a member of the Society of Friends. From the outset of his connec- tion with the Society till his death, he was thoroughly de- voted to the concerns of the religious body to which he be- came so warmly attached. His interest in the cause of education led him to feel how important it was to the well- being of the rising generation in his own denomination, that there should be some institution of a high character to which they could repair and receive that mental culture

which would better fit them to act well their parts on the stage of life. Prompted by this feeling he was one of the founders and most generous patrons of the " Yearly Meet- ing Boarding School," established in Providence in the year 1780. For about fifty-three successive years he was the treasurer of this institution, and held the office almost to the close of his long life. As an evidence of the deep regard he had for the school, he presented to its trustees in 1817 the land, measuring forty-three acres, on which its buildings have been erected. He also gave it a house and lot and the sum of fifteen thousand dollars. Moses Brown was a strong anti-slavery man, making the matter one of practical interest, and proving the sincerity of his avowed convictions by freeing all his slaves in 1773. In many ways he evinced the regard which he had for the down- trodden, oppressed colored people, and sought by a variety of means to alleviate their condition. In like manner he was opposed to all wars, and advocated the formation of Peace Societies. For some of the natural sciences he had a special fondness, particularly for chemistry and natural philosophy. He made himself acquainted also with mat- ters connected with hygiene and the practice of the heal- ing art, and cheerfully gave the results of his studies in this direction to those who, he thought, might be bene- fited by them. Mr. Brown reached a remarkable old age, having survived all the contemporaries of his early life. He was almost ninety-eight when he died. There was noth- ing peculiar in the care which he took of himself which led to such longevity. He was temperate in his habits of eating and drinking, although accustomed to take four meals a day. He preserved an even temper and a uniform trust in the beneficent orderings of Divine Providence. He took the charge of the affairs of his large estate, and was ready to counsel his friends who sought his advice in the management of their worldly concerns. He died Sep- tember 6, 1836. Of him it could with great emphasis and truth be said that he came to his grave " like a shock of corn fully ripe." Few citizens of Rhode Island deserve to hold a warmer place in memory than Moses Brown. He

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was married three times. His first wife was Anna Brown. By this marriage there were three children, a son and two daughters. He outlived all his family. His only grand- child was Mrs. Anna Almy Jenkins, whose sad death, at the burning of her house on Benefit Street, was a shock to the whole community.

ANDFORD, GOVERNOR PELEG, son of John Sand- ford, was born in Boston, in 1632, and removed to Rhode Island when his father took up his resi- dence there, in consequence of his sympathy with the views of Ann Hutchinson and her adherents. Of his early history we know but little. He shared with his family in the hardships and self-denials incident to the lot of the new settlers of a country. In one of the numerous boundary questions which mark the earlier years of the his- tory of Rhode Island, he was appointed by the General As- sembly as an agent of the colony, in connection with Rich- ard Bailey, to proceed to England, to endeavor to adjust the difficulties which had arisen, and two hundred and fifty pounds were voted for their outfit. Matters were so ar- ranged, subsequently, that the colony agents did not cross the ocean. In 1677 he was appointed one of eight com- missioners to settle disputes between Providence and Paw- tuxet relating to titles to lands in the latter place. In 1678 he was chosen one of five Bankrupt Commissioners, who was sworn to make a just distribution of insolvent estates among the creditors. Under the Royal Charter he was General Treasurer from 1678 to 1681. On the decease of Governor John Cranston, " Major " Sandford was elected his successor by the General Assembly, and his election confirmed by the people March 16, 1680, and was in office until May, 1683. In the month of October, a crew of pri- vateers having been taken and imprisoned in Newport, a portion of them broke jail and laid a plot to assassinate Governor Sandford. The plot was disclosed by one of their number in time to avert the peril which threatened his death. At the election in the spring of 1683, Gov- ernor Sandford declined to be a candidate, and William Coddington, Jr., was chosen in his place. In September of this year he was again chosen, with Arthur Fenner, as colonial agent, to proceed to England on business affect- ing parties living in Narragansett. In 1699 he was ap- pointed by royal commission a Judge of Admiralty. As such, he had to sit in judgment on more than one case of piracy, especially that of the famous Captain Kidd. From this brief recital it is evident that Governor Sandford was " a man of affairs " in Rhode Island and one of her most useful citizens. His wife, whom he married in 1665, was the daughter of Governor William Benton, by whom he had three daughters. I. Ann, who married a Mason and had a son, Pcleg Sandford Mason. 2. Bridget, who mar- ricd Job Almy, of Tiverton. They had three children,

Sandford, Peleg, and Cook Almy. 3. Elizabeth, who married Thomas Noyes, of Stonington, Connecticut. Gov- ernor Sandford dicd not far from the year 1700.

BAYLAND, FRANCIS, D.D., LL.D., eldest son of Francis and Sarah (Moore) Wayland, and fourth President of Brown University, was born in the city of New York, March 11, 1796. His parents were of English birth and came to this country in 1792. The occupation of his father was that of a currier. Soon after his arrival in New York he became a member of a Baptist church worshipping in Fayette Street. Of this church he was appointed a deacon, and received from it a license to preach, which was granted June 10, 1805. Subsequently he became a pastor in two or three places, his last settlement being at Saratoga Springs, where he died April 9, 1849. The subject of this sketch received his academic training in the Dutchess County Academy, Pough- keepsie, under the charge of Daniel H. Barnes, who was a thorough teacher, and subsequently reached distinction as a scientific scholar. He entered Union College, Schenec- tady, in May, 1811, being admitted to the third term of the Sophomore year, and was graduated July 28, 1813. Soon after leaving college he commenced the study of medicine in Troy, New York, spending the winter of 1814-15 at- tending medical lectures in New York. In due time he received a license to practice his profession. But all his plans for life were changed when he became a Christian, an event which occurred in 1816. At once he decided to study for the ministry, and went to Andover, Massachu- setts, and entered the Theological Seminary in that place. Here he remained until the close of the Seminary year in the summer of 1817. He then accepted an appointment as tutor in Union College. The range of studies over which, in his instructions, he passed would be deemed, in our day, more extensive than usually falls to the lot of one man. There were vacancies in the faculty, and it became his business to teach every class, and in nearly every depart- ment. " Xenophon, Homer, and Longinus, Tacitus, Cicero, and Horace, geometry, trigonometry, algebra, and the va- rious branches of mathematics, rhetoric and chemistry." " These," he remarks, " I well remember." He spent four years in Union College, a period, he says, " of great ser- vice to me intellectually." On the 8th of January, 1821, a letter was sent to him from Boston, requesting him to supply the pulpit of the First Baptist Church, made vacant by the death of their pastor, Rev. J. M. Winchell. This invitation was responded to, by the promise to visit Boston in the spring, and at the time agreed upon he went to New England, taking with him his little stock of prepared ser- mons, eight in number. He preached four Sabbaths, and then was called to the pastorate of the church. He ac-

Si Wayland

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cepted the call, and was ordained August 21, 1821, and commenced his ministerial labors by preaching two ser- mons from the text : " It is required in stewards that a man be found faithful," a passage of Scripture which might properly be selected as a description of his own character, as it developed itself in all his subsequent ca- reer,-a steward of God, and a faithful steward. Mr. Way- land found himself occupying a difficult position as pastor of the First Baptist Church in Boston. He had to con- tend with much that must have been peculiarly trying to a young man of extreme sensitiveness as he was. There was no general widespread sympathy with what were known as " evangelical sentiments." The popular minis- ters of the city were in the Unitarian and Episcopal pul- pits, and the wealth and culture of the city of the Puritans were but feebly represented in Baptist congregations. "Only a few plain people," says his biographer, " found their way down to hear the awkward young stranger just settled at the North End. No crowd thronged the long plank-walk that led from the street back to the old and unattractive wooden meeting-house, nor did any benches obstruct the aisles, as Mr. Winslow, the sexton, with the dgnity of a beadle, gravely preceded the minister and ushered him into the desk. Nor was the new minister a man calculated spe- cially to draw a crowded house, and impart popularity to a waning interest. His manner in the pulpit was unattrac- tive; he was tall, lean, angular, ungraceful, spoke with but little action, rarely withdrawing his hands from his pockets save to turn a leaf, his eye seldom meeting the sympathetic eye of the auditor. To those who conversed with him, he appeared abstracted and embarrassed. The work of composition was laborious, and, with his habits of study, consumed so much time as to leave him little leisure to win, by personal intercourse, the affections of the people." Moreover, there was a minority, strong, at least, in numbers, opposed to him. With a rare knowl- edge of human nature, and in the exercise of the kind- est spirit, he met and at length triumphed over all this oppo- sition. Writing to Reverend, afterwards Bishop, Alonzo Potter, a few months after his settlement, he says : " The people are becoming united, if I am not much misin- formed. The attention on Sabbath is uniformly good; and I believe that they are not very much elated with the idea of anybody else going into the pulpit. I ought to be thankful to God; I hope I am." There was one sermon which he preached a little more than two years after his settlement in Boston which at once arrested attention as a remarkable pulpit production, and made its author famous, both at home and abroad. The circumstances under which this sermon was preached are worthy of mention. A notice appeared in the daily papers, October 25, 1823, that Rev. F. Wayland, Jr., would preach the annual sermon before the Boston Baptist Foreign Mission Society, the fol- lowing Sabbath evening. The evening proved to be a disa- greeable one, and but a small audience was in attendance.

After the preliminary services the preacher announced his text, " The field is the world;" the subject, " The Moral Dignity of the Missionary Enterprise." We are told that the house was uncomfortable (the preacher wearing his great coat throughout the service), and there was but little enthusiasm on the occasion. On Monday morning Mr. Wayland went to Rev. Mr. Wisner's, the pastor of the Old South Church, and threw himself on the sofa, in one of his most depressed moods, saying : " It was a complete failure. It fell perfectly dead." The sermon was pub- lished, and the high rank which it holds among the dis- courses of the American pulpit no one will question. The publication of other discourses soon followed, and only added to the well-deserved reputation of their author. His connection with this church in Boston continued a little more than five years. He preached his farewell ser- mon, September 17, 1826, and went to Schenectady to enter upon his duties as a professor in Union College, where he remained until February, 1827, when he removed to Provi- dence, having been elected in September, 1826, President of Brown University, to take the place made vacant by the resignation of President Messer. The outlook was anything but hopeful. The college was not supposed to be in a flourishing condition, and it was believed by the corporation that there needed to be infused into it the sort of new life, which it was confidently hoped a com- paratively young man of vigorous intellect and experience would bring to it. What President Wayland accomplished for Brown University during his long administration, is matter of history. He was thirty-one years of age when he commenced the great task which had been laid upon him, as he believed, by a higher than human power. He had exalted conceptions of what a college should be, and he determined to spare no pains to reach his ideal. He raised the standard of study and discipline. He brought himself in direct contact with every student, and made him feel the impress of his own character, in moulding and shaping his habits of thought and modes of action. What, externally was done, in great part through his agency and personal influence, while he was in the presi- dential chair, is thus summed up. Manning Hall was erected. The library fund of $25,000 was created, and the library placed on a new basis; Rhode Island Hall and the new president's house were built, the college grounds were enlarged and improved, and the college funds greatly increased. What was brought to pass in the interior life and workings of the University it is not so easy to de- scribe. In the class-room he was the prince of instruc- tors, and dull indeed must have been the intellect, and de- void of sensibility the heart, which did not feel the in- fluence of his great mind, and perhaps, his still greater heart. The testimony of some of the graduates of some of his earlier classes, as to the new quickening that was given to every department in the college, when he as- sumed the reins of government, is of the most decided

BIOGRAPHIICAL CYCLOPEDIA.

and appreciative character. On all his students he left his mark, and, as one after another of them was called to fill stations of honor or trust, they looked back with devout gratitude to Him who, in the ordering of His wise Provi- dence, had brought them to sit, for a season, at the feet of so accomplished a teacher. The honors which were con- ferred upon President Wayland during the twenty-eight years of his connection with Brown University were nu- merous and merited. He received the degree of D.D. from Union College in 1828, and from Harvard College in 1829. In 1852 Harvard College conferred upon him the degree of LL.D. He was chosen the first President of the " American Institute of Instruction," and for several years was re-elected to that office, retiring from it in 1833, by his own free choice. He was selected to deliver the address at the opening of the " Providence Athenaeum," July II, 1838. He was appointed preacher of the "Dud- leian Lecture " at Harvard University, which was deliv- ered in May, 1831, and at the first anniversary of the Rhode Island Chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, September 7, 1831, he was the orator. He was frequently selected to preach ordination, installation and missionary discourses. He delivered the Phi Beta Kappa oration at Harvard University, September 1, 1836. In the course of Foreign Missions he took a lifelong interest. He was elected President of the " Baptist Triennial Convention " in 1844, and in the deliberations of the " Baptist Mission- ary Union" his advice was sought and respected. He held connection with numerous other organizations which delighted to do him honor. The best years of his life were given to Brown University, and how much that insti- tution owes to him it is not possible to estimate. His term of service as president closed with the commence- ment of 1855. With the exception of a brief period, dur- ing which Dr. Wayland acted as pastor of the First Bap- tist Church in Providence, the remaining years of his life were spent in the quiet of his own pleasant home on the corner of Governor and Angell streets, Providence. He

did not, however, lose his interest in public affairs, nor give up those literary pursuits which had occupied his thoughts and his pen through life. When the civil war broke out his voice was uttered for the cause of his coun- try, and he followed the fortunes of the Federal army with the deepest interest, until the Rebellion was brought to a close by the surrender of General Lee. In the chari- table and benevolent institutions of his adopted home, he also took a constant interest. We can but barely allude to his labors in connection with the Reform School and the State Prison. One is amazed to note how much he did with his pen in addition to all the other things he brought to pass. With the exception of one or two years, during the long period extending from 1823 to 1865, there is not a year in which one or more of his productions did not pass through the press. What liis biographers allude to as an " imperfect" list of his works, refers to seventy-two of

his published writings in the form of textbooks, sermons, dis- courses, review articles, ctc. Among these the more promi- nent are his Moral Science, Political Economy, Intellec- tual Philosophy, University Sermons, Memoir of Dr. Judson, 2 vols., Limitations to Iluman Responsibility, Notes on the Principles and Practices of the Baptist Churches, and Domestic Slavery considered as a Scriptu- ral Institution, discussion with Rev. R. Fuller, D.D. A life of such prolonged, incessant, intellectual labor, must inevitably draw to a close, with a sense of weariness and a conviction that the mental powers have been over- taxed. The last public service which he attended was the mecting of the " Warren Association," held with the "Central Baptist Church," in Providence, September 13 and 14, 1865. The end came a few days after this. He died Saturday, September 30, 1865. Had he lived until the IIth of the March following, he would have been seventy years of age. Dr. Wayland was twice married. His first wife was Lucy L. Lincoln, of Boston. Two children by this marriage survive the death of their parents, Hon, Francis Wayland, of New Haven, and Rev. H. L. Wayland, D.D., of Philadelphia. Mrs, Wayland died in Providence, April 3, 1834. His second wife was Mrs. H. S. Sage, of Boston, whom he married, August I, 1838. One son, Howard, was the fruit of this marriage. He died in Providence, August 19, 1874, his death being preceded by that of his mother, who died October 22, 1872.

WILKINSON, LAWRENCE, son of William and Mary (Conyers), was born in Lanchester, Durham County, England,early in the seventeenth century. Of his early youth we have no knowledge. Not far from 1640 we find that he was a lieutenant in the Royal Army, endeavoring to maintain the authority of his King, Charles II, against Oliver Cromwell. At the fall of Newcastle he was taken prisoner, and his estates were sequestered. Having obtained permission of Lord Fairfax, then in command of the Parliamentary army, he embarked for New England, accompanied by his wife and child, and arrived in Providence, according to one authority, in 1645, and according to another in 1646, while another makes it as late as 1652. Soon after he reached Providence he received a gift of twenty-five acres of land in the new town, and com- menced the life of a hardy tiller of the soil. He must have realized the contrast between his situation in Rhode Island, and that of an English gentleman with every convenience and luxury of life at his command. Thrift and energy soon won for him a large estate, and the marked qualities of his character, in due time, brought him into prominent notice among his fellow-citizens. In 1659 he was chosen a mem- ber of the legislature which met at Portsmouth. Fre-

BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA.

quently he was called to fill offices of honor and trust. He heartily sympathized with his friend Roger Williams in his doctrine of "soul liberty." He is represented as hav- ing been a man of great firmness and decision of charac- ter. In the Indian wars, he was a fearless soldier, and when the savages threatened the destruction of Providence, although many fled from the town, he, with Roger Williams and Major Hopkins, would not desert their post. After a long and useful life, he died August 9, 1692. When the wife who accompanied him from England died, we have been unable to ascertain. His second wife was Susannah Smith, only daughter of Christopher Smith, whose name is perpetuated in the well-known locality in Providence called " Smith's Hill." Mr. Wilkinson was the father of six children, three sons, Samuel, John, and Jonas; and three daughters, Susannah, who died young, Joanna, and Susan- nah, named for her deceased sister. (For an account of Samuel, see sketch.) The second son of Lawrence was John, born in Providence, March 2, 1654. He was noted for his great physical strength. Like his brother Samuel, he took up land within a few miles of Providence settle- ment, although within the boundaries of the town. The locality is now known as " Martin's Wade." He took an active part in King Philip's War, where he was noted for his bravery and rashness. In a fight with the Indians, several years after the war, he was severely wounded, and the Gen- eral Assembly voted him ten pounds in token of their ap- preciation of his services. He received honors from his fellow-citizens, among which was the office of Deputy for Providence to the General Court for several years. He died suddenly April 10, 1708. He married April 16, 1689, Deborah Whipple, by whom he had three sons and three daughters. Most of the name in Cumberland and several in Smithfield descended from John. The third son of Law- rence was Jonas, born about the year 1660 and married Hannah Tyler, of Taunton, by whom he had one daughter. He died August 10, 1692, one day after his father. Of the daughters of Lawrence, Susannah died young; of Joanna, no record is left, and of the second Susannah, little is known except that she married a citizen of Rehoboth.

BILKINSON, SAMUEL, eldest son of Lawrence and Susannah (Smith) Wilkinson, was born in Provi- dence, not far from the year 1650. In 1672 he married a daughter of Rev. William Wickenden. She bore the somewhat singular name of " Plain." Mr. Wickenden, the father of Mrs. Wilkinson, was associate pastor with Rev. Chad Brown, of the First Baptist Church in Providence, and when Mr. Brown resigned his office, he was for several years sole pastor of the church. He died at a place called "Solitary Hill," near the south part of Olneyville, February 23, 1669. " Wickenden Street," 8

on the east side of Providence, perpetuates his name. Im- mediately after his marriage, Samuel Wilkinson removed to what is now Smithfield, where he had taken up a farm. Here the hardy pioneer was performing the severe tasks of his daily life when King Philip's War broke out, and the Rhode Island colonists barely escaped annihilation. He sent his wife and child to the garrison-house in Providence for safety, while he performed his duty as a soldier. At the end of the war, which was brought to a close by the death of King Philip, he returned to his farm in Smithfield, where he lived the rest of his life. He died August 27, 1726. Of his children, the oldest, a son, bore the name of his father, Samuel. He was born September 18, 1674. His father gave him a farm in what is now Smithfield, then within the limits of Providence. His wife was Huldah Aldrich, by whom he had fifteen children. Besides carry- ing on his farm, he was a tanner and currier, and shoema- ker. His life seems to have been a quiet, peaceful one, unmarked by any very stirring incidents. By religious pro- fession he was a member of the Society of Friends. He died January 18, 1726-7. The second son of Samuel and Plain Wilkinson was John, who was born January 25, 1678. He went to Pennsylvania, where he took up his residence and died in 1751. The third son, William, was born in Providence August 1, 1680. He was a birthright member of the Society of Friends, and became a preacher among them. When he came to man's estate, he went to Barbadoes on business, and thence sailed for England, where he married a Yorkshire lady, whose maiden name we have not been able to learn. He died in England, but exactly at what date is not known. The fourth son, Jo- seph, was one of the first settlers of the town of Scituate. He was born January 22, 1682, and married Martha Pray, a granddaughter of one of the oldest settlers of Scituate. He was a " man of affairs" in the town, representing it in the Legislature, acting as Town Treasurer, interesting him- self in military matters, etc. He became a very extensive landowner, nearly a thousand acres coming into his posses- sion during his lifetime. For the times in which he lived he was a rich man. His death occurred April 24, 1780. The oldest daughter of Samuel and Plain Wilkinson was Ruth; she married William Hopkins, who was a mechanic or day-laborer on her father's farm. They had a large family, some of whom ranked among the most distinguished citizens of Rhode Island. Their oldest son was William, who became a sea captain. His life was full of adventure. Another son was Stephen, the signer of the Declaration of Independence (see sketch). Commodore or Admiral Esek Hopkins was also a son (see sketch). The second daugh- ter of Samuel and Plain was Susannah, born April 27, 1688; she married James Angell, by whom she had three sons and two daughters. The descendants of Samuel Wil- kinson are among the most honored and respected inhabi- tants of the State, and have a record of which they may reasonably be proud.

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The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 12

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