The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 123

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

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BIOGRAPHICAL CCYLOPEDIA.

Dorchester District, Boston. He received the honorary degree of LL. D. from Drury College, Missouri, June, 1881.

AY, HON. HENRY H., Lieutenant-Governor of Rhode Island, son of Rev. Eliphaz Fay, late President of Waterville College, Maine, was born at New Paltz, Ulster County, New York, in 1835. In 1856 he re- ceived the degree of Master of Arts from the Univer- sity of Rochester, and during that year established a school for boys at Newport, Rhode Island, the reputation of which attracted pupils from all parts of the country. This school was carried on successfully by Mr. Fay until 1875, when he retired therefrom. During that year Mr. Fay was elected to the Rhode Island General Assembly, to which he was annually re-elected until 1880, when he was chosen Lieu- tenant-Governor on the Republican ticket, having been a member of that party from its organization. He was re- elected Lieutenant-Governor in 1881. While in the Gen- eral Assembly he was chairman of the Committee on Edu- cation, and a member of the Committee on Finance. He was an original member of the State Board of Charities and Correction, serving for three years, when he resigned. He was a delegate from Rhode Island to the Republican National Convention at Baltimore in 1864, when Abraham Lincoln was renominated for the presidency. Mr. Fay married, in 1864, Ida Garland, of Baltimore. His suc- cessful career as an educator, and his efficient public ser- vice, have placed him among the prominent and influential men of the State.

REEMAN, EDWARD LIVINGSTON, printer and book- seller, was born in Waterville, Maine, September 10, 1835, and is the son of Rev. Edward and Har- riet E. (Colburn) Freeman. His father was born in Mendon, Massachusetts, in April, 1806; worked on a farm until he was twenty-one years of age; fitted for col- lege, and entered Brown University, where he graduated with the degree of Master of Arts in 1833, in the same class with Hon. Henry B. Anthony and Hon. Nathan F. Dixon. He paid his way through college by teaching school. Soon after graduating he entered the ministry as a Calvinistic Baptist, and removed to Waterville, Maine ; was afterward settled over the Baptist Church at Oldtown, Maine, and then removed to Camden, Maine, where he has since resided, with the exception of one year, when he was pastor of the Baptist Church at Bristol, Rhode Island. For thirty years he was principal of a private high school, and has probably fitted more young men for college than any other teacher in Maine. Though now in his seventy-fifth year, he is hale and vigorous, carrying on his farm of fifty acres with the aid of a boy only, and teaching a public school during the winter. Edward L. Freeman's mother was born in West Dedham, Massachusetts, in 1815. She graduated

at Medfield High School, and was a most excellent French and Latin scholar. For several years after her marriage she taught a large class of young ladies in French. She died in June, 1852. Edward L. was the eldest of ten children. He was instructed by his father and fitted for college at an early age, but afterward apprenticed himself to A. W. Pearce, of Pawtucket, to learn the trade of print- ing. After the completion of his apprenticeship, he worked several years for Messrs. Hammond, Angell & Co., in Providence ; spent one winter in the city of Washington, and then purchased an interest in the business of the last- named firm, with whom he continued as a partner for two years. At the expiration of that time he sold out and com- menced business in Central Falls, where he has built up a large business, embracing every variety of printing. In 1869 he started a newspaper called the Weekly l'isitor, which has been well patronized. In 1873 he formed a partnership with Mr. John E. Goldsworthy, and in 1877 they purchased the book and stationery store of Messrs. Valpey, Angell & Co., in Providence, which they have since carried on successfully. Mr. Freeman's recognized business capacity and personal popularity have made him one of the most influential citizens of the town in which he resides. He has held several local offices, and for sev- eral years served as a member of the General Assembly of Rhode Island, representing the town of Smithfield for two years in the House of Representatives and one year in the Senate, and having been the first Senator of the new town of Lincoln, which place he has since represented for four years in the House, occupying the position of Speaker for two years. During his career as a legislator he has ren- dered the State good service, and been instrumental in se- curing the adoption of measures designed to advance the interests of the community he has represented. For several years Mr. Freeman was prominently identified with the military organization known as the Union Guard of Central Falls, of which he became a member when it was organ- ized, in 1861, and was gradually promoted from the ranks to the office of colonel, in which capacity he served until the new militia law was enacted and the organization bro- ken up. In 1864 he joined the Masonic fraternity, and has held various offices in that order, including that of Worshipful Master in Union Lodge, and Eminent Com- mander of Holy Sepulchre Commandery, and also in the Grand Lodge and Commandery. At present he is Grand Master of Masons of the State of Rhode Island, and Grand Junior Warden of the Grand Commandery of Massachu- setts and Rhode Island. He is a member of the society of Odd Fellows and of the Knights of Pythias. Mr. Free- man joined the Central Falls Congregational Church July 1, 1855, and has since been actively connected with the church and Sunday-school. He married, November 10, 1858, Emma E. Brown, daughter of Samuel and Margaret Brown, of Central Falls. They have had seven children, five of whom, three sons and two daughters, are living.

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BIOGRAPHIICAL CYCLOPEDIA.

HITE, REV. CHARLES J., was born in Boston, Massachusetts, May 22, 1836, and is the son of Charles and Amanda (Kimball) White. He was educated at Williston Seminary, East Hamp- ton, Massachusetts, and Taft's College. After graduation in 1858 he became Principal of the Milford High School. At the end of two years he resigned to ac- cept the position of cashier in the house of B. D. Godfrey & Co., Boston. In the leisure of his secular employment he began the study of theology under the direction of Pro- fessor Charles H. Leonard, of Taft's Divinity School. February, 1863, he entered the Christian ministry of the Universalist Church, and was ordained the following year. He began his labors in East Boston, where a parish was established and a church erected during his ministry. In 1870 he was invited to fill the vacancy in the Universalist pulpit at Woonsocket, caused by the death of the Rev. John Boyden. He accepted the invitation, and entered upon his duties February 1, 1871. His pastoral relations to the Woonsocket parish still remain unbroken. August 7, 1860, he married Harriet Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Obed and Harriet E. Daniels, of Milford, Massachusetts. They have had five children : Charles Obed, Hattie May, Alphonso Fayette, William Irving, and Paul Maurice, all of whom are living except William Irving.

G BREWSTER, REV. JONATHAN MCDUFFEE, son of Daniel and Sarah McDuffee Brewster, was born in Alton, New Hampshire, November 1, 1835. While a child his parents removed to Wolf borough, an adjoining town, and occupied the farm of the Brewster ancestors. At the age of fourteen he united with the Free Baptist Church. He attended the common schools and the academy of the town, and subsequently New Hamp- ton Institution, at New Hampton, New Hampshire, where he prepared for college. He was graduated from Dart- mouth College in 1860. He studied theology at New Hampton and at Andover, Massachusetts. In May, 1863, he became pastor of the Free Baptist Church in Spring- vale, Maine, and was ordained in December of that year. In May, 1864, at the solicitation of William Burr, the editor of The Morning Star, the organ of the Free Bap- tist denomination, and published at Dover, New Hamp- shire, he became the assistant editor of that paper, which position he filled until May, 1869. During this time Mr. Burr died, and Rev. George T. Day, D.D., became his successor. He immediately wrote and published the life of Mr. Burr. For a short period (1869-70) he supplied the Free Baptist Church in Fairport, New York. In 1871, he came to Rhode Island, and was for three years and a half the pastor of the Free Baptist Church in North Scitu- ate, and while there acted as Superintendent of Public Schools. In 1875 he accepted a call to become pastor of the Park Street Free Baptist Church in Providence, and

commenced his work in March of that year. He has now (1881) entered upon the seventh year of his pastorate. Since 1872 he has been clerk of the Rhode Island Asso- ciation of Free Baptist Churches, and is consequently the chief executive officer of that body. He has, for a series of years, occupied a prominent position on the editorial corps of The Morning Star, and subsequent to the death of Dr. Day in 1875 he became his successor as a corporate member of the Freewill Baptist Printing Establishment. He is a trustee of Storer College at Harper's Ferry, West Virginia, and a member of the Executive Board of the Freewill Baptist Foreign Mission Society. He is widely known as a graceful and vigorous writer, and as a devout, earnest and effective preacher. In addition to The Life of William Burr, he is the author of various published dis- courses and papers. Among them are, The History of the Free Baptists of Rhode Island and Vicinity, published in Centennial Minutes for 1880; The Freewill Baptists, em- bodying an outline history of the denomination, and The Freewill Baptist Foreign Missionary Enterprise, both pub- lished in The Centennial Record of the Freewill Baptists, Dover, New Hampshire, 1881. In October, 1863, he mar- ried Marilla Marks Towle, of New Hampshire.

ARR, GEORGE WHEATON, M.D., was born in Paw- tuxet, in the town of Warwick, Rhode Island, Jan- uary 31, 1834. He is the son of John and Maria (Brayton) Carr, both of whom were descendants of early settlers of Rhode Island. He prepared for college at Fruit Hill Classical Institute, at that time a flourishing seminary, and entered Brown University in 1853. Graduating in the class of 1857 with the degree of Master of Arts, he immediately entered upon the study of medicine in the office of Dr. J. W. C. Ely, of Providence. He pursued his medical studies in the National Medical College, Washington, District of Columbia, and in the University of Pennsylvania, graduating from the latter in- stitution, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine, in the class of 1860. Returning to Providence, he entered upon the practice of medicine and surgery, and was appointed . Assistant Surgeon-General of the State. The Civil War, which commenced the following year, called him away from private life. With other members of the general staff of the State he was transferred to the first troops raised in Rhode Island, and commissioned Assistant Sur- geon of the First Regiment Rhode Island Detached Militia, commanded by Colonel Burnside. He continued with his regiment during its short but active service, serving under General Patterson in Maryland, and under General Mc- Dowell at the battle of Bull Run. After the First Regi- inent was mustered out he was appointed Assistant Surgeon Second Regiment Rhode Island Volunteers, and subse- quently promoted to the rank of Surgeon, serving in that ca- pacity, and as Brigade Operating Surgeon, in the Fourth and

Leorge Alar MM.L

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Sixth Army Corps, participating in the battles of Yorktown, Mechanicsville, Gaines' Mills, Fair Oaks, Malvern Hill, An- tietam, Fredericksburg, Wilderness, Gettysburg, Sharpsburg, Mine Run, Rappahannock, Spottsylvania, Coal Harbor, and other engagements. At the close of the war Dr. Carr resumed the practice of his profession in Providence. In 1860 he was admitted a member of the Rhode Island State Medical Society and of the Providence Medical Associa- tion, and was President of the latter from March 7, 1870, to March 4, 1872. On the 14th of July, 1868, he was ap- pointed Physician of the Rhode Island State Prison, and continued to fill that position until the removal of that in- stitution from the city in 1878. For many years he has been United States Examining Surgeon of Pensions, and has been Surgeon of the Rhode Island Hospital since the opening of that institution in 1868. He has been connected with several military organizations, having been Brigade Surgeon for several years. On the reorganization of the Militia of the State he was appointed Medical Director of the Brigade of Rhode Island Militia. He was the first surgeon of the Grand Army of the Republic in the State, and was for some years Medical Director of the Depart- ment of Rhode Island. In 1880 he was appointed Con- sulting Physician of the Butler Hospital for the Insane. Dr. Carr married, April 17, 1871, Imogene Mathewson, daughter of Bradford and Harriet (Rogers) Mathewson, of Providence.

amman AILLINGHAST, HON. PARDON ELISHA, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island, eldest son of Rev. John and Susan Caroline (Avery) Tillinghast, was born in West Greenwich, Rhode Island, December 10, 1836. His honored father, born October 3, 1812, pastor of the West Greenwich Baptist Church for thirty-eight years, died March 28, 1878. His maternal grandfather, Elisha Avery, was a soldier in the War of 1812. Pardon E., bearing the name of the first of the family that settled in Rhode Island (Rev. Pardon Tillinghast, of Providence), was trained on the farm and attended the common schools of the town till he was fifteen years of age, when he pursued a wider range of study at Hall's Academy, in Plainfield, Connecticut; at Providence Conference Seminary, in East Greenwich, Rhode Island ; and at the Rhode Island State Normal School under Pres- ident Dana P. Colburn; meanwhile he occasionally taught school during the winters. At the age of twenty, on rec- ommendation of Professor Colburn, whom he has ever held in highest esteem, he became Principal of the Valley Falls Grammar School, in Smithfield, now Lincoln. His success here led to his election as Principal of a Grammar School in Providence, where, after a year's service, he was chosen Principal of the Grove Street Grammar School in Pawtucket. In this position he labored with marked suc- cess for seven years. On the opening of the Civil War his

patriotism led him to enlist in the Eleventh Rhode Island Infantry, in Captain C. W. Thrasher's company from Paw- tucket ; but he was soon transferred to the Twelfth Infantry, under Colonel George H. Brown, and was chosen quarter- master-sergeant, an office that he continued to fill while the regiment remained in the field,-eleven months. His experiences of the war in and around Washington, and in Eastern Virginia and Kentucky, with the Ninth Army Corps, under General Burnside, embraced a very stormy period of the great struggle. On his return from the army he studied law with Charles W. Thrasher, Esq., and Hon. Thomas K. King, and, after three years of preparation, was admitted, in 1867, to the Rhode Island bar. When Mr. King was appointed United States Consul to Belfast, Ireland, he succeeded to his office and business in Paw- tucket. Three times he was chosen Representative to the General Assembly, and four times he has been elected State Senator. During each term in the Senate he has been chairman of the Judiciary Committee. In 1877 he was chairman of the Joint Committee of the General Assembly on the reception and entertainment of President Hayes, and formally welcomed him to the State. In 1874 he was elected Town Solicitor by the Common Council of Paw- tucket, and has since been continued in that office. He has made the study of municipal law a specialty in his profes- sional career. When sixteen years of age he united with the West Greenwich Baptist Church, and finally with the First Baptist Church in Pawtucket, where he has performed much and valuable service, as superintendent of the Sab- bath-school for many years, and as leader of the singing for fifteen years. During all this time he has preserved a lively interest in the public schools, serving for many years on the School Committee, and was instrumental in intro- ducing vocal music, as a science, into the schools. He was also very active in the establishment of evening schools and in inaugurating the Free Public Library, which is now maintained by an annual appropriation from the town treas- ury. In 1879 he was elected by the General Assembly for a term of five years Judge Advocate-General of Rhode Island. On the 2d of June, 1881, he was chosen Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Judge Burges. He married, November 13, 1867, Ellen F. Paine, of Paw- tucket, and has three children living.

BARNABY, ABNER J., was born in Freetown, Bris- tol County, Massachusetts, May 23, 1834. His parents were Stephen and Lucy (Hathaway) Bar- naby. Stephen Barnaby was a descendant, in the fifth generation, of James Barnaby, of Plymouth, Massachusetts, whose wife, Lydia Warren Bartlett, was the daughter of William Bartlett, of Plymouth, who arrived at that place in 1623, a passenger in the ship Ann. Mary Warren, wife of William Bartlett, came to Plymouth with

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her father, Richard Warren, in the year 1620, in the May- flower. James Barnaby and Lydia Warren Bartlett werc married at Plymouth in 1664. Abner Barnaby's early years were spent at the paternal estate in Freetown. He worked on the farm and attended the district school until the age of fourtecn, when he became a student in Mount Hope Academy, in Fall River, Massachusetts, and graduated, in 1853, at Pierce Academy, Middlehorough, Massachusetts. After graduating he taught school several terms in West- port, Massachusetts. In 1854 he removed to Providence, and for six years was in the cmploy of his brother, J. B. Barnaby, a prominent clothier. In the fall of 1860 he en- tered into business on his own account, on Westminster Street, Providenee, where he is at present located. In May, 1866, he was elected to the Common Council of Provi- dence, from the Fourth Ward, remaining in that body until January 1, 1878, a period of nearly twelve years, a longer time than any other person, with a single exception, ever served in that body. He was President of the Council in 1876. In 1867 he was elected a member of the School Committee, and served seven years in that eapacity. He was a candidate for the office of Mayor in 1877, on the Democratic tieket, and lacked but fifty-four votes of an election. In 1878 he was selected by the Democratic State Convention as chairman of the State Central Com- mittee, which position he fills at the present time. A va- cancy having occurred, he was elected, in 1879, Alderman from the Fourth Ward. He has been a member of the First Light Infantry since 1858; and also a member of the United Train of Artillery since 1862. He married, De- cember 31, 1863, Jennie B. Wallace, daughter of Merrick Wallace, M.D., of Ashburnham, Massachusetts, one of the most prominent physicians of that seetion of the country. He has had seven ehildren : Philena A., Gracie E., Jen- nie W., and Fanny L. B., three sons having died in infancy.

LACE, WILLIAM HENRY, manufacturer, son of Peter and Eliza (Hathaway) Place, was born June I, 1835, in Pascoag, Burrillville, Rhode Island, where he received his carly education. His father was the son of Peter and Olive (Lewis) Place, and was born in Glocester, Rhode Island, March 21, 1789. Acquiring the trade of shocmaking, he began business in Smithfield, but in 1817, with his brother-in-law, John Angell, bought a tannery in Olneyville, which he successfully worked, adding to that business job and wholesale shoemaking. He was a member of the First Baptist Church in Provi- dence, and with his sister, Mrs. Angell, established the first prayer-meetings, the first Sabbath-school, and the first prcaching serviees in the place. He was instrumental in the conversion of Rev. Martin Cheney, assisted in build- ing the first meeting-house, dedicated July 2, 1827, and in organizing the church, November 7, 1828. In 1830 he re- moved to Pascoag, Burrillville, and built the first woollen

mill operated in that place. Ile changed the name of the locality from Monkey Town to Pascoag, the Indian name of the stream. Here he run the first power-loom known in the town. He was the first man in this country to card up the waste fillings, known as " hard ends," and work them into cloth. From the General Assembly of Rhode Island he procured a charter and established the Pascoag Bank, and for years was its president. On account of busi- ness reverses and failing health he removed to East Dou- glas, Massachusetts, then to Blackstone, and finally to Woonsocket, Rhode Island, near Hamlet Village, where he built a house and resumed his trade. He took an ac- tive interest in religious matters, superintended a Sabbath- school, and opened his own doors for meetings. Mr. Place died January 23, 1876, in his eighty-seventh year. He married Eliza Hathaway, and had nine children : Charles T. Ist, Eliza, Sally Ann Ist, William H. Ist, Sally Ann 2d, Charles T. 2d, Cynthia P., William H. 2d, and Olive L. The five last named are living. Sally Ann married Nelson Walling; Cynthia P. married Justin Howard; Olive mar- ried (1) Edward Hill and (2) Darwin M. Cook. Charles T., born in 1830, attended the East Greenwich Academy, and then applied himself to manufacturing interests, espe- cially to the preparation of oils used in working machinery and wool. He engaged successfully in business in Valley Falls, in 1849; in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1854; in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, in 1858; and in Providence in 1860. In 1869 he visited Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and commenced business, and finally moved to that city in 1872. Here he is an extensive and prospered manufac- turer. His partner in business is Stanley Loomis. They are manufacturers and sole proprietors of "C. T. Place" and "Zone" paraffine lubricating oils and paraffine wax. He married Abby E. Hopkins, of Pascoag, Burrillville. William H. received his early education in his native town. After attending the public schools he pursued advanced studies in the University Grammar School in Providence, under Dr. Lyon. He then turned his attention to the fur- therance of manufacturing enterprises, providing necessary means and facilities for those engaged in working all sorts of fibres and fabrics. His studies and experiments were , given to the preparation of various kinds of oils, dye-stuffs, glyceroids, and like substances and agents. In this direc- tion he made important discoveries and improvements and secured valuable patents, and was prospered in his pursuits. He has held a prominent and worthy place in religious and social circles. In 1859 he united with the Baptist church in Woonsocket. He became a member of Pilgrim Lodge of Odd Fellows, in June, 1873. In 1880 he visited different portions of England, Ireland, Scotland, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and Belgium. He married (1), October 13, 1868, Marian Elizabeth Horton, in Providence, a most es- timable woman, who was born in Rehoboth, Massachusetts, and dicd in Providence, December 17, 1875, leaving two children, Eliza Hathaway and Lewis Tew. Mr. Place

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married (2), May 26, 1880, Lillian Arabella Fuller, of Cumberland, Rhode Island. He resides in Providence, where he is still ( 1881) successfully prosecuting his vari- ous manufacturing operations.

ROGERS, GENERAL HORATIO, son of Horatio and Susan (Curtis) Rogers, was born in Providence, May 18, 1836. He belongs to an old Rhode Island family, domiciled in the State for more than two hundred years, about half of that period at New- port and the remainder at Providence. His grandfather, John Rogers, and two of his great-uncles, were officers in the Revolution ; the former and one of the latter, Robert Rogers, having served in the Rhode Island line, and the other, Rev. William Rogers, D.D., having been a brigade chaplain in the Pennsylvania line. His father, Horatio Rogers, was a cotton manufacturer. Horatio, Jr., was educated in the common schools of Providence and at Brown University, where he graduated, with the degree of A.B., in the class of 1855. Having studied law in the office of Hon. Thomas A. Jenckes, and at the Harvard Law School, he was admitted to the bar in 1858. Open- ing a law office in Providence, he diligently applied him- self to his profession. He married, January 29, 1861, Lucia, daughter of Resolved Waterman. In June, 1861, he was elected Justice of the Police Court of Providence. He took an active part in public affairs, and stumped the State in the presidential campaign in 1860. After the at- tack of the Secessionists on Sumter he was anxious to en- list in defence of the Union, and when the Third Rhode Island Regiment (heavy artillery) was formed he resigned his civil position and entered the army, August 27, 1861, as First Lieutenant in Compay D, of the Third Regiment. While with the command at Fort Hamilton, New York, learning heavy artillery drill, he was promoted, October 9, 1861, to a captaincy, and assigned to Company H. The Third Regiment formed a part of General T. W. Sher- man's expedition to Port Royal, South Carolina, in the fall of 1861, and participated in the bombardment and capture of Forts Walker and Beauregard, at Hilton Head and Bay Point, by the fleet under Commodore Dupont, which af- forded Captain Rogers his first view of a battle. The Third Regiment held the forts. In January, 1862, Cap- tain Rogers was stationed at Bay Point and on the islands around Beaufort. In March, 1862, he was sent, with other companies of his regiment, to Tybee Island, Geor- gia, to aid in the reduction of Fort Pulaski. In the siege, during the battle, April 10 and 11, 1862, he had command of Battery McClellan, which was nearest to the fort and played a most important part in breaching the fort, the only casualties among the Union forces being in his command, one killed and two wounded. The Captain himself at one time was buried in the sand by a bursting shell. He and his company also participated in the campaign on James

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The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 123

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