The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 127

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

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@POONER, HON. HENRY JOSHUA, was born in Prov- idence, Rhode Island, August 6, 1839. His father was Joshua Spooner, son of James and Sally (Luther) Spooner, and his mother Ann Crawford (Noyes) Spooner, daughter of Captain John Miller and Abijah (Updike) Noyes. Joshua Spooner was born in Dighton, Massachusetts, November 8, 1803, and died in Providence Rhode Island, October 20, 1869. For many

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years he was a wholesale dry-goods merchant in the city of Providence, and a member of the several firms of " Wat- son & Spooner," "Spooner & Draper," " Larned, Carr & Spooner." He was a man of great probity of character, and a prudent, honorable merchant. Ann Crawford (Noyes) Spooner was born in Providence, May 6, 1808, and died in that city April 20, 1876. She was a woman of much literary culture and taste, and descended, on her mother's side, from the well-known Updike family of Rhode Island. Henry J. Spooner, the subject of this sketch, received most of his early education and prepared for college in the public schools of the city of Providence. He entered Brown University in the fall of 1857, with the class of 1861, but graduated in 1860 with the class of that year, with the degree of A.B. At an early age he evinced an interest and aptitude for discussion and debate, and his favorite studies during his collegiate course were those re- lating to history, literature, rhetoric, and logic. During his sophomore year he was president of his college class. In the fall of 1860 he entered the Albany Law School, at Albany, New York, from which institution he graduated in 1861, with the degree of LL.B., and was therefrom ad- mitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of the State of New York. Then returning to his native city, he continued the study of law in the office of Messrs Thurston & Ripley, until late in the summer of 1862, when he was commis- sioned as Second Lieutenant in the Fourth Regiment Rhode Island Volunteers Infantry, which regiment had then been some months in the field. He joined his com- mand, near Washington, District of Columbia, in the early part of September, immediately before the "Maryland Campaign," and on the 14th of that monthi was actively engaged with his regiment in the battle of South Moun- tain, and on the 17th of the same month in the bloody battle of Antietam. At the battle of Antietam the Fourth Rhode Island, during a portion of the day, occupied the extreme left of the Union line, and, after fording Antietam Creek, in the face of the enemy's fire, and while striving to carry the hill beyond, suffered severe loss, numbering in killed and wounded about one-third of its officers and men then in the field. Lieutenant Spooner received two shots through his clothing and a slight contusion on the thigh. - So hot was the fire that there was scarcely a man in the regiment who did not at least bear the mark of a bullet on some part of his clothing or equipments. After the battle of Antietam, Lieutenant Spooner was promoted to First Lieutenant and Adjutant of his regiment, which position he continued to occupy (except during several months while he served upon the brigade staff as acting commissary of subsistence) until his final muster out in February, 1865. Beside the engagements referred to, he participated in the battle of Fredericksburg, where the lieutenant-colonel (Joseph B. Curtis), commanding the regiment, was shot dead by his side; the siege of Suffolk, Virginia; the engagements of the Edenton Road ; Hill's

Point ; Drury's Bluff; and the long and tedious siege of Petersburg. Upon his muster out of service in 1865 he resumed the study of law in his native city, and early in June of the same year was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island, since which time he has been successfully engaged in the practice of his profession in Providence. He has held the following among other offices : Justice and Clerk of the Court of Magistrates of the city of Providence three years, from May, 1866, to May, 1869; President of Franklin Lyceum, an ancient and well- known literary and debating society in Providence, two years, 1866 and 1867; has been a member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives from the city of Provi- dence, by successive elections, from 1875 to the present year (1881), and was for three years, 1876 to 1879, a mem- ber of the Judiciary Committee of the House. For two years, from May, 1875, to May, 1877, he served as aid- de-camp on the staff of the Governor of Rhode Island, with the rank of colonel; was Department Commander of the Department of Rhode Island Grand Army of the Re- public in 1877; and President of the Fourth Rhode Island Veteran Association in 1878. In May, 1879, he was elected Speaker of the Rhode Island House of Repre- sentatives, and was re-elected in May, 1880. Mr. Spooner is actively identified with the Republican party. He de- livered speeches throughout Rhode Island in favor of the election of Grant in 1868 and 1872, of Hayes in 1876, and of Garfield in 1880. In 1876 and 1880 he was a member of the Executive Committee of the State Central Repub- lican Club; and from 1879 to 1881, inclusive, chairinan of the Republican Committee of the city of Providence. He married, November 16, 1868, Mary S. Brown, daugh- ter of David A. and Abby E. Brown. They have had one son, Henry J., born November 13, 1869.

LARKE, HON. ELISHA C., son of George C. and Abby W. (Case) Clarke, was born in South Kings- ton, Rhode Island, February 8, 1839. His boy- hood and youth were passed in the town of his nativity, where he enjoyed the advantages of the common schools, and the academy at Kingston. In the meantime he assisted his father in farming. At an early age he began the study of law in the office of Hon. Elisha R. Potter, of Kingston, and while pursuing his legal studies served as clerk of the Court in that town. On his admis- sion to the bar he began the practice of law in Kings- ton, where he has since been successfully engaged in the duties of his profession. He married, May 20, 1867, Ellen E. Brown, daughter of Jeremiah S. and Mary E. (Cowley) Brown. They have had two children : Elisha, who died September 8, 1875, and Matthew W. Mrs. Clarke's father was a native of Kingston, and died in Cal- ifornia; and her mother was born on Block Island. Her father's grandmother was an aunt of Commodore Perry.

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Mr. Clarke has served acceptably for several terms as a member of the Rhode Island General Assembly, and is highly esteemed as an exemplary citizen.

LADE, HON. GEORGE HENRY, son of Jonathan and Ruth Bowers (Robinson) Slade, was born at Somerset, Massachusetts, February 17, 1839. His ancestors were large landowners in Bristol County, Massachusetts, and his great-grandfather was a colo- nel in the Revolutionary War. Mr. Slade graduated from the High School at Warren, Rhode Island, in the spring of 1853. The same year he entered a mercantile house as clerk in Warren, and the following year went to Providence, where he was employed in the same capacity for twelve years. On the Ist of January, 1866, he became a member of the firm of Phetteplace, Seagrave & Co., wholesale gro- cers, Providence, and retired from business April 1, 1872, after a successful mercantile career. In 1872 and 1873 he was elected as Representative from Providence to the Gen- eral Assembly of Rhode Island, and served acceptably as a member of that body. For about ten years, up to the time of its division, September 1, 1879, he had the care of the large estate left by his father-in-law, George Allen Howard, in the management of which, during a period of the most critical financial disturbances, he was remarkably successful. At the age of eighteen he was converted and united with the Beneficent Congregational Church, Provi- dence, and at once became deeply interested in the work of mission Sunday-schools, of one or more of which he has been superintendent constantly for about twenty-two years, having had charge of six different schools in and about Providence. He conducted religious services at the State Farm, in Cranston, for five years, and part of the time was superintendent of a Sunday-school at that place, in which there were both Protestant and Roman Catholic teachers, and in which Catholic priests made Sunday-school addresses, Soon after his conversion he also became an active worker in the Young Men's Christian Association ; and in 1866, with others, inaugurated the " Waiter-Girls' Saloon Mission," which resulted in the suppression of that dangerous class of saloons in Providence, and in establish- ing the Worcester Street Sunday-school Mission, which was instrumental in reforming and bringing into the church about one hundred of the fallen. Among other converts through this agency was a saloon-keeper, who is now an honored and useful minister of the gospel. During the years 1878 and 1879 Mr. Slade conducted gospel-meetings in various parts of the State in the interests of the Young Men's Christian Association, which body he represented as a delegate in the International Conventions at Montreal, Canada, 1867, and Baltimore, Maryland, 1879. He has also been, for two years, corresponding member of the same body for Rhode Island, and is now chairman of the Ex-

ecutive Committee. Ile married, July 9, 1866, Eliza Adeline, daughter of George Allen and Eliza A. (Gardner) Howard. They have one son living, Howard Wilbur.

EEP, FREDERICK EUGENE, merchant, son of David C. and Martha C. (Phillips) Keep, was horn in Providence, April 23, 1839. The records of the family reach back to 1690, when John Keep arrived from England and settled near Springfield, Massa- chusetts. A few years after, he and his wife, on their way to church, were killed by the Indians. The grandfather of Frederick E. was Stephen Keep, who lived at Long Meadow, Massachusetts, where David C. was horn. David C. was a thorough New Englander in spirit, and was always warm in his praise of the principles of this part of our country. The last fifteen years of his life were spent in New Jersey. Frederick E. was educated in the public schools of his native city, and afterwards studied at the seminary in East Greenwich, Rhode Island, and in Plain- field, New Jersey, aiming especially to qualify himself for mercantile life. After a short business apprenticeship, he engaged in the wholesale trade in flour and produce as a member of the firm of Whipple & Keep, a house that con- tinued till 1867, when he formed a copartnership with S. H. Barden, under the firm-name of Barden & Keep, which still continues. At first the wholesale trade was conducted by receiving stock from New York and Boston, but now everything is received directly from the producers, the firm having an extensive acquaintance with Western flour-sellers and Vermont and New York farmers. The store and stock of goods helonging to Barden & Keep were entirely de- stroyed by the great fire of September 27, 1877, on Cus- tom-House Street. While the blocks of wholesale houses were yet smoking and burning, a large printed placard, containing the following laconic announcement, appeared in front of the ruins : " Consequently, removed to No. 19 Exchange Place. Barden & Keep." They have ever since continued in business at the place to which they then re- moved. During the Rebellion Mr. Keep served in Com- pany B, Seventh Regiment New York State National Guard, for a hundred days at Fort Federal Hill, Baltimore, Mary- land. He was a member of the City Council of Provi- dence, from the Sixth Ward, in 1870 and 1871, and was a member of the Republican National Convention which nominated President Hayes. For six years he has been a member of the Board of Trade of Providence, serving two years as a director. On all occasions his public spirit and promptness in action have been manifest and highly appre- ciated. He is a now a leading member of the Pilgrim Con- gregational Church, was the superintendent of its Sabbath- school for three years, and is still serving as a teacher. As a member of the Young Men's Christian Association, he has rendered large and efficient service, acting for two

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years as chairman of the Finance Committee. He married, April 27, 1864, Sarah Vermenle, of Plainfield, New Jersey, and has a son, Charles Manning Keep.

GREENE, CAPTAIN ALBERT E., son of James and Louisa (Phillips) Greene, was born in North Scit- uate, Rhode Island, October 18, 1839. In 1850 his parents removed to Woonsocket, where he enjoyed * the advantages of a common and high school educa- tion. At the breaking out of the War of the Rebellion he became a member of Company K, First Regiment of Rhode Island Detached Militia, and after the expiration of his term of enlistment of three months returned home and as- sisted in enlisting a company for the Third Rhode Island Heavy Artillery for three years, in which company he ren- dered good service. Going out as First Lieutenant he was promoted to the office of Captain of his company (B), Janu- ary 1, 1863, and served the full term of three years, during which his regiment was in South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. He was in most of the engagements in that mil- itary department, including the sieges of Fort Pulaski, James Island, Fort Wagner, and Charleston. He was hon- orably discharged from the service October 5, 1864. In November, 1874, Captain Greene was elected Town Clerk of Woonsocket, which office he still holds. He is a mem- ber of the Woonsocket Lodge, No. 10, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, which he joined in 1870; and is also a member of Eureka Lodge, No. I, Knights of Pythias, which he joined in 1874. Captain Greene married, Sep- tember 14, 1871, Edna F. Sprague, daughter of Stephen L. and Ann E. Sprague. Their children are Florence M., Francis A., Clara L., and Stephen S.

BROWN, JOSEPH FARNUM, merchant, son of Richard 10 and Penelope (Farnum) Brown, was born in Prov- idence, Rhode Island, May 16, 1835, and is a de- scendant of Rev. Chad Brown, who was ordained pastor of the First Baptist Church in 1642, and took a prominent part in the affairs of the infant Colony. Richard Brown was a prosperous farmer, and for some time repre- sented North Providence in the General Assembly. He had six children, three of whom are now living : Mary J., who married Andrew Winsor ; Obadiah Brown, Commis- sioner of Highways in Providence, who now resides near the old homestead; and the subject of this sketch, who was five years of age at the time of the death of his father, which occurred in 1840. Joseph F. Brown was deprived of school advantages until the age of fifteen, on account of ill health, but subsequently attended the district school, and spent three years at the Friends' Boarding School in Provi- dence. After leaving school he was for some time employed on the farm. In 1854, with his brother-in law, Andrew

Winsor, he engaged in the lumber business, on Hill's Wharf, Providence, the firm-namne being Winsor & Brown. In 1856 he sold his interest in the business to Mr. Winsor, and for about three years thereafter has we engaged in farm- ing, on the homestead. Afterwards he was in Mr. Win- sor's employ for about two years, and then removed to Kawkawlin, Michigan, where he was employed by an ex- tensive lumber manufacturing company from 1863 to 1865. In August, 1865, he again became a partner of Mr. Winsor, their business being carried on at the corner of Broad and Pearl streets, Providence, under the old firm-name of Win- sor & Brown. He has ever since continued in the lumher business, and also engaged in farming. His farm is in an excellent state of cultivation, and is well stocked. For many years he has devoted considerable attention to raising thorough bred cattle, for which he has received high prices, and many premiums at State fairs. He is a member of the Ayrshire Breeders' Association, of which he has heen treas- urer since 1875. Mr. Brown has frequently been called to fill public positions. For nearly fifteen years he was a member of the North Providence School Committee, and for three years represented his town in the lower house of the General Assembly. He has also served for six years as a member of the School Committee since the annexation of North Providence, in 1873, and two years in the House of Representatives. He was a member of the Providence Common Council, from the Tenth Ward, in 1877, 1878, and 1879. For about twenty years he has been a member of the Rhode Island Society for the Encouragement of Domestic Industry, and served for about fifteen years as a member of the Standing Committee. In 1880 he was elected second vice-president of that society, and has heen very active in promoting the success of that organization. He has ever taken a deep interest in politics, having been prominently identified with the Whig and Republican parties. On the 15th of September, 1857, he married Adelaide Victoria Ballou, daughter of Orrin A. and Char- lotte W. (Angell) Ballou, of Woonsocket. She died Feb- ruary 10, 1880, aged forty-two. They had six children, only three of whom are living : Elma Sophia, Ethel Farnum, and Edna Adelaide.

EDDEMAN, HON. JOSHUA MELANCTHON, Secretary of State, was born November 15. 1840. His parents were Thomas and Mary (Fligg) Adde- man. He prepared for college in the Providence High School, and graduated at Brown University in the class of 1862. On the 26th of May, 1862, he en- listed as a private in the Tenth Regiment, Rhode Island Volunteers, and served until the expiration of his term of service, September 1, 1862. From November 23, 1863, until October 2, 1875, he was Captain of Company H, Fourteenth Regiment Rhode Island Heavy Artillery (col- ored). At the close of the war he studied law, was ad-

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mitted to the Rhode Island bar in 1866, and soon afterward entered upon the practice of his profession in Providence. Since February 25, 1867, he has served as Clerk of the Providence Common Council. In 1872 he was elected Secretary of State (succeeding Hon. John R. Bartlett), and has held that position by annual election until the present time (1881). On the 30th of June, 1880, he was appointed one of the commissioners to revise the laws of the State. Mr. Addeman married, October 25, 1872, Louise W. Winsor, daughter of Laban W. and Frances M. (Doane) Winsor, of Thompson, Connecticut. They have three children : Grace L., Mary F., and Julia D.

TINESS, HON. JOHN H., Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island, son of Philip B. and Mary (Marsh) Stiness, was born in Providence, August 9, 1840. He prepared for college at the Uni- 4& versity Grammar School in Providence, and in 1857 entered Brown University, where he pursued his studies for two years, and then for two years took charge, as teacher, of the Hopkins Grammar School in North Providence, intend- ing to return to college. In August, 1861, however, he joined the Second New York Artillery, at Staten Island, where, as second lieutenant, he remained until December, 1861, recruiting and drilling detachments. In December of that year he joined his regiment, then in garrison service near Alexandria Seminary, and was stationed at Fort Worth. In January, 1862, he was appointed adjutant of the bat- talion stationed at that Fort. He remained there until August, 1862, when he and his command were ordered to Warrenton, Virginia, and on the way became engaged in the second Bull Run battle. The regiment returned to Fort Corcoran early in September, and remained there until November, 1862, when he was discharged on account of sickness, and returned to Providence. In January, 1863, he began the study of law in the office of Thurston & Rip- ley, and was admitted to the bar in April, 1865. In May, 1874, he was elected Representative to the General Assem- bly from Providence, and while in that body served as a member of the Judiciary Committee, chairman of the Committee on Engrossed Bills, chairman of the Special Committee on the Location and Building of the Providence County Court-house, and after the decease of Dr. Thomas P. Shepard, was appointed in his place as one of the com- missioners to complete the building. In 1874 he was ap- pointed Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, which office he still holds. He married, November 19, 1868, Maria E., daughter of William D. and Sallie A. (Chap- man) Williams, and a descendant of Roger Williams. Judge Stiness is a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and takes an active interest in dioccsan work, having been a member of the General Convention since 1871.

anMABOTTER, HION. DEXTER B., lawyer and legislator, son of Rev. Jeremiah and Mary A. (Salisbury) Potter, was born at Scituate, Rhode Island, Au- gust 23, 1840, and is a descendant of one of the early settlers of the State. He was educated in pri- vate and public schools and seminaries in Rhode Island, and for several terms taught in the public schools of his native town. After studying the law for three years, he was admitted to the bar in Rhode Island in December, 1868, and to practice in the United States Circuit Court in November, 1871. Hc has served acceptably as Trial Jus- tice, Town Moderator, and member of the School Com- mittee in Scituate, and was subsequently Moderator for seven years in the adjoining town of Coventry, where he has resided with his father since 1868. Mr. Potter was elected as a Representative to the General Assembly of Rhode Island in 1871; re-elected in 1872; chosen State Senator in 1873 and 1874; and again elected to the House of Representatives in 1876, 1877, and 1878. In 1877 and 1878 he was Speaker of the House, and in 1879 again elected to the State Senate. In both branches of the Gen- eral Assembly he served as a member of the Judiciary and other important standing and special committees. His career as a legislator has been marked by a faithful and efficient discharge of the duties required of him, and his legal attainments and persistent industry have secured him a large measure of professional success. For several years he has been a member of the Republican State Central Committee, and has been influential in promoting the suc- cess of the party with which he is connected. Mr. Potter is one of the directors of the Coventry National Bank, and has taken a deep interest in matters pertaining to the pros- perity of the town in which he resides. He is a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity, having been for two years Master of his lodge. For many years he has been a member of the Franklin Lyceum, in which he was actively interested during the early part of his professional career.

ELDRICH, HON. NELSON WILMARTH, son of Anan E. and Abby (Burgess) Aldrich, was born at Fos- ter, Rhode Island, November 6, 1841. He re- ceived his early education at the common school at Killingly, Connecticut, and subsequently attended the Academy at East Greenwich, Rhode Island. He left the latter institution in 1857, and a few months thereafter went to Providence, where he accepted a situation as book- keeper with Waldron & Wightman, wholesale grocers. In 1865 he was admitted as a partner, the firm-name being changed to Waldron, Wightman & Co., which partnership still continues. This house is the largest of its kind in the State. Since May 6, 1872, Mr. Aldrich has been a director in the Roger Williams Bank, President of the First Na- tional Bank since April 23, 1877, and one of the incorpo-

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rators of the Mechanics' Savings Bank. In 1878 he was President of the Providence Board of Trade, and has been a member of its Executive Committee. He served as a member of the Common Council of Providence from the Fifth Ward, from 1869 to 1871, and from the Sixth Ward from June, 1872, to January, 1875. He was President of the Common Council from June, 1871, to January, 1873. He has been a Commissioner on Cove Lands since 1871. On the 3d of April, 1873, he was appointed upon the Joint Special Committee of the Board of Aldermen and Com- mon Council to obtain plans for a public market, and also upon a committee which built the Crawford Street Bridge. He was chosen a member of the Rhode Island General Assembly in 1875-6. The latter year he was Speaker of the House. In 1878 he was elected as a Representative to the Forty-sixth Congress on the Republican ticket, re- ceiving 5968 votes against 1332 votes for Thomas Davis (Democrat), and 627 votes for Lycurgus Sayles (National), and was re-elected in 1880 by the largest vote ever cast for a Representative in his district. Mr. Aldrich has rendered a valuable service to Rhode Island in presenting in the House of Representatives, and securing the passage of a bill to provide telegraph connection between Block Island and the main land, having been aided in his efforts by the rest of the delegation from Rhode Island. He is one of the trustees of the Providence, Hartford and Fishkill Rail- road. He was a member of the building committee, and is a director in the company which built the Narragansett Hotel; was a trustee for the property until the formation of the Wheaton Hotel Company, which now owns the estate. In 1860 he joined the Franklin Lyceum, and was its secretary in 1864, its vice-president in 1866, and has served as a member of the lecture committee. He is now a life member of this society. He has been a member of the Masonic fraternity since 1866, and has held various offices in that order. He was Eminent Commander of Calvary Commandery of Knights Templar in 1871, and is now Grand Commander of the Grand Commandery of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. He visited Europe in 1872-3, and travelled several months in Great Britain and on the Continent. October 9, 1866, he married Abby P. Greene, ward of Duty Greene, of Providence. They have had four children, Lucy T., Abby G., Edward B., and Stewart M.

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The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 127

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