The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 18

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

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ANTON, GOVERNOR JOSEPH, was a descendant of Edward Wanton, who emigrated from London to Boston about the year 1658, and died, a Friend, at Scituate, Mass., aged 85. One of the sons of Edward-Joseph, the eldest-settled in Tiverton, in 1688. He and his wife were preachers in the Society of Friends. Another son, William, in 1704, settled in New- port, and became a successful merchant. He was Gov- ernor of the colony of Rhode Island under the Royal Char- ter in 1732 and 1733. John Wanton, another son, also a wealthy merchant of Newport, and a distinguished Friend, was Governor of the colony immediately after his brother, and held the office six years, from 1734 to 1740. Gideon, son of Philip, another son of Edward, and, like his uncles William and John, an enterprising merchant of Newport, was Governor of the colony in 1745 and 1747. The subject of this sketch, Joseph, was the son of Governor William Wanton, and was born in Newport in 1705. He inherited the taste of his family for mercantile pursuits, and like them became an opulent merchant in his native place. By blood and affinity he was connected with the wealthiest and most popular families in the colony. He was elected Lieutenant-Governor of the colony in 1764 and 1767, and in 1769 was chosen as the successor of Governor Jonas Lyn- don, and was annually re-elected until 1775, when, although again chosen to fill the office, he was not confirmed by the General Assembly, because of his opposition to a resolution which was presented to the Assembly, to the effect that an " Army of Observation " be raised " to repel any insult or violence that may be offered to the inhabitants; and also,

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if it be necessary, for the safety and preservation of any of the colonies, to march out of this colony, and join and co- operate with the force of the neighboring colonies." Gov- ernor Wanton protested against the passage of this resolution, which, however, was passed over his protest. The " Army of Observation," consisting of fifteen hundred men, was raised, and General Nathanael Greene appointed its com- mander. An act was passed by the General Assembly to prevent Governor Wanton from performing the duties of Governor ; he was deposed from office, and the office was declared, for the time being, to be vacant. During the oc- cupancy of Newport by the British he lived in comparative retirement. Whatever may have been the real feeling which he cherished for the English government, he com- mitted no act which was followed by the confiscation of his estate. When the British evacuated the town, and the Americans returned to its possession, he remained without being molested during the brief period which elapsed before his death, which occurred July 19, 1780. Governor Wan . ton's wife was Mary, daughter of John Still Winthrop, of New London, Conn., by whom he had three sons and four daughters. (1) Joseph, who was an Episcopal clergy- man at or near Liverpool, England. (2) William, collector of customs at St. Johns, N. S. (3) John, who died when a child. (4) Ann, wife of Winthrop Saltonstall, of New London. She died in 1784, leaving five children. Among them was Mary, married, November 29, 1789, to Thomas Coit, of New London. They were the parents of two Episcopal clergymen, Rev. Dr. T. W. Coit and Rev. Gurdon S. Coit. (5) Mary, married Captain John Cod- dington. (6) Elizabeth, married Thomas Wickham, of Newport. (7) Ruth, married William Brown, who was ap- pointed by the British government Governor of Bermuda. (8) Catherine, twice married, first to a Mr. Stoddard, and second to Mr. Detileur, a surgeon in the British Army.

B BERKELEY, GEORGE, D.D., the distinguished prel- ate and philosopher, was born at Kilcrin, County Kilkenny, Ireland, March 12th, 1684, and was descended from an English family zealously at- tached to the cause of Charles I. The biography of Bishop Berkeley deserves a place in this volume, on account of the intellectual impulse given to American so- ciety through his efforts during his memorable sojourn at Newport. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and was the author of a number of works which gave him worldwide celebrity, among which may be mentioned An Essay toward a new Theory of Vision, published when he was but twenty-five years of age, The Princi- ples of Iluman Knowledge, and the Three Dialogues be- tween Hylas and Philonous, published in 1710 and 1713, respectively, in which he denied the existence of matter. In 1713 and 1714 he travelled through a part of Italy,

and, at a later period, through Italy, Sicily, and France ; in 1721 was appointed Chaplain to the Lord-Lientenant of Ireland, the Duke of Grafton; and in 1724 bccame Dean of Derry, which secured him a large income. Pre- vious to this date he came into possession of a fortune bequeathed to him by Mrs. Vanhomrigh, a wealthy lady of Dublin, the " Vanessa " of Swift. He became deeply in- tercsted in the conversion of the savages of America to the Christian faith. His plan was to erect a college in the Bermudas, where youth taken from the Indian tribes might be educated and Christianizcd. In 1725 he published an address in London, explaining his benevolent project, and offered to resign his own large income from the Church establishment, in order to devote his life to the carrying out of his design. The Queen offered him an early bish- opric if he would remain in England, but Berkeley de- clared that he should prefer the headship of St. Paul's College at Bermuda to the primacy of all England. It is said that in anticipation of the happy results of this scheme he wrote his celebrated ode in which occurs the familiar quotation, " Westward the course of empire takes its way." The English government voted him a grant of ten thou- sand pounds, and he set sail for the field of his labors. A short time before his departure he married Anne, the eldest daughter of the Right Hon. John Forster, Speaker of the Irish House of Commons. In 1729 he arrived in Newport, R. I., where he intended to make his headquar- ters, and to collect materials needed for the supply of the new institution which he proposed to start. " The benev- olent object failed," says Greene, "through the failure of Lord Carteret to give him the aid of government. Instead, therefore, of establishing himself in Bermuda, he pur- chased a farm near Newport and built a house on it, which is still known by the name of Whitehall. He brought with him a choice library, a collection of pictures, and a corps of literary men and artists, among them the painter Smibert, who thus became the teacher of Copley and West. The influence of such a man is quickly felt in a young community, and Berkeley soon gathered around him a body of cultivated men, who joined with him in the discussion of questions of philosophy and the collection of books. These books became the basis of the Redwood Library. Not far from his house, among what the modern tourist knows as the Hanging Rocks, is a natural alcove, which, opening to the south and roofed with stone, com- mands an extensive view of the ocean. Here, tradition says, Berkeley wrote his Alciphron, or Minute Philosopher, which was printed in Newport by James Franklin." His house was situated a short distance northeast from the Court-house. His hope of securing the government aid necessary to establish the intended university being disap- pointed, he returned to England in the fall of 1731. The farm which he purchased near Newport he gave to Yale College, and made a present of nearly one thousand vol- umes to the library of that institution. To Trinity Church,

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Newport, he gave the organ and a small library. Many interesting reminiscences exist of liis brief residence in this country. In 1733 he was made Bishop of Cloyne, and performed the duties of his sacred office until his death, which occurred in Oxford, January 14th, 1753. Bishop Berkeley was not only distinguished as a scholar and philosopher, but also as "a singularly good man, in whom a warm benevolence to his fellow-creatures and a zealous piety to God were not merely the enthusiasms of his heart, but the presiding rule of his life."

ARRINGTON, GENERAL EDWARD, merchant, son of Dr. Edward and Susan (Whittlesey) Carrington, was born in New Haven, Connecticut, November 2, 1775. His father, and his grandfather, Lemuel Car- rington, were practicing physicians, and the former was a graduate of Yale College, in which institution he was for some time an instructor. His great-grandfather was Dr. Peter Carrington, of Woodbridge, Connecticut, whose grandfather, Edward Carrington, is mentioned in the Charlestown, Massachusetts, records in 1634, became a freeman in 1636, and is said to have come from Warwick- shire, England. General Carrington became a resident of Providence at an early age, and was first in the employ of Samuel Butler, Seth Wheaton, and Richard Jackson, who were then among the most prominent and influential citizens of that city. He at once gained their confidence, and before his majority embarked in commercial ventures on his own and their account. About 1802 he went to Canton, China, and several years thereafter was appointed United States Consul to that country, which position he continued to fill until his return home in 1811, just preceding the war with Great Britain in 1812. As consul he was frequently called upon by American shipmasters to redress the wrongs and insults to which they were subjected by the British authori- ties, who would impress seamen out of American ships. The correspondence between General Carrington and the British officials was at times very sharp, and involved important national interests. He established the commercial firm of Edward Carrington & Co., in Providence, in 1815, his part- ner being Mr. Samuel Wetmore, of Middletown, Connecti- cut. He afterward became known as one of the most ac- complished, enterprising, and successful merchants in the United States. He built numerous ships, and at one time owned twenty-six merchantmen, which were engaged in general commercial trade in various parts of the world. It was said of him that he could lay the keel of a ship, and, when the vessel was completed, he could not only navigate it, but make it a source of revenue. His commercial ven- tures were attended with varying success, but he succeeded in acquiring a fortune equal to his highest expectations. From the time of his return from China until his death, which occurred in Providence, December 23, 1843, he was largely interested in cotton manufacturing. In 1828 he

built the Hamlet Mill, at Woonsocket, Rhode Island, and in 1832 the Carrington Mill, now known as the Clinton Mill, at the same place. He was prominently identified with the interests of the city and State, and devoted much of his time and fortune to promoting the public welfare. He was several times elected to the Rhode Island General Assem- bly, of which he was a member at the time of his death. For some time he was Major-General of the State Militia, and rendered important service as one of the Governor's Council during the " Dorr Rebellion." He was one of the movers and a commissioner in the Blackstone Canal en- terprise, and was chiefly instrumental in securing its suc- cessful completion. As a public man his conduct was guided by a high purpose, and his unbending integrity commanded the confidence of all who knew him. He was ever an advocate of liberal and enlightened views of gov- ernment. In private life he was noted for his social, gen- erous, and charitable disposition. He married Lorania, daughter of Benjamin and Ann Hoppin. They had but one child, Edward, Jr., who still resides at the old home- stead. Edward, Jr., married Candace Crawford Dorr, daughter of Sullivan and Lydia Allen Dorr, February 22, 1841. They have two children, Annie Ives and Edward. Annie Ives married Gamaliel Lyman Dwight, M.D., the issue of the marriage being one child, Margarethe Carring- ton. On the announcement of General Carrington's death, the General Assembly paid a fitting tribute to his memory by the adoption of resolutions expressing the highest appre- ciation of his worth. His character and public services were referred to as follows by Honorable John Whipple, on an- nouncing his death to the House of Representatives : " He was among the foremost of that class of men who, in what- ever direction they move, never fail to leave a broad and deep track behind them. He united to an iron frame of body an uncommon vigor and directness of mind, and an extraordinary tenacity of purpose. With these qualities he acquired a justly-earned reputation for liberal and manly enterprise, for accurate and extensive practical knowledge, and for a most liberal support of all improvements of a general public nature. Notwithstanding the predominance of these hardy and masculine traits, no man entered . with more eagerness into all the social pleasures of life, or opened his heart with a more childlike simplicity to the calls of friendship. All that he was and all that he purposed origi- nated with himself, for during the greater part of his active life his position was such as to afford him but little aid from the lights of association. As a legislator General Carring- ton, though not distinguished as a debater, possessed a highly suggestive mind, and many instances are fresh in the memories of his colleagues of great aid furnished by him to professional minds upon professional subjects. Though but an adopted son of our little State, he devoted himself to her interests with the same ardor that characterized his general mind." It is justly due to one who was many years closely identified with General Carrington's business

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interests, especially as his agent in China, to add that the ability and faithfulness of his neplicw, Mr. Isaac M. Bull (to whom we are chicfly indebted for this memorial), con- tributed largely to insure the success which attended his commercial operations in his later years.

MIBERT, OR SMYBERT, JOHN, was born in Edin- burgh, Scotland, about 1684, and served his time as a common house-painter. Early in life he de- veloped a taste for art, and having studied in Italy be- came distinguished as a painter of portraits. Form- ing the acquaintance of Dcan, afterwards Bishop, Berkeley, he entered warmly into his scheme of establishing an insti- tution for the Christian education of the North American Indians, and was his companion, when he came to this country, to put into execution his favorite plan. The origi- nal design was to found the proposed institution in the island of Bermuda. But the captain of the ship in which Berkeley and his companions sailed from England failed to find the island of which he was in search, and steered northward until a land unknown to them was discovered, supposed to them to be inhabited by savages. It was the island of Rhode Island which they had reached, and on the 2d of September, 1729, they landed at Newport. As is well known, the Dean at once, with true missionary zeal, began to interest himself in the Indians of Rhode Island. In company with Smibert he made frequent visits to Dr. McSparran, to inquire into the condition and the character of the Narragansett Indians. During these visits the artist painted portraits of Dr. McSparran and his wife, which are still in existence. The following circumstance led him to the conclusion that the Indians were by race immediately connected with the tribes of Northern Asia. It seems that in 1628 he had been employed by the Grand Duke of Florence to paint two or three Siberian Tartars, presented to the Duke by the Czar of Russia. When he was intro- duced to some of the Narragansett Indians, he instantly recognized them to be the same people as the Siberian Tar- tars whom he had painted, and in the opinion which he expressed of the relation of the two he was subsequently sustained by Dr. Wolff, the celebrated traveller. While residing in Newport, he painted what is regarded as the best specimen of his art, the picture of Dean Berkeley and his family, the portrait of the artist himself being intro- duced into the group. It was painted for a gentleman in Boston, and is now in the Gallery of Art at Yale College. " It is nine feet long and six wide, and represents Bishop Berkeley as standing at one end of a table, which is sur- rounded by his family. He appears to be in deep thought, his eyes slightly raised, one hand resting on a folio volume -his favorite author, Plato,-and is dictating to his aman- uensis part of the Minute Philosopher, which is said to have been commenced during his residence in Newport. The painter has placed himself in the rear, standing by a pillar

with a scroll in his hand, and beyond him opens a very beautiful water scenc, with woods and headlands, the origi- nal of which probably once existed on the shores of the Narragansett Bay." Among the figures introduced was John Moffatt, of Newport. How many portraits of Rhode Island pcople Smibert painted cannot be ascertained. Two of them, which are said to be in excellent preservation and fair examples of his style, are the portraits of John Channing and his wife, the grandparents of Dr. W. E. Channing. Allston says : " I am grateful to Smibert for the instruction he, or rather his work, gave me." After the return of Dean Berkely to Ireland, he urged his artist friend to rejoin him in the Old World. But Smibert was too pleasantly and profitably settled in Boston, and he de- clined the invitation. He pursued his vocation for many years. It is said that the best portraits we have of the eminent divines who lived between 1725 and 1751 are from his pencil. Several of these are in the collections of New England colleges. He died in Boston. Smibert married a daughter of Dr. Williams, who was the Latin schoolmaster of Boston for fifty years. One of his children by this mar- riage was Nathanael, who gave promise of being a most accomplished artist. He died comparatively a young man. Smibert died in Boston, in 1751. Among the portraits in the rooms of the Rhode Island Historical Society is one of Rev. John Callender, of Newport, which is supposed by some to have been painted by Smibert, while others attrib- ute it to Robert Fcke. There are also copies of his por- traits of Dr. and Mrs. McSparran.

ARD, GOVERNOR RICHARD, grandson of John Ward, who at one time was an officer in one of Cromwell's cavalry regiments, and came to this country from Gloucester, England, after the ac- cession of Charles II., and settled at Newport, where he died in April, 1698. His second son, Thomas, the father of Richard, was born in England, and coming to this country before his father, settled in Newport. Backus, the historian, says " that he was a Baptist before he came out of Cromwell's army and a very useful man in the Colony, of Rhode Island." His second son was Richard, the sub- ject of this sketch, who was born April 15, 1689. He was Secretary of the colony for nineteen years, 1714-33. In 1740 he was elected Deputy Governor, and by the de- cease of Governor John Wanton was Governor from July 15 to May, 1741, and waselected Governor the two follow- ing years, 1741-43. He was present at the siege of Louisbourg. His death occurred August 21, 1763. He married November 2, 1709, Mary, daughter of John Till- inghast, who died October 19, 1767. They had fourteen children. Among them were Thomas, for many years Secretary of State ; Samuel, afterwards so famous in the political history of the State, in connection with the " Ward and Hopkins Controversy; " Isabel, who married Hux-

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ford Marchant, and was the grandmother of Judge William Marchant ; Amy, who married Samuel Vernon ; Margaret, who married Colonel Samuel Freebody, of Newport ; Henry, who was Secretary of State thirty-seven years, De- cember 1760-97, his term of office expiring with his death, which occurred November 25, 1797. His daughter Eliza- beth married Dr. Pardon Bowen, of Providence.

GREENE, GOVERNOR WILLIAM, Ist, son of Samuel and Mary (Gorton) Greene, was born in Warwick, March 16, 1695. He was a descendant of John Greene, son of Peter Greene, of Aukley Hall, Salis- bury, Wiltshire, England. In 1718 he was made a freeman, and was Deputy in 1727, 1732, 1736, 1738, and 1740. He and John Mumford were appointed, in 1728, surveyors of the line between Connecticut and Rhode Island, and in 1736 received a similar appointment in connection with two others. He was Deputy-Governor in 1740, 1742, and 1743, and Governor in 1743, 1744, 1746, 1748, to 1755 and 1757, eleven years. The position which Governor Greene held in Rhode Island is shown in the circumstance that he, a citizen of Warwick, should have been elected as Chief Magistrate of the colony. For three years, 1654, to 1657, Roger Williams had been President of the colony. But from 1657 to 1743, a period of 86 years, no citizen not residing in Newport had been called to that position, with the exception of Governor Joseph Jenckes, and he was elected on condition that he live in Newport, the Assembly voting {100 to meet the expense of his removal. No such condition was made in the case of Governor Greene. It was during his administration that the struggle was maintained between the English and the French for the mastery on this continent. In the Colonial Records of Rhode Island may be found a large amount of corre- spondence which was carried on between the Governor of the colony and persons in military authority in the English army. The letters of Governor Greene exhibit good sense and habits of business, which indicate that he had rare qualifications for the position which he filled. It was also during his administration, in part, that the long controversy between Massachusetts and Rhode Island as to the position of certain towns was ended, and Cumberland, Warren, Bristol, Little Compton and Tiverton were brought within the bounds of the latter colony. Stirring events, both at home and abroad, occurred while Governor Greene was in office, events in which Rhode Island was deeply interested. In 1745, Louisbourg and Cape Breton were taken by the Eng. lish. In 1755 was Braddock's defeat, and in 1758 was Abercrombie's defeat at Ticonderoga. Rhode Island was behind none of her sister colonies in the aid which she ren- dered to the mother country. We are told that " the colony became largely indebted for supplies, etc., furnished the government, all of which was expected to be reimbursed,

and for which expenditures large amounts of paper money were issued by the colony." The reimbursement, however, was never made. Under various pretexts the claims of Rhode Island were set aside, and the result was that heavy pecuni- ary burdens were laid upon the colony, the pressure of which it felt for many years. Soon after the close of his term of office Governor Greene died, the event occurring in Febru- ary, 1758. The wife of Governor Greene was Catharine daughter of Benjamin Greene. Their children were Benja- min, born May 19, 1724; Samuel, born August 25, 1727 ; William (second Governor of the name), born August 16, 1731; Margaret, born November 2, 1733, who became the second wife of Rufus Spencer ; Catherine, born December 9, 1735, who married John Greene, of Boston ; and Christo- pher, born April 18, 1741, and died the same year.

3 BROWN, REV. MARMADUKE, was born in Ireland, about the year 1700. The Society for the Propa- gation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts sent him to this country as one of their missionaries in 1730. He first settled in Providence, where he was the third rector of St. John's Church. We are told that he was highly esteemed among them, so that they purchased a place in Providence Neck, and gave him a deed in fee simple for the same. After living a few years in Providence he was induced to go to Portsmouth, N. H., by Governor Dunbar. Here he remained several years, until, in 1760, he was called to take charge of Trinity Church in Newport. Under his ministry the parish was so prosperous that it be- came necessary to enlarge the church edifice to the east- ward, thus furnishing thirty additional pews. It was dur- ing his ministry that, in 1768, the steeple of Trinity was built. His connection with the church continued until it was terminated by his death, which occurred March 19, 1771. He is represented by his son, in an inscription on a marble tablet, which he caused to be erected on the walls of Trinity Church in honor of his father, as a man emi- nent for talents, learning, and religion. Mention is also made of his wife, Mrs. Ann Brown, who is described as a lady of uncommon piety and suavity of manners. The son referred to was Hon. Arthur Brown, LL.D., who spent most of his life in Ireland, and rose to very great distinction as a scholar and a statesman in that country.

COLLINS, HENRY, one of the wealthy and distin- guished merchants of Newport, of the last century, was born in Newport, in March, 1699, and at an early age was sent to England, where he completed his education, and where he acquired a love for art and literature. When he returned to America he rose to eminence as a merchant, and he was as liberal as he was intelligent. With ample means at his disposal, and with

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The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 18

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