USA > Rhode Island > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island > Part 27
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vember 12, 1864, aged seventy-four years. Joseph Potter died March 4, 1880, aged ninety-two years. He was a man of rare judgment, great probity and piety. He was in the military service in the War of 1812. For very many years he was a director in the Phenix Bank of Westerly, and held a high rank among men of business. He united with the Hopkinton Seventh-Day Baptist Church, in 1803, under the preaching of Revs. Abram Coon and Matthew Stillman, when two hundred and thirty-four were added to the church. For thirty-six years he was treasurer of the church, and at his death was the oldest, as he was the most honored member. His wife and his only child, a son, passed away before him. A conspicuous and gifted member of the Potter family, Maria L. Potter, has, by her pen and pure character, con- tributed to their reputation, and to the good deeds and character of the community.
TILES, EZRA, D.D., LL.D., an eminent Rhode Island scholar and divine, son of Isaac Stiles, was born in North Haven, Connecticut, December 10, 1727. His ancestor, on his father's side, was John Stiles, of Bedfordshire, England, who came to this country in 1634, and in 1635 settled in Windsor, Connecti- cut. The subject of this sketch displayed remarkable pre- cocity in his youth. He began the study of Latin when he was nine years of age, and at twelve, under the tuition of his father, was fitted for Yale College. Very wisely, however, he was kept out of college until he was fifteen years of age, and graduated in the class of 1746 with the reputation of being one of the most accomplished scholars that had ever left the institution. He continued his studies, as a post-graduate in Yale College, for two years, and was there appointed tutor, in which office he distin- guished himself by the performance of some brilliant ex- periments in electricity, said to have been the first ever made in New England. Having made up his mind to enter the Christian ministry, he was licensed by the New Haven Association of Ministers, and preached his first sermon at West Haven in June, 1749. He preached as opportunity presented for several years, but the state of his health was such that he doubted whether he would be able to perform the duties of the ministry, and he turned his attention to the study of law. He was admitted to the bar of Connecticut in 1753, and for two years practiced the profession of law. Having been invited to become the pastor of the Second Congregational Church in New- port, he accepted the call, and was ordained October 22, 1755. While not neglecting his ministerial duties, he devoted himself to those scientific and literary pur- suits which for him had so great a charm. His corre- spondence was very extensive, reaching to almost every known quarter of the globe. Three institutions of learn-
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ing conferred on him the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity,-the College of Edinburgh in 1765, Dartmouth College in 1780, and the College of New Jersey in 1784, besides at the same commencement conferring on him the degree of Doctor of Laws. The great facility with which he acquired languages is shown from the circumstance that in 1767 he began the study of the Hebrew language, and in a single month was able to read the whole book of Psalms. He began, too, at this time, the study of other Oriental languages. When the British occupied Newport, Dr. Stiles left the place. He accepted a call to Ports- mouth, N. H., in 1777, in the month of April, but remained there but a short time, being chosen President of Yale Col- lege and Professor of Ecclesiastical History. His inaugura- tion occurred July 8, 1778. His administration brought new prosperity to this institution. His own labors were varied and arduous. How pronounced was his scholarship ap- pears from the fact that at the annual commencement of 1781, which was the first at which he presided, none having been held for two or three years on account of the unsettled state of the country, he delivered, in the morn- ing, an oration in Hebrew on Oriental literature, and in the afternoon introduced the usual performances with an ora- tion in Latin. His relation to the College as its President continued until it was terminated by his death, which oc- curred May 12, 1795. Dr. Stiles was twice married-first to Elizabeth, daughter of Colonel John Hubbard, of New Haven, in February, 1757, who died May 25, 1775 ; and the second time to Mrs. Mary Checkley, widow of William Checkley, of Providence, in 1782. He published several discourses, orations, sermons, etc., and left an unfinished ecclesiastical history of New England, and more than forty volumes of manuscripts. In the extent and variety of his acquirements he was probably the most accomplished scholar in this country in the times in which he lived.
COLLINS, GOVERNOR JOHN, was born in Newport, June 8, 1717. He comes into special notice in the annals of Rhode Island history as an active cham- pion in the cause of American Independence. He was one of a committee which was sent to General Washington, by the General Assembly, in September, 1776, to inform him of the condition of the colony, and obtain his views upon the best method to adopt for its defence. In 1778 he was chosen, with three other gentlemen, to represent the State in Congress. At different times, until 1782, he represented his native State at the seat of national government. At the close of the war there was in exist- ence an embittered state of feeling in Rhode Island, owing to differences of opinion, which have prevailed throughout the country to this day. One party advocated State sover- eignty ; the other urged the importance of the closer union of the States under a general head. The seaport towns of the State and the mercantile classes favored the
Union, while the agricultural interests clung to the Con- federation. The former party contended for specie cur- rency, and the latter for paper. In 1785 a petition, numer- ously signed, was presented to the General Assembly, praying that a new bank of paper-money might be estab- lished. The petition was rejected by a large majority. The friends of a paper currency all over the State, organ- ized in opposition to secure an election of State officers who should favor their views. Anticipating the presenta- tion of another petition to the General Assembly, a memo- rial and remonstrance, numerously signed, was drawn up and presented to that body at the February session, in 1786. It may be found in Staples's Annals of Providence, pp. 297-308. The evils of a paper currency not founded upon a specie basis are in this paper set forth with remark- able vigor and pertinency. In spite of strong opposition the "Greenbackers" of those days rallied all their forces, and, at the spring election in 1786, succeeded in choosing John Collins as Governor, and a Senate which harmonized with them in their views. Thus was inaugurated a system " more destructive," says Governor Arnold, "in its effects upon the peace and prosperity of the State than any which had yet been attempted, and whose baleful influence was to extend far beyond the period when its name and objects passed away." Those who wish to see what was the prac- tical results which followed this attempt to force a paper currency on the people, will do well to read Arnold's His- tory, vol. ii., p. 520, etc., and Staples's Annals of Provi- dence, p. 204, etc. One of the last acts of Governor Col- lins was the casting of his vote, when there was a tie in the Senate, which secured the calling of a convention to decide upon the acceptance of the Constitution of the United States. This vote of Governor Collins made him unpopular with his party, and he was not re-elected. Sub- sequently, he was chosen as a representative to Congress, but did not take his seat. IIe died at Newport, March 8, 1795.
B OWEN, JABEZ, LL.D., Lieutenant-Governor of Rhode Island, son of Ephraim and Mary (Fenner) Bowen, was born in Providence, June 2, 1739. He received his preparatory education in his native town, and was a graduate of Yale Col- lege in the class of 1757. Returning to Providence, he made it his residence during life, becoming a lead- ing citizen, and occupying positions of honor and trust. When the question of the establishment of a college in Rhode Island was agitated, he took a deep interest in carrying out the plans of President Manning. In 1768, while the infant institution was still in Warren, he was elected a member of the Board of Fellows, and continued in that office until 1785. He then passed into the Board of Trustees, and was chosen Chancellor of the University
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in the place of Stephen Hopkins, deceased. Mr. Bowen was Chancellor for thirty years, his term of office closing with his death. In the affairs of the State he took a prom- inent part. At the election in May, 1778, he was chosen Deputy Governor, to succeed Hon. William Bradford, and held this office until May, 1780. He was elected the second time, and remained in office until 1786. He was also a Judge of the Superior or Supreme Court. He took an active part in securing the vote of Rhode Island for the adoption of the Constitution of the United States, being a prominent member of the convention which met in Prov- idence in March, and in Newport in May, 1790, to dis- cuss and act upon the important question, which was de- cided in the affirmative by a close vote, there being thirty- four in the affirmative and thirty-two in the negative. The news of the action of the convention was hailed in Prov- idence with demonstrations of great joy. During the ad- ministration of Washington, Mr. Bowen held the position of Commissioner of Loans for Rhode Island. He was for some time President of the Rhode Island Bible Society, and an active member of the Congregational church of which Rev. Dr. Hitchcock was pastor. He was also a zealous and influential Mason, being one of the early members of St. John's Lodge, Providence, where the first meeting was held February 18, 1757. After a prosperous career of several years, the interest in Masonry in a meas- ure ceased until, at a meeting of the lodge of which Mr. Bowen was a member, held June 7, 1769, it was voted " to close the lodge, shut up the books, and seal up the jewels." There was an interregnum of nine years. A commission was given, July 15, 1778, to Mr. Bowen by John Rowe, Grand Master of Massachusetts, to act as Master, and under this commission Masonry revived in Providence. He was Worshipful Master from 1778 to 1790. On the formation of the Grand Lodge, April 6, 1791, he was chosen to fill the office of Deputy Grand Master, which he held in 1791 and 1792, and that of Grand Master from 1794 to 1799. In addition to all his other honors, he received from Brown University the degree of Doctor of Laws in 1769, the same degree being conferred upon him by Dartmouth College in 1800. " His great capacity for public business, joined to his unquestioned integrity, gave him an elevated character and great influence in society." He died in Providence, May 7, 1815, and was buried with Masonic honors. Mr. Bowen was twice married. His first wife was Sarah, daughter of Obadiah Brown, of Provi- dence. With her he lived most happily thirty-eight years, she dying on March 17, 1800. A most excellent and life- like portrait of herself, and also that of her husband, taken by the artist Copley, grace the parlors of their grand- son, Wm. H. Bowen. Seven sons and a daughter were the issue of this marriage. Of these, Jabez was graduated at Brown University, in the class of 1788; Horatio Gates, for seventeen years Librarian of the University, was grad- uated in 1797; and Henry, the youngest, who for thirty
successive years was the honored Secretary of State, was graduated in 1802. Mr. Bowen's second wife, who sur- vived him, was a daughter of Judge Leonard, of Raynham, Massachusetts.
FILCOX, REV. ISAIAH, a Separatist preacher, was born in Westerly, in 1740. He was bap- tized in 1766, and ordained February 14, 1771, over the " Third Church of Christ in Westerly," better known as the " Wilcox Church," organized in 1765, a New Light body, composed of Separatists from other churches, but which finally became a Baptist church. The constituent members were Isaiah Wilcox, Elisha Sis- son, David Wilcox, Valentine Wilcox, James Babcock, Mary Lewis, and Austris Dunbar. The first meetings were held in the house of Mr. Wilcox, the pastor. The meeting- house was built after the Revolutionary War, in 1786, on land given by Nathan Bliven. The church became large and powerful for the time, and was embraced in the nota- ble Groton Union Conference of Churches, in which the pastor was a leading character. Mr. Wilcox was a man of full habit, broad features, dignified bearing, and weighed nearly three hundred pounds. Being an able preacher, zealously devoted to his work, and possessing superior powers of song, he always made a deep impression in his ministrations, and was widely known. Under his minis- try, in 1785, occurred a great revival, which continued for nearly three years, during which more than two hundred persons were added to the church. He died March 3, 1795, at the age of fifty-five.
CAMPBELL, HON. ARCHIBALD, sprang from a Scotch ancestry, and was the son of Archibald Campbell, of Voluntown, Connecticut, where he was born in 1728. He was a grandson of a distinguished Scotch
divine, Rev. Daniel Campbell. His uncle, the Rev. John Campbell, was the president, at one time, of the Col- lege of Glasgow, in Scotland. From a letter written by D. Campbell, of Voluntown, a relative of the subject of this sketch, we learn that a colony of Scotch emigrants, embracing names well known in Scotland and in this country-the Campbells, Stewarts, Kennedys, Wylies and Hunters, with others-settled in Voluntown, Connecticut, in the early days of the history of Connecticut. The ob- ject of their leaving their native land was that they might enjoy larger religious liberty than they could find in Scot- land. They were said to be persons well educated and pious. Opposed to a hierarchy and to a liturgical church, they formed a Congregational church, which was, and, for aught we know, still is, in a prosperous condition. They brought with them considerable property, which, by their Scotch thrift and industry, was sure to increase. Many of the posterity of these early Scotch emigrants are to be found scattered through different sections of New York
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and Ohio. Early in life, the subject of this sketch left his native place, and settled in East Greenwich, about the year 1750. Here he commenced the practice of law in Kent County, where he was successful. For nearly twenty years he carried on his legal business in his adopted home, and often had cases which he managed in other courts, not in his immediate neighborhood. The esteem with which he was regarded is shown from the circumstance that, in the year 1768, the town of East Greenwich elected him as their representative to the legislature of the State. In this position he displayed marked ability, and was placed on some very important committees. One of these com- mittees was appointed to draw up an Act of Bankruptcy for the colony. He was chairman of a committee, the other members of which were Mr. George Jackson, and Hon. Oliver Arnold, the Attorney-General of the colony, to draft " An Act to Limit and Restrain the Issuing of Writs of Error, to Carry Cases to England for Trial." This was a bold stand taken by the legislature, and was indicative of the spirit which at length brought about an open rupture with the home government. The evidence is very clear that Mr. Campbell was the outspoken friend of the rights of the colonists, and ready to speak and act as the advocate of freedom. As long as his health per- mitted he served his fellow-citizens as their representative in the General Assembly. He died October 16, 1769. He left one son, Jacob, and three daughters. He is reported to have been an excellent gentleman, of handsome address, a good counsellor, plain speaker, but not an eloquent ad- vocate. His remains were placed in the Baptist burial- ground in East Greenwich, where a handsome stone was erected to his memory. From the inscription on this stone have been gleaned some of the facts which have been used in this sketch.
UNTER, DR. WILLIAM, a Scotch physician of great respectability, was educated in Edinburgh, came to America in 1752, and settled in New- port. It is said that he was one of the devoted band of Scotchmen who adhered to the house of the Stuarts, and that his emigration to America grew out of his participation in the rebellion of 1745. His talents, when made known in the colony, were appreciated, and in 1755 he received the appointment of Surgeon to the troops raised in Rhode Island for the expedition against Crown Point ; a position for which he was eminently fitted, for he had served as a Surgeon in the British Army before he came to America. It was in Dr. Hunter's tent that the brave Baron Dieskau breathed his last. In 1756 Dr. Hunter delivered in Newport the first course of anatomical lectures delivered in the country. The tickets to the course were printed upon the backs of playing cards. One of these cards is now in the possession of one of his descend- ants, Dr. William H. Birckhead, of Newport. A portrait
of the doctor lias also been preserved. In 1758 he was appointed by the General Assembly Physician and Surgeon- General of the Rhode Island troops. Before the Revolu- tion broke out Dr. Hunter had so far overcome his preju- dice against the house of Hanover as to be a warm sup- porter of the King and his ministers, and in consequence of this he was removed from Newport, with many other persons who were obnoxious to the Government, by the General Assembly. Subsequently he was permitted to re- turn to Newport, and here he resided till his death, January 30, 1777, which was caused by a putrid fever contracted while attending some sick prisoners. Dr. Hunter married, 1761, Deborah Malbone, and had issue. His children were Eliza, born July 20, 1762, died at Paris, 1849; Ann, born April 20, 1766, married John Farconnet, banker, Naples, died at Paris, 1859; William, born April 20, 1768, died November 18, 1772 ; Catharine, born January 8, 1770, died October 1, 1770; Catharine, born February 28, 1773, married the Comte de Pourtales, died at Paris, 1860; Wil- liam, born November 26, 1774, married Mary Robinson July 15, 1804, died at Newport December 3, 1849.
URROWS, JOSEPH, was born in Warwick, R. I., July 14, 1793, and was the son of Joseph and Amy (Williams) Burrows. About 1643 Robert Burrows with others formed a permanent settlement of what is now New London, Conn. He was the progenitor of the Burrows family in America, and is said to have been one of a company that removed from the vicinity of Boston and founded Wethersfield, Conn. He there married Mary Ireland, widow of Samuel Ireland, who died in Groton, Conn., in December, 1672. Robert Burrows died in Gro- ton, in 1682. Many members of this family have been dis- tinguished for patriotism and moral and intellectual worth. Joseph Burrows received a very limited education, and at an early age was apprenticed to a carpenter. In 1836 he engaged in the lumber business, in Providence, with his son Caleb G., under the firm-name of Joseph Burrows & Son, which business he carried on successfully until 1854, when he sold out to his son Joseph R. Burrows. Mr. Bur- rows was for several years a member of the Common Council of Providence, and also represented Providence in the General Assembly. He was for fifty years an honored member of the Central Baptist Church in Providence. On the 15th of October, 1815, he married Maria Gerauld, who died in Providence, May 8, 1847. He married, July 19, 1849, Rhoda Knowlton, who died in Providence, February 22, 1865. On the 30th of May, 1866, he married Isabella R. H. Sullivan, who is still living. All of his children were the issue of the first marriage. They were Caleb G., Henrietta R., Julia Ann G., Maria G., Robey, deceased, Almira, deceased, Joseph R., who died in 1862 from dis- ease contracted while serving in the Union army during the war of the Rebellion, Daniel, and George, who died in
Joseph Bawaves
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childhood. It was said of Mr. Burrows by one who knew him well that " he was a man of the olden type, hardy, honest, brave ; he knew not how to resort to the tricks of trade, or to the numerous contrivances for becoming sud- denly rich, and yet he was blessed with a competency of this world's goods, and with the spirit of contentment. He saw Providence grow from a village to a city of a hundred thousand inhabitants, and delighted to tell of scenes that had been enacted there for three-quarters of a century." He died in Providence, October 15, 1879, in his eighty-seventh year.
OPHAM, COLONEL JOHN, was born in Newport, in 1738. Of his early history we have been un- able to gain any information. Our first distinct notice of him is as an officer in the " Army of Observation," raised by the General Assembly of Rhode Island, in May, 1775. When the news of the bat- tle of Lexington reached Newport, he at once raised a company and marched to Cambridge and joined the Con- tinental Army under Washington. He subsequently was attached to Arnold's expedition to Quebec, where he was taken prisoner. Before obtaining his release, and while negotiations with reference to it were pending, he was among the officers recommended by Washington to take command of a company in one of the new regiments about to be raised in Rhode Island. Accordingly, in February, 1777, he was chosen captain in the first Continental battal- ion, under Major Ward, and in June following, lieuten- ant-colonel in a brigade raised to serve fifteen months. In February, 1778, he was chosen colonel in place of Colonel William Barton, transferred ; and, a year later, colonel of the second battalion of infantry. He received the thanks of the General Assembly in 1780, "for the great fidelity and ability with which he had discharged his military duties." When the war was ended, Colonel Top- ham engaged in mercantile pursuits. He was elected, in 1780, a Deputy to the General Assembly from Newport, and also served in this capacity during the years 1783, 1788, 1791, and 1792. He died in Newport, September 26, 1793, and was buried with Masonic honors.
Gu HURSTON, REV. GARDINER, a son of Edward and Elizabeth Thurston, was born in Newport, No- vember 14, 1721, and became a member of the Second Baptist Church in that place April 4, 1741: He soon gave evidence that he had talents which, if improved, would qualify him for usefulness as a minister of the Gospel. In 1748 he received a license from the church of which he was a member, and was appointed as an assistant to their pastor, Rev. Nicholas Eyres. Mr. Eyres was an Englishman by birth, who, in 1731, became
co-pastor with Rev. Mr. Wightman, in Newport. He is represented as having been a man of great intelligence, benevolence, and piety. The relation which Mr. Thurston sustained to Mr. Eyres was mutually pleasant. He preached once on the Sabbath and once during the week, meanwhile prosecuting his theological studies with great industry, aided by the counsel and guidance of his venerable asso- ciate in office. Upon the death of the senior pastor, in 1759, he was chosen to be his successor, and continued in office until his decease, which occurred May 23, 1802. He had outlived his wife eighteen years. Only one daughter survived him. Mr. Thurston is spoken of as a man of agreeable and winning manners. " He mingled with great ease and familiarity in the social circle, and had the faculty of making all around him feel perfectly at home; but he never did anything or said anything that was of even ques- tionable propriety. He never forgot, in any circumstances, his high calling as a minister of Christ. He was a person of a remarkably benevolent disposition, and was always rendered happy by seeing others so."
AHAVER, GENERAL SIMEON, son of David and Jane (Keith) Thayer, was born in Meriden, Mass., April 30, 1737. At an early age he was apprenticed to a peruke-maker in Providence. Being of an active, bold turn of mind, and governed by a love of adven- ture, he became a member of a Rhode Island regiment, in 1756, serving in the French War. In August, 1757, he was among the soldiers of Fort William Henry when it was taken by Montcalm. The excessive fatigue he endured in the hairbreadth escapes he had in fleeing from Fort William Henry to Fort Edward, so affected his health, that he was compelled to retire from active service during the remainder of the war. It is computed that fifteen hundred persons were killed or wounded by the Indians on the day of the surrender of Fort William Henry. Young Thayer returned to Providence and entered upon the business for which he had been trained,-that of a periwig-maker. The events which transpired just before the declaration of war with Great Britain stirred his martial blood. In May, 1775, he was appointed by the General Assembly captain of a military company, every soldier in which had been raised by himself. His men were marched to Roxbury, Mass., which place they reached eiglit days before the arrival of any other Rhode Island troops. He accompanied General Benedict Arnold in his famous expedition to Quebec, where he was taken prisoner, and kept in close confinement, a part of the time in irons, for nine months, on board a prison-ship. Being at length paroled, he returned to Provi- dence. He was exchanged July 1, 1777. The General Assembly presented to him, about this time, "a genteel silver-hilted sword," in testimony of their appreciation of his services. He had already been appointed major in a Rhode Island regiment, and, having joined the army, he
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