The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 40

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

USA > Rhode Island > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island > Part 40

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John Abanking

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which he was gifted. His talents for debate would have won for him no mean rank even in the highest deliberative body in our country. The tricks of oratory, the artificial embellishments of rhetoric he seemed to scorn ; but, if his aim were either to support or defeat a measure, no man was a more skilful master of the language and of the style of argument required for his purpose. No man more clearly comprehended and at times more ably defended the true merits of a public question. No man, too, it should be added, better knew how to perplex his adversaries by subtle objections or to wither them by caustic sarcasm. Mr. Hazard was fond of reading. In my last interview with him, not many months before his death, he spoke with great animation and emphasis of his relish for Slake- speare, Sir Walter Scott, and Dean Swift. His predi- lection for the latter will not surprise those who recall to memory the celebrity of Swift as a politician and the wonderful influence which, by the peculiar character and direction of his intellect, he obtained over the popu- lar mind. Mr. Hazard could boast a true Rhode Island lineage, and he was in spirit a true Rhode Island man, attached to the old charter and to all the institutions which grew up under it. The Report on the Extension of Suffrage, made by a committee of which he was chairman, in the year 1829, is characterized by unusual ability. It is among the very few productions of his pen to which he attached his name, and in style and argument may perhaps be deemed one of the best specimens of his peculiar pow- ers. He died at Newport, March 10, 1841, aged sixty- nine years." The following notice of Mr. Hazard is from Updike's History of the Narragansett Church, and was written by Hon. William Hunter, of Newport, formerly United States Minister to the Court of Brazil, to form part of an account of the Hazard family: " There is one in- dividual belonging to this numerous, widespread, and highly-respectable race, who is deserving of particular notice and regard. We refer to the late Hon. Benjamin Hazard. His portrait has already been sketched by the skilful hand of Professor Goddard. See Address to the People of Rhode Island, etc., p. 62. Mr. Goddard's re- marks need no correction, and but little of addition. The ancient constitution of Rhode Island, formed out of the provisions of its admirable charter, was the most ·demo- cratic perhaps that ever existed. It required a semi-annual election of Representatives to the General Assembly. Mr. Hazard was a Representative from the town of Newport in the General Assembly for thirty-one years, and of course ' was subjected to the ordeal of sixty-two popular elections,' a singular proof of the enlightened stability of his constituents, of his general high desert, and his pecu- liar fitness for this important office. This fact, independ- ent of all others, entitles him to claim rank as a distin- guished man, and, as it were, demonstrates the possession of those impressive and useful qualities whose combina- tion render character at once eminent and enduring. Mr.

Hazard's course of reading and study, operating upon a mind of genuine native strength, and confirming and jus- tifying a native sturdiness of will (the germ and guarantee of greatness), gave to all his literary efforts and political proceeding an air and caste of originality. He read and dwelt upon such books as Rabelais, Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, Hobbes's Leviathan, Swift's Gulliver, Berke- ley's Querist, and latterly the dramas of Shakespeare and the romances of Sir Walter Scott. In the middle and latter periods of his professional career, he was employed in most of the important lawsuits of the day, both in the courts of the State and the United States. In politics, though his agency in the conflicts of parties, if examined in the nicety of details, might betray some seeming incon- sistencies, he was in the main true to himself and the sys- tem of conservatism. His legislative reports on Banks, Currency, etc., and on the Extension of Suffrage, are marked by sterling thoughts and true and profound princi- plcs. In his style, as may have been anticipated from what has been here said, there was nothing gaudy or flashy ; he aimed at and hit the mark of a plain, pure, Anglo-Saxon diction. He disdained the ordinary garden flowers and the glittering though far from precious stones of the surface, to refresh and surprise us occasionally with flowers of native forest birth, culled in an extensive range, and with gems 'of native hue serene,' discovered by ex- plorations in the depths of thought and meditation."

ULLOCK, NATHANAEL, Lieutenant-Governor of Rhode Island from 1842 to 1843, son of Samuel and Silence (Bowen) Bullock, was born in Reho- both, Massachusetts, May 1, 1779. He was fitted for college by Rev. Charles Thompson, pastor of 40 the Baptist Church in Swansea, and teacher of a classical school. He was a graduate of Brown University, in the class of 1798. Immediately after his graduation he went South, and for some time was engaged in teaching in Charleston, South Carolina. During his spare hours he devoted himself to the study of law. In the early part of 1801 he returned to his native State, and soon after went to Bristol, where he became a law-student in the office of Hon. Benjamin Bournc. He was admitted to the bar of Rhode Island in that year, and commenced the practice of his profession in Newport, in partnership with Hon. William Hunter. In the latter part of 1808 he returned to Bristol, the death of two eminent lawyers of that place, Judge Bourne and Governor Bradford, pre- paring the way for his professional services there. He represented Bristol in the General Assembly every year, with the exception of three, from 1815 to 1827. In the year last mentioned, he was appointed by President Ad- ams Collector of Customs for the District of Warren and Bristol, and held that office until August, 1836, when he

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resigned. In 1838 he was the Democratic candidate for Governor, and failed of an election by a few votes. His name was placed on the " Law-and-Order" Ticket in 1842, and he was chosen Lieutenant-Governor of the State. At the time of his death he was the oldest member of the Rhode Island bar. " In soundness of judgment, in knowl- edge of his profession, in integrity of character, and in genial and kindly social qualities, he was the peer of the distinguished men with whom he was so long associated, and whom he so long survived. " The closing years of his life were spent in the quiet of his home, where he delighted to commune with the best authors, and where, especially, he took pleasure in the study of the Sacred Scriptures. He married, in September, 1812, Ruth, daugh- ter of Stephen Smith, a merchant in Bristol, who died in November, 1829. Mr. Bullock died at Bristol, November 13, 1867, in the eighty-ninth year of his age. His three sons and a daughter survive him.

EBB, THOMAS SMITH, a distinguished Freemason, founder of the American System of Chapter and Encampment Masonry, and first President of the Handel and Haydn Society, was born in Bos- ton, Massachusetts, October 30, 1771. Con- cerning his parents, Samuel and Margaret (Smith) Webb, but little is known, save that they emigrated from Eng- land just prior to the date above mentioned. The child was named after an uncle of his mother, Rev. Thomas Smith, the first minister of Portland, Maine. In his early boyhood and youth, says Moore, he was noted " for supe- rior mental capacities, and for a sweetness of disposition and amiability of manners which secured for him the esteem of his teachers and friends, and the warmest affection of his associates." His early education was in the public schools of the city, where he acquired a thorough knowledge of the rudiments, and laid the foundations of his usefulness and success in life. From the Grammar School he was transferred to the Latin School, where he made rapid prog- ress in the ancient classics and the higher branches of knowledge. He subsequently mastered the French lan- guage. At the age of sixteen he was apprenticed to a printer in Boston. Ile afterwards removed to Keene, New Hampshire, where he worked for some time at his trade, Here the three degrees of Ancient Craft masonry were conferred upon him by "Rising Sun Lodge." In the year 1793 he removed to Albany and established a paper-stain- ing factory. On the 12th of September, 1797, as appears from the copyright, he published The Freemason's Moni- tor, or Illustrations of Masonry, and thus secured for him- self fame as a Masonic ritualist and author. This volume, which is now exceedingly rare, is a small duodecimo of 284 pages, consisting of two parts, the second part con- taining an account of the "Ineffable Degrees of Ma-

sonry," together with Masonie songs, including " Master's Song," "Senior Warden's Song," " Junior Warden's Song," and " Senior Warden's Toast," by the author. The publication of this work, which had an extensive circulation among the craft, was followed by succes- sively enlarged and improved editions, in 1802, 1805, 1808, 1816, and 1818, and by numerous editions after the lamented author's decease. It is to-day regarded as a standard work upon the subjects of which it treats. Dur- ing the year 1799, Webb removed with his family to Prov- idence, Rhode Island, where he spent the greater part of his remaining life. His business at first was the manu- facture of wall-paper, in which he employed a large num- ber of hands. He subsequently disposed of that business, and purchased an interest in the " Hope Manufacturing Company," becoming the responsible agent of the firm. His mature judgment, and unwearied perseverance and skill, insured him financial success, and enabled him to contribute much towards regulating and strengthening the cotton manufacturing interests of the State, which in these later years have become so wonderfully developed and improved. His residence was the three-story brick house on the corner of Westminster and Eddy Streets. In 1801 he became a member of St. John's Lodge, one of the oldest and most flourishing Masonic bodies in the State. In June, 1802, he was elected Junior Grand Warden of the Grand Lodge. The year following he was elected Senior Grand Warden, which office he held two years. He was elected Deputy Grand Master in 18II, and the year following was re-elected. In 1813 he

was elected Grand Master, and again in 1814. The Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Rhode Island was organ- ized in March, 1798. Of this he was elected in 1803, Grand High Priest, which office he continued to hold until his removal from the State in 1815, when he was succeeded by John Carlisle. The formation of a Gen- eral Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons, for the govern- ment and regulation of the Grand and Subordinate Chap- ters, had long engaged Webb's attention. His views on the subject are happily stated in the second edition of his Monitor, published in Providence in 1802. He presided over a Convention of Committees held in Boston in Oc- tober, 1797. The first meeting of the General Grand Chapter after its organization was held in Middletown, Connecticut, in September, 1798, and adjourned to meet in Providence in January, 1799. At this meeting he pre- sented, as chairman of a committee, a new Constitution, which was adopted. At the third meeting, held in 1806, he was elected General Grand King. At the fourth meet- ing, held in 1816, he was elected Deputy Grand High Priest. On the 23d of August, 1802, St. John's Encamp- ment, now called Commandery, was organized, and Webb was elected first Grand Master. At each annual meeting he was successively re-elected until December 5, 1814, when he declined further office. " The Grand Encamp-

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ment of Rhode Island and Jurisdiction thereunto belong- ing," now called " The Grand Commandery of Massachu- setts and Rhode Island," was organized in 1805, and Webb was elected first Grand Master. He was succes- sively re-elected from year to year until 1817, when he was succeeded by Wm. Wilkinson. The grand Encamp- ment of the United States is the crowning glory of Webb's Masonic work. The original draft of the Constitution, with all the changes, additions, and interlineations, in his own handwriting, is now on file among the archives of St. John's Commandery. In addition to his knowledge of Masonry, Mr. Webb was distinguished for his musical at- tainments. He was the first President of the Psallonian Society in Providence, an organization formed for the im- provement of its members in sacred melody. Among these members were Amos M. Atwell, Joseph Tillinghast, David Vinton, Moses Noyes, and Oliver Shaw, the cele- brated blind teacher and composer of music. Upon his removal to Boston he joined a society called the Philhar- monic, designed to cultivate and improve the style and performance of instrumental music. Of this society he was made Vice-President. In 1815, in connection with a number of amateurs and professors of music, he instituted the celebrated Handel and Haydn Society, of which he was the first President. Mr. Webb died suddenly in Cleve- land, Ohio, July 6, 1819, in the forty-eighth year of his age. Agreeably to a request previously made, his remains were brought to Providence, and placed in his own tomb beside the remains of his first wife and their three children. In 1859 a Masonic Association was formed in Rhode Island, and funds were collected for the purpose of erect- ing a suitable monument to his memory. The plans were successfully carried out, and in 1862 a beautiful and im- posing monument of marble was erected in the North Burying-Ground, beneath which his remains now repose. Mr. Webb married, in 1797, Miss Martha Hopkins, of Bos- ton. By her he had five children, two of whom survived him. She died in 1808, and the year following he married her sister. By her he had four children, two of whom, with their mother, survived him. His son, Dr. Thos. H. Webb, who died in 1866, was graduated at Brown Univer- sity in the class of 1821.

BROWNELL, RT. REV. THOMAS CHURCH, D.D., LL.D., the eldest of eleven children of Sylvester and Mercy (Church) Brownell, was born on the paternal estate, in Massachusetts, in what is now known as Coaxet, October 19, 1779. Though not a native of Rhode Island, yet being of ancient Rhode Island families, born within a mile of the State line, bap- tized and brought up in a Rhode Island church, his biog- raphy seems to be entitled to a place in this work. He was a descendant of Thomas Brownell, who was born in 1619, and was on Rhode Island in 1647, when, at the

formation of the government, under the charter of 1643, with John Cook, he was chosen " Water Bailie" for the colony, having charge of the fisheries, then, as now, an important industry, and a source of wealth. Thomas Brownell's son Thomas, born in 1639, was one of the original proprietors and first settlers of Little Compton, Rhode Island, where members of that branch of the family still reside. His son George, in 1702, purchased a tract of land two miles square, in the southeast corner of West- port, embracing what is now Coaxet. Sylvester Brownell, father of Thomas Church Brownell, was the son of Jona- than and grandson of George Brownell, the first proprietor of Coaxet. He was born November 20, 1757. At seven- teen years of age he was one of the thousand minute men, whom the gallant Prescott led to the heights of Bunker Hill, on the memorable night of June 16, 1775, and was in the battle the following day. He was one of the sur- vivors present at the laying of the corner-stone of Bunker Hill monument, June 17, 1825, and died fifteen years there- after. He was also at the disastrous battle of Long Island, in 1776, and at the battle of Rhode Island, under Sul- livan, in August, 1778. In 1788 he was commissioned Captain in the Massachusetts Militia, by John Hancock, and in 1794 was commissioned Major by Samuel Adams, then Governor. The longevity of this family is remark- able. All lived to be over fifty years of age; but one died under sixty, and one under seventy ; seven lived to be over eighty ; the Bishop attained the age of eighty-five, and two are yet living. He was elected deacon of the Congregational Church in Little Compton, in 1802, and removed to that town in 1828. The property is still in possession of the family, and his grandson, F. R. Brownell, now resides upon it. Thomas Church Brownell pursued his preparatory studies at Bristol County Academy, Taun- ton, Massachusetts, and graduated at Union College in 1804, being then twenty-five years of age. The next year he was employed as tutor in that institution. In 1809 he was elected the first Professor of Chemistry and Miner- alogy at Union College. The following year he spent in Great Britain and Ireland, in gathering material and appa- ratus for his new department. In 1813 he began his studies for the ministry, and having joined the Protestant Episcopal Church, was ordained by Bishop Hobart, in Trinity Church, New York, April 11, 1816. He was then thirty-six years of age. Probably there is no other in- stance on record of a man being admitted to holy orders so late in life who rose to the episcopate, with the excep- tion of the venerable Bishop Ravenscroft, of North Caro- lina. In connection with his professional duties, Mr. Brownell acted as missionary in Schenectady and vicinity. So rapidly did he rise in his profession that he was called to be assistant minister of Trinity Church, New York, in 1818, thus greatly enlarging his sphere of activity and use- fulness. But he was not long permitted to remain in New York City. The next year he was elected Bishop of the

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Protestant Episcopal Church in Connecticut, and was con- secrated October 27, 1819. It was a most extraordinary move to take a man who had been merely an assistant pastor for one year and place him at the head of an im- portant diocese at onee, where he would be called to com- pete with the distinguished divines of that day. But he was equal to the emergencies and the responsibilities of his exalted station. He sustained himself with pre-eminent ability for forty years. He was presiding Bishop in 1852. He was the author of The Family Prayer Book, of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and prepared the Religion of the Heart and Life, 5 vols., 12mo., 1839-40. The great work of his life was the founding of Trinity College, Hart- ford, in 1823, of which he was the first President, and in the grounds of which is a bronze statue to his memory. He died January 13, 1865.

ROWN, OBADIAH, manufacturer, and a prominent member of the Society of Friends, was born in Providence, July 15, 1771. He was the only son of Moses and Anna Brown. His father was one of the eminent men of the city and of the State. He was carefully educated in the religious principles of his parents, who were members of the Society of Friends, and trained to habits of industry and economy. Applying him- self diligently to business, he became a successful manu- facturer, and aceumulated a large estate. He did not look upon wealth as an end, but rather as a means to something bet- ter beyond. He early became interested in the New England Yearly Meeting Boarding-School (known as the Quaker College), first established at Portsmouth, Rhode Island, in 1784, but which was finally removed to Providence in 1819, by reason of a donation from Moses Brown of forty-three acres of land lying east of Hope Street. The institution also received pecuniary aid from William Almy and others. Obadiah followed up the benefactions of his father by giving to the school, at different times, about ten thousand dollars, and finally in his will, one hundred thousand dollars, the income of which is used for the current expenses of the institution, and also gave his library, valued at six hundred and fifty dollars. He also left to the Society of Friends twenty thousand dollars, known as the "Obadiah Brown Fund," the interest of which is devoted to the dissemination of knowledge by the distribution of books and tracts. During his public life he freely gave to the Friends' College, the Providence Monthly Meeting, and the yearly meetings much of his time, attention, and counsel. He held numerous offices in the Society and travelled extensively with its rep- resentatives and ministers. Though a man of large business capacity, he was always active in works of benevolence in the city and State, and in bearing religious testimonies. He married, Mareh 3, 1798, Dorcas Hadwen, daughter of John and Elizabeth Hadwen, of Newport, Rhode Island. In July, 1822, he was chosen an elder in the Providence

Monthly Mecting. He died October 15, 1822, in the fifty- second year of his age. He was noted for his purity of life, uniform kindness, wisdom, and benevolence. William Almy, who was associated with Obadiah Brown in his manufacturing business and his religious labors, married Obadiah's sister, the only daughter of Moses Brown. He died February 2, 1836, aged seventy-five years.

RAYTON, HON. CHARLES, only son of Daniel and Elizabeth (Atwood) Brayton, was born in War- wick, Rhode Island, October 31, 1772. His edu- cation was acquired at his home, in the common schools, and by diligent private study. He began life by working at the trade of a blacksmith, which he learned from his father. His assiduous application to books soon qualified him for a useful public career. Admitted a freeman in 1794, in the following year he became a con- stable, and served for years in that capacity. He was a member of the Pawtuxet Rangers, under Captain Benjamin Arnold, an officer in the Revolution. In 1796 he was chosen First Lieutenant of the Second Company of War- wiek Militia, and in 1797 was elected Captain. In 1798 he became Town Sergeant and collector of taxes, and served five years. During all this time he was studying to qualify himself for public affairs, and ever emphasized the impor- tance of knowledge. In 1804 he was chosen Town Clerk of Warwick, and continued to fill that office till his death, but with the assistance at last of his sons, as he was so much employed by his larger public duties. In 1808 he was ehosen Colonel of the famous Kentish Artillery, and com- manded the corps for five years. In 1813 he was chosen Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas. In 1814 he was elected Justice of the Supreme Court, and served four years. Sueh confidenee was reposed in his knowledge and sense of equity that a multitude of cases were privately submitted to him and his adviee was accepted as a finality in the matters in controversy. It was enough to report in any disputed case that "Judge Brayton says so." He was elected to the General Assembly in 1820, and continuously re-elected for many years. In 1822 he was a member of the House called to revise the laws of the State. In 1824 he was a member of the convention called to frame a new constitution, which, however, was not accepted by the people. In 1827, on the reorganization of the judiciary of the State, he was elected Judge of the Supreme Court, and continued to fill that office, with great honor to himself and to the State, till his death, which occurred November 16, 1834. He married, in 1795, Rebecca Havens, daughter of William Havens, of Warwick, and had four children : Charles Atwood (who died at the age of sixteen), Ann Mary (who died at the age of twenty), Hon. George A., and Hon. William D. (the two latter elsewhere sketched in this volume).

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0CH-29 ABCOCK, ROWSE, 2d, son of Rowse and Ruth (Maxson) Babcock, was born in Westerly, Rhode 9 Island, May 12, 1773. He descended from one of the oldest and most prominent families in the State, a family that gave to Westerly such men as John, James, Dr. Joshua, Colonel Henry, Rev. Stephen, and Hon. Daniel Babcock. John and his wife Mary are said to have been the first white settlers in Westerly, and have been celebrated in song as pioneers. The father of the subject of this sketch, the first President of the Wash- ington Bank, and a man of rank as well as estate, died June 13, 1801, aged fifty-five years. His mother, Ruth, of the old and honorable Maxson family, died May 3, 1813, aged sixty-six years. Rowse 2d was pre-eminently a man of business, a merchant, shipowner, and banker, and was unusually successful in his affairs. He was one of the first Directors of Phenix Bank and its third President, succeeding Hon. Amos Cross and Lieutenant-Governor Edward Wilcox. His immediate associates were such men as William Robinson, M.D., John C. Hoxsie, Wil- liam Williams, Coddington Billings, and Hon. Nathan F. Dixon. On the organization of Christ Church (Epis- copal) he became one of its strongest supporters, and the members of his family have always been influential mem- bers of that communion. He married, January 31, 1801, Hannah Brown, daughter of Lieutenant-Governor George Brown, of South Kingstown. He died April 21, 1841, at the age of sixty-seven, leaving a large estate, a good name, and a worthy family. Four of his sons will be found sketched in this volume, Rowse 3d, Rev. William R., Edwin, and Horace. His other children were, Hannah B., born November 4, 1805, married Oliver D. Wells, No- vember 29, 1825, died July 30, 1879; Martha, born Sep- tember 18, 1807, married Thomas P. Stanton, October 25, 1827, died April 24, 1864; Harriet, born October 5, 1809, married Horatio N. Campbell, September 8, 1846; Sarah A., born January 27, 1812, married Dr. John G. Pierce, June 1, 1840; Albert, born September 6, 1816, died June 13, 1831.

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The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 40

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