The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 45

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 45

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

199

BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA.

to believe that he had been trained in European hospitals. His judgment was clear and correct; his conversational powers of a high order, and remarkable for logical pre- cision and elegant language." Dr. Turner had three brothers, who were, in some sort, his protégés and wards. They all became officers in the United States Navy. The oldest, Benjamin, after several years' service, fell in a duel with a son of Dr. Rush, of Philadelphia. The youngest, Henry E., entered the navy in 1814, and died in 1820. He is said to have been a young officer of high promise and much beloved. The second brother, Commodore Daniel Turner, who was trained under Commodore Rodgers, had command of the third ship in the famous battle of Lake Erie. He was a young officer to hold a position so important, being only twenty-one years of age. Commodore Perry spoke in terms of warm commendation of the gallant conduct of his subaltern. " Lieutenant Tur- ner, commanding the ' Caledonia,' brought that vessel into action in the most able manner, and is an officer that in all situations may be relied upon." Subsequently Com- modore Turner had command of the Pacific Squadron. Dr. Turner, the subject of this sketch, left a son, Captain Peter Turner, the last of a long list of navy officers fur- nished by that family. He also had a brother, Dr. Peter Turner, who died at Plattsburg, New York, during the War of 1812-15. Dr. William Turner married Hettie F., eldest daughter of Dr. Peter Turner, of East Greenwich.

COLBY, REV. JOHN, was born in Sandwich, New Hampshire, December 9, 1787, and was the son of Thomas and Elizabeth Atwood Colby. When a boy he removed, with his parents, to Sutton,

Vermont. Susceptible of religious impressions from early childhood, he became a Christian while a mere youth, and in 1809 commenced the work of an evan- gelist. Soon afterwards he made a horseback journey to Southern Ohio and Indiana, going by way of Southern New York and Western Pennsylvania, and returning by Niagara Falls and Central New York. He was absent eight months. During this time he saw no one whom he had previously known, and received no intelligence from home. He preached many sermons, and his efforts were fruitful in results. In 1812 he came to Rhode Island, which he considered as his home, until his death. As the fruit of his efforts, the first Free Baptist Church in the State was organized at Burrillville, in December, 1812. From this church, many of whose members resided in neighboring towns, other churches came into existence ; so that Mr. Colby is regarded as the founder of the Free Baptist denomination in the State. He preached exten- sively in other parts of New England. He was never married. He died in Norfolk, Virginia, November 28,

1817. His manner was earnest, solemn, and impressive. The eight years of his public ministry were crowded with useful labors, though they were frequently interrupted by failing health, for the recovery of which he was making a tour at the South at the time of his death. His name and memory are especially cherished by the Free Baptists. Among them he occupied a leading position as a devoted and successful evangelist.

LARKE, HON. JOHN H., manufacturer, and United States Senator from Rhode Island, was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, April 1, 1789, and was the son of Dr. John and Amy ( Hopkins) Clarke. His mother was a daughter of Commodore Esek Hopkins. When he was quite young his family, on the decease of his father, moved to Providence. His studies preparatory to entering college were pursued under the tuition of Hon. Tristam Burges, and at Schenectady, New York, where he was an inmate of the family of his uncle by marriage, at the time President of Union College. Returning to Providence he entered Brown University, and was graduated in the class of 1809. He studied law in the office of Tristam Burges, and was admitted to the bar of Rhode Island in 1812. He re- ceived soon after his admission to the bar the appointment of Clerk of the Supreme Court for Providence County. He practiced law but a comparatively short time, preferring the business of manufacturing to that of the legal profession. For some years he resided in Cranston, where he was en- gaged in business in his newly chosen vocation. He returned to Providence in 1824, and, with the exception of a few years, during which he lived in Pontiac, in Warwick, he continued his residence in this city during the remainder of his life. He was sent in 1836 as a Representative to the General Assembly, and for many years was an active poli- tician in the State. He was chosen to represent the State in the Senate of the United States, and was in office from March 4, 1847, to March 4, 1853. " His sound sense, his positive views and force of character commanded the re- spect of his associates, and made themselves felt in the conduct of business." Subsequent to his retirement from the National Senate he represented Providence for one year in the State Senate, and in 1864 was in the lower House of the Assembly. He was able, by the force of his character and his abilities in many directions, to leave the impress of his strong, earnest mind upon the legislation both of the Commonwealth and of the Congress of the United States. Mr. Clarke was twice married, his first wife being Eliza- beth Bowen, of Pawtuxet, to whom he was married in 1811 ; and his second Susan Carrington Miles, of Middletown, Connecticut, to whom he was married in 1829. He had a large family of children, one of whom is Hon. James H. Clarke, of Providence. He died in Providence, November 23, 1870.

200

BIOGRAPHIICAL CYCLOPEDIA.

REENE, FRANKLIN, son of Elihu and Jane ( Flagg) Greene, was born at Potowomut, Warwick, Rhode Island, September 3, 1786. Hle was fitted for col- lege, partly in his native place and partly in Newport, under the tuition of Robert Rogers, and was a grad- uate of Brown University, in the class of 1799. He de- cided not to enter professional life, but to devote himself to mercantile pursuits. With this end in view he spent three years in Boston, and then returned to his native State and took up his residence in Providence, where he devoted himself to manufactures and commerce. He was occupied in these pursuits for some years. On retiring from his mercantile calling he entered upon the discharge of his duties as a Pension Agent for Rhode Island. For many years he occupied this position. During the many changes in the administration of the government of the United States, Mr. Greene was continued in office, and relin- quished its duties only when compelled so to do by the infirmities of age. He married, in 1806, Emily, daughter of Christopher Greene, of Warwick, and for his second wife he married, in 1817, Anna, daughter of Dr. Pardon Bowen, of Providence. Two of his children by his first wife, and his widow, with four of her children, survived him. His death occurred at East Greenwich, October 2, 1864.

INER, REV. BRADLEY, A.M., son of Saxton and Content (York) Miner, was born in North Sto- nington, Connecticut, July 18, 1808. He was of the ancient Miner family, distinguished in the history of Eastern Connecticut, some of whom were honored Baptist ministers. Amid the industries of the farm on which he was brought up he early evinced a love of books and a determination to secure a broad edu- cation. Converted at the age of thirteen, he united with the Second Baptist Church in his native town, and was licensed to preach March 10, 1827. After studying at home and teaching school, he pursued a course of liberal studies at Hamilton Literary Institution in New York, and at the Theological Institution in Newton, Massachusetts, and in 1830 was ordained pastor of the First Baptist Church in Fall River, Massachusetts. Here he was prospered in his work, and left an excellent record. His subsequent settlements, in all of which he had marked success, were at Pawtuxet and Woonsocket, Rhode Island, at Dorchester and at Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and finally with the Friend- ship Street Baptist Church in Providence. In Providence, and other places, he secured the erection of meeting-houses. In Pittsfield he was earnestly seconded by Governor Briggs, a member of his church, and one of the first men of New England. Mr. Miner was one of the most kindly, genial, cheerful, and laborious of men. He always worked wisely, having an intuitive knowledge of human nature, and

always comprehending the real needs of the people. In the great temperance and anti-slavery movements he was an earnest and indefatigable worker. Through excessive labor connected with the building of the meeting-house of the Friendship Street Church, he was prostrated by dis- ease, and died suddenly, October 28, 1854, in his forty- seventh year, deeply and widely mourned. A tablet suit- ably inscribed to his memory is found in the edifice that he had just finished. Studious, yet practical, earnest, yet prudent, decided, yet kind, zealous, yet modest, he was everywhere prospered and esteemed. He baptized near four hundred persons. Madison University honored him with the degree of Master of Arts. He wrote and pub- lished the Life of Ralph I. Brown; also, a sermon on Preaching to the Conscience ; a Funeral Sermon, and sev- eral important papers, He married ( I) Phebe E., daughter of General Nathan Pendleton, of North Stonington, Con- necticut, who left a son, Hon. Francis W. Miner, now of Providence, and elsewhere sketched in this work. He married (2) Louisa Tucker, of Canton, Massachusetts, who had two children : Henry Bradley, now principal of a school in Boston, Massachusetts, and Sarah, one of the first graduates of Boston University, and now (1881) a teacher in the Girls' Latin School in Boston.

LLEN, CAPTAIN WILLIAM HENRY, U. S. N., son of General William Allen, a distinguished officer in the Revolutionary War, was born in Provi- dence, October 21, 1784. Early in life he showed a decided taste for the navy, and in May, 1800, entered the service of his country as a midshipman. In August of the same year he received orders to go on board the frigate George Washington and act as an officer on that vessel, under Captain, afterward Commodore, Bainbridge, then bound to Algiers, bearing presents to the reigning Dey. On his return in 1801, although many officers were discharged from active duty, so acceptable had been his services, that he was at once appointed an officer, under Captain Barron, for a cruise to the Mediterranean. The following year, 1803, he was again ordered into service, under the command of Captain Rodgers, and for the third time visited the shores of the Mediterranean. At the end of this cruise, not long after his return to the United States, he was appointed sailing-master of the Congress, and once more sailed for the Mediterranean. In October, 1804, he was promoted to a lieutenancy, and was attached to the famous frigate Constitution, under the command of Captain Rodgers. At the time of the surrender of the Chesapeake, in 1807, to the English ship Leopard, he was third lieu- tenant on board the Chesapeake. What he regarded as the cowardly surrender of his vessel by Commodore Barron was a source of the keenest mortification to him. He joined with his brother officers in the demand upon the Secretary

Bradley Miner

20I

BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA.

of the Navy for a court of inquiry into their conduct, re- questing at the same time that an order be issued for the arrest and trial of Commodore Barron. It is matter of his- tory that Commodore Barron was condemned, and dismissed from the honorable post which he had filled. It is said that " in passing through the line of his officers, who were on deck to witness his departure, overcome by the mag- nitude of his disgrace, and stung to the soul by perceiving in the cold repulsive looks of every one that his cowardice had procured their fixed contempt, he fainted on the deck." In 1808, during the embargo, Mr. Allen was employed in cruising off Block Island. It was a delicate position in which he found himself, but he discharged his duties with firmness and fidelity. In February, 1809, he was ordered to the frigate United States, whose headquarters were at Norfolk, Virginia. Here the ship was lying when the War of 1812 was declared. She soon set sail on a cruise, and on the 25th of October, 1812, encountered the English frigate Macedonian, which, after a struggle of a little less than two hours, struck to the United States. Lieutenant Allen was appointed to bring the shattered Macedonian into New York, and was successful in the task assigned to him. Soon after he was appointed to take command of the sloop of war Argus. In the fulfilment of his mission he inflicted the heaviest blows upon the enemies of his country. It is estimated that the amount taken and destroyed in the British Seas by the Argus was $2,500,000. It was about this time that he was promoted to the rank of master and commander. One duty assigned to him was to carry Min- ister Crawford to France, in which he was successful, after a voyage of twenty-three days, across a sea swarming with the cruisers of the enemy. On the 14th of August he encoun- tered in the Irish Channel the British ship Pelican, and a naval battle ensued. Early in the engagement Captain Allen received a shot which carried away his left leg. He refused to be carried below until he fainted. The Argus was cap- tured and taken into Plymouth. The wounded officer was taken to the hospital, and, after lingering for a few days, died, August 18, 1812. The highest honors were paid to his remains by the enemy, and they were buried in the churchyard of the church in which the funeral ser- vices were performed. His death, at the early age of twenty-nine, was universally lamented by the citizens of his native State, who were proud to reckon him as one of the most distinguished of the gallant men who, in war as in peace, have added to the lustre of the Commonwealth which gave them birth

OWLAND, BENJAMIN BAKER, son of Henry and Sarah (Baker) Howland, was born at Newport, December 11, 1787, in a house that stood on the site of the one in which he died October 20, 1877. At an early age he was thrown upon his own re- sources. He had a taste for drawing and painting, and

he thought seriously of becoming a portrait painter. Guided in a measure by Robert Feke, he made some prog- ress in portraiture and painted a number of likenesses; but he foresaw that it would be up-hill work to get on in that calling, and he wisely laid aside the brush and looked to trade for his support. His first effort in this direction, a commission business, resulted in failure. Resolutely strik- ing out, he not only made good his lo-ses but was enabled in time to pay off his old indebtedness, principal and in- terest. In September, 1825, the office of Town Clerk was made vacant by the resignation of Charles Gyles, then the Town Clerk, and the situation was given to Mr. Howland, who soon afterwards was also made Probate Clerk. To these offices he was annually re-elected till advancing years made it necessary for him to retire and give up all work. In his inaugural address, 1864-5, Mayor Cranston thus spoke of Mr. Howland : " Our venerable and highly- esteemed City Clerk, Benjamin B. Howland, has declined this year to be a candidate for the office again. Mr. How- land was elected Town Clerk in September, 1825. Since that time he has annually been re-elected without opposi- tion. In all municipal and probate matters he is, if I may use the expression, an encyclopædia of knowledge. Dur- ing the last forty years he has discharged all the varied duties of his office in the most efficient, faithful, and satis- factory manner, and now retires from the office of City Clerk without an enemy, with the kind feelings of all who have ever transacted business with him, and with the thanks of the whole community." Complimentary reso- lutions were passed by both branches of the City Council, and at the earnest solicitations of many friends, Mr. How- land continued to hold the office of Probate Clerk till 1875, when his resignation was accepted. At the request of the City Council he sat for the portrait which now adorns the Mayor's Office, and November 2, 1875, the Council voted to present him with a testimonial at a cost not exceeding two hundred dollars. A gold medal was decided on, and it was struck at the Philadelphia Mint. The presentation was made at the inauguration of the city government, the following year, by Dr. David King. The medal bears on the face the arms of the City of Newport, and on the other this inscription : "The City of Newport to Benjamin B. How- land; a testimonial of faithful public service in Newport during a period of fifty years." For many years Mr. How- land was a deacon in the First Baptist Church. His manner through life was quiet and unobtrusive. He was Secretary of the Newport Savings Bank from the time it was incor- porated, 1819, up to the day of his death. In early life he was a member, first of the Old Guards, and then of the Artillery Company ; and he was both the Keeper of the Cabinet of the Southern Department of the Rhode Island Historical Society and Recording Secretary and Librarian of the Newport Historical Society from the time of its or- ganization. In these societies he took great interest, for he was fond of historical research, and from time to time

202

BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA.

read papers before the Historical Society in Newport. Among other subjects treated by him were, The Streets of Newport, The Schools of Newport, and King Philip of Pokanoket. One who knew him well thus spoke of him after his death : " He had character. IIe lived very long among men and they trusted him to the last. He was thor- oughly proved. His voice was not so much heard as that of some who might better have been silent, but it was a voice always respected. He was not prominent, but the silent influence of his life was felt by those who were. He held to old, strong doctrines, and they held him. He kept his hands pure, and his tongue was never double. Better to his family is the inheritance.of his memory than wealth or position ; better than the herald's blazon of nobility is the testimony of his city to the moral worth of their sire ; richer than the gold on which it is engraved is that assur- ance of public confidence to be handed down to children's children."

HEATON, HON. HENRY, son of Seth Wheaton, was born in Providence, November 27, 1785, and was a graduate of Brown University in the class of 1802. Ile was descended from ancestors who were found among the earliest settlers of the colony. It was for him a fortunate circumstance that his father was a gentleman of wealth, acquired by commerce and navigation, and was able to give his son the best edu- cation of his time, and the culture which is derived from foreign travel. Mrs. Wheaton, the mother of Henry, is represented to have been a woman of strong intellect, and of rare delicacy and refinement. His early intercourse with his relative, Dr. Levi Wheaton, not only an eminent physician of his time, but an accomplished scholar, left its impress on all his subsequent career. On completing his college education, Mr. Wheaton studied law three years, and was admitted to the bar of Rhode Island in 1805. In the spring of this year he went to Europe, and at first established himself at Poitiers, in France, where he con- nected himself with a school of law in that place, perfect- ing himself, not only in the study of his profession, but in the acquisition of the French language. Having com- pleted his term of study at Poitiers, he made a short visit to Paris and then went to London, where he remained six months, in attendance on the courts of law, and in gain- ing information which might be useful to him in his pro- fession. Fitted for the discharge of his professional duties by a training such as few young lawyers are permitted to enjoy, he returned to his native city, where he opened an office, and commenced the practice of law. He remained in Providence but a short time. New York presented greater attractions to him, and, in 1812, he established his residence in that city, where he took the editorial charge of the National Advocate, at that time the organ of the Administration in that city. In this paper he discussed,

with great ability, the questions pertaining to neutral riglits, which were then agitating the community, and which cul- minated in the war with Great Britain. While he was thus engaged as an editor, he received a commission from the government appointing him Division Judge-Advocate of the army. Vice-President Gerry wrote to him on the occasion of his confirmation, October 26, 1814: " Your appointment was not only unanimous, but the voice of the Senate was expressed with cordiality." Being appointed in May, 1815, one of the Justices of the Marine Court in the city of New York, Mr. Wheaton retired from the edi- torial charge of the National Advocate. He held the po- sition of Justice of the Marine Court a little over four years. His first law-publication entitled, A Digest of the Law of Maritime Captures or Prizes, was made in 1815. It was a valuable contribution to the science of interna- tional law. From 1816 to 1817, he was Reporter of the Supreme Court of the United States, publishing the de- cisions of the Court in twelve volumes, which are regarded as standard authority in the matters of which they treat. In 1821 he was a member of the New York Convention for the forming of a new Constitution. In 1827 he was appointed Chargé d' Affaires to Denmark, and resided at Copenhagen until 1835, when he received the appointment of Resident Minister to the Court of Prussia, and two years later was promoted to the rank of Minister Plenipo- tentiary, remaining in office until 1846, and performing the duties assigned to him in the most satisfactory manner. IIe interested himself while abroad, in subjects to the investigation of which he was drawn by his tastes as a scholar. In 1831 appeared his History of the Northmen, from the Earliest Times to the Conquest of England by William of Normandy. Other important works of the same character were the production of his ever busy pen. His great work, The Elements of International Law, was published in 1836 in London, and, in the same year, in Philadelphia. It has passed through many editions. An edition was published in 1863, with notes, by Hon. Wil- liam Beach Lawrence, and another edition in 1866, with notes, by Hon. Richard H. Dana. The work is a stand- ard in the Department of International Law. Mr. Wheat- on returned to the United States in 1847, and received the most flattering reception by distinguished gentlemen, who took pleasure in honoring one who had been the ornament of the diplomatic profession, and so creditably sustained himself abroad. His last literary discourse was pro- nounced before the Phi Beta Kappa Society of Brown University on the Ist of September, 1847. He had been engaged to deliver a course of lectures on International Law, at the Law-School of Harvard University, prepara- tory to the establishment of a Professorship of that science. He never lived to carry out his purpose, his death occur- ring March 11, 1848, at Dorchester, Massachusetts, Mr. Wheaton married, in 1811, his cousin, Catherine, daughter of Dr. Levi Wheaton.

203

BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA.

HANNING, REV. WILLIAM ELLERY, D.D., son of Hon. William and Lucy (Ellery) Channing, was born in Newport, April 7, 1780. His mother, a lady of marked excellencies of character, was a daughter of William Ellery, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. The subject of this sketch early developed remarkable intellectual ability and a moral delicacy which threw a peculiar charm about his boyhood days. He was sent to New London, Connecticut, when he was twelve years of age and placed under the care of his uncle, Rev. Henry Channing, and was a pupil in the school of Mr. (afterward Rev. Dr.) Seth Williston, who speaks of him in terms of warm commendation as a good scholar and of peculiarly amiable deportment. " His features were then comely, his countenance placid, and his mind, the more important part, seemed to take a serious turn beyond what is common to boys of his age." His preparatory studies being completed he entered Harvard College in 1794, in the fifteenth year of his age. His rank as a student is indicated by the circumstance that he took the highest honors of his class at graduation in 1798. It is said that he performed his part at commencement in a manner that evinced great independence as well as bril- liancy, and drew from the audience the most tumultuous shouts of applause. Soon after leaving the University he became a tutor in the family of David Meade Randolph, of Richmond, Virginia, where he remained a year and a half. It was while he was residing in Richmond that, ac- cording to a statement made to his uncle in one of his letters to this friend of his youth, that he passed through that experience which resulted in his becoming a Christian. " I believe," such was his language, "that I never experi- enced that change of heart which is necessary to constitute a Christian, till within a few months past. All my sentiments and affections have lately changed. I once considered mere moral attainments as the only object I had to pursue. I have now solemnly given myself up to God." Having completed his term of service as a tutor in the family of Mr. Randolph he returned to Newport. His health was very much impaired by his close application to study. When he left Rhode Island for the South he was apparently in good physical condition ; he was now reduced to the shadow of his former self. From this time, says his biographer, his life was a perpetual conflict with physical derangement and infirmity. He remained in Newport a year and a half, carrying on his studies so far as his health would permit, and teaching a son of his former patron, Mr. Randolph, and his own younger brother. In the early part of the year 1802 he again returned to Cambridge and carried on his theological studies. About this time he became a member of the First Congregational Church, then under the pastoral charge of Rev. Abiel Holmes, and was licensed to preach in the autumn of 1802; and on the Ist of June the next year, 1803, he was ordained as pastor of the Federal Street Church, in Boston, and entered upon that brilliant career as a

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 45

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