The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 47

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

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benevolence." He would receive no pecuniary compen- sation for his own services, his circumstances being such that he did not require it. He maintained, however, the right of a pastor to a comfortable support from the church he served. Having reached the great age of ninety-six, he dicd, January 29, 1718, leaving a widow and nine children. Among these may be mentioned his eldest son and namesake, Pardon, from whom descended the Tilling- hasts of East and West Greenwich. His grandson, Par- don, son of Philip, married Avis Norton, of Newport, by whom he had twenty children, only four of whom arrived at maturity. His seventh child, Mercy, married Nicholas Power, and their daughter Hope was the mother of Moses Brown, the distinguished Friend of Providence. The de- scendants of Rev. Pardon Tillinghast are very numerous, and scattered over the State. They have taken high rank among the most worthy citizens of Rhode Island.

ORRANCE, HON. JOHN, was born in Scituate, Rhode Island, in 1747, and was the son of John Dorrance, who, some time after the date above mentioned, removed to Voluntown, Connecticut, where he became an inn-keeper. Young Dorrance entered Brown University, or Rhode Island College, as it was then called, where he graduated in 1774. On this occasion he delivered an oration on " The Necessity and Advantage of Cultivating our own Language," and main- tained the affirmative in a syllogistic dispute in Latin, the proposition discussed being " Should the dictates of con- science always be obeyed ?" On the 3d of January, 1782, he married Polly Whitman, daughter of Jacob Whitman, Esq., of Providence, who owned and occupied the prem- ises known as the " Turk's Head." Mr. Dorrance then came to Providence to reside. He studied law, and en- gaged successfully in the practice of his profession. In 1794 he was elected a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas for Providence County, which office he held by an- nual election until 1801. At this time he was defeated by the violent opposition of Governor Arthur Fenner. This opposition resulted in the famous slander suit between these gentlemen. In 1797, Mr. Dorrance was nominated as a Representative to Congress, but failed of an election. He was for many years President of the Town Council and a member of the General Assembly. His first wife having died, he married, in October, 1797, Mrs. Amey Clark, widow of Dr. John Clark, and daughter of Commodore Esek Hopkins. He resided on the corner of Westminster and Exchange Streets, the property now owned by the National Exchange Bank. Mr. Dorrance died June 29, 1813, in his sixty-sixth year. Dr. Pardon Bowen said of him that " he possessed an adequate law knowledge, and was a man of the strictest integrity." William Hunter mentions him as a respectable literary character, for whom he entertained a highly favorable opinion.

EWYMAN, GENERAL DANIEL, was born in Durham, Connecticut, April 10, 1756, being a descendant of Richard Lyman, who came to this country with his wife and children in the ship Lyon, landing in Boston, November 4, 1631. Among his fellow- passengers were Martha Winthrop, the wife of Governor John Winthrop, and John Eliot, the celebrated apostle of the Massachusetts Indians. The grandson of Richard was Thomas, who moved, in 1708 or '9, to Durham, Connec- ticut, being one of the earliest settlers of the town, and one of the first deacons of the church in that place. He had six children, one of whom bore his name, Thomas, who had seven children, the youngest of whom was the subject of this sketch. One of the brothers of Daniel was Thomas, who lived on the ancestral farm, where he died June 6, 1832, aged eighty six years. He is said to have been " a man of great intelligence and extensive reading, dignified in manner and impressive in conversation. So much pleased was Mr. Jefferson with him that he gave him an invitation to spend a week with him at Monticello, which he accepted very much to his satisfaction." Daniel Ly- man was a graduate of Yale College, in the class of 1776, and, not long after, received an appointment as a Colonel in the Continental army. While in the service of his coun- try he assisted at the capture of Ticonderoga, Crown Point, and St. Johns. He was at the battle of White Plains, where he had a horse shot under him. On the completion of his term of military service, having studied law, he was ad- mitted to the bar, and subsequently became a Judge and Chief Justice. He is spoken of as having been, in his pro- fession, " an able advocate, a firm, intelligent, and high- minded man." He was a member of the famous Hartford Convention, and was President, for a time, of the Society of the Cincinnati. Many years before his death he retired from the practice of his profession, and took up his resi- dence at his pleasant country-seat near Providence. From May, 1802, to May, 1816, he was Chief Justice of the Su- preme Court of the State of Rhode Island. He died in 1830. General Lyman married, January 10, 1782, Mary Wanton, daughter of John Wanton, of Newport, by whom he had thirteen children, among whom were Harriet, who became the wife of Benjamin Hazard, Esq., of Newport; Margaret, wife of Samuel Arnold, manufacturer of Smith- field; Polly (or Mary), wife of Jacob Dunwell, merchant, of Madeira; John Wanton, who married Eliza, a daughter of Seth Wheaton, Esq., of Providence ; Henry Bull, man- ufacturer, who married Caroline, daughter of Elisha Dyer, of Providence, who had one son, Daniel W., born January 24, 1844; Louisa, wife of Dr. George H. Tillinghast, of Providence ; Sally, wife of Governor L. H. Arnold; and Julia Maria, who married John H. Easton, of Newport. The descendants of the original Richard Lyman have been very numerous, the total number, as traced down to 1872, being seven thousand three hundred and fifteen. One hundred Lymans were in the late civil war, of whom, as we are

Smith Bosworth

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told, " many died in the Rebel States of disease or on the field of battle, some by the slow torture of starvation in Andersonville or the Libby Prison." From ten colleges ninety-three Lymans have graduated, and how many from all the colleges in the country has not been ascertained. The learned professions have been largely represented by them. Many of them having been in the ministry, and many having held the office of deacons and elders.

OSWORTH, COLONEL SMITH, was born in Reho- both, Massachusetts, October 28, 1781, and was re the son of Peleg and Polly (Smith) Bosworth. His educational advantages were very limited, and at an early age he was apprenticed to Joseph Haile, of Providence, to learn the trade of a mason. Having served his time he entered into partnership with Asa Bos- worth (a relative), and for many years conducted an ex- tensive business in Providence. During this time he built many of the most beautiful residences on the East side of the river, and a number of public buildings, among which may be mentioned St. John's Protestant Episcopal Church, on North Main Street, and the Beneficent Congregational Church, on Broad Street. In 1814 he built the mills of the Providence Dyeing, Bleaching and Calendering Company, on Sabin Street, and March 16, 1816, was appointed agent for that company, which position he occupied until 1835, when he relinquished the agency and continued in the em- ploy of the company as superintendent or general outside manager until 1841. The business was prosperous from the start, and subsequently under Colonel Bosworth's manage- ment developed into the largest and most flourishing estab- lishment of its kind in the United States. Through his con- nection with this company Colonel Bosworth became widely known among business men, and acquired a reputation which largely contributed to its success. Previous to the incorpora- tion of Providence as a city he was active in town affairs, for many years holding town offices, and after it was made a city was a member of the Board of Fire Wards, and Chief Engineer of the Fire Department. He was also a Street Commissioner, and had much to do with the laying out of many of the principal streets of Providence. For many years he was Colonel of the Rhode Island Militia, and under his direction the earthworks on Fox Point Hill were erected in 1812. In the " Dorr War" he was Captain of the City Guards of Providence. In the latter part of his life he became a member of the Beneficent Congregational Church. He was for many years a prominent member of St John's Lodge of Freemasons. He married, January 31, 1805, Sarah Tripp, daughter of Othniel and Sarah Tripp, of Swansea, Massachusetts, who was born October 6, 1785. Mrs. Bosworth died November 13, 1860, aged seventy-five years. She survived her husband three years. Their children were Thomas T., Mary Smith, Joseph Haile, Charles H. Smith, Sarah T., Ann Sophia, Frances Eleanor,

and Susan J., all of whom are now dead, except Joseph, who married Mary Easton, daughter of Louis and Elizabeth Rousmaniere, of Newport, Rhode Island; and Susan J., who married Mr. John O. Waterman, of Warren, one of the most prominent manufacturers of Rhode Island. Colo- nel Bosworth was noted for his generosity, and during a long and active life was universally beloved and respected by his fellow-citizens.

ROBBINS, HON. ASHER, LL. D., was born at Weth- ersfield, Connecticut, in September, 1757. On completing his preparatory studies he entered Yale College in 1778, and was graduated in the class of 1782. Shortly after his graduation he re- ceived an appointment as tutor in Rhode Island College, now Brown University, and held the office for eight years, 1782-90. His special department was belles-lettres, in- cluding the classics, and it fell to his lot to be the in- structor of some of the most eminent of the early graduates of the college. Among the distinguished men who came under his tuition were Hon. Nicholas Brown, Judge Sam- uel Eddy, President Jonathan Maxcy, Judge Jabez Bowen, Hon. James Burrill, Governor James Fenner, Hon. J. D. Howell, President A. Messer, and Hon. Jonathan Russell. " While occupied," says Dr. Guild, " in quickening the diligence of his pupils, and in imbuing their minds with a genuine relish for the varied forms of classical beauty, he sought every opportunity to cultivate his own taste for the classics and, indeed, for every species of elegant learning." We learn from a letter, written some years after he severed his connection with the college, the following interesting fact : " At the reorganization of the college in the autumn of 1782, I was appointed to the office of tutor, and took charge of the library as librarian. It was then kept in the east chamber, on the second floor of the central building." On resigning his tutorship Mr. Robbins studied law with Hon. William Channing, at that time Attorney-General of the State. Having completed his law studies he com- menced the practice of his profession in Providence, but subsequently established himself in Newport, which was his legal residence during the remainder of his life. He took a very high rank as a lawyer, and in 1812 was ap- pointed United States District Attorney. He represented Newport in the General Assembly from 1818 to 1825. In 1825 he was elected a Senator from Rhode Island to Con- gress as a Whig, to take the place made vacant by the resignation of Hon. James De Wolf. His term of service continued from December 5, 1825, to March 3, 1839. While never making himself conspicuous, seldom en- gaging in the debates of the Senate, yet on no occasion, says Professor Goddard, " did he address the Senate with- out leaving upon the minds of all who heard him a decided impression of his high intellectual powers and accomplish- ments, of his ability as a statesman, and his acquisitions as

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a scholar." Returning to private life from his Congres- sional duties, his services were still in demand by his fel- low-citizens, whom for several years he served in the Gen- eral Assembly. Among the published writings of Mr. Robbins were an address on domestic industry, delivered in 1822; a Fourth of July oration, 1827; and another speech on domestic industry, 1832. Some weeks before his death he had a fall on the ice, from the effects of which he never recovered, his death taking place at New- port February 25, 1845. The honorary degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred on Mr. Robbins by Brown Uni- versity in 1835. A portrait of him may be seen in the Brown University collection of portraits. Hon. Chris- topher E. Robbins, Secretary of State, 1849-1851, was a son, and Mrs. Sophia Little a daughter, of Mr. Robbins.

ARTER, JOHN, printer, was born in Philadelphia, in 1745, and served his apprenticeship under Franklin (Benjamin) & Hall in his native city. In 1766, shortly after completing his term of service, he came to Providence, and became a journeyman in the print- ing office of William Goddard, who commenced business in this town in 1762. Mr. Goddard became discouraged, gave up his business in Providence and went to New York, leaving his printing-house in the hands of his mother, Mrs. Sarah (Updike) Goddard, a lady of remarkable business ability, who for two years conducted the paper started by her son, The Providence Gazette, with great ability. Mr. Carter supplied the place made vacant by the removal of her son, and became a business partner with Mrs. Goddard, the style of the firm being Sarah Goddard & Co. In 1768 she resigned the business to her partner, and removed to Philadelphia, where she died in January, 1770. In the Gazette of November 12, 1768, may be found the modest " prospectus" of John Carter, then a young man of but twenty-three, setting forth his aims as the publisher of the only paper printed in the town, and soliciting the patronage of his fellow-citizens in the responsible position which he now occupied. He avows his political sentiments without equivocation, and proclaims himself a loyal friend of his country, and opposed to the aggressions of Great Britain. For more than twenty years his printing-house was "at Shakespeare's Head, opposite the Court-house," after which it was near the bridge and opposite to what was then the market. We are told that " during the whole period " of his connection with the Gazette, more than forty-five years, his relation to it closing February 12, 1814, " the paper was remarkable for accuracy of execution and cor- rectness of sentiment and principle. During the whole of our Revolutionary contest he was the firm champion of his country, and the columns of his paper teemed with sound patriotism and animating exhortations." In 1772 he re- ceived an appointment as Postmaster of Providence. Sub- sequently he occupied the same position under a commis-

sion given to him by the Postmaster-General, Benjamin Franklin. He continued in office until 1792, when he resigned. A few years after he came to Providence he married Almey Crawford, the date of the marriage being May 14, 1769. A daughter by this marriage, Ann Carter, was the first wife of Hon. Nicholas Brown, to whom she was married November 3, 1791. She died December 22, 1806. The late Hon. John Carter Brown was a son by this marriage. Mr. Carter died in Providence, August 19, 1814, " his character as a man of honor and integrity hav- ing been well established."

E WOLF, HON. WILLIAM, was born in Bristol, Rhode Island, December 19, 1762. He was the sixth son of Mark Anthony De Wolf, and one of eight brothers, all of whom attained respectable and

e honorable positions in society. His ancestors were Huguenots, and were driven from France on account of their religious and political opinions. To their honored father, a man of marked character, intelligence, and ac- quirements, these brothers owed their education,-simple, indeed, but ample for the discharge of the duties of life, and sufficient to enable some of them to fill high offices in their State and nation. Mr. De Wolf was a man of retiring disposition, and averse to the strife of political life; yet when duty called he filled with honor to himself and his constituency the place of Senator " in the palmiest days of our Commonwealth " (words used by Professor William G. Goddard as applicable to the time when Mr. De Wolf was Senator). He was a Federalist of 1811 and 1812, and fought the political battles of that period in company with such men as Elisha R. Potter, Governor William Jones, James Rhodes, Nicholas Brown, and the immortal eleven of whom Elisha R. Potter said " they were reduced to the same number with the Apostles after Judas had left them." After the dissolution of the grand old party, which boasted of such men as Alexander Hamilton and Fisher Ames to lead its columns, Mr. De Wolf retired from public life, satisfied that " the post of honor is a private station." At his quict farm situated on Papasqu,-the beautiful peninsula which forms a part of his native town,-with the wife of his youth, and near his children, he passed the remainder of his days, and on the 19th of April, 1829, was gathered to his fathers, honored and beloved by all who knew him. Mrs. De Wolf was the daughter of Josiah Finney, a lead- ing citizen of Bristol.

REENE, HON. RAY, son of Governor William Greene, Jr., was born in Warwick, in 1765, and was a graduate of Yale College in the class of 1784. Having completed his law studies, he was admitted to the bar, and commenced the practice of his profession in Providence. He was appointed At-

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torney General, and held the office 1794-97, and then was elected United States Senator, to fill the vacancy occa- sioned by the resignation of Hon. William Bradford, whose term of office expired in 1799. Having served through this unexpired part of Mr. Bradford's term, Mr. Greene, in 1799, was re-elected for six years. In 1801 he resigned his position, having been appointed as successor to Judge Bourne, District Judge of Rhode Island. This appointment was made by President John Adams, as he was about to retire from the presidential office. There was, as we are told, " some informality connected with this appointment, which was discovered too late to be rectified by Mr. Adams, and when the matter was referred to his successor, President Jefferson, he refused to rectify it, and appointed instead one of his own political adherents to that office. Mr. Greene thus by a simple misunderstand- ing on the part of another lost both his senatorial and judicial offices." Mr. Greene's residence was in the vener- able mansion for so many years the house of his son, ex- Lieutenant-Governor William Greene, one of the historic houses of the old town. The original, or southeastern portion of it, was built, as we learn from Fuller's History of Warwick, about the year 1685, by Samuel Gorton, Jr., whose father, the famous Samuel Gorton, was one of the twelve original purchasers of the town-lands. One of its rooms is associated with Revolutionary memories,-the west room. This was the council-room of Governor William Greene, Jr., and in it the Governor and his council, with General Sullivan, General Nathanael Greene, Lafayette, Rochambeau, and other notable personages, both civil and military, held frequent consultations upon important na- tional affairs. A full description of the venerable home of the Warwick Greenes, given in the History of Warwick, pp. 157-162, cannot fail to interest the curious reader. Ray Greene died in Warwick, January 11, 1849.

ATHEWSON, HON. ELISHA, son of Thomas and Hannah (Clark) Mathewson, was born in Scituate, Rhode Island, April 18, 1767. His ancestor, Thomas Mathewson, was the first settler in that part of Rhode Island. He lived for many months in a cave not far from the head of Moswansicut Pond. He bounded and came into possession of several hundred acres of land in that vicinity, whereby his pos- terity for several generations were enriched. Elisha, the subject of this sketch, was born near the head of the pond, and not far from the cave above mentioned. His educa- tional advantages were inconsiderable, although perhaps better than the average of those of his age in that neigh- borhood. He was, however, better endowed (physically) than his associates, having the ability to overcome his an- tagonists in all athletic feats. He was tall of stature and of commanding presence, with a frame of good propor- tions, full muscular development, lithe and sinewy in mo-

tion ; a somewhat long and narrow face, high forehead, black lustrous eyes, aquiline nose, and firm thin lips. Immediately on attaining his majority he was elected a Justice of the Peace, and subsequently filled various town offices. He was elected a member of the General Assem- bly in early manhood, and served for many years as Sena- tor, and also as Representative, being Speaker of the House in 1822. From 1807 to 1811 he was a Senator in the Congress of the United States, filling the unexpired term of James Fenner, who resigned to accept the office of Governor. . Mr. Mathewson married Phebe Smith, of Scituate, July 27, 1787. He died October 15, 1853, in the eighty-seventh year of his age.

ALLERY, HON. CHRISTOPHER, was born in New- port, in 1768, and was a nephew of William Ellery, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. His early training was designed to fit him for a collegiate education. He entered Yale College in 1783 and was graduated in the class of 1787. From the same class there were graduated several students who were subsequently members of Congress, viz., William Ely, Gaylord Griswold, Chancey Laydon, and Abraham Nott. On leaving college Mr. Ellery studied law, and having completed his preparatory studies was admitted to the bar, and commenced the practice of his profession in his native town. He was a decided Democrat of the Jef- fersonian school, and on the resignation of Ray Greene he was chosen as his successor to represent Rhode Island in Congress. His official term continued from December 7, 1801, to March 3, 1805. At the expiration of his term of service he returned to Newport, and the following year, 1806, he was appointed by President Jefferson as a Commis- sioner of Loans. Subsequently he received from President J. Q. Adams an appointment as Collector of Customs in New- port, which office he held for a number of years. With regard to his character we are told that " in private life no man sustained a more estimable character than Mr. Ellery. Of the most liberal and gentlemanly spirit, and filled with a desire to diffuse around him all the kindnesses and at- tractions which give a zest to existence, he strongly attached to himself both friends and acquaintances." He died December 2, 1840, in the seventy-second year of his age.

ÈLLSTON, WASHINGTON, poet and painter, was born in the district of Waccamaw, South Carolina, on the " Broad Green domain" of his father, William Allston, November 5, 1779. The family was of English descent, and is supposed to have come from the Norse settlements in Northumberland, and from a baronet's family. A son of the painter's great-uncle, Governor Joseph Allston, was the husband of the beauti- ful and accomplished Theodosia Burr, daughter of Aaron

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Burr. In his carly boyhood the subject of this sketch took up his residence in Newport, where he was sent for the double purpose of enjoying the bracing air of the fine cli- mate of that town, and for pursuing his studies preparatory to entering college. At that period Newport was a place to which many youths from the South were sent to secure their early education. Among the Carolinians who re- paired to the famous Rhode Island watering-place for this purpose were John C. Calhoun, the Kinbocks, Shubricks, Rutledges, and Haynes. The place, moreover, was not unknown to artists. Smibert came hither with Bishop Berkeley, Blackburn was here in 1754, and Cosmo Alex- ander in 1770. A successful local artist, Robert Feke, for some time resided here. Gilbert Stuart obtained his edu- cation here, and here he began to paint. Malbone was a native of Newport. Here, moreover, was the valuable portrait gallery collected by Henry Collins, an eminent merchant of the town. Around such scenes and associa- tions as these the artist tastes of Allston were developed. " My chief pleasure," he tells us, "was in drawing from prints,-of all kinds of figures, landscape, and animals. But I soon began to make pictures of my own, at what age, however, I cannot say. The earliest compositions that I remember were the Storming of Count Roderick's Castle, from a poor (though to me delightful) romance of that day, and the Siege of Toulon ; the first in Indian ink, the other in water-colors. I had in my school days some instruc- tion from a very worthy and amiable man, a Mr. King, who made quadrants and compasses, and occasionally painted portraits. I believe he was originally bred a painter, but obliged, from rare calls upon his pencil, to call in the aid of another craft." Newport was the home of Allston for about ten years, and they were among the hap- piest of his life. We are told that " he was distinguished in his youthful days among his playmates for his quick and almost fiery spirit and for his indomitable courage." One of his most intimate friends, whose warm attachment to him was life-long, was the distinguished William Ellery Channing, whose sister he subsequently married, thus adding a new tie to those which bound him to Newport. " Together," says Sweetzer, author of Artist Biographies, "these inspired lads rambled through the charming coun- try around the town, and along the resounding shores of the beaches, receiving such impressions of the beautiful and the sublime as had a profound impression upon their after-lives. Another companion in these walks was Chan- ning's cousin, Richard H. Dana, who was a sensitive and high-strung child, younger than either of the others. The intimacy between these three was still kept up in the pale winter of their age, when the venerable artist, the saintly divine, and the manly poet were accustomed to visit each other frequently in their quiet Boston homes." The ten years' residence of Allston in Newport terminated in 1796, when he entered Harvard College, where he was graduated in the class of 1800. Among his classmates were the elo-

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The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 47

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