The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 50

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

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BATERMAN, RESOLVED, merchant, was born in Smithfield, Rhode Island, December 10, 1787. His native place is now known as the village of Greenville. His mother, Lydia, was the daughter of Resolved Waterman, a descendant of the hon- ored Watermans of Rhode Island. Brought up to toil on the ancestral lands, and trained in habits of virtue, he gained that bodily vigor and those principles of temperance and industry that have so happily served him through his long life. Until the age of fifteen he assisted his stepfather in farm work, and attended school at intervals. In 1805 he went to Centreville, in Warwick, wherc, through the friendship of Mr. James Greene, he was employed for sev- eral years as clerk in manufacturing establishments. In the same year he embraced Christianity, and associated with the Methodists. In 1812 he united with Dr. Stephen Harris and others, forming a company of six, with a cap- ital of $12,000, and began manufacturing cotton goods at Centreville, now River Point. The business suffering de- pression at the close of the War of 1812, he and Dr. Har- ris, in 1816, formed a partnership and engaged in business together, during the winters, in Savannah and parts of Georgia. Two years later, when Dr. Harris withdrew, Mr. Waterman received Mr. Stephen Arnold as his part- ner, with whom he continued in the Southern trade during the winters till 1827, when he and Mr. Arnold began busi- ness as cotton merchants in Providence. They remained together and were prospered in trade for twenty years, when, in 1847, Mr. Arnold withdrew to unite with his sons. In 1827, Mr. Waterman removed his family from Centreville to Providence. In 1847 he began business on his own account as a cotton merchant, and was greatly prospered till he closed his business on account of the Rebellion in 1861. Meanwhile he was also interested in manufactures. By integrity and wise economy he ac- cumulated a handsome estate, to the care of which and the welfare of the community he devoted himself after re- tiring from business. Having indorsed for the successors of an old firm with which he had been intimate, he found himself in 1867 liable for $507,000. Though he might have evaded this legal liability, he gave a full and true inventory of all his property, and, through the favor of his creditors, was discharged by paying $101,400-twenty per cent. of the liability. This honest and noble act was justly applauded by the community. He at last met the claims of the creditors before they were due. It was the rule of life with him " to do as he would be done by." Of a gentle and retiring disposition, devoted to his home and the educational and religious prosperity of his fellow- citizens, he studiously avoided political life, refusing to accept offices that were urged upon him. In the Temper- ance Reform, from its beginning near 1830, he was re- markably active. Politically he was a Whig, a " Law- and-Order man " in the " Dorr War," a Republican when the anti-slavery party originated, and a firm Union man

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during the Civil War. His devotion to business never quenched the ardor of his public spirit. Such was his ability to work, and such his mastery of his affairs, that he never had a clerk. He married (1), in 1812, Lucy Cady, daughter of Daniel Cady, of Centreville, a man of great religious devotion. By this marriage he had six children, all of whom are deceased. His son, Rev. Henry Water- man, D.D., graduated at Brown University in 1831, be- came rector of the Episcopal Church in Woonsocket, also at Andover, Massachusetts, and of St. Stephen's Church in Providence, and died in 1876 at the age of sixty-three. His daughter Nancy married Rollin Mathewson, and died in 1862. His wife died in 1824, aged thirty-four. He married (2), in 1828, Anna Louisa Shaw, daughter of Dr. William G. and Elizabeth ( Brenton) Shaw, of Wickford. By this marriage he had seven children, only one of whom, Elizabeth, is now (1881 ) living. His daughter Lucia mar- ried General Horatio Rogers, and died in 1867. . His last wife died February 6, 1879, aged seventy eight. For forty years Mr. Waterman has been a Warden of St. Ste- phen's Church, and toward the erection of the church edifice and the removal of its indebtedness he paid about a fourth part, all his contributions amounting to nearly $20,000. He has been also a generous donor to various be- nevolent institutions and purposes. His life has been one of great activity, integrity, kindness, and Christian benevo- lence. Since 1873 he has been confined to his house on Brown Street on account of an affection of his limbs. Although now in his ninety-fourth year, he can read with- out glasses, and is a great lover of good books. His chief book is the Bible. He is a notable type of New England vigor of body and mind, and is remarkably happy in his strong Christian faith and hope.

HAPIN, DEACON JOSIAH, cotton merchant, son of Amariah and Olive (Taft) Chapin, was born in Uxbridge, Massachusetts, July 27, 1788. He was a descendant of Deacon Samuel Chapin (the ancestor 3 of all of that name in this country), who came here from England about the year 1635, bringing with him a family of five children, and after residing for a time at Roxbury, settled in Springfield in 1642, where he remained until his death, being one of the most prominent citizens mentioned in the early history of that place. The Chapin family is one of the largest in this country, and embraces many celebrated names. At a family gathering in 1862, at Springfield, Massachusetts, nearly fifteen hundred of the descendants of Deacon Samuel Chapin were present. The proceedings were of a most interesting character, consist- ing of an address of welcome by the Mayor of Springfield, an oration by Hon. Henry Chapin, of Worcester, and a poem by Dr. J. G. Holland. The subject of this sketch

bore the name of one of the most noted of his ancestors. He was employed on his father's farm during his boyhood, and received a good common-school education. In 1810 he went to Savannah, Georgia, where he kept a store of general supplies for one year. Returning to Uxbridge in 18II, he there engaged in business with his father in a large country store, which supplied Uxbridge, Northbridge, and Douglas. He removed to Providence in the autumn of 1815, and established a wholesale grocery store on Weybosset Street, where the post-office now stands. He united with the sale of groceries that of manufacturers' supplies, and later that of cotton and cotton goods. The cotton business gradually increased, and he was for many years the leading merchant in that line in Providence, sell- ing one-half of all the cotton sold there. His younger brother, Amory Chapin, became his partner in 1822, and they continued together, doing an immense business, under the style of Josiah Chapin & Co., until 1837, when Amory Chapin withdrew from the firm. In 1839 Josiah Chapin's son, William C., and in 1842 his other son, George W., were admitted as members of the firm, which partnership continued until 1844, when Josiah Chapin withdrew from active business with a large fortune, acquired solely through his own exertions. He purchased "Choppequonsett," a large estate one mile below Pawtucket, intending to de- vote the remaining years of his life to agriculture. Here he engaged in farming until 1849, when he sold the prop- erty to General Charles T. James, and it was subsequently sold to the late Nicholas Brown. Mr. Chapin's life was one of great business activity and usefulness. He was a founder and one of the Directors of the Merchants' Na- tional Bank of Providence from its incorporation, January II, 1819, and served as Director until 1875, when he de- clined a re-election. He was also President of this bank from January 14, 1850, until July 27, 1868, when he re- signed the office. In November, 1815, he married Asenath Capron, of Uxbridge, who died in Providence, September 3, 1863, in the seventy-first year of her age. But three of his children reached a mature age, his sons, William and George, and a daughter, who married Hon. Benjamin T. Eames, an ex-member of Congress and a prominent lawyer in Providence. In early life Mr. Chapin united with the Beneficent Congregational Church, Providence. He was one of the original members, and prominent in the estab- lishment of the High Street Congregational Church in 1834; was chosen first deacon and served until 1849, when he returned to the Beneficent Congregational Church, with which he was prominently connected, holding the office of deacon until his death, which occurred April 17, 1881. Mr. Chapin took an active interest in all matters pertaining to the commercial prosperity of Providence, and was noted for his purity of character, Christian zeal, great simplicity of manners, cheerfulness of disposition, and the readiness and generosity with which he always contributed to works of benevolenee.

Milhom & Goddard

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ODDARD, PROFESSOR WILLIAM GILES, LL.D., son of William and Abigail Angell Goddard, was born in Johnston, Rhode Island, January 2, 1794. His grandfather on the maternal side was Brigadier- General James Angell, a descendant of one of the early settlers who came with Roger Williams to Providence. His grandfather on the paternal side was Dr. Giles God- dard, a physician of New London, Connecticut. His mother, Abigail, has been represented as a woman of rare moral and intellectual graces of character. His father, William, was born in New London, Connecticut, in the year 1740; removed to Providence, where in the year 1762 he established and edited the Providence Gazette and Country Journal, which was the first newspaper printed in that town. He afterwards edited at different periods of his life newspapers in New York, Philadelphia, and Balti- more, in the management of which he displayed enterprise and ability. He was appointed Surveyor of the Post- Roads and Comptroller of the Post-Office by Benjamin Franklin, the Postmaster-General. In the year 1792 he returned to Rhode Island and died in Providence, in the year 1817. William Giles Goddard, the subject of this sketch, was graduated from Brown University in the class of 1812. He immediately commenced the study of law in the office of Hon. Francis Blake, Worcester, Massachusetts, devoting a portion of his time to his duties as associate editor of the Worcester Spy. His literary tastes, however, led him to abandon the law as a profession, and to return to Providence in the year 1813, when he became sole edi- tor and proprietor of the Rhode Island American, a news- paper which he conducted till the year 1825, Professor James D. Knowles for a short time being associated with him in its management. During the latter year he was appointed Professor of Moral Philosophy and Metaphysics in Brown University. After holding this chair for nine years he resigned it, and was immediately made Professor of Belles-Lettres. This Professorship he resigned in the year 1842 in consequence of ill health. He was afterwards elected a member of the Board of Trustees, a member of the Board of Fellows, and Secretary of the Corporation. Professor Goddard was married, May 22, 1821, to Charlotte Rhoda, daughter of Thomas Poynton and Hope Brown Ives, the last of whom was a sister of Nicholas Brown, her husband's partner in business. Professor Goddard died without a moment's warning, February 16, 1846, leaving seven chil- dren, two having died in their infancy ; Charlotte Hope, since deceased, who married William Binney, a son of the late Horace Binney, of Philadelphia ; William, Thomas P. I., Elizabeth Anne, who married the late Thomas Perkins Shepard ; Moses B. I., Francis W., and Robert H. I. God- dard. The name and memory of Professor Goddard are associated with valuable services to the cause of religion, education, philanthropy, and social order and law. For many years he dedicated his varied powers and accomplish- ments to the highest ends, the promotion of enterprises

which had for their object the moral and intellectual im- provement of the present and of future generations. The development of the system of public education in Rhode Island was largely due to the influence he exerted in their behalf by his frequent appeals to the public through the press. He was always an earnest advocate of popular education, and he believed that upon the diffusion of the light of knowledge very largely depended the preservation and perpetuation of our Republican institutions. " Let us not forget," wrote Professor Goddard, " that in the United States the people are the source of all power, and that their good is the end of all government. Let us not forget the fearful power intrusted to the majority. If the mind of the mass be left to stagnate, the passions of the mass will not stagnate. They cannot sleep amid the noise of our factions. They will be armed with the destructive energies of the volcano. If the mind of the mass be half educated it will be liable to the mistakes of ignorance, and it will be full of the conceit which is the proverbial concomitant of a ' little learning.' If the mind of the mass be thoroughly and substantially educated, but without a corresponding culture of the heart, it will acquire only an increased capac- ity to work evil ; it may disdain the joys of a gross sensual- ity, but it will become enamoured of the varnished profliga- cies of fashion ; it may demand an artificial polish of manners, but it will resent no accredited impurity in morals. If, however, the mind of the mass be properly trained, if it be imbued with the influences of learning and religion it will manifest its power only for good. It will go forth only to seek and to win fresh triumphs for freedom and for truth." Professor Goddard was a master of the English language ; and his writings, which are models of thought and expression, are full of subtle grace, rhythmical beauty, and exquisitely polished and eloquent periods. Perhaps no higher specimen of Professor Goddard's literary ability can be found than his address to the Rhode Island Society of the Phi Beta Kappa in the year 1836. After the publication of this discourse Chancellor Kent wrote that " Mr. Goddard's pamphlet satisfies me of his distinguished taste, scholarship, and genius;" and Dr. Wayland in speaking of the same discourse expresses himself as follows : " I have read this discourse lately and was struck with the similarity of its thoughts to those of Lord Bacon's Essays, a book which I had just laid down ; while the exquisite finish of the style sometimes remindeded me of the vigor of Johnson ; and at others of the splendor of Burke." Professor Goddard's powers as a political writer are best shown in the address which he delivered in Newport, May 3, 1843, on the occa- sion of the change in the civil government of Rhode Island by the adoption of the Constitution which superseded the Charter of 1663. This discourse reveals a mature and well- settled understanding of the genius, the scope and spirit of republican government; and it drew encomiums from De Tocqueville and Judge Story, the last of whom has recorded his opinion of it in these words : " I have read it

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with the highest pleasure and satisfaction. It is a masterly review of the principles and institutions of Rhode Island, and abounds with reflections, just, appropriate, and striking, and I may add, most eloquently and elegantly expressed. I pray God that the lessons of instruction thus given may sink deep into the hearts of the people, not only of Rhode Island, but of all her sister States. If our republic is to be saved from the misrule of demagogues and selfish adventur- ers, it is by drinking deeply from sources of thought like those opened by Professor Goddard." The following grave and earnest words in respect to the judiciary, which are extracted from this discourse, will partially disclose to the mind of the reader the vigorous manner in which Professor Goddard handled his subject : " In the Constitution, which you, my fellow-citizens, have adopted, you have declared that certain essential rights and principles shall be estab- lished, maintained, and preserved, and shall be of para- mount obligation in all legislative, judicial, and executive proceedings. Without a judiciary essentially independent, of what avail for the security of popular freedom would be this grave declaration of constitutional rights and principles ? Why subject the executive power and the legislative power to restrictions if the judiciary be left powerless to enforce them ? Why solemnly reserve to yourselves the rights of freemen, if, either through the timidity or the corruption

of your courts, those rights cannot, whenever they are

invaded, be intrepidly and effectually protected ? In truth, my fellow-citizens, without a judiciary which feels itself to be independent of the legislative power, no constitution is worth the parchment upon which it is engrossed. Without such a judiciary there can be no freedom under a popular government. Without such a judiciary civilization, in its higher forms, can make no ad- vance. Beware, then, men of Rhode Island, of that po- litical man or that political party who may hereafter seek to inflame you with a jealousy of that department in your government which, from the very nature of its functions, is least dangerous, and which, so long as the administration of justice is the chief end of government, you are most ill- terested to cherish and to defend. In a monarchy the king who is impatient of restraint upon his will tolerates no bench competent to shield the subject against the power of the throne. In republics like our own the case is essen- tially the same. No strangers to the impulses which ani- mate royal bosoms are the majority which seeks to oppress the minority, and the demagogue who hates every institu- tion in the State which he cannot make tributary to his aims. When have not factious majorities and profligate demagogues sought to persuade the people that an inde- pendent judiciary is their master and not their shield? When have they not affected to believe that learned and upright judges, who dispense no patronage and exercise no political power, who are endowed with no spontaneous energy to arrest the operations of the executive or of the legislature, and whom it is never difficult to remove for

malfeasance in office, are entrenched in some stronghold, which the people should watch with a jealous eye ? Easily indeed must that people be duped who suffer such morbid apprehensions to trouble their peace. Need I tell you, fellow-citizens, that the danger all lies in another quarter -in the occasional excesses of popular passion, in the arti- fices of the demagogue, who makes himself hoarse in pro- claiming the wisdom of the people and in declaring his mar- vellous love for the people ; in the tendencies of majorities to oppress minorities ; in the desires of the vicious and idle to make spoil of the accumulations, whether ample or lim- ited, of industry, honesty, and enterprise. These are among the dangers most formidable to constitutional rights and popular freedom, and these are the dangers which render a learned and uncorrupt judiciary an essential component part of every free government." The Political and Mis- cellaneous Writings of William G. Goddard were edited in two large volumes by his son, Francis W. Goddard, in the year 1870. These volumes are a valuable contribu- tion to the literary and political history of Rhode Island, containing a record, in a permanent form, of utterances upon passing events, of sentiments and principles of per- manent utility and wide application, which must always be classed with the models of our language. Such writ- ings are a rare example of the manner in which refined culture may be coupled with an active interest in the po- litical duties and the practical affairs of life. The services Professor Goddard rendered his native State during the civil commotion, which threatened to overthrow its govern- ment, together with his services to scholarship and taste, learning and sound morals, give to his name a prominent and enduring interest in the history of Rhode Island. He wielded a powerful and fearless pen during the Dorr Re- bellion in support of the principles of the Law and Order party; and the papers comprising the second volume of his published writings, which originally appeared in the Providence Journal, show a philosophical conception of the principles of government, a complete acquaintance with the nature and spirit of our American Constitution, and contain enduring axioms in politics, the fruit of a compre- hensive and well-disciplined mind. . These essays are none the less valuable because they were written with reference chiefly to the affairs of Rhode Island. The moral signifi- cance of the questions and events to which they relate is not limited to the size of the stage on which they were presented. Professor Goddard constantly labored to en- force the view that while the particular illustration of the spirit which in the year 1842 sought to overthrow the gov- ernment of Rhode Island, was local, the spirit itself was not local; that it was the spirit of revolution and rebellion, which, unless checked, would sooner or later impair the stability of the General Government, and eventually deluge the whole country with blood. The motives which induced Professor Goddard to emerge from the repose and quiet of a literary life to assist in upholding the pillars of the State

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are best defined in his own words: "The politicians of the day are sadly puzzled to understand the motives which should induce citizens, habitually quiet and unobtrusive, to come out and show their colors at the present crisis. They seem to think that the field of discussion and of action on all occasions belongs exclusively to them. When they are en- gaged in shrewd contrivances to frustrate the intentions of nature, and to vote little men to be great men ; when they seek to make men governors of the people who have never yet learnt to govern themselves; when they are try- ing to make men senators to whom God has refused wis- dom ;- why, in all such manufacturing processes, in all such paltry manipulations, I am content that they should do all the work. I, for one, prefer to keep out of the mill. But when they attempt to manufacture a constitution of government, and especially when they attempt to force a constitution of government upon the people, as one of the people I claim the right to be heard. No array of numbers, however formidable, no political combination, however strongly cemented, no proscriptive frenzy, how- ever epidemic, no factious domination, however insolent, should ever fright an honest man, humble though he may be, from the intrepid maintenance of his great legal and constitutional rights. I have thought it not improper to say these things ; because living as I do, near the crater of a belching volcano, I may be presumed to know something of the materials which cause the mountain to burn and the sky to flash with tempest." It remains briefly to refer to the character of Professor Goddard's mind. It has been said that " Mr. Goddard's mind was of an intuitive rather than dialectic character. It delighted not so much in co- gent argumentation as in the utterance of philosophical truths, which were apprehended and put forth with instinc- tive comprehension, force, and clearness. There was no deficiency of the logical element in the composition of his mind, but the intuitive perception, to which I have alluded, was so far predominant in its structure as generally to maintain the ascendency in all its operations; and yet more, he so loved to reveal the beauties and graces of language that his sentences were adorned almost uncon- sciously with Attic touches, such as more logical periods would be incapable of receiving." While this is all true, it does not in the slightest degree detract from Professor Goddard's merits as a dialectician, which are of a high order. His writings may contain no vast exhibition of the forms of the school; but in the enunciative form of argument they are completely sequent in reasoning and conclusion. Space will not permit a further enume- ration of the public services of William Giles Goddard. His character was one of singular purity, and it was adorned by the highest Christian faith. His life was one of unselfish aims, elevated usefulness and honorable distinction ; and his death deprived Rhode Island of one of its ablest, wisest, most accomplished, and honored citizens.

eng VES, MOSES BROWN, merchant, eldest son of Thomas P. and Hope (Brown) Ives, was born in Providence, July 21, 1794. Having gone through a course of preparatory study, he entered Brown University, and graduated therefrom in the class of 1812. Soon after his graduation he commenced the study of law, and attended the lectures of Judges Gould and Recves, at the Law School in Litchfield, Connecticut. Although he was admitted to the bar in 1815, it was not his purpose to prac- tice the profession which he had studied, as he had decided to engage in mercantile pursuits. He entered the count- ing-house of Brown & Ives about this time, and for the next few years travelled extensively both in this country and in Europe, attending to the business of the firm with which he was connected. His life assuming a morc set- tled character, in 1820 he devoted himself with great assi- duity to the duties of his vocation as a merchant, and interested himself in enterprises and institutions which were designed to elevate the character of his native city. Upon the death of his father, in 1835, he was chosen President of the Providence Bank, the oldest institution of its kind in the city or the State. This position he filled until his decease. He was also connected with the lead- ing financial corporations of the city, and was regarded as authority in matters pertaining to the welfare of these in- stitutions. For nearly thirty years he was a member of the Fire Department of Providence, ready to respond, in person, to the calls of duty by day and by night. In the cause of popular education, as affecting all the best interests of the city, he took the most lively interest, and for many years was one of the most efficient members of the School Committee. Of the Providence Athenaeum he was one of the founders, and a generous contributor to its permanent endowment. He was elected a Trustee of Brown Uni- versity in 1822, and heid this position until his death, a period of thirty-five years. He was chosen Treasurer of the University in 1825. " For thirty-two years he person- ally superintended its financial concerns, and gave gratu- itously his time and his services to the promotion of its various interests, with a fidelity and wisdom which have seldom been paralleled, and never surpassed in the history of literary institutions." While he was in office large sums of money were raised from time to time to give stability to the institution, and increase its resources as a place of liberal education. Among the most generous and constant donors to these funds was the subject of this sketch. In like manner he was to the end of his life the Treasurer of the Butler Hospital for the Insane, of which he was one of the earliest corporators and founders. The departure from this life of so useful a citizen and so upright a man created a great void in the community, and the expressions of the appreciation in which he was held were numerous, and met with a response in the hearts of those who had known him only to respect and admire a character of singular beauty and harmony. The "Social Club," of which he

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The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 50

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