The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 51

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

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was a member for seventeen years, in speaking of the loss which it had sustaincd, said : " In his seventeen years' membership he had become endeared to us, and had com- manded our highest regard for the remarkable union in him of dignified urbanity with unobtrusive self-reliance, of calm, penetrating intelligenee, with the most genial social qualities, and for the same punctuality and integrity in his connection with us, which so highly distinguished his commercial character, and which, in combination with a sound judgment, extensive knowledge, a cultivated mind, and many noble qualities, made him a central point of in- fluence and usefulness wherever he was associated in public or private relations." Mr. Ives was withdrawn from the active duties of life for only a comparatively short time. He died at his country residence on Potowomut Neck, in Warwick, August 7, 1857. He married, April 17, 1833, Anne Allen, daughter of Sullivan and Lydia (Allen) Dorr. They had two children, Thomas P., born January 17, 1834, and Hope Brown, wife of Henry G. Russell, Esq., of Providence.

AMMELL, REV. WILLIAM, elergyman in Newport, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, January 9, 1786. He was the son of John and Margaret (Urann) Gammell, and received his early education in his na- tive town. His parents were members of the Federal Street Congregational Church, of which the Rev. Dr. Channing was for many years the minister. At the age of about twenty-one years he was baptized by the Rev. Dr. Samuel Stillman, and became a member of the First Baptist Church in Boston. He soon afterwards began to prepare for the Christian ministry, and for this purpose beeame a pupil of the Rev. William Williams, of Wren- tham, Massachusetts, a well-known teacher of theology in that day. On the completion of his preparatory studies, he began to preach for the Baptist church in Bellingham, Massachusetts, where he was ordained in 1809. In 1810 he took charge of the Baptist church in Medfield, Massa- chusetts, where he remained for thirteen years the pastor of a prosperous rural ehureh, by whose members he was greatly beloved and respected. In August, 1823, he moved to Newport, having accepted the invitation of the Second Baptist Church in that town to become its pastor. Here he immediately entered upon a conspicuous career, which terminated only with his early death. His rare gifts as a public speaker attraeted large congregations, while his fine social qualities and his public spirit as a citizen secured for him a commanding influence. He was very early engaged in the movement for establishing the first public school in Newport,-an undertaking which encoun- tered strong opposition, but which was speedily carried into effeet, with immense advantage to the town. He wrote very frequently on topics of public interest, both for

the secular and the religious press. Besides this, and now and then an occasional address or sermon, no other production of his pen was published. His personal presence was commanding, his voice was singularly suited to oratory, and his mode of address in the pulpit re- markably winning and impressive. In the midst of his usefulness, and in full health, he was suddenly stricken with apoplexy, and died, May 30, 1827, at the age of forty-one years and nearly five months. He received from Brown University, in 1817, the honorary degree of Master of Arts, and in 1820 he was chosen a Trustee of the University, a position which he held until his death. In 1811 he married Mary Slocomb, of Belling- ham, who died in 1820. They had four children-three sons and a daughter. In 1822 he married Maria An- toinette Madey, of Medfield, who died in 1844. They had three daughters.

VES, ROBERT HALE, merchant, second son of Thomas Poynton, and Hope (Brown) Ives, was born in Providence, Rhode Island, September 16, 1798. G He was fitted for college at the University Grammar- School, under the tuition, chiefly, of Ebenezer Bur- gess-subsequently the Rev. Dr. Burgess, an eminent Con- gregational elergyman of Dedham, Massachusetts, and graduated at Brown University, in the class of 1816, with high rank as a scholar. Immediately on leaving college, he entered the counting-house of Messrs. Brown & Ives, intending to devote himself to mercantile pursuits. He was thus employed for several years, when, for purposes of relaxation and improvement, he passed two years in Europe, his companion in travel, for a part of this time, being his cousin and classmate, John Carter Brown. On his return from abroad, in 1826, he again took his place in the counting-house, and, in 1832, was admitted a part- ner in the firm of Brown & Ives, being the youngest mem- ber of the firm. The foundation of the fortune of this eniinent firm was laid in the profits derived from foreign trade, in which, for many years, they were engaged. But deeming that the manufacture of cotton-goods, which, from humble beginnings in 1790, under the management of Samuel Slater, had grown to be the great industrial employ- ment of Rhode Island, would be a more profitable busi- ness, they gradually withdrew their capital from foreign commerce, and invested it in cotton mills. With great skill, good judgment, and untiring industry, Mr. Ives de- voted himself to this new branch of business. Buildings were erected at Lonsdale, and for many years he was the treasurer and managing agent of the company which was formed to carry on business in that village. While thus devoting himself with great energy and success to business, he was also deeply interested in a variety of movements

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which had reference to the social, intellectual, and relig- ious elevation of the community in which he lived. Of the Butler Hospital for the Insane, which was founded in 1844, he was one of the original trustees, and the secretary of its corporation thirty-one years. Of this institution he was a munificent patron and devoted friend, caring for its interests down to the close of life. The Rhode Island Hospital was established in 1863. Of this institution Mr. Ives, more than any other man, was the founder. He was the first President of its corporation, and contributed to its funds over $60,000. Of Brown University he was a trustee for forty-five years, during nine of which he was its treasurer. He was a generous friend of his alma mater, and through life contributed liberally for its advancement. He was a devout member of the Episcopal Church, of which, early in life, he became a communicant by connecting himself with St. John's Church in his native city, and took a special and life-long interest in promoting its prosperity. Few educational institutions of his church in the country but failed to receive some tokens of his regard for their wel- fare. His thoughtful attention was turned to the new and rising States in the great West, and with a sure foresight and the same sort of sagacity ,which had guided him in his business affairs, he contributed largely to establish churches, colleges and schools in different sections of that part of our common country. The amount thus contributed for these various objects of benevolence will never be known, but it was unquestionably very large. Modest, and seeking no outward distinctions among men, the gen- erous donor was satisfied to give, without ostentation, sure that his gifts would result in promoting the best interests of humanity, and be pleasing to Him whose steward he loved to regard himself. It was said of him, by an emi- nent fellow-citizen, after his decease, " No man, perhaps, has lived among us who gave away so much money during his life ; certainly no one who gave so much in so unosten- tatious and so judicious a manner." In the affairs of the General Government, while he never sought, and, with rare exceptions, never accepted any civil trusts, he took a lively interest. In the days of the Whigs, he belonged to that party, and was a member of the Baltimore Convention in 1852, and did what he could to secure the nomination of Daniel Webster for the Presidency of the United States. In the civil strife in Rhode Island of 1842, he was a " Law and Order" man, and, in the great Civil War, he was a warm friend and generous supporter of his country, giving to it not only his treasure, but what he valued in- finitely above all his earthly possessions, his only son. Few citizens of Providence have, in many ways, left deeper and more enduring marks of an influence for good in the com- munity in which he lived, and the country which he loved, than Robert Hale Ives. He married, in October, 1827, Harriet Bowen, daughter of Thomas Amory, of Boston, who died in 1868. Of their children, three lived to adult age. He died in Providence, July 6, 1875.

BROWN, NICHOLAS, 3d, Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island, the eldest son of Nicholas, 2d, was born in Providence, October 2, 1792. He gradu- ated at Brown University, in the class of 1811. After his graduation he went to Europe, where he spent many years. On his return he took up his residence in Orangetown, Rockland County, New York. President Polk appointed him, in 1845, Consul of the United States at Rome, Italy. He represented the Government in the Papal States during the excitement connected with the revolution of 1848. In 1853 he returned to this country, and took up his residence at Providence and at his country estate in Warwick. In 1856 he was chosen Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island. Mr. Brown was fond of rare and costly books, of which he made a valuable collection. Having gone to Troy, New York, on business, he died in that city, after an illness of but two or three days, March 22, 1859. Mr. Brown was twicc married. His first wife was Abby Mason, whom he married July 7, 1820. She died November 7, 1822, leaving no children. His second wife, whom he married November 22, 1831, was Caroline Matilda Clemens. She survived him twenty years. They had six children : Nicholas Alfred, born September 16, 1832; Ann Mary, born February 10, 1835, died March 22, 1837; Ann Mary, born March 9, 1837; John Carter, born March 16, 1840; Charlotte Matilda Clements, born October 28, 1841 ; Robert Grenville, born June 16, 1746.

B BROWN, HON. JOHN CARTER, second son of Nich- olas and Ann (Carter) Brown, was born in Prov- idence August 28, 1797, and was a graduate of Brown University in the class of 1816. Having completed his collegiate education, he entered upon mercantile pursuits, and in 1832 became a partner in the house of Brown & Ives. In 1841, by the decease of his father, he came into possession of an ample estate, and was in a condition to gratify his tastes for other employ- ments besides those connected with his special calling as a merchant. It is said that his love for active business was never very strong or controlling. He did not like the daily restraints which it imposes, and he had little relish for the excitements which it involves. Guided by his peculiar tastes, he became a traveller, not only through many sections of his own country, but in the different coun- tries of Europe. He lived abroad several years. Early in life he began to develop a love for rare and curious books, and with unwearied pains and at great expense he collected one of the best libraries, if not the best library, of American history in this country. He procured nearly all the publica- tions found in different languages relating to this subject, beginning with the Columbus letters of 1493, and ending with the political pamphlets of 1800. The catalogue of

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this truly incomparable collection of works on American history, which, with explanatory notes, was prepared by Hon. J. R. Bartlett, contained, at the time of its publica- tion, 5925 letters, in a large number of instances, represent- ing two or more volumes. This number has been con- siderably increased since the catalogue was printed. The collection is a perfect thesaurus of the best books on the history of the entire continent of America; and, as a taste for historical investigation grows stronger among the schol- ars of our country and of other countries, it will assume a value as a reference library greater than we can well esti- mate. Indeed, it has always been " accessible," remarks Professor Gammell, "to scholars and authors who were studying the subjects to which it relates. Eminent men from other States, and even from Europe, have visited Providence on purpose to consult or to study some work which they could find nowhere else than in Mr. Brown's library. So great, indeed, has been his readiness to make this collection useful to historians in other countries, that in at least three instances he has sent across the Atlantic books which, if they had been lost, could never have been replaced. In one instance this was done to meet the wishes of Sir Arthur Helps, the historian of The Spanish Conquest in America, who, in one of the volumes of that work, makes a graceful acknowledgment of the unex- ampled courtesy which he had thus experienced." Mr. Brown was chosen a Trustee of Brown University in 1828, and a Fellow in 1842. His gifts to the University were numerous and costly. The library in some of its depart- ments, especially in the departments of English and Con- tinental literature, was greatly enriched by his liberality. He added, too, to the value of the philosophical apparatus by his timely gifts, and contributed liberally to the erection of some of its buildings and the enlargement of its real estate. His gifts in these various directions amounted to upward of $70,000. The new library building with the land on which it stands, the whole valued at not far from $100,000, was his gift. He has thus given to his alma mater not much less than $175,000, and his name stands thus far in the front rank of the benefactors of Brown Uni- versity, his father's name only taking precedence of his. To other institutions of learning all over the country he ex- tended a helping hand, at critical junctures in their history, when, but for such timely aid as he and men of kindred spirit bestowed, they must have sunk into helpless embar- rassment. He was interested, moreover, in the benevolent institutions of his own city and State. He was one of the original corporators of the Butler Hospital for the In- sane, and contributed generously to its support. At the time of his death he was President of the Corporation. Equally interested was he, in a practical and most sub- stantial way, in the founding of the Rhode Island Hos- pital, to which at different times he contributed what in the aggregate amounted to over $84,000. For a year or more he was the President of the New England Emi-

grant Aid Society, whose object it was to assist emigrants who wished to settle in Kansas and make out of that Ter- ritory a frec State. During the Civil War he was a warm patriot, responding to every proper call made upon him for sympathy and pecuniary aid. It was never his wish to make himself personally prominent in civil or political matters. His preferences were for the quiet of an un- ostentatious life. His habits of living were simple and without show. He loved his library, and took a never- ceasing interest in adding, in every possible way, to its real valuc. While he was decided and very firm in the possession and maintenance of his own opinions, he was charitable and tolerant toward others. His reputation for mercantile integrity and honorable dealing in all the trans- actions of business life was without a stain. A life of such usefulness, extending on through so many years, is a bless- ing to any community, the worth of which it is impossible to estimate. By his liberality, wisely and generously be- stowed, Mr. Brown set in motion trains of beneficent in- fluence which will make themselves felt for generations to come. The possession of large wealth falls to the lot of comparatively few persons, and when these few have the heart to feel and the wisdom to plan for the highest good of humanity, we may be grateful to Him who inspires right purposes and guides to the performance of right deeds. After an illness of a few weeks Mr. Brown died in Provi- dence June 10, 1874, in the seventy-seventh year of his age. In May, 1859, he married Sophia Augusta, daughter of Hon. Patrick Browne, who lived in the British Island of New Providence. Her mother and maternal ancestors lived in Rhode Island. Mrs. Brown survives her husband, with three children, John Nicholas, Harold, and Sophia Augusta.

ARRIS, HON. EDWARD, manufacturer, son of David F. and Lydia (Streeter) Harris, was born in Smithfield, near Lime Rock, Rhode Island, Octo- ber 3, 1801, and died at his home in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, November 24, 1872. His father was a native of Nantucket, Massachusetts, and his mother was born in Smithfield, Rhode Island. In his early child- hood his parents removed to Dutchess County, New York, and remained there until 1818, when he removed to Ash- tabula County, Ohio. He received only ordinary advan- tages of education. His boyhood and youth were spent at home, his time being employed in farming, studying, and teaching school. What he lacked in literary at- tainments he made good by a critical observance of men and things, and thus laid the foundation of character that fitted him to become one of the ablest business men of the country. Previous to the age of twenty-one he had no connection with manufacturing interests. In 1823 he re- turned from the West to his place of nativity, having only twenty-five cents left after paying his travelling expenses, and became an assistant in the counting-house of his uncle,

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William Harris, who was then one of the most extensive manufacturers in Rhode Island, his place of business being at Valley Falls. In 1824 he entered the Albion Mills, then owned by his two uncles, William Harris and Samuel B. Harris, and Abraham and Isaac Wilkinson. After working here for a short time for his uncle William, he began to work for his uncle Samuel, for one dollar and thirty-three cents a day, and at the end of eighteen months had saved from his earnings one hundred and six dollars, with which he paid all his debts. During his second year he received higher wages, and soon afterwards was pro- moted to the position of superintendent of the factory, and continued as such until 1828. In November of that year he became the agent of the Harris Lime Rock Company, which was engaged in manufacturing lime, and held that agency until November 1, 1830. In 1831, with a capital of $3500, which he had saved from his earnings, except $1000 borrowed from his father, he bought a small woollen mill, now known as " No. I" of the Harris Woollen Com- pany, with one set of machinery, on the Blackstone River, at Woonsocket, and in March, 1831, began to manufacture satinets, with Edward Seagrave and Willard B. Johnston for his associates. A decline in woollen goods, which re- duced his capital to $1000, necessitated his turning aside from this enterprise, and he returned to the Albion Mills, as superintendent, still retaining an interest in his satinet mill. During the following year the advance in his fabrics netted him $5000, and this may be taken as the starting- point of his great success in business. In 1837 he dissolved partnership with Mr. Seagrave, and ever after carried on business alone. In 1836 his stone mill in Woonsocket was built, designated as " No. 2," in which he began to manu- facture his " Merino Cassimere," and in 1842 he began to make his all-wool fabrics, extensively known as the " Harris Cassimeres." In 1844 was built his factory "No. 3," a large brick and stone structure, in the central part of Woon- socket. In 1845 factory " No. 4" was erected and work commenced in it. All of these mills were run by water from the Woonsocket Falls, and partially by steam power. They are known as the "Old Mills." They contained twenty-five sets of wool cards, and turned out 12,000 yards of the best quality of " Harris Cassimeres " a week. His cotton mill, known as " No. 5," has 7000 spindles. In 1860 he commenced his factory " No. 6," called the " New Mill," on Mill River, a little north of Woonsocket, and this was the last great work of his life. The building is of brick, upon deep-laid foundations, in the form of an L, and the entire length of both sections is 442 feet, 60 feet wide, and five stories high. It contains a Corliss engine of 175 horse-power, and a water-wheel of 28 feet breast and 40 feet diameter, capable of running the whole mill. The mill has 25 sets of woollen machinery for producing fancy cassimeres and staple woollens. It was finished and set in operation in 1865. Connected with this mill are a dye- house, picker-house, foundry, planing, and saw-mills, and

80 houses with 250 tenements. Mr. Harris made over 250 styles of cassimeres a year, having for his standard of work, " Make the best goods possible." His attention to the de- tails of his immense business was no less diligent than that to the outlines of his plans, and he as critically studied the characters of his principal employés, as he did the capacity of the larger water-wheels of his machinery, and it was a great misfortune for one in his counting-room to be found " out of gear," or wrongly " balanced." He would not be restricted to the usual customs of trade, and stipulated an exclusive agency with a heavy dealer in New York on condition that all notes taken for " Harris Cassimeres " should be kept in a package by themselves, and that no notes from those holding or dealing in slaves should be put into that pack- age. In 1855 he opened a warehouse in New York City, and made his bills payable two months shorter than those of other houses, allowing from two and a half to five per cent. to his patrons for early payments, and was thus surer of his pay, and suffered much less than others in the crisis of 1857. When others suspended operations he bought supplies cheaply and drove his mills the more vigorously. When others declined all credits in 1861, Mr. Harris al- lowed three months' credit, and thus increased his business. His robust constitution, clear head, and great energy car- ried him through perplexities and responsibilities of great magnitude. What would have overwhelmed some, was to him a pleasing stimulant. Rising early, he attended to the details of his extensive business, and would not trust to others what he could do himself. His new mills produce an average of 750,000 yards of expensive cassimeres an- nually, and the products of his other mills are about the same, the cotton mill producing 150,000 yards annually, the aggregate business transactions of his estate amounting to $3,000,000 a year. These various interests he incor- porated into the " Harris Woollen Company," to be con- tinued as such after his death. Of this company Mr. Har- ris's son-in-law, Oscar J. Rathbun, is President, Joseph E. Cole, Treasurer and Secretary, and the property is divided by will among the heirs to the estate. While Mr. Harris was amassing his great fortune he was mindful of the wel- fare of others. There is reason to believe that the sum of his donations was half a million. His elegant home- stead bespeaks his care for his family. He spent about $100,000 constructing new streets in Woonsocket. He also donated the site for the Woonsocket High School, the site for a district school, and the land for the new and beautiful Oak Hill Cemetery. In June, 1863, he donated to his townsmen the elegant block and grounds known as the " Harris Institute," whose first trustees were Dr. Ariel Ballou, Oscar J. Rathbun, Joseph E. Cole, Samuel S. Foss, and Reuben G. Randall, " with perpetual succession, for the purpose of promoting the moral, intellectual, and social improvement of the inhabitants of the district " named in the second section of the act incorporating the Institute, which embraces a free library, a large hall for free lectures,

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and on the ground-floor three stores and the Post-Office, from which there is an increasing revenue for the support of the lectures and increase of library, the whole building and site having cost Mr. Harris $75,000. IIe donated $2500 to form a nucleus of the library, which now has 7000 volumes. The Institute has $8000 in its treasury. The above-named block is of brick, 100 feet long, 60 feet wide, and three stories high. To the banking institutions of Woonsocket Mr. Harris contributed largely in patronage and influence. He was one of the originators and the first President of the Railroad Bank, organized in 1851, and held that office until his death, the name of the bank hav- ing been changed in 1865 to that of the First National Bank. In 1862 he became President of the People's Sav- ings Bank, which was organized in 1857, and continued to serve as its President until his death. In middle life he was a member of both branches of the Rhode Island Gene- ral Assembly. He was a strong opponent of intemperance and slavery, and was intimate with the leading abolition- ists, and while known as such was desired to omit his name from his fabrics to increase the Southern sales. Instead of this he ordered his name to be placed on both ends of each piece of his cassimeres. He contributed much to the anti- slavery cause, and greatly rejoiced at the emancipation of the slave. While John Brown was in prison under sen- tence of death, Mr. Harris wrote him a very Christian and consoling letter, accompanied with a check for one hun- dred dollars for the bereaved family. This check was re- ceived and acknowledged in a letter written by John Brown the day before he was executed. Mr. Harris married first, December 2, 1835, Rachel Farnum, daughter of Moses Farnum, of Blackstone, Massachusetts, and sister of Wel- come and Darius D. Farnum, extensive manufacturers of woollen goods at Waterford, Massachusetts. She died Feb- ruary 7, 1846. Their children were David F .; Rachel F., who married, October 24, 1860, Oscar J. Rathbun, of Woon- socket, son of Aaron and Julia E. (Jenckes) Rathbun, and is highly esteemed by his townsmen. The second wife of Mr. Harris was Abby P., daughter of Joseph Metcalf, of Cumberland, Rhode Island. Their children are Joseph M., Emma G., Isabel, and Helen. Joseph M. Harris died in Berlin, Prussia, October 21, 1872, in his twenty-fourth year. He had an interest in his father's business, and gave promise of becoming his worthy successor. He was greatly beloved; his loss was deeply lamented. He was a grad- uate of Brown University.

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The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 51

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