The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 53

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

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last public office held by Mr. Wheeler. After his removal from the post-office he passed his days in the quiet of home, without engaging in any particular business. His garden occupied much of his attention. For thirty-two years he discharged gratuitously the duties of Treasurer of the New Market Association, resigning his charge only a very short time before his death. In 1809 Mr. Wheeler married Betsey S. Gardner, a daughter of Captain John Gardner, of Swansey, Massachusetts. She died in 1855. They had four children,-three sons, now living, and one daughter, who died in infancy. He died in the house in which he was born, on the 17th of May, 1863. His re- mains are deposited in Swan Point Cemetery. Mr. Wheeler was admitted a life member of the Rhode Island Society for the Encouragement of Domestic Industry on the 17th of October, 1821, at the second annual meeting of the society, when the publishers of all the papers in Providence were, by vote, admitted members.

HITE, REV. JOSEPH, was born in Standish, Maine, May 24, 1789. He entered upon the work of the ministry at an early age. He first visited Rhode Island in 1815, and preached ex- tensively in the towns of Burrillville, Smithfield, and Glocester. From 1818 to 1826 he made the State his permanent residence, and was regarded as the successor of Rev. John Colby in carrying forward the work com- menced by that eminent evangelist. Mr. White took a leading part in organizing several Free Baptist churches in the State, especially the one at Greenville, organized in 1820, of which he was pastor, and also in the organization of the Rhode Island Free Baptist Quarterly Meeting, now the Rhode Island Association, which was effected in Octo- ber, 1821. He was a man of fine personal appearance, impressive manners, persuasive in his style of utterance, and earnestly devoted to his calling. He was one of the earliest advocates of the temperance reform. After his removal from Rhode Island, he continued his useful work elsewhere. Mr. White was twice married. He died in the town where he was born, in 1836: He abounded in all those qualities which constitute a good and useful Christian minister.

PEARCE, DUTEE J., was born on Providence Island, April 3, 1789 ; graduated from Brown University, and began the practice of the law in Newport, where he took an active part in the politics of the day. In 1819 he was elected Attorney-General of Rhode Island, which office he held till 1825, when he was succeeded by the late Albert C. Greene. In 1824 he was made District Attorney of the United States for Rhode Island, which office he resigned the following year. In

IS25 he was the Republican candidate for Congress, ran against Judge Durfee, and was elected on the second trial. Mr. Pearce was annually elected to the same office till 1837, when he was defeated by Robert B. Cranston. He died in May, 1849.

GIBBS, GOVERNOR WILLIAM CHANNING, was born in Newport, in 1790. His family came from Eng- land in 1665, and settled first in Salem, Massa- chusetts. Afterwards his grandfather, George Gibbs, removed to New York; and his father, George Gibbs, took up his residence in Newport. Brown Uni- versity, in 1800, conferred on him the honorary degree of Master of Arts, and Yale College the same degree, in 1808. He died in 1833. For several years the subject of this sketch was a Representative from Newport, in the General Assembly, and in 1821 was elected Governor of the State, which office he held until 1824. He was also for some time Major-General of the Rhode Island Militia. He married Mary, daughter of Elias Kane, of Albany, New York, in 1822. Their children were George Wil- ltam, Camelia V., Ellen E., Frederic A., Mary K., Charles E., Eugene B., Theodore K., Sarah, and Sidney. He died in Newport, February 24, 1871.

ALTON, ROMEO, D.D., son of William Elton, of Burlington, Connecticut, was born in 1790; the exact date of his birth not being known. In early life he developed a taste for books, and his father, although in reduced circumstances, encouraged him in his wishes to obtain an education. He was a graduate of Brown University in the class of 1813. Among his class- mates, whose names are familiar in Rhode Island, were Zachariah Allen, LL.D., Judges Drury and Durfee, Hon. John Ruggles, and Rev. Dr. Thomas Shepard. Having studied for the Christian ministry, he was ordained June II, 1817, as pastor of the Second Baptist Church in New- port, Rhode Island, where he remained five years (1817- 22) and then resigned on account of ill health. After two years of rest he again became a pastor, taking charge of a church in Windsor, Vermont. In 1825 he was appointed Professor of the Greek and Latin languages in Brown University, and spent two years in Europe; the most of this time in Germany, qualifying himself for the duties of the chair to which he had been elected. He remained in office, as a Professor in the University, for sixteen years (1827-43). On leaving Providence he spent some time among his relatives in Connecticut, and in the spring of 1845 went to England, and resided in Exeter twenty-two years (1845-67), and two years in Bath. He was engaged in literary and other work while abroad, and greatly en- joyed his life in England. Returning to this country in

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1869, he spent the remainder of his life in Providence, Newport, and Boston. Ilc was married three times. ITis first wife, to whom he was married in 1816, was Sarah Ann Ormsbee, of Rehoboth, who died at Waterbury in 1844. His second wife was Protheria Gross, of Exeter, England, a lady of fine literary culture, whom he married in 1847. She died in that city in 1867. In November, 1869, he married Margaret A. Allen, of Boston. IIe died in Boston, Massachusetts, February 5, 1870. The pub- lished writings of Dr. Elton were an cdition of Rev. John Callender's Century Sermon, a volume of the sermons, orations, and baccalaureate addresses of President Maxcy, with a Memoir of President Maxcy, and a Memoir of Roger Williams, which was written in England. He left a generous sum in his will to Brown University, to endow a Professorship of " Natural Theology."

ILLIAMS, REV. DANIEL, was born in Glocester, Rhode Island, October 3, 1790. He was the son of John Williams, and a descendant in the sixth generation of Roger Williams. He was converted under the revival labors of Rev. John Colby, become a member of the Free Baptist Church in Burrillville, the first of the denomination in the State, and soon commenced the work of the ministry. In 1817 he went to Foster, the adjoining town, where his labors were very successful. In 1822 he was ordained, and soon after- ward the church in Foster was organized, of which he continued to be pastor until his death, a half century later. During his ministry he baptized some seven hun- dred persons, united between thirteen and fourteen hun- dred in marriage, and attended more than two thousand funerals. His life was not characterized by striking inci- dents nor widespread notoriety, but large results were gradually realized. In 1819 he married Nancy Smith, of Glocester, who died in 1861. Mr. Williams died July 16, 1873, in the eighty-third year of his age. He con- tinued his ministerial labors until his death. In 1877 a granite monument was erected over his grave in East Kil- lingly, Connecticut, where he resided for some years pre- vious to his death. His memory is warmly cherished by all who knew him.

BILLINGHAST, REV. THOMAS, was born in Gran- ville, New York, August 19, 1791. He was a descendant of Rev. Pardon Tillinghast, the suc- cessor of Roger Williams as pastor of the First Bap- tist Church in Providence. The father of Thomas was the Rev. Pardon Tillinghast, of East Greenwich, Rhode Island, who died full of honors in 1849, while pastor of the Coventry Church, having succeeded the distinguished Rev. Thomas Manchester. All these were devoted Six-

Principle Baptists. Thomas had two cousins, Rev. John Tillinghast and Rev. Thomas Tillinghast, who were Reg- ular Baptists, The former died in West Greenwich March 28, 1878; the latter died in Griswold, Connecticut. The subject of this sketch was converted and reccived into the Coventry Six-Principle Baptist Church in 1814, hands be- ing laid upon him by Rev. Thomas Manchester. His talents, piety, and activity won for him a prominent place and great esteem in his denomination. Ile was finally ordained a Deacon by Elders John Westcott, Richard Knight, and Thomas Manchester. Ilis diaconate proved to be preparatory to his full career in the ministry, to which he was called by the Church, and publicly ordained June 19, 1823. The participants in the ordination were Thomas Manchester, the pastor, Rev. Pardon Tillinghast, his father, and Revs. John Westcott, Richard Knight, and John Gard- ner. His ministry, much of it being of a missionary char- acter, reached widely through Rhode Island and the neigh- boring States. Everywhere his abilities and devotion won for him friends and favor. On the death of his father in 1849 he became the successor in the pastorate of the Co- ventry Church, which he served with signal fidelity and success till his death, which occurred while at his post of duty July 22, 1863, in the seventy-second year of his age. His wife, Catharine, was born February 16, 1795, and died October 30,, 1878, aged 83 years. His son, Rev. Gilbert Tillinghast, an eminent and successful preacher in his denomination, died in 1877.

BILLINGHAST, HON. JOSEPH LEONARD, was born in Taunton, Massachusetts, in 1791. When quite young he removed to Providence, where he re- ceived his education. Brown University in 1819 conferred on him the degree of Master of Arts. Mr. Tillinghast studied law, being for some time a pupil of Hon. William Hunter, and commenced the practice of his profession in Providence, where he rose to eminent dis- tinction. He was for several years a member of the House of Representatives in the General Assembly, and was the Speaker of the House from May, 1829 to October, 1832. As a Whig he represented Rhode Island in the Twenty- fifth Congress, and was re-elected to the Twenty-sixth and Twenty-seventh Congresses, serving the State from Sep- tember 4, 1837, to March 3, 1843. Both as a Representa- tive in the State Assembly and in Congress Mr. Tilling- hast made his mark, and was recognized as a man of more than ordinary ability. " To him," in the first of these re- lations, says Professor Goddard, "more perhaps than to any other public man, should be ascribed the enduring honor of effecting a most valuable reform in the judiciary, and of establishing on a more liberal foundation a sys- tem of popular education throughout the State. These were great measures,-and for these great measures Mr. Tillinghast battled manfully against an array of talent and

Grace Daniels

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of partisan influence which would have driven from his purpose a less intrepid man." In like manner, as a mem- ber of the House of Representatives in Congress for six years in succession, he has left a record of which he might justly be proud. He brought to the performance of his duties the ripe fruit of much thought on the great questions which were discussed in the halls of legislation, and was a faithful exponent of the principles for the advocacy of which he was sent by his constituency to Congress. He was elected in 1833 a member of the Board of Trustees of Brown University, and held that position until his death. He died at Providence December 30, 1844. Among the scholars and cultivated men of Rhode Island, Mr. Tilling- hast holds the first rank. He had that love for elegant letters which " neither the toils of his profession nor the fascinations of politics ever had power to conquer." Most appropriately is his name placed high on the roll of Rhode Island's ablest citizens. The wife of Mr. Tillinghast was Rebecca, daughter of Nicholas Power. Their son, Rev. N. P. Tillinghast, was an Episcopal clergyman and an ac- complished scholar, a graduate of Brown University in the class of 1837.

ANIELS, GENERAL HORACE, manufacturer, was born in Grafton, Massachusetts, March 15, 1823. His parents were Charles and Eliza G. Daniels. He was the eldest of eleven children. During his minority he remained at home and assisted his father, who was a farmer in moderate circumstances. Hav- ing a thirst for knowledge he devoted his spare time to study, and made such progress that at the age of twenty- one he was competent to teach the district school in his neighborhood. By rigid economy he saved enough to ena- ble him to attend for two terms the Baptist Academy, in Worcester, after which he taught school in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, and at a later period in Hartford and Nor- wich, Connecticut, making a specialty of penmanship, in which he had acquired great skill. In 1849 he removed to Central Falls, Rhode Island, and took charge of a school there, but in a short time was compelled to resign his position as teacher on account of failing health. Previous to his removal to Central Falls he married, in February, 1847, Matilda E., daughter of Clark and Mary Card, of Greenville, Connecticut. Having formed the acquaintance of Mr. Benjamin F. Greene, who had carried on business in Central Falls for many years, but in 1844 removed to Mapleville, and in 1850 to Richmond, Rhode Island, where he was engaged in the manufacture of spool-cotton, Mr. Daniels was employed by him as bookkeeper soon after retiring from his position as a teacher, and proved himself so competent that in 1852 Mr Greene accepted him as a partner. Mr. Daniels's health was restored by the change of employment. In 1855, in order to increase their manu- facturing facilities, the firm of Greene & Daniels removed

to Central Falls, and thenceforward for a period of twenty- one years General Daniels was an honorcd and influential citizen of that town. When he removed there Central Falls was a part of Smithfield, but subsequently that old town, which was originally cut off from Providence, was subdivided, and the southeastern part named Lincoln. General Daniels was a resident of the latter town at the time of his death, which occurred December 14, 1876. In 1860 he and his partner began to erect a mill on the eastern bank of the Blackstone, in the town of Pawtucket, which was soon afterward completed, and in 1866 their business having greatly increased the mill was enlarged until it assumed its present dimensions. It is now 407 feet in length, and 67 feet wide, and 5 stories high, being one of the largest and handsomest buildings of the kind in Rhode Island. Here, and in the numerous subordinate buildings adjoining, have often been manufactured 1,800,000 dozen spool-cotton per year. General Daniels was held in high esteem by his fellow-citizens, and was frequently called upon to fill public stations. He represented the town of Smithfield in the General Assembly, and served with great satisfaction to his constituents. During the war of the Rebellion he was chosen Colonel of the Pawtucket Light Guard. He manifested so much capacity for that position that he was soon appointed Commander of the Second Brigade, and was subsequently chosen Brigadicr-General of the Rhode Island Militia. He was an active and influen- tial member of the Baptist Church, and for many years Superintendent of the Sunday-school. He was also a Free- mason and the first Master of Jenks Lodge. As a Knight Templar he attained to the rank of Grand Generalissimo in the Grand Commandery of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. He erected an elegant residence in Central Falls, which stands as an ornament to the town. His wife died January 3, 1876. They left one son, Horace. In the death of General Daniels Central Falls lost one of its most use- ful, enterprising, and public-spirited citizens.

ARRIS, GOVERNOR ELISHA, was born in Cranston in 1791, and was the son of Joseph Harris, and a lineal descendant of William Harris, the associ- ate of Roger Williams in the settlement of Rhode Island. After completing his school education, he became interested in manufacturing, to which he devoted the larger portion of his life; his residence being in the place where he died, which, for him, was named Harris- ville. In his early manhood he visited the site of what is now one of the most flourishing villages of the State ( Har- risville), but then an unbroken wilderness, and becoming convinced by personal explorations of the value of the water privilege, which he subsequently utilized, he pur- chased it, and in due time commenced the erection of mills on the stream. We are told that his careful and sagacious

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management, his unflagging industry, his wise cconomy, his suavity and integrity, rendered his success sure. Busi- ness prospered in his hands, the village grew, and evi- dences of prosperity were to be seen in every direction. With increase of wealth there was the exhibition of a generous and liberal soul, in gifts conferred upon educa- tional and religious institutions both in the State and else- where, which came under the supervision of the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which, for many years, he was a de- vout and faithful adherent. During the long years of his business career the testimony with regard to him was, that " he was universally respected for his unflinching integrity, his unaffected modesty, and his winning amiability of spirit." While Governor Harris did not court public life, he accepted office when it sought him, and for several sessions repre- sented his fellow-citizens in the General Assembly. In 1846-47 he was the Lieutenant-Governor of the State, and for the next two years, 1847-49, its Chief Magistrate. In earlier life he was a Whig in politics, but subsequently be- came an earnest Republican, and was one of the Presiden- tial electors when Abraham Lincoln was chosen President of the United States. For many years he was President of the Bank of North America, Providence. After a brief illness, he died February 1, 1861, in the seventieth year of his age.

AFT, GEORGE, D.D., son of Zacheus and Abigail Taft, was born at Mendon, Massachusetts, August 27, 1791. He fitted for college at the Academy in Leicester, Massachusetts, and was a graduate of Brown University in the class of 1815. Soon after his graduation he became a teacher in one of the public schools in Providence. Having become a communicant in the Episcopal Church, he decided to enter the ministry of that church. In order to prepare himself for the sacred office he placed himself under the tuition of Rev. Dr. Crocker, Rector of St. John's Church, Providence. Bishop Griswold admitted him to deacon's orders, March 7, 1818, and to presbyter's orders, September 2, 1819. For some time he had officiated as lay reader at St. Paul's Church, Pawtucket, and after his ordination, as preacher. In Octo- ber, 1820, he became the rector of the church. It was then in its infancy, and unable to support its minister, who con- tinued to teach the school with which he had been con- nected for several years. In 1822, arrangements for his full support having been made, he removed to Pawtucket, and thenceforth devoted all his time to his parish work. His ministry covered the long period of nearly half a century. With all the best interests of the community in which he lived he thoroughly identified himself. 1Ie wit- nessed the growth of what, wlien he took up his residence in it, was a comparatively small village, until it reached the proportions to which it had attained at his death. In the social, intellectual, moral, and religious progress of the

town he felt and ever manifested the deepest concern. He was a good citizen as well as a faithful minister of the gospel, and held a warm place in the respect and affec- tions of the people for whose welfare he labored for so many years. The honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred upon him by Brown University, in 1860. IIis death occurred in Pawtucket, December 11, 1869. He was married, in 1831, to Eliza M. Baldwin, of Paw- tucket, who, with three sons and a daughter, survived her husband.

HENEY, REV. MARTIN, son of Joseph and Susannah Cheney, was born in Dover, Massachusetts, August 29, 1792. His father served in the army of the Revolution. Of his ancestry he once wrote : " The family coat of arms was Poverty, Honesty, Piety." His parents were strict Congregationalists, and trained him in the Assembly's catechism. His school advantages were limited. While a lad he spent nearly a year in Boston with his brother, in a retail grocery, where he saw the evils of city life, and learned to abhor the sale and use of spir- ituous liquors. For a short time he was employed as a servant in Boston. In 1810 he came to reside with a brother in Olneyville, Rhode Island, and was engaged as a butcher. The village at this time consisted of about twenty dwellings, from four to six rum shops, and a distil- lery, with no church, Sunday-school, or common school. In such society he fell to a poor moral level, and learned by bitter experience what was afterwards turned to advan- tage in his career as a reformer. With his brother he spent the winter of 1815-16 in Brooklyn, New York, in an un- successful effort in trade. In 1816 he returned to Olneyville, which was to be the theatre of his labors and triumphs. He was converted in 1820. In June, 1821, he was bap- tized by Rev. Zalmon Toby, united with a Baptist church in North Providence, and began to preach in 1823. His theological views soon led him to unite with the Freewill Baptists, and in 1824 he began to hold meetings in Olney- ville. He also went on an evangelistic tour into Massa- chusetts. In April, 1825, he was ordained and commenced his regular preaching at Olneyville and Fruit Hill. The house of worship in Olneyville, necessitated by the success of the meetings and the smallness of the hall that had been used for three years, was dedicated July 2, 1827, and the Freewill Baptist Church was organized November 7, 1828, with eleven members. Here Mr. Cheney labored with remarkable results the remainder of his life. He thought deeply, spoke fervently, and dealt with men's consciences faithfully. He was pre-eminently a leader in all reforms, being an earnest advocate of anti-slavery, temperance, and peace doctrines. His watchword was progress, and he was always a growing man. He was a most skilful de- bater, and attained wide reputation as a pulpit orator. IIe was thrice married ; first, in 1813, to Ann Brown; second,

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in 1819, to Nancy Wilbour ; and third, in 1833, to Lydia Sheldon. His health failed in the autumn of 1851, and he died January 4, 1852, in the sixtieth year of his age. A marble monument has been erected over his grave in Pocasset Cemetery, Cranston. His biography, by Rev. G. T. Day, D.D., was published soon after his death.

TUL OSS, REV. ARTHUR AMASA, was born in Thomp- son, Connecticut, in 1791. While quite young he joined a Methodist church in his native town, and conducted meetings as a licensed preacher. He afterwards united with the Baptist Church, and in 1819 received ordination as a Baptist minister. Native talents and close application to books supplied the lack of school advantages. A great revival acccompanied his first pastorate of four years in Connecticut. About 1823 he removed to Chepachet, Rhode Island, where he labored two years, when he accepted a call to Fall River as pastor of the First Baptist Church. Here followed one of the greatest revivals ever known in that city. A new meeting- house was built, and all the churches were increased. Near 1828 he settled with the Baptist Church in Bristol, Rhode Island, and was greatly prospered in his work. He next assumed the pastoral care of the Coventry and War- wick Church, where another remarkable revival followed, increasing the church membership about threefold. In 1834 he accepted a call from the First Baptist Church in New- port. In 1838 he published an important historical vol- ume, entitled A Discourse embracing the Civil and Re- ligious History of Rhode Island ; delivered April 4, 1838, at the Close of the Second Century from the First Settle- ment of the Island. After seven years in Newport, he settled with the Baptist Church in Lonsdale, where his labors were disturbed by the Dorr War, yet he accom- plished much good. While here he published a pamphlet On Communion and Baptism. He next removed to Natick, where he organized the Baptist Church. His last settle- ment was with the Second Baptist Church in Pawtucket, where, amid severe labors and great sacrifices, his health failed, compelling him to retire from public service. Dur- ing his ministry he haptized more than fourteen hundred persons, and won the high regard of all who knew him. He died in Pawtucket, June 16, 1864, in his seventy-fourth year.

ARNOLD, GOVERNOR LEMUEL HASTINGS, was born in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, January 29, 1792, and Tor was a graduate of Dartmouth College in the class of 1811. He came to Providence in the month of October, 1811, and studied law with his brother- in-law, James Burrill, Jr., and was admitted to the bar in March, 1814, but did not practice, having decided to en-

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The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 53

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