The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 69

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

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of Education, which office he still holds (1881). He has also been for more than twenty years a Vice-President and Director of the Rhode Island Institute of Instruction. In 1875 Brown University conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity, and in 1877 he was elected a trustee of the University for life. Besides the numerous reports before referred to, he has published an Arithmetic, a Com- plete Speller, and a Manual of Geography. The rules and definitions of the former were based upon the decision of the highest mathematical authority. All of these pub- lications have been in extensive use. Dr. Leach married, in May, 1834, Mary H. Lawton, daughter of Captain Robert and Penelope (Brown) Lawton, of Newport, Rhode Island, three children being the issue of the marriage, two of whom are now living, Henry B. and Mary C., wife of G. W. Wilcox, M.D., of Providence. Mrs. Leach died July 2, 1879, aged seventy-four years.

PICER, GEORGE THURSTON, was born in Hopkin- ton, Rhode Island, August 4, 1802. His father was a farmer, who improved a large tract of land, and was also proprietor of the village hotel, which, && with its host, is thus pleasantly described in a diary pub- lished nearly fifty years ago : " In the village of ' Hopkinton City,' so-called, where I stopped several months, was an inn, kept by a church member, and now aged landlord, Captain Joseph Spicer, a man of the most unbending hon- esty, whose full fare for man and beast, and his ready and urbane attention to the wants of the weary traveller, gave him as far as he was known the reputation of 'a good host.' But what struck my attention with no little interest was the sign in front of the house, suspended from the limb of a noble sycamore. At the top was a beautiful eagle, the emblem of our independence, over which was a cluster of stars. Directly underneath was seen the anchor, emblem of hope. At the base of the picture, in rich gold letters, were the words, 'In God we hope,' the only sure guarantee of individual or national safcty. With such a hope was America once made free, and with it shall always remain so." George T. Spicer was the son of Captain Joseph and Mary (Saunders) Spicer, and one of a family of six children. He was early trained at home in habits of industry and self-reliance, receiving also such public instruction as the village school afforded. He was scarcely twenty years old when he received a commission from Governor Gibbs as Captain of the First Company of Hopkinton Volunteers, which he held for several years, when, desiring to learn the trade of a machinist, he re- signed his commission and commenced work at the village of Potter Hill, about four miles distant. While here he became a member of the Seventh Day Baptist Church, for which he always cherished warm interest and affection. After learning his trade he removed to Phenix, in the town of Warwick, where he remained seven years, having

charge of the machine-shop a part of the time, and dis- charging his duties with the most exemplary industry and fidelity. He was also the first Superintendent of the Sab- bath-school at Phenix, started about this time (1827). In an article on the Hon. Charles Jackson, published in the Providence Journal, January 24, 1876, the writer thus alludes to the work which Mr. Spicer was doing at Phenix fifty years ago : " That cheerful, bright, and I was going to say old gentleman (but he is only seventy-three, and never seems to me to be older than forty when I meet him), our Alderman Spicer, was then a young machinist at work for Daniel Gorham at 'the Phenix.' He was employed by Governor Jackson and.his brother to make the machinery and looms for their mills. He had neyer seen a power-loom, and tells a good story how he got sight of one. It was at the Anthony Mill. While he was busy examining it the overseer came and ordered him out, but he had seen enough to enable him to con- struct one." Mr. Spicer was afterwards employed in Providence for a short time at the machine-shop of Thomas J. Hill, and in 1830 removed to Pontiac, in the town of Warwick, where he became connected, as Superinten- dent, with the mills and bleachery of John H. Clark, retaining full charge till he removed to Providence, fifteen years later. He also had the oversight of the school af- fairs of the district. In October, 1833, he married Mary Sheldon Arnold, daughter of Horatio and Celia Arnold, and granddaughter of Judge Dutee Arnold, of Warwick, who served the State as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court fromn 1817 to 1822. In April, 1845, Mr. Spicer re- moved with his family to Providence, where he took up his permanent residence, and became interested in the manufacture of stoves and furnaces. He was superinten- dent of the High Street Furnace for five years. In 1850 he, with his brother-in-law, Dutee Arnold, and Zelotus W. Holden, erected a new stove foundry on Cove Street, and laid the foundation of the successful business, in which he retained an undiminished interest until his death, which occurred at his summer residence at " Fort Hill," Paw- tuxet, August 17, 1879. He had six children, four of whom survive him, two sons and two daughters. The following editorial article concerning his busi- ness and official life, appeared in the Providence Four- mal of August 18, 1879: "George T. Spicer, the head of the house of Spicers & Peckham, a venerable and much-respected citizen, died yesterday morning, after a brief illness. Although still engaged in the active labors and duties of life, Mr. Spicer had reached his seventy- eighth year. He has continuously represented the Fourth Ward in the Board of Aldermen since 1870 (having pre- viously served in the Common Council), and was twice elected President of the Board. Mr. Spicer also represent- ed the city several years in the Lower House of the Gen- eral Assembly. He brought to the discharge of his public functions broad general information, good ability, the habits

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of a well-trained business man, and loyalty to what he be- lieved to be right. In business and social and domestic life he was greatly respected and beloved. Born in Hopkinton at the beginning of the century, he was familiar with Rhode Island history, traditions, and sentiments, and his conver- sation upon past men and times abounded in pleasant per- sonal reminiscences and unwritten political information." The same paper of the 21st says : " The funeral services were conducted by his pastor, the Rev. James G. Vose, D.D., of the Beneficent Congregational Church, who im- pressively dwelt upon the integrity, purity, and industry of the departed life, his faithfulness and tender affection for his family, and his reverence for religion, and constant attendance upon worship." During a long life in event- ful times, he maintained a character for independence and honesty without being a partisan, and secured that good name which is rather to be chosen than great riches.

ATSON, DANIEL, M.D., was born at Jamestown, Rhode Island, April 13, 1801. In early times before railroads were built, manufactories estab- lished, or bonanza mines discovered, when land and its products constituted the chief wealth, the Narragansett country was a great centre of agricultural industry, and the large landholders were the important men of the day. Among the earliest names which appear on the land records of this fertile region, and among those who most largely possessed the soil, is the name of Watson. John Watson, the ancestor of the Narragansett Watsons, settled an estate on the eastern slope of Tower Hill some time in the latter half of the seventeenth century, where he resided until his death, which occurred at an advanced age, in 1728. He bequeathed the property to his children, and part of the estate has come down to the present generation, never having passed from the possession of the family. Dr. Daniel Watson, the subject of this sketch, was a de- scendant, in the sixth generation, of this John Watson. His father, Robert H. Watson, who was born in 1769, mar- ried December 30, 1790, and died October 13, 1840, lived a retired and reputable life in the improvement of a landed property inherited from his father, Job Watson, a large landholder, who died October 20, 1812. Job Watson was for many years one of the Senators or Assistants of the Colonial Government. Mr. Thomas R. Hazard in his Recollections of Olden Times, in connection with his com- ments on his great-grandfather, Robert Hazard, writes : " He had three sons and one daughter; the latter, Sarah, married Job Watson, of South Kingstown, who after his mar- riage purchased several farms on Conanicut, and removed to that island. He used to occupy during part of the year the house situated at the head of the Mall in Newport (now known as Park House), which I have heard repre- sented as being in his day one of the finest mansions in Newport. He was an extensive and opulent farmer. It

is said he sometimes had not less than one hundred men engaged in his numerous hay-fields at the same time . . . Job Watson was the father of five sons, all of whom I used to know, viz .: Job, Walter, Borden, Robert H., and John Jay, each and all of whom exemplified in their stalwart mould of body and mind, and in uniform gentlemanly de- meanor the characteristics of their descent." On the death of their father these five sons were made independent by a division among them, by will, of his large and valuable farms, which they all, with one exception, retained and improved to the end of their lives, bequeathing them in turn to their offspring. Walter Watson, brother of the first Job, born in 1753, was another large landholder and extensive farmer. He married a daughter of Thomas Hazard ( Vir- ginia Tom), " who was an eminent and successful merchant in Newport, and in 1760 presented a ship of war to the Government, built and equipped at his own expense. On the outbreak of the Revolutionary War he adhered to the cause of the Crown, fled to the enemy, and his large estate was confiscated." This Walter Watson's daughter, Abby, on the 23d of September, 1809, was married to Wilkins Updike, Esq., a name honored and renowned in the annals of Rhode Island statesmanship. His only remaining daughter, Isabella, married, September 21, 1805, John Jay Watson (then a widower), son of the first Job. The late William R. Watson, who for forty years was one of the most prominent and active politicians of his native State, was a son of John Jay Watson. He graduated at Brown University in 1823, studied law and settled in Providence, where he resided until his death in 1864. He left one son, Dr. William H. Watson, who graduated at Brown Uni- versity in 1852, and on acquiring his profession settled in Utica, New York, where he still resides in the enjoyment of a lucrative practice, and the position of Surgeon-General of his adopted State, having been recently appointed to this position by Governor A. B. Cornell. John Watson, a re- tired merchant, who has long resided in the elegant mansion on the northwest corner of Fifth Avenue and Thirtieth Street, New York city, and who acquired a princely fortune while a member of the business firm of Jonathan Thorne & Co., was a son of Wheeler Watson, who removed from South Kingstown, Rhode Island, to New York State soon after his marriage to a daughter of George H. Peckham, Esq., on the 5th of November, 1799. Wheeler Watson was a direct descendant of John Watson, a brother of the first Job and Walter above mentioned. One of Wheeler Wat- son's daughters married Zadock Pratt, who attained dis- tinction in his day as a member of Congress, and founded the town of Prattsville, in Greene County, New York, where he conducted extensive tanneries, out of which he acquired and bequeathed to his children an immense estate. Judge Malbone Watson was another son of Wheeler Watson. He was an eminent lawyer and jurist, who was appointed to the bench of one of the higher courts of the State of New York. He died in the prime of life. His son, Major Mal-

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bone F. Watson, graduated at West Point Military Academy in 1861. Ile behaved with great gallantry during the war of the Rebellion, and lost a leg at the battle of Gettysburg. HIe was twice breveted for gallant conduct on the field. Dr. Daniel Watson received his classical education at Plainfield Academy, a seminary of great popularity in its day. He commenced the study of medicine in the office of Dr. Charles Eldredge, of East Greenwich, but subse- quently became the pupil of Dr. William Turner, of the United States Army, an eminent physician and surgeon then stationed at Fort Walcott, Newport. After complet- ing the course of study required at the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, he received the degree of M.D. from that institution in the winter of 1823-4. During his terms of study at Philadelphia Dr. Watson was a private pupil of the celebrated Dr. Nathaniel Chapman. In 1825 Dr. Watson settled in South Kingstown, where he enjoyed great popularity in the social and political world, and for a young man a large share of professional patron- age. During his residence at Kingstown he entered warmly into political contests and had an inclination for public life. He was positive and self-reliant in his political convictions, and was essentially a man of prin- ciple, which no consideration of expediency could ever induce him to forsake. He was an ardent lover of our free institutions, and during the war of the Rebel- lion left no word unspoken or deed undone by which he could aid the cause of the Union. In 1835 he re- moved to Newport, where he resided until his death. During the first years of his residence there he devoted a large share of his attention to political affairs, and served at different times as a Representative of Newport to the General Assembly. He was a man of sound judgment and high purposes, to which he united remarkable strength of will, and proved himself to have been a most efficient and useful legislator. Later in life he devoted his entire energies to the study and practice of his profession. He acquired an extensive practice, was much beloved by his patients, and possessed the faculty of inspiring them with unbounded confidence in his professional skill. He might have made his practice much more lucrative but for the constant exercise of generosity and humanity toward that most unfortunate class of his fellow-creatures-the sick poor. His unostentatious benevolence in this regard is almost without example "in these times when none will sweat but for promotion," as it really seemed to afford him more satisfaction to relieve the sufferings of the necessitous, hoping for nothing, than to receive a large fee for his min- istrations to the rich. He seemed to have a magnificent contempt for money when human suffering was in the case, and had no sympathy for mercenary doctors. In this regard, as well as many others, he honored and adorned his high calling. In the exercise of his profes- sion he was eminently practical, and did not give much time to the profound researches of science, but was a close

observer of the operations of nature, and held fast to all his observations and experience taught him. He was un- tiring in his devotion to patients laboring under acute and dangerous attacks of disease, but wofully negligent of such as were complaining of slight ills or chronic troubles which he felt he could not cure. An eminent professional confrère, who had much professional intercourse with Dr. Watson, thus concluded an obituary article written at the time of his death : " His character was a most positive one. Taking a high standard of professional orthodoxy, he ad- hered to it, and scorned to temporize with those whom he thought irreverent toward it, and consequently stood high with his professional brethren, which is a far better test of a physician's merit than any estimate that can be made by the public. Ile was rigid in the observance of profes- sional etiquette, and strict in requiring it. He was a most faithful and diligent physician, a social and genial neighbor and friend, and a most affectionate and devoted parent." Dr. Watson enjoyed an intimacy with many of our public men in days gone by, among whom may be mentioned Hon. Asher Robbins, Hon. Dutee J. Pearce, and Hon. Ben- jamin Hazard, Judge Sylvester G. Shearman, his brother- in-law, and Hon. Wilkins Updike, who was also connected with his family by marriage. Dr. Watson was happy in his domestic relations, having been married on the 21st of March, 1824, to Sarah G. C. Arnold, daughter of Captain Perry G. Arnold, of East Greenwich, who, with his brother Stephen, was for many years successfully engaged in the importation of West India merchandise, and granddaughter of Colonel John Cooke, who, during the Revolutionary War and subsequently, " was one of the most important and in- fluential men in Newport County." By this marriage there were eleven children, eight of whom still survive -- five sons and three daughters. The eldest son, Dr. William Argyle Watson, followed his father's profession, and is now a well-known practitioner in New York city. He served throughout the War of the Rebellion as a surgeon in the United States navy, and on retiring from the service re- ceived from. the Navy Department a letter of commenda- tion for the satisfactory manner in which he had performed the duties of that responsible office. Another son, Joseph Watson (a name not unknown to the literary world), served with equal credit in the Pay Department of the navy, from which he retired only at the close of hostili- ties. ITis son Stephen A. Watson, inheriting a fine farm, engaged in agricultural pursuits, and, in response to the call of his fellow-citizens of Portsmouth, Rhode Island, became their Representative in the General Assembly, of which body he has proved himself an efficient and vigilant member. Robert P. Watson married a daughter of Wilson Shaw, Esq., of Glenshaw, Pennsylvania, where he now resides. The only remaining son, Daniel, resides at the old homestead, where his mother still lives, wearing with becoming grace "the silver livery of advised age." Dr. Daniel Watson was endowed with a physical constitution

Al Hartow

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of remarkable vigor, and hardly suffered from a day's ill- ness up to the time of the attack which terminated his life, though he never spared himself in the laborious exercise of his profession. In February, 1871, he was taken with symptoms which denoted a slight hemorrhage into the substance of the brain. From this attack (which he fore- told) he never rallied, but continued gradually to fail both in body and mind until his death, which took place on the 17th of May, 1871. The Rev. Mr. Hill, who spoke at his funeral, in the course of his remarks said, " In Dr. Watson we behold one who has devoted himself to the good of his fellow-creatures. ... The influence of such a life lived in our midst will ever continue to touch hearts, to soften lives, purify souls. It can never die. It is true he left no written works to perpetuate his memory ; he needed none. The unselfish deeds of his life, the tender love of a brother for suffering humanity-these testify to his greatness." His active and laborious life did not bring him wealth or worldly honors, nor did he covet or seek either. The central aim and desire of his life seemed to have been to promote the happiness and welfare of his fellow-beings. To this end he devoted his great abilities, and with most fruitful and beneficent results. Surely the record of such a life is the most precious legacy of his children, and his example one of great value to oppressed and suffering humanity, whose only hope lies in the dying out of selfish- ness and in the growth of self-sacrificing generosity on the part of those endowed with ability, wealth, and power.

OTTER, HON. ASA, was born in Rhinebeck, New York, October 13, 1802. He was a son of Asa and Hannah ( Hagadon) Potter, of Rhinebeck. Upon the decease of his father, Mr. Potter removed to Kingston, his ancestral home. He was a gradu- ate of Brown University, in the class of 1824. Having completed his college course of study he became a student of law under the tuition of Hon. John Whipple, and at- tended the lectures of the then celebrated law school at Litchfield, Connecticut. In October, 1827, he was ad- mitted to the Rhode Island bar, and at once opened an office in Kingston. Here he resided for several years, occupied with the duties of his profession, which he finally abandoned, and engaged in mercantile pursuits in the city of New York, the firm being Brown, Potter & Co. Here he remained for a number of years, and then renturned to his former residence in the village of Kingston. For three years he was Secretary of State, having been chosen on the ticket which elected Hon. Philip Allen Democratic Gover- nor of the State. When the Democratic party went out of power, in 1854, he lost his office. The remainder of his life was spent in New York and in Kingston. In the latter place he died, October 11, 1872, at the age of seventy years. The wife of Mr. Potter was Mary Ann, daughter of Governor Jeremiah Thurston, of Hopkinton. She died

several years before his decease. Their children were three in number, a son and two daughters : Eliza Palmer, who became the wife of James B. M. Potter, United States army; Sarah Thurston, who became the wife of George Rice, of Worcester; she died several years since, leaving one child, a daughter; Carroll Hagadon, in the United States army, now stationed at Helena, Montana Territory.

ADDY, RICHARD EVANS, son of Moses and Hannah (Carpenter) Eddy, was born in Providence, July 19, 1802. He prepared for college under the tuition of Rev. Isaac Kimball, of Middleborough, Massa- chusetts. His father was a merchant in Providence, of the firm of Potter & Eddy. On graduating from Brown University, in the class of 1822, Mr. Eddy took his father's place in business, and remained in it till 1841. When the Harrison and Tyler administration came into power, he was appointed Deputy Collector of the port of Providence. He held the office for four years. When a new adminis- tration took the reins of power, he retired from office. Soon after this the position of Treasurer of the American Baptist Missionary Union was accepted by him, and re- moving to Boston, he entered upon the duties of his new office, in 1845. The place was one of great responsibility, and required some one to fill it who had a thorough busi- ness training, and Mr. Eddy proved himself to be eminently fitted for the position. For nine years he continued in office, to the entire satisfaction of the society. Constant application to his work, and the long confinement con- nected with it, impaired his health, and in 1854 he resigned and once more took up his residence in his native city. He never fully recovered, and was unable to resume the care and responsibility of any situation which required continuous labor for any length of time. He was an active and most useful member of the First Baptist Church in Providence, acting for nine years as the Superintendent of its Sunday-school, and for fourteen years as one of its deacons. He married, in 1823, Emily Anne Hawley, who, without children, survived him a few years. He died in Providence, April 29, 1870.

BARSTOW, HON. AMOS CHAFEE, son of Nathaniel and Sophia (Chafee) Barstow, was born in Provi- dence, April 30, 1813. He is a descendant, in the fifth generation, of William Barstow, who set- tled in Dedham, Massachusetts, in 1636, and was the first settler of that part of Scituate, Massachusetts, now called Hanover. He was educated at the public schools in Providence, and, when seventeen years of age, enjoyed the privilege of instruction for three terms in the private school of Luther Ainsworth. He entered upon his mer-

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cantile career at an early age, and has been engaged ex- tensively in different branches of the iron business. Since the fall of 1836 he has given his personal attention to the manufacture of stoves, furnaces, and ranges, and has built up a large and successful business, which is now carried on under the name of the Barstow Stove Company, Amos C. Barstow, Jr., and others being associated with him. Mr. Barstow is also largely interested in other iron foun- dries. Roger Williams IIall, erected by him, was at one time the most convenient and central place for lectures, concerts, and moral entertainments, and for many years was used by the Free Evangelical Church, in Richmond Street. Subsequently Music Hall was built by him, on a grander scale, affording superior advantages to the public. Mr. Barstow has been connected with various banking institu- tions, one of which, the Mechanics' Savings Bank, was established largely through his influence and the use of his means, and has had the benefit of his experience and supervision. He has also been President of the City Bank since 1846, and a director of several other banks and or- ganizations. Mr. Barstow has an honorable record in public life, having been chosen to office, not as a politician, but as an earnest advocate of moral principles. In May, 1847, he was the candidate of the Temperance party for Mayor of Providence, but failed of an election. He was first elected to the General Assembly of Rhode Island in the spring of 1851, and in the fall of that year was made Chairman of the committee to whom petitions for the Maine Law were referred, a position which he accepted with decided convictions in favor of the law, and in which he used earnest endeavors to secure it. In the agitation of this question Mr. Barstow took a prominent part. His speech on the Maine Law, delivered in the House of Rep- resentatives, January 27, 1852, was a vigorous description of the various phases of the issue, and made a deep im- pression on the public mind. An election followed, when the friends of the law triumphed, and at the session in May, 1852, at Newport, the law was passed. In that year he was elected Mayor of Providence, and his inaugural address, delivered the 7th of June, was published by re- quest of the Common Council. On the occasion of the death of Daniel Webster, Mayor Barstow delivered a speech in Market Hall, November 4, 1852, which was a reverent tribute to one whose speeches and writings he had read from youth with increasing delight, and which had contributed much to his own mental discipline. Mr. Bar- stow has been elected to the General Assembly, by the Republican party, on several occasions, and was Speaker of the House in 1870. He has also served acceptably in the Common Council of Providence. In a report, Febru- ary, 1855, he recommended the site on which the present City Hall was afterward built, and was Chairman of the committee which purchased it; and also of the committee which, on the 17th of July, 1855, submitted a plan for the City Hall. In his public speeches he has discussed themes

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The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 69

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