The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 73

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

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mother, Mrs. Mary Henry, was a daughter of Nehemiah and Alice Brown Arnold, and a sister of Anthony Brown Arnold, of Providence, who, during his long life, has taken a deep and abiding interest in the welfare of her descend- ants. Of Nehemiah Arnold it is said : " He was an early friend of American independence, and served in its de- fence." On the 5th of March, 1846, Mr. Cheever married Ann Judson Appleton, a daughter of Rev. George W. Ap- pleton, of Wrentham, Massachusetts. The children by the first marriage were Daniel Arnold, M.D., a prominent and successful physician of Peoria, Illinois; John IIenry, for many years in active business in Cincinnati, Ohio, and now the capitalist and Treasurer of the Company by whom this CYCLOPEDIA is published; Mary Joanna, who married Thomas H. Parker, of Hillsboro, Ohio; Alice Eliza, who has been twice married, first to Abraham Reese, deceased, and second to Thomas E. Ward, of Delavan, Illinois, hav- ing one son by the first marriage, the Rev. Charles A. Reese, now Pastor of the Dearborn Street Baptist Church, Boston, Massachusetts ; Martha Mason, who married Sim- eon R. Drake, of Pekin, Illinois; Anthony Brown, of Delavan, Illinois; William Hague, of Delavan, Illinois ; and Lucy Fuller, who married Edgar Perkins, M.D., of Peoria, Illinois. The children by the second marriage were Frank Appleton, of Munster, Illinois; Ida Viola, who married Joseph F. Reed, of Delavan, Illinois; Walter Edgar, of Chicago, Illinois ; and Harridon Guild, of Del- avan, Illinois. Mr. Cheever died at Delavan, December 27, 1877, leaving a wife and twelve children. He was an enterprising and patriotic citizen, of exemplary Christian character, enthusiastic and hopeful, whose kindly, sympa- thetic nature, and affectionate regard for his family and friends, endeared him to all who knew him.

APRON, GEORGE, M.D., was born in Cumberland, Rhode Island, May 16, 1802. He is a son of Asa and a grandson of Joseph Capron. His mother's maiden name was Sarah Mahony. She was the daughter of Timothy Mahony, an educated Irish gentleman, who pursued a collegiate course in France, came to this country in early manhood, and devoted a long life exclusively to teaching. Dr. Capron's father was for several years a successful retail grocer at Cumberland Hill, but finally failed in business and was reduced to poverty. His son George and an elder brother were therefore obliged to earn their living at an early age. In his seventh year, George went to live with his grand-uncle, Judge Peleg Arnold, of Smithfield, who was for many years Judge of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island. He remained with Judge Arnold three years, during which time he worked on the farm in summer and in winter attended the Acad- emy in Union Village, which, with two months' school at- tendance the following year was the extent of his early

educational advantages. At the age of ten years he re- turned to his father's house, and for a number of years thereafter was employed as an operative in a cotton-factory. At the age of sixteen he had acquired a sufficient knowl- edge of the business to act as overseer of any department in the factory. His eager desire for knowledge caused him to pursue a rigid course of self-discipline, which ena- bled him to supply the deficiencies of his education. His leisure hours were at first devoted to reading, writing, and arithmetic, and his proficiency as a penman and an ac- countant, together with his knowledge of machinery, soon secured for him rapid promotion in the business in which he was employed. At this time he boarded with one of his employers, who had a large library, to which he had access, and among the books which had great attraction for him was a work on natural philosophy, which he studied with pleasure and profit. He also studied English gram- mar and devoted much time to chemistry, practicing the closest economy in order to be able to purchase the latest and best works upon this and other subjects. During a part of two winters he taught an evening school composed of factory children, and devoted his spare hours to the study of Latin and Greek. In 1820, at the age of eigh- teen, he commenced a regular course of medical studies, under the tuition of the late Levi Wheaton, M.D., an emi- nent member of his profession, under whom he studied for three years, and also attended a full course of lectures in Boston and at Brown University, there being at that time a medical school in connection with the latter institution, from which he received the degree of Doctor of Medicine. While pursuing his medical course he read many of the works on rhetoric, mental and physical philosophy, and other branches then in use as textbooks at the University. In order to defray the expenses of his college course he taught a school in the country for a short time. In the spring of 1823, he commenced the practice of medicine and surgery at Fruit Ilill, North Providence, where he engaged in a large country practice. Amid his professional duties he found time to become well versed in botany, and to pursue a thorough course of reading in history and general litera- ture. In January, 1836, he removed to Providence, where he soon acquired an extensive practice, which he retained until his partial retirement from the profession on account of advancing age. Dr. Capron has had a busy profes- sional career, extending over a period of more than fifty years, and but few physicians have done as much business without remuneration as he. His fees were always mod- erate, and among the poor his services have often been rendered gratuitously. His chief aim throughout life has not been to establish a lucrative practice, but to be instru- mental in relieving distress. He has done much to ad- vance his profession, and has been a valuable contributor to medical literature. He is the author of a large work on popular medicine, the first edition of which, published about the year 1844, had an extended sale, and to which

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a supplement was added in 1854. In addition to this work he has written and read before the Rhode Island Medical Society, and the Providence Medical Association, numerous papers on medical subjects, many of which have been considered very valuable by the profession, and have been published in The Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, and in the Transactions of the society. Believ- ing that the use of ardent spirits as a beverage is injurious to both soul and body, he has been a strict temperance man for over fifty-eight years, and aided in organizing the first temperance society in the place where he resided. He attributes his present sound condition of body and mind to the fact that he has never violated his temperance pledge, and has always avoided excessive and stimulating food. Notwithstanding his advanced age, he has a re- markably retentive memory, which he has cultivated and strengthened by dispensing, as far as possible, with the use of memorandum-books, believing that they weaken the faculty of recalling events. While at Fruit Hill he was chiefly instrumental in establishing a circulating library at that place. He was at one time Physician of the Marine Hospital ; for three years Surgeon of a State military or- ganization, and during the War of the Rebellion served for a short time at Hampton, Virginia. About the year 1850 he was President of the Rhode Island Medical Society. Ile was for many years the physician and friend of Thomas W. Dorr, whom he highly esteemed. Believing that it is the duty of a physician to confine himself exclusively to his profession, he has not taken an active part in politics since 1842. On the 9th of July, 1823, he married Clariet Brown, daughter of Waterman and granddaughter of Elisha Brown, of North Providence, who died in April, 1875, and was noted for her benevolence and her active_ interest in behalf of the blind. Her mother was the daugh- ter of Joseph Farnum, of Smithfield, the projector of the Farnum Turnpike. On the 9th of July, 1873, Dr. Capron and his wife celebrated their "golden wedding." It was largely attended, and the occasion was a memorable one to those present. On the Ist of June, 1876, Dr. Capron married Miss Mary Ann Nixon, of Providence, and has since confined himself less closely to business, much of his time having been spent in travelling in the South and in the British Provinces. Two children of his first marriage are now living, one of whom is the wife of James F. Aldrich, of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and the other the wife of Benjamin F. Aldrich, of Providence, a brother of the former. Dr. Capron's successful and useful career illustrates what may be accomplished under adverse cir- cumstances by patient industry and perseverence. Although obliged to rely upon his own exertions for support at a very early age, he nevertheless succeeded in acquiring a good education, and has attained a high rank in his profession. He is widely known not only as a skilful physician, but as a man of large benevolence, whose home has been an asylum for the poor and the homeless.

ANCHESTER, CAPTAIN CYRUS BUTLER, was born in Providence, Rhode Island, January I, 1802. His parents were Isaac and Mary (Wil- liams) Manchester. Until he was eleven years of age he assisted his father, who was a farmer, and attended school at intervals. He was subsequently employed as clerk in a store in Providence, at the junction of Westminster and Weybosset streets, where he remained until 1817, when, at the age of fifteen, he went to sea, and passed through the varied experiences of a sailor's life. He was gradually promoted for faithful service until he attained the rank of ship-master. He commanded several ships owned by Messrs. Stephen & Anthony B. Arnold, of Providence, who were engaged in the trans- portation of cotton and other staple American products to Europe and other foreign countries, and in importing gen- eral merchandise and carrying emigrant passengers. Their ships were among the largest afloat. Among those which Captain Manchester commanded were the Rhode Island, the American, and the Decatur. His first voyages were to the West Indies and Europe, his last to Southern ports and to Liverpool. During his career as a mariner, which embraced a period of twenty-three years, he twice circum- navigated the globe. In 1839 he abandoned the sea, and engaged in business in Providence. For nearly twenty years, from 1846, he was associated with Mr. Anthony B. Arnold in the emigrant passenger and exchange business, their office being in Providence. As agent for underwriters he was employed from time to time in important emergen- cies to take entire control of wrecked vessels in different ports of American and foreign countries, including the West Indies. While serving in this capacity he saved a vast amount of property, and owners of vessels far and near always intrusted him with full charge of wrecked ves- sels, allowing him to exercise his own judgment, even to the selling of vessels and cargoes. In some of his achieve- ments in this direction he exhibited wonderful tact and energy. Having a tract of land well adapted to the culti- vation of fruit, Captain Manchester many years ago turned his attention to horticulture, and in 1851 joined the Rhode Island Society for the Encouragement of Domestic Indus- try, of which he became an active and valuable member. For two years he held the office of Third Vice-President of the society, and subsequently that of Second Vice-Pres- ident, in which capacity he served until January, 1875, when he declined a re-election. He took a very deep inter- est in the affairs of the society, and was one of the largest contributors to the products of the exhibition. During the " Dorr War" he served as an officer in a company of marine artillery. He has several times held positions in the city government, having been a member of the Common Council from 1850 to 1854, and Alderman from 1855 to 1858. In 1873 he was chosen Chairman of the Com- missioners for building the Point Street School-house, one of the finest structures of the kind in the country. He was

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one of the Commissioners on the Brook Street District, and served as Superintendent of the same from July 1, 1873, to July 16, 1878. The improvements in this district were very extensive, and required not only large expenditures of money, but much skill and good judgment to carry them ont successfully. He is at present (1881) President of the Providence Marine Society. On the 17th of September, 1827, he married Abby Cook Mathewson, daughter of Cap- tain Henry and Phebe Mathewson. Their children were Phebe Elizabeth, who married Hon. Nicholas Van Slyck, a prominent lawyer of Providence; Abby, who died Au- gust 3, 1833; and Henry, who died September 15, 1835. Although he has attained an advanced age, Captain Man- chester is still in vigorous health. He is spending his de- elining years in a comfortable home, surrounded by his ehildren and grandchildren.

ENGELL, JONATHAN SPRAGUE, contractor and builder, was born in Corinth, Saratoga County, New York, April 5, 1803. His parents were Ezekiel Day and Sarah (Sprague) Angell. Ezekiel D. Angell was a house earpenter, and afterward a farmer. He was born in North Providence, Rhode Island, in 1771, and died in 1847. His father, James Angell, son of Stephen and Martha (Olney) Angell, was born in 1736, and married Amey Day, daughter of Nathaniel Day. Stephen Angell was an enterprising and successful farmer, and lived to see his nine sons settled on farms of their own. John Angell, the father of Stephen, was born in Providence, and owned a farm in Johnston, Rhode Island, where he died in 1744. He was the son of John and Ruth (Field) Angell, and grandson of Thomas and Alice Angell. Thomas Angell is supposed to be the son of Henry Angell, who was born in Liverpool, England, in 1618. He was an apprentice to Roger Williams, whom he accompanied from London to Boston, in 1631, and thence to Salem, where they remained until 1636. In that year Williams went to Providence, and soon afterward Thomas Angell, William Harris, John Smith, Joshua Verin, and F'rancis Wiekes, the original settlers of Providence, joined him there. In 1638 Roger Williams conveyed by deed to Thomas Angell lot No. 2 of the celebrated "six-acre house lots." The lot fronted on North Main Street, and embraced the lots on which the First Baptist Church and the High School stand, and Angell Strcet. Sarah Sprague, the mother of Jonathan S. Angell, was a member of the old Sprague family of Rhode Island, and was a near relative of Governor William Sprague, Sr. She was a woman of unusual intelligence and ability. Her brother Thomas was a prominent manu- facturer in Smithfield, Rhode Island. Her brother Jona- than was a sea captain, and after retiring from that calling resided in Fredonia, Chautauqua County, New York, where he held important offices, and kept a public house for sev- eral years. Her sister Ruth married Emor Angell, who

was a brother of Ezekiel D. Angell, and was a carpenter in Providence. After the September gale and flood in Providence in 1815, which carried away the old Weybosset bridge, Emor Angell was employed by the town to build the great bridge, which still remains. Hle was also the builder of the old Blackstone factory. He lived to be over ninety-two years of age. Jonathan S. Angell was the fifth of ten children; Asha, born January 20, 1796, married Siephen Dewell; Alpha, born May 3, 1797, married Wil- liam Comstock ; Stephen, born January 30, 1799, married Saralı Archer; Emor, born January 25, 1801, married Patty Barrows; Jonathan Sprague, born April 5, 1803, mar- ried Mary Harris; James, born August 19, 1805, married Sally Lincoln; Benjamin, born January 18, 1808, married Mary Anthony; Thomas, born May 7, 1810; Freelove, born July 5, 1812; Amey, born March 18, 1815, married James Rumsey ; of whom all except Alpha, James, Benja- min, and Freelove, are still living. Jonathan S. Angell attended the district school and worked upon his father's farm until he was sixteen years of age, when he left home and apprenticed himself for four years to Stephen Dewell to learn the trade of a carpenter. ()n the completion of his apprenticeship he worked a short time for Mr. Dewell, and in March, 1824, went to Providenee, where for two years he was employed by his uncle, Emor Angell. In 1826 he began business for himself, and for many years was the largest eontraetor and builder in Providence. Contrary to the usual custom of taking contracts by plans and speci- fications he bought all the stock, hired laborers, and super- intended the work of construction, receiving pay for his services as agent and superintendent. He was employed by Alexander Duncan, Brown & Ives, William J. King, Richard Waterman, Governor Philip Allen, Governor Ne- hemiah Knight, Josiah Chapin, and many other prominent men, all of whom had great confidenee in him; and under his supervision many business blocks, dwellings, mills, and other buildings were erected in various parts of the State, which are monuments of his workmanship. For many years he contemplated retiring from business in 1860, which intention he carried out, much to the surprise of many of his friends, as his business then was more extensive and profitable than ever before. Since his retirement he has resided in the house on Washington Street which he built in 1823, when that part of Providence was unimproved and uninhabited. His money is largely invested in houses and in a tract of land in Johnston, where he has a large and valuable cranberry bed, the eare of which occupies most of his time. Mr. Angell was for twenty-five years (1830-55) an active member of the old volunteer fire department. In 1836 he united with the Beneficent Congregational Church, of which he has ever since been a member. In politics he is a Republican, and was formerly a Whig. He has been twice married. His first wife was Amey Harris, daughter of Abner and Martha (Farnham) Harris, to whom he was married September 5, 1826. She died April 14, 1849,

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aged forty-five. They had six children : Sarah Sprague, born May 26, 1827, died May 22, 1829; Mary Elizabeth, born September 22, 1829, died June 5, 1830; Albert, born March 19, 1831, died February 29, 1832; Abner Harris, born December 17, 1832; Henry Ezekiel, born January 7, 1829, died March 18, 1840; Amanda Smith, born October 28, 1843, married William Armour. On the 21st of May, 1851, Mr. Angell married Mary Ann Spring, daughter of Elkanah and Phebe (Capron) Spring, of Providence. .

EAD, ELISHA THORNTON, was born in Smithfield, Rhode Island, February 5, 1805. His parents were George and Abigail (Earl) Read, whose other children were Hannah R., widow of the late Dutee B. Aldrich; Sarah B., widow of the late Edward C. Cranston; Anna E., deceased, and Abby E. The subject of this sketch was educated in a private school, and at the Friends' School in Providence. His early busi- ness habits were formed in mercantilc pursuits. For many years he had the agency of the line of stages between Prov- idence and Worcester, which he retained until the line was superseded by the railroad. In February, 1847, he became Cashier of the Smithfield Union Bank, which position he held thirty-one years, until his death, March 1, 1878, and was then succeeded by his son, James S. Read, as Cashier. He married, first, May 16, 1834, Harriet Atwood Stock- bridge, daughter of Dr. Horatio and Priscilla W. Stock- bridge. She died January 11, 1857. Mr. Read's second wife was Mary B. Osborn, daughter of John and Elizabeth A. Osborn, to whom he was married, December 8, 1858. She died August 19, 1870. The children by the first mar- riage, now living, are James S., Cashier of the National Union Bank of Woonsocket; Harriet A., and George S. Read. The last-named is now Postmaster in Woonsocket. The issue of the second marriage was a son, Charles W. Mr. Read's life of activity and uprightness gave him prom- inence in the community, and his memory is cherished by all who knew him.

ARNOLD, DR. SETH, son of Nathan and Esther (Darling) Arnold, was born in Cumberland, Rhode Island, February 26, 1799, and is a de- scendant of William Arnold, who came in a canoe with Roger Williams to Providence. William Ar- nold's son Thomas settled in Smithfield, Rhode Island, and had several children, one of whom, Richard, was the first settler of Woonsocket, and an officer in the English gov- ernment most of his life. His son John built the first frame house in Woonsocket, in 1711, which is still standing, and erected there the first grist-mill, which was located on the rocks just below the Falls. To this mill people came from Connecticut, on account of the great drouth then prevail- ing. It was carried away during the flood of 1807, but

rebuilt and kept in the Arnold family until recently. John Arnold's son Seth came into possession of that mill, and also owned a saw-mill adjacent. Seth's son, Captain Na- than Arnold, was a farmer, and a soldier in the Revolu- tion, and while in the battle of Newport contracted a disease from which he soon afterwards died. His son Nathan, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in 1766, and died in 1812. He was a successful farmer, and also distinguished for his mechanical skill. He married Esther Darling, daughter of Samuel Darling, of Belling- ham, Massachusetts, who was a Deacon in the Baptist Church. Esther Darling's parents had thirteen children, seven daughters and six sons. Four of the daughters mar- ried into families by the name of Cook, well known in Cumberland. Samuel Darling lived to the age of ninety-five, and his daughter Esther to the age of ninety-nine. Dr Seth Arnold spent his boyhood on a farm until the age of fifteen, and then worked two years in a cotton mill, for twenty dollars a year and his board, being employed thirteen hours a day. The next two years he spent in a cotton mill in East Blackstone, where he was employed fourteen hours a day. He afterwards travelled in various States with an exhibition of natural and artificial curiosities. On his re- turn to New England he again engaged in manufacturing, and became a proprietor of a cotton mill. From 1835 to 1839 he kept the Globe Hotel in Woonsocket, and with- drew from business for five years thereafter on account of impaired health. In the meantime, whilc seeking a remedy which would give relief in his own case, he discovered a cure for chronic diarrhoea, the receipt for which he sold, in 1869, to Gillman Brothers, wholesale druggists, of Bos- ton, for $12,500. Previous to this he had invented " Ar- nold's Cough Killer," and " Arnold's Bilious Pills," both of which medicines he still manufactures extensively. In 1872 the " Dr. Seth Arnold Medical Corporation" was founded at Woonsocket, and incorporated under an act of the General Assembly. The capital stock was divided into 1000 shares, of $100 each, 300 of which he sold, and afterwards repurchased 175 at a bonus. His medicines are in use in various parts of the country, and the demand for them has become very great. In 1849 the Town Council of Smithfield appointed him " Cholera Physician " during the prevalence of that disease there. He has lived a quiet, retired life, declining public offices, and in his old age is highly esteemed in the community for his genial character and integrity. He married, first, in 1819, Belinda Streeter, daughter of William Streeter, of Smithfield, Rhode Island. They had six children : Fanny E., who married William H. Hathaway, of Pawtucket; Olney, President of the Providence County Bank of Pawtucket, who married Phebe Dudley, of Douglas, Massachusetts, and who was several times a Representative in the General Assembly, and Major-General of the Rhode Island Militia, on Governor Sprague's staff ; Lucy, living in Pawtucket; William, who was eight years Town Clerk of Woonsocket; Alexander

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S., of Valley Falls, printer and author; and Henry, who is engaged in business in Pawtucket. Dr. Arnold married his second wife, Abby N. Tillinghast, daughter of Henry G. and Phebe (Reynolds) Tillinghast, of Bristol, Rhode Island, August 28, 1851. Iler father was the son of Judge Tillinghast, and was a resident of East Greenwich, Rhode Island. Their children are Seth, Jr., who married Fla- villa Arnold, of Bellingham, Massachusetts, and is now an assistant in his father's laboratory ; and Minnic E., now attending the Union Village Academy.

40 HURSTON, WILLIAM TORREY, M.D., Superinten- dent of the Rhode Island Hospital, in Providence, son of Dr. John Robinson and Mary Ann ( Bruce) Thurston, was born on the Island of St. Christopher, West Indies, July 14, 1805, where his parents were then residing, as Dr. Thurston, having been surgeon on board of a ship from Newport, Rhode Island, which was seized and taken to this island, was induced to settle there for a time as a physician and surgeon to the port. The Thurstons of Rhode Island, descended from Edward Thurston (born 1617, died 1707, in Newport), have been numerous and influential in the State from its origin. Dr. John R. was born April 24, 1774, and died May 7, 1819. He married Mary Ann Bruce in Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1799. William Torrey, after spending his youth at St. Christopher, was further educated in the Episcopal Academy at Elizabeth, New Jersey, and finally entered Columbia College, New York, early in 1819; but his father soon after dying, he was called in 1820 to return to St. Christopher to manage a large plantation. Here he remained till 1827, when he removed to New York, and entered on a course of medical study in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, graduating in 1829, having in the meantime served for eighteen months as assistant and home physician in the in- stitution. His native talents and scholarly tastes were early apparent and gave him advancement. In October, 1829, he settled, and commenced practice in Westerly, Rhode Island, where he remained till 1838. He married, March 15, 1832, Caroline, daughter of Jeremiah Thurston, of Hopkinton, and sister of Lieutenant-Governor Benjamin B. Thurston, who were also descendants of Edward. In 1834 he was particularly active in the organization of Christ's Church (Episcopal), in Westerly, of which he was a consistent member. In 1838 he removed to St. Chris- topher, where he engaged in the practice of his profession, attaining high rank, and was appointed United States Consul to that port. He remained there until 1848, when the health of his family and the education of his daughters, Eliza, Esther II., and Caroline, induced him to return to Wes- terly, Rhode Island. His accomplishments always secured him favor, friends, and patronage. On the opening of the Civil War his patriotic impulses led him to volunteer as

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The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 73

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