The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 74

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

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Surgeon in the First Rhode Island Artillery Regiment. He took the field in the autumn of 1861, with Batteries A, B, and G, and remaincd with them at the front in Virginia, in the hottest of the fray, till the spring of 1863, when, as he had received a severe wound from a bullet in the scalp on the left side of his head, he was appointed to hospital duty, at first in Frederick City, Maryland, where he was placed in charge of United States Hospital No. 4, and afterwards at Lovell Hospital, at Portsmouth Grove, on the Island of Rhode Island. He was wounded in June, 1862, at the battle of Fair Oaks, and the injury has always given him pain, without disqualifying him for his profession. He left the service at the close of the war, in August, 1865, and removed to Woonsocket, Rhode Island, where, besides his medical and surgical practice, he was Pension Surgeon for the government. His eminent qualifications as a phy- sician and surgeon, together with his gentlemanly and Christian qualities, secured his unanimous election, in No- vember, 1876, to the responsible position of Superintendent and Admitting Physician of the Rhode Island Hospital,. one of the largest and best institutions of the kind in New England, which post he now (1881) continues to fill. Dr. Thurston wields a graceful pen, and has contributed im- portant articles to medical journals.

ORR, THOMAS WILSON, son of Sullivan and Lydia (Allen) Dorr, was born in Providence, November 5, 1805. He prepared for college at Phillips Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire, and gradu- ated at Harvard College in 1823, with the second honors of his class. Shortly after his graduation he com- menced the study of law in the city of New York, under the tuition of Chancellor Kent and Vice-Chancellor Mc- Coun. In 1827 he was admitted to the bar, and com- menced the practice of his profession in his native city. He represented Providence in the General Assembly from 1834 to 1837. His attention was early directed to what were regarded as the imperfections of the Charter granted to the State of Rhode Island by Charles II. The privi- lege of suffrage was restricted to freeholders having prop- erty estimated to be worth not less than one hundred and thirty-four dollars, and to the eldest sons of such free- holders. Such inequalities in the representation of the people as were brought about by such a restriction were of so glaring a character that they arrested the attention of some of the most thoughtful minds of the State. The unfairness of the representation of the citizens in the Gene- ral Assembly was recognized. Newport, which had at one time the largest number of inhabitants of any place in the State, was allowed six representatives, while Providence, although it came to have a population very much larger than Newport, could elect only four. Petitions, from time to time, had been presented to the General Assembly to

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extend the right of suffrage, and to make arrangements for calling a convention to prepare a written constitution to be presented to the people of the State for their adoption. These petitions, however, were not granted, and the plea was urged that it was best to restrict the right of suffrage, as it had been done for so long a period. In 1840 the question was agitated with new interest. An association was formed in Providence, having for its object the exten- sion of the right of suffrage. Auxiliary associations to aid it in its work sprang up in different sections of the State. A memorial from the town of Smithfield was presented to the General Assembly at the January session of 1841, asking for an addition to the number of her representatives in the Legislature. The Assembly recommended the call- ing of a convention of qualified voters, which should frame a new constitution for the State. The opinion gen- erally prevailed that the time had come to make some radi- cal change in the conditions which should determine the right of suffrage. The party which took the name of the " Law and Order" party contended that the change should be made, if made at all, by those who were the legally qualified voters of the State. The Suffrage party claimed that the people had the right in their sovereign capacity to hold a convention and decide upon the proper course to be pursued. Of this latter party Mr. Dorr was the leader and the champion. The convention recommended by the General Assembly was to convene in November, 1841. The friends of suffrage, doubtful whether the proposed convention would make the desired changes, decided to call a mass meeting of the people of the State, which met in Providence on the 18th of April, to confer upon the questions at issue. This meeting adjourned to the 5th of May, and was held, on that day, in Newport, and passed several resolutions, embodying the views which were maintained by the friends of reform, and asserting the right of the people to form a constitution which should be in harmony with the genius of democratic institutions. The convention again adjourned to meet in Providence the 5th of July following. Having assembled at the time specified, it reaffirmed the sentiments which had been avowed at the May meeting in Newport. A State Com- mittee, representing the friends of reform in the five coun- ties of Rhode Island, was elected, which, in due time, issued a call for the election of delegates from the different towns, who should meet in convention at the State House in Providence, the first Monday of October following, for the purpose of framing " such a democratic constitution as is guaranteed to every State in the Union by the Consti- tution of the United States, and laying it before the people of the State for their adoption or rejection." The pro- posed convention, made up of delegates from every town in the State, met at the time appointed, a constitution was laid before them, accepted and ordered to be published, and submitted to the people for their acceptance or rejec- tion. Every male citizen over twenty-one years of age,

who had resided in the State one year, was allowed to vote. The returns showed that 13,944 votes had been cast for the " People's Constitution," and 52 against it. Among those who voted in the affirmative were nearly 5000 free- holders, who, by the statute, were qualified to vote, and it was claimed that these 5000 were a majority of the voters of the State, entitled to the right of suffrage by virtue of the property qualification. The announcement was made that the " People's Constitution " had been ratified by the people, and it " of right ought to be, and is, the paramount law and Constitution of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations." Under this Constitution State officers were elected,-Thomas W. Dorr, being chosen governor. The new legislature met in Providence, and Governor Dorr delivered his inaugural address to both Houses in joint session. On the same day the Charter General Assembly was holding its session in Newport. It regarded the action of the people which had evoked a new adminstration, as illegal; and maintained that the free- holders of the State were the only proper persons to change the form of government, and that the State officers and mem- bers of the General Assembly, chosen according to " law and order," were the only authority which, by right, had control of the affairs of the Commonwealth. In this emergency Governor Dorr advised that the Legislature elected by the people should take forcible possession of the State House and other public property, from which they had been debarred. This advice was not, however, fol- lowed. Meanwhile, the aid of the United States Govern- ment was invoked to sustain the." Law and Order " party, which took a decided stand against all that had been done by the " Suffrage " party, as being, from first to last, illegal. On the 18th of May, 1842, at one o'clock in the night, Governor Dorr, with' an armed force of less than three hundred men, marched to the State Arsenal, in the vicin- ity of the city of Providence, and demanded its surrender, which demand was refused. Seeing that there was no hope of success if an attack should be made on the Arsenal the troops returned, and it was found, the next morning, that Mr. Dorr had fled from the State. Governor Samuel Ward King offered a reward of one thousand dollars for his arrest. A few weeks after this Mr. Dorr returned, and took up his headquarters at Glocester, from which place he issued, June 25th, a Proclamation, convening the Gen- eral Assembly at Chepachet on the 4th of July. On the same day the " Law and Order " General Assembly passed an Act placing the State under martial law ; troops were sent to Chepachet, and the place taken without resistance. Mr. Dorr a second time fled from the State. Governor King issued a second Proclamation, offering a reward of $5000 for his apprehension. He remained out of the State nearly a year and a half and then, of his own accord, returned to Providence, and was arrested at once, on a charge of treason, and thrown into jail. Here he was confined until February 29, 1844, when he was transferred

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to Newport, where he was confined until his trial before the Supreme Court, which commenced April 26, 1844, and continued nearly four weeks, when he was condemned to be imprisoned in the State prison for the rest of life, and to be kept at hard labor in separate confinement. Ilis commitment took place on the 27th of June, 1844. One year after this the General Assembly passed an act dis- charging from prison all persons who had been convicted of treason against the State, and under this act Mr. Dorr was liberated from his confinement. As time passed away, it came to be believed that the trial of Mr. Dorr for treason was an unfair one, and that he was wrongfully convicted. Accordingly, the General Assembly, at the January ses- sion, 1854, passed an act, repealing, reversing and an- nulling the judgment of the Supreme Court, and the Clerk of the Supreme Court, for the County of Newport, was directed to write across the face of the record of said judgment the words, " Reversed and annulled, by order of the General Assembly, at their January session, A.D. 1854." Mr. Dorr survived this act of justice which was done him less than a year, his death occurring December 27, 1854. A communicant in the Episcopal Church, the Sacrament was administered to him a few days before his death by Rev. Dr. Waterman, rector of St. Stephen's Church in Providence.

OBEY, SAMUEL BOYD, M.D., was born in Bristol, Maine, November 12, 1805. He was the son of Samuel and Caroline (Martin) Tobey. He re- moved to Providence during his boyhood, and re- e & ceived his early education at the schools of Dr. Rowland Green, in Plainfield, Connecticut, and Samuel J. Gummere, Burlington, New Jersey. After leaving school, he studied medicine with Dr. Joseph Mauran, in Provi- dence, attended a full course of lectures at the medical school in Philadelphia, and received his degree of Doctor of Medicine March 27, 1828. He then entered upon his professional career in Providence, where he soon acquired a large and lucrative practice. A part of the time he was a partner of Dr. Mauran, whose pupil he had been. To his thorough knowledge and skill as a medical practitioner, he added a gentleness of manner and a kindness of heart, which won the affectionate regard and confidence of his patients, many of whom were unwilling to give up his at- tendance when he retired from practice in order to devote himself to his own private affairs. He was for a long time an approved minister of the Society of Friends, and while he adhercd to the tenets of his peculiar faith with all the strength of religious conviction, he manifested a most lib- eral and catholic spirit toward other denominations, rejoic- ing in the success of every effort designed to advance the cause of genuine Christianity. He was an efficient officer of the Friends' Yearly Meeting Boarding School ; a trustee

of Brown University from 1835, and chancellor of that in- stitution from 1854 until the time of his death. IIe was cqually successful in commercial as in professional pursuits, and aided in building up several of the most prosperous manufacturing establishments in Providence. He was also one of the originators of the Rhode Island Hospital, and a member of its board of trustees ; was a trustee of the But- ler Hospital for the Insane; Vicc-President of the Provi- dence Dispensary ; and commissioner of the " Dexter Do- nation." On the 13th of November, 1828, he married Sarah Lockwood, who died June 5, 1833, at the age of thirty one years. They had three children, William, born September 9, 1829, and died December 6, 1830; William, born November 17, 1830; and Samuel B. On the 29th of January, 1835, he married Sarah Fry, who is still living. The children by his second marriage were, John F., Ed- ward, Thomas F., Sarah Caroline, and Lydia A. Dr. Tobey died June 23, 1867, leaving six children. His widow and two daughters are now living in Providence. One of his sons is in business in New York city, and one in California ; one is a lawyer in Providence, and another is Captain of Infantry in the United States army. The announcement of Dr. Tobey's death was received with deep regret by the entire community, and a special meet- ing of the Providence Medical Association, called to pay a tribute of respect to his memory, passed resolutions com- memorative of his worth.

DENKS, HON. WILLIAM A., son of Amos and Mercy A. (Hopkins) Jenks, was born in Foster, Rhode Island, June 19, 1805. His father was a well- known farmer, and being a man of excellent judg- & ment and great force of character, was frequently called upon to act as arbitrator in the settlement of matters in controversy between neighbors. Mr. Jenks enjoyed but few advantages for obtaining an education. His early life was spent upon the farm, and the only time allotted him for study was during the intervals of manual labor. He attended a private school for a short time after he was nineteen years of age, and by rigid self-discipline succeeded in acquiring a knowledge of surveying. Soon after attain- ing his majority, he decided to prepare himself for the legal profession, but having married at a very early age, and being in straitened circumstances, he was prevented from carrying out his intention until late in life. For several years he engaged in farming and surveying as a means of support, meanwhile pursuing his law studies, and in 1852 was admitted to the Rhode Island bar. His entrance upon his chosen profession was attended with considerable em- barrassment on account of various discouragements, but his thorough preparation, ripe experience, self-reliant spirit, and habits of industry enabled him to overcome every ob- stacle, and within a short time his merits were recognized, and he took a prominent position as a lawyer. In 1857,

yours to Fra B, Pech

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he was elected to represent Foster in the lower house of the General Assembly, and was re-elected in 1858. As a lawyer, he commanded universal respect on account of his ability and adherence to a high standard of professional honor; as a legislator, he was noted for the faithfulness and energy with which he labored to advance the interests of the people, for his honesty of purpose, and quick per- ception of right and wrong. In early life he served as Colonel in the State militia, and was Captain of a volun- teer company in the " Dorr Rebellion," being a member of the " Law and Order " party. Prior to that time he had been a Democrat, but finally became identified with the Republican party, of which he was a member at the time of his death, which occurred in Foster, July 27, 1859. He married, in 1826, Hannah, daughter of Colonel Israel and Anna (Hill) Phillips, of Foster. They had nine children, of whom Ethan A., Julania A., Celinda, Hannah M., Helen M., and Peoria T., are now living.

HITMAN, ALMOND, C., M.D., was born in Ap- ponaug, Rhode Island, January 3, 1805. His father, Martin Whitman, was a carpenter, which trade his son learned and followed for several years in the town of Coventry. Young Whit- man finally abandoned his trade, removed to Fiskeville, Rhode Island, and began the study of medicine in the office of Dr. Daniel Baker of that place. After pursu- ing his studies for some time with Dr. Baker, he entered the Medical College at Pittsfield, Massachusetts, from which institution he graduated in 1838. He engaged in the practice of his profession for one year in Johnston, Rhode Island, and then became associated with Dr. Baker, with whom he continued until Dr. Baker's death, when he succeeded to the entire practice of the firm, which had become very extensive. Dr. Whitman died January 13, 1879. About ten years before his death he was thrown from his carriage and received injuries from which he never recovered, although he continued his business for about five years afterward. Two years after his accident, however, his rapidly declining health compelled him to relinquish outside practice. For many years Dr. Whitman was a Director in the Phenix National Bank, always at- tending the meetings when able, and discharging the duties in a faithful and conscientious manner. He was for many years a member of the Masonic order, having united with the Warwick Lodge in 1857. He married Susan Congdon, daughter of Isaac Congdon, of Cranston. Upright and honorable in his dealings with his fellow-men, he gained the respect and confidence of all, while his kind and genial disposition drew toward him a large number of friends, whom he never failed to greet with a kind word or a pleasant smile. To the Pawtuxet Valley Gleaner we are indebted for the facts contained in this sketch.

AKER, REV. JOHN H., son of Elisha and Henri- etta (Miner) Baker, was born on Dodge's Island, in the township of Stonington, Connecticut, Sep- tember 26, 1805. His paternal grandfather, Elisha, was a soldier in the French and Indian wars. Ilis maternal grandfather was Deacon Thomas Miner, distin- guished for his excellent character and public services. Mr. Baker was educated under General Joseph Mason, and in the Academy at Stonington Borough under Samuel G. Fry, and witnessed the stirring naval scenes on the coast in the War of 1812. He sat under the preaching of Rev. John G. Wightman, Rev. Roswell Burrows, and Rev. Elihu Chesebro. In November, 1822, he united with the Baptist Church in Stonington Borough, and afterward be- came a teacher on Mason's Island, in Groton, Stonington, and North Stonington, meanwhile preaching in destitute places. After assisting in revival meetings with Rev. Jabez S. Swan and Rev. Asa Bronson, he was ordained in April, 1831. His theological studies were pursued at Hamilton, New York. Conversions followed his preaching in Gro- ton, Stonington, and other places in Connecticut, and in Richmond, Exeter, Wakefield, Wickford, and Newport, in Rhode Island. The principal fields of his labors were Voluntown and Lebanon, Connecticut ; Saybrook and Killingworth, Long Island ; Richmond, Charlestown, Hopkinton, Westerly, South Kingstown, New Shoreham, and East Greenwich, Rhode Island. Remarkable revivals followed his labors. Mr. Baker was an evangelist rather than a pastor, and was regarded as a model missionary. His first wife was Mary, daughter of Hon. William Mar- chant, of South Kingstown, and his second was Marcy (Spencer) Miller. His family home from 1842 to his death was in the village of Greenwich, but he was con- stantly engaged, when health permitted, in missionary and evangelistic labors. From December, 1865, to October, 1866, he travelled 2935 miles, mostly on foot ; made 737 visits ; attended 256 meetings; preached more than 100 sermons; and baptized 140 persons. Overtasked, he fell by paralysis while engaged in prayer in the church on Block Island, January 5, 1867, and never fully recovered from the shock. He died at his home in East Greenwich, January 16, 1869, at the age of sixty-three.

RECK, IRA BALLOU, genealogist, son of Royal and Abigail (Ballou) Peck, was born in Wrentham, Massachusetts, February 12, 1805. His father died September 20, 1849, in the ninety-first year of his age, honored and respected both in his public and private life. His mother, one of the best of women, who died June 6, 1846, in her eighty-fifth year, was the daughter of Noah Ballou, of Cumberland, Rhode Island. Ira B. was the youngest child in his father's family. He remained at home in his boyhood and youth assisting his father upon the farm in summer and attending the district schools in winter.

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Becoming deeply interested in his studies he relinquished his farm duties and resolved to obtain a liberal education, and to do so without assistance from any one he entered Wrentham Academy and qualified himself for teaching, as a means of paying his expenses while pursuing his pre- paratory and collegiate studies. Hle studicd and taught school with little vacation until the summer of 1825, which he spent in the counting-room of his cousin, Dexter Ballou, at Woonsocket, Rhode Island. In October of that year he resumed his studies, and for some time thereafter was en- gaged in teaching in Attleborough, Medway, Canton, and Dedham, Massachusetts, and in other places; his last ser- vice as teacher being rendered in what was then known as the Academy Building, in Attleborough, Massachusetts, where he had a select school of advanced scholars, some of whom had been teachers or were preparing to teach. Here he taught all the higher English branches, a work of which he was very fond, but which with his own studies proved too arduous for him. This school with others had been to him a continuous teaching while pursuing his own studies for a long time, when his health failed, and he was obliged not only to abandon his teaching, but his own studies also, and with them the hope of a life of usefulness in literature and science; and now, while exceeding his "threescore and ten," he looks back on his days spent in teaching as the most pleasant of his life. After partially re- gaining his health, by the advice of his friends, he turned his attention with much regret to less intellectual pursuits, and soon after became interested in cotton manufacture. In 1831 he removed to Woonsocket and took the mill then owned by Lemuel May, to run " by the yard." At the ex- piration of this contract he took charge of the mill of George C. Ballou for some time. In 1838 he took charge of the cotton machinery of W. & D. D. Farnum, at Waterford, and in 1839 purchased and moved it into the " No. 1" mill of Edward Harris, at Woonsocket, leasing this mill for a term of five years. Here he manufactured Sea Island cotton warps, supplying the mills of Messrs. W. & D. D. Farnum and Edward Harris and other mills with yarn until he dis- posed of his machinery. The winter of 1844 Mr. Peck spent in Ashburnham, Massachusetts, superintending the mill of George Blackburn, of Boston, and making such alterations and improvements as with his practical knowl- edge he thought necessary. In 1845 and much of the time until 1860 he was employed by Samuel B. Cushing, Master in Chancery, under a decree of the United States Circuit Court, to assist him in the division and apportionment of the water of the Blackstone River among the owners of the water-power at Woonsocket. To do this equitably and to have the water used to the best advantage, it was necessary to make a long series of measurements and experiments, which were made by Mr. Peck, by the direction of Mr. Cushing, and submitted to him for his consideration and approval. This, and taking charge of the apertures, occu- pied much of Mr. Peek's time until 1860, when it had be-

come apparent that the Master in Chancery should have power given him to enfore obedience to the deerees of the court, so far as to have the right to stop the mills of the several owners, if necessary, for the correction of any al- terations which might occur in their apertures, or to stop any leakages by which the party would be drawing more water than he was entitled to. In 1862 the Court gave Mr. Cushing this authority, and also power to appoint a Deputy or Assistant Master in Chancery, to reside at Woonsocket, with all the powers which he himself possessed. This ap- pointment was given to Mr. Peck, which he continued to hold until the decease of Mr. Cushing, after which his son, the present Samuel B. Cushing, was appointed by the Court to fill his father's place, and he re-appointed Mr. Peck, who still continues to hold the position and perform the duties of taking charge of the apertures, a task which he has faithfully performed during a period of more than thirty years. In 1847 he was appointed Administrator of the estate of Judge David Daniels, who was a lawyer of ex- tensive practice, and engaged in other pursuits. After a period of five years' litigation with doubtful claimants, and after the disentanglement of questions of great perplexity, the settlement was accomplished by Mr. Peck. In 1862 he was appointed Deputy Collector of Internal Revenue, and contin- ued to hold that position through the years 1862-4. For more than thirty years he has been a Director in the Woon- socket National Bank, and is one of the Trustees in the Woonsocket Institution for Savings, and a member of the Woonsocket Hospital Corporation. From his first settlement at Woonsocket Mr. Peck has taken an active interest in its wants and improvements. He was instrumental in the purchase of the first fire-engine, and afterwards of the first forcing-pump for the extinguishment of fires. He super- intended laying the pipes connecting the forcing-pumps of the mills with the hydrants throughout the village. He was also influential in obtaining a charter for the Fire Cor- poration, and afterwards attended to its business, being its Secretary for several years. He also took an active inter- est in the introduction of gas, assisted in the erection of the works, and took charge of them until he saw them in successful operation, and then extended the pipes to Wa- terford and Blackstone, which supply these villages and mills with gas. In addition to his business pursuits, Mr. Peck has given much attention to some of his favorite sci- entific and genealogical investigations. In 1846 he began his researches concerning his mother's ancestry, tracing it back to the one who emigrated to this country. He con- tinued his genealogical researches concerning the Ballous until he had traced all the early families of that name whom he could find, back from the present generation to the emigrant ancestor. In searching for old records, publie and private, in the towns where the Ballous settled, he found a bundle of papers of deeds, wills, letters, receipts, etc., in the till of an old chest in a garret, which probably had not been read for more than a hundred years. As he

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The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 74

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