The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 75

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

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opened them some crumbled to pieces, while others could be read. One was found that contained a record of great genealogical value, enabling him to make an important correction in one of the earliest generations, with a cer- tainty otherwise unattainable ; another was a letter written by a son of the ancestor of the Ballous to his mother in his last sickness ; another was a receipt, written and signed by Roger Williams, given to the maternal ancestor, who, on account of her great age, in some of the papers re- ferring to her deposition in a suit at law between some of her children and grandchildren, was called the " ancient woman," who was highly esteemed, and to whom was willed property by her aunt. Mr. Peck continued his re- searches in relation to the descendants of this Ballou and the other Ballous who are supposed to have been his brothers, and in relation to the Ballous of France and England and their coat-of-arms, until he had expended about one thousand dollars in time and money, and not receiving the assistance promised to enable him to publish a history of the Ballous, he relinquished, with much regret, his purpose, and turned his attention to the genealogy of the Pecks, where he found more interest in the subject. He commenced with his father, and with much labor traced his lineage through all the generations to his an- cestor Joseph Peck, who emigrated from Hingham, Nor folk County, England, in 1638, with his brother Robert, a minister, both of whom with their families and servants settled at Hingham, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, where Joseph remained, and Robert, the minister, after the persecution in England, from which they had fled, had in part ceased, returned to Hingham, England, with all his family, except a daughter, who married Captain John Ma- son, the conqueror of the Pequots, and resumed his rec- torship, where he died and was buried in his churchyard. He was born at Beccles, Suffolk County, England, in 1580, was a graduate of Magdalen College, Cambridge, and re- ceived the degree of A.B. in 1599, that of A.M. in 1603, and was ordained to the ministry January 8, 1605. Mr. Peck traced the lineage of his ancestor Joseph, who re- mained in this country, and connected him with his father's and grandfather's families in England. Joseph's father, Robert Peck, was born at Beccles, England, in 1546, and died there in 1593. His will, after great research, was found at Ipswich. By the help of papers in the Herald's office, in London, and other places, the name of Peck has been traced by the subject of this sketch back in England, from son to father, through twenty generations, to John Peck, Esq., of Belton, Yorkshire. He then began to fol- low out the branches of the Pecks in America, supposing them all to be the descendants of his ancestor Joseph, who are now designated as the Massachusetts Pecks. But he soon discovered that other Pecks had emigrated to this country at an early date, whom he has designated as the Connecticut Pecks, and found that there were numerous descendants of each, who, with those of his own ancestor,

were settled in nearly all the States and Territories and in the Canadas. To trace out and separate these required a great amount of time and labor, but by his diligence and perseverance, the relationship of these intermixed branches has been traced out, and they have been separated from each other, and placed to their own ancestors, in their proper generation and families, with almost mathematical precision, covering centuries of time. As a result of his labors Mr. Peck published, in 1868, The Peck Genealogy, a work of 442 pages, 8vo., containing 11,000 names, care- fully arranged in genealogical order, with several steel en- gravings of prominent men of the Peck family, their coats- of-arms, in colors, a chart of twenty generations in England, and the genealogy of ten in America. Of this work it was well said by the Congregational Quarterly, of July, 1870, " We scarcely know which most to admire, the genius to search out, arrange, and correctly to set forth the lineage of a great family for thirty generations, in all its wide-spreading branches, or the patience and hard work requisite to such herculanean labor. The Peck family are highly favored in having one of their own members, who has been en- dowed with both the genius and patience essential to give one of the best genealogies it has been our good fortune to examine." In collecting material for his work, in addi- tion to travelling in different towns and States for informa- tion, Mr. Peck has written many letters in relation to it, of which he has preserved copies of over six thousand, and in answer to which he has on file over four thousand, and has sent abroad several thousand circulars. Although he has requested those who had the work to point out any errors they might find in it, none have been brought to his notice in the arrangement of the work, and but a few, and those typographical ones, in names and dates. He is now preparing a supplement to his genealogy, in which he gives the descendants of the females of the Pecks, and is bring- ing his genealogy down to the present date. He is tracing out in England, for the supplement, the descendants of the Rev. Robert Peck, before mentioned, and others. He has already collected for the work the different coats-of-arms of about thirty families into which his branch of the Pecks of England have married, and the arms and pedigrees of different branches of the name, from the Herald's visita- tions of Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, York- shire, and Norfolk, and hopes to obtain much more valua- ble and interesting matter in relation to the different branches of the name there. Mr. Peck is a member of the Harleian Society of London, England, and a subscriber to the works it publishes; a life member of the New Eng- land Historic Genealogical Society, of which he has been a member for many years; a corresponding member of the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, and has been a member of the Masonic order for more than fifty years. His life has been one of quiet industry, seeking no office, enjoying his own religious views, conceding to others the same privilege, and keeping aloof from party

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politics. Hle married, June 19, 1834, Mary Blackinton, daughter of Ellis and Mary (Jackson) Blackinton, of At- tleborough, Massachusetts. She was born March 4, 1809, and died September 30, 1876. Her father was born March 18, 1783, and died May 22, 1870. Her mother was born February 17, 1787, and died February 11, 1859. Mr. Blackinton was a prominent man, and held various offices in his town. Mr. Peck's only child, Ira E. Peck, was born August 24, 1846, and resides in Cumberland, Rhode Island.

B ALLOU, ARIEL, M.D., son of Ariel and Edilda (Tower) Ballou, was born in Cumberland, Rhode Island, October 25, 1805. His great-grandfather, James Ballou, from that part of Providence known as Smithfield, with his brothers Obadiah and Na- thaniel, purchased lands in Cumberland, which was then called Dedham, the name having been changed to Cum- berland in 1747. His grandfather, Ariel Ballou, who, for a long period owned a portion of those lands, had two sons and nine daughters, seven of whom had large fami- lies, which were widely scattered. Dr. Ballou's father, Ariel, was a Revolutionary soldier. He occupied the land above mentioned, which still remains in the family. For many years he was a Deacon in the Christian Baptist Church, and was known far and wide as a man of great energy, decision, and integrity. His house was distin- guished as the home of travelling ministers. He was one of the founders of the Social Manufacturing Company of Woonsocket, and its first agent. He was married, first, to Lucinda Comstock, daughter of Hon. Nathaniel Comstock, of Wrentham, Massachusetts. Their children were Rosina, born December 2, 1783; Nabbie, born April 16, 1786, died in 1874, and was the wife of Hon. Davis Cook, of Cum- berland; Cyrus, born March 18, 1789, died in March, 1816; Arnold, born March 31, 1792, died in November, 1816; Sally, born March 1, 1795, died October 11, 1803; Major Alfred, born June 2, 1799, and now occupies the land which descended from the ancestor, James Ballou. The second wife of Ariel Ballou was Edilda Tower, daughter of Captain Levi Tower, of Cumberland. Their children were Adin, born April 23, 1803, now a distin- guished clergyman, known as the founder of the Hopedale community, and as an author of various religious works; and Ariel, the youngest of the family, and the subject of this sketch. Dr. Ballou's boyhood and youth were spent at home assisting his father, who was a successful farmer. He had ordinary advantages of education, but his rapid physical development for a time impeded his mental im- provement, as he attained nearly his full stature of six feet at the age of fourteen. Soon after this his mental acquisi- tions were rapid and thorough. When seventeen years old he spent six months at the private school of Rev. Abiel Fisher, of Bellingham, Massachusetts, who prepared young men

for college. But being obliged to forego his desire of a collegiate course at the time, he resolved to faithfully serve his father until of age, and from that time forward to study, at least one hour a day, during his minority. These reso- lutions were faithfully adhered to, and the benefits result- ing therefrom realized during life. He taught school in the winter-time, paying his wages to his father. For two years he taught in the public schools of Massachusetts, and at the age of twenty one was Principal of the Academy at Cumberland Hill, and while there began the study of medi- cine. An able lawyer, and friend, of that place, Aaron White, advised him to omit a college course, which he regarded as unnecessary in Mr. Ballou's case, as he had a discipline of mind sufficient to enter upon the studies of his profession. After studying about one year under Pro- fessor Usher Parsons, of Providence, with the intention of entering the Navy as Surgeon, he spent about four months at the Berkshire Medical Institute, at Pittsfield, Massachusetts, where he became acquainted with Governor Childs, one of the professors in the Institution, who mani- fested a deep interest in his welfare. He subsequently spent about a year with Dr. Daniel Thurber, of Mendon, Massachusetts, a man of note, and then returned to Woon- socket, where he studied and practiced with Dr. Hiram Allen four months. At the end of that time he entered his name as a pupil with Professor Daone D. Wells, of the Maine Medical School connected with Bowdoin College. Here he made rapid and thorough progress, and attained an enviable position. Having finished his course in May, 1830, he located in that part of his native town known as Woonsocket, in July, and in September of the same year received his degree of M.D. Here he has remained in a large practice until the present, a period of more than fifty years. He was President of the Rhode Island Medical Society in 1855-6, and since then has been one of its cen- sors. He is the author of a thesis on Lactation, published in the American Journal of Medical Science about the year 1850, which has been copied extensively into European journals. For seventeen years he was an active member of the School Committee of Cumberland, From 1842 to 1852 he was most of the time a member either of the House or Senate of the General Assembly of Rhode Isl- and, and introduced the bill for abolishing capital punish- ment, which statute remains in force at this time. He was Chairman of the Committee on the Bill of Rights in the Convention for framing the People's Constitution of Rhode Island. In 1879-80 he was a member of the Rhode Island Senate from the new town of Woonsocket, and served several years as Coroner in said town. In 1852 he was one of the Presidential electors. As President of the Woonsocket Hospital Corporation, and of the Board of Trustees of the " Harris Institute" from its origin, he has rendercd efficient service. From 1861 to 1865 he was Grand Master of Masons in Rhode Island. For a long time he has been a worthy member of the Episcopal

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Church in Woonsocket, and is now one of its wardens. For more than half a century he has maintained an honor- able position, both as a successful physician and a citizen of integrity and moral influence. Dr. Ballou married, September II, 1832, Hannah Horton, of Bridgewater, Massachusetts, to whom he ascribes much of his profes- sional and financial success. They have had five children. Ariel A., born November 23, 1833, who was drowned September 11, 1844; Annah; Ella, who died in infancy; Laura, who married Daniel M. Edwards, M.D .; and Noble, who died in infancy.

B BURLINGAME, REV. MAXEY WHIPPLE, was born in Glocester, Rhode Island, May 4, 1805, and was the son of Stephen and Almira Burlin- game, being the youngest of ten children. He was early susceptible of religious impressions, and when but a mere boy united with the Free Baptist Church in his native town, having received baptism from Rev. Joseph White. He applied himself to study and obtained an edu- cation in the schools at Killingly, Connecticut, and Wil- braham, Massachusetts. Having decided to devote him- self to the work of the ministry, he received license to preach in May, 1828, and ordination the year following. He commenced his work in his native town and in the towns in close proximity to it, and was also engaged in teaching in the public schools. In this vicinity he spent the closing years and the larger portion of his life. Imme- diately after his license to preach he spent a year in Deer- field, Pennsylvania, where his parents had removed, and performed effective service. Becoming pastor of the Free Baptist Church in (Waterford) Blackstone, Massachusetts, he continued in this relation sixteen years, terminating it in 1846. During this time the church grew rapidly, and the influence of the pastor was great. He was subse- quently pastor of Free Baptist churches in Greenville, Chepachet, West Scituate, Georgiaville, Tiverton, and Caro- lina, in Rhode Island ; also, of churches of the same denom- ination in other States, notably of those in New Market and Danville, New Hampshire; Tapshorn and North Berwick, Maine; Farnumsville, Massachusetts; and East Killingly, Connecticut. During his ministry he was a pro- moter of missions, education, and reforms. From 1844 to 1859 he was a corporator of the Freewill Baptist Printing Establishment, the publishing house of the denomination. He died at Georgiaville, March 4, 1879. In January, 1830, he married Harriet Winsor, of Glocester, who, with a daughter, still (1881) survives. Mr. Burlingame possessed such qualities of mind and heart as served to make liis ministry effective. In his intercourse with others he ever bore himself in a manner befitting his high calling. His life, which began with promise and trust, terminated with honor and blessedness.

HOURTELLOT, COLONEL LEBBEUS CHANDLER, son of Ethan and Alpha (Fletcher) Tourtellot, was born in Mendon, Massachusetts, April 22, 1806. His father, who was born December 25, 1789, and died in March, 1876, was a direct descendant of a Huguenot family, and a soldier in the war with England in 1812. His mother was of English descent, and con- nected with the Bucklin and Britain families of Rhode Island. She was born in 1789, and died in June, 1853. Colonel Tourtellot is the eldest of five children. He re- mained in his native town until his eighteenth year, being employed most of the time on a farm and in a cotton fac- tory at Blackstone. In 1829 he removed with his father to Providence, where he learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed until 1833. He removed to Woonsocket in 1832, and for seventeen years thereafter was with the Woon- socket Manufacturing Company, ten years'of which as Master Mechanic and Chief Engineer. In March, 1849, he accepted the agency of the Albion Mills, in Lincoln, -where he remained until June, 1857. In that year he re- turned to Woonsocket, and engaged in the manufacturing business for himself, renting the Bartlett Mills for one year. In 1859 and 1860 he had a hired mill at East Blackstone. In August, 1861, he raised a company for the Third Rhode Island Heavy Artillery, and went into camp at Amestown, afterwards went to Fort Hamilton, New York, and thence to Fortress Monroe. The third regiment joined Sherman's expedition to South Carolina, and participated in the im- portant engagements at Hilton Head November 7th, and about Charleston, and he was senior in command of a battalion in taking Fort Pulaski, having two batteries and four companies. On the surrender of the fort he was de- tailed by General Hunter, through Colonel Terry, to gar- rison the same, and remained there until June, 1862. While in the investment of Charleston Colonel Tourtellot was prostrated with fever, and was not expected to live. After a respite of twenty days he rejoined his command, but was again prostrated and compelled to resign and re- turn home, in October, 1862. In 1863 he became a man- ager of Messrs. J. P. & J. G. Ray's cotton mills, in Woon- socket, in which position he has remained until the present. He was in the State militia service from 1828 almost con- stantly, rising through the various grades to that of Briga- dier-General, and in the great riot in Providence, in 1831, had his first experience " under fire." The riot originated at Olney Lane, with the crew of the ship Ann Hope, and is said to have been more serious in its effects than the " Dorr War." He was at that time Quartermaster of United Vol- unteers. In 1844 he was chosen Colonel of the Woonsocket Guards, and in 1854 reorganized the company. He held that position until 1857, and has ever since been recognized by the title of Colonel. He has been a prominent member of the Masonic order during the past twenty-nine years, and since 1845 has been a leader in the fraternity of Odd Fellows. He served for some time as a member of the

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Town Council. By industry and integrity he has accumu- lated a competence, and won the esteem of his fellow-citi- zens. For several years he has been a member of the Episcopal Church. Colonel Tourtellot married, in May, 1831, Alzada Tourtellot, daughter of William, Jr., and Lydia (Eddy) Tourtellot, of Glocester, Rhode Island. She died in December, 1831. His second wife was Caro- line Cornelia, daughter of William and Sarah (Lovett) Sherburne, of Wrentham, Massachusetts. Mr. Lovett was a wealthy merchant of Providence. Colonel Henry Sher- burne participated in the Revolutionary War, chiefly in Newport, Rhode Island. Mrs. Tourtellot died in Novem- ber, 1872. There were four children by the second mar- riage : Alzada S., Georgiana S., who died in November, 1862, in her twentieth year, Almy S., who died in infancy, and William Ethan, who is now in the printing business in Providence.

REENE, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, manufacturer, son of Captain Benjamin and Harriet (Greene) Greene, was born in Warwick, Rhode Island, January 1, 1807. The family homestead was south of Pawtuxet, and included the famous Mark Rock, with its notable im- pressions and inscriptions, and in a region memorable for events in Rhode Island history. Captain Benjamin Greene was a bold commander in his day, making voyages to the Indies and to remote countries. His children were Wil- liam M., Weltha A., Godfrey, Benjamin F., Harriet G., Henry P., Richard W., and Philip A. The grandfather of Benjamin F. was Godfrey Greene, a farmer of the old school, who had seven children, Amy, Betsey, Sarah, God- frey, William, Caleb C., and Benjamin. The mother of Benjamin F. was the daughter of Hon. William Greene, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island in the days of the Revolution. The Judge was a brother of Ma- jor-General Nathanael Greene. The children of Judge Greene were Thomas, Christopher, Warren, Catharine, IIarriet, and Jeremiah. At one time Judge Greeene was the owner of about twenty slaves, all of whom he finally liberated. On the marriage of his daughter Harriet he gave her a slave named Sarah. From disasters at sea and other causes, Captain Benjamin Greene, lost his property, and his family were obliged to labor for their support. He was born June 25, 1771, and died September 21, 1847, aged seventy-six years. His wife, Harriet, born April 22, 1779, died March 21, 1837, in her fifty-eighth year, and was a woman of great energy and worth. Benjamin F. had small opportunities of education in the schools, but he supplied this deficiency somewhat by reading. At the age of eight he began to work in the Crompton Mills, in War- wick, for one dollar per week. In 1816 he worked in the Natick Mills for General Christopher Rhodes. Subse- quently he worked for William Sprague, who first estab- lished calico works in the State. In 1824, at the age of

seventeen, he engaged at Central Falls as a second hand in making thread, for Walker & Allen, and in 1825 began to oversee the mill. Here he remained as an overseer till 1840. When he came to Central Falls he brought all his worldly goods tied up in a handkerchief. Ilis industry, integrity, and skill soon won for him a good name. In 1840 he commenced business in Central Falls with Stephen Benedict, Joseph Wood, Thomas Benedict, and Samuel Wood, he overseeing the company affairs in the manu- facture of thread, and the others furnishing capital. In 1845 he went to Mapleville (so named by him), and manu- factured thread and warps for Hill & Carpenter. In 1850 he engaged in the thread manufacture at Clarke's Mills, in Richmond, Rhode Island, where Mr. Horace Daniels became his bookkeeper and suggested the idea of putting up the thread upon spools. In 1855 he leased a mill in Central Falls for ten years. Mr. Daniels finally entered into business with him as a partner, and invented a machine for polishing the thread. In 1860 they erected a new mill, which was enlarged in 1865, making a solid and beautiful brick structure four hun- dred and twenty feet long, four stories high, with a French roof, giving another story, and three large towers. The mill cost when completed about $1,000,000, and runs about twenty-five thousand spindles. After the death of his partner, General H. Daniels, in 1876, Mr. Greene bought out the interest held by General Daniels in the mill and thread business and made all the mill property and operations his own. In 1877, however, he made a joint- stock property of it, though continuing almost the sole owner, and named the corporation the Greene & Daniels Manufacturing Company, the capital stock being $300,000, all paid in. Of this company Mr. Greene is President, his son, Edward A. Greene, Treasurer, and George P. Grant, agent. Mr. Greene is now the oldest American manufac- turer of thread in the country. During the Rebellion, though exempt from military service, he was an active member of the home-guard. In politics he was at first a Whig and then a Republican. In 1866 he served the town of Smithfield as a member of the State Legislature. He has long been a Director in the State National Bank, of Paw- tucket. In 1835 he and his wife united with the First Baptist Church, in Pawtucket, and in 1844 they became constituent members of the Central Falls Baptist Church. In the building of the new church edifice, on Broad Street, Mr Greene has contributed about $16,000. He is a mem- ber of the home and foreign missionary societies of the Baptists, is one of the managers of the Rhode Island Bap- tist State Convention, and a Director in the Baptist Vine- yard Association, of Cottage City, Martha's Vineyard. While applying himself closely and successfully to his man- ufacturing interests, he has yet found opportunity for travel throughout the United States and Canada. He has a large and beautiful residence in Central Falls. He married, June 17, 1833, Rebecca Borden Linnell, daughter of Jo-

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siah and Rebecca Linnell, of Hyannis-Port, Barnstable, Massachusetts, a woman of great industry and rare prudence and piety. She was born June 28, 1808, and died in Cen- tral Falls, in the Greene mansion, June 3, 1878, in her seventieth year. Her memory is fondly cherished by all who knew her. Mr. Greene had six children, Eleanor, who died young ; Sarah J., who married Wanton Durfee; Herbert F., who died young; Mary A., married Ellery W. Greene; Richard F., married Augusta Brown; and Edward A., who married Anna Houghton.

BULLOCK, WILLIAM PECKHAM, merchant, the son of Richmond and Rhoda (Peckham) Bullock, was born in Providence July 6, 1805. His father was a prosperous merchant, and largely concerned in navigation. He was fitted for college in the best schools of his native town, and graduated from Brown University in the class of 1824. On leaving college he decided to pursue the calling of his father, and formed a partnership with his brother-in-law, Mr. Edward Pearce, which continued until the death of his father in 1849, the firm of Pearce & Bullock being regarded as among the most enterprising and successful mercantile houses of Providence. Upon the decease of his father, finding him- self in possession of an ample fortune, he retired from the cares of an active business life, and devoted himself to such pursuits as were congenial with his tastes. For fourteen years he was the President of the Commercial Bank of Providence, and for several years one of the trustees of the Butler Asylum for the Insane. For some time also he was one of the Inspectors of the State Prison. He was in the City Council of Providence for two years. He was also chosen Presidential Elector from Rhode Island. He sus- tained, moreover, intimate relations with some of the re- ligious and financial institutions of his native city, and in a variety of ways made his influence to be felt for good. He did not court publicity, but sought rather to live the quiet, unostentatious life of one who was content to serve his generation in his own modest and unobtrusive way. He was twice married. His widow and seven children- two by his first marriage-survived him. His death oc- curred in Providence December 22, 1862.

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The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 75

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