The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 79

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

USA > Rhode Island > The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island > Part 79

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

self rest or recreation. Under his administration the library more than doubled in the number of volumes on the shelves, the number being at the time of his death not far from 40,000. As already intimated he was among the largest donors of the institution. " In the annual list of those who have contributed to our collections," says a minute entered on the record of the Athenaum, " his name is never want- ing, but he always forbade the mention of the fact that not infrequently the value of his year's gifts exceeded the com- bined worth of all donations. The aggregate number of volumes given by him would form a respectable fraction of the whole library." The last months of his life were full of weariness and physical prostration, but until within a short time of his decease he never remitted the discharge of duties which for so many years had been the joy of his life. He died in Providenee a few months after the decease of his wife, the event taking place August 23, 1879, in the seventy-first year of his age. The forty-fourth annual report of the directors of the Providence Athenaeum, sub- mitted September 22, 1879, contains on pages six and seven a highly appreciative notice of the life and character of Mr. Hedge. The wife of Mr. Hedge was Abby E. Sabin, whom he married May 24, 1864. There are no children surviving.

ALLOU, OTIS DEXTER, son of Otis and Nancy (Jenekes) Ballou, was born in Cumberland, Rhode Island, January 23, 1809. Having been left fath- erless in his childhood, and motherless in his youth,

- he had limited advantages of education, but re- ceived a valuable diseipline of industry and self-reliance. After a business experience of eleven years, from 1833 to 1844, he purchased a farm, which he managed successfully. Among other products, his farm yielded twelve hundred bushels of potatoes in one year. In 1846 Mr. Ballou bought a hotel in Woonsocket, which he kept for eighteen years, and conducted on strict temperance principles, no intoxi- cating drinks, not even cider, being allowed on his prem- ises. After the first five years, the business of this hotel became profitable. In the latter part of his life, about ten years, Mr. Ballou was employed in settling estates. For about thirty years he was a Director in the Cumberland Bank, of which he was President during the last six years of his life. In the Woonsocket Savings Bank he was a member of the Board of Investment. Though many times solicited to accept public office, he invariably declined. He married, January 16, 1839, Mrs. Eliza Allen, widow of Arnold Allen, and daughter of Amos and Olive (Darling) Cook, of Cumberland ; the issue of the marriage being two children, Allen Francis and Irene. Mrs. Ballou had one child by her first marriage, Ida Allen, who died in 1853, in her twenty-second year. Mr. Ballou died in Woon- socket, November 4, 1875. He is remembered as an active, judicious, Christian man, of strict integrity.

351

BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA.

HACE, PROF. GEORGE IDE, Ph.D., LL.D., son of Charles and Ruth (Jenckes) Chace, was born in Lancaster, Massachusetts, February 19, 1808. His early years were passed on his father's farm. He fitted for college at the Lancaster Academy, and was a graduate of Brown University in the class of 1830. Among his classmates were Rev. Daniel Leach, D.D., Rev. C. M. Nickels, D.D., Rev. S. B. Swain, D.D., and Hon. B. F. Thomas, LL.D. Immediately after his graduation he went to Waterville, Maine, where, for nine months, he was Principal of what is now known as the Waterville In- stitute. In 1831 he was appointed Tutor in Brown Uni- versity, and soon after Adjunct Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy. In IS34 he was appointed Pro- fessor of Chemistry, Physiology, and Geology. This Chair he filled until 1859, a period of fifteen years, when the title of his Professorship became " Professor of Chemistry and Physiology." In 1867 he was appointed " Professor of Moral Philosophy and Metaphysics," and he held this position five years, 1867-72. Upon the resignation of Presi- dent Sears, Professor Chace was chosen President of the University pro tempore, and was in office one year. His connection with the University terminated in 1872. The year and a half which succeeded his resignation, was spent in foreign travel, his journey extending as far east as Egypt. Since his return Professor Chace has been called to fill important offices of trust in the city government. He has, for several years, been in the Board of Aldermen of the city of Providence. He is President of the Board of State Charities, President of the Rhode Island Hospital, and a trustee of the Butler Asylum. He received the de- gree of Doctor of Philosophy in 1853 from Lewisburg University, and the degree of Doctor of Laws from Brown University in the same year. He married, July 2, 1839, Abby Wheaton, daughter of Earl D. and Lydia (Wheaton) Pearce.

NOWLES, HON. JOHN POWER, was born in Provi- dence, Rhode Island, June 13, 1808, the youngest of five sons of Edward Knowles second, and his wife Amey, both of whom were natives of Provi- dence, where the father died in January, 1811, the mother in October, 1838. For some years a pupil of one of the "Free Schools" of Providence, of which Rev. George Taft was " Preceptor," he, in July, IS19, was with- drawn therefrom, and apprenticed to the printer's trade in Providence. His apprenticeship terminating at an early age, he, before attaining his majority, engaged with a sen- ior partner in the printing business in Providence, and there- after, as a master-printer, continued to prosecute that busi- ness, until, in December, IS30, in fulfilment of a purpose long cherished, but from year to year necessarily postponed, he withdrew from mechanical pursuits, and commenced a course of study, among the notable incidents of which

were his graduation at Brown University in 1836, with the degree of A.B., at Harvard Law School in IS38, with the degree of LL.B., and his admission to the bar of Rhode Island in October, 1838, after six months' study in the office of General Thomas F. Carpenter. Of his prac- tice at the bar, ending in 1869, it is enough to say that it was always satisfactorily remunerative and extensive, and that, by appointment of the Supreme Court, he was one of its Standing Masters in Chancery from about 1845 onward, and the Reporter of its decisions from January IS55 to January 1857, when the duty of appointing a Reporter was imposed on the General Assembly in place of the Court. Subsequently, however, in January, 1865, he was reinstated as Reporter by the Assembly, and served as such until his resignation, March 1I, 1867. Previous to 1843 he was a not inactive member of the then so-called " Loco Foco" party, but thereafter ever disavowed affiliation with any party, whatever its title, nickname, professions or promises. Still, although notoriously an Independent or " Scratcher," defiant of all political parties or factions, he was not unfrequently put in nomination for office on party tickets, regular and irregular, and sometimes elected-twice in 1855 and 1866, a Representative to the General Assem- bly from Providence, and twice in 1866 and 1867, City Solicitor of the city of Providence, resigning before the close of his second term. In the Suffrage movement of 1841-43, after the supposed adoption of the People's Con- stitution (not before), and until the threat or promise of President Tyler and his cabinet to sustain the Old Charter government (not after), he sympathized and co-operated with Mr. Dorr and his associates, without hesitation affix- ing his signature to that much-reviled document known as "The Nine Lawyers' Opinion," embodying principles and doctrines which, it is believed, eight of the Nine, to their latest breath, adhered to and advocated, as sound and statesmanlike, and which it is certain the now sole sur- vivor, the Ninth, has never yet repudiated, disavowed, or sought or desired to qualify. In October 1869, he was, by the President, appointed Judge of the District Court of the United States for the District of Rhode Island, by com- mission under date of that month, and subsequently, on nomination by the President and confirmation by the Sen- ate, was appointed to the same office, his commission bear- ing date January 24, 1870; this position he occupied until March, 1881, when he resigned.

URGES, HON. WALTER SNOW, late Associate Jus- tice of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island, son of Abraham and Rhoda (Caswell) Burges, was born in Rochester, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, September 10, 1808. His father and his grand- father, John Burges, were natives of the same town, and farmers. His uncle, Hon. Tristam Burges, was Professor of Oratory and Belles-lettres in Brown University from

352

BIOGRAPIIICAL CYCLOPEDIA.

1815 to 1828, and became a distinguished member of Con- gress, serving from 1825 to 1835, and died in 1853. His mother was the daughter of Elijah Caswell, of the samc town with his father. Walter S. had good home training and excellent common-school advantages. At the age of seventeen, he entered the academy at Sandwich, Massa- chusetts, under Professor Luther Lincoln, and in 1827 en- tercd Brown University, at which institution he graduated with honor in 1831, having among his classmates Professor William Gammell, LL.D., and Rev. . Drs. Nicholas Hoppin and Henry Waterman. He immediately became Principal of Thaxter Academy, at Edgartown, Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, and taught about four years, meanwhile pursuing legal studies. In 1835, he was admitted to the practice of law in the courts of Rhode Island, and soon attained prominence in his profession. In politics he was identified with the Federal, National Republican, Whig, and finally, Republican parties. In the " Dorr troubles," he sympathized with the party of progress and reform, but held to the proper lines of law and order, taking but little active part in the general commotion. In 1845, he was appointed United States District Attorney for Rhode Island, under the administration of President Polk, and acted for four years. His services were various and efficient in both branches of the Legislature of the State, and he was elected Attorney-General of the State in 1851, and re-elected in 1852, 1853, and 1854, and again in 1860, 1861, 1862, and 1863. In 1868, he was chosen Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the State, which position he filled with honor until his resignation, June 1, 1881. The confidence reposed in him by the people of Rhode Island was not misplaced. His ambition was to do right, to uphold the laws, and to serve the commonwealth that delighted to honor him. His retirement to private life from the se- vere labors of the highest tribunal of the State has been earned by his long public services and his fidelity. He married, June 1, 1836, Eleanor, daughter of Hon. James Burrill, of Providence. She died in Providence, May 21, 1865. He has three children : Cornelia A., now Mrs. Ar- nold Greene; Sarah E., now Mrs. Charles Morris Smith ; and Theodora F.

B LAKE, HON. JAMES M., son of Charles (M.D.), and Fannie Hunt Blake, was born in Northfield, Mas- sachusetts, July 13, 1809. His father was an eminent Surgeon in the United States Navy, and was in actual service in the naval battle between the Constitution and Guerriere. He was descended from an honorable English ancestry, one of whom was the distin- guished Admiral Blake. William Blake came to this country in 1630, and settled in Dorchester, Massachusetts. The subject of this sketch was the sixth in line of descent from William. Having completed his preparatory educa- tion, he studied law, at first with Joel Parker, in Keene,

New Hampshire, and then with his uncle, Hon. George Blake, United States Attorney of Boston. At this time a student could be admitted to the bar in Rhode Island sooner than in other States, and Mr. Blake, wishing to enter upon the practice of his profession at the earliest practicable period, came to this State in 1829 and com- pleted his law studies in the office of John Howe, of Bris- tol. Upon being admitted to the bar, he became the part- ner of Mr. Howe, and a few years afterwards formed a law partnership with J. Russell Bullock, which continued until he was chosen Attorney General. In 1836, he was chosen to represent Bristol in the General Assembly, and continued a member of that body with brief intermissions, except when he was Attorney-General, to 1866, being al- ways elected without opposition. In 1843, he was chosen Attorney-General, and held the office for eight years. Some of the most memorable cases, in which his professional services were prominent, were the following: In May, 1833, was held the trial of Ephraim K. Avery, for the murder of Sarah Maria Cornell. He was associated with the distinguished Hon. Jeremiah Mason, and other gentle- men eminent in the profession, as counsel for the prisoner. Few trials have taken place in New England which awakened more widespread interest than this. Ten years after this, as Attorney-General, he occupied a prominent position in the prosecution of Thomas W. Dorr for treason. At the March term, 1844, of the Supreme Court, in his official capacity, he was the prosecuting attorney in the case of the brothers Gordon, charged with the murder of Amasa Sprague, who was killed near his home the last of December, 1843. There werc other memorable trials in which he took a conspicuous part. He was among the ablest lawyers who have been the ornaments of the bar of his adopted State. The later years of his life were embit- tered by severe bodily indisposition, from which he was a constant sufferer. His death took place in Bristol, Novem- ber 8, 1879, in the sixty-ninth year of his age. The wife of Mr. Blake was Hope E. T. Richmond, of Bristol, by whom he had three children, Mrs. Gower, Hunt Blake, Esq., of New York, and Charles Blake, Clerk of the Su- preme Court of Rhode Island.

@cn URGESS, HON. THOMAS MACKIE, eldest son of Hon. Thomas and Mary (Mackie) Burgess, was born in Providence, June 6, 1806, and was a graduate of Brown University in the class of 1822. Among his classmates were President Caswell, Hon. S. L. Crocker, Hon. Isaac Davis, Hon. Solomon Lincoln, and Rev. Dr. B. C. Cutter. Soon after his graduation he commenced the study of law, but having decided to engage in mercantile pursuits he abandoned the profession, and became a· successful merchant. In the prosecution of his business he spent a number of winters in Charleston, South Carolina, where he formed many pleasant friendships,

Plusylsworth

353

BIOGRAPHICAL CYCLOPEDIA.

which were kept alive during the remainder of his life. On the decease of the Hon. S. W. Bridgham, the first mayor of Providence, in February, 1841, Mr. Burgess was elected his successor, and by annual re-elections continued in office till 1852. The early period of his mayoralty was in the midst of the exciting scenes connected with the " Dorr War," and the position of Mayor Burgess was one of grave re- sponsibility. He was in favor at different times during his term of service of plans which he believed would greatly promote the prosperity of his native city. He met with no small amount of opprobrium and opposition in the carrying out of these plans. It was conceded, subsequently, that his purposes were wise, and that under his administration the city made healthy progress in its affairs. Having de- clined longer to serve as Mayor he was not re-elected to the office. On the organization of the Providence, Warren and Bristol Railroad he was chosen President of the corporation, and continued to perform the duties of the office so long as his health permitted. About two and a half years before his death he had a stroke of paralysis, which was followed by a second stroke a few months prior to his decease, which occurred at his residence, 108 South Main Street, Provi- dence, October 17, 1856. He married, October 10, 1831, Eliza Howard, of Providence.

YLSWORTH, JUDGE ELI, son of Arthur and Mary (Preston) Aylsworth, was born in Foster, Rhode Island, June 6, 1802, and is a lineal de- scendant of Arthur Aylsworth, a native of Scotland, who was among the early settlers of North Kings- town. Judge Aylsworth was the eldest of twelve children. and as his father was a farmer in very reduced circum- stances, he was early thrown upon his own resources and obliged to contribute to the support of the family. At the age of eighteen he entered a village store, where he was employed for two years as a clerk. At the end of that time he began business in a small way on his own account, in Foster, and soon established a reputation for industry, economy, and integrity. He continued in mercantile busi- ness in Foster and vicinity for thirteen years, during which time he accumulated considerable property. Hesubsequently engaged in farming and the settlement of estates, removing first to North Foster, where he remained until September, 1841, thence to West Killingly, Connecticut, and from that place to Brooklyn, Connecticut, where he remained about ten years. In 1850 he removed to Providence, where he has since resided, being engaged principally in the settle- ment of estates and in investing money for others, who have been greatly benefited financially by his investments. From 1845 to 1878 he was a director of the Mechanics' Savings Bank, of Providence, a member of the Loaning Committee, and for nearly twenty years Vice-President of that bank. He was also a director of the Atlantic Bank, and the first President of the Jackson Bank. Since 1858

he has been President of the Westminster Bank, the busi- ness of which under his management has been conducted with great success. While residing in Foster he served as Justice of the Peace, Deputy Sheriff, and held other offices there. In 1838 he was one of the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas of Providence County, being associated with Hon. Thomas Burgess, Judge Daniels, Judge Uriel Potter, and Judge Armstrong. In 1854, 1866, and 1867 he was a Member of the General Assembly, serving for two years on the Finance Committee. His first vote for President of the United States was cast for John Quincy Adams; he was an enthusiastic supporter of the Federal and Whig parties, an abolitionist during the days of the anti-slavery struggle, and has been a member of the Re- publican party since its organization. Though not a church member, he has been a regular attendant at the Mathewson Street M. E. Church during his residence in Providence, and is a frequent contributor to religious and benevolent objects. He married, August 3, 1822, Martha Bennett, daughter of Jeremiah and Rhoda Bennett, of Foster. She" died November 13, 1837. On the 20th of December, 1840, he married Maria Fairman, of Killingly, Connecti- cut, who died July 16, 1842. On the 20th of September, 1843, he married Eliza S. Angell. There were ten chil- dren by the first marriage, Mercy, Emily, Susan, Eli, Albert, Hiram B., John H., Adaline, Ezra, and Eliza. The issue of the seecond marriage was a son, Henry P., and of the third marriage, two children, Emor A., who died in in- fancy, and Ira C. W. Seven of Judge Aylsworth's chil- dren are living. His son Hiram B. Aylsworth, a sketch of whom appears in this volume, is a prominent wholesale merchant of Providence. Judge Aylsworth is a man of strictly temperate habits, of a cheerful and genial disposi- tion, and although now in his seventy-ninth year, is appar- ently as robust and energetic as most men at fifty.

PUTHER, HON. HENRY HICKS, son of George and Rebecca (Hicks) Luther, was born in Warren, Rhode Island, September 22, 1808. His father, a native of Swansey, Massachusetts, was for many years a ship-master in the merchant service, and died in Cuba. His mother was the daughter of Samuel Hicks. Her father was a lieutenant in the American Revolution, recruited the quota of the town of Warren for that war, and at its close resumed his occupation of sea-captain. Mr. Luther was educated in the schools of Warren. At the age of seventeen he entered the hardware store of J. Congdon & Son, of Providence, where he was employed as clerk for three years. He then returned to Warren and engaged in the whaling business, in which he continued successfully for several years. Afterward he engaged in the manu- facture of iron and copper rivets used in making barrels, which business he carried on until his buildings were burned. Mr. Luther has had a prominent aud successful

354

BIOGRAPHIICAL CYCLOPEDIA.

political carcer, extending over a period of forty-five years. On the 25th of August, 1835, he was elected as Representa- tive to the Rhode Island General Assembly, and re-elected in 1836-37-38-39-43-57-58-59. On the 6th of April, 1853, he was elected State Senator, and subsequently served in that capacity for four years, 1872-73-74-75. The records of the General Assembly bcar testimony to his faithfulness and efficiency as a member of that body, and the confidence reposed in him by the community found ex- pression in his frequent re-election. While a member of the General Assembly he served on many committees, the most important of which were committees on finance. During his politieal career he has been greatly instrumental in advancing measures designed to promote the welfare of the State. He was one of the first Railroad Commissioners of Rhode Island. August 31, 1841, he was elected by the town of Warren as a delegate to the convention to frame the new Constitution for the State. He has been an earnest advocate of the cause of popular education, and has served "efficiently as a member of the Warren School Committee. Mr. Luther was also one of the founders of the Warren Young Ladies' Seminary, which was very popular in its day, and the second of its kind in New England. On the ISth of April, 1860, he was elected Town Clerk of Warren, and has held that offiee continually to the present time (18SI). While serving in this eapaeity he has frequently been tendered the nomination as candidate for Representa- tive and State Senator, but deelined to aceept, as he con- sidered it his duty to devote his time exclusively to the interests of the town. For six or seven years he has been President of the Philanthropic Society of Warren, a mutual benefit fraternity. Mr. Luther is well known as an advo- cate of the extension of free suffrage, and during the days of the Anti-slavery struggle was a warm supporter of aboli- tion sentiments.

JOURN, GEORGE OSBORN, manufacturer, son of Stephen and Deborah Bourn, was born in Somer- set, Massachusetts, July 4, 1809, and was a de- scendant of Jared Bourn, who settled in Boston about 1630, whence he removed to Roxbury, where he was a constable, and subsequently resided in Ports- mouth, Rhode Island. Jared Bourn was a member of the Rhode Island Legislature in 1667. At the time of King Philip's War he lived on the neck of land called Matta- poisett, now Gardner's Neck, in Swansey, Massachusetts. Bourn's block-house was the object of the first attack by Philip, and was the refuge of many of the neighbors, until they were relieved by the Bridgewater Company. Jared Bourn's first wife, Mary, dicd in Boston, March 30, 1644. His second wife's Christian name was Frances. His son Jared, who was baptized March 7, 1651, and died in Swansey in 1717, married and had six children, his wife's Christian name being Elizabeth, These children were Mary, Elizabeth, Francis, Patience, Martha, and a

son whose name is unknown, Francis married Charity Wheaton in Swansey, February 23, 1715, and had seven children,-Jared, Sarah, Stephen, Rachel, Francis, Natha- niel, and Content. Stephen, who was born October 25, 1724, married, September 16, 1756, Charity Chase, daugh- ter of Elisha and Elizabeth (Wheaton) Chase. Stephen Bourn was lost at sea. He had an only son, Stephen, who married, first, Deborah Chase, daughter of Ichabod and Phebe (Slade) Chase; and, seeond, June 28, 1798, his cousin, Deborah Bourn, daughter of Francis and Elizabeth (Sterns) Bourn. The children by the first marriage were Charity, Phebe, Sarah, and Stephen; and by the second marriage, Deborah, John, George, Eliza, Rachel, and George Osborn, the subject of this sketch. Mr. Bourn's mother died October 25, 1822, when he was thirteen years of age, and his father's death occurred November 5th of the same year. He had no school advantages except in- struction in the rudimentary branches as then taught in the town sehools. At an early age he went to Providence on foot, carrying in his hand all his worldly possessions. On his way, to shorten the journey, he crossed fields and vacant lots, and in getting over a stone wall sprained his ankle, which unfitted him for the mason's trade, to which he had apprenticed himself. He therefore learned the trade of a shoemaker, and soon started in business for him- self in Providence. He was one of the earliest, if not the earliest, in the State to commenee the manufacture of india-rubber shoes. He began on a moderate scale by merely lining and shaping the rubbers which were imported from Brazil. His first attempt at manufacturing was in the upper part of a chair or furniture factory of Thomas M. Parker, Providence. This was about 1843 or 1844. In 1847 he associated with him in business Colonel William W. Brown, of Providence, and in 1851, Edwin M. Chaffee, the inventor of the machinery now universally used in the manufacture of rubber goods, which partnership continued until his death. Their place of business was on Dorrance Street, corner of Clifford Street, Providence ; and though, in view of the present magnitude of the business, their factory would now seem quite small, it was in those days one of the leading establishments of the country. About 1851 or 1852, Mr. Bourn went to Canada, and there estab- lished the Montreal Rubber Company, and a year or two later built the factory operated for a few years by Brown, Hibbard, Bourn & Co., which is now one of the largest establishments in America. During the " Dorr War" Mr. Bourn was very active on the side of law and order, and was First Lieutenant in command of the Cadet Company at the march to Federal Hill, in Providence, and also at Acoté's Hill, in Chepachet. He was in the arsenal as one of its defenders at the time of its attack by the Dorr party. For several years prior to his death, which occurred Au- gust 17, 1859, he had been in failing health, and was obliged to spend his winters in warm climates. The last five winters of his life were spent in Cuba, stopping on his

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 79

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