The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 80

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

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Samuel James mes

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return for a few weeks in the Southern States. He was a man of remarkable energy, of indomitable courage, and of great executive ability in all his business relations. In private life he was above reproach, extremely kind and sympathetic, ever ready to help the needy, to cheer the depressed, and to lend his aid and influence to every good work. He married, December 1, 1833, Hulda Battey, daughter of Ezra and Sally (Peckham) Eddy. She is a descendant of Rev. William Eddy, rector, in 1580, of Cranbrook, Kent, England. Their children are IIon. Augustus O. Bourn, a sketch of whom appears in this volume ; Emma E. Bourn, and Rachel, who married William C. Downs, and now resides in New York city. Mrs. Bourn resides with her eldest daughter in Providence.

B CERROYDEN, REV. JOHN, was born at Sturbridge, Mas- sachusetts, May 14, 1809, and died in Woon- socket, R. I., September 28, 1869. He was the son of John and Elizabeth (Adams) Boyden. His youth was spent upon the farm with his parents. He attended the public schools of his neighborhood and the academies at Sturbridge, Brookfield, and Dudley. At the age of seventeen he began to teach during the winter, and so continued until his tastes and convictions led him to adopt the Christian ministry as a profession. He pursued his theological studies under the tuition of Rev. Hosea Ballou, of Boston, and entered upon the active duties of a pastor at Berlin, Connecticut, where he remained three years. He then went to Dudley, Massachusetts, where he remained five years. In 1840 he removed to Woonsocket, Rhode Island, and made that town his place of residence and field of labor up to the time of his death. His early labors, which were various and widely bestowed, were mostly of a polemical character. He often preached eight or ten times in a week. The advocate of universal inter- pretations of the Scriptures he often met with bitter oppo- sition, but never did equanimity or magnanimity fail him. Men, whom his reasoning, which was always clear and natural, could not convince, were often persuaded by the sweetness of his temper. He had that fineness of nature, delicacy of sentiment, justness of apprehension, and sound common sense which seemed a perpetual inspiration, and wherever he went he exerted an influence for good. In the various reformatory movements of the day he took an active interest. He was among the foremost to advocate total abstinence and prohibition. The Anti-slavery cause enlisted all his sympathies, and to its advancement he de- voted his utmost energy. He saw the injustice done to woman by restricting the sphere of her activity, and in the small remuneration paid for her labors, and persuasively plead for her relief. He was one of the original members of the Rhode Island Universalist Convention, and for years its honored President. He was several times elected, by his fellow-citizens, a member of the General Assembly.

But the most important service he rendered the public was in the capacity of School Committee and Superintendent, which offices he held for a quarter of a century. The cause of education could not have had a more judicious or efficient servant. At the end of his service the schools of his town compared favorably with the best in the State. In his denomination his name was revered; he was re- spected by other branches of the Christian Church, and beloved by all who knew him. He married, September 20, 1831, Sarah Church Jacobs, daughter of Richmond and Clarissa Jacobs, of Scituate, Massachusetts. They had one son, John Richmond, who died in early manhood, soon after leaving college. Mrs. Boyden survives her husband, and lives with her daughter-in-law, in the old homestead, surrounded by her own and her husband's many devoted and loving friends.

ROOKE, WARREN, M.D., son of Jesse and Lydia (Thayer) Cooke, was born in Uxbridge, Massachu- setts, August 10, 1809. He pursued his medical studies under the direction of Dr. Hiram Cleveland, of Pawtucket, and took the degree of M.D. at Co- lumbia College, Washington, D. C., in 1834. After prac- ticing two years in Maryland, he returned to Rhode Island, and took up his residence in Lonsdale. In this village he was a successful physician for over thirty years. In 1867 he retired from the more active duties of his profession, and moved a short distance from Lonsdale, that he might live a more quiet life, continuing his practice to some ex - tent among old families, the ties between whom and him- self had been strengthened by years of attendance upon them in times of sickness. In the affairs of the village of Lonsdale he always took an interest. The Young Men's Lyceum sought his services to give them lectures. Of Christ's Church, of which he was a member, he was a vestryman for many years, and was a Delegate to the Dio- cesan Convention several times. He was also a member of the School Committee for several years. His death, which was sudden, occurred May 15, 1873. The wife of Dr. Cooke was Elizabeth, daughter of Jonathan Arnold, of Smithfield, who, with one daughter, survives her husband.

AMES, SAMUEL, son of William and Catharine (Field) James, was born in Providence, Rhode Island, January 27, 1814. His father, also a native of Providence, was for many years a successful dealer in cotton and other merchandise in Georgia, but sub- sequently returned to Providence, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits; finally inheriting a large estate from his father, he retired from business, and until his death, in 1824, resided on Federal Hill, in the house afterwards used, in 1842, by Thomas W. Dorr as his headquarters.

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The grand father of the subject of this sketch, Samuel James, was widely known as a manufacturer of paper-hangings, and was a director of Roger Williams Bank at a time when there were but two banks in Providence. Other members of the family were prominent in the community. Mr. James's mother was a daughter of Lemucl Field, of Providence. She died in 1875, at the advanced age of ninety-three. She was a descendant of John Field, the ancestor of the family in Rhode Island, who lived in Prov- idence as early as 1637, and died in 1692. Mr. James entcred upon an active business career at an early age. Ile attended school until his twelfth ycar, and for seven years thereafter was employed in the printing-office in the Granite Building, on Market Square, where the Rhode Island Country Journal, a weekly newspaper, and the Manufacturers' and Farmers' Journal, a semi-weckly, were printed. He finally relinquished the printing busi- ness, on account of impaired health, became clerk in a grocery store, and in 1835, with Joseph W. Davis, engaged in the grocery business, in which they continued success- fully for about eight years, under the firm-name of Joseph W. Davis & Co. In 1843 Mr. James sold his interest to his partner, erected a building nearly opposite the old store, and for several years carried on the same business alone. Part of that time, from 1852 to 1855, he was the City Agent under the Maine Law, his appointment as such having been received from Amos C. Barstow, Mayor, and confirmed by the Board of Aldermen. On the 15th of May, 1861, President Lincoln appointed him Weigher in the Providence Custom-house, which position he occupied until December 31, 1868, since which time he has been engaged in real estate transactions, and in the discharge of his duties as a bank officer. He was a member of the Providence Common Council, from the Fifth Ward, from June, 1842, to June, 1844. In 1849 he was elected a member of the Board of Aldermen, by the Temperance and Whig parties, and re-elected successively until 1855. In 1859 he was the nominee of the Republican party for Mayor, and received a large vote, but not sufficient for his election. He was a director in the State Bank from June, 1854, to June, 1873, and at the formation of the Mechanics' Savings Bank, July 18, 1854, he was elected one of its trustees, which office he still holds. Since July, 1860, he has been a member of the loaning committee, and has travelled extensively in the interest of the bank, devoting much time to the careful placing of its funds. He was elected Vice-President of that bank in July, 1876, and still holds that office. He is also a director of the Westmin- ster Bank, and a director in the Hope Insurance Company. In politics he has been identified with the Republican party since its organization, and was formerly a Whig. In 1842 he was a firm supporter of the Law and Order party, and served in Colonel William Blodgett's company, which took a conspicuous part in the " Dorr War." In 1839 Mr. James and his wife united with the Chestnut Street Meth-

odist Episcopal Church, in which Mr. James was for many years class-leader, steward, and trustee. His home was ever open to welcome the ministers and friends of that de- nomination. In 1863, becoming dissatisfied with the Gen- eral Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, be united with Grace Episcopal Church, and served for several years as vestryman. He married, May 8, 1835, Tabitha S. Rhodes, daughter of Captain Richard and Tabitha ( Harris) Rhodes, of North Scituate, Rhode Island. They have had five children, two sons and thrce daughters. William An- drew, their eldest son, served in the Union army during the Civil War, and was breveted Coloncl for meritorious conduct. He removed to Chicago in 1865, where he has since engaged successfully in business, his residence being at Ilighland Park, of which city he was Mayor in 1873. From 1874 to 1880 he was a member of the Illinois Legis- lature, and since 1879 has been Speaker of the House of Representatives, which position he has filled with marked ability. Colonel James married, March 31, 1869, Georgi- anna Case, of Springfield, Massachusetts, and has one son, Samuel Winthrop. The other children of Samuel James are, Celia, who married Thomas H. Spencer, a prominent merchant of Chicago, who is widely known as a lay preacher in the Presbytcrian Church; Emma Frances, and Isabel, the wife of Herbert West, of New York, a whole- sale dealer in woollen goods. Samuel Knight, the youngest son, died in infancy. Mr. James has succeeded in acquir- ing an ample fortune, and occupies a prominent and influ- ential position as a citizen.

TEDMAN, DANIEL M. C., son of Daniel and Free- love (Reynolds) Stedman, was born in South Kingstown, Rhode Island, June 3, 1810. His father, grandfather (Daniel M. C. Stedman), and great-grandfather (Daniel Stedman), were also natives of South Kingstown, and lived and died in the same house, the date of the birth of the former being April 25, 1787. Thomas Stedman, father of the great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, also lived and died in South Kings- town. The first of the family came from Scotland. Mr. Stedman's boyhood and youth were spent principally in Wakefield, Rhode Island. He early engaged in the shoe business, which he carried on successfully until he was about forty years of age, when he became cashier of the Hopkinton Bank, in Westerly, Rhode Island. In 1852, he became cashier of the South County Bank, in Wake- field, and continued to fill that position until 1861, when he was elected cashier of the Wakefield National Bank, which office he still holds. He has also been treasurer of the Wakefield Institution for Savings since 1861. Mr. Stedman is treasurer of the Narragansett Pier Railroad Company, and of the Riverside Cemetery Association, and has been treasurer of the Library Association of Wakefield since its organization, in 1854. He has also served as

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Town Treasurer. In 1825, he united with the Baptist Church in Wakefield, of which he is an active member, having held for a number of years the offices of clerk and treasurer of the Society. His ancestors have been mem- bers of the same communion as far back as he can trace his genealogy. In 1830, he organized and was Superin- tendent of the first Sabbath School in the Baptist Church in Wakefield. In 1832, he was an active worker in the first temperance society in the town, and in 1840, was a candidate for State Senator on the temperance ticket. He was also identified with the first movements for the abolition of slavery. In 1850, he was a leader in the for- mation of the Niantic Baptist Church, Westerly, assuming the entire responsibility of building their house of worship. In 1857, he gathered the facts and published the first sketch of the history of the Wakefield Baptist Church. For many years he has been a member of the Foreign and Home Mission Societies, and is a member of the Board of the Baptist State Convention. He married, November 3, 1830, in Wakefield, Martha C. Allen. They have had five chil- dren, Martha A., Mary A., Caroline W., Emeline S., de- ceased, and Julia. Caroline was married to Rev. Samuel I. Carr, April 19, 1859, Mary was married to Solomon H. Hale, of Wakefield, April 19, 1869. On the 3d of November, 1880, Mr. and Mrs. Stedman celebrated their golden wedding, which was largely attended, on which occasion they received valuable tokens of the high esteem in which they are held in the community.

JOIES, HON. CHARLES, manufacturer, son of John and Anna Moies, was born in Dorchester, Mas- sachusetts, October 21, 1809. During his child- hood his parents removed to North Adams, and thence in a few years, to Northampton, Massachu- setts. In 1826, at the age of seventeen, he went to Paw- tucket, where he was employed as clerk by Barney Merry. After a residence there of about four years, he removed to Central Falls, which at that time, and for more than forty years thereafter, was a part of the ancient town of Smith- field. This town afforded superior facilities for manufac- turing, which invited capital and enterprise, and there Mr. Moies soon found scope for his talents and energy. In 1832 he engaged successfully in business as a thread manufac- turer, and two years afterwards began to manufacture print cloths. From 1837 to 1846 he was associated as partner with Ruel Richards and the Hon. James F. Simmons, for many years a United States Senator, and was associated with others at different times. Mr. Moies continued in active business until 1856, when a slight paralytic attack warned him to lighten his burdens and withdraw from the active control of his large manufacturing interests. Though his personal supervision of his business ceased at that time, his capital and counsel continued to contribute to the ac- tivity and thrift of the town wherein he resided until his

death. One of his mills long stood at the eastern end of Cross Street, on the site which the hair-cloth mill now oc- cupies. Possessing a vigorous intellect, and having de- cided views on public affairs, he exerted considerable influence in political circles, and was frequently called upon to fill public positions. His fellow-citizens not only claimed his services in municipal legislation, but for many years he was chosen to represent them in the General Assembly. As a member of each branch of the General Assembly he wielded a marked influence on the legislation of the State; and when events had shown that the old charter, which for more than a century and a half had been the organic law of the commonwealth, needed to be succeeded by a new constitution, he was chosen a member of the conven- tion which framed that document. In 1871 Smithfield was subdivided, and the southeastern portion was made a new town, named Lincoln, of which he was for years President of the Town Council, as he had previously been of the town of Smithfield. As President of the Council and Judge of Probate for the two towns, his official career ex- tended over a period of twenty-five years. Besides hold- ing the offices named, he was for many years President of the Pawtucket Institution for Savings, and of the Pacific National Bank. Mr. Moies was twice married. His first wife was Clarissa Gano Jenks, daughter of George F. Jenks, of Central Falls, to whom he was married October 15, 1834. She died November 29, 1840. By this mar- riage there were three children, none of whom are living. On the IIth of August, 1843, Mr. Moies married Robie A. Knight, daughter of Joseph W. Knight, of Central Falls. There were three children by the second marriage, two of whom are living. Mr. Moies died December 21, 1880.

MITH, ALFRED, was born in Newport, Rhode Island, December 6, 1809, and is the only son of Benjamin Whitehead and Hannah Howard ( Peck- ham) Smith. He is a lineal descendant of Edward Smith, who accompanied John Clarke in procuring the Charter of Rhode Island from King Charles II. In boyhood he received such an education as was ordinarily imparted in the common schools of his town. At an early age he learned of Isaac Gould the trade of a tailor, and spent about ten years in New York city, where he was employed as a cutter. He exhibited such skill and energy in this calling, that during part of the time mentioned he commanded a salary of six thousand dollars a year. About the year 1840 he returned to Newport, where he has since remained, having been engaged in the real estate business there since 1850 to the present time. In his real estate transactions he has been remarkably successful. During five years of the time that he has been thus engaged his sales amounted to a million dollars annually, and in one year they were one million eight hundred thousand, the aggregate amount of his sales since 1850 being over twenty

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million dollars. Mr. Smith's practical, far-secing business faculties have been of incalculable value to Newport in making it an attractive and elegant resort for visitors, and in contributing to the growth and prosperity of that city. Ile foresaw a fortune for himself, and pointed out for others fortunes then lying in old fields and pastures. Many of his townsmen are now enjoying the wealth which thus came from increased value of their lands. He planted thousands of trees, and inaugurated and successfully car- ried forward improvements which have greatly enhanced the beauty of the city. He has laid out all the fashion- able drive-ways of Newport, his greatest work in this di- rection being the splendid drive-way of over eleven miles, including Bellevue and Ocean Avenues. It was chiefly by his skill that it was undertaken and completed by the city. The late Thomas Winans, of Baltimore, an exten- sive traveller and railroad builder in Russia, pronounced this the finest shore drive-way in the world. It affords to visitors a panoramic view of unsurpassed beauty, and is indeed one of the greatest attractions of the far-famed city of health and pleasure. Mr. Smith may well be proud of the honor of being foremost in the construction of an avenue so conducive to the happiness of multitudes. He married, in February, 1843, Ann Maria Talbot, daughter of Captain Allen Talbot, of Dighton, Massachusetts. Their children are Howard Smith, Mrs. Ellen Talbot Baker, Mrs. Harriet Fisher Brownell, and Mary Luther Smith.

ALES, COLONEL SAMUEL HAZZARD, was born in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, March 19, 1810. He is a lineal descendant of Nathaniel Wales, ship- wright, who came to this country from Dorchester, England, in the same ship with Rev. Richard Math- er, in 1635, and in 1654 settled in Boston, where he died, December 4, 1661. The given name of the wife of Na- thaniel Wales was Isabel, and the names of his children, Timothy, John, and Nathaniel. Nathaniel was born in England, and died in Boston, May 20, 1662, leaving four children, Nathaniel, Samuel, Mary, and Jonathan. Jona- than was killed in King Philip's War. Nathaniel married Joanna Faxon, daughter of Thomas Faxon, and had fifteen children. He was a deacon in the church in Braintree (now Quincy), and was made ruling elder in the same church February 27, 1701. He resided for several years in Milton, Massachusetts. His children were Ellis, born in 1675; Joanna, born in 1679; Sarah, born in 1680; Na- thaniel, born in 1681 ; Joanna, born in 1683; Elkana, born in 1685; Deborah, born in 1687; Thomas, born in 1689; Mary, born in 1691 ; Samuel, born in 1693; Thomas, born in 1695; Joseph, born in 1697 ; John, born in 1699; Rachel, born in 1701; and Atherton, born March 8, 1704. Ather- ton Wales graduated at Harvard College in 1726; studied for the ministry, and served as Pastor of the Second Church in Marshfield, Massachusetts, from 1739 until his death,

which occurred in 1795, at which time he was in the nine- ty-second year of his age. He married, November 5, 1730, Mary Niles, daughter of Rev. Samuel and Elizabeth (Thatcher) Niles, of Braintree, Massachusetts. Rev. Sam- uel Niles was the son of Captain Nathaniel Niles, son of John Niles, of Braintree. Rev. Peter Thatcher, of Milton, grandfather of Mary Niles, was the son of Rev. Thomas Thatcher, first Pastor of the Old South Church, Boston. Rev. Thomas Thatcher, son of Rev. Peter Thatcher, was Rector of St. Edmond's Church, Salisbury, in the county of Wiltshire, England, and came to Boston in 1635. He married, in 1643, Elizabeth, daughter of Rev. Ralph Part- ridge, of Duxbury, Massachusetts. The children of Rev. Atherton and Mary ( Niles) Wales, were Phebe, born March 4, 1731, and married Joshua Tilden in 1760; Rachel, born February 2, 1734, and married Amos Rogers, in 1756; Mary, born July 27, 1740, and married Thomas Magoun, in 1770; Atherton, born September 3, 1743, and married Mary Niles, November 5, 1730, died in 1795; Peter Thatcher Wales, born August 3, 1745, married Lydia Potter; and Sarah, born October 19, 1748, and married Benjamin Hatch. Peter Thatcher Wales, above named, grandfather of Colonel Samuel Hazzard Wales, became a physician. He was born in Marshfield, Massachusetts, whence he removed to Portsmouth, Rhode Island, where he engaged in the practice of medicine. His wife, Lydia Potter, was the daughter of Rouse Potter, of Ports- mouth. Dr. Wales died in Portsmouth, in May, 1809, in the sixty-fifth year of his age; and his wife died in the same place, in April, 1803, in the fifty-fifth year of her age. Of their children who reached a mature age were Rouse, Atherton, Peter, Mary, Lydia, and Luke. Rouse died at sea when about thirty years of age. Ather- ton was the father of Colonel Samuel H. Wales. He was born in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, May 29, 1772, and died December 17, 1820, in the forty-eighth year of his age. He was for many years a sailor, and also engaged in farming. When about twenty-five years of age, he married Elizabeth, daughter of Samuel Hazzard, of South Kingstown, Rhode Island, and great grand- daughter of Jonathan Nichols, Deputy-Governor of the Colony of Rhode Island. She died January 26, 1815, in the forty-seventh year of her age. The children by this marriage were Rouse, Lydia, Atherton, Henry, Samuel Hazzard, Elizabeth, and Susan. Samuel Hazzard Wales, the subject of this sketch, was but five years of age at the time of his mother's death, and ten years old when his father died. For several years he was employed by his brother on a farm, and from his thirteenth to his sixteenth year performed the principal part of the labor on a farm of thirty acres, improved by Dr. William Richardson, in Portsmouth. At the age of sixteen he went to Providence, where he served an apprenticeship of five years at the clock and watch making business, under George S. Tomp- kins, on the completion of which he worked as journey-

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man for Mr. Tompkins until October 1, 1834. In that year he bought his employer's establishment and com- menced business in Providence on his own account, which he carried on successfully until 1855, when his store was broken into and robbed of nearly the whole stock, amount- ing to about seven thousand dollars, leaving him with an indebtedness of three thousand dollars. He continued in business, under great embarrassment, until 1874. He has taken an active and prominent part in politics. In 1840 he was Chief Marshal of the Young Men's Delegation from Rhode Island to Baltimore to confirm the nomination of Harrison and Tyler for President and Vice-President of the United States. He was a member of the " Rhode Isl- and Suffrage Association " during the political agitation which resulted in the " Dorr War," and was Chairman of the State Central Committee which prepared the address and resolutions adopted at the adjourned meeting held in Providence on the 5th of July, 1841, and took a prominent part in the stirring scenes which ensued during the contest between the " Dorrites," or " Suffrage Party," and the " Law and Order Party." The Whig party opposed the doctrine of the " Dorrites," and the Democratic party es- poused it. This left him on the Democratic side in poli- tics. For three years he was Chairman of the State Cen- tral Democratic Committee. He was a member of the. military organization known as the " Independent Company of Volunteers," and served in quelling the " Olney Street Riot," in the fall of 1831. In April, 1833, he was elected Lieutenant-Colonel of that organization, which he com- manded at the reception of President Jackson, and held that office about five years. From 1860 to 1867 he was a member of the " United Train of Artillery " (Old Guards). For several years he served as Justice of the Peace, and Notary Public. In 1875 he was elected one of the Li- cense Commissioners of Providence, which office he now holds. In January, 1868, he was elected President of the Franklin Lyceum of Providence, and is now President of the Rhode Island Horticultural Society. He is a member of the Second Universalist Society, of which he was for several years President, and for eight years Superintendent of its Sabbath-school. On the 25th of April, 1831, he married Esther H. Hathaway, of Freetown, Massachusetts. The issue of this marriage was eight children, Esther, Na- thaniel, Samuel, Josephine, Alfred, Ida, Frederick, and Mary.

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The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 80

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