The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 81

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

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SOWRY, WILLIAM GULLY RANDALL, lumber mer- 20 chant, son of Major Nathaniel and Lydia (Dex- ter) Mowry, was born December, 20, 1810, at Smithfield, Rhode Island, near Lime Rock, where his father was a prominent citizen. His school education was limited to an attendance of three months each year in the common schools of his native place, until the age of seventeen, when he was apprenticed to Lowell Fales, of Pawtucket, to learn .the trade of a builder. He

served for four years, and at his majority attended for six months the Friends' boarding-school at Bolton, Massachu- setts. He soon became a partner with Mr. Fales, and afterwards carried on the carpenter business for several years on his own account, erecting mills, churches, and other buildings. In 1847 he removed to Providence, where, with the exception of a single year, hc has since carried on an extensive lumber business, part of the time under his own name, and subsequently under the firm- names of Mowry & Steere and W. G. R. Mowry & Co. He has been engaged also in the burning of lime since 1854. In November of that year the Dexter Lime Rock Company was organized, and Mr. Mowry appointed agent and elected treasurer of the company. He resigned the position as agent at the end of the year 1854, but retained the treasurership for twenty-two years thereafter. He has also been employed in the settlement of numerous estates and in the administration of various private trusts. In politics he has always been a Democrat, uncompromising and independent in the advocacy of his views. Through- out his life he has been a firm friend of the temperance cause, and has maintained a decided stand in favor of prohibition, having been for several years Chairman of the State Prohibition Committee. He has never sought office, and only at the earnest solicitation of his party has he ac- cepted its nominations. He was appointed one of the original board of commissioners for building the new City Hall in Providence, being associated therein with the late Governor James Y. Smith and IIon. George H. Corliss, and after the death of Governor Smith and the reorganiza- tion of the board, he became its President. He is a mem- ber of the Rhode Island Historical Society, and the Rhode Island Agricultural Society. During his residence in Prov- idence he has uniformly attended the First Congregational (Unitarian) Church, of the society of which he was for two years President. IIe has been active in religious and charitable work, and many have had occasion to feel grate- ful to him for aid extended to them in time of need. He married, November 30, 1846, Lydia Olney, daughter of Obadiah Olney, and granddaughter of Elisha Olney, of Smithfield, a descendant, in the seventh generation, from Hon. Thomas Olney, who was an associate with Roger Williams in the founding of Providence, and the first treasurer of the colony. Their only child, Anna Frances, was born November 30, 1848; died September 15, 1849.

MITH, GOVERNOR JAMES YOUNGS, son of Amos D. and Priscilla (Mitchell) Smith, was born in

2 Poquonoc Village, Groton, New London County, Connecticut, September 15, 1809. This family of Smiths possessed sterling qualities and earnest piety. ,9 Some of them were prominent members in the Second Baptist Church in the town on Fort Hill. Priscilla Mit- chell was descended from Priscilla Mullens, of Mayflower

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famc, the heroine of Longfellow's poem of the " Courtship of Miles Standish." The subject of this sketch was early trained to habits of industry. He was employed on the farm in summers, and attended the district school a few months cach winter until the age of thirteen, when he be- came a clerk in a country store in Salem, Connecticut, where he remained three years, being intrusted with the chief management of the business. In 1826 hc removed to Providence, Rhode Island, and entered the counting-room of Aborn & Smith-James Aborn and Amos D. Smith- lumber dealers. Amos D. Smith was the elder brother of James Y., and is elsewhere sketched in this work. He retired from the firm in 1828, and in 1830, James Y. formed a partnership with a nephew of his former em- ployer, under the name of Aborn & Smith, which firm succeeded to the lumber business. Seven years later Mr. Smith became the sole proprietor of the business, which then became quite extensive. He married, August 13, 1835, Emily, daughter of the late Thomas Brown, of Prov- idence. As his father-in-law was interested in the manu- facture of cotton goods in Scituate, Rhode Island, Mr. Smith, about 1837, began to invest his surplus capital in the same business. In 1843 he sold out his lumber busi- ness, and entered into partnership with his brother, Amos D., under the style of A. D. & J. Y. Smith, for a score of years one of the best-known firms in Providence. They carried on a general wholesale merchandise business, rep- rcsenting also the mills in which they were concerned. The business became very extensive, especially by the ac- quisition of new mills. In 1862 the brothers separated, and James Y. soon formed a new firm, taking in one son- in-law and then the other, the business being, until his death, the manufacture of cotton goods, carried on in four different mills. Governor Smith early turned his attention to public affairs, and few men in the State ever gave more of their time to the public service. He served in many and important positions. For several years he was Repre- sentative in the General Assembly; for many years a mem- ber of the School Committee; Mayor of Providence in 1855 and 1856; and Governor of the State from 1863 to 1866, when he declined a re-nomination. He was nomi- nated for Governor by the Republicans in 1861, but defeated by a combination of Democrats and disaffected Republi- cans under the lead of William Sprague. In 1864 occurred a heated election, and Governor Smith was opposed be- cause he would not commit himself to any candidate for the United States Senatorship. The opposition combined with the Democrats, but in vain. Governor Smith and the whole Republican ticket triumphcd over all opposition. His elcction in 1865 was still more remarkable. He re- ceived a majority in every town and ward of the State, a case never paralleled in the State's history. As a War- Governor his record was noble and unsurpassed. To the filling of the State's quota and the speedy and decisive overthrow of the Rebellion he gave himself with untiring

devotion, and by special and' wise exertions spared the State the necessity of resorting to a draft ; and amid the multitude of heavy dutics growing out of the war and the demands of an extensive business, his time and attention were given to the humblest applicant for aid or advice, his office being crowded from morning till night. His dona- tions to the soldiers and their families were large, and when a friend suggested that he was giving too largely, he replied, " I allow no man to come between me and my charities; that is a duty I am responsible for only to my God." After retiring from the chief magistracy, Governor Smith served on many public commissions, and always with self-sacrificing attention and zeal. His unusual mechan- ical ability was very frequently called into requisition for the public welfare. He was Chairman of the commission to build the new City Hall, and was on the Building Com- mittees of three of the principal churches of Providence in the erection of their places of worship. He also served in various ways, officially and by his means, the different charitable societies and benevolent institutions of the city and State. For three years he was President of the Provi- dence Board of Trade. At the time of his death he was President of a bank of discount; of two savings-banks ; director in eight insurance companies, in some of which he was President; director of the Providence and Worces- ter Railway Company; of the New York and New Eng- land Railway Company; and a member of five commis- sions under the city government. With all these responsi- bilities, in addition to the duties of his regular business, upon him, he was yet one of the most approachable of men, and gave profusely of his time and money to a host of applicants. His friendship and kindness were truly remarkable, though often bestowed only to be abused. When, however, in business and political affairs, he had reached a conclusion, his determination was firm and un- alterable. He died at his residence on Hope Street, March 26, 1876, in his sixty-seventh year. His children were Thomas B., who died young ; Isabella B., who married Charles A. Nichols; Emily P., who married General Horatio Rogers. Rarely has the death of any one in Rhode Island called forth such general mourning as did that of Governor Smith. The public offices were closed ; the General Assembly adjourned; the city and State officials attended his funeral in a body, and in carriages two abreast preceded the hearse, while an immense con- course of citizens in carriages and on foot followed to Swan Point Cemetery. Equally the rich and the poor felt their loss and paid their tribute of respect to the able, faithful, honored man.

EEDEN, STEPHEN RANDALL, only son of George Everson and Ann Frances (Randall) Weeden, was born in Providence, September 22, 1809. His ancestors on his mother's side were lineal descendants of Roger Williams. In his boyhood

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and youth he attended the public schools, and also a pri- vate school on Benefit Street, taught by Oliver Angell, a famous teacher in his day. At the age of sixteen he entered the establishment of Smith & Parmenter, publish- ers of the Cadet, where he learned the trade of a printer. This employment he followed for several years. In 1835 he engaged in bookselling, doing business in a store on the corner of Westminster Street and Washington Row, the name of the firm being B. Cranston & Co. This was the store afterwards occupied for many years by George H. Whitney. The Providence Athenaeum having com- pleted their new building in the spring of 1838, the Board of Directors held a meeting there, and on the 2d of July, from a list of forty-five applicants, elected Mr. Weeden to the office of Librarian. This position he filled for more than seven years "to the entire satisfaction," quoting from the records, " of the Board and of the proprietors," resign- ing the office in October, 1845, on account of ill-health. The following year he became associated with his uncle, Stephen Randall, in the manufacture of braided candle wicking. About this time he engaged once more in book- selling, at the corner of College and North Main Streets, the name of the firm being Weeden & Peck. Here he continued until 1850. Upon the death of his uncle, in 1874, he assumed the entire management and control of the wicking business, his oldest son, George, being asso- ciated with him. Here he has continued until the present time, the name of the firm being S. R. Weeden & Son. Mr. Weeden has been for many years a prominent and efficient member of the Fourth Baptist Church, being constant in his attendance upon the various meetings of the church and society, and liberal in the appropriation of means for the support of public worship, and the spread of the gos- pel. In 1838 he was elected Superintendent of the Sab- bath-school. In this position he labored with zeal and success, with occasional interruptions, until 1869, a period of thirty-one years. Upon the formation of the Rhode Island Baptist Sabbath-school Association, in 1841, he acted as Secretary pro tem. In 1844 he was elected Secre- tary. This office he continued to fill from year to year until 1852. For many years he has been Treasurer of the Rhode Island Baptist State Convention. In 1865 he was appointed one of the Board of Inspectors of the State Prison. To this honorable position he was annually re- appointed until 1877, when the Board was dissolved. Since then he has been a member of the Board of State Charities and Corrections. Mr. Weeden married, October 16, 1831, Nancy, daughter of David Bachelor, of Provi- dence. She died January 28, 1845. For his second wife he married, November 25, 1847, Maria, daughter of Allin Hunt, of East Providence. Five children are the fruits of this marriage, viz. : Stephen Randall, who died in in- fancy; George Everson, who was graduated at Brown University in 1870, and who is now associated with his father in business; Caroline Bachelor; Allin Hunt, who

was also graduated at the University, and who died July 2, 1879, universally beloved and lamented; and Maria Hunt. Mr. Weeden resides in the Tenth Ward, his house being the one built and occupied by his uncle, Stephen Randall.

ANDALL, RT. REV. GEORGE MAXWELL, D.D., son of Hon. Samuel and Martha ( Maxwell) Ran- dall, was born in Warren, Rhode Island, Novem- ber 23, 1810. It was his purpose to be a printer, and he learned the art, but subsequently concluded to obtain an education with a view to entering professional life. Having passed through the preparatory stage of his studics in Warren, he entered Brown University, and grad- uated in the class of 1835, and in 1838 completed his theo- logical course of study at the General Theological Seminary of New York. Having been ordained deacon by Bishop Griswold, soon after his graduation, he became rector of the Church of t .. e Ascension, in Fall River, Massachusetts, where he remained until 1844. He was then called to take charge of a newly organized parish in Boston, the Church of the Messiah, and continued to be its rector until 1866, twenty-two years. While acting as the minister of the Church of the Messiah, he was also for many years the editor of the Christian Witness, which represented the Episcopal Church in New England. He took a deep in- terest in the educational affairs of Boston, and was one of the most faithful and efficient members of the School Com- mittee for several years. He was secretary of the General Convention of the Episcopal Church of the United States, and a member of the Standing Committee of the diocese of Massachusetts. He was selected by his church, in the fall of 1865, to be Missionary Bishop of Colorado, Wyoming, and New Mexico, and was consecrated in December to take the oversight of the interests of his church in the vast territory embraced within the limits of his wide-extended diocese. He entered upon the discharge of his Episcopal duties with apostolic zeal and earnestness. He was, so far as human helpers were concerned, nearly alone, there being but two clergymen and two parishes in all the region which came under his supervision. The record of a period of seven years'work is thus summed up by Professor Gam- mell. When his labors came to an end " his diocese con- tained twenty-four parishes, twenty church edifices free from debt, and fifteen clergymen. He had established schools for boys and for girls and a theological school, which together had cost upwards of $150,000. These he designed to be the beginnings of the future ' University of Colorado.' He was accustomed every year to visit the principal settlements of his diocese, stretching many hun- dred miles in every direction from his home in Denver. In doing this he was obliged to use all sorts of conveyances, often to lodge in the rudest hovels, and to incur all the exposure and risks that are incident to frontier journeying.

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He identified himself with all the interests of civilization in the Rocky Mountains. He promoted good-will towards the Indians; he encouraged education and all social im- provements ; and he preached the Gospel to all sorts of people in settlements where it had seldom been preached before." Bishop Randall died in Denver, Colorado Ter- ritory, September 28, 1873, leaving a wife, Eliza (Hoar) Randall, daughter of Lewis Hoar, of Warren, to whom he was married in May, 1839.

SNOWLES, JOSEPH, printer and publisher, was born in Westerly, Rhode Island, July 3, 1810. His paternal ancestor, Henry Knowles, emigrated from London, England, April 15, 1635, and settled in Portsmouth, on Rhode Island, where he was a free- holder in 1644. He removed to Warwick in 1645. In 1670 his son William settled in South Kingstown, Rhode Island, where the immediate ancestors of Joseph Knowles resided until 1804, when his father, Joseph Mumford Knowles, removed to Westerly. On his maternal side he is descended from the Tillinghasts, also an ancient family of the State. Mr. Knowles was educated in the common schools of his native place and at the academy at Kings- town, an institution of much repute at that time. He was apprenticed to William Storer, the publisher of a newspaper at Stonington, Connecticut, with whom he remained two years, but the paper was not successful, and the indentures of apprenticeship were cancelled. He removed to Provi- dence in 1832, where he entered into the service of Josiah Jones, publisher of the Providence Patriot and Columbian Phenix, a famous newspaper in the politics of Rhode Island, which numbered among its contributors some of the ablest writers of the State. Mr. Jones was a printer and publisher for many years, still working at the case when eighty years of age, and at the time of his death was reputed to be the oldest printer in the United States. In early life Mr. Knowles engaged in several newspaper en- terprises. With the late James S. Ham he purchased The Microcosm, which was continued about one year. He also published the Commercial Advertiser for a short time, and the Literary Journal, which was continued but one year, and of which Albert G. Greene was editor. In 1838 Mr. Knowles and William L. Burroughs purchased the Providence Journal, but soon Mr. Burroughs retired, and the copartnership of Knowles, Vose & Anthony was after- wards formed, which was once interrupted by death, and once enlarged by the addition of another partner, Mr. George W. Danielson, the firm-name becoming Knowles, Anthony & Danielson, under which the business of the Daily Journal and Evening Bulletin is still conducted. Mr. Knowles's connection with the Journal extended over a period of thirty-six years. He married, July 3, 1834, Mary Caroline, only daughter of his second employer, Josiah Jones. She died June 17, 1879, aged sixty-eight

years. They had seven children, of whom only one son, John C. Knowles, is living. Another son, Frank II., attained the age of twenty-seven. He studied medicine, but left his medical studies to serve in the First Regiment Rhode Island Volunteers in the war of the Rebellion. His death was hastened by the exposures and fatigues of the service while assistant surgeon on hospital duty at Hampton Roads. He was a young man of more than ordinary promise, and a favorite pupil of the late Dr. Lewis L. Mil- ler. Joseph Knowles died in Providence, December 21, 1874. As was said of him in an obituary which appeared in the columns of the Providence Daily Journal, from which the above facts were obtained, " He was in many respects a type of the New England character. In his youth he learned an honest trade, and learned it thoroughly in all its branches and applications. As apprentice, as journeyman, as master printer, he performed the duties of each position ; first, faithful to those whom he served ; then kind and considerate to those who served him; always just to all, and just to himself ; patient under difficulties, cheer- ful in adversity, moderate in prosperity."

PINK, NICHOLAS N., son of Christopher and Hannah (Northup: Spink, was born in Wickford, Rhode Island, August 20, 1810. His boyhood and youth were passed in his native town, except some time spent at school in Plainfield, Connecticut. At an early age he engaged in mercantile business, in which he continued until 1837, when he became cashier of the Narragansett Bank, now merged in the Wickford National Bank. He still holds the position of cashier, having served in that capacity over forty years. For many years he was town clerk of Wickford, which office he was obliged to resign on account of impaired health. He is a member of the Baptist Church, and has ever taken a deep interest in matters pertaining to the religious and moral welfare of the community. Mr. Spink married, July 12, 1837, in Wick- ford, Huldah A. Weeden, daughter of Peleg and Mary (Fowler) Weeden. Their children are Benjamin W., now of the firm of Oliver, Johnson & Co., Providence ; Fannie A., and Mary F.

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TEERE, HON. ALANSON, manufacturer, son of Ho- sea and Hannah (Tinkham) Steere, was born in Glocester, Rhode Island, September 2, 1810. He is of English descent, and, according to tradition, his ancestors in this country were among the early set- tlers. He was educated in the common country schools, and when about sixteen years of age, began to serve an apprenticeship as a millwright with his father, with whom he continued to work at his trade until his twenty-fourth year. For about four years thereafter he carried on the same business for himself. In 1838, in company with his

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brother, Otis Steere, he began the manufacture of cotton yarn, at Kent's Corner, in Scituate, Rhode Island, where they continued in successful business until 1848, at which time they sold out, and leased for ten years the Brown Mill in Johnston, and commenced the manufacture of cotton sheetings. They continued there until 1852, when they cancelled the lease and removed to Chepachet, where they leased a mill of Samuel W. Hunt, and engaged in the manufacture of print-cloths until 1857. They subse- quently removed to Rockland, where they leascd a mill of T. P. Remington and I. Saunders, and continued to manufacture the same class of goods, under the firm-name of A. & O. Steere, until the spring of 1863, when Mr. Steere bought out his brother, and carried on the business with the assistance of his two sons, Hiram and Byron L. In 1865 he bought the Rockland Mill, and also leased the Red Mill near by, both of which he carried on in his own name until 1876. At this time he took his son Byron L. into the business, and the firm-name has since been A. Steere & Son. In 1871 he built an addition to the Rock- land Mill, and greatly enlarged the business. Mr. Steere began with 1500 spindles at the Brown Mill, and has grad- ually increased his business to more than 8000 spindles. He has also owned, since 1860, one-sixth interest in the Ponagansett Mill, which runs 6000 spindles, and has a share of the business management of the same. For five years he was President of the Town Council of Scituate, and has held various other town offices. In 1865, he was elected to the State Senate, and continued to represent his town for four successive years, serving on the Committee on Corporations each year. In 1872, he was a delegate to the National Republican Convention at Philadelphia. He was formerly an Old Line Whig; was a member of the Law and Order party during the Dorr troubles in Rhode Island; became a Republican on the formation of that party, and was an active supporter of the Union during the war of the Rebellion. Mr. Steere has always been a pro- gressive man, and interested in the promotion of public enterprises. He has been an advocate of temperance prin- ciples ; has been a member of the Sons of Temperance and the Good Templars and Temple of Honor, and has held various offices in these orders; is also Treasurer of Ham- ilton Lodge of Freemasons, and of the Scituate Royal Arch Chapter ; and a member of the Rhode Island Society for the Encouragement of Domestic Industry. He mar- ried, February 14, 1836, Julia, daughter of Jeremiah and Olive (Burlingame) Wescott, of Coventry, Rhode Island. They have had three children, Sarah Frances, who is un- married and at home, Hiram, who died June 20, 1872, in the thirtieth year of his age, and Byron L., who, as before stated, is a member of the firm of A. Steere & Son. Hiram was educated at the Belden School, North Providence, Lapham Institute, Scituate, and Eastman Business College, Poughkeepsie, New York, and married, May 23, 1863, Elizabeth A., daughter of Richard and Mahala (Round)

Bishop. For nearly ten years he was actively engaged in his father's business, and in 1870 and 1871, represented liis town in the General Assembly, as a member of the House. He left three daughters, Ina V., Vivian M., and Lulu B.

SOUTHWICK, ISAAC HARRISON, son of Isaac and Tabitha (Roberts) Southwick, was born in Grafton, Massachusetts, August 14, 1811. He is of the sev- enth generation of Southwicks in New England, his English ancestor being the famed Lawrence South- wick, who with his wife Cassandra, being stanch Quakers, were banished (as sung by Whittier) from Massachusetts, in 1658, by Governor Endicott, and took refuge on Shelter Island, in Gardner's Bay, near Long Island, New York. Lawrence Southwick had a son Daniel, who married, in 1663, Elizabeth Boyce, and had a son Daniel, a husband- man, who married, near 1688, and had a son Jonathan. In 1735 Jonathan married Hannah Osborn, and had a son Jacob, who, in 1778, married Sarah Fowler, and was the father of Isaac, the father of the subject of this sketch. Isaac Southwick was a shoe manufacturer, and ranked among the solid yeomen of Grafton. The maternal grand- parents of Isaac H. were John and Tabitha ( Leland) Rob- erts. John Roberts was a farmer, and a gallant soldier in the Revolution. The children of Isaac and Tabitha South- wick were Tabitha L., Isaac H., Eliza L., Joseph E., Cla- rissa M. (who died young), and John R. Isaac H., was educated in the common schools of Grafton, and learncd the trade of his father. At the age of twenty-one he went to New Orleans, Louisiana, as clerk in a wholesale shoe house, where he remained one season. Returning to Graf- ton he began the manufacture of shoes, and continued the business for two years. In 1835 he engaged as clerk in the house of Wood, Kimball & Co., in the boot and shoe trade, where he remained one year, and then went to New Orleans as a member of the firm of Prentice, Hinds & Co., in the North, but of I. H. Southwick & Co., in New Or- leans. After one season there he travelled up the Missis- sippi and Ohio Rivers to Madison, Indiana, and there car- ried on business for five years. He next removed to Bunker Hill, Illinois, and conducted a farm of prairie land, cutting his furrows half a mile in length. In the meantime he travelled on horseback one summer through Northern Illinois and Iowa. In the summer of 1845 he returned to Grafton, Massachusetts, and in 1847 became Station-master on the Providence and Worcester Railroad, at Saundersville, Massachusetts. In 1848 he was trans- ferred, as the General Agent of the same road, to Worces- ter, and in 1850 he became General Superintendent of the road, removing to Providence, where he acted in that ca- pacity for five years. In 1851, as Superintendent, he formed an important contract with parties to start a line of freight steamers from Providence to New York, connect- ing with the road which he managed. These parties or-

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The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 81

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