The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 82

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

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ganized the Commercial Steamboat Company, and run the first regular line of freight steamers that ever plied between Providence and New York, starting four boats, making tri- weekly trips. The first boats were the Petrel and Pelican (built expressly for the line), and the Osceola and West- chester, soon followed by others, until the line finally be- came a daily one. The companies succceding the Com- mercial Steamboat Company have been the Neptune Steamship Company, the Merchants' Steamship Company, the Providence and New York Steamship Company, and the present line, the Providence and Stonington Steamship Company, in all of which, save the last, he was a large owner. The contract formed by Mr. Southwick with the first company has been renewed, in its original form, with the succeeding companies. In 1855 Mr. Southwick became Superintendent of the Central Ohio Railroad, extending from the Ohio River, near Wheeling, to Columbus, which position he held for one year. In 1856 he returned to Providence, and becoming an owner and Director in the Commercial Steamboat Company, served as Agent of the transportation line, with his office in Boston, where he re- mained until 1863, when he became General Manager and Treasurer of the Company, with his office in Providence. In this position he continued till 1865, when he transferred his interest to the Neptune Steamship Company, then or- ganized, and retired from the heavy transportation business. In 1866, when the Providence and New York Steamship Company succeeded the Merchants' Steamship Company, he again became General Manager and Treasurer, and served in that capacity for two years. Since that time he has been engaged in fiduciary trusts and in settling estates. From 1858 to 1871 he was a director of the Providence and Worcester Railroad Company. In 1874 he was elected a member of the General Assembly of Rhode Island. For- merly a Whig, he is now a stanch Republican. He has long taken an active part in the Rhode Island Historical Society. He married, August 8, 1837, Clarissa Ann Keith, daughter of Royal Keith, a man of mark and worth in Grafton, Massachusetts. Mrs. Southwick was born May 13, 1812. They have had seven children : Henry K., Clarissa M., Sarah E. (who died young), Royal K., Joseph H., Annie K., and Isaac H., Jr. Though of Quaker an- cestry, Mr. Southwick worships with the Congregation- alists. His executive ability, genial disposition, benevo- lence, and deep interest in public affairs, have given him an honored place in the regards of his fellow-citizens.

GGU WURD HOWARD, GEORGE ALLEN, merchant, was born in Warwick, Rhode Island, October 6, 1810. When he was nine years of age he went to live with his grandmother, in Warwick, with whom he made his home for more than eleven years. From early youth he was brought up to hard work, and his educational ad- vantages were very limited. He soon found employment

among the farmers of the neighborhood, for whom he la- bored by the day, or month, or season, as opportunity offered. His patient industry soon attracted the attention of Captain Elisha P. Smith, of Pawtuxet, who was the owner of a farm and mill in the town of Swansey, Massa- chusetts, and in March, 1831, he engaged Mr. Howard as a farm hand and teamster for eight months, at ten dollars per month. At the end of that term of service he had saved seventy dollars, which enabled him to attend school for a short time in Providence, where he pursued a course of bookkeeping. In the spring of 1832 he went to New Bedford, Massachusetts, where, in company with William K. Thurber, he commenced the manufacture of cigars. Mr. Thurber soon retired from the firm, and Mr. Howard carried on the husiness alone, in connection with the gro- cery trade, until 1835, when he sold out and removed to Providence, where, having bought the furniture ware-rooms of Ezekiel Adams, he entered that husiness in company with Isaac S. Hall, on the 10th of June, 1835, in the four- story buil ling which then stood on Westminster Street, where now is Dorrance Street. In the same building he continued to manufacture cigars on his own account. About the beginning of 1836 the partnership with Mr. Hall was dissolved, and he continued the business alone in the same place with only one man to assist him. He resided in the third story of the same building, and delivered goods to his customers in a hand cart in the evening, after the day's business was done. In 1839 he enlarged his warehouse, and after awhile, the owners having taken advantage of circumstances to exact exorbitant rents, he determined to have a building of his own, and in 1847 began to erect the Howard Building, into which he soon removed his busi- ness, occupying a large part of the building himself. How- ard Hall was publicly opened November 1, 1848. On the 26th of October, 1853, this building was consumed by fire, together with all his stock in trade. The following year Howard Building was rebuilt, and he purchased the Museum Building, then in process of erection. Both of these buildings were destroyed by fire November 15, 1858, but within a year were rebuilt. The first fire left him with a debt to struggle against, and before that was paid the second fire occurred. The hall in the present Howard Building was opened November 28, 1859. Mr. Howard was now owner of all the ground occupied by these build- ings that could be purchased, besides other property in various parts of the city, and a farm in Cranston. He was emphatically a man of business ; very exact and methodical, prompt, upright, sagacious, energetic, and persevering, and devoted to his calling with that singleness of purpose . which almost always insures success. His ambition to be rich was accompanied by habits of industry, temperance, and economy, for which he was distinguished throughout his life. He earned his capital by hard labor, and by wise investments it was steadily increased, uutil he became the owner of large and valuable estates. Mr. Howard was a

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member of the Rhode Island Society for the Encourage- ment of Domestic Industry. He was a very decided tem- perance man, and resolutely refused to rent his premises to be used for the purposes of the liquor traffic. He was a life member of the Young Men's Christian Association, though as a rule he believed in personal charities rather than in institutions for doing good. His early struggles and acquaintance with poverty brought him into close sym- pathy with the needy and unfortunate, to whom he was al- ways a friend. As was said of him at the time of his death, which occurred September 21, 1863, " The poor have cause to bless his memory." He marricd, November 1, 1835, Miss Eliza A. Gardner, daughter of John and Chloe Gardner, of Swansey, Massachusetts. They had nine children, four of whom are now (1880) living : Eliza Adaline, wife of Hon. George H. Slade; Mary Elizabeth, wife of Charles C. Harrington ; Emma Luella, and Jesse Howard, all residing in Providence.

OOK, HON. JAMES SULLIVAN, son of Ichabod and Louisa (Cook) Cook, was born in Mendon, Massa- ONUUD chusetts, December 4, 1810. His parents were 040-0 members of the Society of Friends, and highly re- spected for their sterling qualities of character. His father was a well to-do farmer, and for one term repre- sented his native town in the Massachusetts Legislature. His grandfather was also named Ichabod, and resided in the town of Mendon, Massachusetts. Mr. Cook was edu- cated in the common schools and at the Friends' School in Providence, much of his time, during his boyhood, being employed on the farm at home. In 1833 he accepted a position as clerk in the store of E. T. Read & Co., in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, and afterwards was a copartner with E. T. Read and A. Hixon, in mercantile business. He also served for some time as clerk for the Clinton Man- ufacturing Company and others. In 1847 he removed to Pascoag, Burrillville, Rhode Island, where he has since resided. In 1851 he was elected cashier of the Granite Bank, now the Pascoag National Bank, which position he has ever since occupied, with great credit to himself and satisfaction to the patrons of that institution. He was also treasurer of the Pascoag Savings Bank for several years. From 1854 to 1862 he was engaged in the manufacture of fancy cassimeres, in company with Pitts and Thomas D. Sayles, at Pascoag, the firm being known as Sayles, Cook & Co., Mr. Cook being the financial manager. He served for several years very acceptably as town clerk and town treasurer, and has been a member of the School Committee since 1871, taking an active interest in educational matters. In politics, he was formerly a Whig, and has acted with the Republican party during its existence. In 1858 he was chosen State Senator from Burrillville, re-elected the fol- lowing year, and served in the same capacity from 1869 to

1875, being for four years Chairman of the Finance Com- mittee. He married, November 13, 1837, Elsie Ann, daughter of Daniel and Phebe (Smith) Sayles, of Pascoag. She died in October, 1854. They had seven children, five of whom died in early childhood. Two daughters are now living, Marcella S. and Phebe Smith. The former mar- ried T. E. Hopkins, and the latter, William H. Sayles, both manufacturers near Danielsonville, Connecticut. On the 28th of October, 1856, Mr. Cook married Mrs. Harriet A. Pettet, daughter of Harvey and Ruth (Gould) Ballou, of Cumberland, Rhode Island.

REENE, SAMUEL STILLMAN, LL.D., Professor in Brown University, was born in Belchertown, Hampshire County, Massachusetts, May 3, 1810. His parents were Ebenezer and Sybil (Hitchcock) Greene, both of whom were educated at Leicester Academy. The subject of this sketch was brought up on his father's farm, receiving such advantages for early cul- ture and mental discipline as a short term of the annual district school afforded. His fondness for study, and es- pecially for arithmetic, led him to procure what books he could upon this subject. He took special pleasure in mas. tering, by himself, Pike's Arithmetic, a book far in advance of the ordinary textbooks of that period. At the age of eighteen, in the winter of 1828, he attended a private school taught by his brother, Rev. John Greene. The fol- lowing winter he was employed in his native town to teach a district school, at $10 per month, "boarding round." The two succeeding winters he taught in Leicester, mean- while preparing for college. He had, several years pre- vious to this time, united with the Baptist Church, and his mind had received quickening and gracious influences through the power of religious truth. In the fall of 1833 he entered the Freshmen Class of Brown University, under the Presidency of Dr. Wayland, whose fame as a teacher was then rapidly extending. He was graduated from this institution in 1837, with valedictory honors, selecting as a theme for his commencement oration "Caution Requisite in the Character of a Philosopher." Immediately upon graduating he was employed first as Assistant, and then as Principal, of the Baptist Academy in Worcester, Massa- chusetts. Here he taught with the most gratifying success three years, when he was appointed Superintendent of Public Schools in Springfield. This was the first position of the kind ever known in Massachusetts, and the second of the kind in the United States. From 1842 until 1844 he taught in the English High School of Boston. He was Principal of Phillips Grammar School of that city, from 1844 until 1849, when he was appointed Agent of the Massachusetts Board of Education. This, too, was the first office of the kind ever filled. Upon the resignation of the Hon. Nathan Bishop he was elected to fill his place as Superintendent of the Public Schools of Providence, and

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in 1851 was appointed Professor of Didactics in Brown University. 1Ie at once commeneed a course of lectures to teachers, which resulted in the establishment, in 1853, of the Rhode Island Normal School, the first Principal of which was the late Dana P. Colburn, an associate and in- timate friend of Professor Grcene. In 1855 he was ap- pointed Professor of Mathematics and Civil Engineering, when he resigned his position as Superintendent. From that time on, a period of twenty-five years, he has been connected with Brown University, assuming heavy burdens and responsibilities, and rendering good and efficient service. For eighteen years he was a member of the School Committee, and during most of the time he was Chairman of the Committee on Qualifications. He has been President of the Rhode Island Teachers' Institute, of the American Institute of Instruction, and of the National Teachers' Association. In religious matters he has been especially active, magnifying and making honorable the office of Deacon in the church. He has been President of the Rhode Island Baptist Sunday-sehool Convention, and is now (1880) President of the Rhode Island Baptist Educational Society. In 1870 Brown University conferred upon him her highest degree, that of Doctor of Laws. Professor Greene is widely and favorably known as an author of textbooks. He published, in 1848, Analysis of the English Language; also, First Lessons in Grammar ; in 1852, Elements of English Grammar ; in 1867, English Grammar; and in 1868, Introduction to English Gram- mar. He married, in 1839, Edna Amelia Bartlett, of Wor- cester, who died in 1851. One son by this marriage, Frank Bartlett Greene, was graduated at Brown University in 1872. He married, for his second wife, August, 1854, Mary Adeline Bailey, of Salem, Massachusetts, eldest daughter of Ebenezer Bailey, a distinguished educator, and author of Bailey's Algebra. Five children are the fruits of this marriage, of whom three are now living. The eldest son, Pereival Bailey Greene, died November 24, 1875, during his senior year in college. He was the first scholar in his class, and was beloved and esteemed by all. The remaining two sons, John Stimson and Samuel Stuart, are now members of the University.

REENE, GEORGE WASHINGTON, LL.D., was born at East Greenwich, Rhode Island, April 8, 1811. His father was Nathanael, second son of Major- General Nathanael Greene, of the Revolution, and his mother was Anna Maria Clarke, niece of Governor Samuel Ward of the Continental Congress. From early childhood he was fond of books. His mother, a woman of singular culture and taste, and who is till living, at the age of ninety-seven, taught him early to love Pope and Addison and Goldsmith, thus laying the foundations of pure taste and a love of good reading. In the fall of 1825, at the age of fourteen, he entered

Brown University, then under the Presidency of the Rev. Dr. Messer. In consequence of the unsettled state of the college at that time, President Messer having resigned, but mainly on account of ill-health, young Greene aban- doned his studies during his junior year, and travelled in Europe. Here he remained, with the exception of several visits home, until 1847, a period of twenty years. From 1837 until 1845, he was United States Consul at Rome. During his residence abroad he published in the North American Review a series of essays on Italian history and literature. He at one time intended to publish a history of that country, and had already made progress in the work when the partial loss of his eyesight and a recall to America interrupted his plans. Soon after his return, in the spring of 1848, he was appointed Instructor in Modern Languages, a position which his rare culture and scholar- ship enabled him to fill with singular credit and useful- ness. In 1852 he removed to New York, where he de- voted himself to teaching, and especially to historical re- search, the libraries of the metropolis affording ample facilities for this purpose. In 1853 he married Catharine, daughter of Addison and Ann (Hogeboom) Porter, and granddaughter of the Rev. Dr. David Porter, for twenty- eight years pastor of the Presbyterian Church in Catskill, New York. Her elder brother was the lamented and gifted John A. Porter, for several years Professor of Chem- istry at Brown University, and afterwards Professor at Yale College. In 1866 Mr. Greene removed to his home in East Greenwich, where he has continued to reside until the present time. Several children are the fruits of this marriage, the second of whom has recently married a cler- gyman of the Presbyterian Church. Professor Greene has long been regarded as one of the best of our writers, espe- eially on historical subjects pertaining to America. The late Washington Irving was accustomed to speak of him as without an equal in this department of literary effort. His most important work is the life of his grandfather, Major-General Greene, first published in the Second Series of Sparks's American Biography (12mo., Boston, 1846), and afterwards enlarged to three royal oetavo volumes, and published in New York in 1867-71. The preface to the first volume, addressed to his friend Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, is one of the finest efforts of genius, and de- serves to be treasured as a classic in this style of writing. His other works, given in the order of their publication, are as follows: Primary Lessons in French, ISmo., New York, 1849; new edition of Putz and Arnold's Ancient Geography and History, 12mo., New York, 1849; Com- panion to Ollendorff's French Grammar, 16mo., New York, 1850; Primary Lessons in Italian, 18mo., New York ; Historical Studies, chiefly on Italian subjects, 12mo., New York, 1850; History and Geography of the Middle Ages, 1851; Addison's Complete Works, Bishop Hurd's edition, with Notes by Professor Greene, 6 vols. 12mo., New York, 1854; Historical View of the American Revo-

Fity Games Rice

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lution, 12mo., New York, 1865. This work, which has been favorably noticed in all quarters, consists of twelve lectures delivered before the Lowell Institute of Boston, in January and February, 1863; and also before the Cooper Institute of New York, in March and April fol- lowing. His latest works are, German Element in the American War of Independence, 12mo., New York, 1876; and Short History of Rhode Island, 12mo., Providence, 1877. In addition to the works above enumerated, he has contributed many papers on historical and critical subjects to the North American Review, Christian Review, Knick- erbocker Magazine, Harper's Magazine, Putnam's Maga- zine, and other periodicals. In 1872 he was appointed non-resident Professor of American History at Cornell University. This, we believe, was the first attempt to introduce American history as a specialty in our Ameri- can colleges. He had already entered upon the duties of his office, and was looking forward to years of useful and honorable labor, when a partial stroke of paralysis im- paired the use of his limbs. Though he still continues his historical labors, it is not without great effort that he can hold his pen. The appearance of the three volumes of his Life of General Greene involved him in a controversy with Mr. Bancroft, which led to the publication of a pamphlet. The main points of the controversy are given in full in the second volume of his life. Professor Greene is a member of several of our foremost literary societies, but of none of these associations is he prouder, than to have formed one of the original members of the Dante Club, which meets regularly at Professor Longfellow's home to pass an evening in the study of the great Florentine.

ABOLL, WILLIAM VINCENT, manufacturer, son of John and Sarah Haley Daboll, was born at Groton, Connecticut, April 13, 1810. His father, who was of French descent, and a carpenter by trade, was a Revolutionary soldier, and wounded at the massacre of Fort Griswold; he was also one of the framers of the constitution of Connecticut in 1817. Mr. Daboll was edu- cated at the common schools, and at the age of fifteen, his father having died, he was employed as a teamster for one year at Fort Schuyler, New York, after which he served an apprenticeship of four years with a carpenter at Astoria, New York. Having acquired a thorough knowledge of his trade, he commenced work on his own account as con- tractor and builder, in and about New York city, and continued in that business for about eight years. In No- vember, 1838, he removed to Providence, and engaged in farming for one year at Cranston, now Elmwood, after which he entered into the employ of Amos D. and James Y. Smith, manufacturers of cotton goods. He remained with this firm until the formation of the Union Butt Com- pany, organized for the manufacture of butts and other castings, and was chosen agent and treasurer of this com-

pany. This position he held until the works were destroyed by fire in 1866, when that branch of business was abandoned for the manufacture of cotton goods, the Elmwood Mill built, and the company changed to the James Y. Smith Manufacturing Company. Mr. Daboll was retained as Agent and Superintendent, having sole charge of the Elm- wood Mill, the products of which took medals at the Vi- enna Exposition and the Centennial Exhibition. He con- tinued to serve in this capacity until the spring of 1879. He is now engaged in manufacturing the improved Union Carpet Sweeper, of which he is the sole owner. Mr. Daboll has been continuedly and successfully in business from early life, and has had a large and varied experience as a manufacturer. He has held several prominent public positions. During the civil war he was one of the State Commissioners of Enrolment. For a number of years he was Chairman of the School Committee of Cranston, and has held almost every office in the town. For four years, from 1868 to 1871, he was a member of the Common Council of Providence from the Ninth Ward, and was Alderman from the same ward in 1871 and 1872, and again from 1873 to 1876. He was one of the first movers and promoters of the Roger Williams Park enterprise, and was for several years a member of the Committee on Parks. For about fifteen years he was President of the Elmwood Bank. In politics he has always been a Democrat. He has ever been active in promoting educational interests and benevolent objects. He married, February 2, 1835, Mrs. Caroline Celia Smith, daughter of John and Grace Smith, and widow of Frank Smith. She was a descendant of one of the first settlers of New England. They have had seven children, three of whom are living, Josephine, Floride, and William Smith, who has attained considerable reputation as an opera singer.

ICE, FITZ JAMES, was born in Barre, Massachusetts, July 14, 1814, and is the son of Micajah and Lucy (Bannister) Rice. During his infancy his pa- C+ rents removed to Framingham, Massachusetts, his father's native town. The progenitor of the Rice family in America was Edmund Rice, who lived in Berk- hamstead, County of Hertfordshire, England, and in 1638 came with his family to this country and settled in Sudbury, Massachusetts. A genealogy of the family has been pub- lished containing the names of about seven thousand per- sons, who are traced to one common ancestor. In this great number may be found representatives in all the prom- inent walks of life, and among those in New England dis- tinguished for patriotism no name is more conspicuous than that of Rice. Phineas Rice, the paternal grandfather of Fitz James Rice, was a Lieutenant in the American army during the Revolutionary War. When the English Parlia- ment, previous to the Revolution, closed the port of Boston to commerce and navigation, he rendered the country great service by transporting by means of ox teams valuable

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merchandise from New York to Boston. He was also one of the pioneers in the furniture business in America; and his wife, whose maiden name was Ruth Perry, a relative of Commodore Perry, was one of the first in the country to engage in the braiding of Dunstable straw for the manu- facture of hats. Fitz James Rice lived in Framingham, Massachusetts, until he was seventeen years of age, when he went to Medfield, Massachusetts, where he spent four years in learning the baking business, in the well-known establishment of W. P. Balch. After completing his ap- prenticeship he went to Fall River, Massachusetts, where he remained one year. In 1837 he removed to Providence, where he was employed in the bakery of Benjamin Balch for five years, at the end of which time he entered into busi- ness for himself. In 1849 he formed a partnership with George W. Hayward, formerly an apprentice with him at Medfield, and laid the foundation of the extensive and profit- able business now being carried on by the firm of Rice & Hayward, their establishment being one of the largest of the kind in New England. In 1860, William S. Hayward, son-in-law of Mr. Rice, was admitted as a member of the firm. In 1863 the partnership was dissolved, and the busi - ness sold to Mr. William S. Hayward. In the division of the property of the firm the real estate which was occupied in carrying on the business came to Mr. Rice as a part of his share, which he leased to William S. Hayward, who carried on the business alone for two years, at the expira- tion of which time Mr. Rice again became associated with William S. Hayward, under the old firm name of Rice & Hayward, which partnership still continues. In 186S Mr. Rice was elected a member of the Providence City Council, and re-elected in 1869. He joined the High Street Con- gregational Church in 1856, under the pastorate of Rev. Dr. Woolcut. This church afterwards united with the Richmond Street Church, and is now called the Union Church. In 1877 he became a life member of the Young Men's Christian Association of Providence, in which he has for many years taken a deep interest, and to which he has liberally contributed both of his time and means. He is also particularly interested in missionary work, and for a number of years has been a member of the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions. In 1857 he joined What Cheer Lodge of Freemasons, of which he has since been a member. He married, December 25, 1837, Elizabeth Cooke, of Fall River, Massachusetts. They have had five children, Lucy M., George A., Arthur G., Caroline C., and Lizzie J., the first two of whom are the only ones now living. His wife died in 1872; and in 1874 he married Mrs. Rebecca R. Cooke, widow of William B. Cooke, of New Bedford, Massachusetts. Mr. Cooke was a brother of Mr. Rice's first wife. During his long resi- dence in Providence, extending over a period of more than forty years, Mr. Rice has always resided on Christian Hill, in the Sixth Ward. He is highly esteemed for his business capacity, social qualities, and benevolent disposition.

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The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 82

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