The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 84

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

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INTON, REV. FRANCIS, LL.D., was born in Provi. dence, Rhode Island, August 29, 1809. Gradu- ating from West Point, one of the first five of his class, in the year 1830, he received his commission as second lieutenant in the Third United States Ar- tillery. He was stationed in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and at Fort Independence in Boston Harbor, and pre- viously saw active service in Alabama and Georgia, in the war against the hostile Indians of that region. While sta- tioned at Fort Independence he began the study of law at Harvard University, and was admitted to the bar in Janu- ary, 1834. At the same time, and subsequently, he acted

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as civil engineer on several of the railroads of New Eng- land. In 1836 Lieutenant Vinton resigned his commission in the army, and entered the General Theological Semi- nary at New York. He was ordained to the diaconate by Bishop Griswold, September 30, 1838, in St. John's Church, Providence ; and to the priesthood in March of the fol- lowing year. His first parish was at Tower Hill, Rhode Island, from which he afterward removed to Wakefield, where he built a church. He was successively rector of St. Stephen's Church, Providence (which he built) ; Trinity Church, Newport; Emmanuel Church, Brooklyn, New York; Grace Church, Brooklyn Heights (which he also built); and Assistant Minister of Trinity Parish, New York, serving in St. Paul's Chapel from 1855 to 1859, in which year he was appointed to Trinity Church, of which he had charge until his death, in 1872. At the time of the Dorr Rebellion in Rhode Island, in 1842, he took an active interest in the events of those stirring days, and on the return of the militia to Newport on its suppression, he opened Trinity Church and held a service of thanksgiv- ing, at which the military were present. The custom of Christmas-Tree festivals for Sunday-schools was inaugu- rated by him in his own house in Court Street, Brooklyn, Long Island, on Epiphany evening, 1847. In 1848 he was elected Bishop of Indiana, but declined. The same year he received the degree of S.T.D. from Columbia College, and afterward that of LL.D. He became Presi- dent of the "Sons of Rhode Island in New York " in 1862, and on their first anniversary in 1863, delivered an oration before them on the Annals of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. The oration was repeated by invitations of the New York and Long Island Historical Societies ; also in Providence and Newport. In 1869 he was elected " Charles-and-Elizabeth-Ludlow " Professor of Ecclesiastical Polity and Law at the General Theological Seminary, New York. In the same year he received the degree of D.C.L. from William and Mary College, of Vir- ginia. On his entrance on his duties as professor he pub- lished a work entitled A Manual Commentary on Canon Law of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States, which is extensively used as a book of reference and textbook. He was also the author of Arthur Tre- maine; or, Cadet Life, issued in 1830, and published many orations, addresses, sermons, and lectures, in 1865. Dr. Vinton died at his home in Brooklyn, New York, Sep- tember 29, 1872, and is buried in the graveyard at New- port, Rhode Island. He was twice married. His first wife was a daughter of John Whipple, of Providence ; the second the only daughter of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry. His brothers also deserve honorable mention for their distinguished service to their country. Major John Rogers Vinton was killed by an unexploded shell at the bombardment of Vera Cruz, in the Mexican War. Briga- dier-General David H. Vinton (who died February 21, 1873) served in New York during the Civil War as chief

quartermaster and as assistant quartermaster-general ; he was one of the most valued and trusted officers in the army. The Rev. Alexander H. Vinton, D.D., a prominent and talented clergyman of the Protestant Episcopal Church, has recently retired from active duties in Boston, Massa- chusetts, to the old homestead of the family, at Pomfret, Connecticut.

ZOZZENS, GOVERNOR WILLIAM C., was born in New- port, August 26, 1811. He obtained his education chiefly in the celebrated school of Levi Tower. Having decided to devote himself to mercantile pur- suits, he became a clerk in the drygoods store of Hon. Edward W. Lawton, Lieutenant-Governor of the State 1847-1849. He devoted his life to the drygoods business, and was at the head of a house which built up a large and successful trade in the city of Newport. His fellow-citizens, appreciating the sterling qualities of his character, called him to fill important posts of honor and trust. He was elected, under the revised charter of the city, the second Mayor, having been chosen in 1854 to suc- ceed Hon. George H. Calvert. During his administration the cholera visited Newport, and he devoted himself with great fidelity to meet the scourge by carefully guarding the sanitary condition of the city. To his exertions Newport is very much indebted in securing its beautiful Touro Park. Several times he represented his native city in both branches of the General Assembly. In 1863, while Sena- tor from Newport, he was chosen President of the Senate. Governor William Sprague was then in office. On the 3d of March, 1863, he resigned, to enter upon his duties as United States Senator. Lieutenant-Governor S. G. Arnold having been previously elected a Senator to Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Hon. James F. Simmons, Mr. Cozzens, by virtue of his office as Pres- ident of the Senate, became Governor, and held that posi- tion until May, 1863, at which time, by a popular vote, James Y. Smith was chosen to the office. A memora- ble event, during his brief administration, was the visit to Rhode Island by Major-General Wool, U. S. A., and Hon. Salmon P. Chase, Secretary of the Treasury. The hospitalities of the State were gracefully extended to these distinguished gentlemen at the hands of the Governor. The short period during which Governor Cozzens occupied the gubernatorial chair was in the midst of the Rebellion, and grave responsibilities devolved on him as Chief Magistrate of the State. These responsibilities he met and discharged to the general approbation of the people of the State, and when he retired from office he carried with him the respect and benedictions of his fellow-citizens. Governor Cozzens filled important positions in his native city. He was Pres- ident of the Rhode Island Union Bank. For a number of years he was one of the directors of the Redwood Library, and several times its President. He took a very active and successful part in bringing the Old Colony Railroad

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to Newport, thus bringing the city into easy communica- tion with Boston, so many of whose citizens have their summer homes in that delightful place. He was a mem- ber of Zion (Episcopal) Church, and for many years one of its wardens. His death occurred December 17, 1876. He left a widow and five children, three sons and two daughters.

ENGELL, WILLIAM GORHAM, for many years Presi- dent of the American Screw Company, eldest son of Enos and Catherine (Gorham) Angell, was born in Providence, November 21, 1811. He was a lineal descendant in the sixth generation of Thomas Angell, who came from England in 1631 with Roger Wil- liams, and was one of his companions in the early settle- ment of Providence. In the assignment of six-acre lots made by Roger Williams in 1638, he received the section which included the land on which now stand the First Baptist Church and the State Normal School House. The subject of this sketch enjoyed such educational advantages as the public schools of his native town afforded, and early developed marked taste as a mechanical genius. He worked at the trade of his father, that of a carpenter, until he was about twenty years of age, when he entered into partner- ship with his uncle, John Gorham, for the purpose of manu- facturing loom-reeds, a machine for making which had previously been perfected by him. In 1837 the attention of several enterprising persons in Providence was turned to the subject of the manufacture of screws. In January, 1838, a company was organized and secured a charter from the General Assembly, authorizing them to hold capital to the amount of $20,000 for the manufacture of screws. This company was called the Providence Screw Company. Another company was formed in the autumn of the same year which took the name of the Eagle Screw Company. Its authorized capital was $75,000. Of this company Mr. Angell was made the agent, and in 1840 retired from the firm of Gorham & Angell in order that he might give his undivided attention to the duties of the new position to which he had been called. Difficulties of the most formid- able character met him at the outset. He had to meet heavy expenses connected with a suit at law brought against the company which he represented for an infringement of a patent, which he supposed had been secured to the com- pany when it purchased the machinery of the Providence Screw Company. The damages of this suit were $20,000, the payment of which with the costs made a heavy draft on the working capital of the company, crippling its operations for several years, and it was largely owing to the persistent will and the untiring energy of Mr. Angell that the Eagle Screw Company was kept in existence. This company's machinery being unfitted for the manufacture of gimlet- pointed screws then in demand, it was mostly laid aside, and new machinery constructed embodying the invention

of Thomas J. Sloan, of New York. Subsequently the com- pany petitioned the General Assembly for an increase in their capital stock. The petition was granted January, 1854, and the capital raised to half a million dollars. After ne- gotiations, which were carried on for nearly two years, there was a consolidation, which was formally ratificd January I, 1860, of the two companies, the New England Screw Com- pany, which had been in operation nearly twenty years, and the Eagle Screw Company, which had been in opcra- tion since 1838. The new company took the name of the American Screw Company. Its nominal capital was $1,000,000. Of this company Mr. Angell was chosen Presi- dent, and to him was intrusted its executive management, for which position he had rare qualifications. His long ex- perience and constant devotion to the interests intrusted to him made him thorough master of all the details, a knowl- edge of which was so important to the successful prose- cution of his work. He was acquainted with the whole history of the manufacture of screws, and had a complete understanding of the peculiar characteristics of every machine used in this country and in Europe in this branch of busi- ness. He had remarkable gifts as an administrative officer, and looked after all the minutiæ in the general management of the vast interests committed to his care. He was also sagacious in anticipating the future and laying wise plans for the prosecution of his work. So perfectly well balanced was his judgment that his associates relied upon his de- cisions without attempting to bias his individual action, confiding in his superior knowledge and practical good sense. He made it his business to study the markets, and was early able to bring the products of manufacture into competition with English screws, and as the merit of his screws became known they displaced those of foreign manu- facture. "Mr. Angell was thoroughly conscientious and honest in all his dealings. His ohject was by fairness, fidelity, promptness, and unwearied attention to business to win the confidence of the public and advance the interests of the company, and in both these respects he had reason to be gratified with his success." The ten years of Mr. Angell's administration of the affairs of the American Screw Com- pany were years of great financial prosperity. As his policy was to distribute the earnings of the company among the stockholders, rather than lay them by for a reserve fund, the dividends which came into their hands were very large, surpassed in amount by few corporations in the country. During the Civil War the increased duty resulting from the advance in the price of gold, prevented the importation of foreign screws to the American market. With the advan- tages growing out of a successful preoccupation of the market and of the sale of the article at prices commensurate with the times, the American Screw Company was able to compete successfully with all new companies which were formed in this country. It is said, on good authority, that of more than seventy companies and firms engaged in the manufacture of screws, not connected with other interests,

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James H. Rodman

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besides the two companies comprising this company, only two, the Bay State, at Taunton, and the National, at Hart- ford, were fairly successful, the success of the latter being attributable to the close connection which it had with the American. After a period of nearly thirty-five years' devo- tion to the interests committed to him, Mr. Angell died in Providence, May 13, 1870. His wife was Ann R. Stewart, whom he married January 4, 1836. Their children were Edwin Gorham and William Henry. The former succeeded his father as President and executive manager of the American Screw Company.

RODMAN, JAMES H., son of Williamn and Martha (Tennant) Rodman, was born in South Kings- town, Rhode Island, January 8, 1815. He was employed on a farm until the age of nineteen, and for several years thereafter was engaged in fishing and boating. Subsequently he became captain of a coaster, and served in that capacity about four years. He then resumed farming, in which he continued until 1853. Soon afterwards he erected the first hotel on Front Street, at Narragansett Pier, Rhode Island, for the accom- modation of summer visitors, which was opened to the public in 1855, and which he has since carried on success- fully under the name of the Revere House. Additions having been made from time to time to meet the require- ments of an increased patronage, his house now accom- modates one hundred and twenty-five guests. Mr. Rod- man's success induced many others to follow his enterpris- ing example, and he has thus been instrumental in con- tributing to the growth and prosperity of the fashionable summer resort, at which he has resided for over a quarter of a century. He married, at Peace Dale, Rhode Island, April 12, 1866, Abbey E. Smith, daughter of Wescott and Mary (Holland) Smith, of South Kingstown. They have had four children, Ethel M., Mary L., Bessie L., and Car- rie L., who died December 9, 1878. Mrs. Rodman's father received a pension from the United States govern- ment for services rendered during the war with Great Britain in 1812, and her grandfather, John Smith, was a pensioner of the Revolution. Mr. Rodman is a member of the Baptist Church, with which communion he united at Exeter, Rhode Island, in 1840, and is highly esteemed for his integrity and religious character.

CKENZIE, REV. JAMES ALEXANDER, son of James Douglass and Joanna Freeman (Hoxie) Mckenzie, was born in Newport, December 3, 1812. His father was a Scotchman by birth, and a sea-captain in his calling. His mother was a native of Newport. He had an early Christian ex- perience, and his predilections for the work of the ministry was early manifested in his preaching to the boys in his

neighborhood, who gathered to hear him in large numbers, which was productive of good results, and gave him the distinction of being "the boy preacher of Newport." In 1828 he united with the First Baptist Church, in Newport, and soon became the assistant of Rev. Michael Eddy, its aged pastor. The church subsequently divided, and he became pastor of a portion of it, which was known as the Fourth Baptist Church in Newport. Finding himself to be in sympathy with the doctrinal views of the Free Bap- tists, he identified himself with them in 1832. His church united with them a few years later. For one year previous to 1840 he was pastor of the Free Baptist Church in Ports- mouth, New Hampshire, and this was the only pastorate which he ever filled beyond the limits of Rhode Island. In that year he became pastor of the Roger Williams Church, Providence, and continued in the position seven years. During this period the foundations of the subsequent strength and usefulness of this large church were laid. He was pastor of the Free Baptist Church in Tiverton from 1847 to 1854; of the church in Greenville from 1854 to 1856; of the Park Street Church, Providence, from 1856 to 1859, and again of the church at Tiverton from 1859 until his decease, which occurred April 10, 1873. For some time. he suffered severely from a cancer, which caused his death. He was twice married : first, to Mary S. Tilley, in Newport, September 26, 1833, who died in Tiverton, April 23, 1869; and, second, to Elizabeth S. Manchester, in Tiverton, November 10, 1869, who sur- vives him. His work was large, and its influence abiding. He was especially devoted to the church in Tiverton, to which he ministered, during his two pastorates with it, twenty-one years. But while he labored so devoutly with the people of his choice, his influence was widely manifest and his work appreciated. He was simple in his habits of life, quaint in his manners, peculiar in his methods, trans- parent in his motives, an able preacher, and pre-eminent for his piety. He was ever bold and decided in his utter- ances in favor of peace, anti-slavery, and temperance. His attachment to his native State was very strong.

SMITH, REV. FRANCIS, was born in South Reading (now Wakefield), Massachusetts, July 12, 1812. He was the son of Noah and Mary (Sweetser) Smith. In his native town was an academy which took high rank as an institution of learning. Here he pursued his preparatory studies under the tuition of Rev. Messrs. John Stevens and William Heath, and was a graduate of Brown University in the class of 1837. Having completed his course of college study, he entered the New- ton Theological Institution, where he took the prescribed course of three years' study, graduating in 1840. He was ordained March 31, 1841, and became the pastor of the Fourth Baptist Church, in Providence, where he remained thirteen years. The church, under his ministrations, grew

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in numbers and strength, and exerted a most beneficent influence in that part of the city in which it was located. His ministry was a long one compared with that of most clergymen in his denomination, their tenure of office being not unfrequently very slender and easily broken. After his resignation, Mr. Smith continued to reside in Providence. As a stated supply he preached to congregations at Fruit Hill, Allendale, and Wanskuck, and for two years at Rut- land, Vermont. For three years he was District Secretary for New England of the American Baptist Publication Society. The later years of his life were spent in mission- ary service in and around Providence. The influence of his life and teachings still lives in the fields of Christian labor which he endeavored to cultivate. He married, March 3, 1841, Martha G. Bradford, of New Bedford, Massachusetts. His death occurred in Providence, Janu- ary 29, 1872.

YER, HON. ELISHA, Ex-Governor of Rhode Island, son of Elisha and Frances (Jones) Dyer, was born in Providence, Rhode Island, July 20, 1811. He is a lineal descendant of William Dyer, who came from London, England, and settled at Boston in 1635, with his wife Mary. William and Mary Dyer were disfranchised and driven to Rhode Island in 1638 for sup- porting Quakerism. The former became Clerk of the New- port Colony, and the latter, being a firm adherent to the principles maintained by the Society of Friends, it was re- corded of her at Boston that "the insane desire for mar- tyrdom led the poor woman back here in 1660 to the scaf- fold." Their grandson, John, married Freelove Williams, a great-granddaughter of Roger Williams, and John Dyer's son, Anthony, was the grandfather of the subject of this sketch. Tradition says the Dyers were originally from England. Governor Dyer's mother was a daughter of Esther Jones, a great-granddaughter of Mary Bernon, who was a daughter of Gabriel Bernon, a Huguenot and a refugee from La Rochelle, France. Gabriel Bernon was a merchant of an ancient and honorable family of Rochelle, where he was born, April 6, 1644. Governor Dyer enjoyed superior educational advantages. He received early and careful training in private schools in Providence, spent a short time at Benjamin Green's boarding-school, at Black Hill, in Plainfield, Connecticut, and was prepared for col- lege in Roswell C. Smith's school, in Providence, from which he entered Brown University, September 7, 1825, at the age of fourteen. He graduated from that institution, September 2, 1829, and September 21st, of the same year, entered the store of Elisha Dyer & Co., commission mer- chants, No. 5 West Water Street, Providence, where he served in a clerical capacity until April 1, 1831, when, Mr. Cary Dunn having retired from the firm to engage in busi- ness in New York, young Dyer became the junior partner. On the 8th of October, 1838, he married Anna Jones Hoppin, daughter of Thomas C. Hoppin, Esq., the Rev.

James Wilson, then pastor of the Beneficent Congrega- tional Church, being the officiating minister. By this mar- riage there were seven children, four of whom, Elisha, Anna Jones, Gabriel Bernon, and William Jones, are now living. In early life Governor Dyer became identified with various public interests, and has always taken an active part in promoting useful enterprises and social re- forms. On the 23d of September, 1833, he was tendered the appointment of Vice-Consul of the two Sicilies, which honor he declined. About this time he became a strong temperance man, and by earnest persuasion prevailed on his father to give up the sale of intoxicating liquors, then a large and profitable part of their business, which course, as was expected, proved very damaging to their trade. This incident illustrates a strong characteristic of Governor Dyer's life. He is a man of high moral principle, and has always been true to his convictions. On the 30th of September, 1835, he became a member of the Rhode Island Society for the En- couragement of Domestic Industry, of which he subse- quently served as Secretary, member of the Auditing Com- mittee, and President, and from 1859 to 1878 was an honor- ary member, and a member of the Standing Committee. Per- haps no one has done more for the success of this Society than Governor Dyer. He worked earnestly, both at home and abroad, to promote its usefulness. He visited agricul- tural colleges in Europe, and obtained valuable statistics and information for the Society in this country, while trav- elling for his health. In 1835 his father built the Dyer- ville Mill, in North Providence, and established the Dyer- ville Manufacturing Company, for the manufacture of cot- ton cloth. Mr. Dyer became the agent of this company, in which position he served until the death of his father, in 1854, when he became the sole owner of the property, and continued the business until 1867, when, on account of failing health, being obliged to retire from business, he sold the mill. During his business career he was promi- nently identified with many of the commercial interests of the city. For many years he was a member and director of the Providence Athenaeum, a director of the Providence Young Men's Bible Society, of which he was President in 1843, and was a member of the Providence Dispensary, being among the most generous in caring for the poor and unfortunate. He became a member of the Rhode Island Historical Society in 1837, and was one of the Board of Trustees from September 10, 1845, until the abolishment of the same in 1848. In politics Governor Dyer was for- merly an Old Line Whig, and has been identified with the Republican party since its organization. He was a dele- gate to the Whig Convention at South Kingstown, Rhode Island, October 31, 1839, and Secretary of the same; and a delegate to the Whig Jubilee and Festival at Niblo's, New York, in November, 1839. He was Chairman and First Vice-President of the Young Men's Whig Convention at Providence, April 2, 1840. He was a delegate to the Young Men's Whig Convention at Baltimore, May 3, 1840,

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of which he was Chairman, and at that time addressed ten thousand people in Monument Square, Baltimore." On the 27th of June, 1840, he was elected Adjutant General of Rhode Island, and re-elected for five successive years, in which capacity he rendercd very efficient service, being on active duty under Governor Samuel W. King, constantly, from April 3d to July 2Ist, 1842, having almost entire charge of the plans and movements of the State govern- ment during the " Dorr War." He served as a member of the Providence School Committee from January 3, 1843, to June 6, 1854, when he resigned. He was elected President of Fire Wards September 9, 1850, and served until his resignation, June 2, 1851. In 1851 he was nominated for Mayor of Providence by the Temperance party, and de- feated by a small majority. On the 4th of April, 1853, he was nominated for State Senator, but not elected. He was President of the Exchange Bank of Providence at the time it became a National Bank, and served as a director of the same from 1837 to 1879; was elected a director of the Union Bank of Providence, September 2, 1845, and became a director of the Providence and Washington Insurance Company in January, 1850, but soon afterward resigned. He was Second Vice-President of the Rhode Island Art Association in 1853. In 1854 he became an annual member of the United States Agricultural Society, and in 1857, a life member, and Vice-President of the same. He was also a member of the Windham County, Connecticut, Agricultural Society. In August, 1855, he became a member of the American Association of Arts and Sciences. He was a member of the Butler Hospital Cor- poration, and trustee of the same from January 23, 1856, to June 5, 1857, when he resigned ; was Vice-President of the Lake Erie Monument Association ; President of the Young Men's Christian Association from May 12, 1857, to April 12, 1858; honorary member of Franklin Lyceum in 1858, and of the Providence Association of Mechanics and Manufacturers, in 1860. On the 10th of March, 1853, he was a delegate to the Whig State Convention, and Sec- retary of the same, and at the same time was Chairman of the Eastern District Convention. He was also a member of the Whig State Convention from February 3, 1851, until 1855. In 1857 he was elected Governor of Rhode Island, and re-elected in 1853, and declined in favor of Hon. Thomas G. Turner in May, 1859. Concerning his ad- ministration as Governor, the Providence Post, a leading Democratic paper, which was opposed to him, thus referred on the 7th of March, 1859: " It is proper to say that his retirement is wholly voluntary. It is not often that men thus voluntarily decline an honorable office, and especial- ly when the office may be used as a stepping-stone to others of still greater value and importance. . . . We have from the first looked upon him as an honorable, high - minded opponent, and a straightforward, consci- entious man; and candor compels us to say, that he has never failed to reach the standard we set up for

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The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 84

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