The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 88

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

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lection, there are many scarce volumes printed. by the earliest American printers. A copy of Eliot's Indian Bible, of 1663, said to be the finest now extant, was pur- chased for this library at a great cost; also several missals, prepared on vellum by monks before the art of printing was known, and beautifully and elaborately ornamented. Among other noteworthy features are superb copies of the first four folios of Shakespeare, the rarity of which has en - hanced their value to an almost fabulous figure. The original letters written by General Washington to General Joseph Reed, of Philadelphia, during the Revolutionary War, together with other unique manuscripts, are of great historical and monetary value. The Washington letters were bought for $2250. Previous to the introduction of the slavery question as a political issue, Mr. Cooke took but little part in politics, although having no small interest in subjects concerning the welfare of mankind; but when the tide of national events produced the Republican party, he became one of its earliest members, and was identified with that organization until his death. He was President of the Rhode Island Republican State Convention of 1857, and Chairman of the Republican State Central Committee for the same year. He was President of the Rhode Island Society for the Encouragement of Domestic Industry in 1855-6. He married, first, at Lonsdale, Rhode Island, February 18, 1834, Adelaide Martha Baker, of Providence, daughter of John and Avis (Tillinghast) Baker, formerly of Newport. She died at Elmwood, February 9, 1865. On the 12th of September, 1865, he married Maria Ade- laide Salisbury, daughter of John and Abby Wilson (Fos- ter) Salisbury. The children by the first marriage were : Joseph Sheldon, born March 12, 1838, and died August I, 1839; Adelaide Baker, who married, May 22, 1862, Scott Allen Smith ; Ellen Goddard, born December 24, 1847, and died August 16, 1849; Alice Elizabeth, born March 18, 1853; and Edith, born March 8, 1854, and died Sep- tember 6, 1854. The names of the children by the second marriage are, Arthur Elmwood, born and died June 9, 1866, and Henry Williams, born June 26, 1867. Mr. Cooke died July 8, 1881.

HIDDEN, HON. JAMES CLIFFORD, son of James and Mary W. (Clifford) Hidden, was born in

00 Walpole, Massachusetts, May 15, 1813. His father was twice married, the children by his first marriage being Mary Hidden, Mrs. Susan Butts, widow of Samuel Butts, both of whom are now living in Providence, and William, deceased. James C. was the second of the four children by the second marriage. In the sketch of his brother, Henry A. Hidden, will be found the names of the other children and the genealogy of the family. James C. attended the public schools of Provi- dence, the private school of Oliver Angell, and the classi- cal school conducted by Thomas C. Hartshorn. He sub-

1) Laphuno

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sequently read law and studied medicine, but never entered upon the practice of either profession. He taught school for a few years, and then engaged in the engraving and copper-plate printing business with his brother, Henry A. Hidden, having purchased the interest of his brother's partner, General Thomas F. Carpenter. Twelve years thereafter, in 1849, he sold out to his brother, who contin- ued the business alone. In 1851 he bought a large farm in Attleboro, Massachusetts, to which he removed and en- gaged in agricultural pursuits until 1861, when he sold his farm and returned to Providence, where he has since re- sided. Mr. Hidden was formerly a member of the Whig party, to the principles of which he still firmly adheres. Prior to his removal to Massachusetts he took an active and prominent part in politics, and was frequently called to fill public positions. From 1843 to 1847 and from 1868 to 1869 he served as a member of the Providence Com- mon Council, and from 1845 to 1847 was President of that body. For several years he represented Providence in the General Assembly, and from 1849 to 1851 was Speaker of the House of Representatives, which position he filled with such satisfaction as to attain wide popularity. During his career as a legislator he was active in securing the passage of several important measures, and rendered the public good service. In early life Mr. Hidden devoted consid- erable attention to military matters, being an active mem- ber of the First Light Infantry Company until 1845, since which time he has been a member of the Veteran Associa- tion of the same. During the political troubles of 1842, known as the " Dorr War," he served as Captain of the Fifth Ward City Guard. He has long been a member of the Rhode Island Historical Society, in the proceedings of which he has ever manifested a deep interest. He married, March 27, 1839, Eliza Perrin, daughter of Daniel and Eliza (Dean) Perrin, of Medfield, Massachusetts. She died September 16, 1856, aged thirty-nine. On the 27th of November, 1867, Mr. Hidden married Mrs. Eliza D. Leeman, widow of Joseph Leeman, of New Castle, Maine. There were six children by the first marriage, but four of whom are living : Thomas C. Hidden, now a clerk in the Providence Post-office; Mary, wife of Francis A. Moore, of Jersey City, New Jersey ; Fannie and Ellen Hidden. By the second marriage there is one child, Elizabeth · Tower Hidden. In 1869 Mr. Hidden was elected Asses- sor of Taxes, which office he still holds. He has travelled extensively, and being a close observer, has acquired a fund of valuable information on various subjects.

RNOLD, REV. ALBERT N., D.D., was born in Cranston, Rhode Island, February 12, 1814. In his youth he was engaged in mercantile pursuits, and was looking forward to a business life, when, anxious to obtain an education and fit himself for

more extended usefulness, he prepared for college, and graduated from Brown University in the class of 1838. On completing his college studies he entered the Newton Theological Institution, where he took the full course of study, and graduated in the class of 1841. He accepted an invitation to become the pastor of the First Baptist Church, in Newburyport, Massachusetts, where he was ordained September 14, 1841. IIe remained in this position for two years, when he received an appointment as a missionary to Greece, under the direction of the American Baptist Missionary Union. Amid some things to cheer and many to discourage him he did the work assigned him. A part of the time he was stationed at the Island of Corfu. He remained abroad for about eleven years (1844-55), and then returned to this country. Soon after he reached his native land he was chosen by the Trustees of the Newton Theological Institution Professor of Ecclesiastical History, which chair he occupied for two years, 1855-57, when he became the pastor of the Baptist church in Westborough, Massachusetts, where he remained seven years, 1857-64, and then accepted a professor's chair in the Hamilton Theological Seminary, which he occupied for five years, 1864-69. In 1869 he was appointed Professor in Biblical Literature in the Baptist Theological Seminary, in Chicago. Failing health obliged him to resign, and he returned to his early home in Cranston, near Pawtuxet, Rhode Island. Dr. Arnold received the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity, in 1860, from the University in Rochester, New York. He was elected a trustee of Brown University in 1875. In 1841 he married Sarah, daughter of Mason and Amey (Crandall) Allin. They have two children : Albert Allin, and George Francis, who is assistant libra- rian of Harvard University.

cena ZAPHAM, HON. BENEDICT, manufacturer, son of Rev. Richard and Phebe (Arnold) Lapham, was born in Burrillville, Rhode Island, June 26, 1816. He is a descendant of John Lapham, a weaver, born in 1635, who came from Devonshire, England, and settled in Providence, where he married Mary Mann, daughter of William Mann. John Lapham's son Thomas was a Deputy in the General Assembly in 1747 and 1749, and a Judge in 1760. Rev. Richard Lapham was a farmer and a minister in the Wesleyan Methodist Church, though not settled as a pastor. His father, Levi Lapham, and his grandfather, Jethro Lapham, were members of the Society of Friends, the former a minister, and both were prosper- ous farmers and influential citizens. Benedict Lapham's mother was the daughter of Noah Arnold, a prominent citizen of Burrillville. In early life Mr. Lapham was em- ployed on a farm and in manufacturing establishments in Burrillville, Rhode Island, Palmer and Douglass, Massa- chusetts, and for a time had charge of the farming interests

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of the Albion Manufacturing Company at Smithifield, Rhode Island. In 1837 he attended Bushee's Academy at Bank Village, Rhode Island, where he paid special at- tention to the study of mechanics. IIe then worked sev- eral years as a carpenter and wheelwright. In 1839 he hired the Tillinghast (or Frenchtown) Factory, in East Greenwich, and engaged successfully in the manufacture of cotton goods until the fall of 1840, when he sold his machinery and stock and resumed farming, his father hav- ing conveyed to him the old homestead. He afterward carried on the manufacturing business in North Scituate, Wallum Pond, and Pascoag, in Burrillville, Rhode Island. In the summer of 1852 he bought of the executors of the will of the late John Greene, of Warwick, the John Greene estate in Centreville, embracing two-thirds of the water- power and all the machinery of the old mills, which were built in 1794 and 1807, and additions later. This was one of the first cotton-mills built in the State. Here Mr. Lap- ham engaged in the manufacture of cotton cloth, with about 5000 spindles. In 1861 he made a large addition to the mill, and in 1871 removed the old building and erected a new structure 303 feet long. It is one of the finest cotton-mills in the State, and is said to be the largest ever built and owned by any one man. It runs 30,000 spindles, with a capacity for 10,000 more, and both water- and steam-power are employed, necessitating the use of a large Corliss engine. Mr. Lapham was his own architect. He made all the plans, and had oversight of the erection of the building. His brother Enos is associated with him as superintendent. Mr. Lapham has also been consider- ably engaged in the cotton and grain trade, visiting the West and the South in the interest of this branch of his business. He was captain of a company of the Rhode Island militia during the " Dorr Rebellion." In 1849 he was a member of the Rhode Island House of Representa- tives from Scituate. In 1863 he was elected to the State Senate from Warwick, to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of the Rev. Jonathan Brayton, and was re- elected the following year. He was appointed by Gov- ernor Smith State Commissioner of the Antietam Cemetery, which position he held for five years, and was then re- appointed by Governor Padelford. He has been President of the Town Council for five years, a Justice of the Peace, and has filled other public offices. In 1863 he bought the Smithville Seminary, and gave it to the Freewill Baptist Association. He afterward carried on that institution for five years at his own expense. He married, November, 1849, Ann Eliza, daughter of the late Russell and Cathe- rine (Essex) Austin, of North Kingstown, Rhode Island. Mr. Lapham's business career extends over a period of forty years, and has been characterized by strict integ. rity and ceaseless activity. He is a man of iron consti- tution, indomitable energy, and great executive ability. He possesses a thoroughly disciplined mind, and has been master of his business, comprehending it in all its

details, from the buying of the cotton in the field, through all the processes of manufacturing, to the sale of the products of his mills. His progressive spirit and his interest in the public welfare have led him to devote much of his wealth to the cause of education and to be- nevolent purposes, and his life has been one of con- tinued usefulness.

B ROOKS, REV. CHARLES TIMOTHY, eldest son of Timothy and Mary King Brooks, was born in Salem, Massachusetts, June 20, 1813. His fath- er's family came from Woburn ; his mother's father was Jonathan Mason. At the age of eleven he en- tered the Latin School in his native town, and was fitted for college by Theodore Eames, deceased, and Henry K. Oliver, who for the fourth time is Mayor of Salem. In the fall of 1828, then fifteen years of age, he entered Har- vard College. There were sixteen Freshmen from Salem that year in a class of seventy-four. In their Sophomore year Josiah Quincy relieved Dr. Ware, the acting President, and took the government of the University. In that year Dr. Follen was inaugurated as Professor of German, and Mr. Brooks began under him the study of that language, which, particularly in its poetical department, has entered so largely into the studies of his subsequent life. The sub- ject of Mr. Brooks's oration at Commencement was " The Love of Truth, a Practical Principle." Immediately after graduation, in 1835, he entered the Cambridge Divinity School, then under Drs. Ware (father and son) and Dr. Palfrey, as Dean of the Faculty. In June, 1835, his fare- well dissertation had for its subject, " The Old Syriac Ver- sion of the New Testament." At the Commencement the same year he spoke, for the Master's Degree, an oration on "Decision of Character, as Demanded in our Day and Country." After leaving the Theological School, he preached at various places, beginning at Nahant, and spend- ing the winter at Augusta, Maine. In June, 1836, he preached as a candidate at Newport, Rhode Island, and finally settled there in January, 1837. He was ordained in June, Dr. John Brazer preaching the sermon, and Dr. William Ellery Channing giving the charge. The winters of 1842-43 and 1851-52 he spent in Mobile, seeking health and supplying the pulpit there. In 1853 he made a voy- age for his health to India, and, in 1865, a tour across Eu- rope as far as Rome, where he spent five months. On his return he gave some twenty lectures. In 1870 a cataract compelled him to go to Carney Hospital and have an operation performed on his eyes, at which time he ceased preaching and has since devoted himself to literary labors. He has been a voluminous writer, and has attained wide celebrity as an author. His first publication was anony- mous, a translation of Schiller's William Tell, brought out in 1837 by Cranston & Co., at Providence. In 1841, at

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Newport, was printed a sermon of his own on Revivals; in 1842, one on Temperance ; in 1842 a volume of Songs and Ballads, from the German, in Ripley's Foreign Series, pub- lished by James Munro; in 1845 his Phi Beta Poem was recited and printed; the same year he contributed an ar- ticle on Poetry to the Christian Examiner ; in 1847 Munro published for him The Homage of the Arts, and miscel- laneous pieces from Rückert, Freiligrath, and other Ger- man poets; in 1848 was printed at Providence, with other small pieces, Aquidneck, a poem recited a year before at the one hundredth anniversary of the founding of the Red- wood Library. In 1848 he contributed to the Christian Examiner an article on the Apocalypse, and in 1851, one composed of small poems. The same year was published his Controversy Touching the Old Stone Mill in the Town of Newport. In 1853 Ticknor & Fields published his German Lyrics, which was highly commended by the London Atheneum ; the same year was printed his Songs of Field and Flood. In 1855 he contributed to Harper's Magazine a paper on Madras. In 1856 his Faust was published by Ticknor & Fields. In 1857 he had two pa- pers in the Christian Examiner, on India and on John Howland. In 1859, with Crosby & Nichols, he published a volume of sermons called The Simplicity of Christ's Teachings. In the Examiner for 1859, he reviewed Stevens's History of Methodism, and the Old Rhode Island Question ; and in 1860, printed an article on German Hymns. The same year he preached and printed a ser- mon before the graduating class of the Cambridge Divin- ity School. In 1862 his Translation of Jean Paul's Titan was published by Ticknor & Fields. In 1863, Leypold, at Philadelphia, brought out the first part of the Jobsiade, a German comic poem. In 1865, Ticknor & Fields brought out Hesperus, by Richter. Since these Roberts Brothers have published for him : Layman's Breviary, World Priest, Max and Maurice, Tall Student, Puck's Pranks, all from the German, and in 1880, William Ellery Chan- ning, a Centennial Memory. In 1877, he translated for Henry Holt's Leisure Hour Series the following books of Auerbach : Poet and Merchant, The Gawk from America, Lorley and Reinhard, The Convicts. His yet unpublished translations are, beside a multitude of lyrics, Schiller's Mary Stuart, Schiller's Joan of Arc, Grillparzer's Ahn- frau, Autobiography of Claus Harms, Richter's Jubel- senior, a play of Hans Sachs, Last of the Tulifants, Rückert's Wisdom of the Brahmin, and Richter's Selina. In October, 1837, he married Harriet Lyman, daughter of Benjamin Hazard. They have four children, two sons and two daughters. Mr. Brooks continues to be prominently identified with the work of the church he represents. He is Chairman of the Channing Memorial Committee, and on the occasion of the Centenary Com- memorative Services, on the 7th of April, 1880, contributed a poem which was highly commended for its superior merit.

HETTEPLACE, JAMES SMITH, manufacturer, son of Asel and Nancy (Smith) Phetteplace, was born in Smithfield, near Greenville, Rhode Island, June 12, 1814. He received a common-school edu- cation, and worked on his father's farm until the age of sixteen, when he went to Providence, and for six years was employed as clerk in the store of Daniel Angell, a grocer. In 1836 he became Mr. Angell's partner, with whom he was associated for six years. At the end of that time he sold his interest to Mr. Angell and formed a part- nership with George A. Seagrave, with whom he carried on a large and successful wholesale grocery business until 1872, under the style of Phetteplace & Seagrave. Both members of the firin having become interested in woollen manufacture in 1850, at Graniteville, Burrillville, Rhode Island, they sold out their grocery business in 1872, and have since been engaged in manufacturing fancy cassimeres. In 1870, their lease of the Graniteville Mills having ex- pired, they built the mill at Central Falls, and the business is now carried on under the name of the Central Falls Woollen Mill. Mr. Phetteplace is President of the com- pany, George A. Seagrave, Treasurer, and James L. Pierce, Agent, all being owners in the property and business. Their mill has a capacity for twelve sets of machinery, nine sets now being employed in the manufacture of fancy cas- simeres. Mr. Phetteplace is identified with various busi- ness interests of Providence. He is President of the Rhode Island Safe Deposit Company, and one of the trustees of that institution ; President of the Merchants' Savings Bank, of Providence; and has been a director in the Lime Rock Bank since 1848. He has been a director in the Atlantic Insurance Company since 1852, when first organized, and has served in the same capacity in the American Screw Company since 1869. He is also a director in the Mer- chants' Insurance Company, and a director and President of the American Mutual Insurance Company. For several years he has been a member of the Westminster Congre- gational Unitarian Society. He married, August 25, 1840, Louisa, daughter of John S. and Patience (Harris) Ap- pleby, of Smithfield, Rhode Island. They have seven children : Isabel, who married James Tucker, a merchant of Providence ; Louisa, who married Robert E. Northam, of that city; Georgiana H., who married B. F. Chace, a wholesale grocer of Providence; Jessie Cryder; Frances Henrietta, who married Charles B. Fry, of Providence ; Gertrude, and James Foster.

RANGER, JAMES NATHANAEL, D.D., was born in Canandaigua, New York, in the month of August, 1814. When he was seventeen years of age he received an appointment as a Cadet in the United States Mi itary Academy at West Point, and was on the eve of departure to enter upon his course of military study when his mind passed through a remarkable revolu-

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tion, and he became a decided Christian. In 1831 he joined the Baptist church in Buffalo, New York, and at once began a course of preparatory studies, with a view to entering the Christian ministry. He graduated at the Hamilton Literary and Theological Institution, in the class of 1838, and was ordained and settled as Pastor of the Baptist church in Avon, New York, where he remained two years, and was then called to take the pastoral charge of the Washington Street church in Buffalo. His connec- tion with this church was a brief one. In October, 1842, he accepted a call from the First Baptist Church and So- ciety of Providence, and entered at once on his ministry in Rhode Island. For ten years he devoted himself most faithfully and successfully to his work, and won a place, which he never lost, in the affections of his own people, and in the respect of the community in which he lived. At the end of this period it was his purpose to secure rest and improvement by a tour to Europe. But as he was completing his plans to carry into execution a purpose which he had cherished for years, he was urgently solicited by the American Baptist Missionary Union to be the asso- ciate of their Foreign Secretary, the Rev. Dr. Solomon Peck, in a visit to the Stations of the Society, especially in the empire of Burmah. With great unselfishness, Dr. Granger abandoned his own plans and accepted the im- portant duty which his brethren had assigned to him. " It was not the love of romance," says Dr. Caswell, " that quickened his step, nor the expectation of glory, nor even the prospect of recovering his impaired health, though he hoped that a sea-voyage would not be without its utility in this respect. None of these motives tempted him away from the bosom of his family, and the service of his people. His object was to do his Master's will." Having reached the place of his destination he devoted himself with singu- lar zeal and industry to the tasks he had undertaken, working many hours a day amid the perils of a tropical climate, where he was constantly exposed not only to the enervating influences which so prostrate the physical ener- gies, but to the poisonous malaria which lurks every where, the enemy of those who breathe in its deadly virus. His mission accomplished, he returned to his native land, and to the scene of his ministerial labors. He had been absent a year and a half. He brought back with him the seeds of disease contracted in an Oriental clime. It wore him down. He sought relief by occasional relaxation from his duties, but he was never able to conquer his foe. Gradually he failed, and at last died, January 5, 1857. He received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Brown University in 1846. He was chosen a member of the Corporation of the University in 1851, and a Fellow in 1853. Few cler- gymen who have been in the ministry in Rhode Island are more worthy of a lasting remembrance than Dr. James N. Granger. His wife, three sons, and one daughter sur- vived his decease. The names of the children were, James N., William D., Daniel L. D., and Grace.

KERRY, OLIVER HAZARD, was born at Newport, February 23, 1815, and was the third son of Com- modore Oliver Hazard Perry and his wife Eliza- beth Perry, daughter of Dr. Benjamin Mason, of Newport. Faithful to the traditions of two genera- tions before him, he entered the navy February 24, 1829, and at the examination of the class so close was the com- petition between Perry and Morris, that it was left to a ballot to establish their respective positions. The lot fell on Perry, who thus became the senior. He served in the Wilkes Exploring Expedition, and was wrecked in the Peacock; he was also on the Coast Survey, on the surveys for the Georgia Railroad, and in the expedition against Vera Cruz, where he landed and commanded a battery during the bombardment. In 1847, while a Lieutenant, he resigned his position in the navy, and in 1848 became the agent of the Middlesex Mills, at Lowell. There he remained until he became the agent of the Bay State Mills, at Lawrence, in 1850. In 1856 he was admitted a partner in the Boston house of Lawrence, Stone & Co., selling- agents for the Middlesex and Bay State Mills. When the firm failed, in 1857, he was retained as manufacturing and purchasing-agent of the Middlesex, and in connection with Mr. M. R. Wendell, as selling-agent. For ten years he drove daily from Andover, where he resided, to Lowell and back, besides visiting Boston and Lawrence several times a week. In 1862 the firm of Perry & Wendell was formed, which firm became selling-agents. In 1864 the Lawrence Wool- len Company was formed ; a mill was erected, equipped, and run by Mr. Perry, as sole manager, up to the time of his death. It was known as " Perry's Mill." He also remained, from 1857 to 1876, as purchasing-agent of the Middlesex Mill and general manager of the manufacturing department. The extraordinary success of the manufac- turing business under Mr. Perry's charge, both as regards the quality of the goods and the financial results, was well known, and the cause was cqually well understood. Mr. Perry began his career as a manufacturer in the prime of life ; he was possessed of remarkable intellectual quali- ties, great insight into the capabilities of men and ma- chinery, and marked executive ability; while through a peculiar quiet manner, it was not difficult to discover some of the traits that made his father, at a much younger period in his life, the foremost fighter of his time and country. Partly by inheritance, partly from the sharp dis- cipline of his early years, Mr. Perry was possessed with a belief in the overpowering obligations of duty, and he ex- pected others to govern themselves by it as he did. It was not fidelity to himself nor to his personal interest that he exacted, but fidelity to whatever duty was incumbent at the moment. Above all, he pledged his personal honor and fidelity, in the broadest sense, to his engagements. No man ever tried to overreach him the second time, for the first attempt usually ended in a signal defeat, and a cessation of all intercourse. In matters of feeling he was

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The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 88

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