The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 97

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

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BIOGRAPIIICAL CYCLOPEDIA.

in 1850 he returned to Providence, and, with Welcome B. Sayles, started the Providence Daily and Weekly Post, under the firm-name of Sayles & Miller. Subsequently the Republican Herald, the old organ of the Democratic party, was purchased, and the publication of these papers was continued under the firm-name of Sayles, Miller & Simons, and Bradford, Miller & Simons ( Bradford representing Sayles's interest), until 1861, when there was a sale and transfer of the establishment to other parties. Mr. Miller's connection with the paper, however, did not cease until after the close of the Civil War. The first vote Mr. Miller cast for President was for Polk in 1844. He has been a firm and consistent advocate of Democratic men and measures to the present time (1881). He was a delegate from the State to the National Democratic Conventions in 1856, '64, and '72. For several years he was the Democratic nominee for Secretary of State for Rhode Island. In 1855 the Gas Works of Bristol were started, since which time he has acted as secretary and superintendent of the company, and in January, 1869, was appointed treasurer, which offices he still holds. He has also been a director of the company since its organization. In 1859 he was elected President of the Town Council of Bristol, which office he held one year, and in 1870 was re-elected, and served for two years in the same capacity. He is at present, and has been for about twenty years, a member of the School Board of Bristol. In 1853 he served as First Clerk in the House of Repre- sentatives of the Rhode Island General Assembly, and in 1863 occupied the same position. In 1873 and '74 he represented the town of Bristol in the Lower House of the General Assembly. In 1861 he became a member of the Congregational Church of Bristol, of which society he was President for seven years. In 1844 he united with Eagle Lodge, No. 2, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and passed through the chairs of that lodge. In 1870 he re- newed his interest in that order and became the First Noble Grand of United Brothers Lodge of Bristol, passing through the chairs a second time. He at once became a member of the Grand Lodge of the Grand Encampment of the State, and in 1873 was elected a member of the Grand Lodge of the United States, representing the Grand En- campment of Rhode Island, and served six years. In 1857, in company with George H. Norman, Esq., of Newport, he built the Gas Works at Willimantic, Connecticut, and has ever since been the treasurer and superintendent of the company. Since retiring from journalism he has de- voted much of his time to the study of history, especially the history of the Rhode Island Indians. In 1874, at the request of the Rhode Island Historical Society, he read a paper on the Wampanoag Indians, which was received with so much favor that two others were prepared and read in 1875 and '76, and published in book form by Sidney S. Rider, of Providence. They created a deep interest in the society, and led to the commemoration of the two hun- dredth anniversary of the deatlı of King Philip, by placing

a stone to mark the place of his death. Mr. Miller has been a member of the society since 1873. In December, 1844, he married Lydia Mason Bushee, daughter of Luther Bushee, of Providence. She died in 1860. In the fall of 1861 Mr. Miller married Abby Frances Luther, of Bristol, daughter of Captain Hiram Luther. There were three children by the second marriage, the first of whom died in infancy, and the names of the others being William Nelson and Charles Luther.

®NOW, GEORGE WASHINGTON, merchant, son of Ben- jamin and Anstiss (Gladding) Snow, was born in Providence, February 27, 1818. The first ancestor of his family in this country settled near Taunton,

Massachusetts, about 1650. Mr. Snow's father, grandfather, and great-grandfather were house carpenters, and the latter, Deacon James Snow, of the Beneficent Con- gregational Church, in Providence, assisted in the erection of the first church edifice on Broad Street, while the first pastor of the Society, Rev. Joseph Snow, was a brother of the grandfather of the subject of this sketch. Mr. Snow was educated in the public schools of Providence, and at the age of fourteen was employed for a short time by New- ton Carpenter, a merchant tailor. In 1833, he entered the wholesale and retail drug house of John H. Mason & Co., in Providence, and was subsequently in the employ of Earl P. Mason and Earl P. Mason & Co., Benjamin M. Jackson being a member of the latter firm. In 1856 Mr. Jackson retired, and Mr. Snow and George L. Claflin, a fellow-clerk, became associated with Earl P. Mason, and continued under the old firm-name of Earl P. Mason & Co. Other changes occurred in 1859 and 1865, and in 1866 a new firm was organized, consisting of Messrs. Snow, Claflin and Mason, under the style of Snow, Claflin & Co., Mr. Mason being special partner. In 1872 the partnership expired by limitation, and a new firm was formed, but Mr. Snow was obliged to retire on account of ill health, and has not en- gaged in business since that time. His experience in the drug trade extended over a period of forty years, and the business of his firm became the largest of the kind in the State. The house is now known as Mason, Chapin & Co. Mr. Snow was frequently requested to become a candidate for public office, but invariably declined. He has been a director of the Third National Bank in Providence since 1878, and is also a stockholder and director in the Slater Cotton Company, of Pawtucket. In 1839 he joined the First Light Infantry Company of Providence, and is now a member of the Veteran Association of the same. Though not a church member, he is a regular attendant at the West- minster Congregational (Unitarian) Church. He married, September 16, 1844, Lucinda M. Le Valley, daughter of Stephen J. and Charlotte T. (Crumb) Le Valley, of Provi- dence. They have had five children, but one of whom, Louis Franklin, is living.

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YAMES, HON. BENJAMIN TUCKER, son of James and Sarah (Mumford) Eames, was born in Dedham, Massachusetts, June 4, 1818. In 1820 his parents removed to Providence, where his father resided until his death, in 1865, and where his mother now resides in her ninety-first year. In early life Mr. Eames had the advantages of the schools in Providence and of some of the leading academies of Massachusetts and Con- necticut. At the age of sixteen hc was placed in the counting-room of Martin Stoddard & Co., where he re- mained for a year or two, and then as bookkeeper entered the employ of Messrs. Bates & Hutchins, wholesale dry- goods merchants, and subsequently the employ of Messrs. Borden & Bowen, who were acting as the agents of the Blackstone Manufacturing Company, and other mills, and the financial agents of the American Print Works and other manufacturing establishments in Fall River. In these situations he acquired a general knowledge of the modes of transacting business, which was of especial service to him in the profession which became the occupation of the greater part of his life. In the fall of 1838 he entered upon a preparatory course of study, with a view to adopt- ing the practice of law as his permanent occupation, and under the instruction of Professor S. S. Greene, now of Brown University, prepared for, and in the fall of 1839 entered the Freshman class of Yale College. He gradu- ated at Yale in 1843, with a fair standing in his class. During his collegiate course he availed himself of the ad- vantages of the debating and literary societies of the Uni- versity, in which he took a special interest. Immediately upon the close of his Senior year, and during the vacation before graduation, he entered his name as a law student in the office of the late Chief Justice Ames, with whom was associated Rollin Mathewson, Esq., of Providence. At the same time he was engaged as teacher in the Academy at North Attleborough, for about six months, employing his leisure time in pursuing the study of law. In the spring of 1844 he went to Cincinnati, Ohio, and entered the law office of the late Bellamy Storer, where he remained until the following winter, when he was admitted to practice in the courts of Kentucky. Upon his return to Rhode Island, in 1845, he was admitted to practice in the courts of that State, and since then, except for the last ten years, has been actively engaged in his profession. With a hard struggle in the early part of his professional career, he succeeded gradually in obtaining a remunerative practice and a promi- nent position at the bar. From 1845 to 1850 he served as Recording and Reading Clerk of the House of Represent- atives of Rhode Island, and during a part of that time was the reporter of the proceedings of the General Assembly for the Providence Daily Fournal. In 1854 he was elected Senator from the city of Providence to the General As- sembly, and was re-elected to this office in 1855, 1856, IS59, and 1863. He was a member of the State House of Rep- resentatives in 1859, 1868, and 1869, serving the last year

as Speaker. He was one of the commissioners on the re- vision, in 1857, of the public laws of the State of Rhode Isl- and. In 1860 he was a delegate to the Republican Conven- tion at Chicago which nominated Abraham Lincoln for the Presidency. In 1870 he was elected a Representative to the Forty-second Congress from the First District of the State, and was re-elected to the Forty-third, Forty-fourth, and Forty-fifth Congresscs. In the Forty-second Congress he served on the Committee on Elections, and Revolutionary Claims and the War of 1812; in the Forty-third Con- gress, on the Committee on Patents and the Committee on Private Land Claims; in the Forty-fourth Congress, on the Committee on Banking and Currency; and in the Forty- fifth Congress, on the same committee (being the only rep- resentative on that committee from the New England States), and on the Committee on Expenditures in the War Department. Among his speeches in Congress which have been published and circulated, are those on the presentation of the statue of Roger Williams by the State of Rhode Island, Currency and Free Banking, Counting the Electoral Votes, Repeal of the Resumption Clause, Coinage of the Silver Dollar, Treasury Notes as a Substitute for National Bank Notes, the Tariff, Letter Carriers, Reduction of Let- ter Postage, Silver Certificates for the Silver Coin and Bul- lion of the World, and Postal Savings Banks. Mr. Eames became identified with the Republican party at its first or- ganization ; he stood by it through the struggle for the nation's life, and has since been a firm supporter of its principles and policy. In the fall of 1878 he declined to be a candidate for re election to Congress, and upon his return to Providence was elected a Member of the House of Representatives of the General Assembly, which office he now holds. He was married, in Warwick, Rhode Isl- and, May 9, 1849, to Laura S. Chapin, daughter of Josiah and Asenath (Capron) Chapin. His wife died October I, 1872. He has two children living, a son, Waldo, and a daughter, Laura.

@DDY, JOHN II., merchant, son of Jarvis and Mary (Hill) Eddy, was born in the town of Foster, Rhode Island, June 1, 1818. He is descended in two distinct lines from Rev. William Eddy, Vicar of Crainbrook, England, whose sons John and Samuel came to America, the latter settling in Plymouth in the year 1630. His grandfather, Captain John Eddy, was in the Revolutionary army. He is descended also from two distinct lines of the Hill family, and from Hugh Stone, the first settler, whose monument is near the Providence Water Works, at Pettaconset. Mr. Eddy's mother having died when he was eight years of age, his early training devolved upon his father, a kind, Christian parent, who nurtured him with tender solicitude. His elementary education was received at a common school, which he attended both in winter and summer. He displayed an eager desire for

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learning, and when but ten or twelve years of age showed much determination and self-discipline in his persevering study of the various common-school branches, pursuing them by early candlelight for months in succession, in his endeavors to add to his stock of knowledge. He became a clerk in the stores at Ponagansett and Richmond, Rhode Island. While at the former place he taught for two win- ters, in the evening hours, a school of operatives. At the age of sixteen he commenced teaching a small school in his own neighborhood, and at twenty, passed several terms at Smithville Seminary, North Scituate, Rhode Island, where he mastered several of the higher English branches. He then taught one continuous year at Rockland, and soon commenced trading at Mount Vernon, in the southern part of Foster. After his marriage he removed to Providence, where he became a clerk for the Providence and Worcester Railroad Company. A few years subsequently, in 1849, he commenced the wholesale wooden-ware trade, which has become an extensive and successful business. He has exhibited much perseverance and energy in all his under- takings, and his integrity has been unassailed. In the year 1841 he was elected Colonel of the Seventh Regiment of Rhode Island militia. He was a member of the conven- tion which secured the adoption of the present Constitution of the State, and an extension of the elective franchise, of which he has been an ardent advocate. In 1858 he became a member of the Westminster Congregational (Unitarian) Church, of which he has been a liberal supporter. Signing the temperance pledge at the age of sixteen, he has re- mained a firm friend and defender of the principles of total abstinence. During the Civil War he earnestly advo- cated the sentiments of loyalty and liberty in every circle in which he moved. He married, March 1, 1844, widow Mary P. Horton, daughter of Pardon Holden, a prominent merchant of Foster. Her maternal grandfather, Captain Benjamin Boss, was a brave soldier, who commanded a company and served during the entire Revolutionary War. Mr. Eddy's children are John H., who married Isadore F. Barden, and Mary E.

KLADDING, BENJAMIN HILL, merchant, son of George W. and Rebecca (Hill) Gladding, was born in Providence, August 17, 1818. His father was for many years engaged in the drygoods business, on North Main Street, Providence, under the firm- name of Watson & Gladding, and afterward continued in business alone until his death, which occurred in August, 1839. Mr. Gladding's grandfather, Timothy Gladding, was a merchant-tailor in Providence, and resided in the old homestead estate, corner of Westminster and Orange streets. Benjamin H. Gladding attended the common schools until he was twelve years of age, and for two years thereafter was employed in the office of the Providence Journal. At fourteen he entered the drug store of John H. Mason &

Co., on Broad Street, and served as clerk for three years, when he went to New York, where he was employed for two years as clerk for Halleck & Bates, wholesale drygoods dealers, corner of Broad Street and Burling Slip. At the end of the time last mentioned his employers became em- barrassed and closed out their business, and Mr. Gladding was obliged to seek other employment. He then returned to Providence, and soon afterward went South, with other young men of that city, intending to engage in the cotton trade at Mobile, Alabama. A partial failure of the cotton crop induced him to go to Galveston, Texas, where he re- mained a short time and then returned to Providence, arriving there in April, 1839. In August of that year, on the death of his father, he and his brother George bought the stock and fixtures and continued the drygoods business at their father's old stand, under the firm-name of George F. Gladding & Co. Their trade rapidly increased, and on the death of George F., Benjamin H. continued alone. On the 9th of October, 1878, he removed to No. 93 Westmin- ster Street, the business having been carried on at the old stand for more than thirty-nine years. On the 19th of Jan- uary, 1880, he received his son-in-law, Joseph H. Com- stock, into partnership with him, and the firm-name became B. H. Gladding & Co. During the forty-one years of his business experience Mr. Gladding never failed, and ever maintained a high standing as a merchant. In 1839 he joined the Marine Artillery Company, of Providence, in which for two years he held a lieutenant's commission, and in 1842 was a gunner, and took an active part in the attack on Acote's Hill. He was an honorary member of the Veteran Association of that organization. He was for some time an officer of the Providence Aid Society, founded for the purpose of relieving the distress of the suf- fering poor. In politics he was originally a Whig and afterward a Republican. In 1855 he united with the Cen- tral Congregational Church, in Providence, of which he continued an active member, and held the office of Treas- urer, until 1865. In the following year he organized the Charles Street Sunday-school, and was its first Superinten- dent, which office he held for twenty-three years. In 1865 he and others formed the Charles Street Congregational Society (now the North Congregational Church). He was the first deacon of the church, and continued in office until his death, which occurred in Providence, December 30, 1880. Mr. Gladding married, March 1, 1842, Sarah Rhodes Taft, daughter of Otis and Mary A. Taft, of Uxbridge, Massachusetts. They had three children, Jane Hill, who married Edward C. Clark; Mary Aborn, who married Joseph H. Comstock, afterward associated in business with her father; and Harrietta Louisa. A religious service in memory of Mr. Gladding was held in the North Congrega- tional Church, on Charles Street, Providence, on Sunday, January 30, 1881, when a memorial sermon was preached by Rev. A. F. Keith, pastor of the Society, who made fit- ting mention of Mr. Gladding's honorable business career,

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his industry, probity, and benevolence, and reviewed at somc length his exemplary Christian life.

ZORIIAM, JOHN, son of Jabez and Amcy (Thurber) Gorham, was born in Providence, Rhode Island, November 18, 1820. The genealogy of the Gor- ham family will be found in the sketch of his father, Jabez Gorham. Mr. Gorham attended school until he was about eighteen years of age, from which time until he was nearly twenty-one he was in clerical employment in Providence, Boston, and New York, returning to Providence in the spring of 1841. The following August his father, to meet the decided mechan- ical taste of his son John, repurchased the silver depart- ment in his former business, and established the firm of J. Gorham & Son, which continued for five of six years, when Mr. Gorham, Senior, retired. At this time they were employing about fourteen workmen in the manufac- ture of silver spoons, forks, thimbles, and a small variety of other articles. Mr. John Gorham continued the busi- ness alone under the same name, and soon after erected the five-story brick building on Canal Street, since occu- pied by the Gorham Manufacturing Company. In 1847 he made a radical change in his manufactory by introduc- ing steam power, which is believed to have been' its -first application to the manufacture of silverware. He also at this period commenced the introduction of those labor- saving machines and appliances which have ever been a distinguishing feature of his establishment, thus laying the foundation of the company which has caused the name of Gorham to be well known throughout the world. In the spring of 1850 he associated with him Mr. Gorham Thur- ber, and continued the business under the name of Gor- ham & Thurber, and in the spring of 1852, Mr. Lewis Dexter, Jr., became a partner, when the firm-name was changed to Gorham & Company. Mr. Thurber was the bookkeeper, Mr. Dexter had charge of the workshop, and Mr. Gorham was the general manager of the business. In May, 1852, Mr. Gorham visited Europe in order to acquaint himself with the manufacture of silverware in other coun- tries, returning the following autumn, having engaged sev- eral skilled workmen in branches not well understood here. The business rapidly increased from year to year, and in 1860 he went to Europe on a similar errand, re- turning with other operatives, some of whom were design- ers and modellers. In the meantime adjoining buildings on Canal Street were bought and occupied, and the num- ber of workmen increased to three hundred. In 1865 the company was incorporated as the Gorham Manufacturing Company, Mr. Gorham elected President, and several of the employés were admitted as stockholders. In 1867, Mr. Gorham visited the French Exhibition, paying especial attention to the department of silverware; and again, in

1869, hc travelled more extensively in Europe, searching for the best means of advancing the productions of his company in excellence and beauty. In 1868 the company purchased the property known as the Earle House, corner of North Main and Steeple streets, and the old Providence Museum adjoining, on North Main Street, which buildings were altered and occupied for manufacturing purposes. Under Mr. Gorham's management the business continued to increase, and the company became eminent for the ex- cellent quality and artistic finish of its productions. Dur- ing the long continuance of the panic, commencing in 1873, Mr. Gorham met with reverses, which, however, did not affect the financial condition of the company, and his connection with that corporation ceased in February, 1878, since which time he has been engaged in other pursuits. His management of the silver business covered a period of nearly thirty-seven years, during which time the one- horse power had been changed for an engine of one hundred horse-power, the number of workmen had gradually in- creased from fourteen to four hundred and fifty skilled arti- sans, and the small shop had grown to the large manufactory, with its numerous departments filled with ingenious ma- chines, there constructed and brought to perfection for the working of the precious metal in its beautiful and almos endless variety of forms. In the early years of the husiness Mr. Gorham acquainted himself with the process of manu- facturing every article that was made, thereby becoming capable of directing in any department, from the melting of the silver bullion to the photographing of the finished work, or the running of the steam-engine, if emergency required. He also at an early period made the standard of his silver to be that of English sterling, giving the strongest guarantees that the variation should not be more than that allowed by government in the manufacture of coin. He never permitted any article to pass as second quality or below the highest standard which it was capable of being made, and adopted in the beginning the one price system. His aim was so to have the confidence of his customers that they could order new styles without the necessity of visiting the manufactory. In early life Mr. Gorham took an active interest in military matters, serving from 1841 to 1849 in various official positions, attaining the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the Providence Horse- Guards, which he was partly instrumental in organizing. He was a member of the General Assembly of Rhode Island for one year, elected on the Whig ticket. At the formation by Congress of the Centennial Board of Finance, he was one of the two members appointed for New Eng- land, and was perhaps as constant an attendant at the meet- ings of the board as any member outside of those residing in Philadelphia. Mr. Gorham married, September 4, 1848, Amey Thurber, daughter of Isaac and Lucy (Brown) Thur- ber. They have had six children : Lucy, married to Ed- ward Y. Bogman, M.D., April 2, 1879; Herbert Thurber, Amey Thurber, John Henry, Charles Isaac, and Jabez.

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Herbert Thurber died July 16, 1866; John Henry, Jan- uary 17, 1878; and Amey Thurber, March 14, 1881. Mr. Gorham possesses in an eminent degree those qualities which insure success in the formation of large enterprises. He is a practical mechanic of artistic taste, with an un- usual ability to organize and construct, observing order and system in the smallest details, having broad and hon- orable views of conducting business, with a power of en- durance, self-control, patience, and perseverance capable of overcoming all obstacles and discouragements.

SJOFOT SHEFFIELD, HON. JOHN G., son of Hon. Nathaniel L. Sheffield and Mary Ann Gorton, was born on Block Island, April 26, 1819. On his mother's side, he is descended from the Hulls, Sands, and Gortons. His mother was the daughter of John Gorton, Esq., a prominent citizen of the Island during the last war with Great Britain, and subsequent to it. He was always alluded to by the people of the Island, and by the British, as Governor Gorton. His wife, Alice Hull, was the daughter of Robert Hull and Thankful Ball, of Block Island. Robert Hull, was the son of Teddeman Hull, and Sarah, daughter of James Sands, of Block Island. Teddeman Hull was the great-grandson of Rev. James Hull, an Episcopal clergyman of Boston, who came over from England in the early days of the Colony, and is sup- posed to have been the progenitor of the entire Hull fam- ily in this country. Captain James Sands, above alluded to, was born in Reading, England, in 1622. He was de- scended from the family of Sands, or Sandys, which can be distinctly traced back to the time of Edward the Con- fessor. Sir William Sandys, who lived during the reigns of Henry VII. and VIII. had great share in the victory over the rebels in Kent in 1485. In 1524 he was created Lord Sandys, and Lord Chamberlain of the household. He was succeeded by his son Thomas, and he by his son William, who was one of the peers that sat upon the trial of Mary Queen of Scots in 1586. The family has always been distinguished in English history, and in the early his- tory of the Colonies. Some of the sons of this Captain James Sands settled on Long Island, and from them Sands's Point takes its name. Mr. Sheffield was elected to the General Assembly from Block Island when only twenty- three years of age, and has since held nearly every office of trust that his fellow-townsmen could confer upon him. He was largely instrumental in procuring the initial appro- priation for a Breakwater at Block Island, and was one of the early contractors on the work. He has been a success- ful farmer and trader, and his residence, formerly the resi- dence of his grandfather, Governor Gorton, is located on one of the most attractive sites on the Island. He was married, in 1850, to Coridon, daughter of Nathaniel Payne, Esq. Their children are: Mary A., Alice L., John G., Ella G., Leila T., Homer A., and Arthur N. Mr. Shef-

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The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 97

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