USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > Providence > The history of the state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, V. IV > Part 103
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118
Mary Olney, who was born in 1731, died September 5 1763, daughter of Captain Jonathan and Elizabeth (Smith) Olney, her father the founder of Olneyville R. I., her mother a daughter of Christopher Smith. Mrs. Waterman was a granddaughter of James and Hallelujah (Brown) Olney, and a descendant of Chad Brown.
(VI) John Olney Waterman, son of Captain John and Mary (Olney) Waterman, was born May 28, 1758. He inherited and spent his father's large estate in his short life of thirty-eight years. He became a member of St. John's Lodge, No. 1, Free and Accepted Masons, in 1779, as soon as he was eligible (twenty-one years), his name being the ninety-third to be enrolled a mem- ber of this body, which is the oldest lodge in Rhode Island. He died February 18, 1796.
John Olney Waterman married Sally Franklin, who was born in February, 1762, a woman of strong char- acter, a great beauty and belle. She was the daughter of Captain Asa and Sarah (Paine) Franklin, and was related to the Benjamin Franklin family. Captain Asa Franklin was ensign of the First Light Infantry, of Providence county; ensign in June, 1769, of the Sec- ond Company, Providence Militia; ensign, May, 1770; ensign in August, 1774, of Providence County Light Infantry; lieutenant in May, 1789; September, 1790; May, 1791, June, 1792; May, 1793, rendering a military service long and honorable. Mrs. Sally Franklin Waterman, widowed at the age of thirty-four years, married (second) Edward Searle, of Scituate, R. I. She spent the last twelve years of her life with her son, Jolin Waterman, and died June 5, 1842, aged eighty years.
(VII) John Waterman, son of John Olney and Sally (Franklin) Waterman, was born in Providence, R. I., March 22, 1786, and lived to the great age of ninety- three years. He was educated in the public schools, and then began to learn the carpenter's trade. After a few months he entered the employ of his uncle, Henry P. Franklin, a cotton manufacturer, and finding the milling industry greatly in accordance with his tastes and ambitions, he remained and became an expert not only in cotton mill management but in the building of machinery for the mill. In 1808, in partnership with Daniel Wilde, he contracted with Richard Wheatley to operate his cotton mill at Canton, Mass. In connection with the mill was a machine shop equipped for repair- ing and rebuilding machinery, which was an important adjunct to the business during the three years the partnership existed. For a time thereafter, Mr. Water- man continued alone in the manufacture of machinery, but in 1812, in association with his uncle, Henry P. Franklin, he built and put in operation the Merino Mill in Johnston, R. I. This mill, with a capacity of fifteen hundred spindles, was run for seven years with Mr. Franklin as financial head, Mr. Waterman acting as manufacturing agent. In 1819 Mr. Waterman leased the Union Mills, in which he had first learned the busi- ness. He suffered considerable loss in the operation of the Merino Mill, and to finance the Union Mill purchase and outfitting he borrowed $20,000 of Pitcher & Gay, of Pawtucket. Four years later, so profitable had the venture been, that after paying Pitcher & Gay he had a handsome balance to his credit.
Lonatemiño
407
BIOGRAPHICAL
For the next three years he was resident agent for the Blackstone Manufacturing Company, but health fail- ing, he resigned and went south, although there he acted as purchasing agent for the Blackstone Mills and also as salesman. For ten years he remained in the south, located at New Orleans, acting as cotton broker for northern mills, associated part of that period with Thomas M. Burgess, of Providence. In 1829 he returned to Providence, and that year built the Eagle Mills at Olneyville, R. I. Mill No. I began operations in the spring of 1830, and in 1836 Mill No. 2 was com- pleted, Mr. Waterman continuing their operation until his retirement in 1848.
Mr. Waterman was initiated in St. John's Lodge, No. I, Free and Accepted Masons, May I, 1822, and raised to the degree of Master Mason the following November. He became a companion of Providence Chapter, No. I, Royal Arch Masons, February 27, 1823; a cryptic Ma- son of Providence Council, Royal and Select Masters, No. 1, January 29, 1824; and a Sir Knight of St. John's Commandery, No. 1, Knights Templars, February 7, 1825. He was in sympathy with the Baptist church, al- though not a member, and it was largely through his generosity that the Baptist church in Olneyville was built.
John Waterman died at his home in Johnston, R. I., to which he had retired after leaving the business world, October 26, 1879.
He married, in Canton, Mass., in 1809, Sally Wil- liams, who was born March 1, 1787, and died suddenly, April 10, 1862, daughter of Stephen Williams, and a lineal descendant of Roger Williams.
(VIII) John Olney (2) Waterman, son of John and Sally (Williams) Waterman, was born in Canton, Mass., November 4, 1810. In infancy he was brought to Johnston, R. I., and all his life was a true and loyal son of Rhode Island in all but birth.
He was educated in the public schools and Plainfield (Conn.) Academy, early beginning work in the cotton mills. He was clerk in the store operated by the Merino Mills in 1827-28-29, leaving in the last year to become agent for the Eagle Mills, owned by his father, it Olneyville. He continued in that capacity until 1847, when he was engaged to build and operate the first cotton mill in the town of Warren, R. I., for the War- en Manufacturing Company. From that time until he present, the name of Waterman has been connected vith successful cotton manufacturing in Warren. From he completion of the first mill, Mr. Waterman main- ained official relation with the Warren Manufacturing Company as treasurer and agent, devoting thirty-three ears of his life to its affairs, seeing the single mill of 847 grow to three large mills equipped with 58,000 pindles and 1,400 looms, weaving sheetings, print cloths, nd jaconets. The second mill was built in 1860 from he profits of the first, and the third in 1870 from the rofits of the first and second mills, the company later icreasing its capital stock to $600,000.
Mr. Waterman, during his Providence residence, erved as a member of the Board of Independent Fire WVards. In 1845 he was elected to the Rhode Island egislature from Providence, and reelected in 1846, erving with honor. In 1848 he moved his residence to
Warren, R. I., and there his great business ability, his conservative managerial talents and his sagacious financiering made him a leader. In 1855 he was elected a director of the Firemen's Mutual Insurance Company of Providence; in 1860 a director of the newly organ- ized Equitable Fire and Marine Insurance Company ; in 1868 a director of the Blackstone Mutual Fire Insur- ance Company, organized that year; and in 1874 of the newly formed Merchants' Mutual Fire Insurance Com- pany, holding these directorships until his death. He was equally prominent in Warren's banking circles; in July, 1855, he aided in organizing Sowamset State Bank, and was chosen a director; also was made a director of the First National Bank of Warren upon its organiza- tion in 1864, and was elected vice-president in 1866, serving in that office until his death; was one of the founders of the Warren Institution for Savings, and in 1870 was chosen a trustee; in 1875 was elected a director of the Old National Bank of Providence, and later and until his death was its honored president. He was identified with other interests and institutions, among them the Providence Board of Trade. He was the friend of every deserving person or enterprise, and freely gave them his aid. In fact, "he represented that class of men whose untiring industry, superior natural gifts and strict integrity place them at the head of the great manufacturing interests for which Rhode Island is justly celebrated."
John Olney Waterman died at his home in Warren, April 24, 1881, all business in the town being suspended on the day of his funeral, in respect to his memory.
He married (first) in 1838, Caroline Frances San- ford, who died in 1840, daughter of Joseph C. Sanford, of Wickford, R. I. He married (second) June 26, 1849, Susan Johnson Bosworth, born March 22, 1828, died in Warren, March 16, 1897, daughter of Colonel Smith Bosworth, of Rehoboth and Providence, and his wife, Sarah Tripp. Mrs. Waterman is buried with her hus- band in Swan Point Cemetery, Providence. The chil- dren of John Olney and Susan Johnson ( Bosworth) Waterman were: I. Caroline Frances Waterman, who was born in Warren, R. I., July 9, 1850; she married, March 2, 1908, Arthur Henry Arnold, of Providence, who died April 24, 1913. (See Arnold IX). 2. John Waterman, of whom further.
(IX) John Waterman, son of John Olney and Susan Johnson (Bosworth) Waterman, was born in Warren, R. I., January II, 1852. He was educated in a private school in Warren until thirteen years of age, then spent six years in Warren High School, leaving at the age of nineteen years to enter the business world in which his forefathers had won such high reputation and such sterling success. He inherited their strong business traits, and although but forty-eight years were allotted him, he bore worthily the name and upheld the family reputation.
Upon the death of his honored father, in 1881, he succeeded him as treasurer of the Warren Manufac- turing Company, and at the time of his death was a director of three of Warren's four banks and con- nected with banks and insurance companies of Provi- dence. In 1895 the three mills of the Warren Manu- facturing Company were destroyed by fire, and from
408
HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND
the ruins arose one magnificent mill with the capacity of the former three, a splendid monument to the Water- mans, father and son, to whom the wonderful success of the company was due. For many years John Water- man emulated the example of his sire in the interest he took in the George Hail Free Library, and all public affairs of Warren. He was a member of the building committee in charge of the erection of the town hall, and at the time of his death chairman of a committee for increasing school facilities. He was for many years colonel of the Warren Artillery, and was past master of Washington Lodge, Free and Accepted Ma- sons. From boyhood he had been an attendant of St. Mark's Episcopal Church, of which he was confirmed a member; had been a member of the church choir, had served as an officer of the Sunday school for thirty-one years, for twenty-four years was a vestry- man, and for eleven years junior warden. He personally superintended the improvement and enlargement of St. Mark's Chapel, a movement he inaugurated and gen- erously supported. He possessed the Waterman energy; vacations were almost unknown to him; and although the possessor of great wealth he was one of the most democratic of men. Kindly and genial in nature, he mingled freely with all classes, preserved the strictest integrity in his dealings with all, and in all his enter- prises exhibited remarkable persistency and tenacity of purpose, laboring faithfully and unceasingly.
John Waterman married, December 17, 1884, Sarah Franklin Adams, who survived him, and married (sec- ond) April 4, 1904, Rev. Joseph Hutcheson, of Colum- bus, Ohio. John Waterman died at his home in War- ren, R. I., December 21, 1900.
OLNEY FAMILY-Thomas Olney, immigrant an- cestor and progenitor of the Rhode Island Olneys, was born in Hertfordshire, England, in 1600, and prior to the time of his emigration to the American Colonies had resided in the town of St. Albans, where he fol- lowed the trade of shoemaker. On April 2, 1635, he embarked in the ship "Planter" from London for New England, bearing from the minister of St. Albans the certificate of conformity to the Church of England, demanded from all who emigrated to the New World. The records state his age as thirty-five at the time. The Olney coat-of-arms is as follows:
Arms-Or, three piles in point gules, on a canton ar- gent a mullet sable.
Crest-In a ducal coronet or, a phoenix's head in flames proper, holding in the beak a laurel branch vert.
Thomas Olney was accompanied by his wife and two sons, Thomas and Epenetus. He settled first in Salem, Mass., where he was admitted a freeman, May 17, 1637, and in the same year received a grant of land. In Janu- ary, 1636, he had been appointed a surveyor and been granted forty acres of land at Jeffrey Creek, now known as Manchester, Mass.
He early became associated with those who accepted the views of Roger Williams, and on March 12, 1638, was banished from the colony with a number of others of the latter's followers. He accompanied Mr. Williams to the new settlement, and on October 8, 1638, was one of the twelve men to whom Roger Williams deeded
equal shares with himself in the Providence lands. He became one of the "Original Thirteen Proprietors of Providence." In July, 1639, he and his wife and their companions were excluded from the church at Salem, "because," wrote Rev. Hugh Peters, of Salem, to the church at Dorchester, "they wholly refused to hear the church, denying it and all the churches in the Bay to be true churches." In 1638 Thomas Olney was treasurer for the town of Providence. In 1639 he was one of the twelve original members of the First Baptist Church. He became one of the most prominent men in the new colony. In 1647 he was one of the commission to form a town government. In 1649-53-54-55-56-64-65-66-67 he held the office of assistant, and in 1656-58-59-61-63-64 was commissioner. On February 19, 1665, he held lot 23 in a division of lands. In 1665-67-70-71 he was deputy to the General Court, and in 1665-66-69-70-71- 74-77-81, was a member of the Town Council, again in 1669 filling the office of town treasurer. In 1645, with Roger Williams and Thomas Harris, he was chosen a judge of the justice court, and in 1656 was chosen to treat with Massachusetts Bay in the matter of the Paw- tucket lands; in 1663 his name appears among the grantees of the Royal Charter of Charles II. He was one of the wealthy men of the colony, and had a large real and personal estate. His homestead stood on North Main street. Thomas Olney died at the age of eighty-two years, and was buried in the family grave- yard in the rear of his dwelling. In 1631 he was mar- ried, in England, to Marie Small, and they were the parents of seven children, among them Epenetus, men- tioned below.
(II) Epenetus Olney, son of Thomas and Marie (Small) Olney, was born in St. Albans, Hertfordshire, England, in 1634, and accompanied his parents and brother Thomas to New England in 1635. He resided in Providence all his life, and kept a tavern there. In June, 1662, he was appointed with others to get the timber out and frame a bridge which was built over the Mashassuck river. On February 19, 1665, he had lot eighty-seven in a division of lands.
Like his father, he also rose to prominence in civic affairs, in Providence, and in 1666-76-84-86 was a deputy to the General Court. In 1688 his ratable estate was two hundred and seventy acres, 312 shares of meadow, house and lot, three acres within fence, five acres tillage, 2 horses, I mare, 4 cows, 4 oxen, 2 yearlings, 5 swine, 23 sheep. In 1695-96-97 he was a member of the town council. On January 27, 1696, he and others were granted a lot measuring forty feet square for a school house. Epenetns Olney died June 3, 1698, and adminis- tration on his estate was granted to his widow Mary and son James. He married, March 9, 1666, Mary Whipple, daughter of John and Sarah Whipple, who was born in 1648, and died in 1698.
(III) James Olney, son of Epenetus and Mary (Whipple) Olney, was born in Providence, R. I., No- vember 9, 1670. He married, August 31, 1702, Halle- lujah Brown, daughter of Daniel and Alice (Hearn- den) Brown. He held the rank of captain in the militia. On February 26, 1740, James Olney and other Baptists were given permission by the Assembly to meet on the first day of the week in the County House in Providence to worship during the pleasure of
0
Olney
C
Bosworth
Smith Bosworth
409
BIOGRAPHICAL
the Assembly, upon security being given to the sheriff to repair all damages.
James Olney died October 6, 1744. His will, dated September 2, 1744, was proved November 19, of that year, and names his wife Hallelujah as executrix.
(IV) Jonathan Olney, son of James and Hallelujah (Brown) Olney, was born in Providence, R. I., March 9, 17IO. He also held the rank of captain in the militia, and was a prominent man in early Providence. He was the founder of the town of Olneyville, R. I., which was named in his honor. Captain Jonathan Olney married Elizabeth Smith, daughter of Christopher Smith. They were the parents of Mary, mentioned below.
(V) Mary Olney, daughter of Captain Jonathan and Elizabeth (Smith) Olney, was born in 1731, and died September 5, 1763. She married, January 17, 1750. Cap- tain John Waterman.
BOSWORTH FAMILY-Edward Bosworth, the first of the direct line of whom we have definite in- formation, embarked for New England with his wife Mary in the ship "Elizabeth and Dorcas," in 1634. He died at sea, however, as the vessel was nearing the port of Boston, and his remains were interred in Boston. His widow and children next appear on the records of the town of Hingham, Mass., in the following year, 1635. The widow, Mary Bosworth, died in Hingham, May 18, 1648. The family bore arms as follows:
Arms-Gules, a cross vair, between four annulets argent. Crest-A lily proper, slipped and leaved.
(II) Jonathan Bosworth, son of Edward and Mary Bosworth, was born in England, about 1611, and accom- panied his parents to America, in 1634. He settled in Hingham, where he married. Among his children was Jonathan, mentioned below.
(III) Jonathan (2) Bosworth, son of Jonathan (1) Bosworth, was born in Hingham, Mass., where he re- sided all his life. He married Hannah Howland, daugh- ter of John and Elizabeth (Tilley ) Howland, both of whom were of the "Mayflower" company in 1620. Among the children of Jonathan (2) and Hannah (Howland) Bosworth was Jonathan, mentioned below.
(IV) Jonathan (3) Bosworth, son of Jonathan (2) and Hannah ( Howland) Bosworth, was born Septem- ber 22, 1680. He married Sarah Rounds, and they were the parents of four children.
(V) Ichabod Bosworth, son of Jonathan (3) and Sarah (Rounds) Bosworth, was born May 31, 1706, in the town of Swansea, Mass. He married ( first) January 12, 1726-27, Mary Brown, and they were the parents of four children. He married (second) in Warren, R. I., November 19, 1748, Bethia Wood, of Swansea, Mass., and they were the parents of Peleg Bosworth, mentioned below. Ichabod Bosworth was a prosperous farmer and well known citizen of Swansea. (VI) Peleg Bosworth, son of Ichabod and Bethia (Wood) Bosworth, was born May 6, 1754, in Swansea, Mass. He was a soldier in the Revolution, serving as a private in Captain Stephen Bullock's company, Colonel Carpenter's regiment, marching to Bristol, R. I., on the alarm of December 8, 1776, serving twelve days to De-
cember 20, 1776; also in Captain Israel Hick's com- pany, Colonel John Daggett's regiment, marched Janu- ary 5, 1778, discharged March 31, 1778, serving two months twenty-seven days in Rhode Island; also in Lieutenant James Horton's company, Colonel Thomas Carpenter's regiment, enlisted August 2, 1780, dis- charged August 7, 1780, serving six days on an alarm, marched to Tiverton, R. I. ("Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors in the War of the Revolution," vol. 2, page 382). Peleg Bosworth married. September I, 1774, Mary ( Polly ) Smith, who was born in Rehoboth, Mass., in August. 1749, and died in ISIS.
( VII) Colonel Smith Bosworth, son of Peleg and Mary (Polly ) ( Smith) Bosworth, was born in the town of Rehoboth, Mass., October 28, 1781. After a limited period of schooling he began the active business of life by completing in Providence, R. I., an appren- ticeship at the mason's trade. From a journeyman he advanced to contracting, and in partnership with Asa Bosworth erected many of the beautiful homes on the east side of the river in Providence, also a number of the city's churches and public buildings. Bosworth & Bosworth were the contractors for St. John's Episcopal Church on North Main street, Providence, and the Beneficent Congregational Church on Broad street, and in 1814 built the mills of the Providence Dyeing, Bleach- ing and Calendering Company on Sabin street. Two years later, on March 16, 1816, Colonel Bosworth accepted an appointment as agent for the company, and for nineteen years filled that responsible post efficiently and ably. In 1835 he resigned, but until I841 continued in the company's service as superintendent or general outside manager. His connection with that company brought him wide acquaintance and reputation among the business men of the city, and under his able man- agement the company experienced great prosperity, be- coming one of the largest establishments of its nature in the United States,
Long before Providence became a city, Colonel Bos- worth was active in public affairs and held many town offices. After its incorporation as a city he was a member of the Board of Fire Wards, chief engineer of the Fire Department, and strect commissioner. His military title was gained through his service in the Rhode Island" State militia, in which he held the rank of colonel for many years. He directed the erection of the earthworks on Fox Point in 1812, and during the Dorr War was captain of the City Guards of Provi- dence. He was a life member of St. John's Lodge, No. I. Free and Accepted Masons, of Providence, and late in life became a member of Beneficent Congregational Church, in which faith and connection he died. He was most generous in his benefactions, kindliness and a keen sense of justice characterizing markedly all his actions. He lived in the love and good will of his fel- low citizens, and was highly esteemed as a man of honor and integrity.
Colonel Bosworth married, January 31, 1805, Sarah Tripp, born October 6, 1785, died November 13, 1860, at Warren, R. I., daughter of Othniel and Sarah Tripp, of Swansea, Mass. Mrs. Bosworth was buried in North Graveyard, Providence. Colonel Smith Bosworth died at his home in Providence, R. I., March 9, 1857, in the seventy-sixth year of his age.
410
HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND
(VIII) Susan Johnson Bosworth, daughter of Colo- nel Smith and Sarah (Tripp) Bosworth, was born in Providence, R. I., March 22, 1828, and died March 16, 1897. She married, June 26, 1849, John Olney Water- man, of Providence, R. I.
WILLIAM HENRY HALL-Rev. David B. Hall, in his book of 1883, "The Halls of New England," mentions twenty early immigrants named John Hall. Savage names nearly as many, and states the obvious fact that great confusion results. All of the New Eng- land colonics had their complement of Hall founders, and the name from the very beginning of our history has carried a prestige and influence eclipsed by few.
Hall Arms-Argent, a chevron sable between three columbines, slipped proper.
Crest-A lion's head erased.
Motto-Turpiter desperatur.
The surname comes to us from the Anglo-Saxon hall or halle, a superior and more pretentious dwelling found throughout England at the surname period. The surname is, of course, of local derivation, taken by those who first used it from residence in or in the vicinity of the hall. Entries appear in the earliest rolls and registers for the most part with the locative prepositions de, de la. at, atte, and at ye. Families of the name were well established and prominent among the peerage and landed gentry in England for several centuries. A curious tradition attaches to the granting of the coat-of-arms used by the Halls in America to-day. These arms were granted to one John Hall, an eminent physician of the court of England, who was called to attend a child of the Royal family, all others having despaired of its life. Dr. Hall ordered that the root of the columbine be given the child, who in conse- quence of his treatment recovered. The grateful King knighted Hall of Coventry, and ordered the device of three columbines to be grouped about the chevron of his shield. The Latin motto, "Turpiter desperatur," signifies literally "It is shameful to be despairing."
The late William H. Hall, for several decades a prominent figure in the real estate and financial world of the State of Rhode Island, was a member of the Maine family of the name which was established in America at the beginning of the nineteenth century by James Stanhope Hall. Family tradition states that the founder was one of three brothers. James Stan- hope Hall was born in England, March 25, 1796, and settled in Maine in early manhood, marrying there, on May 24, 1820, Eleanor Ryder Snow, daughter of Cap- tain Stephen and Mehetabel Snow, and member of a family prominent in Maine for over two and a half cen- turies. James S. Hall was a cabinetmaker by trade, and was employed in Providence prior to his marriage. For a period following his marriage he remained in Maine, but eventually returned to Providence, where in partnership with the late George A. Howard he established a furniture business on Westminster street, near Dorrance, where he conducted a flourishing trade for many years. He disposed of his interests in this business to engage in contracting on a large scale, which absorbed his attention until his retirement from active business life, and his removal to Scituate, James S. Hall died at Scituate, November 9, 1875, aged
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.