USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > Providence > The history of the state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, V. IV > Part 107
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
(IV) Thomas (2) Merewether, son of William and Betsy (Gilmore) Merewether, was born at Providence, R. I., May 21, 1820. He attended the local public schools, and received a good general education for that day, after which he entered the grocery business, con- tinuing in this in its various phases until his retirement from business about the year 1885. He entered busi- ness as an employee, but his was a nature not to be satisfied with any position except the one at the top. He soon opened a store of his own, doing a retail business in food products, and continued in this with success for several years. Mr. Merewether, however, desired wider fields for the development of his busi- ness, and he formed a partnership with two other gen- tlement, of which he was the senior member, for the purpose of entering the wholesale phase of the gro- cery business. He continued to act as the head of the firm of Merewether, Knight & Gardner until 1885. when he retired. He always attributed his prosperity in his occupation to the strict attention which he gave his business and all its numerous details. He cared little for club, lodges or similar organizations of the social life of his community, but found the greater part of his rest and recreation from business affairs in the quiet of his own home. In the civic affairs of his com- munity and State he held an intense interest, and was accounted a steadfast member of the Republican party.
The great amount of time his business consumed, how- ever, would not permit of his entering politics in an active manner, although upon several occasions he was offered offices of prominence by his fellow- townsmen. He was a strong Universalist, one of the first members of the Universalist church of Providence, in which he took an active part and held office. He married Sarah Jane Hicks, daughter of Ranson and Nancy (Tompkins) Hicks, and they became the parents of one child, a daughter, Sarah Ella, who married Hor- ace Arnold Kimball (see Kimball).
For many years Thomas Merewether lived in the Merewether home on Bowen street, Providence, which he built about 1857, and where Mrs. Merewether still resides, and here he died. in the year 1900, sincerely regretted by the community of which he was a promi- nent part for such a long period.
THOMAS FRANCIS IRVING McDONNELL- In a professional career in Providence, dating from 1893, Mr. McDonnell, now associated with Judge Rich- ard E. Lyman in the law firm of Lyman & McDonnell, of Providence, has gained high legal standing. His identification with the life of his city and his State is in many fields of activity, professional, business, civic, and social. As a citizen, public-spirited and dependable at all times, the period of the war brought Mr. McDon- nell into particular prominence as a leader in all forms of war work. Rhode Island has many sons who bore a share in the creation of her splendid record of unsel- fish and patriotic service, but none who gave more fully of his time, his means, his talents, and his tire- less labors than did Mr. McDonnell. The more com- plete outline of his services follows in the succeeding record of his career.
Thomas Francis Irving McDonnell, son of Patrick and Ellen (Irving) McDonnell, was born in Wickford, R. I., June 11, 1868. After graduation from the Provi- dence High School in the class of 1887, he entered Brown University and received the degree of A. B. from that institution in 1891. He studied law in the office of David S. and William C. Baker, general prac- titioners of Providence, and was admitted to the Rhode Island bar in 1893. Forming an association with David S. Baker, they practiced until 1904 as Baker & McDon- nell, from 1904 to 1907 as Baker, McDonnell & Water- man, and upon the death of Mr. Baker in the latter year, Mr. McDonnell formed a partnership with Judge Richard E. Lyman. As Lyman & McDonnell this asso- ciation continues to the present time, the firm recognized among the leaders of the Providence bar, handling the legal affairs of a large and influential clientele. Mr. McDonnell is a member of the Providence Bar Club, the Rhode Island Bar Association, and the American Bar Association. His business interests include the presidency of the Wickford Light & Water Company, of Wickford, R. I., and directorship in the Providence Tribune Company, and the Gordon Engineering Com- pany and the National Evaporator Company, of New York. He is a director of the Providence Chamber of Commerce and chairman of the Committee of One Hundred of that organization, a committee that has
Thomas IT hu Donnell
W. anthony Dyer
423
BIOGRAPHICAL
exerted strong influence in behalf of Providence's busi- ness and industrial expansion.
Mr. McDonnell was at one time a member of the hospital corps of the Rhode Island State Guard, con- tinuing his military connections as judge-advocate of the First Light Infantry Regiment in 1909-1910. Until 1917 he was a member and secretary of the Voters' League, an effective organization devoted to the fur- therance of good government, but with the entrance of the United States into the war the league withdrew from active work.
When the Providence Chapter of the American Red Cross was reorganized for active war work Mr. Mc- Donnell became vice-chairman of the chapter and mem- ber of the executive committee, also serving as chair- man of the Red Cross Speakers' Bureau. This bureau was later merged with the "four-minute men" of Rhode Island, and he was made State director. As the head of this great sentiment-shaping organization, Mr. Mc- Donnell gave himself devotedly to its work, combining its activities with the drives and campaigns of the dif- ferent organizations for personal work among the sol- diers and sailors to the almost total exclusion of his personal affairs. He was called upon in executive and advisory capacity in all of the movements that raised high Rhode Island's standard in support of the govern- ment and the Allied cause, and the earnestness of his service, the energetic efficiency of his methods, the com- pelling sincerity of his purpose, won him the regard and esteem of his fellows. And it was characteristic of his thorough-going methods that his support, cooperation and leadership were available to the very end, for as secretary of the city committee to arrange for the reception of returned service men he discharged an im- portant task of large proportions.
Mr. McDonnell is a member of the Rhode Island Historical Society, and his clubs are the Hope, Univer- sity, Agawam Hunt, Turk's Head, of which he was an organizer and president in 1913-14-15, the Quarter Cen- tury Club, of which he was president in 1914, the Providence Art, and the Catholic. He was honored by the Order of Vasa, conferred in 1907 by King Oscar, of Sweden. He is a Catholic in religious belief.
Mr. McDonnell married, May 28, 1913, Mary Stan- ton Kenyon, daughter of James S. Kenyon, of the firm of Burrows & Kenyon, of Providence.
COLONEL HEZEKIAH ANTHONY DYER- In Rhode Island, Colonel H. Anthony Dyer, placed by the leading critical authorities among the ablest ex- ponents of landscape art, is known and appreciated not only for eminence among American artists but for a type of citizenship of constant service for the public good. Colonel Dyer is a member of the family of proud place in Rhode Island and New England history, and the chapter written in his day and generation, adding achievement in a new field, is well added to the family record.
Colonel H. Anthony Dyer, son of Governor Elisha and Nancy Anthony (Viall) Dyer, was born in Prov- idence, R. I., October 28, 1872. He obtained his gen- eral education in St. Paul's School and Brown Uni- versity, leaving the former institution in 1890, and
graduating from the latter in 1894, with the degree of Bachelor of Science. He followed art study in France, Italy, and Holland, and has made landscape painting his field of endeavor. From 1897 to 1900 he was ex- ecutive secretary to his father, then governor of Rhode Island, and was aide-de-camp on his staff, with the rank of colonel, during the same period, throughout the Spanish War.
Numerous pictures by Mr. Dyer are on permanent exhibition in the Corcoran Gallery, of Washington, D. C., the Rhode Island School of Design, and the Providence Art Club, while many of his paintings are in private collections. He is universally regarded as a representative American painter in water color of land- scape subjects, a talented artist whose work has at- tracted wide attention and strongly favorable com- ment. He is a member and ex-president of the Providence Water Color Club, member and from 1904 to 1914 president of the Providence Art Club, and a former member of the Boston Water Color Society, and the Boston Art Club. He is well known as a lec- turer on art and travel topics, and fills many engage- ments of this nature throughout the East. In 1919 he was honored with the degree of A. M. from Brown University, and he was also made an honorary member of Phi Beta Kappa.
An inherited love for political activity and party af- fairs has given him keen interest in the political situa- tion in his native State. He has never entered pub- lic life as an office holder, but from 1916 to 1919 was president of the Republican Club of Rhode Island, a loyal supporter of his party, and highly regarded in party councils. Colonel Dyer was chairman of the speakers' bureau for the Food Administration of Rhode Island early in the United States' participation in the war, and was afterwards made, by the Council of Defense, chairman of the speakers' bureau for the State of Rhode Island, the two later being merged. He was appointed by Governor Beeckman a director of the Community Councils of Defense for Rhode Island and became a member of the Council for Rhode Island of the "four-minute men," working in cooperation with the Bureau of Public Information. He was also director of speakers of the United War Work Activ- ities campaign, and during the war he gave without limit of his services and ability in the publicity cam- paigns for the various agencies of victory, the govern- ment, social service, and welfare organizations. His previous experience as a lecturer stood him in good stead and he was particularly effective in addressing large audiences. Throughout all of his war work he enjoyed the confidence of the people of his State to a marked degree, and his leadership met with a ready response in every relation of the war. His work, since the victory of the allied cause, continues in his chair- manship for Rhode Island of the Fatherless Children of France, a philanthropic organization whose name bespeaks its purpose.
Colonel Dyer is a junior warden of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, and is an active worker in his denomination, a member of the standing committee of the Episcopal church of Rhode Island, and in 1919 a deputy from Rhode Island to the general convention
424
HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND
of the Episcopal church at Detroit. By that body he was appointed to the Army and Navy Commission. He is a member of the Society of Colonial Wars, the Hope Club, and the Rotary Club. His fraternity, to which he was elected during his college years, is the Sigma Chapter of Psi Upsilon.
Colonel Dyer married, in 1899, Charlotte Osgood Tilden, daughter of the late Henry and Isabel (Cong- don) Tilden, and they are the parents of one daughter, Nancy Anthony, who is studying art to keep up the family tradition.
RICHARD BORDEN COMSTOCK-For forty years a practitioner at the Rhode Island bar, located in Providence, Mr. Comstock has as persistently and ably fought the peaceful battles of the courts as his father, Captain Joseph Jesse Comstock, fonght the elements while in command of coastwise and ocean steamships. In the seventh American generation the Comstocks de- veloped their nautical strain, Jesse Comstock, son of Benjamin Comstock, being captain of a packet running between Providence and New York, while his brother, Captain William Comstock, was one of the noted nav- igators and builders of his day. Captain William Com- stock first followed the sea as cabin boy, was captain of the "Fulton," and built the "Massachusetts," a side- wheeler of which he was very proud, it being said that every stick of timber in her bore his initials, W. C. He was in command of the "Massachusetts" and also built the "Mohegan" and the "Rhode Island," all of these running between Providence and New York. He was captain of the packets "Jnno" and "Venus," and after retiring from active life on the sea was for many years agent at Providence for the New York and New Jer- sey Steam Navigation Company, and for a time presi- dent of both the Merchants' Insurance Company and the Commercial National Bank. His brother, Captain Jesse Comstock, was less widely known, but Captain Joseph Jesse Comstock, son of Captain Jesse Comstock, bore general reputation as one of the most able masters and navigators of his day. One of his sons, Captain Charles Cook Comstock, was captain of the steamer, "Golden Gate," and died in Panama in 1873. Richard Borden Comstock, brother of Captain Charles Comstock, is the only one of his family to have embraced a profes- sion, no other lawyer appearing in the records of this branch.
The line of descent to Richard Borden Comstock, of the ninth generation, is traced to William Comstock, who, going from Watertown, Mass., is first of record at Wethersfield, Conn., in 1641. The line of descent is through his son, Samuel Comstock, of Hartford, Conn., and Providence, R. I .; his son, Captain Samuel Com- stock, of Providence, R. I .; his son, Captain John Comstock, of Providence; his son, Samuel Comstock, of Providence, who married a great-granddaughter of Chad Brown: his son. Benjamin Comstock, of Provi- dence; his son, Captain Jesse Comstock, whose young- est son, Jesse Comstock, was lost in the burning of the ship "Lexington," January 13, 1840; his son, Captain Joseph Jesse Comstock, of further mention, father of Richard Borden Comstock, of Providence.
Captain Joseph Jesse Comstock was born in Provi- dence, February 12, 1811, and died in New York City, August 16, 1868. He early emulated the example of his father and uncle, both masters of vessels, and while yet a young man was captain of a Sound steamer run- ning between Providence and New York. Later he was in command of the "Baltic" and "Adriatic," transatlan- tic steamships, the "Adriatic" being the second largest steamship afloat at the time of her launching. Captain Comstock commanded the "Baltic" during the Civil War, his ship being used as a government transport. While carrying troops the "Baltic" was often in the war zone, and from her decks, Richard Borden Comstock, who accompanied his father on all his southern trips, witnessed the fall of Port Royal, New Orleans, and Charleston. Captain Comstock married (first) Ellen Cowin, born in Liverpool, England, December 21, 1815, died in Providence, February 23, 1837. He married (second) Maria S. Taber, born April 21, 1814, daughter of Captain John R. Taber, of Fairhaven, Mass. Children: Joseph, born in 1836, died in 1837; Joseph Jesse, major in the Fourteenth Regiment, Rhode Island Heavy Artillery, during the Civil War, died March 14, 1903: Charles Cook, captain of the "Golden Gate," died in Panama in 1873; Ellen, born in 1842, died Aug. 22, 1863, married Admiral J. N. Miller, of the United States Navy, now deceased; Adelaide H., died in Feb., 1918; Emma Russell, deceased; Frank, deceased ; Frederick Hunter, deceased; Amelia Town- send, deceased; Richard Borden, of further mention.
Richard Borden Comstock, youngest child of Cap- tain Joseph Jesse Comstock and his second wife, Maria S. (Taber) Comstock, was born in Jersey City, N. J., February 15, 1854. During his early life, prior to the death of his father in 1868, he made many voyages on the "Baltic" and other steamships his father commanded, but later devoted his time to school work, several years being spent in boarding schools at Ridgefield, Conn., Yonkers, N. Y., and Lawrenceville, N. J. His prepara- tion for college was completed at Mowry and Goff's English and Classical School, of Providence, and in 1872 he entered Brown University. He was graduated A. B., class of 1876, and immediately began the study of law under the preceptorship of Elisha C. Mowry, an eminent lawyer of Providence. He was admitted to the Rhode Island bar in 1878, his practice having been continnous since that date. In 1881 he was ad- mitted to practice in the Federal Courts of the district, and in 1892 formed a partnership with Rathbone Gard- ner. Comstock & Gardner ranked among the most im- portant legal firms of the State until April 1, 1905, when he formed his present association, Comstock & Canning, with offices at No. 926 Grosvenor building. Mr. Com- stock is a member of the various bar associations of his city and State, is a Democrat in politics, and in 1892-93 represented the city of Providence in the State Senate. During 1915 and 1916 he served as president of the Rhode Island Bar Association, and is now filling his second term as head of that association, his term ex- piring in 1920. In social as well as professional circles he is widely acquainted, being a member of the Hope, University, Turk's Head, Providence Art, Wannamoi- sett Country, and Rhode Island Country clubs. While
Dumans Blomstack
L
425
BIOGRAPHICAL
a student at Brown University, he was elected to mem- bership in the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity, and the Phi Beta Kappa. Notwithstanding the engrossing nature of his professional work, Mr. Comstock found time for outside activities, and upon the entry of the United States into the World War he became a member of the partnership for victory formed by the citizens of the county. His response to every need, whether of the government or organizations working among the sol- diers and sailors, was immediate and effective. His enthusiastic, confident leadership was felt in all of the splendid work that stands lastingly to Rhode Island's credit, and particularly in the five Liberty Loans was his work valuable. The record of his patriotic service throughout the war is a worthy supplement to a life- time of distinguished professional work.
Mr. Comstock married, July 19, 1883, Alice Green, daughter of Samuel S. Green, until his retirement pro- fessor of languages at Brown University and author of "Green's Grammar." Mr. and Mrs. Comstock are the parents of three daughters: Marjorie Stuart, a grad- uate of Smith College, class of 1907. married Henry C. Hart, a lawyer of Providence; Louise Howard, a graduate of Smith College, 1909, married Langford T. Alden, of Little Compton, R. I .; Alice May, a graduate of Smith College, 1912, now (1919) in Young Men's Christian Association work in France.
FARRAND STEWART STRANAHAN-As head of the firm of Stranahan & Company, Mr. Stranahan holds notable position in financial circles in Providence, where he has been in business since 1906, since 1910 operating in stocks and bonds under the present style. In addition to his own successful enterprise, which prior to the war maintained offices in Providence, New York City, Boston, and Worcester, Mr. Stranahan has extensive private interests, financial and business, and is associated with the social and civic life of his city in many organizations. His support of progressive movements for the advancement of Providence is as- sured, and during the World War he was a leader in the activities of the government and relief organiza- tions, his services particularly useful and effective in the five Liberty Loan drives. Mr. Stranahan, through devoted and high-minded service, contributed largely to the splendid showing made by his adopted State in its subscriptions to each issue.
Farrand Stewart Stranahan is a son of Farrand Stewart and Miranda Aldis (Brainerd) Stranahan, a direct descendant of Roger Williams in maternal line, and was born in St. Albans, Vt., May 20, 1869. He attended public and private schools, also Harvard Law School, but after legal preparation chose a business rather than a professional career, and was first em- ployed as a clerk in the Walden National Bank of St. Albans, Vt., which had been an interest of his family for considerable time. After several years in this employ, he became a salesman for a well known bond house of New York, and with a year of successful ex- perience, established, with Joseph Balch. a New Eng- land branch of the firm of O'Connor & Kahler. In 1906, Mr. Balch and Mr. Stranahan formed a partner- ship and began independent dealings in stocks and
honds, their association lasting until 1010, when Mr. Stranahan continued the business alone under the cor- porate title of Stranahan & Company. Under Mr. Stranahan's direction the field of the company was so widened that the establishment of branches in New York, Boston, and Worcester became necessary, and continued prosperity has resulted from his wise and careful management. Stranahan & Company, during the nine years of its existence, has grown into the con- fidence of a numerous clientele of high standing, con- fidence gained and justified by the adherence of Mr. Stranahan and his associates to the fairest principles of strict business dealings.
In his private operations Mr. Stranahau has always been interested in public utilities as a profitable field of investment and he holds official connection with many such enterprises. In addition to the executive control of Stranahan & Company, he is president of the Public Light & Power Company of Tennessee, treasurer of Purity Cross, of Orange, N. J., the Tennessee Water Company, the Usave Stores Corporation, of Boston, Mass., and several others.
While a resident of Vermont, 1898-1900, he was prom- inent in State military affairs and served as a member of the staff of Governor E. C. Smith, with the rank of colonel. He has met the many demands of good cit- izenship in his new as in his old home, and served with particular distinction as chairman of the speakers' bureau for the State of Rhode Island in all of the Liberty Loan and War Savings Stamps drives. His long financial experience gave him eminent qualifica- tions for this important post and his wide acquaintance among men expertly versed in the sale of securities was a valuable aid in securing the speakers best fitted to present the government's proposition to the people of the State. Mr. Stranahan is a member of the Mil- itary Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, second class, is vice-president of "The Players," and his clubs are: the Harvard, of New York, Providence, and Boston; the Turk's Head, Art, and Wannamoisett Country, of Providence.
Mr. Stranahan married, June 6, 1894, Florence Ger- trude Bruce, of St. Albans, Vt., and the family home is at No. 133 Hope street, Providence. They have one son, Farrand Stewart, Jr., a student in Harvard Uni- versity.
ARNOLD GREEN-Descended from families trac- ing to earliest Colonial days in New England, Mr. Green numbers among his ancestors these men worthy of mention : John Carver, the "Mayflower" emigrant and first governor of Massachusetts Colony (also sev- eral other "Mayflower" emigrants) ; Thomas Dudley, governor of Massachusetts (1634 and later) ; Walter Clarke, governor of Rhode Island Colony (1676 and later) ; William Greene, governor of Rhode Island (1743 and later) ; Samuel Gorton, founder of War- wick; and General Timothy Ruggles, leader of the American Royalists, Chief Justice of Massachusetts, and president of the Stamp Act Congress. Through the two direct lines, Green and Arnold, his first Amer- ican ancestors were Thomas Green, of Malden. Mass., who came to America from Leicestershire, England,
426
HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND
about 1636; and Thomas Arnold, of Cheselbourne, Dorsetshire, England, who came to America in 1635 in the ship "Plain Joan," and soon settled at Watertown. Thomas Arnold was the son of Richard Arnold, whose descent, it is claimed, was through Richard Arnold, of Somersetshire, England, from the ancient and illus- trious Arnold family, which, according to a pedigree recorded in the College of Arms, was one of great antiquity, having its origin among the ancient Princes of Wales, tracing from Ynir, King of Gwentland, who flourished after the middle of the twelfth century.
From Thomas Green, the American founder, Mr. Green's lineage is through Thomas (2), Samuel, Thomas (3), John, Timothy and Timothy Ruggles.
Arnold Green was born in New York City, with which city the name is identified through the service of his father's cousin, the Hon. Andrew Haswell Green, of Worcester and New York, a prominent lawyer of New York, who is called the "Father of Greater New York," and who, in 1868, conceived the plan for the amalgamation of the cities and towns which, in 1897, were constituted Greater New York, and for this he 'was presented by the city with a gold medal in 1899. Arnold Green was born in New York City, February 27, 1838, and died in the old Arnold homestead in Prov- idence, R. I., February 17, 1903. He was reared to manhood in the city of Providence, attended school in that city, and was graduated from Brown University in the class of 1858, salutatorian of his class, with John Hay, the former Secretary of State, and Colonel R. H. I. Goddard of Providence. He studied abroad in Germany and Greece, and was later a law student at Harvard University. He held the degree of LL. D., and was authority in many branches of learning. Greek was his special hobby, and he was a student of both ancient and modern tongues. He was the author of "Greek and What Next," an address, and "Solomon's Hymn to Liberty," a poem read before the Alumni of Brown University, at the First Baptist Church in Prov- idence, June 17, 1884. In college he was a member of the Psi Upsilon fraternity. Botany and conchology were studies of special interest to him, and he was quite widely known as a naturalist.
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.