USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > Providence > The history of the state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, V. IV > Part 110
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eral Assembly, and now sits with his colleagues of the Supreme Court, honored for his learning, his justice, consideration, and strict impartiality.
Judge Stearns was a member of the General As- sembly from Central Falls in 1894, and served on the Committee of Education. He is a member of the American Bar Association; the Rhode Island Bar Club; is a Mason, belonging to lodge, chapter, council and commandery; also a member of Hope, University, Agawam Hunt and Providence Art clubs.
Mr. Stearns married, June 30, 1904, Amelia F. Lieber, of Washington, D. C., daughter of General G. B. Lie- ber, of the United States army.
THEODORE BARROWS STOWELL-There is 10 more vital factor in community life than that of public education. The training of the youthful mind in the formulative stage along those lines which will prove most beneficial to it in later life is a task which 10 the community is a large and life-size problem. The more progressive the community, the greater the care and attention given to education. The more intelligent and apable the men into whose hands the direction of edu- cation is given, the greater the value to themselves and the world are the recipients of the training. It is adinitted that a sound education is the best basis on which to begin a career in any walk of life. This fact is especially true in the business world. The sending of a youth into the battle of life equipped poorly or without the tools necessary for combat is no less crim- inal than the sending of an ocean liner on a voyage unequipped with life-savers sufficient for its passengers. 'The element of chance that the ship will sink is no less great than that the man will fail. The improvement in the quality of business education and preliminary training has increased a hundredfold within the past few decades, due to an awakening on the part of the people to the absolute necessity of a good foundation on which to begin a career, and due also in a large degree to the demand for specially trained experts. Specialization along one particular line of effort has characterized the industrial world for a considerable period, and has been the cause of the existence of schools wherein men can be especially trained for work. In every city throughout the entire country are to be found schools devoted solely to education along sound business lines, and at the head of these schools are to be found educators of the highest order, men of keen business perceptions, the highest intellectual abil- ity, able students of the times and the demands of the times in the world of commerce, finance, the industries, etc. It is becoming more and more impossible for the unskilled and untrained worker to find a place in the business world, which now demands the trained and efficient specialist in one line of work. The business schools and special schools of the country are fulfilling a well-defined need in preparing those who come to them to better cope with the existing industrial condi- tions. The higher grade of these schools are of the greatest importance in the fields to which they minister, and the men who direct and manage them are of a recognized and high status in the ranks of educator.
The late Professor Theodore Barrows Stowell, well- known educator and principal of the Bryant & Stratton
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Business College, of Providence, R. I., was one of the most prominent educators in the field of business of the past few decades. His prominence in Providence, however, extended beyond this field, for he was a well-known figure in the public life of the city and also in its club and social life.
Arms-Gules, a cross masculy argent.
Crest-A dove, wings expanded argent, holding in the beak an olive branch proper.
Theodore Barrows Stowell was a native of the State of Connecticut, and a member of the prominent old Stowell family of New England. Immigrants of the name were among the earliest in the New World, and their names are found on the early Colonial register of most of the colonies of New England. Professor Stowell was a descendant of the Connecticut branch of the family, and was the son of Stephen Sumner and Cornelia Williams (Stebens) Stowell, old and highly- respected residents of the town of Mansfield Center, Tolland county, Conn., where he was born on July 8, 1847. Stephen Sumner Stowell was the owner of large property holdings in Mansfield Center, and a farmer on a large scale there. Here young Stowell grew up amid the healthful surroundings of the country life. He early evinced a strong taste for study, and was unusually proficient in his school training. He found a deep interest in literature, but with all his scholarly inclinations had in his nature the thrift and practical ability of the trute New Englander-a keen business sense. Both of these elements were strong in his nature, and his life-work proved to be a harmonious combination of the two.
He received the elementary portion of his education at the Woodstock Academy, in the town of Wood- stock, Conn. His was a nature which never ceased to strive after learning, and though he completed his formal schooling early in life, he continued an eager scholar to the time of his death. After his graduation from the Woodstock Academy, he entered the Con- necticut State Normal School at New Britain, Conn., with the intention of preparing himself for the pro- fession of teaching. The Connecticut State Normal School, at that time the best institution of its kind in New England, offered an exceptional course in the line which he intended to pursue for his life's work. Upon completing a course there, during which he showed himself to be a student of more than ordinary ability, Professor Stowell went to Bridgeport, Conn. Here he became a teacher in the Toilsome Hill Dis- trict. His ability in handling pupils of a school soon brought him to the notice of educational authorities in the city, and he came to have the reputation of being unusually qualified in the teaching profession. He grad- ually assumed a place of greater importance in the ranks of the educators of prominence in the city. In 1870 he received an offer from the Bristol Ferry School of Portsmouth, R. I. This offered him greater oppor- tunities for advancement and he accepted it, remaining at the above mentioned institution for two years.
The demand for an institution which would offer an adequate course for preparation for the business world was gradually increasing and assuming the propor- tions of a necessity in Rhode Island, and more espe- cially in the city of Providence, and in 1863 the Bryant
& Stratton Business College was established in Provi- dence by H. B. Bryant and H. D. Stratton of that city. The college filled a well-felt need in the community, and was successful from the very beginning, gradually increasing its teaching staff and broadening the scope of its curriculum. This period of gradual development covered nine years. In 1872 Professor Stowell re- ceived an offer from the Bryant & Stratton Business College to become a member of its staff of teachers, and in this year he began his connection, which con- tinued until the time of his death, a period of forty-four years. For six years Professor Stowell remained one of the teaching staff of the institution, and in 1878 was chosen its president, which office he filled until 1916. Under the direction and management of Pro- fessor Stowell, the school was brought to a higher standard of efficiency than any other of its kind in the city of Providence and assumed a very high status among the schools of its kind in the country. With the gradual change in business conditions during the several decades in which he was at the head of this institution, he added to its curriculum many different branches of work ior which a demand had heretofore not existed, but which the development of industrial, commercial, and financial organizations now made necessary. The unwillingness on the part of the em- ployers to accept unskilled and untrained workers and to spend time and money in the process of fitting them for their places in their establishments, and the grad- ually increasing demand for specialized labor and tech- nically trained workmen, brought to the school a vast number of pupils.
As has already been stated, Professor Stowell was a man of keen business instinct, thoroughly well ac- quainted with the happenings in the business world, and able to perceive the change of conditions which later proved the cause of financial success for the insti- tution. From the very beginning of his connection with it, it prospered financially. In 1878 he bought out the interests of Mr. Bryant and Mr. Stratton and became sole owner of the college, which still continued to be known, however, as the Bryant & Stratton Busi- ness College. Six months before his death, Professor Stowell's health began to fail, and during the term of 1915 and 1916 he was able only occasionally to leave his home and attend the school. It was then that nego- tiations were entered into with the Rhode Island Com- mercial School for the consolidation of the former institution with the Bryant & Stratton Business Col- lege. Negotiations were completed in the latter part of April, 1916, and the two became one. Professor Stowell was chosen the president emeritus of the col- lege, but he held this honorary title for only one month.
The position which he occupied in the educational circles in the city of Providence was the highest. He was recognized by Brown University in the month of June, 1915, when he received the honorary degree of Master of Arts. In addition to his interests in the world of education and literature, Professor Stowell was also a well-known figure in public life in the city of Providence. He was for several years a member of the Providence Chamber of Commerce, and in this capacity brought about many needed reforms. He was also prominent in many societies and clubs, among
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which were the Barnard Club, the Eastern Commer- cial Teachers' Association, the Congregational Club of Rhode Island, the Town Criers, and the Rhode Island Rotary Club. His religious affiliations were with the Congregational church, and both he and Mrs. Stowell attended the Beneficent Congregational Church of Providence.
On January 1, 1871, Theodore Barrows Stowell was married to Florence A. Taylor, a daughter of Charles L. and Ruth E. (Dailey) Taylor, of Plymouth, Conn. Mrs. Stowell survives her husband and resides at No. 13 Pallas street, Providence, R. I.
(The Taylor Line).
Arms-Ermine on a chief dancettee sable a ducal coronet or, between two escallops argent. Crest-A demi-lion rampant sable, holding between the paws a ducal coronet or.
The Taylor family of the State of Connecticut, of which Mrs. Stowell is a member, is one of the oldest and most distinguished in that region, and ranks among its members, in present and former generations, men who have brought honor on the family name in the field of public affairs, in the professions and in busi- ness life. The family was established in America in the early part of the seventeenth century.
Taylor is an English surname of the occupative class, and signifies "the taylor," a cutter-out of clothes, a maker of clothes. The medieval English form of the word is tailor or taylor: the old French form, tailleur, a cutter, and it is from this latter form that the Eng- lish took its origin. The trade-name now uses the Eng- lish form tailor, while the surname is universally spelled Taylor and Tayler. The name enjoyed a great popularity during the earlier centuries following the adoption of surnames throughout England, and is found often in the early rolls, the Hundred Rolls of 1273 having fifteen different spellings of the name. In England to-day Taylor is the fourth commonest patronymic, preceded only by Smith, Jones and Wil- liams.
Charles L. Taylor was born in Warren, Conn., the scion of an old and well-known family of that place. Left an orphan by the death of both his parents in his early childhood, he was thrown absolutely on his own resources, and in early youth left Warren and went to Plymouth, Conn. Here he served a term of apprentice- ship as a mechanic, shortly qualifying as an expert mechanic. He became superintendent of one of the largest lock factories at Plymouth, Conn. He possessed mechanical and inventive genius in a large degree, and rendered services of a nature which made him one of the most valued men in his line of work in the estab- lishment. Charles L. Taylor died at the early age of forty-one years. He married Ruth E. Dailey, of Con- necticut. They were the parents of two children: I. Florence A., of further mention. 2. Lillian, who mar- ried Ferdinand Lotus, of Bristol, Conn., and died aged fifty-one.
Florence A. Taylor, daughter of Charles L. and Ruth E. (Dailey) Taylor, married January 1, 1871, Theodore Barrows Stowell, of Providence, R. I.
EBEN N. LITTLEFIELD-The two generations of the family of Littlefield to which this record gives particular attention, share in a notable degree of busi-
ness and industrial prominence, while to one, Gov- ernor Alfred H. Littlefield, was given the opportunity and the capacity for public service of high order. The family has occupied through two centuries a conspicu- ous position in Rhode Island, the family history of this branch beginning with Edmund Littlefield, who was born in Tichfield, England, in 1591-92, by trade a cloth manufacturer, coming to New England in 1837, where he was of Boston, Exeter and Wells, dying at the last named place, December II, 1661. He was a man of distinction at Wells, Me., where he was one of the first settlers, and with Wheelwright and Knight was a commissioner. He and his wife Agnes were the parents of eight children, the line continuing through Francis Littlefield.
Francis Littlefield was born at Tichfield, England .. in 1619, was a proprietor at Woburn in 1646, was of Dover in 1648, and moved to Wells. He was a leader in support of the Massachusetts cause, a Representative in 1660, and took the oath with three other Littlefields, probably his sons. His first wife was Jane Hill, of Plymouth, Mass., his second wife Rebecca Next in line was Caleb Littlefield, father of Nathaniel Littlefield, the latter admitted a freeman of New Shore- ham (Block Island), R. I., in 1721. Here he was a prominent man in public life, and a Representative from his town in the Legislature in 1738-40-46-48-54. His son, Nathaniel Littlefield, was born July 25, 1735, and, like his father, served in the Legislature in 1758 and 1762. The line continues through his son John, to John (2) Littlefield, born July 15. 1798, in Kings Town, R. I. He died in Natick, town of Warwick, R. I., June 23, 1847. John (2) Littlefield married, March 11, 1816, Deborah Himes, and they were the parents of eleven children, among them Alfred Henry, of whom further.
Alfred Henry Littlefield was born in Scituate, R. I., April 2, 1829, and died at his residence in Broad street. Central Falls, R. I., December 21, 1893. He obtained his early education in the village school of Natick, and as a lad of eight years he entered the Sprague Mills at that place. For seven years he was so employed, and then, after six months' attendance at the Natick school, he became a clerk in the dry goods store of Joseph M. Davis, a merchant of Central Falls, R. I. Mr. Davis was succeeded in business by George L. Littlefield, an elder brother of Alfred H., and the elder Littlefield associated with him Elias Nickerson. In 1849 George L. Littlefield became sole proprietor, Alfred H. continuing as his clerk until 1851, when the store was sold. At this time the firm of Littlefield Brothers, comprising Daniel G., George L., and Alfred H., was formed, operating stores at Haydenville, Mass., and Pawtucket, R. I. Alfred H. Littlefield was in charge of the latter store until December, 1854, when the business was sold, he and his brother George L. then forming an association with David Ryder, under the firm name of David Ryder & Company, manufac- turers of threads and yarns. With Mr. Ryder's retire- ment from the business, upon the purchase of his inter- est, the enterprise was continued as Littlefield Brothers from January, 1858, to July, 1889. In 1889 George L. Littlefield withdrew and the concern was incorporated, with Mr. Littlefield the first president, his son, Eben N. Littlefield, treasurer, and another son, Alfred H. Lit- tlefield, Jr., secretary. The Littlefield Manufacturing
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Company, with its plant on the west bank of the Black- stone river at Pawtucket Falls, continued a prosperous and successful existence to 1910, and then discontinued manufacturing, and it remained constantly under the direction of members of the Littlefield family. The corporation continued in effect, on account of real estate holdings, until December, 1919, then was dis- solved. Among Mr. Littlefield's numerous business connections were his directorship of the First Na- tional Bank of Pawtucket, the Pawtucket Gas Com- pany, the Royal Weaving Company, and the Pawtucket Street Railway Company. In 1861 he was one of the incorporators of the Pawtucket Hair Cloth Company, and served on the board of directors until his death. His business carcer was marked by his adherence to the strictest interpretations of commercial honor, and his judgment was consulted in many connections.
His political activity began with his election to the Town Council of Lincoln, in June, 1873. He was orig- inally a Whig, but upon the organization of the Repub- lican party he became its earnest supporter, particu- larly devoted in his loyalty during the Civil War. He was generous in his assistance of the families of sol- diers, and at every turn held up the hands of the National leaders. From 1864 to 1869 he was division inspector of the Rhode Island militia, ranking as col- onel. In 1876-77 he represented Lincoln in the Gen- eral Assembly, in the following year was elected to the State Senate, and was reelected in 1879. In March, 1880, he was the Republican nominee for Governor of Rhode Island, and at the popular election none of the three candidates-Republican, Democratic and Prohi- bition-receiving the majority vote required by law, the clection devolved upon the General Assembly. In this body Mr. Littlefield was chosen Governor by a vote of eighty-two to twenty. In 1881 and 1882 he was reëlected, with heavy majorities, a splendid tribute to his satisfactory and capable discharge of the duties of his high office. One of the outstanding features of his administration was the advocacy of improvements in the educational system of the State, both in regard to the public schools and the schools maintained for the State's dependence. During his term oi office Rhode Island entertained the French Commission which came to the United States to attend the Centennial Anni- versary of the surrender of the British forces at York- town. Governor Littlefield's contemporaries have pro- vided appreciation of his life and service that may well be quoted in this article. A leading journal wrote editorially :
The death of ex-Governor Alfred H. Littlefield re- moves from our midst a man who has for a long time been identified with the progress of Pawtucket and Lincoln, and who did more than his share to promote the interests of the people of Rhode Island. Esteemed and respected by all those who knew of his kindness and honesty. he will be remembered as a model citizen and a faithful public official.
The late ex-Governor was gifted with rare judgment and intellectual quallties of the highest order. He belonged to a distinguished family and, like those of some of his ancestors, his name will shine forever bright in the history of Rhode Island. Through his death the State loses a devoted son, his family a revered and beloved parent, and soclety a useful and honored member.
Another record is as follows:
Alfred H Littlefield was a strictly and thoroughly just man. One with whom he was In partnership in
business for years says, emphatically: "I never had occasion to doubt his honesty by a hair's breadth." He was careful, prudent, economical, but always honest. Being accurate himself he expected, demanded exact- ness in others. As a bank director he was conserva- tive, but not over careful. He had more confidence in men than some of his co-directors, but this confidence was based on his judgment, which was excellent. As a public officer he always regarded himself as a trus- tee, and in every relation insisted on fidelity to that trust, the same as he would have insisted on his own right in business. His administration of the affairs of the State, as Governor, was. on the whole, exception- ally successful. and was so regarded by those most competent to judge. The criticism upon his adminis- tration was mainly directed to his tenacity in behalf of economy in the expenditure of the public money. Firm in his convictions and honest in his purpose, he said and did what he thought was right no matter who listened to scoff. He was a strictly temperate man, and his sympathies were in the line of Prohibition. At the time of the visit to the State of the representatives of the French Government, and after the centennial celebration at Yorktown, a committee was appointed to make arrangements for the entertainment of the distinguished visitors. Mr. Littlefield, who was then Governor, attended the first meeting of this committee, and frankly stated that as Governor of the State he would not approve any bills contracted for intoxicating liquors. Some of the members of the committee would not naturally have sympathized with this idea but his frank statement disarmed them, and out of respect to him his wishes, thus indicated, were carried out. He was a man of impressive temperament, and had few intimates, and his best qualities were known only to the few. His early opportunities for education were scanty, but he was a great reader, reading only the best, being too practical to spend time in frivolous reading. He had a natural taste for art. and was an excellent judge of paintings. He was an attendant, though not a member, of the First Baptist Church.
Still another, whose privilege it was to know him, made this estimate of Governor Littlefield:
A childhood of toil. and a young manhood of intense industry, and enforced economy, inevitably gave color to the incidents of his after life. When the circum- stances permitted exemption from intense toil, his recreation was in study rather than in play. His self- acquired education was extremely practical, but it was such as admirably equipped him for the many positions of responsibilities and trust to which he was called. His political record is free from every ground of sus- picion that he ever compromised with conscience for the sake of personal success. Among the many hon- ored men who have graced the gubernatorial chair of Rhode Island, none outrank Alfred H. Littlefield in a record of unselfish devotion to the absolute duty of the office, even when its performance might not elicit pop- ular applause. Rhode Island's best citizens of all par- ties, and from all parts of the State, will bear witness to the official industry, the high honor and intelligent actions of Governor Littlefield.
Governor Littlefield married, February 9, 185.3, Re- becca Jane, daughter of Ebenezer and Jane (Padwell) Northup, of Central Falls, R. I., and they were the parents of four children: Eben Northup, of whom further: Minnie Jane, died young; George Howard, died young: and Alfred H., Jr., president of the Little- field Manufacturing Company, died August 6, 1907.
Eben Northrup Littlefield, eldest child of Governor Alfred H. and Rebecca J. (Northup) Littlefield, was born February 7. 1854, in Pawtucket, R. I. After attending the public schools of Central Falls, he became a student in Mowry & Goff's English & Clas- sical School, Providence, whence he was graduated in 1871. For five years he was a clerk in the First Na- tional Bank of Providence, and in 1876 he became asso- ciated with the firm of Littlefield Brothers, continuing with this concern until 1889. In this year, upon the organization of the Littlefield Manufacturing Company, he was elected treasurer of the corporation, an office he has since filled. In addition to his family interest, Mr. Littlefield has become conspicuously identified
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with financial activities in Rhode Island, and is presi- dent of the Pawtucket Institution for Savings, the Paw- tucket Safe Deposit & Trust Company, a director of the Rhode Island Safe Deposit Company, and a direc- tor of the Industrial Trust Company of Providence. He is president of the American Hair Cloth Company, president of Pawtucket Hair Cloth Company, a direc- tor of the Royal Weaving Company, and director of the William. H. Haskell Manufacturing Company. Mr. Littlefield is a member of the State of Rhode Island Sinking Fund Commission, commissioner for city and State funds of Pawtucket, and serves the Memorial Hospital in the capacity of trustee. Like his father, Mr. Littlefield is a Republican in political faith. He is a member of the Pawtucket Business Men's Association, and his clubs are the Squantum and To-Kalon, and he has been president and treas- turer of the latter. During his father's administration as Governor of the State of Rhode Island, Mr. Lit- tlefield was a member of his personal staff as aide-de- camp, ranking as colonel.
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