The history of the state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, V. IV, Part 112

Author: Bicknell, Thomas Williams, 1834-1925. cn
Publication date: 1920
Publisher: New York, The American Historical Society
Number of Pages: 978

USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > Providence > The history of the state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, V. IV > Part 112

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HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND

occurs in the archives of that State in the year 1452, when George De Wolff was plenipotentiary of the Dukes Balthasar and Rudolf of Sagan to the town of Goerlitz. In 1465, at the sale of a share in the town hall of Sagan, by Duke Hans, among the witnesses mentioned is "our dear faithful Hans de Wolff." (State archives of Dresden, No. 4371). In 1474, a grant was made by the Dukes Ernest and Albrecht of Saxony to Jorge De Wolff over Hansdorf, Wolfsdorf and Klein Selten in the principality of Sagan. In 1539 there is a record of the inheritance homage of the brothers Bal- thasar and Casper De Wolff to Duke Heinrich of Sax- ony. In 1543 the letters-patent given by Duke Moritz of Saxony to the brothers Balthasar and Casper De Wolff over the estates of Hansdorf, Wolfsdorf and Klein Selton are confirmed. Hans De Wolff was chosen burgomaster of Sagan for the years 1543, 1546 and 1549. (Dresden State archives).

The Livonian branch of the family is an offshoot of the above mentioned Silesian house, and is descended from Sigismund Adam von De Wolff, who was born in Sagan in 1646, and settled in Nariva, Livonia, where he held various posts of honor, until his death in 1720. His son, Sigismund Adam von De Wolff, was born in 1675. When Nariva was captured by the Russians, he was among the prisoners taken as hostages to Moscow, where he came under the notice of Peter the Great, who made him his private secretary. He founded the college of justice and was its vice-president. Sigis- mund Adam von De Wolff and his descendants were enrolled in the Livonian and Esthonian nobility. In 1747. on giving proofs of his ancient nobility, he was granted in Vienna, for himself, his given sons and their descendants, the title of baron of the empire. He pre- ferred this to the Russian title of count, the choice be- tween the two having been given him. The Empress Elizabeth, daughter of Peter the Great, presented him with several estates in Livonia. From him are de- scended the several Barons von De Wolff now living in Livonia. His brother, Carl Gottfried, was also created Baron De Wolff ; he had a son, Sir Jacob De Wolff, who settled in England, and was created a bar- onet in 1766. He married Anne, daughter of the Rt. Hon. Edward Weston, Secretary of State for Ireland. He died in 1808 and left one son, Sir James De Wolff, born in 1778, who died without male issue; their country seats were Cams Hall and Lyndhurst, in County Hants.

The genealogist of the De Wolf family in America has satisfied himself that the immigrant ancestor of the family here under consideration came from the Livon- ian branch of the ancient De Wolfes of Europe. The crest of the Livonian De Wolffs is the same as that of the American family, and there is a widely held tradi- tion in the family of Baron Ariste De Wolff, that early in the seventeenth century a younger son of the Baron of that day left Livonia, presumably for America, and was never heard from. Another tradition, accepted by some of the family, is that their ancestors emigrated from the Baltic Province of Livonia to Germany, thence to Normandy, and from there to England with Wil- liam the Conqueror. This would seem to be borne out by the names of the children in this country, which are those of the English Bible, and in common use in England. In view of the prejudices of the time, the

fact that Balthasar De Wolf's children married into the best families of Lyme, Conn., would add further support to the tradition.

(I) Balthasar De Wolf, or as the name is spelled, Baltazer De Woolfe, is first recorded in America on March 5, 1656, when he was one of those presented before "A Perticular Court in Hartford," Connecticut, "for smoking in the street contra to law." At that time he was evidently a resident of what is now Branford. for we find his name on a list of persons who settled in that town between 1645 and 1660. In 1664 he was a resident of Wethersfield, Conn. Four years later he was a member of the train band at Lyme, Conn., with his three sons. It has been supposed that Balthasar De Wolf was about forty-five years of age at that time. He was made a freeman by the court at Hart- ford, in May, 1671. In 1677 he was chosen a member of the committee of the town, and was yet alive in 1695. Little is known of his wife, Alice. She was living on March 5, 1687, when she is mentioned in a deed of land given by Balthasar to his son Simon.

- (II) Edward De Wolf, son of Balthasar and Alice De Wolf, was born in 1646, and 'died March 24, 1712. He is referred to in the records of Lyme, Conn., as a carpenter ; he was a member of a committee to arbi- trate the differences between the people of New Lon- don, and the builders of a church. About 1688, Edward De Wolf was one of four to whom permission was granted to build a saw mill at Eight-Mile river. In 1701 he was granted liberty to set up a corn mill near the sawmill by his house. This is supposed to be the site owned by the late Oliver Lay, in Laysville, about two miles and a half from the center of the village of Lyme. It will thus be seen that he was also a mill- wright and miller. He was one of the volunteers in King Philip's War, who in December, 1675, surrounded the Indians in the Swampy Fort, and to whom the State of Connecticut granted the township of Narra- gansett, now Voluntown, Conn., as a reward for their services. Edward De Wolf probably continued to reside in Lyme, however. He was survived by his wife, Rebecca, to whom he had been married not later than 1670.

(III) Charles De Wolf, son of Edward and Rebecca De Wolf, was born September 18, 1673, and died De- cember 5, 1731. He married Prudence (according to some authorities Patience) White, and resided in Glas- tonbury, and Middletown, Conn. He engaged in busi- ness as a dealer in general merchandise, and by his in- dustry and thrift acquired a considerable property for those times.

(IV) Charles (2) De Wolf, son of Charles (I) and Prudence (White) De Wolf, was born in 1695, at Lyme, Conn., the eldest of a family of ten children. Ap- parently he learned the same trade as his grandfather, for it is said he "went from Lyme, Conn., to the Island of Guadeloupe, as a millwright." It is thought that he remained in the French Indies for the rest of his life. There he married, on March 31, 1717, an Englishwoman, Margaret Potter, who never came to the United States.

(V) Captain Mark Anthony De Wolf, son of Charles (2) and Margaret (Potter) De Wolf, was born Novem- ber 8, 1726, on the Island of Guadeloupe in the French Indies. He was educated in a French school on the

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BIOGRAPHICAL

island. When he was about seventeen years old, he was brought to Bristol, R. I., by Captain Simeon Potter, whose sister, Abigail, he later married. Young De Wolf spoke several languages, and because of his proficiency in them became Captain Potter's secretary and clerk, and accompanied him on many of his famous buccaneering expeditions, and later commanded ships belonging to him. In December, 1744, a few months after his marriage, he sailed from Bristol, as first officer of the privateer "Prince Charles of Lorraine," which was under the command of Captain Potter, and on December 22, of that year, surprised and captured the French settlement of Oyapoc, French Guiana, mak- ing heavy reprisals on the inhabitants of the town. At the outbreak of the Revolution, De Wolf found him- self in comfortable circumstances. He settled in Bris- tol, R. I., where his house was one of the nineteen burned by the British in 1778. It was located at the south corner of Burton and Hope streets. After the burning of his home, he removed to Swansea, Mass .. for the safety of his family, where he settled on a farm, and undismayed by his misfortunes, set out en- ergetically to recoup his losses. In 1783 he returned to Bristol, reinstated in his fortunes.

On August 26, 1744, Mark Anthony De Wolf married Abigail Potter, born February 2, 1726, in Bristol, daugh- ter of Hopestill and Lydia Potter, and sister of Captain Potter. Their sons later figured prominently in the shipping and commercial life of Bristol. Abigail De Wolf survived her husband fifteen years and died on February 7, 1809. Among their children was Charles, of further mention.

(VI) Captain Charles (3) De Wolf, son of Captain Mark Anthony and Abigail (Potter) De Wolf, was born in Bristol, R. I., February 25, 1745. He entered early on a seafaring life, and was a master mariner and merchant, engaged in the West India trade, in which he amassed a large fortune. He was one of the most prominent and influential men of Bristol, highly es- teemed as a public benefactor. He was a member of the Jeffersonian party, then known as the Republicans, his sympathies in political and national issues inclining to the French rather than the English. He was averse to the mingling of politics with religion, and was one of the signers of the protest addressed to the pastor of the Congregational church in Bristol against political sermons delivered in church. Because of this he and many others later joined St. Michael's Protestant Epis- copal Church of Bristol. Captain De Wolf subscribed one hundred and twenty-one dollars to the erection of the first public library of Bristol, and also gave one hundred dollars toward the erection of a building, completed in 1809, the first floor of which was to be the property of the town as a free school forever. One- half the expense of this building was borne by the Masonic fraternity, which used the upper floor as a meeting place.

Captain Charles (3) De Wolf, and his son, General George De Wolf, were the principal owners of the full- rigged ship "Juno," of 250 tons, which sailed from Bristol with a crew of twenty-six men, August 13, 1804. to trade along the northwestern coast of the United States. His home in Bristol, on Thames street, at the foot of Constitution street, was one of the finest of the

day. Captain Charles (3) De Wolf was one of the most distinguished figures in the life of Bristol for many decades. He took an active and important part in the American Revolution and in the War of 1812, and was an intimate friend of Governor Bradford and Gen- eral Knox, the latter of whom visited him in Bristol, and presented him with several pieces of silverware, which are still in the family. It is highly probable that he became acquainted with Washington on his visit to Bristol to consult with Governor Bradford.

Captain Charles (3) De Wolf married (first) April 28, 1771, in Bristol, Mary Tyler, daughter of Rev. Barnabas and Martha Tyler, of Bristol. He married (second) June 3, 1789, Elizabeth Rogerson, and (third) Abigail Greene. The descendants of Charles in both the direct and collateral lines have been a race noted for intellectuality, and for their fine capacity for worthy achievement in professional and in business life.

(VII) General George De Wolf, son of Captain Charles (3) and Mary (Tyler) De Wolf, was born in Bristol, R. I., June 15, 1778. Like his father, he was a ship owner and merchant, and was highly successful. He also owned a plantation in Cuba, and in the work- ing of this employed many slaves. At one time his wealth seemed destined to rival that of his uncle, James De Wolf, if not to surpass it, but reverses came and the failure of his business almost paralyzed the town. He retained, however, his position in the life of Bristol, and was always eminently esteemed. He was very prominent in military affairs, and is said to have been one of the handsomest men in the military forces, making a splendid figure on horseback. He was brig- adier-general in command of the First Brigade of Rhode Island troops, composed of Newport and Bristol county men, in the years 1818-19-20-21, and in 1822 was commissioned major-general in command of the State troops, holding this post in 1823-24-25. In 1810 he erected "Linden Place," in Bristol, his homestead, which is a fine specimen of the best architecture of the period. The homestead is in the central part of the city, and is distinguished by a fine portico, lofty Corinthian col- umns, and an old fashioned balustrade of intricate pat- tern surrounding the roof. Here, in 1817, General De Wolf entertained President Monroe. "Linden Place" is now the home of Colonel Samuel Pomeroy Colt, son of Christopher and Theodora Goujand (De Wolf) Colt, the latter a daughter of General George De Wolf, born 1820, died in 1901. General De Wolf married Charlotte Patten Goodwin, daughter of Attorney-Gen- eral Henry Goodwin, of Newport, R. I., and his wife, Mary, daughter of Governor William and Mary (Le- Baron) Bradford, of Bristol. Charlotte Patten De Wolf died June 5, 1857. General George De Wolf died June 7, 1844.

(VIII) Theodora Goujand De Wolf, daughter of General George and Charlotte Patten (Goodwin) De Wolf, was born in Bristol, R. I., October 12, 1820. She was a woman of exemplary Christian life. She was talented, and highly educated, a student and scholar, a lover and patron of the arts, dispensing goodness and charity throughont her long life. She was the author of a volume of poems on a variety of subjects, which reveals intellectuality of a high order.

On November 14, 1837, in Hartford, Conn., Theodora

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Gonjand De Wolf, became the wife of Christopher Colt, of that city. She died in Bristol, R. I., in 1901, in her eighty-first year. Her children were: I. George. 2. Isabella, who married Francis Engene De Wolf, of Bristol. 3. Le Baron Bradford, United States Senator from Rhode Island. 4. Samuel Pomeroy. (See Colt XI).

LeBARON BRADFORD COLT, United States Senator from Rhode Island, and one of the foremost figures of the day in legislative circles, was born in Dedham, Mass., June 25, 1846, son of Christopher and Theodora Goujand (De Wolf) Colt. He is descended both paternally and maternally from notable founder families of New England; his ancestry in the direct line is treated at length in the article devoted to Col- onel Samuel Pomeroy Colt, which precedes this. He was prepared for college at Williston Seminary, and matriculated at Yale in 1864. Graduating with the class of 1868, he entered the Law School of Columbia Uni- versity in New York City, where he received the degree of LL. B., in 1870. Later he received the degrees of LL. D. from Columbia College, Yale College and Brown University. After a year of European travel, he returned to America and established in practice in Chicago, where he remained until 1875. In the latter year he returned to Rhode Island, took up his resi- dence at Bristol, and began the active practice of his profession in Providence. From 1876 to 1881 he was associated in partnership with Hon. Francis Colwell, later city solicitor of Providence. From 1879 to 1881, Mr. Colt represented the town of Bristol in the Rhode Island Legislature. In March, 1881, by this time a recognized leader in the legal profession in Rhode Island, Mr. Colt was appointed United States district judge for the District of Rhode Island by President Arthur. On July 6, 1884, he was made United States circuit judge, for the First Judicial Circuit, comprising the States of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and filled this office until 1913, in which year he became the candidate of the Republican party for United States Senator from Rhode Island, and was elected to office. On the expiration of his term in 1919, Senator Colt was returned to the Senate by pop- ular vote, and is now serving his second term. Senator Colt has been a prominent and influential figure in legislative and official circles in Washington since the beginning of his first term.

On December 17, 1873, he married Mary Louise Led- yard, daughter of Guy Carlton and Elizabeth (Morris) Ledyard, of Chicago. Their children are: I. Theodora L., married Edwin A. Barrows, of Providence. 2. Le- Baron C., born Feb. 26, 1877, died May 26, 1916. 3. Guy Pomeroy, born Dec. 4, 1878, died Nov. 17, 1885. 4. Mary Louise, born July 25, 1880; married Harold J. Gross, of Providence. 5. Elizabeth L., born Oct. 29, 1887; married Andrew Weeks Anthony, of Boston. 6. Beatrice, born June 1, 1891, died Nov. 18, 1914.

G. EDWARD BUXTON, M. D .- Among the mem- bers of the medical profession of Rhode Island is no more representative physician than Dr. G. Edward Buxton. Trained in his calling in the leading institu-

tions of this country and Europe, he has practiced in the West and in Rhode Island, the city of Providence his home since 1895. In the quarter of a century of his participation in professional activity in the city and State he has gained honored and responsible place as a learned and able doctor. After long years of con- stant professional labor as a practitioner and educator, he is still active in his work, finding in it, toward the evening of life, the satisfaction and inspiration that are a large part of the reward of him whose ideal is one of service and accomplishment.

Dr. Buxton is a member of an old English family, and it has been his pleasure to inform himself exten- sively on the history of his branch in New England. The arms borne by the Buxton family are :

Arms-A shield, supported by double bucks, lion rampant, and above it thirteen stars on a blue field surmounted by the crest, a pelican.

Motto-Do it with thy might.

(1) Anthony Buxton, of England, born in 1601, came to Salem, Mass., in 1637, and took one of the original town lots of five acres. He died in 1684, when eighty- three years of age, and his will is still to be seen among the old records of Salem. He left a large farm which joined that of Governor Endicott, and the will men- tions the hay, grain, cattle, working teams, wagons, ploughs and farming tools, besides sums of money the neighbors owed him-one of pounds, shillings and pence that Governor Endicott was owing him he gave to his youngest child and daughter, Hannah. With consider- able property to dispose of, the first item therein deserves attention, not that it should have been given to the oldest son, but that it should be of such apparently trivial import: "I will and bequeath unto my son John the great Bell-metal mortar I brought out of England with me." But on investigation this, it seems, would be in those early times the family grist mill, in which was ground or pounded fine the parched corn for their bread. His wife was named Elizabeth, and they had the following children: John, Elizabeth, Mary, Lydia, Sarah, Hannah, and Joseph, mentioned below.

(II) Joseph Buxton, son of Anthony and Elizabeth Buxton, was born in Salem, in 1663, and died in 1745. He and his wife Esther had children: Elizabeth, born in 1689; Samuel, mentioned below; James, in 1693; and John, in 1696.

(III) Samuel Buxton, son of Joseph and Esther Buxton, was born in Salem, in 1691, and on November 25, 1741, then aged fifty years, bought of Samuel Verry a tract of land of two hundred acres, in Smithfield, R. I., in the northwest corner of the town, "the homestead where Verry had lately dwelt." He brought at least two grown sons with him, all being enumerated in the Road District No. I list in 1748, as Samuel, Benjamin, and Samuel, Jr. Samuel Buxton died in Smithfield in 1753. His wife Elizabeth survived him and married a Mr. Lapham. Samuel Buxton's children were: Ben- jamin, mentioned below; Samuel, Caleb, Ann, Joseph, and Lydia.

(IV) Benjamin Buxton, son of Samuel and Eliza- beth Buxton, was born in Salem, in 1715, and came with his father to Smithfield, being made freeman in 1744. He belonged to troops raised for the French and Indian wars in 1746. When he died, in 1781, he willed lands

LE Baron B. Leoch

S. Edward Buxton fo

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BIOGRAPHICAL

in Smithfield, Glocester and Uxbridge. His children were: James, mentioned below; John, Esther, and Betty.

(V) James Buxton, son of Benjamin Buxton, was born in 1745, in Smithfield. He enlisted as ensign on the Worcester Rolls (Vol. 48, File 349), was made lieutenant in March, 1779, Third Company, Massachu- setts Regiment, Fifteenth Regulars, Captain, Noah Lit- tlefield, Major, Andrew Peters, Lieutenant-Colonel, Benjamin Tupper, Colonel, John Bailey; served on the Hudson under General Lee, and on January 1, 1781, re- ceived a captain's commission. He died in Smithfield in 1817. He married, in 1773, Esther Southwick, of Ux- bridge, and their children were: Jonathan, Rufus, Otis, Ruth, David, mentioned below: Elizabeth, Han- nah, and Charity.

(VI) David Buxton, son of James and Esther (Southwick) Buxton, was born in 1777, and died in 1861. He was engaged in farming in North Smithfield, but later moved to Slatersville. He married Philadel- phia Darling. His children were: Plina, Eliza, Clar- issa, James, Sally Ann, Esther, William, Emily, George, Edward, mentioned below; Lewis, and Albert.

(VII) Edward Buxton, son of David and Philadel- phia (Darling) Buxton, was born in Slatersville, R. I., February 19, 1826. He went to Worcester Academy, there remaining long enough to be qualified as a teacher, and won a document that read: "To whom it may concern! This certifies that Mr. Edward Bux- ton possesses suitable qualifications both moral and intellectual for an instructor in our common schools. Eli Thayer, Worcester Academy, Aug. 12, 1847." After a period spent in teaching, he tried a number of business ventures with varying success. One of these was a small cotton mill in Holden, Mass., which for a time was quite profitable. Failure was caused by hard times and limited capital. When forty years old he became established in a new line, contracting with the Washburn, Moen Company to supply them with one particular kind of scrap iron for their rolling mill at Worcester, Mass. As the agent of these interests, he traveled widely to secure materials for their mills. He acquired numerous business interests and real estate holdings, and became a man of independent for- tune. He married, May 1, 1848, Julia C. Coburn, who died in 1900. They had four children: I. G. Edward, mentioned below. 2. Azro L. D., married Smyth, and has four children, Walter, Philip, Edward and William. 3. Augustine A., a graduate of Amherst (A. B.) and Columbia (LL. B.) universities, is an at- torney of Kansas City, where he married Nora Lewis, and has one son, Lewis. 4. Clara J., married Professor Robert Fulton, of Ohio Wesleyan University, Dela- ware, Ohio.

(VIII) G. Edward Buxton, son of Edward and Julia C. (Coburn) Buxton, was born February 18, 1849, at Worcester, Mass. He received his preparatory educa- tion in the public schools of Worcester, and took a special course at the Kentucky University. In Janu- ary, 1872, he commenced the study of medicine with Dr. Walter Burnham, at Lowell, Mass., and entered Harvard University Medical School in September of that year, in the three years' course. At the end of his second year, in June, 1874, he had passed his ex-

aminations and some of the third year, and the follow- ing September entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons (Columbia University), New York City, being graduated M. D. in the class of March, 1875. He then took a course at Long Island College Hospi- tal, but in the latter part of May was appointed resident physician and surgeon for one year at St. Francis Hospital, Pittsburgh, Pa. In June, 1876, he returned to Harvard, completed his examinations, and took the degree of M. D. He then went abroad and took a four months' course at Rotunda Lying-in Hospital, Dublin, as a resident; spent six months in the London hospitals, taking special courses, and was in Paris two months, returning to the United States and com- mencing practice in Kansas City, Mo., in the winter of 1877. In 1883 he again went abroad, completed his course in Dublin and took the degree of Licentiate in Midwifery, and spent the remainder of the year on the Continent. Upon his return to this country he set- tled in Pawtucket to practice, in 1884. Four years later he removed to National City, Cal., but in 1895 returned to Providence, which city is now his home. He is widely known in professional circles, active in all or- ganizations of medical men, and has won a distinctive position in his calling.

He is a member of the American Medical Associa- tion, the San Diego County (California) Medical So- ciety, of which he was vice-president and president, the Rhode Island Medical Society, and the Providence Medical Association. He was formerly a member of the Missouri Medical Association, the Kansas City District Medical Society, the Kansas City Medical So- ciety, and the Jackson County (Missouri) Medical So- ciety. While in Kansas City he was adjunct profes- sor of obstetrics in the Medical Department of the University of Kansas City, and was also a member of the Dispensary Staff of the University Hospital. At one time he was a member of the National City (Cali- fornia) Board of Health. Dr. Buxton has contributed on numerous occasions to the medical journals, and has also written articles for the public press on matters of public health. His field of usefulness has been a wide one, and it has been his privilege to come into contact with the leaders in his calling in many parts of the world. In Masonry Dr. Buxton is a member of Harmony Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons; Paw- tucket Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, and San Diego Commandery, Knights Templar, of which he is past commander. He is also a member of Palestine Tem- ple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, of Rhode Island. He is past chancellor commander of the Knights of Pythias, and holds membership in the Ancient Order of Foresters, Improved Order of Red Men, and the Sons of St. George.

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The history of the state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, V. IV, Part 112

Author: Bicknell, Thomas Williams, 1834-1925. cn Publication date: 1920 Publisher: New York, The American Historical Society Number of Pages: 978

Author: Bicknell, Thomas Williams, 1834-1925. cn
Publication date: 1920
Publisher: New York, The American Historical Society
Number of Pages: 978