The history of the state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, V. IV, Part 34

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 34

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(II) Deacon John (2) Binney, son of Captain John (I) and Mercy Binney, was born on May 31, 1679, and lied in Hull, Mass., June 30, 1759. In various contem- porary documents hie is called mariner, deacon and gentleman. He was one of the most prominent men of lis time in the community, and frequently held public office. He was town treasurer of Hull, in 1712 and 733, and from 1746 to 1751; town clerk from 1749 0 1753; clerk of the market, 1743 to 1748, selectman in 721-22-31-35-39-42-44-49-51; and also assessor. There s mention in early records, under the date March 22, 724-25, of one Ensign Binney, member of a committee of five to call a minister. Deacon John Binney mar- ied (first), May 31, 1704, in Eastham, Mass., Hannah

Paine, born in Eastham, May 12, 1684, died in Hull, January 14, 1757, daughter of Thomas Paine, Jr., and his wife, Hannah, daughter of Jonathan and Phebe (Warren) Shaw. He married (second), in Boston, Mass., December 15, 1757, Sarah Crosby. He was elected deacon of the church at Hull, December 13, 1727, of which he and his wife, Hannah, became mem- bers on April 30, 1727.

(III) Captain Barnabas Binney, son of Deacon John (2) and Hannah (Paine) Binney, was born at Hull, Mass., March 12, 1723. He was a very prominent merchant and sea captain in his day, and was master and owner of his vessel in which he traded to Demarara and other ports; he is also said to have been the owner of a plantation and slaves at Demarara. He resided on Summer street, Boston, and there had a store in his residence. From time to time in the Boston newspapers of the period there occur advertisements of his stock. Captain Binney died at Demarara, prob- ably in 1774 His estate in Boston extended from Summer street to the shore front. He married, October 15, 1747, Avis Engs, daughter of Deacon William and Ann (Adams) Engs; she was baptized in Boston in 1720, and died after 1779. She was admitted to the new South Church, May 1, 1763.

(IV) Dr. Barnabas (2) Binney, son of Captain Bar- nabas (I) and Avis (Engs) Binney, was born in Bos- ton, Mass., and baptized there on May 10, 1751. He died on June 21, 1787, in Franklin county, Penn. He became a member of the First Baptist Church of Boston, March 3. 1771. He was graduated from Brown University, Providence, R. I., with the highest honors in the class of 1774, taking the degree of Bachelor of Arts. His oration delivered at commencement in September, 1774, was published. The title page reads: "A plea for the right of private judgment in religious matters, and for the liberty of choosing our own religion, corroborated by the well known consequences of priestly power, to which are annexed the valedictory of the class (then the one first graduated) by Barnabas Binney, A. B., Boston, printed and sold by John Kneeland in Milk St. MDCCLXXIV." Dr. Barnabas Binney served as a surgeon in the American Revolution, and later prac- ticed medicine in Philadelphia. He married, May 25, 1777, Mary Woodrow, daughter of Henry Woodrow, of Monmouth, N. J. Several interesting anecdotes con- cerning Dr. Binney are preserved and a collection of these are printed in the Binney genealogy. Two of the most interesting relate to his service in the Revolution. He is said to have discovered life in a soldier assigned for burial, and to have dressed his wounds. The soldier lived and recovered his health, and for the re- mnainder of his life made periodical visits to the doctor bringing him gifts of farm produce. He is also cred- ited with the discovery of the sex of Deboralı Samp- son, a woman who fought in the war under a man's name, escaping detection until she was wounded and sent to the hospital. She was taken from the hospital to the home of Dr. Binney, and upon recovering was sent to General Washington, who gave her an honor- able discharge and funds for her trip home. The late Epes Sargent, of Boston, wrote of him: "He was the most eloquent man I ever met." Another contempor- ary writer says: "His intellectual powers, fine learn-

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HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND

ing, strength of principle, decision and energy in action, with a delicacy of passion and poetic talents, were ap- preciated."

(V) Hon. Horace Binney, son of Dr. Barnabas (2) and Mary ( Woodrow) Binney, was born in Philadel- phia, Pa., January 4, 1780, and died there August 12, 1875. He was a graduate of Harvard College in the class of 1797, and took first honors, after which he studied law and began the practice of his profession in Philadelphia. Horace Binney later became one of the leading members of the bar there, subsequently attaining a national reputation as a trial lawyer of the greatest ability. He was also a writer of great author- ity on legal subjects and published a number of trea- tises, including one on Chief Justice Marshall, one on Chief Justice Tillingham, and a monograph on Wash- ington's farewell address. He was an able speaker. One of his most celebrated cases was the defense of General Hull. He was United States senator in 1808- 09; director of the United States Bank, of Philadelphia ; president of the Contribution Insurance Company of Philadelphia for many years. He twice declined a seat in the Supreme Court of the United States. Several portraits of Mr. Binney were painted by Inman, Sully, Hesley, and others and two vignettes were engraved for the bills of the National Bank of Philadelphia. Mr. Binney was deeply interested in the genealogy of the family, and was the owner of a silver plate which had been in the family for more than a century. This plate bore the following arms and crest: Arms: Argent, two horizontal bars sable with two scallop shells in each bar. Crest : An ostrich with a key, or, in his bill. His maternal Grandmother Woodrow, thorough Scotch, of the blood of the covenanters, lived to the age of ninety-one, "and I shall be glad," he says, "to see her again as I saw her last when a law student, and was much delighted with her shrewdness and savoir faire. Deacon John Binney, of Hull, is an ancestor I am very proud of. The race from Scotland and England is good enough for us, and we are quite as good."

Horace Binney wrote to Hugh Blair Grigsby, Char- lotte Court House, Va., January 6, 1870: "My first action in public was walking as one of the Philadelphia Academy boys in the Federal procession, July 4, 1788, to celebrate the adoption of the constitution successively in ten states; perhaps the march to Brush Hill tended to make me a strong Constitutionalist ever since, * * * mine has been a life of health not much abused, not yet very carefully nurtured, but having the root of a very good constitution, passed in wholesome country and exercise from eight to eighteen nearly, and all the rest in this city. I am devoutly thankful to God for his many mercies, and have a strong sense of kindness for friends why sympathize with me in my capacity to enjoy life." For many years Mr. Binney was the oldest living graduate of Harvard. Professor Diman said of him: "A proficient in the literature of France and Spain, delighting his history and poetry, a close stud- ent of theology-he was much more than a lawyer, much more than a scholar." He received the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws from Harvard in 1827.

Hon. Horace Binney married, April 3, 1804, Eliza- beth Cox, born at Bloomsbury, N. J., January 2, 1783, the daughter of Colonel John and Esther Cox, of

Trenton. She died in 1865. The children of Horace and Elizabeth (Cox) Binney were: I. Mary, born Feby. 27, 1805; married John Cadawalder. 2. Horace born Jany. 21, 1809, a lawyer of Philadelphia; married Eliza F. Johnson. 3. John, born June 27, 1815, died March 6, 1817. 4. Esther Cox, born Feby. 10, 1817; married Judge John Clark Hare. 5. Elizabeth, born June 5, 1820; married Richard R. Montgomery. 6. Susan, born April 4, 1822; unmarried. 7. William, mentioned below.

(VI) Hon. William Binney, son of Hon. Horace and Elizabeth (Cox) Binney, was born in Philadelphia, Pa., April 14, 1825. He was educated there, and en- tered Yale University, but was prevented from finish- ing his course by ill health, and left in his junior year. In 1849 he received the honorary degree of Bachelor of Arts from Yale, and in 1866 that of Master of Arts. He also received the degree of Master of Arts from Brown University in 1856. After leaving college, Mr. Binney studied law in Philadelphia, and was there ad- mitted to the bar. He rapidly achieved prominence in his profession, and became known as a lawyer of con- siderable ability. In 1853 he removed to Providence, R. I., and there resided until he built his home in New- port, R. I., in 1883-84. He practiced his profession with great success in Providence until the year 1867. In this year he was the principal organizer and founder of the Rhode Island Hospital Trust Company of Provi- dence, the first trust company organized in New Fng- land. He became the first president of the corporation, and held that office until his retirement in 1881, retain- ing his place on the board of directors until his death.

During his residence in Providence, Hon. William Binney was one of the most prominent citizens in public life. From June, 1857, to January, 1874, he was a member of the Common Council and served as its president from 1863 to 1871, and during his service in that capacity drew up the present charter of the city of Providence. He was a deep student of economic, civic, political and social conditions, and wrote largely on these questions, in the newspapers of the city and State. Shortly before his death he wrote to the "Provi- dence Journal" a letter advocating a public market. Mr. Binney was at one time a member of the General Assembly of Rhode Island. Among interesting family heirlooms in his possession were an oil portrait of Avis (Engs) Binney, his great-great-grandmother, and ar. excellent portrait of his father by Sully, and a minia- ture by Brown. Mr. Binney died April 23, 1909, at his home in Providence, R. I.

The following appreciation of Hon. William Binney is taken from an article published after his death:

For him not merely his college life at Yale in the forties, but repeated residences in Europe, as well as close association with some of the most eminent mer of his time, supplied the educative influences which underlie and explain his career. With three of the New England colleges he was intimately linked, either by the personal tie of undergraduate study or by in- herited interest, drawn from the earlier generations and classical studies at all times made a strong appeal to him. And yet these were not the only studies nor the only interests which claimed his attention. The civic sense was at all times strong in him, and he found a keen pleasure-as more than once happened- to be able to render a signal service to the community * * The community can ill afford to spare one * who, exemplifying these ancient ideals of scholarship. of gentle dignity, of reverence and sincerity, of honor

I33

BIOGRAPHICAL

and integrity, of sanity and good taste, has been living his life among us, quietly to be sure, but with a steady influence, nevertheless on his own time.

Mr. Binney married (first), June 14, 1848, Charlotte Hope Goddard, born December 1, 1824, died April 26, 1866, daughter of William and Charlotte Rhoda (Ives) Goddard, of Providence, R. I. He married (second), April 19, 1871, Josephine Angier, born March 25, 1840, daughter of Rev. Joseph and Elizabeth (Rotch) Angier, of Milton, Mass. Mrs. Binney survives her husband and resides in Providence. Children by first wife: I. Hope Ives, born May 10, 1849; married, Dec. 1, 1870, Samuel Powel, Jr., of Philadelphia, born Nov. 9. 1848, died April 1, 1902; their children were: i. Samuel Powel, born Nov. 23, 1884; married, April 15. 1909, Elsa Putnam, born March 13, 1887; children: Samuel Powel, born Sept. 4, 1910; Elizabeth Otis, born Oct. 5, 1913; and Grace Putnam, born Jan. 11, 1918. ii. Thomas Ives Hare Powel, born Sept. 2, 1887. Mrs. Powel sur- vives her husband and resides on Gibbs avenue, New- port, and on Brown street, Providence, R. I. 2. Mary Woodrow, born Dec. 14, 1856; married, Feby. 12, 1880, Sidney Frederick Tyler; children: i. Charlotte Hope Tyler, born Jany. 5, 1881, married, Feby. 12, 1902, Rob- ert Leaming Montgomery, of Philadelphia, and had : Helen Hope, born April 8, 1903; Mary Binney, May 19, 1907; Alexander Arnulph, May 7, 1911; Charlotte Ives. Dec. 28, 1912. ii. George Frederick Tyler, born Aug. 10, 1883; married Stella Van Tuyl Elkins, April 27, 1905, and had : Sidney Frederick, born July 20, 1907, Molly Elkins, born Sept. 15, 1910, and George Fred- erick, Jr., born April, 1914. 3. William, Jr., born July 31, 1858; married, July 14, 1881, Harriet D'Costa Rhodes. 4. Horace, born May 18, 1860; a graduate of Harvard, 1883; married, April 20, 1888, Marie Sorchan, of Paris, France; children: i. Marie Sorchan, born April 10, 1889, died in Feby., 1891. ii. Horace, Jr., born April 6, 1905.

HOWARD WARDWELL CHURCH, D. M. D., one of the most successful of the practicing dentists of Bristol, R. I., where he has been active since the year 1902, is a native of this city, his birth having oc- curred here October 19, 1879. He is a son of James C. and Mary T. (Wardwell) Church, like himself natives of Bristol. James C. Church was prominent in the financial and business life of the community, was treas- urer of the City Savings Bank of Providence for thirty- eight years, and otherwise connected with banking af- fairs. He retired from active life about 1903, and is now living on a farm near this city. He was a member of the State House Representatives for two terms, and for a similar period of the State Senate. The elder Mrs. Church died July 8, 1888.

The childhood of Howard Wardwell Church was passed in his native city of Bristol, and it was there that the preparatory portion of his education was received. He attended the grammar schools and the City High School, but before he had graduated from the latter was sent by his parents to the celebrated Mowry and Goff School at Providence. He was there prepared for college and, after his graduation, he en- tered the dental department at Tufts College, having decided to make that profession his career. He took

the usual dental course and graduated with the class of 1901, taking the degree of Doctor of Dental Medi- cine. He then studied for two years in the medical department of the same institution, and in 1902, opened his office in the Esterbrook block, Bristol. Since that time he has made his headquarters at this place and developed a large and high class practice, so that he is now regarded as among the leaders of his profession here. Besides his professional activities Dr. Church is an energetic participant in the public life of Bristol, and is well known in many different departments of its affairs. In politics he is a Republican and. while quite unambitious for political preferment, has served on the school committee of the city for fifteen years. He is also prominent in fraternal and social circles here, and is affiliated with a large number of organizations of different character. He is a member of the various professional organizations including the Rhode Island Dental Society, the New England Dental Association, and the National Dental Association, and outside of these he belongs to the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows; the Bristol Yacht Club; the County Poultry Association, of which he is the presi- dent ; the American Kennel Club; and the Rhode Island Kennel Club, of which he is also president. As may be judged by the nature of his clubs, Dr. Church is exceedingly fond of open air life and all the pastimes and occupations associated with out-of-doors. He greatly enjoys hunting and fishing and spends much of his spare time thus employed, but his chief pleasure and relaxation is the breeding and fancying of fine strains of dogs and poultry, and in this line he has been highly successful. Dr. Church maintains a hand- some residence at No. 37 Franklin street, Bristol.

Howard Wardwell Church was united in marriage, November 2, 1909, at Bristol, with Sarah B. Paull, of this city, a daughter of Augustus R. and Sarah Jane (Burnham) Paull. old and highly respected residents of this place. Mr. Paull, who was for many years en- gaged in the wholesale produce business here, died in August, 1915, at the age of seventy-two years. His wife survives him and now makes her home at Bristol.

WALTER HIDDEN-The name of Hidden is found in American Colonial records as early as 1654, when on the vital records of Rowley, Mass., the entry of the marriage of the founder of the line in America is found. Since that early period the family has been prominent in New England, and is allied by marriage with some of the foremost families of that section of the country. The name is particularly well known in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, with the latter of which it has been identified for more than one hundred years. Notable figures in the mercantile and public life of New England during the middle and latter decades of the past century were the late James Clifford and Henry Atkins Hidden, members of the Rhode Island branch of the Hidden family. Both these, influential and important factors in business and financial circles, were citizens of unimpeachable integrity and worth, whose services in public capacities brought them the honor and love of the city of Providence; they bore well and even added to the heritage of an honored and distinguished name.

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HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND

(I) Andrew Hidden, immigrant ancestor and founder of the American family of the name, was born about 1620, and is first of record in the American colonies in 1654. He was early a resident of Rowley, Mass., and married there, 7th of 4th month, 1654, Sarah, who died on October 9, 1729, aged about one hundred and three years. Little beyond this is known of Andrew Hidden except that he died February 18, 1702, an old man, according to the records of Rowley. Children: I. An- drew, born 7th month, 1655. 2. John, born 16th of 2nd month, 1657. 3. Margaret, born 28th of July, 1659. 4. Sarah, born Oct. 1, 1661. 5. Mary, born 21st of Sept., 1663. 6. Elizabeth, born 19th of 12th month, 1665. 7. Ann, born 22d of June, 1668. 8. Mary, born 21st of July, 1669. 9. Andrew (2), born 25th of Ang., 1670. IO. Joseph, born 28th of Oct., 1671. II. Samuel, born 16th of July, 1673. 12. Ebenezer, mentioned below.

(II) Ebenezer Hidden, son of Andrew and Sarah Hidden, was born at Rowley, Mass., March 7, 1675-76. He married, July 17, 1701, Elizabeth Story, who after his death married (second), April 28, 1757, Hon. John Hobson. They were the parents of the following child- ren : I. Elizabeth, born March 27, 1702. 2. Sarah, born Oct. 3, 1703. 3. Dorothy, born Sept. 9, 1705. 4. Mary, born March 22, 1707-08. 5. Ebenezer, born Dec. 6, I710. 6. Jonathan, born Jany. 19, 1712-13; married in Rehoboth, where he is referred to as a resident, July 18, 1736, Susannah Hart, of that place. 7. Edward, mentioned below. 8. James, born June 2, 1718. 9. Lucy, born April 1, 1722. Jonathan Hidden died at Lake George, Jany. 6, 1756. Ebenezer Hidden died some time prior to Ang. 8, 1748, on which date his will was proved. In it he mentions his wife Elizabeth, and children, Jonathan, Edward, Dorothy, wife of James Sabin, and Lucy, wife of Thomas Elsworth.

(III) Edward Hidden, son of Ebenezer and Eliza- beth (Story) Hidden, was born April 22, 1716. He married, at Rehoboth, Mass., June 18, 1741, Rachel Sabin. She was born March 21, 1718-19, daughter of Noah Sabin, of Rehoboth. Edward Hidden served as an officer in the Continental Army during the Amer- ican Revolution, and lost his life in the battle of Red Bank. Children, according to the town record of Rchoboth: I. Luce (Lucy), born Feby. 19, 1742. 2. James, mentioned below. 3. Jonathan, born Nov. 25, 1746. 4. Noah, born Dec. 1, 1748. 5. Ruth, born April 23, 1752. 6. David, born March 21, 1755. 7. Hannah. (IV) James Hidden, son of Edward and Rachel (Sabin) Hidden, was born in Rehoboth, Mass., July 19. 1744. He married (first), Betsey Knowles. He married (second), in Providence, September 10, 1809, Mary Waterman Clifford, born in 1779, daughter of Francis Clifford, and cousin of Betsey Williams, donor of the beautiful Roger Williams Park to the city of Providence. She was a descendant in the fifth gener- ation of Roger Williams. James Hidden resided dur- ing the earlier portion of his life in Walpole, Mass., but spent his last years in Providence, where he died prior to December 10, 1818. His widow died in Provi- dence, May 20, 1866, aged eighty-seven years. Children of the first marriage: I. Mary B., died Jany. 4, 1882, aged eighty-one years. 2. Susan, married Samnel Butts. 3. William. James and Mary Waterman ( Clif- ford ) Hidden were the parents of two sons. 4. James

Clifford, mentioned below. 5. Henry Atkins, mention below.

(V) James Clifford Hidden, son of James and Ma: Waterman (Clifford) Hidden, was born in Walpol Mass., May 15, 1813. He received his early educatic in the public schools of Providence, after his father removal to that city, and later attended the priva school of Oliver Angell, and the classical school ( Thomas C. Hartshorn. A gifted student, he subs quently prepared for the profession of the law and th practice of medicine, but was never actively engage in either. For a short period of years, after con pleting his education, Mr. Hidden taught in the schoo of Providence. He later became associated with h brother, Henry Atkins Hidden, in the engraving an copper-plate business, purchasing the interest of Ger eral Thomas F. Carpenter in the firm of H. A. Hidde & Company. Until 1849 Mr. Hidden remained active!| connected with the firm. In this year he disposed c his interests in the business of his brother, and in 18: purchased a large farm in Attleboro, Mass., where fc ten years following he engaged in agriculture.

James Clifford Hidden, prior to his removal to Attle boro, and after his return to the city of Providence was a prominent and influential figure in its publ. affairs. He was a well known member of the Whi party, and from 1842 to 1847 was a member of th Common Council of Providence, holding that offic again from 1868 to 1869. He was president of that bod! from 1845 to 1847. For many years he was a repre sentative from Providence in the Lower House of th' Rhode Island General Assembly, rendering services o so conspicuously valuable a nature as to make him on of the most popular men in public service in Provi dence in his day. He held the post of speaker of th House from 1849 to 1851. Mr. Hidden was active il military affairs during the earlier years of his life, an was a member of the First Light Artillery Company of Providence until 1845. In 1842 he served as captain of the Fifth Ward City Guard.

On March 27, 1839, James Clifford Hidden marrie Eliza Perrin, daughter of Daniel and Eliza Dean Per rin, of Medfield, Mass. She died September 16, 1866 and he married (second), November 27, 1867, Eliza D Leeman, of Newcastle, Me. Children of the first marriage were six in number. Child of the second mar! riage: Elizabeth Tower. Mr. Hidden was for man; years a member of the Rhode Island Historical Society He died at his home in Providence.

(V) Henry Atkins Hidden, son of James and Mary Waterman (Clifford) Hidden, was born in Providence R. I., December 10, 1816. He received his education il the private schools of Providence, and subsequently attended the academy at Leicester, Mass. For a shor time after leaving school he was employed in a store in Providence in the capacity of clerk, but at the age of twenty-one years, he entered upon an independent business venture, and launched the firm of H. A. Hid- den & Company, in partnership with General Thomas F. Carpenter. Together they started in the engraving and copper-plate printing business, locating in Whitman's block at the junction of Westminster and Weybosset streets, in Providence. The firm met with large suc- cess and developed rapidly to great size, handling a

Henry . V. Hidden

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BIOGRAPHICAL

large part of the engraving and printing of notes for the State banks. They also engraved the diplomas for Brown University. In 1837 James C. Hidden became a member of the firm, purchasing the interest of Gen- eral Thomas F. Carpenter. In 1849 he disposed of his holding, however, and from that time onward until the time of its dissolution Henry A. Hidden remained the head of the business and its sole owner. For a long period the firm did copper-plate printing for manufac- turers and bleachers of cotton goods throughout New England, and through this indirect connection with the industry Mr. Hidden became interested in it. Previous to 1843 he had become a dealer in cotton and cotton goods. This business eventually increased to such pro- portions that he abandoned the copper-plate and en- graving business, and in 1860 entered the mercantile field, in which he was very successful, becoming one of the largest dealers in print goods, if not the largest, in Rhode Island; the business yielded lucrative re- turns, and at the time of his death Mr. Hidden was a man of considerable wealth. In 1868 he admitted his sons, Charles H. and Wilkins U. Hidden, as partners, and the firm became known as H. A. Hidden & Sons; in 1875 he admitted his son, Walter Hidden.

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The history of the state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, V. IV, Part 34

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