The history of the state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, V. IV, Part 36

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 36

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II) Ebenezer Tiffany, son of Humphrey and Eliza- h Tiffany, was born at Rehoboth in 1663. He was : of many to bear the name Ebenezer in the family. became the possessor of a large tract of land, etching eastward from the Mouscochuck creek, and e he built his home, the house standing not far m what is now the railroad station at Nayatt, in the 'nship of Barrington, R. I. His name and that of omas Tiffany, of Swansea, were among those re- ded as petitioners for the town of Barrington in I. There is positive evidence that this Ebenezer fany was the one who was recorded at Warren as ng there on February 10, 1747. There is also a ord in Barrington of the birth of Sarah Tiffany, ch occurred there February 9, 1727-28, a daughter of zekiah and Sarah Tiffany, while in one of the old ying grounds of Barrington occurred the interment father and daughter. His death occurred in 1779, he age of eighty-two, and hers in 1774, when forty- en. The epitaphs on their tombstones read respec- ly :

The world is vanity and all things show it, I thought so once and now I know it.

Beneath this stone doth lie As much virtue as could die; Who when alive, nature did give As much beauty as could live.

[II) Ephraim Tiffany, son of Ebenezer Tiffany, was in Swansea, Mass., February 4, 1704, and resided e for many years. He married Esther Viall, and were the parents of the following children : Eliza- 1, born in 1745; Rachel, born September 22, 1748; lie, born June I, 1751; and Ebenezer, mentioned w. The mother of these children was married to Tiffany, December 27, 1744, and died March 19,

[V) Ebenezer (2) Tiffany, son of Ephraim and 1er (Viall) Tiffany, was born June 10, 1753. He one of the most prominent men in the community took part actively in its affairs. He served as a ier in the Continental Army during the American ggle for independence, and was later chosen to esent Barrington in the General Assembly of Rhode nad. On April 1, 1776, on the alarm at Bristol, he fed the company commanded by Captain Thomas n, and from April 5 to May 20, of that year was a aber of the militia company which guarded Bar- ton, and later was called into service on the Island Rhode Island. In 1780 he was a soldier in the com- commanded by Captain Viall Allin. His services e State Legislature occurred during the two terms nning respectively in 1788 and 1806, during which proved himself a capable and disinterested legis- . He was president of the United Congregational ety of Barrington from 1807 to 1821, and his death rred April 4, 1826, and that of his wife, December 1848. He married, Feby. 2, 1783, Mary Ann Bul- born Sept. 17, 1758, a daughter of Colonel William

Bullock, of Rehoboth. To them the following children were born: Elizabeth, Oct. 14, 1784; Sarah, Jany. 27, 1786; Alethea, Feby. 26, 1788; Mary Ann, Feby. 17, 1790; Esther Viall and Susanna Kent (twins). Feby. 13. 1793, the latter dying April 5, 1803; Ebenezer, men- tioned below; Lydia, March 23, 1798; Hezekiah, men- tioned below ; and Lemira, Feby. 3, 1802.

(V) Ebenezer (3) Tiffany, son of Ebenezer (2) and Mary Ann (Bullock) Tiffany, and well known through- out the community as Deacon Ebenezer Tiffany, was born July 13, 1795. He played a very prominent part in the life of the community, and at his death, which oc- curred June 4, 1864, in the sixty-ninth year of his age, the town adopted appropriate resolutions concerning his life and public services. From 1822 to 1838 he held the office of town treasurer. In 1838 he became town clerk and remained in this office from that year to 1864. He was a man of strong religious feelings and beliefs, and was particularly active as a member of the Congregational church, holding many official positions in connection therewith. He was clerk of the church from 1830 to 1838, deacon in 1838 and from 1843 to 1851, and church treasurer from 1852 to 1861. He was treasurer of the United Congregational Society of Bar- rington from 1824 to 1837 and from 1856 to 1864, the year of his death, while from 1851 to 1860 he was president of that society. He married at Troy, N. H., October 3, 1830, Mary Rich, of that town, and they were the parents of the following children : Susan Kent, born Oct. 11, 1832, and died Jany. 18, 1917; William Bullock, born June 13, 1834, died Jany. 12, 1904; Eben- ezer, mentioned below; John Crane, born Jany. 7, 1838; Mary Louisa, born Feby. 8, 1840, died Dec. 8, 1897; Sarah Eliza, born Feby. 11, 1844; Samuel Mills, born July 4, 1846; and Rachel Ann, born Nov. 13, 1849, died Dec. 16, 1916.

(V) Hezekiah Tiffany, son of Ebenezer (2) and Mary Ann ( Bullock) Tiffany, was born January 18, 1800, at Barrington, and became a very prominent cit- izen of that place. He married, November 24, 1846, Eliza Rich, but there were no children born of this union. His death occurred in 1872 and his epitaph was as follows : "He was a faithful husband and friend, pure in character, sincere in purpose and devoted to Christian life. His fidelity to the town and church were un- wavering. He was town treasurer of Barrington thirty-two years. Peaceful is thy rest."

(VI) Ebenezer (4) Tiffany, son of Ebenezer (3) and Mary (Rich) Tiffany, was born February 16, 1836, at Barrington, R. I. His birthplace was the old Tiffany homestead, which stands on what is known as Maple avenue, which runs from Barrington to Nayatt. He was a man of very strong character and inherited many of the abilities of his ancestors. For thirty years or more he conducted a successful ice business at Barring- ton, obtaining his supply of this commodity from Prince's pond at the foot of Prince's hill, and this business was only ended with his life. In 1874 he was chosen town treasurer, an office which had already been held by his father and his Uncle Hezekiah, and in this he continued until the time of his death, a period of some twenty-five years. His reputation for integrity and probity, not only in his business relations but in all the affairs of life, was second to none and he was

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HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND

looked up to and honored by all the members of the community. Ebenezer Tiffany married, May 23, 1865, Harriett L. Goodwin, of Mansfield, Mass., and they were the parents of the following children: George Ed- ward, born Feby. 11, 1867, and died March 6, 1868; Ebenezer, mentioned below; and Jessie Goodwin, born July 4, 1872, graduated from the Barrington High School in 1890, and from Brown University in 1897 with the degree of A. B., and has since that time fol- lowed the profession of teaching.

(VII) Ebenezer (5) Tiffany, son of Ebenezer (4) and Harriett L. (Goodwin) Tiffany, was born April 7, 1869. He received his education at the local public schools of Barrington, and later attended the High School in Warren, where he studied under Lewis H. Meader, the well known educator. At the latter insti- tution he remained until he had reached the age of sixteen years, when he abandoned his studies and en- tered his father's office to assist the elder man with the large ice business he had developed. Upon the death of his father this business passed entirely into his hands, since which time Mr. Tiffany has done much, not only in the development of this enterprise but to promote business prosperity in the community gener- ally. The business of which he is the head was founded in 1867 and is the oldest of its kind in Bristol county at the present time. Mr. Tiffany is now regarded as one of the most substantial and successful business men in the community.

But it has not been only in the business world that Mr. Tiffany's time and energies have been expended. On the contrary there has been no one more interested or active than he in community affairs, and as a staunch Republican he has taken an active part in politics. He was elected a member of the Town Council in 1896 and re-elected in each of the two succeeding years. At the time of his father's death he was appointed to fill the unexpired term of the elder man as town treasurer, and at the next annual election was elected to that posi- tion. From that time to the present he has continued to occupy this office, a period of about nineteen years. Since the year 1822 the office of town treasurer in Bar- rington has been held with comparatively few breaks by members of the Tiffany family, these including both Mr. Tiffany's father and grandfather and his great- uncle, Hezekiah, all of whom served for long terms. This is a record which it would be difficult to equal and which speaks eloquently of the regard and confi- dence placed in these men by their fellow townsfolk. Besides these business and political activities, Mr. Tif- fany is a prominent figure in the social world of Bar- rington, and is greatly interested in matters of gen- ealogy and local history. He is a member of the Rhode Island Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, his membership existing through the services rendered by his great-grandfather, Ebenezer Tiffany, in that his- toric struggle. He is also a member of the Society of Colonial Wars. In his religious belief Mr. Tiffany is a member of the Episcopal church and attends divine service at St. John's Church of that denomination at Barrington Center.

Ebenezer Tiffany was united in marriage, October 24, 1905, with Jeanette Low Mowry, a daughter of Joseph E. and Carrie (Low) Mowry, of Providence.

Ebenezer Tiffany stands to-day in the regard f associates as one of the most highly respected g in the present generation, a man who consistently ja for the best and most worthy things in the comar Men of his calibre never compromise with the e'1 is to be found in all communities, but may be cm on to foster and support all such movements att to the advancement of the common weal, wet materially or in the realm of ethics, education an'g eral enlightenment. His career from its begintig characterized by much hard and persistent exper it of energy, and the substantial position that he ha to occupy in the life of the community is the chi and appropriate reward of application and mental ifications of a high order. His integrity and hon; never impeached and this fact, combined with his e manner, his courtesy and consideration of all me a certain intrinsic manliness which shows in his v action and word, make him an extremely popular g and have won him a great host of friends whose tion he returns in kind. He is devoted to his hor finds his chief happiness in the intimate intercou,e his own hearthstone. There is no relation of which he does not play his part worthily, and in |1 he might not well serve as an ideal for ambitious y1

SAMUEL J. FOSTER-The late Samuel J.S ter, manager of the Providence Warehouse Cora and for many years a well known figure in simil terprises in Rhode Island and in New York Cit: born in Pawtucket, then a part of the State of I chusetts, November 27, 1828, scion of a disting New England ancestry. He numbered among h cestors passengers on the "Mayflower," and in the male line was a descendant of Major John Fost,, French and Indian War fame. The line desch through Captain Robert Foster, the hero of Ll retreat at Northbridge and Salem, in the Ami Revolution.

Samuel J. Foster was educated in his native tow on completing his studies entered mercantile life was engaged in business at the outbreak of the War, but immediately laid aside his affairs to en the famous Seventh Regiment of the New Yorl) tional Guard, which he accompanied to Washing !! 1861. With the traditions of a family distinguish military service to its country in all its wars befor from early manhood, he had taken a deep inter things military. In 1847 Mr. Foster became a mo of the Providence Marine Corps of Artillery, a 1849 held the rank of sergeant under Colonel ] He was therefore well prepared by this training to rapidly ahead in his regiment in 1861. After a period of service on the battle fronts of the Sou was commissioned captain of Company K, Forty-E Regiment, New York, and with this command pa pated in some of the most intensive struggles o entire war, among them the engagement at Port I Hilton Head, with the "Swamp Angel," Daw Island, Fort Pulaski and other places. He was aded under General Sherman with General Char] Brayton's Rhode Island battery, and also serve aide to General H. B. Duryea. His military recc eloquent of the finest and most disinterested tyl

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BIOGRAPHICAL

ice, and sustains honorably the record of the family ormer wars. Captain Foster was a member of the ond Division Staff when it formed the escort of Prince of Wales (the late King Edward VII) on visit to New York.

eturning to the North on the conclusion of peace, tain Foster again resumed his business affairs. He equently became a partner in the extensive Wall et warehouses on the Brooklyn water front, in York. For a long period of years he was active imilar enterprises in New York and in Brooklyn, was at one time proprietor of the United States ded Warehouses, Front and Water streets, New k. On his removal to Providence, in 1881, Cap- Foster became manager of the Providence Ware- se Company, which position he occupied for ost a quarter of a century, until his death in 1914. aptain Foster was a well-known figure in business in the city of Providence throughout the period of connection with warehouse enterprises. He was active in military circles, and at one time was nel of the Providence Marine Corps of Artillery eran Association. He was a companion of the "sachusetts Chapter of the Military Order of the gal Legion, a member of the Seventh Regiment, " York Veterans' Association, and of Prescott ge, Grand Army of the Republic. He was also a ber of Bedford Lodge, Ancient Free and Accepted bons, of Brooklyn.

uptain Foster married, October 30, 1862, Anna ices Stevenson, of New York. They were the ints of two children, Samuel J., Jr., and Anna te Foster. Mrs. Foster survives her husband, and sles at No. 37 Creighton street, Providence, R. I. uel J. Foster died at his home in Providence, dember II, 1914, in the eighty-sixth year of his

OHN HOPE-The name of Hope is inseparably twoven with the history of textile printing, and ge especially with the art of engraving rolls for (in the calico printing industry. The house of ce was founded in Manchester, England, in 1810; established in Providence in. 1847; incorporated de in 1890; and now exists bigger and stronger ¿ ever as John Hope & Sons Engraving and Man- ¿turing Company, the officers being at this time (3) Charles H. Hope, president, and William H. ve, secretary and treasurer.

he English history of the family business dates to the time of Sir Robert Peel (about 1780), the ter of calico printing in England. Three genera- ; of Hopes have been connected with engraving 1 for calico printers. The great-grandfather of members of the present house, John Hope & Di, was associated with Sir Robert Peel. The ider of the American house was John Hope, who :ed away in his ninety-second year.

Chn Hope was born in Salford, Manchester, Eng- r, December 30, 1820, son of John and Catherine Roberts) Hope. He was educated in the schools of ord, and at the age of fourteen years entered upon l'ipprenticeship of seven years duration with his

father, John Hope, Sr., under whose direction he learned the art of roll-engraving. In 1841, in part- nership with his elder brother, Edmund Hope, under the firm name of John & Edmund Hope, he took over the old Manchester establishment of his father, and within a short period had so successfully developed the business that its products were known in the calico printing industry throughout the world. John Hope was a genius of the highest order, and the delicate engraving done by the firm was under his personal supervision; some of it done by himself.

In 1846 Philip Allen, then a well-known manufac- turer and printer of calico, of Providence, R. I., vis- iting Europe, made the acquaintance of John Hope, and was given an opportunity to inspect the Hope plant and familiarize himself with the work of the firm. Realizing the vast field which the textile print- ing industries of New England offered to a man of the ability of John Hope, Philip Allen urged him to transfer his business to America. In 1847 the firm of John & Edmund Hope, with the machinery of the English plant, and an English working force, was established in the city of Providence, and began the manufacture and engraving of copper cylinders in the old Durfee Mill, which was located at the corner of Cranston and Dexter streets, on the site of the present State armory. The unsurpassed excellence of the work of the new firm brought it a large clien- tele among the huge mills of New England, and its success was insured from the very outset. In 1850 larger quarters were necessary and the firm leased the Livsey building, at the corner of Point and Rich- mond streets. In the same year Edmund Hope retired from the partnership and his place was taken by his brother Thomas, who always took a lively interest in the business, looking after the financial end.

Around this period John Hope brought to perfec- tion his greatest invention, the pantograph engraving machine for the engraving of copper cylinders for printing all grades of textiles. The pantograph, rep- resenting the highest development of machine engrav- ing, revolutionized the business of roll-engraving. It had been an idea of the senior John Hope that a machine-shop would be a good adjunct of the engrav- ing business, and when the new plant was opened at Point and Richmond streets the sons had carried out the idea of their father, and a machine shop was a part of the new plant. It was here that John Hope finally brought to completion and gave to the world a machine which engraved most accurately textile rolls, and which is used to-day by the governments of the United States, Canada, China and Japan for the finer branches of steel and copper plate engraving. Other machines from the "House of Hope" followed the pantograph machine; among them were the ma- chines for graduating, numbering and lettering steel rules and finely-graded tools, and for engraving dies, and others of the pantograph group. In each of these machines the genius of John Hope was paramount. Until 1865 the firm was styled John & Thomas Hope. During the Rebellion, Mr. Hope visited the industrial centers of Europe, where he introduced his machines.

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On his return to Providence it was again necessary to enlarge the facilities of the firm, and in the latter part of 1865 the business was removed to the corner of Dorrance and Dyer streets, and subsequently to No. 158 Cove street. At this time the late Heber LeFavour, then adjutant-general of Rhode Island, was admitted to partnership, the firm name becoming Hope & Company, which it remained until the death of Mr. LeFavour, when the old title of John & Thomas Hope was reverted to. In 1882 they pur- chased a desirable site on Mashapaug street, and erected the factory where the business is now located. In 1890 the business was incorporated as John Hope & Sons Engraving and Manufacturing Company.

John Hope ranks among the leading inventors who directed their genius to textile machinery in the latter half of the nineteenth century. He was the inventor of the first pantograph engraving machine which pos- sessed any real merit, and in developing his invention to the highest point of efficiency did away with the former tedious and expensive process of hand work. The pantograph system of engraving was more gen- erally assimilated in the United States than in Europe at the outset, but is now used throughout the entire world. The business enterprise founded by John and Edmund Hope in the city of Providence in 1847 is now the largest of its kind in the world. John Hope possessed, in addition to his talent in mechanical lines, great ability as an executive and organizer. He was widely-known in business circles in Rhode Island, and was active in the management of the Jolin Hope & Sons Engraving and Manufacturing Com- pany until ten years prior to his death, when he retired to private life.

In 1854 Mr. Hope married Emma Cordwell, daugh- ter of Joseph and Rachel Cordwell, of Manchester, England. They were the parents of ten children, eight of whom survive: Emma Cordwell Hope, died in Providence, R. I., July 17, 1878. John Hope, died on Sept. 8, 1912, at the venerable age of ninety-one years. He had lived to see the machines he invented penetrate every part of the civilized world, and to know that the projects to which he had devoted his genius and strength for three-quarters of a century had revolutionized an industry.

CHARLES H. HOPE, president of the John Hope & Sons Engraving and Manufacturing Company, and son of the late John and Emma (Cordwell) Hope, was born in Manchester, England, February 8, 1862. In 1866 John Hope returned to America after a tour of Europe in the interest of his pantograph engraving machine, and established his family in Providence. Charles H. Hope received his elementary education in the public schools of the city, later attending the Mowry & Goff English and Classical School, and the Schofield Commercial School. At the age of eighteen he became associated with his father, and began the long period of apprenticeship which event- ually fitted him for the position of importance which he occupies in the firm to-day, and developed to the highest point of efficiency and creative power the inventive genius which has placed him among the

foremost rank of inventors of textile machinery ie New England. He mastered every department of th business of the "House of Hope," and rose throug the different grades to the office of president.

On May 3, 1892, Charles H. Hope patented hit first important invention, the no-reduction panto graph, for the engraving of large drapery design from the original size; this process eliminates about fifty per cent. of the labor entailed in the old metho of hand engraving. The invention of the automati roll grinding and polishing machine, patented Ma 24, 1910, made it possible for Mr. Hope to make sticcess of the engraving of steel cylinders fo schreiner finish, as the work depended upon havin; a very fine polished surface preparatory to engravingf These machines are also being adopted by all the print works for automatically grinding and polishing copper print rolls, eliminating all hand-grinding an- waste of stone, besides doing the work far superior and saving seventy-five per cent. labor cost. The lead ing newspapers use these machines for imparting fine surface on their huge copper cylinders, prepara tory to printing the pictorial section of the paper. H is also the inventor of a process for producing changeable silk effect on cotton fabrics. Mr. Hopi is a prominent figure in business and manufacturing circles in Providence.

From early childhood, Mr. Hope has been a love of music, and an artist of fine ability on the violin in which he has found rest and recreation, and att avocation amounting almost to a profession sinci early manhood. The love of music which made hin as a boy of eleven years choose a violin in preferenc to a Shetland pony has intensified throughout hi life. An ambition to study under the famous master of Leipsic was never realized, because he was to greatly needed in the affairs of the John Hope & Sons Engraving and Manufacturing Company. He has developed his talent, however, under teachers of great ability in America, and for many years was! identified with solo and orchestral work. Bringing the mind of the inventor into play, he invented the Trinity Music Stand, a combined music stand, case and folio which has had a wide sale. Mr. Hope is also a composer, and has written the words and music of several songs. His latest effort, "One for All and All for One," was dedicated to Secretary Lansing with the latter's permission.

Mr. Hope married, June 26, 1890, Julia Anderson Wilbur, daughter of J. Henry and Mary Elvira Wilbut, of Providence.

GILES BRIGGS-Briggs families have figured prominently in the history of Rhode Island since the close of the seventeenth century. The family is divided into two distinct branches, known as the Kingston Briggs and the Portsmouth Briggs, from the localities in which the early progenitors settled The founders, known as John, of Kings Town ( Kings- ton) and John, of Portsmouth, settled in those towns in 1671 and 1638, respectively, and their descendants have since continued to play active and influential parts in these communities. The line herein under

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BIOGRAPHICAL

nsideration descends from John Briggs, of Kings own ( Kingston).

(I) John Briggs, immigrant ancestor and founder, is a native of England, whence he emigrated at a te unknown to the American colonies. He is first record in Kings Town ( Kingston) R. I., in the year 71, but in all probability was a resident there long fore that date. On May 20, 1671, he became clerk the military company, at the same time taking the th of allegiance. On January 1, 1672, he and five hers bought of Awashuwett, chief sachem of Quo- sett, in Narragansett, a tract of land there. ()n nuary 11, following, he purchased fifty-seven acres Richard Smith for £5. In 1673 he was admitted a eman. In 1687 he was chosen constable for Kings wn ( Kingston), and on September 6, oi that year, s taxed 5s. 8d. He and his wife, Frances, soll d to William Allen, in it ),, after which date ir names pass out of the records. Both he and his e died shortly after 1697. John Osborne Austin sumes that Thomas and Daniel Brigg, were their is, but states that the evidence is not conclusive. II) James Briggs, son of John and Frances iggs, was born February 12, 1671, in Kingstown ingston), R. I., where he spent the carly part of life. He resided subsequently in Providence an ! Cranston. In 1600 he was admitted a freeman. June 15, 1728, at which time he was living in ovidence, he and his wife Sarah, deeded t their ingest son, James, for love, etc., part of the farm which they then lived. On April 25, 1738, he and wife deeded son-in-law, Daniel Colvin, and Zip- rah, his wife (their daughter), fifty acres. On ril 22, 1757, representations were made to the Town uncil of Cranston, by James Briggs, Jr., Joshua rlingame, of Cranston, Benjamin Fi ke. of Scit 1- and Daniel Colvin, of Coventry, that Jaime iggs, Sr., "is now grown very ancient, decripple ! ! helpless, and much impaired in hi eyesight. flerstanding and memory." The council appointe ! grandson, Muses Briggs, guardian. James Brigg . died in 1757, and his will, dated March 20, 1755. s proved August 13, 1757. James Briggs marrie ! rah Wickes, daughter of John and Rose ( Town- d) Wickes, and granddaughter of John and Elizt- h ( Cole) Townsend, of Oyster Bay, L. I. She was granddifighter of John Wickes, who was born in ines, Middlesex county, England, in town, and led for the American colonies in this. he was minent in the early controversies over Warwick, the friend and partner of Samuel Gorton, w! se secution by the Massachusetts authorinic he red. He was later prominent in the Rhode Find lony, and served often in high public office. Sarah 'ickes) Briggs died about 1755.

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The history of the state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, V. IV, Part 36

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