The history of the state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, V. IV, Part 42

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

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(VI) Samuel (2) Cowell, son of Samuel (1) and Jemima (Metcalf) Cowell, was born at Wrentham, and lived there during his entire life. He was married to Sarah George, and they were the parents of the following children: Hiram, Joseph, George, of whom further; John, Henry.

(VII) George Cowell, son of Samuel (2) and Sarah (George) Cowell, was born in the year 1811. During his early life he attended Day's Academy at Wren- tham, where he received his education. He was an ambitious young man and made the most of his edu- cational opportunities, becoming an expert mathema- tician and finally taking up teaching as his profession. He also learned the trade of wheelright, which he followed for the greater part of his life. In his capac- ity as teacher he was appointed to a position at Day's Academy, where he had already studied, and here he met Miss Elvira Ann Fisher, a daughter of James and Rebecca (Hartsorn) Fisher, who also taught there. Miss Fisher was two years his junior, having been born in 1813, and the two were married. They were the parents of seven children, as follows: 1. Maria Fisher, born in Aug., 1843, and became a prominent teacher in Wrentham, where she died in 1881. 2. George Oscar, born in July, 1846; engaged in the jewelry business at Wrentham, with a high degree of success, and died in Dec., 1894. 3. William Gardner, who died in infancy. 4. Henry Cushing, born in 1848; became a successful jeweler at Wrentham, where he died in 189S. 5. John Augustus, mentioned below. 6. Jere- miah Hartshorn, born in 1852; became a resident of Wrentham. 7. Hattie Pratt, born in 1857; became the wife of Charles Everett Holt, to whom she bore one daughter, Hattie Maria, born Oct. 14, 1886.

(VIII) John Augustus Cowell, son of George and Elvira Ann (Fisher) Cowell, was born April 1, 1850, at Wrentham, Mass. He attended for his education the local public schools of Wrentham, where he con- tinued to study until he had reached the age of six- teen years. He was then just on the point of gradu- ating, when he had to abandon school to engage in the business world, where he later made so marked a success. Accordingly, in the year 1866, he made his way to the city of Providence, R. I., where he secured a clerical position in a furniture house there. Here he met for the first time Noel L. Anthony, with whom he was associated for so many years, the two young men being employed by the same firm. For six years Mr. Cowell remained with the furniture house and then, on September 1, 1872, resigned his position in order to become a partner of the firm of Lowe, Anthony & Cowell, which was engaged in the same business. His two partners, Richard Lowe and Noel L. Anthony, were both energetic and ambitious young men, qualities in which Mr. Cowell himself excelled, with the result that the busines, although small enough at the outset, rapidly increased until it occupied an important position in the mercantile world of the city. At first the firm occupied quarters in the small wooden building adjacent to the site now occupied by the Hall

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& Lyon drug store on Weybosset street. Here their salesroom only occupied a space of some forty by eighty feet, while the storage room in the rear did not cover five thousand square feet of floor space, and their employees were numbered at not more than a half a dozen hands. It rapidly grew, however, the business being conducted under the same firm name until 1877, when Mr. Lowe retired and Messrs. An- thony and Cowell became the sole owners. Under the energetic management of these two young men the business continued to grow largely, until within a short period it was found necessary to remove to larger and more adequate quarters. This was done in the year 1878, when the establishment moved into a new building which they had constructed for the pur- pose, and which adjoined the old one on Weybosset street. They now had a salesroom sixty by sixty-five feet in dimensions, and nineteen thousand square feet of floor space for the sales department alone. Not long after, in the same year, a Mr. Henry Fry was admitted as a partner in the business and remained with them until 1886, when he withdrew, leaving the concern once more in the hands of Messrs. Anthony and Cowell. Perceiving that there were almost no limits to the size that their business might attain in a growing city like that of Providence, these two gen- tlemen set to work to adapt themselves and their busi- ness to its growing needs, with the result that they gradually developed a business, the largest of its kind, in the State of Rhode Island, and one of the largest in the United States. The growth of the concern kept pace with that of the community, with the result that they very soon outgrew even their new quarters, and in 1890 they purchased the Tefft Block and the G. & S. Owen building on the corner of Snow and Chapel streets. Three years later, in 1893, the concern was incorporated with a capital stock of $300,000, under the name of the Anthony & Cowell Company. Mr. Cowell was elected president, and his partner, Noel L. An- thony, treasurer, of the new corporation. Large alter- ations were made in the accomodations which the company had at its disposal about this time, and another building was erected, which increased the floor space of the establishment to one hundred and seventy-five thousand square feet.

A great misfortune was in store for the two gentle- men, however, when on April 30, 1904, their buildings and contents were destroyed by fire, with a loss of some $300,000. Nothing daunted, however, they at once set about providing quarters on a much larger and more complete scale, with the result that one of the handsomest mercantile blocks in the city was erected, seven stories in height, and equipped with every device and convenience possible. Here their business was resumed on a scale which rendered neces- sary employment of between one and two hundred persons.

Mr. Cowell was a man of great prominence in the community, and a leader of many important move- ments undertaken for the benefit and the devolpment of the common weal. He was a director of the Fur- niture Association of America, being one of the four men to hold this position from New England, which

represented twenty-five of the largest furniture house in the country. He was very prominent in the Ma sonic order, having taken his thirty-second degree i: Free Masonry, and being affiliated with the following bodies: What Cheer Lodge, Ancient Free and Ac! cepted Masons; Providence Chapter, Royal Arcl' Masons; Calvary Commandery, Knights Templar and also the Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He was also a member of the local lodges of the Knights of Pythias, and the Independen Order of Odd Fellows, and a member of the Wes Side and Central clubs of Providence. In religious belief Mr. Cowell was a Methodist, attending the Broadway Church of that denomination, where he was very active in the support of its philanthropic undertakings. Mr. Cowell was an Independent Demo- crat in politics, but did not take an active part in this; connection.

On September 18, 1875. John Augustus Cowell wa!, united in marriage with Addie L. Capron, a daughter of Burrill Munroe and Mary Elizabeth (Brown) Cap- ron. Mr. Cowell died December 13, 1916.

J. ALLEN BUFFINTON-For a period of two hundred and more years the record of the Buffintor family has been a part of the history of Swansea Somerset, Westport and Fall River in the old Colony and Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The first rec- ord of the progenitor of the family in America, Thomas Bovanton, or Buffinton, occurs in Salem, in the year 1671. Lack of data concerning the family prior to this; date, and the sparsity of data in later generations is assigned to the fact that the family, through succes- sive generations, from the founder to the present day have been staunch members of the Society of Friends As such they met with ill treatment and neglect at! the hands of the Puritans. Authorities recognize a connection between the Swansea family of the name; of which this article is to treat, and the ancient Salemi settlers of the name, although research has failed to bring forth actual proof. Along in the opening years of the eighteenth century the Buffinton name and fam ily are found in the town of Swansea, Mass., and we find here the recurrence of the same Christian names as those of the family in Salem. Buffintons whose; births appear in the records of early Lynn and Salem are buried at the Friends' yard at Swansea, indicating.a a removal of branches of the family to the latter town The line of ancestry herein traced is that of the late J. Allen Buffinton, for many years a well known figures in manufacturing circles in Rhode Island; he was the son of John Murray Buffinton, president of Potter & Buffinton.

Thomas Buffinton, founder of the family, is first of record in the Colonial records of Salem, Mass., or December 30, 1671, when he married there, Sarah Southwick, thought to have been a granddaughter of !! Lawrence Southwick. They were the parents of the following children: 1. Thomas, mentioned below. 2. Benjamin, who married and had three children, among them Benjamin, born May 4, 1699. 3. Abigail, born July 25, 1679.

The direct line from Thomas Buffington to Benjamin

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Suffington, great-grandfather of the late J. Allen Buf- nton, of Providence, R. I., is not easily traced, be- ause of the frequent recurrence of the same baptis- hal name in all branches of the family. Swansea, Aass., has been the home of one of the most impor- ant branches of the Buffintons for several genera- ons. There were numerous Benjamin Buffintons in ach generation, but it has been possible to establish he parentage of Benjamin Buffinton, great-grandfather f J. Allen Buffinton.

(I) Benjamin Buffinton, of the third or fourth gen- ration in direct descent from the founder, Thomas Buffinton, was a resident of the town of Swansea, Mass., where he was a prosperous farmer and land- owner. He married, probably in Rehoboth, Mass., August 1, 1799, Mary Maker (Mason?), who is re- orded as of Attleboro, Mass. They were the parents of eight children, among them John Allen, mentioned below.

(II) John Allen Buffinton, son of Benjamin and Mary (Maker) Buffinton, was born in the town of Swansea, Mass., in 1810. He was educated in the chools of the town, and on completing his studies earned the trade of mason. At an early age he came o Providence, R. I., where he plied his trade for a period of years. Later he removed to Newport, and o Fall River. In later life he removed to the town of Milford, Mass., where he resided until 1857, when he ettled in South Rehoboth, Mass. Here he followed gricultural pursuits on the old Bosworth homestead until his death.

John Allen Buffinton married, August 27, 1815, Ann Eliza Winsor Cousin Bosworth, who was born August :7, 1815, in Smithfield, R. I., daughter of Peleg (2) and Susanna (Rounds) Bosworth. Mrs. Buffinton was lineal descendant in the eighth generation from Edward Bosworth, founder of the Bosworth family, who with his wife Mary and children embarked for New England in the ship, "Elizabeth and Dorcas," in :634. Edward Bosworth died shortly before reaching he shore of New England, and he was buried in Bos- on. His widow and children settled in Hingham, Mass., where the widow died in 1648. The line descends through Jonathan Bosworth, son of Edward; Jonathan (2) Bosworth, who married Hannah How- and, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Tilley) How- and, both of whom were of the famous "Mayflower" company; Jonathan (3) Bosworth, who married Sarah Rounds; Ichabod Bosworth, who married Bethia Wood; Peleg Bosworth, who married Mary Smith; ind Peleg (2) Bosworth, who married Susanna Rounds.

(III) John Murray Buffinton, son of John Allen and Ann Eliza Winsor Cousin (Bosworth) Buffinton, was born on April 1, 1839, in Providence, R. I. At an early age he removed with his parents to Rehoboth, Mass., where he attended the public schools until he reached his eleventh year. He then entered the See- konk Academy, at Seekonk, Massachusetts, where he continued his studies for three years, later attending the Milford High School, at Milford, Mass., from which he was graduated. Mr. Buffinton began his business career as an assistant in the boot factory of

John Daniels, of Milford, Mass., with whom he remained for about two years. He resigned his posi- tion with Mr. Daniels to go to Providence, where he entered the employ of the firm of Sacket, Davis & Company, prominent manufacturing jewelers of the city, with whom he received his initial training in the industry in which he later became a figure of im- portance. Here Mr. Buffinton served a three years' apprenticeship to the jewelry trade, on completing which he worked as a journeyman until 1869, with the exception of two years, when he was employed in a gun shop in Assonet, Mass. In the spring of 1869 he became foreman in the jewelry manufacturing establishment of Potter & Symonds, in Providence. In 1870, on the retirement of Mr. Symonds, he pur- chased his interest in the firm and became junior part- ner. This relationship continued for thirty-four years, during which period Mr. Buffinton rose to prominence in manufacturing and business circles in Providence. On the death of Colonel Potter in December, 1902, Mr. Buffinton became president and treasurer of the firm of Potter & Buffinton. The establishment is one of the oldest of its kind in the city of Providence, and ranks among the foremost of houses producing ten- karat gold articles in New England. The personnel of the firm since its founding has comprised men of astute business ability who have been highly success- ful in the business and financial world.

Mr. Buffinton has been active in public affairs in Providence for many years, and has been identified with several notable movements for the advancement of the welfare of the city. In 1888-89 he was elected a member of the lower house of the Rhode Island As- sembly, filling ably this post. The concerns of his business precluded his taking further active part in politics, but he has always maintained a deep interest in civic affairs. For several years prior to its absorp- tion by the Union Trust Company, Mr. Buffinton was a director of the Roger Williams National Bank. He is well known in club and fraternal circles, and is a member of the Pomham and of the Providence Cen- tral clubs. He is a charter member of Adelphoi Lodge, No. 33, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons, which in 1880 he served as master; he is also a mem- ber of St. John's Commandery, Knights Templar. His religious affiliation is with the First Universalist Church of Providence, of which he has been presi- dent for several years, and for more than thirty years a member of the board of trustees.

On June 4, 1874, Mr. Buffinton married Helen Au- gusta Carrique, daughter of Henry and Ann (Kil- vert) Carrique, and granddaughter of Lieutenant Rich- ard and Elizabeth (Martin) Carrique. Mr. and Mrs. Buffinton were the parents of the following children: I. Anna Carrique, born May II, 1875. 2. John Allen, mentioned below. 3. Henry Kilvert, born Sept. 23, 1878, died the same day. 4. Henry Carrique, born Aug. 22, 1880, died Aug. 25, 1880. 5. Bertha Augusta.

(IV) J. Allen (2) Buffinton, son of John Murray and Helen Augusta (Carrique) Buffinton, was born in Providence, R. I., March 26, 1877. He was educated in the schools of the city, attending the Mowry & Goff English and Classical School, from which he

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was graduated in 1895. He entered Brown University in the class of '99, but did not complete his course there, leaving to take up special studies at Columbia University in New York. His entire business connec- tion was with the manufacturing jewelry trade. He entered business life as an employee of the firm of J. T. Inman & Company, of Attleboro, Mass. On the incorporation of the firm of Potter & Buffinton, Mr. Buffinton became a member of their staff of salesmen, covering the New England territory. He subse- quently became a member of the firm, in which he was active until ill health compelled his retirement two years before his death.

Mr. Buffinton was widely known not only in busi- ness life in the city of Providence, but in club and sporting circles. He was an enthusiastic yachtsman, and for several years a member of the Rhode Island Yacht Club. He was also interested in military affairs, and won a commission as first lieutenant in the hospi- tal corps of the Rhode Island National Guard. He was a member of Theta Delta Chi. Politically he was a Republican, and active in public affairs in the city.

In 1910 Mr. Buffinton married Besse Palmer, of Providence, R. I., daughter of the late William E. Pal- mer, a shoe manufacturer of Portsmouth, N. H. Mrs. Buffinton survives her husband and resides at No. 463 Broadway, Providence. They were the parents of a son, John M. Buffinton. J. Allen Buffinton died at his home in Providence, R. I., February 22, 1918.

CHARLES HENRY GEORGE-One of the most important figures in the commercial and business life of Rhode Island, and a public-spirited and influential cit- izen of the city of Providence, where he now resides in retirement from active affairs, is that of Charles Henry George, who for many years had been engaged in the hardware and mill supply business, and especially as the representative of the Consolidated Engine Stop Company of New York City. Mr. George is a son of Thomas Metcalf and Rebecca Selina (Farrington) George, and a member of an old and distinguished New England family, which was founded in this country in the early Colonial period.

Four pioneers of the surname George came to New England-John, who settled in Watertown; Nicholas, in Dorchester; Peter, in Braintree; and Richard, in Boston, Mass. No relationship has been proven, al- though it is believed all were related. Charles Henry George, of Providence, is a son of Thomas Metcalf George, son of Ensign Thomas George, son of Thomas George, son of Richard George, son of Thomas George, son of Richard George, one of the four pioneers above enumerated.

(I) Richard George, from whom this branch de- scends, was born in England, and came in early life to Boston, Mass. He married there, November 1, 1655, Mary Pell, and they were the parents of several child- ren, including a son, Thomas.

(I) Thomas George, son of Richard George, was born in Boston, October 1, 1663. Thomas and his wife, Hannah, were early settlers in Wrentham, Mass., where he died in October, 1704, leaving a son, Richard (2).

(III) Richard (2) George, son of Thomas George, and grandson of the founder, Richard George, was

born in Wrentham, April 10, 1701, and there died Feb- ruary 17, 1749. He married, February 8, 1737, Jerusha Hancock, and they were the parents of: Hannah, Jer- usha, Thomas (2), of further mention, John, Sarah, and Elizabeth.

(IV) Thomas (2) George, son of Richard (2) George, was born in Wrentham, December 12, 1742. With his brother John he responded to the Lexington Alarm, April 19, 1775, with Captain Samuel Cowell's company, Colonel John Smith's regiment. He saw later service as lieutenant of the same company, Sep- tember 24. 1777, under Colonel Benjamin Haws, com- manding the Fourth Suffolk County Regiment. In 1778 he was a lieutenant in Captain Samuel Cowell's com- pany of the same regiment, then again under command of Colonel Haws. He again served with that company in 1780, under Colonel Seth Bullard, on the Rhode Island Alarm, and in 1781 in a Rhode Island campaign under Captain Fisher. Lieutenant George married Hannah Brastow, who died at Wrentham, February 22, 1841, aged ninety-four years, daughter of Thomas Brastow, born in England, who settled in Bristol, R. I. Children : Richard, born Oct. 24, 1768; Ensign Thomas (3), of further mention ; Hannah, born Jany. 9, 1772; War- ren, born Dec. 28, 1775; Timothy, July 25, 1777; Sally, May II, 1779; Polly, May 19, 1781; Artemus, May 7. 1783; Roxa, May 16, 1785; Amanda, Oct., 1788; and Lewis, April 29, 1791.

(V) Ensign Thomas (3) George, son of Thomas (2) George, was born at Wrentham, Mass., July 25, 1770 and married there, December 17, 1795, Olive Cowell and they were the parents of a daughter, Olive, born at Wrentham, Mass., January 24, 1801; Thomas Metcali George and their other children being born at either Mansfield or Foxborough, Mass.

(VI) Thomas Metcalf George, son of Ensign Thoma! (3) George, was born in 1805, and became a lumber dealer of the town of South Foxborough, afterward: the town of Mansfield. He married, August 5, 1827 Rebecca Selina Farrington, born in Wrentham, January 17, 1810, daughter of Rev. Daniel and Rebecca Far rington, of Wrentham. . Children, all born in Foxbor, ough, Mass .: Thomas Metcalf (2), born May 211 1828; Timothy Porter, Nov. 30, 1829; Daniel Farring." ton, Aug. 29, 1831; Rebecca Selina, June 24, 1833 Schuyler Stratton, June 7, 1836; Emily Cowell, Juni 6, 1838; Charles Henry, of further mention; Edward Thurston, Dec. 17, 1841 ; Harriet Adelaide, Dec. 5, 1843 and James Augustus, 1845.

(VII) Charles Henry George, son of Thomas Met calf George, was born July 14, 1839, at Foxborough Mass., and there passed his early youth. It was at Fox borough that he received the elementary portion of hi education, attending the local schools for this purpose In the year 1851, when twelve years of age, he came to Providence, which has since remained his home, ane here continued his studies at the famous high schoo at Taunton, of which George A. Sawyer was then prin cipal. After two years of study at that institution h made the acquaintance of Charles E. Eddy, and began his long and successful business career as an employer of the Eddy and Armington Company, being a membe of Mr. Eddy's family for the time. He remained with the firm and resided in the household of Mr. Eddy fo

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bout ten years, and then withdrew from the excellent osition he held there in order to realize a long cher- shed ambition to engage in business on his own ac- ount. Accordingly, in 1860, he founded C. H. George Company, a hardware and mill supplies concern, which met with a high degree of success from the out- et and which he continued to operate for thirty-six ears. During all this time Mr. George gave his per- onal attention to every detail of the business, and it as through his own good judgment and his indefatig- ble industry that its great development was due. In 886 he was appointed postmaster of the city of Prov- dence by President Grover Cleveland, and continued to old that responsible position for ten years to his own reat credit and the great benefit of the community-at- arge, with increased postal advantages and efficiency f service. The improvements made during his ad- ministration are still pointed to with pride by his fel- ow-citizens, who recall the personal attention which e gave to the work, and especially to the complaint epartment, which he valued as a means to learn the hortcomings of the department, with a view to remov- ng or modifying them. He resigned from the office in 896, and in the same year sold his hardware and mill upplies business in order to become the representative f the Consolidated Engine Stop Company of New York City, in New England. He was exceedingly suc- essful in this new enterprise, the article being one that het a very real want and himself a salesman of unusual alent, and he has since equipped practically every fac- ory and mill in the New England States with valuable evices. In addition to these private enterprises, Mr. George has been a member of the board of directors f the Swan Point Cemetery for upwards of half a cen- ury, and served in the same capacity on the board of he Butler Hospital for a similar period. He was Iso an officer of the old Roger Williams National Bank or three or four decades, and its president for many ears. Besides his business activities Mr. George is a prominent participant in the general life of Providence, nd was officially affiliated with a number of important organizations here. He was president of the Board of Trade for many years, a charter member of the Squan- um Club, and a prominent Free Mason, being a mem- er of What Cheer Lodge, No. 21, Free and Accepted Masons; Providence Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Providence Council, Royal and Select Masters; and Calvary Commandery, Knights Templar. In his relig- ous belief Mr. George is a Congregationalist, and as been very active in the work of that church in Providence for many years. It was on the first Sun- lay in April, 1851, that he began to attend the Bene- icent Congregational Church of this city, where he has een a constant worshipper ever since. He formally became a member of the church in 1876. He has taken conspicuous part in the work of the Congregational State Association, and has been president and is a mem- er of the Old Congregational Club of Providence. He s a man of strong charitable instincts, and has done nuch to support the various philanthropic undertakings n the community's life. Mr. George's vivacity and overflowing good nature have contributed to the cheer of the community, and endowed with a gift of felicitous

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The history of the state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, V. IV, Part 42

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