The history of the state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, V. IV, Part 80

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 80

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In the spring of 1877, Mr. Farnham was elected a member of the Providence school committee, and until his removal to East Providence, in 1883, he retained his position on the committee. From 1890 until 1896 he was a member of the school committee of East Providence, and during four of these years he was superintendent of schools in that town. He was and is deeply interested in the public schools, and his several years of service was constantly active and productive of good.

In 1899, Mr. Farnham again made Providence his residence. He is a leading Odd Fellow of the State, a member of Franklin Lodge, No. 23, of Providence, and 1894-95 was grand master of the Rhode Island In-

I. E. C. Farnham

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dependent Order of Odd Fellows. In 1907-08 he was president of the Providence Central Club. In Novem- ber, 1907, he was elected by the Providence City Council a member of the Providence Board of Park Commis- sioners, a position he has since retained by election for periods of three years each.

While disclaiming special literary ability, Mr. Farn- ham has written much for magazines and for the press. He has been quite voluminous in his writings concern- ing old Nantucket and their doings and sayings; this, for the pleasure it gave him to live again the old fami- liar Island atmosphere and to acquaint readers with the old Nantucket experiences, customs and characters he had known so well. Many of these interesting remin- iscences of his boyhood on the Island were first pub- lished in a series of newspaper articles, and later as- sembled in book form and published for private cir- culation. This work is entitled "Brief Historical Data and Memories of My Boyhood Days in Nantucket." In it much of the town history, the quaint customs of the Islanders, the oddities of the town characters, the picturesque little shops of the village and their keepers, are truthfully and interestingly narrated. In this book he manifests a love for his old home town, and gives his readers not caricatures but reveals in entertaining story the real folks he knew and respected and whom it gives him pleasure to recall. From 1906 until 1911 he was chairman of the State Board of Commissioners of the Firemen's Relief Fund; since 1911 he has been a trustee of the Rhode Island Institute for the Deaf. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, interested in the work of that body, and is always ready to aid any good cause. He is a Republican in politics. In religious preference he is a faithful member of the Mathewson Street Methodist Episcopal Church of Prov- idence. For several years he has held many of the leading official positions in the church. In 1906 he was chosen a lay delegate to the General Conference of the church held in Cleveland, Ohio, during the month of May of that year, serving on several of its important committees. He is a member of the Rhode Island Horticultural Society, and for the years 1899-1902 was its honored president. He is now and for several years has been president of its board of trustees. He is a trustee of the East Greenwich Academy at East Green- wich, R. I. His clubs are the Providence Central, the Providence Rotary, the Town Criers, and the Young Men's Republican. As grand representative from the Grand Lodge of Rhode Island, Independent Order of Odd Fellows (an office he filled from 1896 to 1904), Mr. Farnham attended meetings of the Sovereign Grand Lodge of that order in many of the cities of the country, one of these, in 1896, being at Dallas, Tex. He evi- dently traveled with an observing eye, as on his return he wrote for private circulation only, a very interesting little book entitled "From Providence to Dallas, A Brief Trip to the Southwest."

Mr. Farnham married, October 11, 1871, Laura Staples Greene, of Providence, R. I. They are the parents of a daughter, Emma Elouise, born August 30, 1875, and who died July 10, 1876, at the age of ten months; and of a son, William Ellis Farnham, born July 5, 1878, now a resident of East Orange, N. J., who is an engineer with the American Telephone and Tele-

graph Company at New York City. The family home of Mr. Farnham is at No. 44 Adelaide avenue, Provi- dence.

HARVEY BEEDE SANBORN, M. D .- Among the successful physicians of Providence, R. I., is Dr. Harvey Beede Sanborn, who has won for himself a position high in the esteem and affection of the com- munity. Dr. Sanborn is a native of Rochester, N. H., a son of William Henry and Sarah ( Beede) Sanborn, the former of whom is now deceased and the latter makes her home in Connecticut. The elder Mr. San- born was engaged in the occupation of farming at Rochester, N. H. Dr. Sanborn is a descendant from distinguished and ancient New England families on both sides of the house, and his maternal name is one of the most ancient in England, dating back to Anglo- Saxon times.

The education of Dr. Sanborn was secured in the public schools of Rochester, which he attended for a number of years, and was graduated from the Rochester High School with the class of 1897. He then entered the Moses Brown School of Providence, where he studied for one year, and completed the preparatory portion of his education. Dr. Sanborn then entered Dartmouth College, where he took the usual classical course, and was graduated with the degree of Bach- elor of Arts in 1902. In 1902 he entered the medical school in connection with Harvard University, from which he was graduated with the class of 1906, receiv- ing his degree of M. D. Dr. Sanborn supplemented his theoretical studies with practical experience gained as an interne in the Rhode Island Hospital at Providence, where he remained some eighteen months. In that time he had clearly demonstrated his ability and learn- ing, and was accordingly appointed assistant superin- tendent of the same hospital, remaining there for two years. At the expiration of that time he spent three months associated with the Lying-In Hospital in Prov- idence, and then, in the year 1910, began the general practice of his profession here. While carrying on a general practice, Dr. Sanborn has made a special study of neurology and is an authority in this department of pathology. At the present time, in addition to hiis private work, he holds the post of assistant neurologist in the Rhode Island Hospital and assistant consulting neurologist at the Lying-In Hospital here. Dr. Sanborn is a member of the Providence Medical Society, the Rhode Island Medical Society, the Rhode Island Medical Legal Society, and a fellow of the American Medical Association. He is also a member of the Phi Gamma Delta, a college fraternity, which he joined as a young college student. In politics Dr. Sanborn is an independ- ent Republican, and in his religious belief a Congrega- tionalist, attending the church of that denomination at Providence.

Dr. Harvey Beede Sanborn was united in marriage, June 10, 1910, at Brockton, Mass., with Bernice Monk, a daughter of Jacob Francis and Cora E. Monk, old and highly respected residents of Brockton, Mass. To Dr. and Mrs. Sanborn three children have been born, as follows: Norman Paul, William Edgar, and Philip Harvey.

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LIEUTENANT JOHN ALBERT TOBIN was born in Barrington, R. I., of Irish parentage. the son of the late Robert and Mary Tobin. Robert Tobin was for many years associated with the Narragansett Brick Company at Barrington. As a boy, John A. Tobin attended the schools of Barrington and Warren, R. I., and the English High School of Boston, Mass. He re- ceived his professional training in the department of steam engineering at the Navy Yard, Boston, Mass., and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After a successful examination he was commissioned, on Octo- ber 4, 1870, with the rank of ensign, in the engineer corps of the United States Navy. During his term of active service, he was on duty on various warships and at the Navy yards on both the Atlantic and Pacific stations, and was for a period acting superintendent of the State, War and Navy building at Washington, D. C. During the Spanish-American War he was on special duty at the Norfolk, Va. Navy Yard, also at Elizabeth- port, N. J. Lieutenant Tobin keeps himself informed on the most recent types of warships and naval innova- tions. His most valuable service, perhaps, was in 1880, when he was detailed by the Secretary of the Navy to duty at Glasgow, Scotland. His special mission was to obtain information deemed necessary and useful to the naval service. In 1881, while on special duty in Eng- land, he received supplementary orders to procure plans and specifications of hulls, machinery and armanent of the most modern warships and torpedo boats, which was for the use of the first Naval Advisory Board (presided over by the famous Admiral John Rodgers) ; this information was obtained with the cooperation of the British naval authorities and England's foremost warship builders. Lieutenant Tobin presented this re- quired information in the form of a report to the Navy Department. By a resolution of Congress this report entitled, "Naval Engineering in Great Britain," was called for and ordered printed. For his labors and the above mentioned work he received the thanks of the Secretary of the Navy. In addition to this service of special missions, he rendered further aid to his country when he invented a composition of metals (particularly useful in arts and naval marine construction) known as "Tobin Bronze." This metal was used in the construc- tion of the hull of the cup defender "Vigilant" and other yachts, which so successfully defended America's Cup. He is also the patentee of a method for making compound steel armour plates.

The service of Lieutenant Tobin covered a period from 1870 to 1890. His retirement from active service, on October 4, 1800, with the rank of lieutenant, senior grade, was caused by a physical disability incurred in the line of duty. He is a member of the American Society of Naval Engineers; the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers; the New York Yacht Club; the Army and Navy clubs of New York and Washington, D. C .; the Catholic Club of New York City; and the Naval Order of the United States. He is a member of the Alumni Association of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

While on duty at the Navy Yard, Boston, in 1875, he designed and superintended the construction of a deep-sea sounding machine for Commander, afterwards,

Admiral Beardslee, United States Navy. This machine, with the assistance of piano , wire, enabled reaching great depths in the Pacific Ocean.

In 1875, he investigated the causes of corrosion of materials, generally, but particularly the causes of cor- rosion of the steam drums of the United States Steam- ship "Swatara." After obtaining all the facts and data, relating to this unusual case of corrosion, he had an analysis made by the heads of the Department of Chem- istry at the United States Naval Academy, Stevens In- stitute, of Hoboken, N. J., and the Massachusetts In- stitute of Technology. He then prepared a paper which he read before the Society of Arts of the Institute of Technology, Boston. Commodore W. H. Shock, Engi- neer-in-Chief of the Navy, incorporated the salient parts of this paper in his well known book, "Boilers and Boiler Construction."

While attached to the United States Ship "Pensacola," which carried the United States Eclipse expedition to the west coast of Africa, Mr. Tobin was mentioned by Prof. David P. Todd, Professor of Astronomy, Am- herst College (in charge of the expedition), in his book on "Eclipses of the Sun," "for the ready expedi- ents rendered on several occasions, which were of in- valuable service."

FREDERIC EARLE WHITAKER, Ph. D .- Beyond doubt, one of the most striking figures in the life of Woonsocket, R. I., where he is a leader in many different departments of the community's affairs, is Frederic Earle Whitaker, now one of the prominent members of the bar of this State, and a man of unusual versatility, whose reputation as a student and educator is not less than that as an attorney. Doctor Whitaker's mind is one of those which seems endowed by nature for success in scholarship, and he is one of the most consistent and devoted students of the many subjects in which he has excelled. Dr. Whitaker is the son of Captain Henry J. and Sarah Brayton (Kilton) Whitaker, and is a native of this place, where his birth occurred August 12, 1866. He is a descendant of Roger Williams in a double line, and various other old Rhode Island families.

As a boy Dr. Whitaker attended the local public schools, and was graduated from the Woonsocket High School in 1883, and then attended Mowry & Goff's Eng- lish & Classical School, Providence, graduating there in 1884. He then matriculated at Brown University, where he was graduated with the class of 1888, taking the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He did not terminate his studies, however, at this point, his taste lying in the direction of classical scholarship, and he continued with post-graduate courses, receiving in 1892 the degree of Master of Arts in Greek, and in 1899 that of Doctor of Philosophy. At the same university he was awarded the Grand Army of the Republic Fellowship for the years 1896-1898, this being the first time that a reap- pointment to the fellowship had occurred in the history of the university. After graduation from the univer- sity, Dr. Whitaker taught school at Woonsocket, and for several years at Thatcher Institute and the Page Nelson Seminary at Shreveport, La., where he had classes in Greek, Latin, French and German. He then

John A. Tobi Lieutenantze usevary.

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returned North and was appointed instructor in Greek in his alma mater, also teaching Greek and Latin at Mowry & Goff's School, concurrently. It was Dr. Whitaker's intention at that time to follow the profes- sion of teaching and for a number of years he actually did so and became a well-known instructor in the clas- sical languages and allied subjects. From Brown Uni- versity he was called to Kenyon College, Ohio, as pro- fessor of Latin, and later went to St. Paul's School, Garden City, L. I., where he taught as master of French and advanced Greek. From here he was called to the Greek chair at Lehigh University, South Bethle- hem, Pa. Dr. Whitaker has never lost his interest in the subject of the Greek language and Greek civiliza- tion, and has been for several years Greek visitor at Dr. Whitaker was married, October 20, 1917, to Sara Burton Fisk, daughter of Frederick Burton and Lucy (Leake) Fisk, natives of New York and Virginia, re- spectively, the latter a descendant of the old Leake family of Richmond, Va. Brown University. The service rendered to the cause of teaching during the years of his devotion to that profession would be difficult to gauge. Throughout that period he appeared the typical scholar, whose de- light was in knowledge and the enlightened cosmopol- itan mind which knowledge brings. Dr. Whitaker pos- REV. JOSEPH R. BOURGEOIS-As pastor of St. Jean Baptiste Roman Catholic Church, Arctic, R. I., Father Bourgeois has for twenty years labored devot- edly and lovingly for the spiritual uplift of his large parish. He was born April 16, 1863, in St. Antoine, Richelieu River, Province of Quebec, twenty miles from Montreal, a son of Raphael and Philomena (Lanctot) Bourgeois. His father was the village blacksmith, and both maternal and paternal grandfathers were mem- bers of the Canadian Volunteers in the War of 1812. Father Bourgeois was one of seven children. He re- ceived his early education in the village schools, and entered the preparatory school, known as the Holy Cross Academy, in the County of Richelieu. He was an ex- ceptional boy, and at the age of twelve years he entered St. Hyacinth's, College where he spent eight years in securing a thorough classical education, which was sup- plemented by an extended musical course, both vocal and instrumental. After completing his studies in this institution, he was for one year instructor in math- ematics and science. He then entered Montreal Semi- nary, where he pursued his theological studies, and was ordained. December 8, 1887, in the Chapel of St. Hya- cinth College. That year he was instructor in sciences and vocal and instrumental music, and continued until the winter of 1888. He was appointed assistant to Father George T. Mahoney, of Notre Dame Parish, Central Falls, R. I., and remained there until 1893, a period of five years. In 1893 he was sent to Woon- socket. R. I., to establish and organize a young men's gymnasium in St. Anne's Parish in that city. He was successful, and established a work which is still car- ried on. The lasting good which came from this work among the young men cannot be over-estimated; it is a perpetual monument to his ability and influential per- sonality. Incidental to his duties there, he organized the famous St. Anne's Gymnasium Band, composed of eighty-two members. Seventy of these Father Bour- sessed in a large measure those fundamental virtues of the teacher-simplicity, clearness and zeal. He also had a broad understanding of human nature, together with a large store of patience and sympathy for even the least gifted of his students. The only person with whom he was a stern task master was himself, for whom he held unabated the standards of his inherited "New England conscience." There was something in the character of law as a study which was particularly attractive to Dr. Whitaker's accurate type of mind, and his attention was drawn to the idea of making it his profession, both on this account and because he had a distinctively practical bias. Accordingly, after nearly twenty years of teaching, he devoted himself to the study of the law. After studying for three years in the office of former City Solicitor Erwin J. France, of Woonsocket, he was admitted to the bar of Rhode Island in 1907, and subsequently to practice in the United States courts. Dr. Whitaker has specialized in probate and real estate law and is now recognized as one of the leading attorneys of the State and an au- thority on these subjects. In politics, Dr. Whitaker is an Independent Republican, but has never sought poli- tical office, for which his talents and ability so eminently fit him. He is a profound student of legal theory, nor does he give less conscientious attention to the indi- vidual cases with which he is associated than to legal principles in general. Much important litigation is now entrusted to him and he has met with a success in handling it, which is most notable. But Dr. Whitaker has not confined his scholarship to the law and the classical subjects which he first made his specialty. His mind is too broad and his sympathies of too large a character to admit of this, and he is also a profound student in many scientific branches. He has been a most prolific writer for law and general magazines, and is particularly well known for his articles on old Greek law, Greek life and Indian antiquities, having made a . geois trained from the very rudiments, so that they special study for some years of Indian bead work.

Doctor Whitaker is also prominent in social and fra- ternal circles in Woonsocket and the State, and is a member of a number of organizations, including: The Rhode Island Society of the Sons of the American

Revolution ; Grand Lodge of the Ancient Order of United Workmen of Massachusetts; member of the Committee on Laws and Appeals of the Supreme Lodge of the Home Benefit Association of New England; charter member and former advisory counsel of the New England Workmen (Grand Lodge) of Rhode Island; member of the Rhode Island State Executive Com- mittee of the League to Enforce Peace; member of the Advisory Council of Brown University since its organ- ization; organizer and for the past twenty-two years secretary of the Sons of Brown of Woonsocket. In his religious belief, Dr. Whitaker is an Episcopalian, and attends St. James' Church at Woonsocket, where he has been for many years a vestryman.

became skilled and useful musicians. The band is more than locally known, and its reputation extends even beyond Rhode Island. During the summer of 1896 Father Bourgeois went abroad, visiting the more im- portant gymnasiums in the European countries, and

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completed the instrumentation of his band, securing instruments of the finest Parisian makes. For his ex- cellent work in gymnasium development, Father Bour- geois received a most hearty blessing from His Holi- ness, Pope Leo XIII. August 5, 1898, he was made pastor of St. Jean Baptiste Church at Centerville, R. I., where he continues to date. This is about the oldest French Catholic church in Rhode Island, and Father Bourgeois, with his characteristic energy and zealous- ness, built up the general property of the parish. He completely remodeled the church house during the first four years as pastor there, and installed one of the finest pipe organs in the State. Father Bourgeois built the present magnificent parish rectory, doubled the capacity of the parochial school, and built the Odeon, a beautiful parochial hall, acoustically as near perfect as possible. This is the finest structure of its kind in the diocese; its use is intended for meetings of the Holy Name societies, general lectures for school child- ren, general education, and all kinds of entertainment, musical and dramatic.

Father Bourgeois has been a very useful man in many other capacities. He is a member and trustee of the LaSalle Academy Corporation of Rhode Island and is affiliated in official capacity with many other institutions in the diocese. In January, 1913, at a meeting of the Grand Committee of the General Assembly of Rhode Island, Father Bourgeois was elected, unanimously, a member of the State Board of Education for a term of four years, and also a trustee for the State board of trustees of the Rhode Island State Normal School. He was reelected, unanimously again, January, 1917, as a member of the State Board of Education for a term of six years. He was the first Catholic to be represented on the board. His high-minded Americanism and in- tense public spirit have brought him a large degree of public confidence, and in his quiet, unostentatious way, he labors willingly for the spiritual and material wel- fare of his church and community.

WILLIAM HAILES PALMER, M. D .- Medi- cine is an inherited profession with Dr. William H. Palmer, of Providence, R. I., his father, Dr. Frank A. Palmer, having been a physician of Mechanicsville, Saratoga county, N. Y. Dr. William H. Palmer com- pleted his medical course, but the powers that be have decreed that the degree of Doctor of Medicine shall not be conferred upon a minor, therefore he was compelled to wait a year until he had acquired the dignity of legal age. He came to Providence in the year 1905, bringing a wealth of experience gained in a sanitarium and hospital, and in travel. He is a son of Dr. Frank A. and Nellie J. (Lyke) Palmer, the latter deceased. Dr. Palmer traces ancestry to Revolutionary and Pil- grim forebears, his Revolutionary ancestor, Major Peleg Heath, of the Continental army, his Pilgrim ancestors. John Alden and John Holland, of the "Mayflower." In England the Palmers trace to the "Conqueror," and were entitled to bear arms.

William Hailes Palmer was born in Albany, N. Y., February 15, 1882, and there completed public school courses, with graduation from high school, class of 1899. He then entered Cornell University School of Medicine, there finishing the course in 1902, but, as

before stated, being but twenty years of age, was not awarded his degree until 1903, graduating with the class of that year. For a short time he was interne at a sanitarium in Falkirk, N. Y., then assistant physician at Bloomingdale (White Plains, N. Y.) Insane Hospital for a time, thence to Bellevue Hospital, New York City, there acting as house surgeon for two years. For the three years following his term at Bellevue he was physician at Butler Hospital in Providence, then spent a year in travel, going to the West Indies and South America.

With this experience and preparation, Dr. Palmer entered private practice, in February, 1909, locating in Providence, at No. 274 Broad street, his original loca- tion. He specializes in mental diseases and is one of the skilled young men of that branch of the medical profession. He is a member of the Rhode Island Medical Society and Providence Medical Society, the American Medical Association, and in addition to the demands of his private practice, is medical examiner for several companies and fraternities, and is also sur- geon to the United States Rubber Company. He is also attending physician to the Rhode Island Hospital, medical out-patient department. In the fraternities Dr. Palmer holds several memberships, notably the Knights of Pythias, Manchester Unity, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Omega Epsilon Phi, Providence Chapter, Sons of the American Revolution, the Warwick and Cornell clubs.

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The history of the state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, V. IV, Part 80

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