USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > Providence > The history of the state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, V. IV > Part 86
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118
was no abatement in the demand for his lectures, he felt . neer accomplishment of the West with a result that ha
that he must put his legal attainment to its proper uses or confess a mistake that had cost him three years of his life, the latter alternative being so entirely foreign to the truth that it was never entertained. He retired from the lecture platform, spent six months in the law offices of Charles Z. Alexander at Providence, and after that probationary period ended was admitted to the Rhode Island bar. He began practice alone in 1914 and has built up a large and lucrative practice. He is a member of the Rhode Island and Massachusetts Bar Associations, and is held, in the very highest esteem by his brethren of the profession.
Mr. Rustigian has in nowise lost his interest in his native land, there being no phase of the Armenian situ- ction now so acute that. does not command his interest, sympathy and purse. His charities are wide, but the cause of his own stricken land comes first. He is a member of the Armenian Apostolic Church and a trus- tee ; member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation and a governor; member and ex-president of the Ar- menian Educational Society; member of the Armenian- American Club; member and ex-president of the Ar- menian Business Men's Association; and in politics he is independent. He is an untiring worker, his ouly relaxation being his library and social intercourse with his friends. He married, May 12, 1917, Alice Ashjion, of Charlestown.
JOHN WILLIAM KEEFE, M. D., LL. D., F. C. S .- The, John W. Keefe Surgery is a notahle con tribution to the medical institutions of New Englan a surgical hospital founded in an age when specializ: tion, is demanded, and one of the institutions in which Providence takes just pride. Its founder was Dr. Joh W. Keefe. Dr. Keefe has passed his active years i Providence, and a lifetime of close application to h profession. bas gained him eminent position as a sur geon. He is a leader in the medical profession of h State and has a national reputation through his contr butions to medical and surgical literature, and also ha the admiration of a very large clientele.
John W. Keefe, son of Denis and Alice (Mc Grath Keefe, was born in Worcester, Mass., April 25, 186 As a youth he attended the schools of Worcester, city which has long led in educational progress, an was graduated with excellent rank from the Worce !! ter High School, one of the finest public schoo in' the United States. At the age of nineteen year he matriculated at the University of Michigan, a Ann Arbor, Michigan. His choice of this univer sity was one whose influence endured throughout h entire life. At Aun Arbor the atmosphere of free dom from binding tradition, of wholesome demor racy, and of serious effort, made a profound impressio upon the young student. Men stood on their merit Social or family ties availed them nothing. And her thrown entirely on his own resources, he spent tw vears, years fruitful of much more than academic learr ing, years that gave him a breadth of vision, a conf dence, and a knowledge of men that was an indispensa ble supplement to his classical and professional educa tion. The conservatism of the East and the regard fc the established order that had been his birthright wei blended with the progressiveness and the pride in pic been plainly written on his career. He passed the year 1882-1883 at the University of Michigan, then entere the medical department of the University of New Yor City. The excellence of his work throughout his med cal course won him an interneship at the Bellevue Ho. pital, an appointment that at that time was a reward fc meritorious standing as a student. He received the de gree of Doctor of Medicine from the University c New York in the class of 1884 and at Bellevue improve the splendid opportunities offered by contact in th clinics and in the wards with such leaders in medici science as Drs. Janeway, McBurney, Flint, Stimsor and others of the period whose contributions to pro fessional lore have been of great and lasting value. Th example of their high-minded. devotion to their callin and the wealth of their learning furnished a constar source of inspiration to the receptive and ambitiot mind of Dr. Keefe and strengthened in him the fir: requisite of the truly successful physician of surgeon a lofty aim and ideal.
In 1886 Dr. Keefe located in Providence, havin chosen surgery as the medium through which his talent iearning and skill might be best employed for the benef of his fellow-men. While always conducting an exter sive private practice, almost from the time of his com ing to Providence he has been connected with institu tional work. He soon became visiting surgeon ou th
. P. A.
azland
Grath
ster,
con er ha
arcest
tam
1 fol
-
339
BIOGRAPHICAL
staff of the Rhode Island Hospital, a position he holds at the present time, and he is also consulting surgeon to St. Joseph's Hospital, at Providence, the Providence City Hospital, the Lying-In Hospital, of Providence, the Woonsocket Hospital, and the Pawtucket Memorial Hospital. For eighteen years Dr. Keefe was an active member of the staff of St. Joseph's Hospital, it having been his privilege to sow the seed of suggestion that led to its establishment and to advise and confer with the Catholic clergy who had its founding in charge, and from its earliest plan until the present, its welfare has been his intimate concern.
In scientific research and efforts Dr. Keefe enjoyed close association with famous heads of departments at Johns Hopkins Hospital, among them Dr. Halstead, Dr. Kelley, and Dr. Osler (now Sir William Osler). The years of his professional labor in large hospitals, productive of good as they were, had caused the de- velopment in his mind of an institution where the faults and inefficiencies of the general hospital of many wards, many physicians, and many nurses, should be replaced by the height of professional efficiency, com- bined with the atmosphere and personal touch of the comfortable home, creating, as far as possible, ideal conditions for treatment and recovery. His vision was of a completely modern hospital, equipped with every comfort and convenience, with a staff of specialists of high repute, carefully selected and trained nurses and attendants, the entire personnel under the direction of one responsible head. It was a proven fact that the proportionate mortality in a smaller hospital based on these standards was much less than in the large general institutions. The fruit of his deep thought and study on this subject was the founding, in 1913, of The John W. Keefe Surgery at No. 262 Blackstone Boulevard, Providence, an institution exceptional for many rea- sons. With the building of such a hospital as an ulti- mate aim, he had studied carefully all improvements in hospital construction, and no detail adding to the com- fort or well being of patients or the ease and efficiency of the work of the surgeons was overlooked. From the choice of the best possible site for light and air to the installation of the smallest appliance for mere conven- ience, The John W. Keefe Surgery is the realization of the greatest advances in hospital architecture, while its appointments throughout are of the same high order. The operating room of the surgery is one of the finest in the country in equipment and arrangement. Here, with a well known and capable staff of surgeons and nurses, many problems incapable of solution in a gen- eral hospital have been skillfully handled, and scientific surgery has reclaimed many patients to health and use- fulness. The surgery is a substantial structure of red brick, facing east, standing in a broad open space, with sunlight whenever the sun shines. The staff personnel includes the following: Surgeon-in-chief, John W. Keefe, M. D., LL. D., F. A. C. S., Major, M. R. C .; associate surgeon, George W. Gardner. A. B., M. D., Major, M. R. C .; associate physician, J. Edward Mc- Cabe, M. D., First Lieutenant, M. C .; anæsthetist, Al- bert H. Miller, A. B., M. D .; consulting surgeon, John W. Mitchell, M. D., F. A. C. S .; consulting physicians, Joseph M. Bennett, M. D., and Frank L. Day, A. B., M. D .; consulting opthalmologist and laryngologist,
Patrick H. Keefe, M. D., F. A. C. S .; consulting dental and oral surgeon, Albert L. Midgley, M. D.
Dr. Keefe is a surgeon of skill and reputation wholly devoted to his profession. He is a fellow of the Ameri- can College of Surgeons; fellow of the American Ob- stetrical and Gynæcological Association, its vice-presi- dent in 1907-1908 and president in 1916-17; member of the American Medical Association; New England Sur- gical Society; Rhode Island Medical Society, president from June 13, 1914, to June, 1915; the Providence Medical Association; the Association of Military Sur- geons; and the Bellevue Hospital Alumni Association.
For the past ten years Dr. Keefe has been a member of the Medical Reserve Corps of the United States army, holding a lieutenant's commission issued under the authority of President Taft, and now is medical aide upon the staff of Governor Beeckman, ranking as major. He was associated in the World War with his brethren of the profession and served as chairman of the medical section of the Council of National Defence for Rhode Island. He is a frequent contributor to the medical journals upon professional subjects, his articles, timely and scholarly prepared, regarded as authority. In 1909 he received from Manhattan College the honor- ary degree of Doctor of Laws. He is a supporter of the Democratic party and is of the religious faith of his fathers, the Roman Catholic. He is a member of the Catholic, Hope, and Country clubs of Providence, and in his hours of leisure, which the demands of his extensive clientele make only too few, he greatly enjoys their social features.
THOMAS JOSEPH CALLAGHAN-This is the name of a man who is not only one of the best known citizens of Providence, but who has built up for him- self a reputation far exceeding the limits of his own community. It is needless to say that Mr. Callaghan is chief of the United States Secret Service for Rhode Island, or that he is one of the most respected and popular men within the boundaries of the State. Thomas Joseph Callaghan was born March 9, 1885, in New York City, and is a son of Thomas John and Rachel (Lavin) Callaghan. Mr. Callaghan, who is now deceased, was at the time of his death port warden of New York City. Mrs. Callaghan resides in Brooklyn, N. Y.
The education of Thomas Joseph Callaghan was be- gun in parochial schools of his native city, whence he passed successively to the grammar and high schools, graduating in 1900. Immediately thereafter he entered upon the active work of life, finding employment as office boy with the Central Foundry Company of New York City. From this humble position he advanced in the course of seven years, yet despite this progress, Mr. Callaghan's ambition tended toward another field of action. In January, 1915, he became chief of the United States Secret Service in Salt Lake City, Utah, having in eight years risen solely on his own merits to that very important and responsible position. In January, 1917, le was made chief of the United States Secret Service for Rhode Island. His record in both cities is incor- porated in government annals. On July 1, 1919, he resigned from the Secret Service and entered the De- partment of Justice as special agent in New York. On August I, 1919, he assumed charge of the Department
30
HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND
of Justice in Rhode Island, with offices in Providence. He belongs to the Knights of Columbus of Providence, and is a member of St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church.
Mr. Callaghan married, January 18, 1915, in Salt Lake City, Angie Melissa Hayden, daughter of Mario and Jessie Hayden, of Wisconsin. Mrs. Callaghan is a charming woman with a capacity for making friends which rivals that of her husband. Mr. Callaghan's col- jection of photographs bears witness to the number of friends which proficiency in his work has brought him, notably among prominent people. One of these pictures is a group composed of President Wilson and his entire first cabinet, with an autograph of each member and also that of the President. One of Mr. Callaghan's most cherished wedding gifts is a likeness of President Wilson, which came to him with the message: "To my good friend Thomas J. Callaghan," signed Woodrow Wilson. Many other photographs of men distinguished in public life adorn the walls of Mr. Callaghan's private office in the Federal building.
Thomas Joseph Callaghan is a young man, but his career has been one of good work and satisfactory re- sults. There can be no reasonable doubt that the years which lie before him will be filled with greater effort and more signal achievement.
REV. ANTONIO PEREIRA REBELLO-Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Parish, Providence, R. I., numbering four thousand souls, has since March 12, 1918, been under the charge of Rev. Antonio P. Re- bello, and as pastor Father Rebello fills a responsible post, one that intimately concerns the lives and wel- fare of each one of these souls. The congregation is mainly Portuguese in the nationality of its members. The church edifice is on Traverse street; the basement of the church was completed and blessed on March 6, 1898, the cornerstone -having been laid the previous Sep- tember 12, 1897. The main building was completed and dedicated, September 9, 1906, with solemn and impres- sive ceremonies. In addition to the schools, societies and activities, the Church of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary has a convent in charge of Sisters of Saint Dorothy, an order with its home in Rome. Father Rebello succeeded Rev. A. M. Serpa as pastor, the lat- ter having died at his' post of duty after a long pas- torate.
Antonio P. Rebello was born in Lamego, Province of Beira Alta, Portugal, December 6, 1878, son of Jose An- tonio Pereira and Emilia (Concercao) Rebello. . After attending schools corresponding to grammar and high school grades, he was a student for years at Lamego Seminary. He was professor of botany, natural his- tory and science at the College of Lamego for three years, and after completing his studies in theology, 1899, he was ordained a priest of the Roman Catholic church, September 25. 1902, at Lamego, by the bishop of the diocese, Bishop B. L. Castro. He continued a col- lege professor and educator at Lamego until 1902, then for eight years was pastor at Favaios. He came to the United States in September, 1910, and was assigned to the Church of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary at Provi- dence, R. I., as assistant to the pastor, Rev. A. M. Serpa. He continued in that relation until April, 1913, then was
transferred to St. Elizabeth's Parish, in Bristol, R. I., as pastor .. He built a new St. Elizabeth's Church which was dedicated September 14, 1914, and in June, 1916, began the building of a new rectory which was com- pleted the following December. He continued pastor of St. Elizabeth's until 1918, then was transferred to Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Church, which he had formerly served as assistant, his installation as pastor being solemnized on March 12, 1918. A genuine affec- tion existed between Father Serpa and Father Rebello, the latter dying February 22, 1918. At Bristol Father Rebello was a member of the school committee and treasurer of the church corporation. He is beloved by his people, and highly esteemed by those outside his parish who are familiar with the work he is doing for his church and for his countrymen.
JESSE METCALF-No name stands out more brilliantly in the history of the growth and development of the woolen industry in Rhode Island, than that of Metcalf. The late Jesse Metcalf, president and treas- urer of the Wanskuck Company, was one of the com- manding and vital figures of the industrial and commer- cial world of Rhode Island from the close of the Civi War until his death in 1899. He has been succeedec by his sons, Stephen O. Metcalf and Jesse H. Metcalf treasurer and president respectively of the Wanskuck Mills, and leaders in the woolen industry in New Eng. Jand.
The Metcalf family is one of the oldest in America The Metcalfs comprise the progeny of Michael Metcalf an Englishman of substance and standing, who was a resident of Dedham, in the Massachusetts Bay Colony as early as 1637. His descendants, although not numer ons, have figured prominently in the history of south castern Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, for two and a half centuries.
(I) Michael Metcalf, immigrant ancestor and pro genitor, was born in Tatterford, County Norfolk, Eng land, in 1586. Prior to his coming to America, he wa a dornock weaver at Norwich, where he was made : freeman in 1618. With his wife, nine children, and on servant, he came to the New England colonies in 1637 and settled in Dedham, Mass., where he was admitter a freeman, July 14. 1637. In 1639 he became a membe of the church of Dedham, and in 1641 was chosen select man. According to a statement made by him shortl after his coming to America, he left England becaus of religious persecution. Michael Metcalf marrie (first) on October 13, 1616, in Waynham, England Sarah , who was born June 17, 1593, and die November 30, 1644. He married (second) August I: 1645, Mrs. Mary Pidge, a widow, of Roxbury. Michae Metcalf died December 27, 1664.
(II) Michael (2) Metcalf, son of Michael (1) an Sarah Metcalf, was born August 29, 1620, in Count Norfolk, England, and accompanied his parents t America in 1637. He settled in Dedham, where he wa a prosperous land owner and farmer until his death i 1654. On April 21, 1644, he married Mary Fairbank daughter of John Fairbanks, Sr. He died in Dedhan December 24, 1654.
(III) Jonathan Metcalf, son of Michael (2) and Mar `(Fairbanks) Metcalf, was born in Dedham, Mass., Sef
5
d
15
Repe Metcalf
34I
BIOGRAPHICAL
tember 21, 1650, and was a lifelong resident there. He married, April 10, 1674, Hannah Kenric, daughter of John Kenric; she died on December 23, 1731. Jonathan Metcalf died May 27, 1727.
(IV) Nathaniel Metcalf, son of Jonathan and Han- nah (Kenric) Metcalf, was born in Dedham, Mass., April 17 (or 22), 1691. He married, February 13 of 17, 1713, Mary Gay, and died March 15, 1752.
(V) Nathaniel (2) Metcalf, son of Nathaniel (1) and Mary (Gay) Metcalf, was born August 29, 1718, and died May 3, 1789. He married Ruth Whiting, of Attleboro, Mass., and several of their sons settled in Providence, R. I.
(VI) Joel Metcalf, son of Nathaniel (2) and Ruth (Whiting) Metcalf, was born November 4, 1755, in Attleboro, Mass. According to Providence records he removed with his family from Attleboro to Providence on February 4, 1780. He resided at what is now Nos. 64-66 Benefit street. Joel Metcalf was a leather dresser and currier, and carried on an extensive business, at first in company with his brother, Michael, and later in- dependently, on Mill street, Providence, in a wooden building. He was a stern Democrat of the Jeffersonian school, and his name may be found among the fifty-six freemen who voted the Democratic ticket when Thomas Jefferson came into power. Although his education was limited and his politics unpopular in Providence, such was the general confidence in the uprightness of his intentions and his strong common sense that his fellow-citizens elected him for many years a member of the Town Council. He was also elected a member of the school committee for twenty-two years in succes- sion, during which time he was present at every exami- nation of the public schools. He was among the first and foremost in favor of the public schools, and that his interest in them was real is evidenced in the fact that he gave his personal attendance at upward of eighty successive examinations. When the Democratic party came into power in Rhode Island, he was elected a judge of the Court of Common Pleas for the County of Providence.
Joel Metcalf married, on December 9, 1779, Lucy Gay, who was born in Attleboro, October 3, 1759. They were the parents of ten children, four sons and six daughters. To one of his daughters, Betsey Metcalf, who became the wife of Obed Baker, of West Dedham, Mass., be- longs the distinction of having been the founder of the straw braiding industry in the United States. Seeing an imported Dunstable straw bonnet in the window of the store of Colonel John Whipple, she determined to have a Dunstable bonnet and commenced experiment- ing with some oat straw that her father had harvested that year. She started work on her first experiment in June, 1791. She began braiding first with six straws and then with seven, and finally found, after much dis- couragement from friends and encouragement from an aunt in the family, that she was able to imitate perfectly the imported braid. She says, in a letter written from her home in West Dedham, in 1858, "The First bonnet I made was of seven braid, with bobbin put in like open work, and lined with pink satin. This was very much admired and hundreds, I should think, came to see it."
(VII) Jesse Metcalf, son of Joel and Lucy (Gay) Metcalf, was born in Providence, R. I., May 15, 1790,
and died there June 20, 1838. He married, April 19, 1812, Eunice Dench Houghton, daughter of John Houghton. She died May 5, 1858.
(VIII) Jesse (2) Metcalf, son of Jesse (1) and Eunice Dench (Houghton) Metcalf, was born March 4, 1827, in the old home of the Metcalfs on Mills street, Providence, and died in Providence, December 20, 1899. He received all his educational training in Providence, attending Mr. Baker's Second District School on Meet- ing street, and later the private schools of Thomas C. Hartshorn and Joseph S. Pitman. Choosing to follow a mercantile career, he entered the employ of Truman Beckwith, with whom he remained until 1851, in which year he went to Augusta, Georgia, with Stephen T. Olney, as a cotton buyer. He followed that business with great success until the panic of 1857 began to make itself felt, and then returned to Providence, where with Mr. Olney he began the purchase of wool. In 1858 they commenced stocking the Glendale Mill, then operated by Lyman Copeland, and in 1859 acted in a similar capacity for the Greenville Mills, run by Messrs. Pooke & Steere. Both these concerns made cassimeres. They subsequently stocked the Mohegan Mills, where satinet was manufactured.
The Civil War put an end to the cotton business, and in July, 1862, Mr. Metcalf and Mr. Olney, in company with Henry J. Steere, commenced the erection of the Wanskuck Mill. The formation and incorporation of the Wanskuck Company followed, Mr. Metcalf, Mr. Olney and Mr. Steere taking up the stock of the con- cern. In May, 1864, they shipped their first case of woolen goods to New York. On January 12, 1870, the Wanskuck Company shipped the first case of worsted goods for men's wear made in this country. The busi- ress grew rapidly from the very start, and had so expanded by October. 1874, that work was commenced on a worsted mill, the machinery of which was put into motion in April, 1875. Further development rewarded their enterprise, and on July 12, 1884, the first delivery of yarn was made from the new Steere worsted mill. Early in 1897 the company assumed the management of the Geneva Mill, and in 1898 of the Mohegan Mill and Oakland Mill in Burrillville. All through the period of the activity of the Wanskuck Company, Mr. Metcalf was an energetic and enthusiastic factor in its growth. He was a man not only of large vision, but of excep- tional executive powers, and as president and treasurer of the Wanskuck Company from the time of its found- ing until his death, guided through the turbulent period of its infancy and set upon a solid foundation an organ- ization which has since developed into one of the larg- cst and most flourishing of its kind in the world.
Through his association with a business which was dependent to a large extent on the successful operation of other industries, Mr. Metcalf became interested in financial enterprises of magnitude and importance, and was active in their management and direction. He was associated with the Bank of North America for a con- siderable period. as a director, and later as president. He was also a director of the New York & New Eng- land Railroad; a director of the Providence Gas Com- pany, and at one time its president; and a director of several manufacturers' mutual insurance companies, and for several years president of the Union Railroad
...
-
342
HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND
Company. Though devoted to his extensive business interests, he was a man of social nature, and held mem- bership in the Union League Club of New York, and the Hope Club of Providence. He was an honorary member of the Cobden Club of England, of which but few Americans are members; the late Rowland Haz- ard was also an associate member of this organization.
Originally a Republican in political affiliation, Mr. Metcalf later became an Independent. Despite the fact that he was deeply interested in public affairs, the con- stant demands of his large business interests disbarred him from very active participation in this field. Never- theless he served for several years as a Republican member of the Rhode Island Legislature, and while a member of the house was influential in securing the passage of many valuable reforms. He was the first to introduce into the Legislature a measure changing the legal rate of interest. It became a law, the first of its kind in the United States, and set an example which many other States followed. Of this achievement he often spoke with justifiable pride. He also served as a member of the Board of Inspection of the State Prison, which body was the predecessor of the present Board of State Charities and Corrections, and had charge of the State's penal institutions. This Board of Inspection accomplished much excellent work during its period of office, and was given a vote of thanks by the Legis- lature. In 1888 Mr. Metcalf was a delegate to the Na- tional Convention held at St. Louis which nominated Grover Cleveland for the presidency. A pronounced free trader, it was remarked of him by an intimate acquaintance, that he was one of the few honest free trade manufacturers of the speaker's acquaintance; this gentleman was of the opinion that Mr. Metcalf would have put his ideas into practice if it had been possible for him to have his way.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.