The history of the state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, V. IV, Part 92

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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GEORGE HAMILTON CAHOONE-For many years Rhode Island has been justly regarded as the center of the jewelry manufacturing industry of Amer- ica, its many plants being an important factor in the industrial development of the State. There have been a number of men whose names are closely associated with the upbuilding of this important business, but none more closely than that of George Hamilton Ca- hoone, president and treasurer of the George H. Cahoone Company of Providence.

Mr. Cahoone is a native of this city, born August 6, 1860, a son of George Hamilton and Charlotte Stieb (Clark) Cahoone, and a grandson of Isaac Tucker- man and Ann Eliza (Stieb) Clark, the latter being a native of Providence. He is a member of old and distinguished New England families which were founded here in early Colonial times, and has long been associated with the affairs of this region. The childhood of' Mr. 'Cahoone' was passed in his native city, and as a lad he attended the local public schools. His educational advantages, however, were very mea- gre, and at the age of twelve years he was obliged to abandon his studies and begin earning his own liv- ing. In the year 1873 he secured his first position with the well known drug firm of George L. Claflin & Company, remaining with that concern for some three years. He then was given a position as clerk in the drug store of Dr. Albert L. Calder, with whom he spent four years, and in the meantime took up the study of pharmacy. He pursued these studies to such good purpose that at the end of four years he was a graduated and registered pharmacist. Being of an ex- ceedingly ambitious nature and desiring to supple- ment his early education, Mr. Cahoone took a course

in the Bryant & Stratton Commercial College at Prov- idence, and after completing his studies at this insti- tution spent about eighteen months in the employ of Benjamin G. Chase & Son, wholesale grocers of Prov- idence. His next employment was as cashier of the firm of Day, Sons & Company, where he remained about two and one-half years, and then, in 1884, he accepted a position as western traveling representative for the firm of Foster & Bailey, manufacturing jew- elers, which is now known as T. W. Foster & Brother.

In the month of April, 1886, when twenty-six years of age, Mr. Cahoone entered into his first business enterprise, and in partnership with his father-in-law, William Blakeley, and John C. Schott, purchased the plant and machinery of Hunt & Owen, one of the old- est jewelry manufacturers of Providence. The plant was originally located at No. III Broad street, and here they began their operations which soon grew to large proportions. Shortly afterward, Mr. Schott re- tired from the firm, which then became known as George H. Cahoone & Company. They were engaged in the manufacture of a general line of gold filled jewelry. As the business grew and prospered it became necessary to find larger quarters for their operations, and in December, 1894, they removed to the Manufacturers' building, being one of the first tenants in this new and up-to-date industrial struc- ture. On April 1, 1906, the firm was incorporated as the George H. Cahoone Company, with Mr. Cahoone as president and treasurer. For nearly thirty-five years this house has specialized in the manufacture of reproductions of the finest lines of platinum dia- mond set jewelry. The George H. Cahoone Company maintains New York offices in the Fifth Avenue build- ing at No. 200 Fifth avenue, and western offices in the Heyworth building, Chicago. It is due to the untir- ing efforts of Mr. Cahoone that the great success of the business of which he is the head has been achieved. A third of a century ago the concern had a most modest beginning, and it is to-day one of the leading jewelry manufacturing firms in New England. Of a quiet, unassuming nature, Mr. Cahoone has never sought for any conspicuous place in public life although, like a public-spirited citizen, he is keenly interested in all that pertains to the growth and de- velopment of the city. He is a staunch Republican in politics, and was elected a commissioner of sinking funds of the city of Providence, June 21, 1918, succeed- ing in that capacity Dutee Wilcox, who died in that year. Mr. Cahoone is also vice-president and a direc- tor of the U. S. Ring Traveler Company, a director of the National Exchange Bank, and for more than twenty years has been a director of the National Jew- elers' Board of Trade. Mr. Cahoone has also been prominent in the social and fraternal life of Provi- dence, and is affiliated with Adelphoi Lodge, No. 33, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons. His clubs are the Wannamoisett Country, the Turk's Head, the Pomham, the Economic, the Providence Athenaeum, and Commercial. He is also a member of the Provi- dence Chamber of Commerce. In his religious belief Mr. Cahoone is a Congregationalist, and attends with

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BIOGRAPHICAL

s family the Central Church of that denomination at rovidence.

George Hamilton Cahoone was united in marriage, ctober 25, 1885, with Eugena Blakeley, daughter of Jilliam and Sarah (Tinkham) Blakeley, her father ing well known in the textile industry as a member the firm of Walton & Blakeley, woolen manufac- rers. Mr. and Mrs. Cahoone have one daughter, dna Hamilton. The family home is situated at No. o Olney street, Providence.

HENRY ALDEN CARPENTER-Son of one of e prominent industrial leaders of Providence in the ist generation, Mr. Carpenter from 1889 to 1905 was entified with his father, Alva Carpenter, in the di- ction of the foundry interests of the A. Carpenter id Sons Foundry Company. Since 1905 he has been igaged in managerial capacity with the General Fire xtinguisher Company, by which his former connec- on was absorbed, and is now (1919) manager of the uburn plant of the company and a member of its board of directors. The family of which he is a mem- r, of honorable record in Providence over a long :riod of years, is one of early founding in the Amer- an colonies, tracing to William Carpenter, who in 38 came from his English home, where his line is connected record to John Carpenter, 1303, to eymouth, Mass. Soon afterward he came to rovidence, where he was one of the founders of the irst Baptist Church. He was an early settler in awtucket, represented his town in the General Court any times, was an assistant in 1672, and during King hilip's War his house was attacked and burned by e Indians, one of his sons killed, and his stock ran f. He married Elizabeth Arnold and left sons, Jo- ph, Ephraim, Timothy, William, Silas, and Ben- min, from whom spring the numerous Carpenter milies of New England claiming early Colonial icestry.

Mr. Carpenter is a grandson of Jonathan and Leafy Bourne) Carpenter, and son of Alva Carpenter. Alva arpenter was born in Seekonk, Mass., March 2, 1829, id died June 28, 1905. He attended the public schools his birthplace until he was fifteen years of age, at hich early period he began his lifelong association th the industrial world. For two years he was em- oyed in a cotton mill, then in 1846 became appren- :ed to the moulder's trade under Thomas J. Hill, of e Providence Machine Company. A journeyman in is trade, he followed it for three years in a foundry Matteawan, N. Y., in 1850 returning to Rhode land and working in a Newport foundry for two ars. From 1852 until 1865 he was employed by the d Corliss Steam Engine Company, in September of e latter year forming a partnership in the foundry siness with Amos D. Smith as Smith & Carpenter. ne firm's plant was located on Dyer street, between eck and Orange streets, and in 1872 a branch of the isiness was opened on Aborn street, which subse- ently became the main foundry. In 1873 the Dyer reet plant was sold and the partnership of Smith & arpenter dissolved, Mr. Carpenter continuing as sole oprietor of the Aborn street foundry for ten years.

There followed a six years' partnership with Henry C. Bowen in the same line, which was dissolved in 1889, when Mr. Carpenter admitted his two sons, William H. and Henry A., into partnership, forming the firm of A. Carpenter & Sons. A new foundry was erected on West Exchange street. This was destroyed by fire, November 11, 1892, was rebuilt, and in 1896 the business was incorporated under the title of A. Car- penter & Sons Foundry Company, Alva Carpenter filling the office of president until his death in 1905. The standing of the business he founded was closely similar to his reputation in private life, and as he was known as a citizen of solid, substantial parts, so his firm was rated as one dependable and strongly founded. For almost sixty years he gave of the best of his effort to industrial work, for forty years of that time as a foundry owner, and his untiring labor and capable administrative ability had their reward in the prosperous business that bore his name.

Called from his close application to business affairs by his election to the State Legislature, he represented Providence in the sessions of 1892-93, and was elected for a second term in 1897. His public service was of the type confidently expected of him by his fellows, a sturdy championship of beneficial legislation and un- yielding opposition to any favoring of special privi- leged interests, his entire activity summarized as devo- tion to high ideals. He was an interested member of Roger Williams Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, from 1874 to 1886, and after filling every office in the gift of that lodge became one of the charter members of Mt. Pleasant Lodge, No. 45. In 1904 he was elected grand chaplain of the Grand Lodge of Rhode Island, this high honor of Odd Fellowship com- ing the year before his death. He was a member of the West Side and Pomham clubs, of Providence.

Mr. Carpenter married, in 1854, Mary E. Allen, of Attleboro, Mass., and they were the parents of: Rev. Alva E., rector of St. Peter's Episcopal Church, of Manton, R. I .; Mary E., married William A. O'Brien, of Providence; William H., died in 1900, the asso- ciate of his father and brother in the A. Carpenter & Sons Foundry Company: Henry A., of whom further; Mabel L. C., married Albert J. Niebels, of Provi- dence.

Henry Alden Carpenter was born in Providence, July 7, 1867. He attended the public schools of his birthplace until commencing business life as a clerk in the office of the National Worsted Mills, of Provi- dence, a position he held for four years, then entering the firm of A. Carpenter & Sons as the partner of his father and brother. With the incorporation of the A. Carpenter & Sons Foundry Company in 1896, capital- ized at one hundred thousand dollars, Mr. Carpenter became secretary and treasurer of the company. This concern pursued a highly successful independent exist- ence until 1905, employing one hundred and twenty- five men in its foundry on West Exchange street, in this year being absorbed by the General Fire Extin- guisher Company. Mr. Carpenter became foundry manager of the General Fire Extinguisher Company, a five million dollar corporation, incorporated under the laws of the State of New York, manufacturing the

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HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND

widely known Grinnell Automatic Sprinklers and con- trolling, through its constituent and subsidiary com- panies, a large volume of foundry and factory products.

Until 1913 Mr. Carpenter discharged the duties of foundry manager of this large company, when he was elected to the board of directors of the General Fire Extinguisher Company and appointed manager of the company's plant at Auburn. Since that date he has filled both offices. His managerial responsibilities have rested easily upon him, for in foundry manage- ment his active years have been passed, while as a sharer in the policy shaping activity of the company his counsel has been relied upon heavily by his fellow directors. He is a practical manufacturer with capacity for large affairs, and in addition to his association with the General Fire Extinguisher Company serves the Union Trust Company, of Providence, and the Rhode Island Insurance Company as director. Mr Carpenter has been active in the New England Foun- drymen's Association and the National Founders' As- sociation, having been president of both organizations, while in 1917 he served as president of the Providence Chamber of Commerce. During the war he served as chairman of the war council of the Chamber of Com- merce.

He is a Republican in political belief, and in 1905 represented the Fifth Ward of his city in Common Council, his work including for a part of that time the chairmanship of the committee on city property. His tastes do not incline toward public life and office has never attracted him, although few men in Provi- dence have more effectively used their influence for the advancement of the public welfare and civic progress than he. He fraternizes with the Masonic order and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, belonging in the latter to Providence Lodge, No. 14, and in the former to St. John's Lodge, No. I, Free and Accepted Masons, Providence Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, Providence Council, Royal and Select Masters, St. John's Commandery, No. 1, Knights Templar, of which he is a past eminent com- mander. He is also past illustrious potentate of Pal- estine Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. In the social and club life of Provi- dence his acquaintance is wide, and he is a member of the West Side, Edgewood Yacht, Edgewood Casino, Wannamoisett Country, Rhode Island Country, Turk's Head, and Commercial clubs, an ex-president of the last named, and the Squantum Association. His out- of-town club is the Engineers', of New York City.

Mr. Carpenter married, in Providence, September 2, 1891, Fannie May Wheeler, and they are the par- ents of Sarah Adeline, Earl Wheeler, and Doris May.

JOHN MORGAN DEAN-Member of the third generation of his family in New England, Mr. Dean is the second of his line to achieve notable business position, his father, John Dean, son of Benjamin Dean, who came to Rhode Island from his English home, having been a successful pioneer in the manufacturing of photographic supplies when the art of photographic reproduction was in its infancy. Mr. Dean is the active head of the John M. Dean Company, a corpor-

ation dating in Providence from 1892, a developmer of the firm of Cady & Dean, founded in 1876, and on of the leading furniture houses of the locality. M Dean has other and extensive business interests i furniture and real estate, is prominent in the Mason' order, and is well known in Providence, his busines home, Cranston, where his home, Tupelo Hill Farn is located, and Fort Myers, Fla., his winter residency

Benjamin Dean, of Simmonstone, England, married at Gorsnaigh Church, October 29, 1815, Alice Lof. house. He was an engraver by trade, and in 182 came to the United States, worked for a time, an then returned to England to bring his family to h new home. They located in Providence, R. I., whei he pursued the occupation of engraver until his death November 18, 1866. Among their children was a son John, of whom further.

John Dean, son of Benjamin and Alice (Lofthouse Dean, was born in Clitheroe, England, August 3 1822, died in Worcester, Mass., in 1882. He attende the public schools of Providence, grew to manhoc in that city, learned the engraver's trade under h father's instruction, and followed that occupation unt his twenty-seventh year. In 1849 he was one of party of one hundred men who purchased a schoone and made the long and perilous voyage around Caf Horn to the California gold fields. He remained i the West for two years, and upon his return wa associated with his father in engraving for a time, the entered the manufacture of photographic supplie whose use was then confined to the making of th daguerreotype, the forerunner of the tintype and th photograph. With the increasing popularity of th daguerreotype his business grew largely, and whe the tintype surpassed it in popular favor there wa additional demand for supplies. Mr. Dean located h plant in Worcester and he was long the dominar figure in his line, absorbing competitors through put chase, if their size warranted, or, if they operated on small scale, employing them in his service. A japar ning department became a profitable branch of h plant, and he prospered in large measure. He repre sented Worcester in the Lower House of the Massa chusetts Legislature. He was active in Masonr: holding the thirty-second degree, Ancient Accepte Scottish Rite, and a past grand commander of Massa chusetts and Rhode Island. John Dean married Har nah Allen Morgan, six of their nine children reachin mature years: Alice P., died in 1906, married Christe pher A. Cady; Isabella Stewart, married (first) Georg A. Holden, (second) George W. Middlebrook, ( Providence, whom she survives: John Morgan, ( whom further; Annie L., married Frederick L. Coe of Worcester, Mass., and she died Aug. 10, 19IC Amy Florence, married Professor H. Austin Aikin: of Cleveland, Ohio: and Robert W., of the firm ( Brown & Dean, gold refiners, who died in April, 1914

John Morgan Dean, son of John and Hannah Alle" (Morgan) Dean, was born on Dean street, Prov dence, R. I., May 11, 1856. Worcester became the family home when he was two years of age, and ther he attended the public schools, graduating from hig school, and residing in the handsome suburban hom

Edwardme Hanis

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BIOGRAPHICAL

: his family until he was nineteen years of age. In 76 he joined his brother-in-law, Christopher A. ady, in Providence, R. I., and became his partner, e firm being known as Cady & Dean, later reor- inizing as John M. Dean & Company. Their oper- ions continued under this style until June 3, 1892, hen the business was incorporated as the John M. ean Company, with Mr. Dean as president, a posi- on he fills to the present time (1919). Furniture has ecome the principal line of the company, and the mpany is of high standing among the largest dealers New England. Mr. Dean has other important inter- ts in the Dean Realty Company, of which he is resident and director, the Dean Development Com- any, of Fort Myers, Fla., of which he is presi- ent and treasurer, and the Household Furniture ompany, of Providence, R. I., which he serves as rector.

Mr. Dean's greatest pleasure and recreation is found his beautiful estate, Tupelo Hill Farm, in Cranston, here he takes great pride in his beautiful and finely tred for orchards, fields, and tastefully planted wns. The village of Meshanticut is built upon the ean estate and he has taken a leading part in its rowth and development. His winter home is on the aloosa Hatchee river in Fort Myers, Fla., in the iddle of a hundred acre orange grove, and he has een very active in the upbuilding and settlement of at district.

He is a Republican in politics, but has never aspired public office except to serve his town, Cranston, as uncilman, having been annually elected to the Town ouncil until Cranston became a city in 1910. He has eadily and with good result advocated the causes of pod schools and good roads since 1892, and the high andard of highways and schools in his locality is due . no small measure to his intelligently applied effort. Te is a member of the Pomham Club; Providence odge, No. 14, Benevolent and Protective Order of Iks; and holds the thirty-second degree in the Ma- nic order, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, as did s father, his membership being in What Cheer odge, No. 21, Free and Accepted Masons; Provi- ence Chapter, Royal Arch Masons; Providence ouncil, Royal and Select Masters; Calvary Com- andery, Knights Templar; Rhode Island Consistory, overeign Princes of the Royal Secret; and also Palestine Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of e Mystic Shrine.

Mr. Dean married (first) Mabel F. Gardiner, (sec- id) Louise Barrigar, of Kansas City, Mo., who died pril 14, 1913. By his first marriage he was the father a daughter, Bertha Mabel, who died in Novem- r, 1918, wife of Walter P. Suesman, of Providence. alter P. and Bertha Mabel (Dean) Suesman were e parents of two sons, John Morgan Dean and Wal- ŕ P. Suesman.

EDWARD MOWREY HARRIS, M. D .- This me is not an introduction. It is simply an an- uncement. To introduce Dr. Harris to the readers this work would be wholly superfluous, for his high anding both as a physician and a citizen is matter of

common knowledge far beyond the limits of his home town of Providence.

Edward Mowrey Harris was born September 4, 1841, at North Killingly, Conn., and is a son of Wil- liam and Zilpah (Torrey) Harris, the former a farmer and justice of the peace. Edward Mowrey Harris attended various public schools and academies, also receiving instruction from private tutors and eventually entering Yale Medical College. In 1866 he gradu- ated from the Medical School of Harvard University. During the long period that has since elapsed Dr. Harris has been actively engaged in the successful practice of his chosen profession, also engaging in farming and taking an interest in real estate. He was president of the Providence Medical Association, and recording and corresponding secretary of the Rhode Island Medical Society. Public spirit has always been one of Dr. Harris's distinguishing char- acteristics both as regards community affairs and mat- ters of national importance. In 1912 he was presi- dential elector on the Progressive ticket, and at the convention held in Chicago served as delegate and national chairman of the Rhode Island delegates. He was president of the Progressive League of Rhode Island, of the Franklin Lyceum (Providence), and the Providence Chess Club. The fraternal relations of Dr. Harris are limited to affiliation with the Masonic order. He holds membership in the West Side Club of Providence, and he and his family are members of the Bell Street Independent Chapel.

Dr. Harris married, in 1887, in Providence, Amy, daughter of James and Elizabeth Frances (Jackson) Eddy, and they are the parents of two sons: James Eddy, born Feb. 21, 1891, and Edward Mowrey, Jr., born May 24, 1892, both now deceased.

As a citizen Dr. Harris has a record of disinter- ested public service; was for many years a contribu- tor on the Providence "Journal," and for fifty years has been an active, public-spirited citizen.

THEODORE HAMMETT COLVIN-As a young man of twenty-six years, a molder by trade, an experi- enced journeyman and foundryworker, Theodore Ham- mett Colvin came to the city of Providence in 1872. The business he then started caught the full force of the panic of 1872-77, and those five years were such as try men's ability to the limit. But he prevailed, and it is his pride that The Colvin Foundry Company has weathered every financial storm and has never failed to meet every obligation. Another record to be proud of is the fact that for twenty-seven years he never had labor trouble, that record then being broken by a strike to unionize the plant. Mr. Colvin resisted, and in time the men voluntarily agreed to work, re- joicing to find their jobs open, as they had found they were the best paid men in the business, taking conditions into consideration. He always kept in close personal touch with every transaction occur- ring throughout the works, and to that fact much of his success may be attributed. From 1872 until Janu- ary, 1916, he was supreme at the plant, then having brought up his sons in the business and thoroughly trained them for their responsibilities, he sold his

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interest to them and retired, leaving Clarence H. Col- vin president of the company, and Charles T. Colvin, treasurer.

Theodore H. Colvin is of the seventh American generation of the family founded in New England by John Colvin, of Dartmouth, Mass., and Providence, R. I., the owner of a tract of four thousand acres at Providence, where he died, November 28, 1729. The line of descent is through the founder's son, Rev. James Colvin, of Providence and Coventry, R. I .; his son, Caleb Colvin, of Coventry; his son, George Col- vin, of Coventry, a Revolutionary sailor, his widow Mary drawing a United States pension; their son, George (2) Colvin; his son, Henry Colvin, of Plain- field, Conn .; his son, Theodore H. Colvin, of Provi- dence, R. I. Henry Colvin, born December 20, 1813, died December 14, 1869, married Mary Ann Bennett, born May 11, 1808, died August 26, 1892, surviving her husband twenty-three years. Their children were: Henry G., deceased; Huldah M., deceased; Mary P .; Frances S .; Elizabeth, deceased; Theodore Ham- mett, of further mention; Elisha H., deceased, and Emily.

Theodore Hammett Colvin was born in Plainfield, Conn., April 26, 1846, now (1918) living in Providence, R. I., retired. After school days were ended he began learning the molder's trade at now Danielson, Conn., finishing his apprenticeship in the foundry owned by his kinsmen, Caleb and James Colvin, entering their employ in 1864 and continuing until 1865. He worked as a journeyman in Whitinsville, Mass., for a few months, then in December, 1865, went to Worcester, Mass., where his old employer had opened a foundry. He continued a molder at Worcester until 1872, then came to Providence, where the years which have since elapsed have been spent.

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The history of the state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, V. IV, Part 92

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