The history of the state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, V. IV, Part 95

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 95

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).

Mr. Wood died suddenly on May 8, 1905, at Wil- mington, Del., while on his way from Washington to Providence, passing away on the train.

(The Remington Line).

Remington is an English surname of local derivation, meaning "of Rimmington," a township in the parish of Gishurn, West Riding, York. It has also been found in Lancashire for a number of centuries.

Arms-Barry of twelve argent and azure, over all a bend gules.

Crest-A hand erect, holding a broken tilting spes all proper.

The Remington family was established in New En land in the early part of the seventeenth century, al has been prominent in the life of the State since th time, leading figures in its industrial life and pub! affairs. The family in England, of which the Ame ican Remingtons are a branch, was well known throug out the United Kingdom, possessing in all its lines mo of mark in the affairs of the country. The Remingto family is of the landed gentry, and entitled to be arms. The American branch was established here 1637 by John Remington, and is connected throug marriage with some of the finest and oldest families . New England.

(I) John Remington, progenitor of the branch which the late William Humphrey Remington was member, was a native of England, and emigrated America from Yorkshire. He arrived in the Mass chusetts Colony in 1637, and settled first in Newbur where he was made a freeman, May 22, 1639. He lat removed to Rowley, where he remained for conside able period. About 1662 he removed to Roxbury, Mas In the early Colonial records of Massachusetts he ca himself late of Rowley, now of Roxbury. He becar a man of prominence in the community. John Remin ton received a two-acre lot in the division of pub. lands in Rowley. His home was located on Wether field street. In 1647 he was a lieutenant of militia und Captain Sebastian Brigham. He died in Roxbury, Ju 8, 1667. He married (first) in England, prior to } coming to America, and his wife, Elizabeth, accor panied him here. She died on December 24, 1658. I married (second) Rhoda - John Remington h two sons, John and Thomas, whose names are not fou: on the records of Rowley. Children, whose names a recorded in Rowley: I. Jonathan, born Feb. 12, 16. 2. Daniel, born Oct. 2, 1641. 3. Hannah, born June 1643. 4. Elizabeth, born April 5, 1645, died in 16. 5. Elizabeth, born about 1648. 6. Mary, born March : 1653, died in 1654.

(II) John (2) Remington, son of John (1) a Elizabeth Remington, was born about 1628 or 1630 Yorkshire, England, and accompanied his parents America. He resided first in Rowley, Mass., but later 1 moved to Andover, where there is record of him fro 1654 to 1656. He settled in Haverhill, Mass., as ear as the year 1661. Shortly after 1664 he was a memt of the colony at Jamestown, R. I., and later removed Warwick, R. I., where he took up his permanent abor and died in 1709. He married Abigail Th children were: I. John, born in Rowley, March 1651. 2. Abigail, born in Rowley, Sept. 14, 1652. Joseph, born Nov. 29. 1654. 4. Thomas, born Feb. 4, 16. 5. Prudence, born in Rowley, July 14, 1657. 6. Josef mentioned below. 7. Daniel, born Oct. 18, 1661. Hannah, born July 3, 1664, in Haverhill, as was al David.

(III) Joseph Remington, son of John (2) and A gail Remington, was born about the year 1658, accor ing to Rhode Island records. He was a resident Jamestown, R. I. Records, further than the fact th he served on the jury at Jamestown, on September 1682, cannot be found of him.

R. J. Hood

Remington

375

BIOGRAPHICAL

(IV) John (3) Remington, son of Joseph Remington, was born in Jamestown, R. I., on April 12, 1680, and re- sided there all his life.

(V) John (4) Remington, son of John (3) Rem- ington, was born in Jamestown, R. I., and resided there during his entire life-time. He married Susanna Their children were: I. Benjamin, born Sept. 19, 1733. 2. Peter, born July I, 1737. 3. Penelope, born April 15, 1739. 4. Sarah, born March 21, 1741. 5. Abi- gail, born in May, 1743. 6. John, born Jan. 6. 1745. It is thought within a reasonable degree of certainty, that he, John (4) Remington, was also the father of Enoch Remington, mentioned below.

(VI) Enoch Remington, son of John (4) and Su- sanna Remington, was born in Jamestown, R. I., about 1735. He later removed to Warren, R. I., with his wife, Molly. Two children are recorded in Warren : I. Molly, born Nov. II, 1757. 2. Lydia, born July 20, 1765. They are thought to have been the parents also of Enoch, mentioned below.

(VII) Enoch (2) Remington, son of Enoch (1) and Molly Remington, was born in Warren about 1768. He resided in the town of Barrington, R. I., and died there January I, 1795. He married in Barrington, R. I., August 5, 1790, Ruth Armington, daughter of John and Ruth (Kent) Armington. (See Armington IV.) Their children were: I. Samuel Watson, born Jan. 4, 1791. 2. Enoch, mentioned below. 3. Ruth, born Dec. 28, 1794. Ruth (Armington) Remington was a member of a prominent New England family established here in the early part of the eighteenth century. She was born in Rehoboth, Mass., June 29, 1771.

(VIII) Enoch (3) Remington, son of Enoch (2) and Ruth (Armington) Remington, was born in Barrington, R. I., May 3, 1792. He was a citizen of considerable prominence in the affairs of the community, and was a farmer on a large scale. He died in Providence, Au- gust 6, 1864. Enoch Remington married, March 13, 1814, Phebe Short, daughter of John and Betsey (Scott) Short. She was born April 9, 1797, and died July 31, 1870. John Short was born in Warren, R. I., February 14, 1757, the son of John and Phebe Short; married in Barrington, September 30, 1779, Elizabeth (Betsey) Scott, of Cumberland. Their daughter, Phebe Short, married Enoch Remington. Children: I. Samuel Wat- son, born Sept. 30, 1817. 2. Lucretia S., born June 15, 1820. 3. William Humphrey, mentioned below. 4. George A., born Sept. 26, 1824. 5. Jeremiah S., born Sept. 6, 1827. 6. Daniel S., born March 3, 1829. 7. Phebe A., born March 12, 1831. 8. George A. (2), born March 31, 1833-

(IX) William Humphrey Remington, son of Enoch (3) and Phebe (Short) Remington, was born in Bar- rington, R. I., March 29, 1822. He received his early educational training in Barrington. Early in life he em- barked on a business career for himself, and secured his first employment in the dry goods business in Provi- dence, R. I., to which city he went because he realized that it presented greater opportunities. He entered the business in the capacity of a clerk, and solely through his own efforts and energy, intelligently ap- plied, he became a proprietor. After a period spent in learning the business in every detail, and in becoming

thoroughly grounded in its inner workings, he engaged independently as a fancy dry goods merchant. Shortly afterward he went into partnership with his brother, Jeremiah S. Remington, and opened a store in the Arcade, in Providence. This business prospered greatly, and came to have a reputation for the highest principles of business dealing. The one store was found inade- quate to meet the demands of the trade, and another was added to it. At the time of Mr. Remington's death the one store had grown to four, and it is highly prob- able that he would have been influential in increasing his business to greater size had he lived longer. His death occurred in the very prime of life, at the age of forty-two years, on September 9, 1844. William Humphrey Remington was one of the most thoroughly respected and honored business men of his day.

He married Jane Smith, daughter of Richard and Elizabeth ( Phillips) Smith, of Providence, R. I., a de- scendant of one of the oldest families of New Eng- land. (See Smith VIII). Mrs. Remington died July 17, 1902. She was a devoted member of the Baptist church. Their children were: I. Florence, died 1860. 2. William R., died in 1873. 3. Adele S., married Wil- liam H. Wood, of Providence (deceased) ; resides in Providence, R. I. (See Wood).

(The Armington Line).

Arms-Per chevron or and azure, in chief two lions rampant combatant of the second, in base a lion ram- pant of the first.

The Armington family in America dates from the opening years of the eighteenth century. Joseph Arm- ington, the founder and ancestor of all of the name in America, whose ancestry is traced to the Colonial period, was a native of England. It is judged from the fact that he returned to the mother country on affairs of business that he was a man of large interests. A genius for mercantile and financial affairs has been largely evident in one line of his descendants. There have been professional men among them also. South- eastern Massachusetts and that part of the Colony and later the State of Rhode Island which borders upon it has been the home of the family since the time of its founding in America. The family, though compara- tively small, contributed many of its sons to the defence of the Nation in the American Revolution, the War of 1812 and the Civil War.

(I) Joseph Armington, immigrant ancestor, was born on the Island of Guernsey, Great Britain. He came to the New England Colonies from England in 1714, settling in Boston, where he remained for a year. In 1715 he returned to England, and died there in that year. His wife, who had accompanied him to America, was a woman of excellent education, well-born and cul- tured. After her husband's death she established a school in Roxbury, Mass., where she taught French.

(II) Joseph (2) Armington, son of Joseph (1) Arm- ington, was born in the year 1707 on the Island of Guernsey, Great Britain, and accompanied his parents to New England in 1714. He settled in Rehoboth, Mass., on attaining his majority, and followed the trade of brickmaker there until his death. He married, May 27, 1729, Hannah Chaffee, daughter of Jonathan and Han- nah (Carpenter) Chaffee, who was born October 3, 1707,

376

HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND

and died February 22, 1799, at Rehoboth. Joseph Arm- ington died in Rehoboth, August 15, 1746.

(III) John Armington, son of Joseph (2) and Han- nah (Chaffee) Armington, was born June 12, 1735, at Rehoboth, Mass., where he resided during the greater part of his life. In his latter years he removed to Waterford, Vt., where he died. He married (first) January II, 1757, Ruth Kent, born March 3, 1737, daugh- ter of Hezekiah and Ruth (Cooper) Kent. He mar- ried (second) January 13, 1788, Chloe Newman, of Rehoboth.

(IV) Ruth Armington, daughter of John and Ruth (Kent) Armington, was born June 29, 1771, in Rehoboth, Mass. She married, August 5, 1790, Enoch Reming- ton, of Barrington, R. I. (See Remington VII.)

(The Smith Line).

The Smith immigrants to America in the seven- teenth century were numerous, and their progeny forms one of the greatest of American families of Colonial date. Rhode Island, which has been the home of the family herein under consideration since the year of the founding of Providence when John Smith, called the Miller, to distinguish him from others who came after him, was one of the five men who accompanied Roger Williams to Rhode Island in the spring or summer of 1636, and made the first settlement of white persons in the territory.

Arms-Quarterly, first and fourth, barry argent and gules; second and third, quarterly, first and fourth, gules on a chevron or, between three bezants, as many crosses formee fitchee sable; second and third; azure a fesse between three urchins argent.

Crest-Out of a castle argent a wolf's head sable. Motto-Boutez en avant.

(I) John Smith, immigrant ancestor and founder, was a native of England, born in 1595. He came first to Dorchester, Mass., where however, he soon fell under the displeasure of the Puritan authorities because of his religions views. On September 3, 1635, it was or- dered by the General Court of Massachusetts "that John Smith shall be sent within these six weeks out of this jurisdiction, for divers dangerous opinions which he holdeth and hath divulged, if in the meantime he removes not himself out of this plantation." In 1636 Roger Williams and John Smith and four others came to Providence and made the first settlement there. John Smith was one of the most prominent figures in the year's decades of the history of Providence. In 1641 he held the office of town clerk. On March I, 1646, an agreement was made at the monthly court that he should have the valley wherein his house stood in consideration for which he was to set up a mill. It was also agreed that no other mill would be permitted in Providence. In 1647 twenty-two acres were laid out to him, a portion for the mill, and at the time of his death he was in possession of one hundred and fifty acres. He was one of the most prosperous men of the community, which fact is evidenced by the tax list. On September 2, 1650, his widow Alice was taxed two pounds and ten shillings.

(II) John (2) Smith, son of John (1) and Alice Smith, was born probably about 1630 in England, and died in Providence, in 1682. He was a miller and suc-

ceeded his father in the management of the property, which was confirmed to him and his mother by the town after the father's death. He purchased two shares in the town, April 27, 1655, and drew twenty-one acres in his father's right at a division made February 19, 1665. He had various parcels confirmed to him by the town, May 24, 1673. His house was burned by the Indians, March 30, 1676, and with difficulty he saved the town records which were in his custody, by throwing them into the mill pond. John Smith was ensign of the mil- itary company, November 6, 1654; in 1661 he was jury- man, deputy 1666 and 1672, and town clerk, from 1672 to 1676. He married Sarah Whipple, born in 1642, died after 1687. daughter of John and Sarah Whipple.

(III) William Smith, son of John (2) and Sarah (Whipple) Smith, was born in 1682, and died December II, 1753, in Smithfield, R. I. He built the county court house, for which he received six hundred and sixty-four pounds, nine shillings. For many years he was major in the militia, and one of the foremost men in the col- ony. He was deputy to the General Court, in 1714-16- 1720-21-24-27-29; assistant in 1729-30-31, and moder- ator of Smithfield in 1733-34-35-40, deputy from Smith- field to the General Court, in 1735-44. The inventory of his estate amounted to £ 547 6s. Major William Smith married Mary Sayles, born May 30, 1689, died after 1754, daughter of John and Elizabeth Sayles.

(IV) Daniel Smith, son of Major William and Mary (Sayles) Smith, was born September 28, 1712, in Prov- idence. He resided in Smithfield, and in Burrillville, which was a part of the original town of Smithfield. He married in Smithfield, August 3, 1735, Mary Aldrich, who was born in Mendon, Mass., February 15. 1714, daughter of Moses and Hannah (White) Aldrich.

(V) Martin Smith, son of Daniel and Mary (Al- drich) Smith, was born October 15, 1747, in Burrillville, and was married in Smithfield, November 4, 1764, to Mary Mowry, who was born October 30, 1745, daugh- ter of Uriah and Urania Mowry.

(VI) Pitts Smith, son of Martin and Mary (Mowry) Smith, was born October 10, 1766, in Smithfield, R. I., resided there all his life, and married, May 31, 1795, Susanna (No record of the surname of his wife has been found; it was possibly Steere.)

(VII) Richard Smith, son of Pitts and Susanna Smith, was born May 15, 1796, in Smithfield, and died in Providence, August 28, 1864. In early life he resided in Glocester, and when a young man, in 1820, removed to Providence, and took possession of the Bull Dog Tavern, which was built in 1798 at Bull Dog Square, now known as Randall Square. He succeeded Calvin Dean in the management of the hotel, and continued until 1840, when it was sold to Mary Ann Madden. During the time Richard Smith conducted the hotel, the large assembly room in it was devoted on Sunday to religious meetings, with steadily increasing congre- gations, until the attendance was gathered into the Fourth Baptist Church Society. Baptisms were per- formed in the Moshausick river, which flowed near the tavern. Later Colonel Smith conducted succes- sively the Franklin House, the Eagle House and Amer- ican Hotel, and was one of the best known hotel men in the State in his day. He was among the "forty-niners,"

Smith

,ב

377

BIOGRAPHICAL

who went to California in search of gold, but soon returned to Providence, and continued to make his home there until his death. He married Elizabeth Phillips, daughter of David Phillips. The Phillips coat-of-arms is as follows :

Arms-Gules, a chevron argent, between three fal- cons proper, ducally gorged, beaked and membered, or. Crest-Out of a ducal coronet or, an arm embowed in armor, the hand holding a broken spear proper, powdered with fleur-de-lis gold.

(VIII) Jane Smith, daughter of Richard and Eliza- beth (Phillips) Smith, married, April 17, 1850, Wil- liam H. Remington, of Providence. (See Remington IX.)

HON. ARAM J. POTHIER-Ex-Governor of Rhode Island, twice mayor of Woonsocket, and twice commissioner to Paris. That, in brief, is the story of this remarkable man's public career. In the realm of finance he stands before the world as president of the Union Trust Company of Providence, and in connec- tion with the development of the industries of Woon- socket his name stands without a peer in the history of the city.

Aram J. Pothier was born in the Province of Que- bec, Canada, and is a son of Jules and Domitilde Pothier, both now deceased. Aram J. Pothier received his preparatory education in Canadian schools, com- pleting his course of study at Nicolet College. In 1870 Jules Pothier brought his family to the United States and to Woonsocket, and in 1875 Aram J. Pothier was engaged by the late Hon. Latimer W. Ballou to fill a clerkship in the Woonsocket Institution for Savings. In the course of thirty-three years he filled every posi- tion a man might fill in a savings bank in a city of Woonsocket's size, and he is now president of the in- stitution. So thoroughly identified with it has he be- come that the citizens of Woonsocket call it "Mr. Poth- ier's Bank."

In politics Mr. Pothier has always been a Republican, and his public career began in 1885 when he was elected a member of the Woonsocket School Committee for three years. In 1887-88 he represented Woonsocket in the General Assembly. In 1889 he was appointed by Governor Taft commissioner to the Paris Exposition. His report was singularly interesting, and Governor Ladd accorded it high praise in his annual message of 1890. At the inauguration of the Woonsocket city gov- ernment in 1889, Mr. Pothier was elected city auditor and a member of the school committee. The latter posi- tion he held for one year only, but the former he retained until January, 1894, when he became mayor of his adopted city. From that time until May of the same year he directed the organization of public char- ities in Woonsocket, the period being one of excep- tionally "hard times." For four months he worked almost incessantly along these lines, accomplishing, in association with a number of public-spirited citizens, an amount of good which baffles computation. At a later period he served as treasurer of the Woon- socket Anti-Tuberculosis Association. After hold- ing the office of mayor in 1894 and 1895, Mr. Poth- ier decidedly refused to become a candidate for a third term, and on April 7, 1897, he was elected

lieutenant-governor by a plurality of nine thousand and forty-eight, the largest ever given to a candi- date for lieutenant-governor in the State of Rhode Island. On retiring at the end of a year, Mr. Pothier was not long permitted to remain in private life. In 1900 he was appointed by Governor Dyer commissioner to the Paris Exposition, and while there he was par- ticularly attentive to the interests of visitors from Rhode Island. As on the former occasion his report proved a very valuable document.

In October, 1908, Mr. Pothier was nominated by the Republicans for governor of Rhode Island, and was elected by a plurality of seven thousand two hundred and seventy. In 1909 he received the tribute of a re- nomination, and on November 2, of that year, was re- elected by the largest majority ever given to a guber- natorial candidate in the history of the State. A circum- stance which renders this more noteworthy is the fact that this was an "off year" in political circles. The narrative of his administration, worthy of the man and his record, has now passed into the annals of a former period.

In 1912 Governor Pothier was chosen president of the Union Trust Company of Providence, an honor wholly unsought, but felt by all to be a fitting culmina- tion to his thirty-seven years of distinguished banking service. In addition to his duties as a financier, he is treasurer of the Guerin Spinning Company, the Alsace Worsted Company, the Rosemont Dyeing Company, and the Montrose Worsted Company. More than any other man in Woonsocket, Mr. Pothier has been instrumental in making the city a center of new industries, and it is an eloquent fact that, while he has done much to obtain tax exemptions for other plants, he has never sought this privilege in behalf of concerns in which he himself is specially interested. While abroad he was ever on the alert for opportunities to advance the in- dustrial standing of his city and State, and as a result Woonsocket is now one of the world's centers for the manufacture of woolen and worsted yarns by the French and Belgian processes. He has been instru- mental in obtaining for the French concerns, which have established themselves in Woonsocket since the beginning of the present century, an exemption from taxation which was often a determining cause of their decision to build there. It was chiefly through him that the Lepoutre interests were induced to establish the Lafayette Worsted Company's big plant in Woonsocket, and the city is indebted to him for the erection within its limits of the French Worsted Company's colossal yarn mills owned by the Tiberghiens of Turcoing, France. He was also the factor which brought the Desurmont worsted yarn mills to Woonsocket and Rhode Island.

When Mr. Pothier's first nomination for governor was a subject of agitated discussion, he was thus de- scribed in an article entitled "New England's Future Governors," which appeared in the "New England Mag- azine" :

Mr. Pothier Is a typical citizen of forelgn birth, proud of his ancestry, but American to the core. The foremost leader of his race in this country, he has been a faithful exponent of that broad and healthy Americanism which underlies the very foundation of our Republican institutions, and under his wise lead-

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HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND

ership the French Canadians of Rhode Island have become honored members of the community.

Being well read, a linguist of unusual attainments, Mr. Pothier is a power with pen and work alike. He ranks high as a writer on economics and sociology, and his speeches are always worth hearing. In fact, few men can hold the attention of their hearers as closely as he has done many a time at large and en- thusiastic gatherings.

Mr. Pothier married, April, 1902, at Bridgeport, Conn., Mlle. Francoise De Charmigny, whom he met while rep- resenting his State at Paris. A man of strong domestic tastes and affections, Mr. Pothier's few hours of leisure are most frequently passed in his home.

The article quoted above says of Mr. Pothier that "through his well directed efforts he has brought to his home city millions of foreign capital and helped to build several large mills which give employment to thousands of operatives. Mr. Pothier has succeeded admirably in those great enterprises owing to his sound judgment, his profound knowledge of men and things and his fine sense of diplomacy. He is a born diplo- matist and leader of men." Truly he has proved him- self so and not in one sphere only, but in several, al- ways using his talents for the benefit of his fellow- citizens and the enlightenment and uplifting of humanity.

ALFRED M. COATS-The family of Coats, long conspicuous among the leading thread manufacturers of the world, is an ancient one in Scotland, its repre- sentatives holding important offices at Glasgow in the sixteenth century. The American history of this branch of the family dates from 1854, when Sir James Coats, Bart., came to the United States. Sir James Coats was a son of Sir Peter Coats, Knt., of Auchendrane, Ayr- shire, and Campagne du Sahel, Mustapha Superieur, Algeria, J. P. and D. L. and Commissioner of Supply for Ayrshire, and J. P. Renfrewshire, F. R. S. E. The coat-of-arms of the Coats family is as follows :

Arms-Or three mascles sable, a chief engrailed azure semée of fleurs-de-lis of the field.

Crest-A stag's head erased proper, charged on the neck with an escarbuncle or.

Motto-Coeur fidèle.

Sir Peter Coats, of the ninth generation in descent from David Coittis or Coates, of Barnhill, in the parish of Blantyre, born about 1545, died October 12, 1607, was educated at the Paisley, Scotland, Grammar School and Glasgow University, and was, with his brother, James Coats, founder of the famed firm, J. and P. Coats. He was knighted in 1869. He married, Novem- ber 5, 1832, Glorianna, daughter of Daniel Mckenzie, of Sand Bank, Holy Loch, Argyllshire, lieutenant of the Seventy-fourth Regiment, and she died April 21, 1877, his death occurring March 9, 1890. They were the parents of eight children, the eldest James, of whom further.

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The history of the state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, V. IV, Part 95

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