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REPRESENTATIVE MEN AND OLD FAMILIES

OF

RHODE ISLAND

Genealogical Records and Historical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens and of Many of The Old Families

ILLUSTRATED

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Volume II

_J. H. Beers & Co. Chicago 1908

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THE LIBRARY

BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY LPvGVO, UTAH

Genealogy anb 33tograpf)p

OHN H. EDWARDS. The name of Edwards is one of the oldest in the State history of Rhode Island, and one that has been identified for years with the growth and development of the town of West Greenwich.

John Edwards, father of John H. Edwards, born in Cov- entry, R. I., Feb. 9, 1809, was a triplet, and was one of a family of twelve born to Richard Edwards. He married Lucinda King, of Scituate, born in 1 8 1 1 , who died in 1882 in Warwick, while visiting a daughter who was a resident of that place. Mr. Edwards removed to West Greenwich, and there spent the last forty years of his life, passing away in 1884, one of the most highly respected citizens of that place. He was active in politics as a mem- ber of the Republican party, and was town sergeant for a number of years. Mr. Edwards was the father of the following children : Rhodes Iv., Ben- jamin S., George W., Amy A., Mercy, Lucinda, John Henry, Abby F. and Sullivan M.

John Henry Edwards was born in West Green- wich, R. I., Jan. 6, 1846, and attended the public schools of the place of his nativity until the early part of the Civil war, when, in November, 1861, at the early age of fifteen years, he enlisted in Troop F, 1st Regiment Rhode Island Cavalry. He was discharged in May, 1862, after a long and painful illness with rheumatic fever. After the war he again turned to his studies, attending Greenwich Academy and the Connecticut Literary Institute, at Suffield, Conn. He taught school for a number of years, after which he engaged in business, con- ducting a general store at Noose Neck. He was ordained to the pastorate of the Frenchtown Bap- tist Church, in 1872, resigning, however, in 1879, to accept an appointment from the Rhode Island Baptist State Convention as missionary colporteur for the State. This last position he resigned after about two years’ service, and accepted an invitation to become pastor of the Exeter Baptist Church, serving in that capacity until 1893, when he re- signed on account of ill health after having been pastor of that church for eleven years. During his 43

Exeter pastorate his church entertained the Nar- ragansett Baptist Association. He was moderator of the association in 1885, and the appointed preacher before that body in 1889. Since the close of the Exeter pastorate Mr. Edwards has not been in the active ministry, but has sometimes tempor- arily served neighboring churches, as occasion re- quired.

Mr. Edwards has given effective public service. He was chairman of the school committee and su- perintendent of schools from 1883 to 1892, and is now serving his eighteenth year as town clerk of his adopted town. He became senator in January, 1902, and is still serving in that capacity. He is a Republican, and takes an active interest in public affairs. He took a foremost part in the organiza- tion of the State Board of r''buc Roads, in 1902, became its first chairman, and has served as such continuously ever since. He drew up the origi- nal bill of the present good roads law in Rhode Is- land. He is a man of high and just ideas, and be- lieves that the ballot box is the only medium through which the integrity of our political and civil institutions may be preserved.

Mr. Edwards was married Dec. 3, 1871, to Phoebe H. Brown, daughter of Seth A. and Lu- cinda (Corey) Brown, of Exeter, and has one son, William H., who was born in West Greenwich, Oct. 20, 1872.

SMITH. Since prior to the American Revo- lution the Smiths of the town of Barrington have been a continuous family there, and given to the service of the town, in both military and civil life, highminded, noble men and women, whose work in social, religious, educational and business lines gives abundant evidences of the best progressive citizenship. Among those of the name whose lives have been worthily lived and who have im- pressed their force upon society may be mentioned Hons. Nathaniel Smith, Sr., and Jr., father and son, the elder a patriot of the Revolution, and both prominent public characters, a number of times representatives in the State Assembly; Major Na- thaniel Church Smith ; Hon. Asa Smith, for years a representative in the Lower House of the State ;

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Hons. William Henry and Lewis Bosworth Smith, both honored with a seat in the State Assembly, the latter many times in both the House and the Senate and long one of the town’s leading spirits, whose influence for good and Christian character was a force in the community ; Mrs. Martha Smith, a woman of rare good qualities and force of char- acter; the Misses Lydia, Elizabeth Joy and Eliza Chandler Smith, influential in educational lines, the force of whose characters and lives was felt in the community ; Henry Smith, State Senator and Representative; Hon. George Lewis Smith, the citizen-soldier, an officer in the Civil war and many times since highly honored in both town and State, a Senator and a Representative; Nathaniel Wait and Irving Mauran and Harvey M. Smith, promi- nent business men of Providence; and Charles Jo- seph Mauran Smith ; all representatives of the typical Rhode Island business men and citizens.

One Henry Smith, who came in the ship “Dili- gent,” in 1638, from the County of Norfolk, Eng- land, was early at Hingham, and a representative or deputy to the General Court, and removed to Rehoboth in 1643, dying there in 1649. His son, Henry, was a resident of Rehoboth, and one of the proprietors of the Sowames lands (out of which came Barrington) not far from 1660. He was an ensign and a representative in 1662, and several times thereafter. He left a numerous posterity.

iff) Jarr^s Smith, the first in direct line, of whom we have atm., 'tic record, married Sarah Kent.

(II) Nathaniel Smith, son of James and Sarah (Kent) Smith, was born about 1747. He married Lillis Humphrey, and they had the following chil- dren : Josiah, born May 21, 1772; Nathaniel, Jan. 23, 1774; Bicknell, July 15, 1776; Ebenezer, May 21, 1778; Simon, Sept. 26, 1782; James, Oct. 15, 1783 ; Sarah, Sept. 14, 1785 ; and Asa, Feb. 18, 1788.

Nathaniel Smith, the father, was a farmer own- ing a large farm near Rumstick. On the breaking out of the war he was first a minuteman, and after- ward a recruiting officer. In the early days of the war he served as sergeant in Capt. Thomas Allin’s company, in August, 1775; at the alarm at Bristol, R. I., April 1, 1776. On Jan. 20, 1777, Col. Nathaniel Martin ordered a guard to be kept night and day at his father’s house in Rumstick, Mr. Smith performing service at the time. He was also a member of Capt. Bosworth’s Artillery Company, and was later one of the guards ap- pointed by Col. Nathan Miller, Jan. 5, 1777, to serve at Rumstick for fifteen days. He served in the militia of Barrington April 5-May 20, 1778. He was appointed sergeant in Col. Topham’s regi- ment in 1778-79. Mr. Smith died in March, 1823, aged seventy-six years.

(III) Simon Smith, born Sept. 26, 1782, son of Nathaniel, and grandson of james and Sarah (Kent), married Jan. 2, 1807, Lydia Bosworth, and in their family were the following children :

William Henry, born March 25, 1816; Lewis Bos- worth, Sept. 14, 1817; Lydia, Eeb. 7, 1822; Eliz- abeth Joy, Jan. 25, 1825; and Harriet Bicknell, Aug. 1, 1827.

(IV) William Henry Smith, son of Simon, born March 25, 1816, married Martha Smith, daughter of Ebenezer. Mr. Smith was a resident of Barrington, where he was greatly esteemed and highly respected. He was honored by his fellow townsmen with a seat in the General Assembly of Rhode Island, representing Barrington in that body in 1856, and lie also held several town offices. He died while yet in middle life, in Barrington, in 1864, aged forty-eight years. Both he and his wife were active for the best interests of their town. Dr. Bicknell, in his History of Barrington, pays the following tribute to Mrs. Smith: "She, a woman of unusual mental and moral power and with large opportunities, would have ranked with the best intellects of her sex. Her mind was clear, original, vigorous, always seeking for truth, and in her family, the church, and in society, was a leader in thought and action . Her life has inspired all to noble motives and conceptions of life.” Mrs. Smith died in 1898.

(IV7) Lewis Bosworth Smith, son of Simon, born Sept. 14, 1817, at Nayatt, in Barrington, R. I., married (first) Anna D. Martin, born April 1, 1815, and died in July, 1861, and (second) Nov. 2, 1862, Mrs. Judith R. Parker, daughter of Hon. James Bowen, of Barrington, R. I. Mr. Smith received such educational advantages as the neigh- boring schools of his boyhood afforded, such as were within the reach of the general farmer. To this was added one term of school in the village of Washington, R. I. Reared to agricultural pur- suits, he continued a farmer and on the homestead throughout a long, busy and most useful life. He early showed a fitness for public life, and he had hardly reached his majority when he was called upon to discharge official duties pertaining to town affairs, and so well did he perform them, mani- festing such interest and fidelity, and so capable was he, that he seemed marked for a public career. This was but the sowing of the seed — the harvest of a long public career followed. He was overseer of the poor, member and president of the town council, member of the State Board of Charities and Corrections, representative in both branches of the Rhode Island Assembly, deacon in the Con- gregational Church, treasurer of the United Con- gregational Society, trustee of the public library, on the school committee, chairman of the committee which built the town hall, on the committee which built the State almshouse, etc. When but twenty- four years of age, in 1841, he was elected a member of the House of Representatives, under the old charter, and was re-elected in 1842-43-44-45. In 1842 he was chosen, with Nathaniel Brown, as a delegate to frame the Constitution of the State. He was honored repeatedly by his fellow towns-

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men with a seat- in the Senate, his services in that body beginning in 1865, and closing in 1873. He was returned to the House in 1884, 1885 and 1886. In the meantime he was made, by appointment of Gov. Van Zandt, a member of the State Board of Charities-and Corrections, a position he held for two terms or twelve years. A stanch Republican, Mr. Smith was active and prominent in the councils of the party, giving to it freely his valuable ser- vices. He was frequently a delegate to the con- ventions of that party. While a farmer in main and in earlier life, he later was largely identified with the Nayatt Brick Company, and with a large amount of probate business which was committed to his care.

Mr. Smith’s religious connections were with the Congregational Church at Barrington, with which he united in 1832 ; he was made deacon in 1857, and treasurer of the United Congregational Society in 1853, sustaining these relations with the church and society until the time of his death — sixty years a member, nearly thirty years a deacon, and more than thirty -nine years treasurer. In 1871 he was a delegate to the National Congregational Council, held at Oberlin, Ohio.

In the various services which Mr. Smith ren- dered the town, the State and the church, he acted1 with wisdom, prudence and a high regard for the welfare of individuals and the best interests of so- ciety. I11 public life he was an earnest advocate of honesty and economy in the State government, a warm friend of education, and a strong supporter of the temperance cause. He was known as a man true to his own convictions, and fearless in the ad- vocacy of what he believed to be right. Mr. Smith died suddenly, in the lower vestibule of the Con- gregational Church in Barrington, R. I., Sunday morning, May 19, 1892.

The following beautiful tribute was paid to the life of Mr. Smith by one of his lifelong friends and townsmen — Hon. Thomas Williams Bicknell, LL. D. — in his history of Barrington, R. I. :

“Among the personal agencies which labored for town and society the most influential and thorough-going worker was Lewis B. Smith, who devoted the strength of a long life to the upbuild- ing of public interests in town, church and State. He was a thorough-going Barrington man, loyal to its history and devoted to its welfare. He was a well-balanced man, strong in his physical, mental and moral nature. He was a man of broad views and sympathies, natural and acquired. The school of life was his educator, for he owed but little to the schools of his youth, which were of an inferior sort. A liberal education would have made of him one of the most commanding of men of his time. He united in his person the Smith-Bosworth char- acters. His moral nature ruled and subordinated, or rather co-ordinated, his mental and physical natures. He was born in 1817, and united with the Congregational Church in 1832, and was an

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interested witness of the trying events of that period. At the age of manhood he entered public life. He was a delegate to the Convention to form the State Constitution in 1842, and from that time to his death was occupied with public concerns. He was a peacemaker as well as an organizer. The parsonage difficulties were settled mainly by his active diplomacy. The meeting-house was re- modelled in 1851, and Mr. Smith was the leading spirit in the improvement as treasurer of the Con- gregational Society and Church. He was the trusty and faithful agent of both, and when funds were wanting, and collections in arrears, he ad- vanced ministers’ salaries and paid bills out of his own moneys. One such man in Barrington was equal to a host of common men in leading and re- constructing society. Enemies he had, and opposi- tion he encountered, but he won his triumphs with the weapons of goodwill and peace. When the Civil war came Mr. Smith accompanied his son, George, to the recruiting station, and during the four years of trial he was the helpful friend of every Bar- rington soldier in camp, in hospital, or in the field. He wrought always with and for men for the good will of all, and the town and State honored him as few men of our town have been recognized. The office of lieutenant-governor was offered him by the leaders of the Republican party, but he de- clined the honor, as it seemed to him to involve at the time the loss of independent manhood. His name appears on almost every page of our town’s history since 1840, and to those records as well as to these pages the student of Mr. Smith's life must go for the details of his splendid services for Barrington.”

To the first marriage of Air. Smith were born three sons, namely: George Lewis, Sept. 23, 1840; Frederick P., Sept. 17, 1846; and Albert H., Dec. 11, 1853. Mrs. Anna D. (Martin) Smith was a native of Barrington, and a descendant of one of the ancient families of that region of country. She was in the seventh generation in direct line from Richard Martin, early at Rehoboth. and of record there as early as 1669, her lineage being through John and Joanna (Esten), of Swansea; Ebenezer and Abigail (Wheeler), of Barrington; Col. Nathaniel (a shipbuilder of Barrington, several times deputy to the General Court, soldier and officer of the Revolution) and Elizabeth (Hum- phreys) ; and Sullivan and Belinda (Peck) Martin.

(IV) The Misses Lydia, Elizabeth Jov and Harriet Bicknell Smith, daughters of Simon and Lydia, and sisters of Lewis B.. born Feb. 7. 1822, Tan. 25, 1825, and Aug. 1, 1827, respectively, as teachers in the schools of Barrington made their influence felt in a remarkable degree in that line of the town’s activity. They received good academic training in the seminary in the adjoin- ing town of Warren, and carried to their schools the spirit and labors of true teachers, and to their homes the cheer of true friends and fellow helpers.

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Miss Lydia Smith became the wife of George W. Wightman. Miss Elizabeth Joy Smith devoted the best years of her life to teaching.

(V) George Lewis Smith, son <tf Lewis Bos- worth, born Sept. 23. 1840. at Xavatt, in the town of Barrington, R. I., married Dec. 27, 1865, Ade- laide Eliza Peck, born March 22, 1840, daughter of Asa and Lucretia S. (Remington) Peck, he a descendant of Joseph Peck, who came from Eng- land in 1638, and was of Hingham and Seekonk, Mass., through Nathaniel, Nathaniel (2), Solomon, Solomon (2), and Ellis Peck, of Barrington, Rhode Island.

George Lewis Smith was reared on the home farm in Nayatt. in the town of Barrington, R. I., where his ancestors had lived for generations. He had hardly reached his majority when the echo from Fort Sumter reached the ears of the sons of New England, and, leaving the sowing and planting and the harvesting to other hands, he joined the ranks of the boys in blue June 5, 1861. Entering the army as a private soldier in 1861, he returned to his home at the close of the war a captain, with an honorable war record, which in brief is as follows: Enrolled June 5, 1861, in Company D. 2d Regiment, R. I. V. I. ; discharged at Washington, by reason of promotion to second lieutenant, Company A, 3d Regiment, Rhode Island Heavy Artillery; originally served as second lieutenant of Company A, June 2, 1862, on de- tached service with Company E, at James Island, until July 6, 1862; Oct. 1, 1862, detached to ser- vice gunboat “George Washington wounded bv explosion of cannon on gunboat “George Wash- ington;” mustered in as a lieutenant to date June 1, 1863; assigned to Company G; Eeb. 1, 1863, ordered on special duty commanding gunboat “George Washington,” and so borne until April 27, 1863. when ordered to report for duty with Company A, at Beaufort, S. C., this detail to date from April 9, 1863; relieved from duty with Com- pany A, by S. O., dated May 10, 1863; Oct. 5> 1863. ordered to command Company G; Dec. 27, 1863. appointed post ordnance officer for Port Pulaski and Tybee Island; Jan. 15, 1864, commis- sioned captain and mustered in as captain of Com- pany D. to date Jan. 29, 1864; Feb. 9, 1864, relieved by order of command of Company G, and of duty as post ordnance officer; Oct. 5, 1864, mustered out.

After the war, returning to the old farm in Barrington, Capt. Smith resumed civil life, and the career that has since followed has reflected credit on himself and on the name lie bears, he having worthily followed in the footsteps of his dis- tinguished father. He has been influential in the Republican party, and as well in citizenship. He has enjoyed a full share of the honors of his party and fellow townsmen. He has served as assessor of taxes, been a member of the school board for twenty-one years, served as school superintendent,

served as a member of the board of Charities and Corrections, been president of the Barrington Rural Improvement Society, represented his town in the State House of Representatives in 1894, 1895 and 1896, and was State Senator in 1897 and 1898. He was the originator and warm advocate for the establishment of the high school in Barrington, and has sustained numerous other relations to the tows of Barrington. Capt. Smith is a man of practical business ability, liberal in his views, generous, pub- lic-spirited, and conservative in action. He took his family abroad in 1891, and passed much of 1891-92 in travel around the world. His wife is a woman of culture, and in her maidenhood was a most successful teacher in her native town. She served as first superintendent for the Barrington public schools. Their children are : George

Howard, born July 23, 1867, married Olive B. Holmes, and they have had four children : Mildred Remington (born July 15, 1893), Lewis B. (Nov. 6, 1895, is deceased), Harold Holmes (Nov. 6, 1896) and Edward Manton (Nov. 17, 1901) ; Anna D., born Dec. 30, 1873, married George R. Gray, of Worcester, Massachusetts.

(III) Nathaniel Smith, son of Nathaniel, born Jan. 23, 1774, married Sept. 21, 1794, Wait Mauran, born Aug. 27, 1776, daughter of Joseph Carlo and Olive Mauran, and there were born to them children as follows: Joseph Mauran, Jan. 6, 1796; Olive Bicknell, Sept. 11, 1800; and Na- thaniel Church, Oct. 12, 1811. Nathaniel Smith was a representative from Barrington in the Gen- eral Assembly of the State in 1826-27 and 1828, and either he or his father in 1809-10, 1811-12.

(IV) Joseph Mauran Smith, son of Nathaniel (2), born Jan. 6, 1796, married (first) Miss Kings- ley, of Swansea, and for his second wife, Sally Bosworth. His children were: Rufus, Charles J. M., Benjamin, Sophia, Olive, Wale and Elizabeth.

(V) Charles Joseph Mauran Smith, son of Joseph Mauran, was for a long period of years one of the town’s representative citizens, highly esteemed and greatly respected. By his cheerful nature and the kindness of his heart he won and held fast many warm friends. For some forty years he was a consistent member of the Warren Methodist Episcopal Church. He died May 8, 1892.

(IV7) Nathaniel Church Smith, son of Na- thaniel (2), born Oct. 12, 1811, married April 8, 1835, Sally Bowen, daughter of Judge James Bowen, of Barrington, R. I. The marriage was blessed with the following children : Antoinette Sharpe, James Antoine, Albert, Nathaniel H., Na- thaniel Wait, Louise Bowen, Emily Eddy (who married George H. Babcock), Walter Parker, Ir- ving Mauran, Ralph Antoine and Harry Martin.

Nathaniel Church Smith was a farmer at Rum- stick, in Barrington, R. I. He was a member of the school committee and town council nearly every year from 1855 to 1869. He served as captain of

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the Barrington militia, and it was probably he who was made in 1836 major in the Bristol County Regiment. Of him says Dr. Bicknell : “He was ■devoted to the growth and interests of Barrington, was public-spirited, firm in his adherence to consci- entious beliefs, possessed of genial and social na- ture, looked at men and events from the hopeful standpoint, spoke evil of no one, and was respected by all and beloved by those who knew him best. His family, parents and children have been orna- ments of Barrington.” Mr. Smith was a Demo- crat in his political belief before the war, but later become a Republican in tendency and during the latter years of his political career was always •elected with the aid of his Republican friends in the town. He was a member of the State Assembly from Barrington in 1855-1869, and in 1870-71. He died in 1876. He was a member of the Con- gregational Church of Barrington, and a regular attendant on religious services.

(V) Nathaniel Wait Smith, son of Na- thaniel Church, born Dec. 18, 1842, was in early life employed in the well known wholesale drug establishment of Snow & Clafiin, of Providence. He devoted himself most faithfully to their inter- ests, and in 1873, on the formation of the firm of George L. Clafiin & Company, became a partner in the concern. He was possessed of more than usual aptitude for commercial affairs, and won for himself an enviable reputation for sterling integrity, untiring industry and executive ability of no small degree. He was deservedly popular with all classes. He died, greatly lamented, Jan. 7, 1875. at the early age of thirty-three years.

In April, 1870, Mr. Smith married Emily F. Cole, daughter of Edmund Cole, and a descendant in the eighth generation from (I) James Cole. His son, (II) Hugh Cole, married Mary Foxwell. Their son, (HI) Ebenezer Cole, born in 1671, mar- ried Mehetable Luther. Their son, (IV) Ebenezer Cole, born Oct. 27, 1715, married Patience Miller. He was a prominent man in his day, was deputy to the General Court from Warren in 1760, 1762 and 1770, and was active during the Revolution, being one of a committee to procure blankets for soldiers in July, 1780. He died July 9, 1798. His son, (V) Benjamin Cole, born in 1759. died in 1837. His son, (VI) Luther Cole, married Sallie Salsbury. Their son, (VII) Edmund Cole, mar- ried Olive Maria Wheeler, daughter of Darius Wheeler.

To Mr. and Mrs. Nathaniel W. Smith came two children: (1) Walter C., born Jan. 9, 1871, is a manufacturer of dairy machinery in Bellows Falls, Vt., being a member of the Vermont Farm Ma- chine Company, who turn out principally cream separators. He married Bertha D. Somers of Poughkeepsie, N. Y., and has three children, Mar- garet Dunham, Walter Cole, Jr., and Esther. (2) Nathaniel W. was born Nov. 18, 1873.

(VI) Nathaniel W. Smith, born Nov. 18,

1873, son of Nathaniel Wait, received his academic education in Yale College, graduating in the class of 1896, with the degree of A. B. He subsequently attended the New York Law School, from which he was graduated in 1898. He was admitted to the New York Bar that same year, and to the Rhode Island Bar in 1899. Entering the office of Ed- wards & Angell, he was admitted to this firm in May, 1903, and was appointed assistant attorney for the New York, New Haven & Hartford Rail- road in January, 1904. On Jan. 1, 1907, he became attorney for this road. In the spring of 1906 he was chosen assistant Judge Advocate General with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel on the General Military Staff of the State of Rhode Island.

On Sept. 23, 1905, Mr. Smith was married at South Kingstown, to Ellen Howard Weeden, daughter of William B. Weeden, of Providence. They have one daughter, Mary Weeden, born Oct. 10, 1906. Mr. Smith is a member of the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity, Orpheus Lodge, Providence Chapter, St. John’s Commandery and Rhode Island Consistory.

(V) Irving Mauran Smith, son of Nathaniel Church, and brother of Nathaniel Wait, born July 15, 1852, at the old Homestead at Rumstick, in the town of Barrington, R. I., married April 12, 1887, Mrs. Caroline (Wakeman) Ketchum, and the marriage was blessed with two children, namely : Kenneth Valentine and Nathalie Church Smith. Mr. Smith was given quite a liberal education and began his practical business preparation in the wholesale drug house of George L. Clafiin & Co., of Providence. Subsequently he left this employ- ment to go into business on his own account, when was formed the partnership of Kenyon, Smith & Co., on Exchange Place, Providence. After sev- eral rears’ experience in the new enterprise, Mr. Smith returned to the Clafiin & Co. house, and re- mained with it until the middle seventies, when he severed his connection therewith to become secre- tary and treasurer of the Inter-State Petroleum Company, relations he sustained through the re- mainder of his life.

Mr. Smith inherited a genial nature, an active disposition and a sanguine temperament. He needed no stimulus for wTork, for his busy mind was full of plans for himself and others, which no obstacle could hinder and no discouragements, nor counter influences, check. He was open-hearted and pos- sessed no arts of concealment, or of private schem- ing, so that his life, character and purposes were an open book, known and read by all. He was constantly thoughtful for the good name of his native town, and was always on the alert to do something to add to its attractions. He was the efficient president of the Barrington Rural Im- provement Association, and of the Rhode Island Society, the successful operations of both of which were largelv due toHiis efforts. Mr. Smith died Dec. 1, 1895. The following tribute to the memory

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of Mr. Smith is paid by Dr. Bicknell in his History of Barrington :

"Mr. Smith was one of the most active, use- ful and unselfish men Barrington has produced, and his early death may be traced to excessive la- bor in local affairs, added to the cares of family and business. He was a natural leader and re- former and engaged in new projects with unbounded zeal and faith in their success. He counted diffi- cuities and opposition as naught compared with the gains of successful plans. The town of Bar- rington was his idol, and he worshipped its history and traditions, and worked without stint for its advancement. He led in the organization of the Barrington Rural Improvement Association, and was the leading spirit until his death. Through this association he led the way in securing the recognition of Arbor Day as a State Holiday. The Rhode Island Business Men’s Association owes its life to him, and he was chosen its first president in recognition of his labors. The same is true of the Rhode Island Improvement Association. Hi= example was contagious and inspired all to larger efforts, and there is scarcely a feature of the physical features of the town that has not in these busy- years of his life felt some benefit there- from. The present History of Barrington was undertaken at his urgent suggestion, endorsed by the Town Improvement Association. His life work may be said to have been suggestive, administra- tive and inspirational. His ambitions lay along the lines of public service, and his name and reputation are secure.”

(V) Harry Martin Smith, born Jan. 14, 1858. son of Nathaniel Church Smith, was reared on the home farm and received most of his edu- cation in the public schools of Barrington, the last four years of his school life being spent in the English and Classical High School of Mowry and Goff, in Providence, where he took the English course. He finished his schooling in 1876, and in that same year engaged with the firm of Barker, Whittaker & Co., hardware dealers, to learn the business. He remained with this firm for seven years. In 1883 he connected himself as salesman with the firm of Brown Bros. & Co., dealers in mill supplies, and remained with them for fifteen years. This firm was re-organized and incorporated in 1896, and Mr. Smith became a stockholder and director in same for the last two years of his con- nection with it. He severed his connection with this firm in 1898, when in company with Rufus B. Goff, Henry C. Clark. Harry' C. Cheney and Fred E. Spaulding, all formerly connected with the Brown Brothers Company', he incorporated the Standard INI ill Supply Company, Mr. Smith be- coming vice-president, which position he has held ever since. Later C. H. Child and Wallace R. and William A. Chandler, all of the firm of Brown Brothers Company, came into the firm. Mr. Smith

has spent considerable time traveling through New England in the interest of the concern, and has a large acquaintance with the textile men of that region. He has been successful in his field of work and his present position in the business world is the result of his own efforts and well-directed energies. He is a member of the New England Manufacturers’ Association.

While in earlier years Mr. Smith was active in public matters, of later years, on account of the stress of business, his efforts have been confined to furthering the interests of the Republican party and work along party lines. He has always been a strong Republican. He is a member of the A. E. & A. M., belonging to What Cheer Lodge, Providence Chapter and St. John’s Commandery, and also to Palestine Temple. Mr. Smith is a regular attendant of- the Central Congregational Church of Providence.

Mr. Smith married Mrs. Esther Mariah Harris, daughter of William Whitcomb (deceased), of East Providence. They have no children.

(III) Asa Smith, son of Nathaniel and Lillis, born Feb. 18, 1788, married May I, 1808, Phebe Arnold, of Woodstock, Conn., and to the marriage came the following children: James Arnold, born May 31, 1810; Henry, Nov. 1, 1812; Sarah Ann, Nov. 30, 1814; and Eliza Chandler, Nov. 11, 1817. Mr. Smith was one of the substantial men and useful citizens of Barrington, which he represented in the State Assembly in 1816-18-19-20-22. One of his daughters was active in the earlier educa- tional work of the town. She and Miss Judith R. Bowen established an excellent private school in 1842 at Forest Chapel, Barrington Center. Of Miss Smith Dr. Bicknell writes: “Another influ- ential teacher was Miss Eliza C. Smith, daughter of Asa. Miss Smith was one of the ablest and most valuable women Barrington ever produced. She was endowed with dignity of person and bearing, with fine intellectual qualities, well trained and disciplined for teaching, with a spiritual and moral nature actively ruling her life, and inspired by the highest ideals. She taught in all the schools of Barrington, and her influence over the boys and girls, who came under her instruction can never be measured. I regard it as the greatest privilege of my early life to have felt the awakening and guid- ing influence of this noble woman, and her pupils have always borne testimony'' to her power, not only as a teacher, but as a true earnest Christian woman. Miss Eliza C. Smith was a positive force in helping to create a new Barrington.”

(IV) Henry Smith, son of Asa, born Nov. 1, T812, married at Pleasant Ridge, Hamilton Co., Ohio, Martha Lester, and there were born to them children as follows: Mary E., born Oct. 20, 1838; Ellen H., Jan. 5, 1840; Sarah Ann L., Oct. 12, 1843; Hannah C, July 19, 1845; and Frank H., Sept. 13, 1847. Mr. Smith was a representative

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from the town of Barrington in the State Senate in 1847, 1848 and 1849 (and he or another Henry in the House in 1873-75).

WHITCOMB (East Providence family). Since early in the nineteenth century the name of Whitcomb has been a continuous one at Provi- dence and vicinity, and been representative of one of the substantial, highly esteemed and respected families of this city and suburbs. Reference is made to tne family of the late Willard Whitcomb, who for many years was the genial host and landlord of the old “Franklin House,” and of the “City Hotel.” two of the olden time popular Providence hostelries ; and to his son, the late Hon. William Whitcomb, who for approximately a decade and a half was one of the leading men of his adopted town, East Providence, filling the most important offices of honor and trust of the town, and repre- senting it in the General Assembly of the State.

The life and character of the late Hon. Wil- liam Whitcomb is thus beautifully told in an article written at the time of his death (May 17, 1882) by an old friend, and which appeared in the Providence Journal, of May 19, 1882, over the signature of H. :

“I have rarely in all my life received a more painful message than that which announced the death of my friend. I have been expecting, as he had been, that his father might die any day for several weeks past, but that he should precede him, and that without a warning, was to me a shock in- deed. On Monday evening he was unusually well and cheerful, conversing with his family until bed- time. On Tuesday morning at sunrise, his wife noticed something unusual in his manner and called a friend. On Wednesday morning at the same hour he had crossed that unknown river. But what is death, anyhow ? I am more and more puzzled the more I reflect upon the dark mystery.

“I have known Mr. Whitcomb from his early boyhood intimately and thoroughly. Pie was the son of Willard and Esther (Davis) Whitcomb, and was born in Millbury, Mass., on the 17th of Oc- tober, 1828, and came with his father to reside in Woonsocket in 1835 or 1836. From there his father came to Providence and took the ‘Franklin House,’ in 1838, when I went to live with them, and continued with them as long as his father kept the house, and when .he took the 'City Hotel' I went to live with them there, and stayed as long as they kept it. I should think that I lived under the same roof with William Whitcomb nearly thirty years.

“When I look back to the ‘Franklin House,’ in 1838-39-40, and so on, and recall the men, my fellow boarders, and associates, hardly one of whom remains, it is a sad picture indeed. Charles Potter, who owned the house, was then unmarried and made his home there. John Bowers, the old supercargo for Brown & Ives, and who once seen could never be forgotten, lived and died there. The elegant

gentleman and most agreeable companion, Hart- ford Tingley, lived with us; the late Tully D. Bowen was there ; the late Samuel Currey was a boarder; Augustus Tower and William Burdick, so long connected with the Mechanics Bank, were both there. But why enumerate? Their names are legion and they are all gone. I occasionally re- ceive the kindly greeting of my friend, George Butts, to remind me of the days and the scenes that were passed there. We lived as one family, and the boy, William, as he grew to manhood, was re- garded as one of 11s.

“His father, in some respects was a remarkable man, remarkable for the knowledge of human na- ture, for his habits of industry, and for his perfect self-control. The sun never rose on him in bed. While in health during his long life of eighty years, no man, however shrewd, ever passed any false coin on him, and through all the trying scenes that I witnessed with him in a hotel life of thirty years, I never knew him to betray the slightest exhibition of temper.

“It was under these influences and with these surroundings that William Whitcomb spent his whole life from birth till death. He was the only child that survived. He had a sister who died very young, and his father ever treated him as an equal. There was the most perfect confidence be- tween them. Few men have died in Rhode Island,, who had a larger personal acquaintance than Wil- liam Whitcomb, and I think that he enjoyed to the best the respect, confidence and esteem of them all. No greater tribute to bis character and worth as a man could have been bestowed upon him than the manner in which he has been treated by the citizens of his adopted town. He wrent with his father and family to reside in East Providence- thirteen years ago, and continued there until his death. During that period he had filled the most important offices of honor and trust in that town,, a long time one of the leading men of the town council, and for many years, at different periods, representative of the town in the General Assembly. At the April election in 1882 he received the unanimous vote of a caucus of between two and three hundred members for the office of State Senator, and was re-elected to that place which he held the last year.

“In the spring of t868 Mr. Whitcomb and his father concluded to give up the hotel business and retire to the country to spend the remainder of their lives with their families in peace and quiet. His father visited South Kingstown with a view of purchasing and locating upon the Foddering place, a celebrated ancestral estate, situated at the head of Point Judith, but did not make the investment, and in March, of that year, removed to their pres- ent home, which is located five miles from Provi- dence, on the road to Warren, just where it de- flects to the east, upon a rise of ground overlook- ing the whole of Narragansett Bay. There are few

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more delightful spots in Rhode Island. There with their fifty acres of highly cultivated grounds, their herd of thirteen blooded Alderney cows, their splendid pear and peach orchard, their magnificent grapery and abundance of flowers, have he, his father, mother and wife and daughter lived most happily together all these years. Few men’s deaths of my acquaintance will be more sincerely regretted.”

The wife and widow of Hon. William Whit- comb, Mrs. Helen S. Whitcomb, was formerly Miss Helen S. Watson, daughter of John H. and Sophia (Gaige) Watson, her marriage to Mr. Whitcomb occurring Oct. 6, 1854. Their only daughter is Esther M., the wife of Harry M. Smith, vice- president of the Standard Mill Supply Company, Providence.

The Massachusetts Whitcombs in general de- scend from John Whitcomb, who came from Dor- chester, County Dorset, England, to New England, and as early as 1633 was a resident of Dorchester, Mass., but about 1640, removed to Scituate and thence, in 1652, to Lancaster, where he died Sept. 24, 1662. His widow died May 17, 1671. His sons, who probably came with him from England were: John, Robert, Jonathan, Job and James. There were daughters Catherine, Abigail and Mary.

DEXTER. The Dexters, the posterity of Rev. Gregory Dexter, conspicuous in the early Colonial history of Providence, have through successive gen- erations been dwellers of Rhode Island for 260 and more years. A man of fine talents and intellect himself, not a few of the descendants of the fourth pastor of the old Roger Williams Church, Provi- dence, have left their impress upon the communities in which they have lived. Some of them have been public benefactors. Dexter Asylum in Providence, with which is linked the name of its founder, the late Ebenezer Knight Dexter, will long perpetuate the family name. The achievements of the eminent sculptor and painter — the late Henry Dexter — whose statue of Warren at the Bunker Hill monu- ment associates the name with an historic event, reflect credit not only upon the family name but upon the State and nation. Not a few of these Rhode Island Dexters have adorned the professions and elegant walks of life. Here in the State of Rhode Island the Dexters have been a respectable, industrious and thrifty people. To the lives and lineage of some of these it is the purpose of this article to refer. In the genealogy and family his- tory that follows, the Roman characters indicate the generations removed from the emigrant settler.

(I) Gregory Dexter, born in 1610, at Olnev, Northamptonshire, England, came to America with Roger Williams in 1644. He was a printer and stationer in London, and had been in corres- pondence with Williams. He printed for Mr. Wil- liams there in London, in 1643, the latter s diction- ary of the Indian language. On coming to New

England he was received into the First Baptist Church at Providence, of which he subsequently became pastor. In a few years after his arrival in Providence, he was chosen town clerk. In 1648 he was chosen a “commissioner” to represent the town in the General Assembly, and again in 1650. He was president of the two towns of Providence and Warwick one year, 1653-54. In the subsequent history of the State the name of Mr. Dexter occa- sionally appears, as taking part in the civil affairs of the Colony. On the death of Rev. William Wick- enden, Feb. 13, 1669, Mr. Dexter succeeded him to the pastorate of the Providence Church. While in this position amid his other duties he won the name of an effective, able and successful preacher. He was the first accomplished printer that came to the Colony, and although he did not pursue the occupa- tion here, he occasionally went to Boston and ren- dered assistance in that line there. He printed with his own hands the first almanac for the meridian of Rhode Island. Mr. Dexter is referred to by Dr. Stiles as a man who had been well-educated, pos- sessed handsome talents, and was a distinguished character in the Colony. And Morgan Edwards says of him : “Mr. Dexter by all accounts, was not only a well-bred man but remarkably pious. He was never observed to laugh, seldom to smile. So earnest was he in his ministry that he could hardly forbear preaching when he came into a house or met with a concourse of people out of doors.” Among his later civil duties, he went to London and secured the charter of Rhode Island. Mr. Dexter married Abigail Fullerton and their children were : Stephen, born Nov. 1, 1647; James, May 6, 1650; John, Nov. 6, 1652; Abigail, Sept. 24, 1655; and Peleg, in 1658.

(II) John Dexter, born Nov. 6, 1652, married Feb. 16, 1688, Alice, born in 1665, daughter of John and Sarah (Whipple) Smith. Mr. Dexter settled on lands owned by his father, on what afterward was the Pawtucket turnpike, a little north of what was known as Harrington's lane, where he had a good farm. “He was most emphatically a relig- ious, a military and a business man.” He lived and died on bis farm. He filled acceptably several pub- lic stations, and was a man of capability, energy and responsibility. He was deputy much of the time from 1680 to 1705 ; was a member of the town coun- cil in 1688, 1699, 1700 and 1701 ; assistant in 1690- 91 ; and major in 1699, 1700 and 1702, 1703 and 1705. He was Speaker of the House of Deputies in 1704-05. He died April 23, 1706. His widow remarried, marrying in 1727, Hon. Joseph Jenckes, Governor of Rhode Island. She died Feb. 19, 1736. Major Dexter's children were : Stephen, born April 15, 1689; James, Feb. 22, 1691; John, Oct. 24, 1692; Mary, April 30, 1694: Abigail, April 26, 1696; Sarah, June 27, 1698: Phebe, Aug. 4. 1700; Anne, Nov. 6, 1702 ; and Alice, Oct. 14, 1705 — all in Providence.

(III) James Dexter, son of John, born Feb. 22,

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1691, married Mary Whipple, born in 1692, in Providence. Mr. Dexter was a respectable farmer, and resided on the east side of Scott’s Pond, in what is now Smithfield. He was a man of good abilities and considerable influence. He was a member of the General Assembly in 17 11, 1713 and 1717, the youngest member up to the time ever elected to that Dody under the Charter. His children were : John, born in 1718; James, in 1720; David, in 1722; Anna, in 1723; Mercy, in 1725; and Hopestill, in 1727, all in Providence.

(IV) John Dexter, son of James, born in 1718, in Providence, owned and lived upon a farm in Cumberland. He was a respectable man of his time, valuable to the community. His children were : John S., born in 1753; Daniel S., in 1754; Jabez, in 1756; James, in 1757; Nathaniel Balch, in 1758, all in Cumberland, Rhode Island.

(V) Nathaniel Balch Dexter, son of John, born in 1758, in Cumberland, R. I., married Lucy, born in 1758, in Grafton, Mass., daughter of Joseph Willard. Mr. Dexter was a tailor by trade and set- tled in Grafton, Mass., where he resided until 1797. when he removed to Pawtucket, R. I. He continued to reside in Pawtucket until 1830, when he removed to Providence, where he died in 1832. He was so- cial and agreeable ; and was the great story teller of his day at convivial gatherings. His children, all excepting the youngest three born in Graf- ton, and they in Pawtucket, were : Sally W., born in 1781; John W., in 1783; Hannah M., in 1785; Nathaniel Gregory B., in 1788; Waterman T., in 1790; Lucy, in 1792; Mary C., in 1794; Martha, in 1797; Sebra E., in 1798; Joseph, in 1801 ; and Eliza, in 1804.

(VI) Nathaniel Gregory Balch Dexter, son of Nathaniel Balch, born June 25, 1788, in Grafton, Mass., married in November, 1808, Amey, born in 1788, in Pawtucket, R. I., daughter of Jerahmeel Jenckes. Mr. Dexter removed with his father’s family in 1797, to Pawtucket. He was educated by his parents and never went to school a day in his life. He early entered the counting room as a clerk to Samuel Slater, the first manufacturer of cotton yarn by machinery in America. While in his employ lie opened the first Sunday-school in the United States, and taught it himself. The schol- ars were children who worked in the cotton mill. Capt. Dexter (as he was familiarly called), with the the exception of a short time, about 1810, when he resided at Slaterville, was a resident of Pawtucket, where he had a good estate. For many years he was a manufacturer of cotton knitting yarn on an ex- tensive scale, and most of his sons and their sons and grandsons in turn succeeded to the business. He was one of the main pillars of the Universalist denomination in Pawtucket. He maintained through life the reputation of an upright, prompt and ener- getic man in his business ;and in his civil and so- cial relations, he was generous, benevolent, frank,

affable and kind. He was ever active in the pursuit of something.

In 1858 Capt. Dexter celebrated with his wife the fiftieth anniversary of his wedding, and among the hundreds of his descendants and friends present were two other couples, giving additional interest to the occasion, viz. : Rev. David Benedict, D. D., who had married Capt. Dexter fifty years before, was present with his wife; and Josiah Jones, Esq., then an active printer of Providence, who with his own hands had set the type that announced the wedding in a paper he was then publishing, made his appearance in the company with his wife, and read the marriage from his own paper, as he set it in type fifty years before ; and what is still more wonderful both the clergyman and the printer, with the wives of their youth, all married in 1808, had this year, with Capt. Dexter, celebrated their golden wedding. Capt. Dexter died April 8, 1866. The children of Capt. and Mrs. Dexter were : Jerahmeel J., born in 1809; Lucy W., born in 1811, married William Fletcher; Nathaniel, born in 1814; James Gregory, born in 1817; Simon Willard, born in 1820; Daniel S., born in 1822; Amey, born in 1825, married Ferdinand S. Eddy, of Providence ; and Samuel Slater, born in 1827.

(VII) Simon Willard Dexter, son of Capt. Na- thaniel G. B., born July 25, 1820, in Pawtucket, R. I., married (first) in 1842, Anna Eliza, daughter of Samuel B. and Hannah Bowen, of Attleboro, Mass. She died in 1883, and he married (second) Aug. 17, 1884, Rose Maria Conley, daughter of Thomas and Catherine (Rush) Conley, who came to this country from England in 1853. Mr. Dexter received his education in the public schools of Paw- tucket, and at fifteen in 1835, he went to Providence and entered the employ of Joseph Martin, jeweler, with whom he learned the trade and remained until 1841. Following this he worked for different firms in Providence and Boston, closing his career in this line of business when in the employ of Jonathan Sweet. From Boston in 1842 he returned to his native place and engaged in the shoe business, lo- cating on Main street. In 1843 lie became asso- ciated with F. S. Eddy, under the firm style of Dex- ter & Eddy. In the year following he gave up the shoe business and entered the mill of his father, and there it was he began the. career of his life, and one which has distinguished him as a manufac- turer throughout the whole country. His father’s business had by this time grown to considerable proportions. It was now extended under the Dex- ter Brothers to meet the exigencies of the trade, but in that expansion a great revulsion occurred, and in 1876, a great loss was sustained. A mammoth foundation for a great industry, however, was laid by Mr. Dexter and his brother, who had done a busi- ness of from six hundred thousand to a million dol- lars annually, and in 1880 the Dexter \arn Com- pany was incorporated, since which time the busi-

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ness has gradually expanded, having now an envi- able reputation. Mr. Dexter some years ago retired from the more active pursuits of a business life, but retained stock in the corporation. Mr. Dexter was a quiet unassuming man. He used his means freely for the good of the poor, was known for the probity of his character, and for the uprightness of a long and successful business career. He was an enterprising and public-spirited citizen. His wife was a most estimable woman. The following chil- dren were born to the first marriage of Mr. Dexter : Amey Eliza, born July 2, 1844; Emma Louise, born in 1845; Samuel Francis, born Sept. 3, 1847; and Amelia J., born Oct. 29, 1849. Of these, two are deceased : Amey E. died in 1845 ; and Amelia J., died in 1849. Mr. Dexter died Oct. 29, 1893.

(VIII) Emma Louise Dexter, born Oct. 31, 1845, married in 1865, Edward Thayer, who died Feb. 13, 1899. Three sons and three daughters were born to them: Simon Willard, born Oct. 5, 1867, is general manager of the Dexter Yarn Com- pany; Alanson, born April 12, 1869, married Sadie Graham; Amey Jenckes, born March 9, 1871, mar- ried William H. Barclay, of Pawtucket; Florence, born Dec. 31, 1872; Edward, born Jan. 2, 1875; Emma Dexter, born Jan. 2, 1875, married Paul Al- drich, of Providence.

(\ III) Samuel Francis Dexter, son of Simon W., born Sept. 3, 1847, *n Pawtucket, married Fan- nie, daughter of Dr. James L. Wheaton, of Paw- tucket, and their children are : Nathaniel Wheaton, Fannie W. and Anthony Hamilton. Mr. Dexter was identified with the business of his forefathers, and for the last decade and more was the secretary and general manager of the corporation. In about 1902 or 03 he went tO' California and died there in 1906.

(VI) W aterman T. Dexter, son of Nathaniel Balch, born Tune 28. 1790, in Grafton, Mass., mar- ried Fannie, born in 1793, in Attleboro, Mass., daughter of Tames Orne, a cousin to Paul Revere. Mr. Dexter resided in Pawtucket where he was oc- cupied in the manufacture of cotton yarn. His rep- utation was that of an industrious and respectable citizen. He was captain in the militia for many years. His death occurred April 9, 1870. His children were: Horatio, born in 1813, in Hopkin- ton, Mass. ; Ann Eliza B., born in 1815, in Attle- boro, Mass., married Caleb Ingraham, of East Prov- idence; George Thomas, born in 1819; Fannie Orne, born in 1822, married Abner D. Hoar, of Provi- dence; Waterman W., born in 1824; Henry Bowers, born in 1827 : Sarah L., born in 1830, married Ray W. Potter; Caroline Reed, born in 1832; the last six were all born in what is known as North Prov- idence.

(VII) Waterman W. Dexter, son of Waterman T., born Aug. 8, 1824, in North Providence (now Pawtucket) married (first) Mary J., born in 1828, in Fall River, Mass., daughter of Capt. Halsey Baker, and (second) Caroline J. Baker. Mr. Dex-

ter is a resident of Pawtucket. For many years- he was engaged in the jewelry business and dealt in fancy goods in that city, gaining a high repu- tation as a capable, industrious business man. In more recent years he has been engaged in the in- surance business. His children, all born in North Providence, were: Grace A., born in 1847, who died when young; Clara A., born in 1849, married George A. Luther, of Pawtucket ; Herbert C., born Feb. 29, 1852, married Ida Bishop, and has one child Florence; Annie G., born in 1854, married C. M.. Farnum, of Chicago; Frank Gregory, born Dec. 8, 1856, married Stella Manning, and has one child,. Earl; Fred W., born March 8, 1859, married Agnes E. Muir, of Providence, and is engaged in the jew- elry business in Pawtucket ; and Edgar M., born May 14, 1861, married Annie Baker.

(VII) Henry Bowers Dexter, son of Capt. Waterman T., born March 27, 1827, in Pawtucket, R. I., married May 20, 1857, Emily, daughter of John Campbell, of Pawtucket, and one child blessed the union, Katie Bowers Dexter, born in 1859.

In boyhood Mr. Dexter attended both the pub- lic school and a private school, both in Pawtucket, and the latter at the time conducted by Joseph V atts and John Willard. His parents were not possessed of much of this world's goods, and young Henry while yet in school began to look out for himself, and by doing errands and other work now and then that presented itself, he had accumulated some little money before his school days were over. Fol- lowing the cessation of his studies he served an apprenticeship with Messrs. Brown & Clark, of Pawtucket, at the machinist’s trade, then took charge of the shop of John H. Potter. His next business experience was for himself as a member of the firm of Pimbley, Dexter & Co. Still later he was a member of the firm of Dexter & Cole. During this period Mr. Dexter was engaged in the business of machinist, his employes at times numbering as high as twenty-five, which at that time in Pawtuck- et’s history was considered large for such industry. From this line of work Mr. Dexter went into the manufacturing business, purchasing from his broth- er-in-law, Ray Potter, the latter's cardboard and glazed paper plant. Mr. Potter had not been suc- cessful in this enterprise, and at the time of the purchase of the business by Mr. Dexter the liabil- ities of the concern in round numbers were $22,000. These Mr. Dexter assumed although his only capi- tal at the time was $1,000. At this point, perhaps, it is allowable, at least but fair to Mr. Dexter, to state that on the beginning of his business career, on going to the bank to negotiate a loan, he was in- formed by the president of the institution, that not one man in a thousand who engaged in business made a success. Suffice it to say that this volun- teered remark made upon the mind of the young man receiving it an impression and inspired him to that effort and energy which not only as the race of life sped on made him the one of a thousand, but one-

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in thousands when his great success in life is sum- med up. By the good management of his business and of his finances in general, by renewals and ex- tensions of notes, be was enabled to pay that indebt- edness of $22,000. This business thus named he carried on under the firm name of Thomas & Co., in a building which stood in the rear of the present post-office at Pawtucket for some fifteen years. Then, in connection with George H. Clark, he erected a large brick building on Exchange street, in which the same line of business was carried on under the name of the Rhode Island Card Board Company, Mr. Dexter remaining in the concern un- til April, 1889, when he disposed of his interest to the company. During the earlier experiences of Mr. Dexter in the card board industry originated the paper collar line of it, and Mr. Dexter himself devised the hair lined card board. The products of the company went to the markets of the world.’

At the early age of nineteen years Mr. Dexter began dealing in real estate. He purchased a lot, borrowed the money for the purpose, and built a dwelling upon it, so managing his financial affairs connected with the operation that he finally became the owner of the property. This led him in the line of property creation and property holding. He is now the owner of a score or more of .houses, all of the best character. In the true sense of the term Mr. Dexter is a self-made man, the architect of his own fortune. Early becoming self-reliant, temper- ate and moral as well as industrious and frugal, he has won in life’s race, and his success he attributes to the three practices of religious instruction, tem- perance and self-reliance. He is one of the oldest members of the High Street Universalist Church, and was one of the building committee that erected the church edifice. All through his life Mr. Dexter has been a regular attendant upon religious services, and since coming of age has contributed on an aver- age $190 per year for religious worship sup- port. Mr. Dexter, too, has abstained from liquor all his life, notwithstanding the temptations his con- tact with people of the world, especially in the Eu- ropean travel his business occasionally brought about. He has traveled abroad twice, spending on one trip seven months. It may be said, too, that Mr. Dexter is a believer in phrenology. Once the phrenologist, Fowler, told him that in the midst of his greatest difficulties he himself would be his best counsellor. This made him the more self-re- liant and no doubt greatly contributed to his suc- cess. He is also treasurer and the largest stock- holder in the Coleman Nail Company.

Not a public man in the sense of desiring offi- cial position, Mr. Dexter has kept aloof from the perplexities the seeking and holding of such entail. He did, however, in 1885, represent his city in the General Assembly, and in 1900 he was nominated by the Prohibition party for Congress from the Second district. He is a charter member of the Business Men's Association of Pawtucket, and has

been one of the directors for years. He is a mem- ber of Union Lodge, Royal Arcb Chapter and Holy Sepulchre Commandery of Pawtucket, and of the Consistory of Providence. He was treasurer of the committee that erected the Masonic Temple, costing $110,000, and without detracting from the able services of others, the erection of that temple would not have been a success had Mr. Dexter not personally guaranteed notes to the sum of $50,000. At nineteen years of age he became a member of Good Samaritan Lodge, I. O. O. F., and he is a member also of Manchester Encampment. On June 14, 1901, he was presented with a fine testimonial by his I. O. O. F. Lodge, it being the semi-centen- nial of his initiation. Now at the age of nearly four score years he is in perfect health ; he does not believe in the use of drugs or medicine of any kind, leaving nature to furnish her own remedies, but by the use of the lifting machine and Indian clubs he keeps himself in fine condition.

On Air. Dexter’s return from one of his Euro- pean trips he presented his Sunday-school with some fine pictures of the Cathedrals and churches of Europe and England — Notre Dame at, Paris; Co- logne on the Rhine, and the Cathedral at Milan. On that occasion he made what is probably his only public address, speaking as follows :

‘‘The Table Turned: A few evenings since we had a play in the vestry called ‘The Table Turned.’ I would like to turn it a little bit more by presenting to the Sunday-School some pictures of some of the old ruins of Rome, Italy. When I was there I thought if I ever did get home it would be a good thing for me to present to the Sunday-school some pictures to hang upon the walls of the vestry. The next to going to see the sights of the old countries is to see some pictures of them. I was a member of the Sabbath-school when we held our meetings in the Old Free Hall at the foot of Church Hill. Then I was one of the building committee of this Church, and was very proud to see it dedicated, and am very thankful to see the good condition we are in today. I did not make a vow that I would pre- sent these pictures, although I found it was quite a common thing in olden times for people to make vows. One instance of that kind is illustrated by the Passion Play at Ober-Ammergau. About 250 years ago there was a plague at that place. Alany of the inhabitants had died, and fears were enter- tained that many more would die in this condition of things. The Bishop and Priest went out and of- fered up prayers in the streets, and the Bishop made a vow that if the plague would be stayed, the Pas- sion Play would be repeated once every ten years, and the play has been kept up till now, 1890. I saw the play then. Another illustration of the^vow I found in Naples, Italy. In going up Alt. Vesu- vius, about half way up the mountain, I saw a small chapel built on the top of a hill. Quite a number of years ago a man was going up the mountain, and he saw that the lava was running down. It

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came so fast that he could not run away from it, and lie climbed to the top of this hill. The stream split at the foot of the hill and there he was, as it were, on an island in the midst of a sea of fire. In this condition he came near being roasted alive. He made a vow if his life would be spared he would erect a chapel on the spot, and there it is to this day.

"Perhaps I can do no better than to dedicate these pictures to my good old uncle, N. G. B. Dex- ter, the father of Sunday-schools in America. I have selected the pictures of some of the ruins of the Roman Empire as they are to be seen in Rome at this time. One, the Roman Forum, built about 800 years before Christ ; one the Coliseum, built the year 80; the Bridge of St. Angelo and the Tomb of Hadrian, built 136; and a view of St. Peter's and the \ atican. They are pictures of great historic inter- est and worthy the study of us all. I will ask the Sunday-school to accept them, and only add that I think 1 have the best of it, as the Bible teaches us that 'it is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

(VIII) Katie Bowers Dexter, only child and daughter of Henry B., born in 1859, married Albert H. Stearns, of Boston, Mass., and their children are: Albert Maynard, born Aug. 20, 1886; Henry Dexter, March 7, 1888: Albert Thomas, April 22, 1890; and Catherine, July 16, 1892.

(IV) James Dexter (2), son of James, born in 1720, in Cumberland, R. I., married Alithea, born in 1725, in Seekcnk, Mass., daughter of T. Walker. Mr. Dexter lived and died in Cumberland, R. I., where he was engaged in agricultural pursuits. His children, all born in Cumberland, were : Hope, born in 1747; James, in 1749; Huldah, in 1750; Marcy, in 1754; Simeon, in 1756; Eseck, in 1758; Benjamin G., in 1760; Nancy, in 1761; Alithea, in 1764 ; Lucina, in 1766; and TJmothy W., in 1768.

(V) Timothy W. Dexter, son of James (2), born in 1768, in Cumberland, R. I., married Sarah, born in 1770, in Wrentham, Mass., daughter of D. Messenger. Mr. Dexter was a farmer possessing a good estate near the coal mine in the town of Cum- berland. His children, all born in Cumberland, were: James M., born in 1804; Benjamin G., in 1805; Eseck W., in 1807; and Sarah Ann, in 1814.

(VI) James M. Dexter, son of Timothy W., born in 1804, in Cumberland, married Phebe Sail- tern, born in 1810, in New Hampshire. Mr. Dex- ter was a farmer. He settled near the coal mine in Cumberland, where lie resided until 1837, when he purchased a farm in the State of Illinois, in Bu- reau county, and there he spent the remainder of his life. He was remarkably well-informed, and was largely self-educated. He was a member of the Convention which nominated Abraham Lincoln in i860. He was highly respected wherever he was known. His children — the first four born in Cum- berland and the others in Providence, 111. — were : Timothy W.? born in 1831 ; Anna S., born in 1833 ; Harriet W., born in 1835 : James Cooke, born in

1837; Benjamin, born in 1839, residing in Illinois; Thomas, born in 1842, living in Oberlin, Ohio; Al- bert, born in 1844; Phebe Ann, born in 1846, who was Mrs. Brainard, of Minneapolis, Minn., and George E., born in 1850, postmaster at Tiskilwa, 111. Of these, Benjamin, Thomas and George E. are living. James M. Dexter died in 1888, and his wife passed away in 1891.

(VII) James Cooke Dexter, son of James M., born April 11, 1837, in Cumberland, R. 1., married Sarah Frances Barrows, daughter of Otis Barrows, and three daughters have blessed the marriage, namely: Fannie O. (deceased), Minerva W. (de- ceased), and Hattie B. (who married Charles A. England, cashier of the Lonsdale Company, and has two sons, Frederick D. and Myron E.)

The parents of Mr. Dexter having removed to Illinois in 1838, the son’s boyhood was passed in that State. He attended the public school of the new town of Providence, in that Western State, a town founded by his father, and later was a student at Jubilee College in Peoria county. After his school days were over he returned, in 1862, to his native town and state, assuming charge of the farm of Eseck Dexter, of that town. On the death of Mr. Dexter in 1868, the nephew, James C. Dexter, inher- ited the property and has since been actively en- gaged in agricultural pursuits. This Dexter farm is located at Lonsdale, and is a fine property, and its occupant is one of the substantial men and useful citizens of the community and town, commanding the esteem and respect of his fellow townsmen. Like so many of his forefathers, Mr. Dexter has walked in religious paths, being a member of Christ’s Church, at Lonsdale. In 1874, 1875 and 1876 he was honored by a seat in the General Assembly of Rhode Island, acceptably representing the town of Cumberland in that body. He was a member of the town council in 1893, 1894 and 1895. His political affiliations have been with the Republican party. He is identified with Unity Lodge, No. 34, A. F. & A. M., Lonsdale. During his many years resi- dence in the town of Cumberland he has ever been found on the side of right and justice. In his va- rious official capacities he has rendered efficient serv- ice to his community, but it is as a man and neigh- bor that he will be held in greatest esteem. His deeds of good are well known though he is entirely un- ostentatious in manner and his disposition a retiring one. He has been associated with every movement tending toward the advancement of the prosperity and material growth of his community, and is every- where regarded as one of its most progressive, ear- nest and honorable citizens. The family name and reputation has been most worthily upheld by him.

WILLIAM JAMES UNDERWOOD. In the death of the late Hon. William J. Underwood, which occurred in Newport, Jan. 27, 1906, that city lost one of its honored and respected citizens, as well as one of its progressive and successful business

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men. Mr. Underwood was a worthy representative of one of New England's earliest settled families, the progenitor of which was of Newport, R. I., as early as 1655.

The American Underwoods, who trace their ancestry to ante-Revolntionary times, descend from loseph Underwood, who settled in Hingham, Mass., in 1637, and removed to Watertown, Mass., in 1645 > William Underwood, of Concord and Chelmsford, Mass., in 1652 ; William Thomas Underwood, who settled in Virginia about the middle of the seven- teenth century ; Alexander Underwood, and Henry Underwood, who settled in or near Newport, R. I., in about 1655. This article is to treat of Henry Underwood, the progenitor of the Newport family bearing that name, and of his descendants.

(I) Henry Underwood was of Newport or vicinity in about 1655. His wife’s name was Jane, and their children were: Henry, Jr., who died un- married ; Jane ; William ; and John. These children, all except the youngest, were born in Newport.

(II) William Underwood was born May 24, 1671, and died about 1744. The Christian name of his wife was Sarah, and among their children was William.

(III) William Underwood (2), son of Wil- liam, was born March 14, 1694. In 1717 he married Ann Turpin.

(IV) William Underwood (3), son of Wil- liam (2), was born Feb. 23, 1718-19. On Nov. 19, 2743, he married Susannah Knowles, and they had the following children: Joseph, born Oct. 21, 1744; Anne, June 26, 1748; Henry, Jan. 25, 1752; Alice, Aug. 24, 1753; Samuel, Jan. 29. 1756.

(V) Samuel Underwood, son of William (3), was born Jan. 29, 1756, and was a patriot of the Revolutionary war, serving on the privateer “Lady Washington.” He married Susannah Tripp, daugh- ter of Peregrine Tripp, and they had eight chil- dren, among them being William and Perry Greene.

(VI) William Underwood, son of Samuel, was born May 3, 1779. He married (first; Nov. 12, 1801, Elizabeth Sherman, and (second) in 1818, Amey Wilcox.

(VI) Perry Greene Underwood, son of Sam- uel, was born in 1781 in Exeter, R. I., was of South Kingstown, where he lived, and died March 27, 1865, in North Kingstown, aged eighty-four years, at the time a widower. He was a farmer and in his younger days was extensively engaged in this occupation. In later life he lived at Tower Hill, where he had a well cultivated farm. For many years he was a member of the Baptist Church. He married Abbv Sunderland, and had children : Dan- iel, who married Martha Cottrell, and died in New York State ; Weeden T. ; and Henry.

(VII) Weeden T. Underwood, son of Perry Greene, was born in South Kingstown, R. I. His life was devoted to the occupation of farming, and he was of a very industrious nature. acc*uiring a good competence. He later removed

to Newport, where he died on July 5, 1886, aged, seventy-nine years and seven months. In political faith he was a stalwart Democrat, and as such served as a member of the old Newport town gov- ernment, and after the city government was formed he served as a member of the board of aldermen for several years. He married (first) Dec. 25, 1831, Susan Albro, and to this union were born children as follows : Henry and Thomas, twins, the latter dying in infancy, while the former was a carpenter by trade, and was also engaged in team- ing in Newport, where he died ; Harriet, who mar- ried Benjamin Morris Carr (deceased), of Newport, where she resides ; Sarah, widow of William North- rup, of Newport, where she resides; William ).; Phebe, who married Henry Underwood (who died in 1906), and resides at Wakefield, R. I.; Theodore, a farmer, residing in South Kingstown, R. I. Weeden T. Underwood married (second) Ann Peckham, of Newport, and to this union were born two children : Mary, who died in Newport ; and Martha, wife of Thomas P. Peckham, of Newport.

(VIII) William J. Underwood, son of Weeden T., was born in Newport, R. I., Oct. 10, 1837. He received such education as was obtainable in the public schools of his native city sixty years ago, and was employed as a boy on his father's farm. At the age of sixteen he determined to learn a trade, and, choosing that of a mason, went to Providence, where lie served a four-years’ apprenticeship under Joseph Cranston, in whose employ he remained for a period of five years. The following three years he spent the greater part of the year in Boston, during which time while in Newport he worked at his trade for the late Stephen S. Albro and John Freeborn. In 1864 he became foreman on the con- struction of the Aquidneck cotton mill at Newport, after which he established himself in business as a mason contractor and builder, at which he con- tinued until 1899, when he retired from active business. During his career as a contractor lie erected many of the finest homes in and around Newport, among them the summer residences of E. D. Morgan, Dr. C. M. Bell and Harold Brown; he also erected the King Block, the Aquidneck Bank Building and the Cloyne School building.

As a business man Mr. Underwood was very successful, and while in his zenith as a contractor employed from ten to one hundred men. In the last few years he had devoted himself to gardening. He built a house on Touro Park West, the land affording him room for the cultivation of fruit and vegetables, and to their care he gave the larger part of his time. Having sold or built upon the land which he used as a garden the year before his death, he secured a larger tract of land a short distance beyond the One Mile Corner, and here he was developing a large market garden, having during the past year materially improved the prop- erty by the erection of a house and the planting of trees and shrubs and the growing of fruit and

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vegetables. This garden was his principal occupa- tion, and took his time largely from his other inter- ests.

Mr. Underwood had for many years been inter- ested in politics, having been prominent in the coun- cils of the Democratic party in the city and State as chairman of the city committee and a member of the executive committee of the State central com- mittee. He had held a number of public offices in the city and State, having represented the Fifth ward in the city council from 1870 to 1874 and from 1879 to 1883, and was for four years a mem- ber of tlie board of health. He was State Senator in 1887-88 and 1890-91 and Representative in the General Assembly from January, 1902, until Janu- ary, 1905. He also served as overseer of the Poor for several years, and was also a member of the board of Park Commissioners for a period of years.

Mr. Underwood was a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity, having been a past master of St. John's Lodge, No. 1 ; past commander of Washing- ton Commandery, Knights Templar; a past com- manding officer of Van Rensselaer Lodge of Per- fection and of Rhode Island Sovereign Consistory, and one of the few Thirty-third Degree Masons in the State, having been raised to that degree on Sept. 18, 1888. He was also a member of Pales- tine Temple, Mystic Shrine, of Providence. He was formerly a member of the Providence Lodge of Elks, later becoming a charter member of the Newport Lodge. He was also a member of the old Newport Business Men’s Association; of the County Club; of the Natural History Society; of the Redwood Library and Athenaeum ; and a life member of the Newport Historical Society. He had but few official business connections at the time of his death, among them being that of trustee of the Savings Bank of Newport.

Mr. Underwood was an attendant of the United Congregational Church, to the support of which he was liberal in his donations.

On Dec. 25, 1864, Mr. Underwood was first united in marriage to Mary Elizabeth Underwood, daughter of William and Mary (Peckham) Under- wood, of Newport. Mrs. Underwood passed away Dec. 18, 1899, in Newport, and Mr. Underwood married (second) Sept. 24, 1902, Miss Annie L. Moore, daughter of Albert M. and Carrie A. (Ingraham) Moore, of Chicopee, Mass., who sur- vives to mourn his loss.

Mrs. Underwood is a member of the William Ellery Chapter, Daughters of the American Revo- lution, being eligible through the Moore, Ingraham, Graves and Goodman families. Mrs. Underwood is a great-granddaughter of Luther Moore, of Sud- bury, Mass., who served as a private in Capt. Andrew Haskell’s company, Col. Thomas Marsh- all’s regiment, in the Continental Army.

Mr. Underwood was a man of positive character,

and his friendships were strong and lasting. He was charitable and generous in his nature, and ever ready to assist his less fortunate fellow-beings. He was much devoted to his native city, and ever alive to its best interests. In his will, among his public bequests, he left $4,000 to the Newport Hospital to endow a free bed ; $5,000 to the Children's Home, and the residue of his estate, after his wife’s death, to the city of Newport to be used in erect- ing a school or in purchasing a site or furniture and apparatus far a school, to be known as the Underwood School. Mr. Underwood was highly respected throughout the community, and univer- sally regarded as one of the prominent and leading citizens of the city.

JOHN REYNOLDS WILCOX, sheriff of Washington county, R. I., and one of the best known and most popular officials in the State, is descended from one of the oldest families of this part of New England.

In 1638 the name of Edward Wilcox is found among the names of the inhabitants of the island of Aquidneck ; he also had lands at Manhattan. The maiden name of his wife is not known. His sons were: John, Daniel and Stephen (who had grants of laud at Portsmouth).

Stephen Wilcox was born in 1633, and his death occurred in 1690. In 1658 he married Hannah, daughter of Thomas and Martha Hazard. On Jan. 30, 1658, he had a deed of thirty-four acres of land from Thomas Hazard as dower with his wife. On May 18, 1669, his name was in the list of inhabitants of Westerly. In 1670 he was complained of, with his partakers, by John Richards, treasurer of Har- vard College, for unjustly possessing five hundred acres in the Pequot country on the east side of the P'awcatuck river. To Stephen Wilcox were born seven children, as follows : ( 1 ) Edward, born in 1662, married (first) Mary, daughter of Robert Hazard, and by her had four children — Mary, who married Joseph Lewis ; Plannali, who married Eze- kiel Garrette ; Stephen, who married Mary Randall ; and Edward. He married (second) Thomasin Stevens, and the children of this marriage were : Sarah, Thomas, Hezekiah, Elisha, Amey and Sus- annah. (2) Thomas married Martha, daughter of Robert Hazard, and they had eight children, Robert. Stephen, Jeffrey, Thomas, Abraham, George. Ed- ward and Hannah. (3) Daniel married Mary Wo- dell, and had a son, Stephen. (4) William married Jan. 25. 1698, Dorothy Palmer, and had eight chil- dren, Dorothy, Ann, William, Jemima, Mary, Amey, Sarah and Nathan. (5) Stephen married in 1704 Elizabeth, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Gorton) Crandall, and had children, Stephen, Rob- ert and John. (6) Hannah married Samuel Clarke, son of Jeremiah and Ann (Audley) Clarke, and be- came the mother of four children, John, Audley, Samuel and Daniel. (7) Jeremiah married Mary

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Mallett, daughter of Thomas Mallett. From these •descended the Wilcoxes of southern Rhode Island and Connecticut.

Joseph Wilcox, great-grandfather of Sheriff John R. Wilcox, was born Aug. 27, 1730, and mar- ried July 28, 1748, Mary Burdick. He died in 1804. He and his wife had children: Gov. Edward, Prudence, Desire, Mary, Amy, Hannah and Joseph.

Joseph Wilcox, grandfather of Sheriff John R., was born Sept. 2, 1772. He married Elizabeth Crumb, and they had children: (1) Charles W., the father of John R., is mentioned further on. (2) Joseph D. married Abbie E. Hoxsie, and had Jennie L., JesSie, Frank and Joseph D. (3) Eliza A. mar- ried Charles P. Chapman, and had Charles D. and Leander P. (4) Susan F. (5) John G., born May 25, 1832, married Jan. 28, 1859, Martha B. Hoxsie, and had Anna Elnora (born June 5, 1862), Edward (born Dec. 30, 1864), Herbert (born Sept. 24, 1866), John Augustus (born Aug. 30, 1875) and Howard Percy (born Oct. 25, 1878). John G. Wil- cox was educated in Charlestown, R. I., and has followed farming and fishing as his life occupations. He was active in town affairs, serving as assessor six years, was representative in the Legislature, 1880-81, and was elected senator in 1905. (6) Na-

than T. married and had Frank and Clarence. (7) Benjamin Franklin. (8) Sarah P. and (9) Edward are unmarried.

Charles William Wilcox, father of Sheriff John R., was born in Charlestown, R. I., Dec. 6, 1828, and in his native town passed his early days. When a young man he learned the trade of a carpenter with G. Maxson, in Westerly, and this occupation he followed until 1859, when he moved to South Kingstown and bought a large farm. From 1870 to 1878 he was deputy sheriff and jailer of Wash- ington county, and -upon the expiration of his term of office again engaged in farming, so continuing until 1900, when his wife died. Since that event he has resided with his son, John R. In politics Mr. Wilcox was and is a firm advocate of Repub- lican principles. He is a charter member of Colum- bia Lodge, I. O. O. F. He married Catherine S. Sherman, daughter of George H. Sherman, of South Kingstown. They became the parents of three children : Martha B., who married William D. 'Taylor, and has four children, Mary, Frank B., Catharine and Samuel ; Josephine, who married John H. Palmer, and has one daughter, Sarah P. ; and John Reynolds.

John Reynolds Wilcox was born in Charles- town, R. I., Dec. 4, 1858, and the next year was ta- ken by his parents to the farm near Moorsfield, in South Kingstown. As a boy he became familiar with the duties of the office he now holds, his father in 1870, assuming the duties of deputy sheriff and jailer of Washington county. Mr. Wilcox began his own official career in 1879, when he was ap- pointed an officer at the Rhode Island State Prison,

687

under Gen. Nelson \ lall. The next year he re- signed to accept a position as police constable at Nat ragansett 1 ier, holding' this office eleven vears. In 1890 he was appointed deputy sheriff and jailer of \\ ashington county, and his services in this ca- pacity were so acceptable that in January, 1903, he was chosen sheriff. He was re-elected for a term of three years, on Jan. 9, 1908. It is no over-state- ment to say that no other sheriff in the State of Rhode Island, past or present, has a finer record for the detection, pursuit and capture of criminals. From June, 1884. to June, 1905, Mr. Wilcox served as sergeant of the town of South Kingstown. His fraternal connection is with Columbia Lod^e, I. O. O. F.

On Nov. 30, 1878, Mr. Wilcox was united in marriage with Ida May Adams, daughter of Tohn 1' • Adams, of South Kingstown, the ceremony being performed by Rev. John Evans. Two children have blessed this union, Jessie May and Charles W.

JEREMIAH RALPH, a resident of Hope, R. I., where he has passed the greater part of his life, is a member of the family which traces back to Thomas Ralph.

(I) Thomas Ralph, first of Guilford, Conn., and later of Warwick, R. I., married (first) Eliza- beth Desbrough, and (second) in 1656 Mary Cook, widow of John. Both Mr. and Mrs. Ralph died in 1682. On Sept. 25, 1671, he and two others were appointed to make a rate and levy an as- sessment upon the inhabitants of Mashaulatauk, in Warwick. His will was proved June 15, 1682, at Warwick, and in it he bequeathed land in War- wick to his sons Samuel and Thomas. By his first marriage Thomas Ralph had a son Samuel, of Providence, who married Mary, and they both died in 1723. By his second marriage he was the father of children as follows : Alice, born Jan. 13, :^57, died in 1682; she married Thomas Fen- ner. born in September, 1652! son of Arthur and Mehetable (Waterman) Fenner, and he died Feb. 27. 1718. Thomas, born July 12, 1658, died in 1696; he married Eleanor, who also died in that year, and he was a resident of Providence. Sarah, born Dec. 4, 1661, married a Mr. Benjamin. De- liverance was born Aug. 20, 1666.

(II) Samuel Ralph, son of Thomas, was of Providence. He married Mary, and died Oct. 8, 1723, his wife dying the same year. Their children were: Mary; Deliverance, who died May 8, 1758 (she married Richard Knight, son of John and Anne Knight, and he died May 15, 1754; they had children — John, Richard. David, Thomas, Anne and Deliverance) ; Samuel; Thomas, who died May 8, 1780: and Hugh.

(III) Thomas Ralph (2) married Patience, and they lived in Providence and Scituate, R. I., he dying May 8, 1780. He was made a freeman in 1720. In 1731 he sold to Hugh Ralph 150 acres

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of land in the town of Providence, R. I. He was deputy from Scituate in 1737, 1742, 1749 and 1753. In 1753 he was styled captain. His will was proved Sept. 6, 1780. His children were: Thomas, Christopher, David, a daughter, Deliverance, Mary, Patience and Sarah. Of these, Thomas married Aug. 29, 1736, Ahia, daughter of Hugh Ralph; Christopher married Dec. 11, 1743, Mary, daughter of Joseph Knight; Patience married July 15, 1744. Elias Collins; and Sarah married Nov. 8, 1751, Robert Potter, Jr.

(IV) David Ralph married Oct. 24, 1735.

Desire Bennett, and their children mentioned in the will of their grandfather Ralph were : Thomas, David, Lydia (Fenner) and Zilpha, all of whom re- ceived bequests from him.

(V) Thomas Ralph (3), born June 23, 1759, married Sarah Fenner, born Nov. 8, 1761. Mr. Ralph and his brother David received by the will of their grandfather Ralph the homestead equally, four small lots in Cranston, besides other property. Thomas and Sarah (Fenner) Ralph had children: Freelove, born Dec. 29, 1782; Daniel, Nov. 21, 1784; Ezekiel, Aug. 5, 1786; Anna, Feb. 21, 1793- (married John Wilbur) ; and Sarah, Aug. 1, 1800 (married John Kent, father of the late Fenner' Kent).

(VI) Ezekiel Ralph, born Aug. 5. 1786, mar-

ried Dilla Taylor, born April 24, 1797, daughter of Solomon Taylor, of Scituate, and their chil- dren were: (1) Solomon T., born Dec. 18, 1815, died unmarried Nov. 20, 1842; he was a farmer. (2) Arnold, born May 18, 1818, was married June 28, 1841, to Dianna Matteson, born March 21, 1820. They were the parents of Sarah Frances (who married Charles Cornell) and Charles, the latter born March 4, 1842. (3) Julia Ann, born

May 2, 1821, married James K. Walton, and both are now deceased. They had one child, Mary E., who is also deceased. (4) Phebe Marinda, born May 15, 1823, married Edwin Griswold, and both are deceased. They left no descendants. (5) Jere- miah is mentioned further on. (6) Samuel, born Aug. 1, 1831, is at present residing in Hope, in the town of Scituate.

In his early manhood Ezekiel Ralph, father of this family, tried life on the sea for a short time, afterward returning to the homestead in Scituate, where he passed the remainder of his days as a farmer. He was popular in his day and influential in his home neighborhood, and like his father be- fore him was a member of the Masonic fraternity. He was a man of medium height and weight, of a rather stern and serious temperament, strict in all things, and mastering any situation which con- fronted him in the conduct of his own affairs. He died July 26. 1842. Flis wife survived him some years, dying in 1861.

(VII) Jeremiah Ralph was born Jan. 8, 1825, in Scituate, where he was reared and educated, at- tending the public schools. He* continued to assist

his father until he was about twenty years old, when he obtained employment as a carpenter in a cotton-mill, being thus engaged for fully twenty years. Subsequently he followed various pursuits, until advancing age and attendant infirmity ne- cessitated his retirement. Nearly all of his life has been spent in Hope, where he still continues to reside.

On Oct. 4, 1846, Mr. Ralph was married to Sarah R. Matteson, born March 26, 1827, daughter of Thomas and Phebe (Ramsdell) Matteson. Like her husband, Mrs. Ralph has been a resident of Hope nearly all her life, and both enjoy the highest regard of all who know them. Their neighbors are for the most part lifelong friends. Many years ago they became members of the Six Principle Baptist Church at Kent, R. I. Mr. Ralph is a Republican in political sentiment, but he has never been active in party affairs in any way.

Mr. and Mrs. Ralph have had two daughters: Phebe, born in 1847, who married William Free- stone, and died in 1894, leaving no descendants; and Julia M., born July 16, 1850, who also died in the year 1894.

FIFIELD. The name of Fificld in New Eng- land covers a period of approximately two hundred and seventy years, one William Fifield coming in the “Hercules” in 1634, and settling at Hampton. William and Mary Fifield were of Hampton, N. H., he then, in 1639, reported as coming from New- bury; he was made a freeman in 1641. Their children are given as Benjamin, William, Lydia, Elizabeth, Hannah and Deborah. Hampton was the home for generations of the descendants of William and Mary Fifield. The name in various towns of New Hampshire in later generations — though it is likely that not all those bearing it have descended from the Hampton settlers— has been common. Beginning with the middle of the eighteenth century the Fifield family of Concord, that State, dates its origin there, when the chil- dren of Benjamin and Hannah (Peters) Fifield ap- pear of record as: Mary, born April 1, 1748; Obadiah P., Aug. 3, 1749; William, May 6, 1751; Hannah, Dec. 21, 1752; Benjamin, Oct. 4, 1754; Jonathan, Aug. 9, 1756; Sarah, July 13, 1758;

Paul, Aug. 5, 1760; John, May 20, 1762; Moses, Aug. 11, 1764; David, Jan. 16, 1767; and Sarah, Jan. 27, 1769.

The Fifields of Providence sprang from the New Hampshire family, the forerunner here being Rev. Moses Fifield, of Unity, N. H., birth, and whose marriage occurred in the early years of the nine- teenth century at Providence. As his title indicates, Moses Fifield was a member of one of the learned professions, a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and one of his sons, Dr. Moses Fifield, a man of liberal education, was of high standing in his profession, and as a banker in Centreville ; the latter’s sons, Moses and Henry A., have long been

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substantial citizens of Providence, the former re- tired and the latter now holding, as he has held for many years, a responsible position with the exten- sive manufacturing firm of B. B. & R. Knight.

Of Rev. Moses Fifield, son of Moses and Lucy (Livingston) Fifield, we herewith present an arti- cle written by J. Livsey, Jr., and published in ‘‘Zion's Herald” in April, 1859:

“Rev. Moses Fifield was born in Unity, New Hampshire, Dec. 7, 1790. His decease occurred in Centreville, Rhode Island, April 19, 1859. Of his conversion I am not able to give any account, save that it took place when he was about fifteen years of age, and that its soundness and thoroughness were satisfactorily evidenced by his subsequent life and experience.

“Impelled by the love of Christ and of the souls of his fellowmen, and by a deep conviction of duty, he soon learned to conquer his native diffidence, which inclined him to shrink from engaging ac- tively in the exercises of the social gatherings of the people of God ; the attention of the church was arrested by the fervor, simplicity and impressive- ness of his prayers and exhortations, so that in due time he was licensed to preach, was ‘thrust out' to labor in the Lord's vineyard.

“He was admitted to the itinerant ranks as a probationer, in connection with the New England Conference, in 1816, and stationed on the Sand- which Circuit. The following year he was stationed on the Harwich Circuit, and at the following con- ference was admitted into full connection, ordained deacon by Bishop George, and re-appointed to the Harwich Circuit. In 1819 he was stationed in Providence; at the Conference of 1820 was ordained Elder by Bishop George, and was stationed that year and the following in Springfield, Massachu- setts; in 1822 and 1823, on the Ellington and Ware- house Point Circuit, and in 1824 on the Tolland Circuit. Here his health, which had always been infirm, and had often rendered his ministerial la- bors exceedingly painful, completely gave way, and obliged him at the following session of the Confer- ence to ask for a superannuate relation. From this time his name was always found either on the su- perannuate or supernumerary list of his Conference, as he never sufficiently recovered his health to al- low him to resume the labors and responsibilities of an effective relation.

“Trained from boyhood to habits of industry, self-reliance and economy, Father Fifield now di- rected his attention to secular pursuits, for the sup- port of his young family. Divine Providence smiled upon his efforts, and kindly opened his way before him, so that he ultimately became located in War- wick, Rhode Island, where he continued to reside, respected and beloved by the entire community, until removed to his heavenly home. In Novem- ber, 1828, he was elected cashier of the Centre- ville Bank, and entered upon the duties of his of- fice the following month. In 1845, he was elected 44

treasurer of the Warwick Institution for Savings. Both of these offices he continued to hold to the en- tire satisfaction of the respective corporations, un- til January, 1857, when his increasing infirmities compelled him to retire from them. But though thus engaged in secular business, his interest in the cause of Christ, and especially in the church of his early choice, waned not. Upon his removal to Centreville, he found a small class, which was regu- larly visited by the circuit preachers. With this little band he at once identined himself, and en- tered upon the series of labors and sacrifices which ended only with his life ; to which under God, very much of the present position and prosperity of the Methodist Episcopal Church in that place is to be attributed. So long as he was able, he loved to preach the gospel. He took an active interest in the Sabbath-school, and in the social meetings of the church was ever ready to contribute his part to render them interesting and useful, and espe- cially rejoiced when he could weep with the weep- ing penitent, or rejoice with the new-born con- vert.

“Prudent, yet liberal and cheerful in his pecuni- ary contributions, the amount of the church’s in- debtedness to him will not be known until the great day reveals all secret things. Father Fifield was a very great sufferer. He commenced in boyhood a life of pain, which increased in severity and con- stancy with his advance in years. He has often told me that for years he had scarcely known a moment in which he was free from suffering; while at times, and indeed a large proportion of the time, these sufferings were most excruciating. Rest and sleep could usually be secured only by means of opiates, through a wearisome succession of years. Yet, who ever heard him complain of the severity of the Divine administration towards him, or murmur on account of his pain? His constant prayer was for patience, for grace to endure all the will of God ; and his prayer was answered.

“His Christian experience during the two years of my acquaintance with him was usually very clear and satisfactory. As his strength declined, and it became evident to himself and others that enfeebled nature was with increasing rapidity yield- ing to the power of disease, his experience became increasingly rich and glorious. At times, his joys seemed almost too ecstatic for his feeble frame to endure, and it would seem that his happy spirit would burst the frail tabernacle which imprisoned it, and fly away to its home and its God. Some- times he was severely buffeted by the adversary and maintained faithful and protracted conflicts with the powers of darkness. Usually, however, his ‘peace was as a river,’ and he contemplated his ap- proaching deliverance from human pains and in- firmities with great joy. So Jong as strength con- tinued, he discoursed sweetly upon the religion of Chrisp recommending it to the impenitent, en- couraging and exhorting the lovers of Christ to

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fidelity, and in songs and Shouts giving utterance to praise and to grateful joy. Thus died a good man ; one whose virtues very far outweighed his frailties, leaving behind him in the family circle, the church, and the business and neighborhood circles in which he moved, a holy savor, which will not soon be lost.

“O may I triumph so.

When all my warfare’s past And, dying, find my latest foe Under my feet at last.”

On March 5, 1820, Rev. Moses Fifield was united in marriage to Celia Knight, born May 27, 1786, daughter of Robert and Elizabeth (Ham- mond) Knight. [See Knight , family elsewhere.] Mrs. Fifield survived her husband many years, dy- ing July 31, 1874. They had four children: (1) Annah, born March 29, 1822, married July I, 1841, Samuel Almoran Briggs, and died July 10, 1873. He was a hardware and tinware merchant, and re- sided in Providence, his store being located on south Main street. They had three- children: Henry Simeon, born Aug. 1, 1844, died Nov. 16, 1845 1 Henrietta Annah, born April 3, 1847, mar- ried, (*kt. 29, 1867, Henry V. A. Joslin, and they have had seven children, Effie Bordon (born Aug. 10, 1869), Annah Fifield (born July 3, 1871, died July 13, 1871), Julia Vaughn (born Dec. 7, 1872), Harry Almoran (born Sept. 24, 1875), Marion

Cleveland (born Nov. 12, 1879), Ethel Adams (born Aug. 6, 1881, died Match 23, 1883) and Royal Knight (born March 10, 1884) ; and Emily Medora, born Dec. 16, 1852, is a resident of Provi- dence. (2) Moses was born Dec. 23, 1823. (3)

Jane, born Jan. 5, 1826, was married Oct. 24, 1853, to Edward Burlingame, born April 13, 1825, died Aug. 15, 1893. He was engaged at various occu- pations, and was a resident of Providence at the time of his death. They had two children : Celia Fifield, born March 28, 1855, was married Sept. 3, 1885, to Moses T. Pauli; and Herbert Fiske, born Aug. 14, i860, was married Nov. 21, 1895, to Isa- belle S. McAvoy, born Aug. 26, 1864, died July 21, 1901. (4) Mary, born March 13, 1828, never

married, and died July 8, 1905.

Dr. Moses Fifield, son of Rev. Moses and Celia (Knight) Fifield, was born Dec. 23, 1823, at Warehouse Point, Conn., during the time of his father’s pastorate there. He received his education in the school at Centreville, Wesleyan Academy at South Wilbraham, Mass., and the East Greenwich Seminary. He commenced the study of medicine with Drs. George and Charles W. Fabyan, at Providence, later entering the University of New York, from which he graduated in 1846. He prac- ticed medicine in Fall River and Little Compton, R. I., until 1852, when, on the decease of Dr. J. M. Keith, he removed to Portsmouth, R. I., where he was located about four years. In consequence

of the illness of his father requiring the constant at- tention of a physician, he left his practice in Ports- mouth and moved to Centreville, in the town of \\ arwick, R. I., in August, 1856, attending his fa- ther, also taking his place as cashier of the Centreville Bank and treasurer of the Warwick Institution for Savings, which offices he held until his death, besides following an extensive and suc- cessful practice of medicine. An obituary pub- lished at the time of his death said of him: ‘‘In the death, Monday, April 9, 1900, of Dr. Moses Fi- field, there passed away a man who had long been known as an active citizen, a capable physician and a successful business man. His graduation in medi- cine dates back to 1844, and these intervening vears have been filled with varying activities, and all of them have been passed in this vicinity. Dr. Fifield was one of those people who found something to do in this world and did it. Now that he rests from his labors, the world in which he moved misses his energy and pays tribute to his worth. He was one of those few men who could adapt themselves to a large number of those interests which touch the world at large, ally himself to them, and assist in the responsibilities and duties connected with their management, in the family, in the church, in fraternal organizations, in his prac- tice, in banking and in business lie found his place and capably filled it.’’

Dr. Fifield was a thirty-second degree Mason. He was a member of the Rhode Island Medical So- ciety, and a member of the American Medical As- sociation. On May 24, 1846, he was united in mar- riage, by Rev. Moses Fifield, to Hannah Arnold Allen, born Feb. 9, 1824, daughter of Christopher and Sarah (Congdon) Allen. Mrs. Fifield died cn Jan. 8, 1898. Their children were: (1) Moses, born July 17, 1847, was married Nov. 6, 1873, to Anna Leora Stone, born Oct. 10, 1850, daughter of Henry T. and Sarah (Hobart) Stone. They have one daughter, Mary Emeline, born March 25, 1875, who was for several years a successful school teacher in Providence, and who is now the wife of George H. Brownell, and the mother of one son, Allen Fifield. (2) Henry Allen was born Nov. 16, 1850. (3) Sarah Congdon, born March 14, 1856,

was married June 27, 1877, to John Legg, born in Trowbridge, England, May 28, 1851. He is a successful woolen manufacturer in Worcester, Mass. They have had six children: John Fran- cis, born May 23, 1878, married Emma Duke: Howard Fifield, born April 23, 1881, married

Nellie B. Van Ostrand ; Bessie Whatley, twin of Howard F., married Gray Harris ; Emma Allen was born Dec. n, 1885; Helen Bennett, born Dec. 10, 1887, died Aug. 1, 1888; and Joseph Willard was born Jan. 18, 1889.

Dr. Moses Fifield married (second), Feb. 19, 1899. Mrs. Abbie F. Tillinghast, widow of Samuel L. Tillinghast, and daughter of Marcus Lyon.

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Henry Allen Fifield, son of Dr. Moses and Hannah Arnold (Allen) Fifield, was born Nov. 16, 1850, in Little Compton, R. I., and was seven years of age when his father removed to Centre- ville. He attended the public schools of Centre- ville, the East Greenwich Seminary, and completed his training at the Mowry & Goff English and Classical School, Providence. Soon after leaving school he was employed as paymaster in the mills •of the Crompton Company, at Crompton, R. I., where he remained until March 20, 1872, when he entered the office of B. B. & R. Knight, at Provi- dence, as a clerk, and has since been connected with that firm, at present holding a very responsible po- sition, having charge of the cotton, and the. manufacture and sale of the production of the mills.

On Nov. 16, 1871, Mr. Fifield was married to Lizzie Preston Bennet, born Nov. 3, 1849, daugh- ter of Preston and Elizabeth (Walcott) Bennet. They have two children : ( 1 ) Edith Walcott, born

Feb. 6, 1874, was married Nov. 16, 1899, to Allan McNab, Jr., a native of Glasgow, Scotland, born Nov. 16, 1871. He is now superintendent of the Centreville mill, owned by B. B. & R. Knight. Four children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. McNab: Donald Fifield, born July 30, 1900, who died Sept. 18, 1900; Allan Douglas, born Feb. 6, 1902; Elizabeth Walcott, born July 5, 1903, who died the same day ; and Helen Preston, born Aug. 26, 1905. (2) Henry Livingston, born Nov. 24,

1878, graduated from the Worcester Institute of Technology in June, 1903, as a civil engineer, and entered the office of the American Bridge Com- pany, remaining there till Oct. 1, 1904, when he was engaged by the maintenance of way depart- ment of the Pennsylvania Lines, and is now lo- •cated on the Chicago Terminal. On Dec. 21, 1905, he married Bessie May Pardo.

Mr. Henry A. Fifield is one of the leading and most active members of the Mathewson Street Methodist Episcopal Church, taking a deep interest in all branches of church work, and is now serving as a member of the board of stewards, also director of the Y. M. C. A. since 1891. He has so ordered his life as to merit the universal esteem of his fellowmen.

AMON PARMENTER, retired dry goods merchant of Newport, R. I., is one of that city’s honorable and venerable citizens, having been con- nected with her business interests during the greater part of a long lifetime. Mr. Parmenter comes of a very old New England family, whose members in turn have been prominently identified with affairs for a period of nearly three centuries. The line of descent is traced with absolute clear- ness through eight generations in America.

(I) John Parmenter, the original emigrant, came from England in 1640. and settled in Sud- bury, Mass. His first wife Bridget died in 1660, and he married, in 1661, Annis Dane.

(II) John Parmenter, Jr., married Amee, and had six children, John, Joseph, George, Mary, Benjamin and Lydia.

(III) Benjamin Parmenter married in 1680, lamasin Rice, and their children were: Lydia, Benjamin, David, David (2), Mercy, Thankful and Jonathan.

(IV) David Parmenter married Abigail Brewer, and reared four children, Abigail, Edward, James and Samuel.

(\ ) James Parmenter married Mary Carter, and their two children were: James and Eleanor.

(VI) James Parmenter, Jr., was born in 1753, in Sudbury, Mass., and was there engaged in farming until his death, Feb. 22, 1828. His wife, Esther Marshall, born in 1754, died Sept. 22. 1825. She was the .mother of Sally, Eleanor. Jonas. Bet- sey, James, Eleazer, Nancy, Esther and Mary.

(N II) Jonas Parmenter, father of our Anion, was born Sept. 26, 1776, in Sudbury, Mass. In early life he engaged in the general merchandise business, in which he continued for a number of years with success. The latter part of his life was passed on a farm. During much of his life he was an invalid, and he died in his native town, Dec. 25, 1827, from the effects of the kick of a horse. He married Susannah Brown, of Sudbury, daughter of William and Susannah Brown. Her death is in the records as occurring Sept. 9, 1843. Their children were : William Brown, born Feb. 4, 1808; Henry, Oct. 23, 1809; Susan, Nov. 4, 18 1 r ; Harriet, Nov. 1, 1813; James Marshall,

Nov. 14, 1815; Herman, July 31, 1817; Esther, Nov. i, 1819 (who is still living in Waltham, Mass.) ; Amon, Feb. 4, 1822 ; and Elvira, June 20, 1824 (died in infancy).

(VIII) Amon Parmenter was born Feb. 4, 1822, in Sudbury, Mass. The public schools of his native village furnished him a basis for the edu- cation which he afterward finished in the school of life. At the age of thirteen years he became an operative in one of the cotton mills of his sec- tion, an employment which he continued for some* two years. Fie next went to Boston, where for the following six years he was engaged as a clerk in the dry goods establishment owned by his brother. William. By this time he had attained his majority, and was possessed of an excellent knowledge of the business which he then determined to make his life work. In company with his brother. Henry, he came in January, 1843, to Newport, where they established a dry goods and notion busi- ness on Thames street, the firm being styled H. & A. Parmenter. This arrangement continued until 1856, when our subject purchased the interest of his brother, and thenceforth conducted the busi- ness alone to the date of his retirement in 1878. at which time he sold out to the firm of Perry Brothers. This marked the limit of the active business career of Mr. Parmenter. though he con- tinued his interest in affairs for many years after-

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ward. He is now passing the evening of life in the quiet enjoyment of the fruits of his early industry, amid the kind attentions of his family and friends. It will not be amiss to state that Mr. Parmenter is a shining example of the self-made man, his success being due to his untiring industry, energy, determination and thrifty habits which he formed in youth.

Mr. Parmenter’s tastes never ran to political affairs, though he has always taken a voting inter- est. supporting the doctrines of the Republican party. His one social organization, and in whose work he has always taken an active interest, is the Natural History Society of Newport, he having served the society a number of years as treasurer. Mr. Parmenter is a member of Channing Memorial (Unitarian) Church, of Newport.

The domestic life of Mr. Parmenter has been one of quiet happiness. On October 18, 1852, he married Sarah M. Stevens, daughter of the late Joseph G. and Sarah (Freebody) Stevens, of New- port. Two children have blessed this union : (1) Joseph G., born Dec. 17, 1858, in Newport, which still continues to be his home, is a decora- tive designer in Newport, having received his training in the art from private teachers and later at the Boston Art School, of which he is a gradu- ate. He married Lila Riggs, of Newport, and has two daughters, Majel and Carol. (2) William Manton died at the age of eleven months.

Thus is given in brief the chief events of the life of one of Newport’s honored citizens. Life is what we make it. Full of service to others, it becomes an increasing joy to look back upon as the evening shades draw on. In this light the quiet and peaceful days of Amon Parmenter have a full and complete explanation.

SHARPE (of Connecticut origin). This family had a Rhode Island representative, Lucian Sharpe, who during the whole of his active life, was connected with and gave his name to the business known as Brown & Sharpe Manufacturing Company.

Lucian Sharpe was of the seventh generation from Robert Sharp, of Brookline, Mass., who came from London, England, in 1635. The older gen- erations settled at Pomfret, Conn., in 1721, which remained the home of the family for generations,

Wilkes Sharpe, of the sixth generation, father of Lucian Sharpe, for the greater part of his life was connected with the stable business, either as owner or foreman, and chiefly in Providence, R. I. He was noted for his promptness, industry and in- tegrity, for his fondness^or reading, his retentive memory, and unusual bodily vigor. He married Sally A., daughter of Samuel and Azubah Chaffee.

Lucian Sharpe was born in Providence, on March 20, 1830, and continued to live there until 1836, when for a few months, he lived in Boston,

Aiass. From the spring of 1837 until the spring of 1840 he lived with his uncle, Pitt Sharpe, in Pom- fret, Conn., on the farm where his father, Wilkes Sharpe, was born, and which has been in the family since his father's great-grandfather came there from Brookline, Mass., in 1721. In the spring of 1840, his father purchased a -farm in Hartwick, Otsego Co., N. Y., and on this the family remained for two years. The farm was then sold, and his father returned to Providence, the mother and boy remaining for two years longer in Hartwick, at the home of Airs. Sharpe’s brother, Ebenezer Chaffee. During this time the son at- tended Hartwick Seminary. In 1844 the mother and son returned to Providence, and the education, of the boy was continued at the Elm Street Gram- mar School, and after that for two years at the Providence High School.

Provided with a good schooling, Air. Sharpe connected himself with the shop of Air. Thomas J. Hill, known as the Providence Machine Com- pany, where he worked some months. Later, in September, 1848, he apprenticed himself to Joseph R. Brown, who, located on South Main Street, was a repairer of watches and clocks, and known as one of the best mechanics in the city. Here he applied himself with diligence to his trade, and in time became proficient in the management of the business affairs of the growing concern. Such was his success, and aptitude in his duties, that shortly before the expiration of the five years’ period of apprenticeship, Alarch 1, 1853, Air. Brown took him as a partner, the firm name being J. R. Brown & Sharpe.

By this time, the business of repairing clocks and watches, and light machinery, had become somewhat enlarged, especially by the making of scales and measuring instruments, which lines, amplified and perfected, have ever since remained a prominent feature. In 1858, largely through Air. Sharpe’s energy, the concern began a connection with the Willcox & Gibbs Sewing Alachine Com- pany, which soon gave them a prominence in me- chanical work, and was really responsible for their entrance into the machine tool business. From first making machinery and devices for their own demands, they were led to making for others also, and gradually the machine tool business became the more important end, which feature has always continued. The concern was incorporated in 1868.

From his earliest business years, Air. Sharpe exhibited certain talents which had marked his father, and to them added commercial talent and administrative ability of high order. While not a mechanic in the sense of Air. Brown, he early de- veloped a faculty of appreciating what was useful in a mechanical device, and it was soon noted that he had excellent taste for the best forms for ma- chines or tools. His characteristics were rendered unusually efficient by concentration upon a definite purpose — the advancement and success of the busi-

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ness. All matters of personal ambition and com- fort were subordinated to this, his desire for prominence being limited to advancement in and through the growth of the business. In the con- duct of the business, he was plain-spoken and posi- tive, and extremely orderly and methodical, and as far as possible, responsibility was placed upon those associated with him, his principle being to insist upon results rather than upon the exact methods used by subordinates, leaving to each in a large measure, the opportunity to exercise his judgment, with the understanding that, if suc- cessful, advancement was assured ; and in this way, while exercising to the utmost a very great capacity for work, Mr. Sharpe was able, without detriment, to leave his business to his subordinates when oc- casion required a number of months of absence.

Mr. Sharpe took no active part in the manage- ment of other manufacturing or commercial enter- prises, except as director, from 1874, of the Will- cox & Gibbs Sewing Machine Company. He did, however, fill a number of important positions. He was trustee of the Providence Institution of Sav- ings from 1881, director in the National Bank of North America from 1879 to 1891, director in the Rhode Island Hospital Trust Company from 1897, director in the Providence Gas Company from 1883, and president of the Providence Journal Company from 1886 until his death. In politics he took practically no part.

Although he was not a man given to senti- mentality, yet no case of sufifering or misfortune among his employees was ever brought to his notice without receiving his assistance, and he always •took a deep interest in the general welfare of those employed bv the company, insisting that employees should have all the comforts consistent with their occupation, believing that those comforts were not only due them as men, but also incidentally en- hanced their efficiency as workmen. Largely through his interest, there was established a shop library of two thousand volumes.

In his early years, Mr. Sharpe learned to read and speak French readily, and his general reading and attainments were of such a nature that the de- gree of A. M. was fittingly bestowed upon him by Brown University in 1892.

From the outset, Mr. Sharpe shared Mr. Brown’s determination that only the best quality of work should be sold, and each had for the other a warm regard, and sincere respect. They were congenial in many ways, and each helped and influenced the other, and their partnership, with their mutual confidence, ensured satisfactory re- turns.

Mr. Brown’s inventions indicated his talent, and were the basis of the business, but its growth was ■chiefly due to Mr. Sharpe’s energy and ability. The development of the enterprise from year to year, is suggested by the figures of floor space, and num- ber of men employed :

Floor space of buildings,

1853, i,8oo sq. ft.

1873, 6,600 sq. ft.

1883, 1 15.200 sq. ft.

1890, 167,000 sq. ft.

1899, 293,760 sq. ft.

Men employed,

1857 20

1872 300

1884 450

1893, 1000

1899, 2000

In 1867, having determined that it was a poor business that could not for a time run itself, Mr. Brown and Mr. Sharpe together visited the first International Exposition in Paris, where the firm had an exhibit, and they were so impressed with the importance of such expositions that the com- pany has exhibited in most of the large ones since that date, and in all of them they have obtained leading awards. The machines and tools exhibited have never been specially prepared for exhibition, and have always been the same in finish and design as those regularly manufactured ; and their origi- nality, their fitness for the purpose for which they were designed, the excellence of their workman- ship, the convenience with which they could be handled, and the progress that they have shown in design over those in earlier expositions, have in- variably been commended.

On June 25, 1857, Mr. Sharpe was married to Louisa Dexter, daughter of Lewis and Mary Angell Dexter, of Smithfield. Six children were born to them, four daughters and two sons. Mr. Sharpe continued in the active management of his busi- ness nearly until the date of his death Oct. 17, 1899, which occurred on the return voyage from Europe, where he had sought to regain his health.

BROWN (Attleboro-Providence family). Of the several families of Brown, prominent in Rhode Island, that of David Brown and his son Joseph R. possesses a mechanical prominence which is per- petuated in the name of the Brown & Sharpe Manu- facturing Company whose plant is located in Provi- dence.

David Brown, a native of what is now Attle- boro, where he was born in 1781, became established in the manufacture of jewelry and silverware in Warren, Rhode Island, in 1804. Business becom- ing slack and wants pressing, he traveled through the valley of the Connecticut grinding razors and fine cutlery on a machine which he wheeled before him, and carrying for sale silverware of his own manufacture. Following this pursuit for three years, he not only cleared himself of all debt, but was able to lay up money beside. After many years, in 1828, lie removed from YV arren to Paw- tucket. Late in 1833 he formed a co-partnership with his son Joseph Rogers Brown, with a lo- cation in Providence, which enterprise was the be- ginning of what afterward became the Brown & Sharpe Manufacturing Company.

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David Brown was a man of independence of character, of strong will and purpose and of the highest integrity. He lived to the eighty-eighth year of his age, dying in 1868, at Pawtucket, R. I. He married Patience Rogers, daughter of Joseph Rogers, of Newport, R. I., and had several chil- dren, of whom the eldest, Joseph Rogers, was born at Warren, Jan. 26, 1810.

Joseph Rogers Brown seemed to inherit the mechanical proclivities of his father, and in boy- hood, outside of school hours, was accustomed to assist him in his business, remaining in attendance at the neighborhood school until seven- teen years of age. With his mind full of mechanical thoughts and ingenuity, he began early to use tools and to use them with practical result. In 1827 he entered the machine shop of Wolcott and Harris, Valley Falls, where he developed unusual ability and was soon promoted from the coarser work with which he began to that recpiiring more careful manipulation. After some months spent upon the manufacture of cotton machinery, in the spring fol- lowing he returned to Pawtucket and assisted his father in the construction of various clocks for the towns of Pawtucket, Taunton and New Bed- ford.

Becoming of age in 1831 he soon opened a shop on his own account, and began the manufacture of small tools and lathes. Two years later, in 1833, the father and son again joined their efforts and started in business at No. 60 South Main street, Providence. In the Fall of 1837 the shop and con- tents were destroyed by fire, and the two thousand dollars insurance received was the capital with which to begin again. Rebuilding the shop they soon after removed their business to No. 69 South Main street, where it was continued until 1848. After 1841 it was under the sole care of the son, in which year the father retired and went to the West. After this date another removal was made to No. 1 15 South Main street. At this location in 1848, he received, as an apprentice, Mr. Lucian Sharpe, who remained with him in that capacity for five years. On March 1, 1853, Mr. Sharpe became his partner, under the firm name of J. R. Brown & Sharpe.

At this time the business, twenty years estab- lished, had earned the reputation for producing the best and most accurate of work ; it consisted of clock and watch repairing, the making of a variety of measuring instruments in which Mr. Brown was an adept, and a variety of light mechanical work which would naturally come to a shop of its char- acter. Their total floor space, amounting to only 1,800 square feet, gave occupation to but fourteen hands ; but the new partnership was a happy one, and thereafter the increase of the business was continuous. This was 'especially trire after 1858, when they made a contract with the Willcox & Gibbs Sewing Machine Company to manufacture their entire product. This connection, in a large degree,- stimulated the invention and development

of the machines and tools later made by the com- pany. From this time forward the old South Main street location became crowded, and was gradually extended to embrace a considerable portion of the block. In 1872 it was decided to move to the pres- ent location, there then being 300 men employed. Not long after the removal, Mr. Brown’s failing health withdrew him from his activity, but the business has generally been carried out on the me- chanical lines which he was so instrumental in establishing. The plant has continued to grow until the present buildings, which are said to be among the best in America for their line of business, have a floor space of ten acres, and employ more than 2,500 men.

To Mr. Brown is due not only the foundations of the mechanical reputation of the business, but also many inventions of a far-reaching importance in the mechanical world. Perhaps encouraged by his familiarity with clock mechanism and its mak- ing, he early became interested in making scales of measurement, in 1852 producing a linear dividing engine — the first automatic machine of the kind put in use on this side of the Atlantic. In the following year he perfected the vernier caliper, which was the first practical tool for exact measurements which could be sold at a price within the reach of the ordinary machinist ; its importance in the attainment of fine work can hardly be over-estimated.

Probably the most noted invention made by him was that of the universal milling machine, patented in 1865 ; a machine which is used over the world wherever a progressive machine shop exists. Others were cutters that can be sharpened with- out changing their form, patented in 1864, a re- volving-head screw machine, patented in 1865, the universal grinding machine, devised by him shortly before his death and patented in 1877, screw-slot- ting machines, tapping machines, gear cutting at- tachment for the milling machine, friction clutch pulley, patented in 1864, and a large number of gauges and exact measuring instruments, which are in common use to-day.

The list of Mr. Brown’s inventions suggests the character of his thoughts throughout his life, hut perhaps does not include his reasons for his work. He worked chiefly because it was his greatest pleasure. He possessed a genuine love for all me- chanical and mathematical problems, and he was as willing to take up some difficulty which was dis- turbing his associates as he was to work out some problem pertaining more entirely to himself. This earnestness in helping other people and this love of mechanics were, perhaps, his chief attributes, and these qualities, with his unusual skill and his determination to sell only the best work, were the very great influences which he contributed to the business. He had no ambition to make a large amount of money, or to establish a very large in- dustry, but his inventions were of such a character that when made known they were at once ap- preciated, and were of inestimable value to the

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business. How important these inventions were and how permanent is their usefulness we often do not fully appreciate. They are so much a matter of every-day use we frequently take them as a matter of course, hut the principles of many of them were entirely novel, and they will be as perma- nent as they are advantageous — for instance, the principle embodied in the cutters that can be sharpened without changing their form has wonder- fully increased the efficiency of milling and gear- cutting machines, and probably will be used as long as these machines are used.

On Sept. 18, 1837, Mr. Brown was married to Caroline B. Niles, daughter of Jonathan and Susan Niles of Providence, who died in 1851. On May 3, 1852, he married Jane F. Mowry, of Pawtucket. Two children were born to the first marriage, of whom one, Lyra Frances, was married to Ed- ward I. Nickerson of Providence. Mr. Brown died at the Isles of Shoals, N. H., July 3, 1876.

ANDREWS. (I) John McAndrews or An- drews, first of Kings Towne, came from Scotland, and lived in Boston, at Cape Cod, and is known to have lived in Kings Towne before May 20, 1671. He died there before Aug. 22, 1693, for at that time his eldest son, John, settled his father's estate. By his first marriage he had two children, John and William. He married for his second wife Mary Ridgeley, who died in 1716, the mother of five children: Charles, James, Thomas, Edward (called also Edmund) and Benoni. In the course of time his descendants called themselves Andrews.

(II) William Andrews, son of John, born in East Greenwich, Aug. 23, 1679, married Sept. 25, 1700, Annie Searle, and they had four children: John, Charles, Mary and William, Jr. William, Sr., died in 1762, and his administration was granted to his eldest son, John Andrews, in Coventry.

(III) John Andrews, son of William, born in East Greenwich, March 23, 1702, died in Coventry May 18, 1795. He married Hannah Greene, daughter of John and Abigail D. Greene, and granddaughter of John Greene, of London, the traditional regicide, Judge Clark, who like others fled when Charles II. came to the throne of Eng- land, lest they be executed for deciding against Charles I. John Andrews came from Frenchtown, East Greenwich, and settled on Maple Root Plains, in Coventry. He and his wife were members of the Maple Root Six Principle Baptist Church. They had four children: Annie, who married Jan. 4, 1781, Robert Weaver, of Coventry; Hannah, who died unmarried at an advanced age ; Elnathan, born Feb. 22, 1732; and William, who married Re- becca Greene, of Coventry, daughter of Ebenezer.

(IV) Elnathan Andrews, son of John, born Feb. 22, 1732 (the same day that the birth of George Washington occurred), married (probably) June 21 , 1757, Jane Greene, of Coventry, daughter of

Ebenezer, son of John and Abigail, and grandson of John, of London. Mr. Andrews died June 21, 1824, aged ninety-two years. He had five children by his first wife, Waitey, Bethana, Timothy, John and Rebecca. He married (second) Elizabeth, widow of Ezekiel Johnson.

(V) timothy Andrews, son of Elnathan, born in Coventry Nov. 22, 1762, died in West Green- wich Sept. 5, 1843. He married Russelle Mattison, of West Greenwich, daughter of William and Sarah (Lee) Mattison, the former a son of Joseph and Martha (Greene) Mattison, and the latter the daughter of Peter and Rachel (Russelle) Lee. Mrs. Andrews was born in 1757, and died Feb. 2, 1847. Their children were: (1) Bethana, born in Coventry Jan. 2, 1785, died in West Green- wich Jan. 29, 1865. She married July 28, 1807, Caleb Sweet, of West Greenwich. (2) Freelove, born in Coventry July 13, 1786, died in West Green- wich Dec. 29, 1871. In 1805 she married Benjamin Vickery, of Dighton, Mass., by whom she had seven children, and she married (second) Aug. 30, 1835, Amos Mattison, of West Greenwich. (3) Peleg, born in Coventry April 29, 1790, died March 6, 1855. He married Marcey, of West Greenwich, daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth (Greene) James, she born April 23, 1790, and died April nr 1855, the mother of four children. (4) Jane, born in Coventry April 10, 1792, died there Jan. 23, 1881. She married in 1809 Perry Greene James, of West Greenwich, son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Greene) James, he born May n, 1788, died in New Haven, Conn., April 27. 1881. (5) Charles,

born in Coventry in 1793, died when about twelve years old. (6) Sally, born in Coventry in 1794, died Nov. 27, 1842, in West Greenwich. She was married in 1817, becoming the second wife of Wil- liam Sweet, of West Greenwich, son of Barton and Rachel Sweet, he born Aug. 30, 1784, died in \\ est Greenwich Oct. 23, 1843. He had a family of nine children. (7) George, born in Coventry Aug. 7, 1797, dHd O Noank, Conn., April 7, 1872. He married Dec. 11, 1829, Mary Esther Barnes, of Ledyard, Conn., daughter of Amos and Mary Barnes, she born April 11, 1805, died in Center Grcton, Oct. n, 1862, the mother of five children. (8) Mattison, born in Coventry in 1799, died in Natick, R. I., Jan. 27, 1852. He married, in the fall of 1819, Lucy Sweet, of South Kingstown, who died in Natick March 18, 1862. They had nine children. (9) Jonathan, born in Coventry Oct. 5, 1801, died in Minnesota Jan. 24, 1868. He married Aug. 30, 1825, Ruby Sweet, of \\ est Greenwich, daughter of Burton and Rachel Sweet, she born Nov. 2, 1802, in Crossville, Tenn., died Aug. 10, 1869, the mother of seven children. (10) Joanna, born in Coventry in 1804, died there Aug. 14, 1879. In 1824-25 she married Seneca Williams, of North Stonington, Conn., son of L riah and Jo- hanna Williams, he born in December, 1797, died Aug. 24, 1881. They had four children. (11) John,

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born in Coventry July 4, 1806, is the next in the line we are tracing. (12) Nelson, born in Coventry Oct. 30, 1808, died there Aug. 28, 1882. He mar- ried Jan. 2, 1833, Merebah Whitman Harrington, of West Greenwich, daughter of Ebenezer and Hul- dah (Johnson) Harrington, she born Sept. 1, 1812, died in Coventry, Jan. 8, 1890. They had nine chil- dren.

(VI) John Andrews, born in Coventry July 4, 1806, died in Cranston, R. I., Oct. 3, 1896. He married (first) Aug. 25, 1827, Antha Sweet, of W est Greenwich, daughter of William and Elsie Sweet, she born Sept. 7, 1809, died Oct. 10, 1859, in West Greenwich, leaving thirteen children. John Andrews was baptized and joined the Maple Root Church in May, 1819, and Antha, his wife, in July, 1831. He married (second) Mary (Battey) Mat- tison, of West Greenwich, daughter of James and Maplet Battey, and widow of Thomas Mattison. She was born Sept. 7, 1809, and died March 2, 1895. The children of John and Antha (Sweet) Andrews were: (1) Timothy, born Nov. 30, 1828, married Dec. 18, 1847, Eunice Mattison, of West Greenwich, born May 30, 1830, daughter of Asa and Merebah (Potter) Mattison. (2) William, born in West Greenwich Sept. 1, 1830, married May 18, 1849, Abbie Woodmansee, of West Green- wich, born June 20, 1832, daughter of Samuel and Mahala Woodmansee. She died Aug. 26, 1854, leaving three children, and he married (second) in 1862 Ann Mystilla Tarbox, of East Greenwich, born Sept. 3, 1843, daughter of Joseph and Phebe Bailey Tarbox. They had five children. (3) Elsie, born in West Greenwich April 15, 1832, married Dec. 12, 1847, John Mattison, of West Greenwich, born Dec. 5, 1825, son of Asa and Merebah (Pot- ter) Mattison, and there were nine children born to them. (4) Mary Ann, born in West Greenwich May 7, 1834, died April 20, 1861. She was married Sept. 11, 1852, to Samuel Hoxie Barber, of Exeter, R. I., born Dec. 14, 1825, died Nov. 5, 1874. They had four children. (5) Jonah Titus, born in West Greenwich, July 31, 1836, is mentioned further on. He married Sept. 10, 1857, Mary Ann Sweet, of West Greenwich, born Aug. 2, 1839, daughter of Amos and Ruth C. (Brown) Sweet. (6) Phebe, born in West Greenwich May 13, 1839, died Sept. 8, 1843. (7) Abel, born in West Greenwich April 17, 1841, died Sept. 5, 1843. (8) Abbie Frances,

born in West Greenwich March 31, 1843, died there in June, 1875. She was married July 7, i860, to Job Whitman Harrington, born July 23, 1842, in West Greenwich. (9) John Francis, born in West Greenwich May 2, 1845, died Nov. 11. 1878. He married Dec. 25, 1866, Mary Elizabeth Howard, born Oct. 6, 1844, and she died April 10, 1900, leaving two children, Edward Blake and Min- nie Gertrude. (10) Lois A., born in West Green- wich April 15, 1847, married June 30, 1864, Lucius E. Cahoon, born Oct. 12, 1840. (11) Nelson, born

in West Greenwich April 5, 1849, married June 11,

1871, Phebe E. Spencer, of East Greenwich, born in 1851, died Nov. 6, 1894, the mother of one child. (12) Frederick Tillinghast, born in West Greenwich March 23, 1851, married Aug. 31, 1876, Clara J. Vaughn, daughter of George B. and Mary A. Vaughn, she born Sept. 29, 1855. (13) Jane,

born in West Greenwich May 10, 1853, married Oct. 12, 1876, Halsey James Briggs, of West Greenwich, born May 9, 1842, and they have three children.

(VII) J. Titus Andrews was educated in the common schools of West Greenwich and also spent a short time at a school near Spring Lake, in Coventry, under Israel Parker. He left school at the age of nineteen years and until twenty-two years old remained at home with his father. He then went to the southern part of Coventry, Conn., where he worked a farm which his father had pur- chased, remaining there ten years. In 1869 he purchased his present farm, known then as the Judge Burton farm, from Jeremiah Knight. At that time it consisted of 147 acres, and to this Mr. Andrews and his brother Fred have added for- ty-two acres on the east, also owning the Snell place, across the road, consisting of thirty-five acres. They also own the old farm at one time owned by Caleb Congdon, and engage in general farming.

Mr. Andrews, who is a self-made man, has been a very successful agriculturist, and has also taken an active part in politics. He was a member of the town council for two years, and was elected senator from Cranston for six years, serving as chairman on the committee to lay out Pawtuxet avenue, and also as a member of the committees on Agriculture (five years), Militia, Printing, Special Legislation and Fisheries. Although a stanch Republican, Mr. Andrews received a large Democratic vote. He is a member of the Six-Prin- ciple Baptist Church at Maple Root, and has served as a deacon.

Frederick T. Andrews is a member of the town council, in which he has served for thirteen years. He and his brother are among the foremost citizens of the community, and are highly esteemed and re- spected by all.

WEST (Tiverton family). For a hundred years and more Tiverton has been the home of the West family, a family of distinction in Massachu- setts and Rhode Island since the early Colonial period. Reference is made to the family of the late Samuel West, A. M., M. D., of Tiverton, him- self a collegebred man, a student who for some forty years practiced medicine in that town and neighboring towns both in Rhode Island and Massa- chusetts, was the son of a learned physician and cultured gentleman, and as well the grandson of an eminent divine and distinguished public servant : these being Samuel West, M. D., and Rev. Samuel West, D. D., respectively.

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In the early Colonial period there lived in the old Massachusetts town of Yarmouth in the south- easterly part, near Swan Pond, Sackfield West, a physician and farmer, a man of strong mind, who often exhorted the Indians in their meeting-house. Dr. West was twice married, the Christian names of his wives being Mary and Ruth, respectively. To the first marriage was born April 19, 1717, a son Peleg, and to the second, perhaps, among others, Samuel and Benjamin. Dr. West became one of the most zealous New Lights of his day. These two sons, Samuel and Benjamin, became men of celebrity, the latter being educated at Princeton and Harvard, a graduate of the latter institution in 1768. This Benjamin West studied theology, but soon abandoned this profession for that of the law. He was admitted to the Bar in 1773 in Charlestown. He was chosen a delegate from the State of New Hampshire to the Continental Congress and was elected a member of the Convention that framed the Federal Constitution and also a representative from New Hampshire to the first Congress, but declined each.

Samuel West, son of Sackfield and Ruth, born March 13, 1729-30, in the town of Yarmouth, Mass., married (first) March 7, 1768, Experience, daughter of Consider Howland. She became the mother of six children, and died March 6, 1789. Mr. West married (second) Jan. 20, 1790, Lovisa, widow of Benjamin Jenne, and daughter of Jacob Hathaway, of Dartmouth, Mass. Both wives were women of uncommon excellence, and it is said that if they knew little of the subjects that most en- gaged the husband’s thoughts they knew better than he how to lengthen out the shortcomings of his income into the means of a comfortable sup- port. The first Mrs. West was a tall woman and, in reference to that and in connection with her Christian name, he used to say that he “had learned from long Experience that it was a good thing to be married.”

Young West’s father having removed to Barn- . stable; Mass., soon after his birth, the son was here reared, working on the farm until he had reached his twentieth year ; but during that time he exhibited such traits of mind, and especially such knowledge of the Scriptures, as to attract the at- tention of the few intelligent men who happened to know him. He was fitted for college in six months, under the care of the Rev. Mr. Green of Barnstable, and in 1750 entered Harvard College, from which he was graduated in 1754, and among the most distinguished of his class, in which was Governor Hancock. He entered the ministry, was settled over the congregation in New Bedford in 1761, and taught the doctrine that afterward be- came known as Unitarian. Immediately after the battle of Bunker Hill he joined the American army as a chaplain, remaining several months with it. He was a member of the convention that framed the ■constitution of the State of Massachusetts, and also

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of the convention for the adoption of the constitu- tion of the United States.

As a preacher Dr. West was distinguished for great strength of mind and what seemed a com- plete mastery of the difficult subjects which he was in the habit of bringing into the pulpit. He had been honored in 1793 with the degree of D. D., from his alma mater. He withdrew from his min- isterial labors in 1803, and died Sept. 24, 1807, at the house of his son in Tiverton, Rhode Island.

Among his publications are “A sermon that was delivered May 29, 1776, being the anniversary for the election of the honorable council for the Colony” ; “A sermon on the Anniversary of the Landing of the Fathers at Plymouth” ; and “Essays on ‘Liberty and Necessity’, in reply to Jonathan Edwards’s ‘On the Will.’ ”

Samuel West (2), son of Rev. Dr. Samuel, was born in Plymouth county, Mass., likely in New Bed- ford, and married June 3, 17 — , Polly (Mary) Whitridge, daughter of Dr. William and Alary Whitridge, of Tiverton, R. I., Dr. Whitridge being a man of marked ability and a widely known physi- cian, as were three of his sons. Samuel West was for many years, perhaps, the most widely known physician in the whole region round about him in Rhode Island and in the neighboring towns of Massachusetts. His son truly said of him: “Pos- sessed by nature of a strong mind, rendered vigor- ous by cultivation, he entered upon the study of physic when it was in its comparative infancy. Yet by his own industry and observation, he was en- abled to keep up with the times, and frequently to come to conclusions if not anterior to, at least in company with, those who enjoyed the advantages of the schools and the hospitals.” Dr. West had a very large practice, and no physician was more fre- quently called into consultation by his brethren in the profession in all critical cases, and none was more honored or relied upon by the community at large.

Dr. Samuel West (3), son of Dr. Samuel (2) and Mary (Whitridge) West, was born Aug. 9, 1806, in the town of Tiverton, R. I. After due preparation he entered Brown University and was graduated therefrom in the class of 1828, among his classmates being LaFayette Foster, afterward for years United States senator from Connecticut, and AI. A. De Wolf Howe, afterward Bishop of the Central Diocese of Pennsylvania. Dr. West and Judge Foster were roommates at college, and at the commencement exercises Foster was the vale- dictorian, while West was assigned to the second part of the class exercises, they having first and second honors, respectively. On leaving college young West desiring to enter the profession of his father was prepared for it at the Harvard Aledical School, from which he was graduated in 1831. Thus liberally educated he was well prepared for his calling, a profession he began and followed with energy at New Bedford, Alass., up to the time of his

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father's death, which occurred just as a successful career was opening before him there. This event — the circumstances and conditions attending it — made it necessary that he return to the home in Tiverton, R. I., his father having an extensive prac- tice and as well a large farm. Here he assumed charge of the farm and entered actively in the prac- tice of his profession amid the scenes and friends of his earlier years. From this time on through the long period of approximately forty years of his professional career he faithfully administered to the sick and afflicted in a large and successful practice, which extended not only through the town of Tiver- ton but into Little Compton, Portsmouth, Fall River and Westport. He had been faithful to his inherit- ance of a rich legacy of mental power and his own attainments commanded that confidence in him as a physician and respect for him as a man which had long been accorded to his father.

Of Dr. West the Rev. Dr. George W. Briggs wrote : "A laborious practice, extending over a wide range of country, left him little opportunity for large study of books. But, like his father, he was a careful, shrewd and conscientious observer, and in long rides by day and night he had constant op- portunities for a true study of the cases under his care, for following out the trains of thought they might suggest, and finding out what might be quite as valuable in his profession as the love of books. Though living apart from the centers of medical instruction, his own thought kept him abreast of his time. His mind was very active in whatever direc- tion he pursued his inquiries, and marked by a sturdy independence of thought. He had a deep interest in the public welfare. He wa-s an ardent advocate of temperance, and though he had no children was a steadfast friend of the public schools. He was loyal in his friendships, and welcomed the companions of youth or manhood with hearty good will. He was a lover as well as an observer of na- ture, inheriting his father's interest in agriculture, and took great delight in the management of a large farm. Even the labor itself upon it seemed to be a joy. Never physically strong, for many years he did the twofold work of physician and farmer, emi- nently successful in both, as 'he would have been in any pursuit in life, until his health greatly failed."

The habits of life of Dr. West were plain and simple. He cared little what others said or thought unless what they might suggest threw light upon his pathway of duty. His life was singularly cor- rect and his fidelity to the right was his strongest bond of allegiance. With a thoroughly trained mind, of strong powers of analysis, which enabled him to find the bottom of things, and a restless spirit of inquiry, which did not permit him to rest until he had compassed every subject he took in hand, he distrusted innovations until they were justified by application. He had convictions on almost every subject that attracted public attention, and with chivalrous courage he made his convictions known,

without regard to result upon his own interests or the interests of his party or friends. He was free from all cant, pretense and unreality. His religious belief was that of the Unitarian denomination. His political affiliations were with the Republican party. He was in every sense a conscientious and an hon- est man.

‘‘Late in life,” wrote Rev. Dr. Briggs, ‘‘he [Dr. West] married a daughter of Hon. Judge Job Dur- fee, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island, and sister of its present (1888) chief jus- tice [Hon. Thomas Durfee] and built a home on rising ground that gave him a view of a portion of Earragansett Bay, and of the beautiful Rhode Island shore. There he lived in his latest years, looking out every day upon the fair prospect always before his eyes, enjoying the fruits of former la- bors, practicing occasionally among lifelong friends, or when called into consultations, until an accident, followed by brief days of keen suffering, brought his useful and honored life to a close. The name of Samuel West was made honorable by his grand- father’s life and service. Though he followed a different calling, his father kept it equally bright. And the subject of this memoir (Dr. Samuel West (3), the last that bore it) left it without a stain.”

Mrs. Mary (Durfee) West, the widow of Dr. West, whose life has just been portrayed, was born Oct. 23, 1827, in Tiverton, R. I., daughter of the late Judge Job and Judith (Borden) Durfee, of Tiverton, he a descendant of Thomas Durfee, a na- tive of England, who came to New England pre- vious to 1664, settling in the town of Portsmouth, R. I., from whom his lineage is through Job, Jjolm and Thomas Durfee. The marriage of Dr. and Mrs. West occurred Oct. 27, 1869. Dr. Samuel West died in Tiverton Jan. 7, 1879, in the seventy- third year of his age.

Mrs. Judith Borden Durfee, mother of Mrs. West, died Oct. 30, 1884, at the ripe old age of eighty-eight years, and was laid to rest in the family cemetery. Of the children of Judge Job and Judith Durfee Amy died on the homestead June 18, 1902; Lucy, who married Thomas Hicks Borden, died July 26, 1900; Thomas, late Chief Justice, is men- tioned in full elsewhere in these volumes ; Sarah Ann and Mrs. West reside together on the old Judge Job Durfee homestead. Mrs. West is a charm- ing lady of the Old school, and is noted for her charities and her kindness to all. She still retains the Dr. Wrest home, but has it in the charge of a caretaker.

GEORGE HUNT, deceased, equally well known as a manufacturer of gold jewelry and a lover and master of botany — a happy combination of the prosperous man of affairs and the enthusias- tic, lovable man who lives close to nature — was for sixty-five years a resident of Providence, and during that long period the process by which he became established in the confidence and affection of the

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people was continuous and unvarying. The son of Peter and Sarah (Wheeler) Hunt, he was born in Sudbury, near Concord, Mass., his descent be- ing traced through English ancestry and a line of American forefathers, the latter of whom were na- tives of these places. The Massachusetts genealogy is as below.

(I) William Hunt, of Concord, born in Eng- land in 1605, came to New England in 1635. He married (first) Elizabeth Best, and (second) Mercy Rice.

(II) Isaac Hunt, of Concord, born in 1647, married Mary Stone.

(III) Isaac Hunt (2), of Sudbury, born in 1668, married Mary Willard.

(IV) Isaac Hunt (3), of Sudbury, married Martha Goodnow.

(V) William Hunt (2), of Sudbury, born April 3, 1726, married Mary Wheeler.

(VI) William Hunt (3), of Sudbury, born March 7, 1753, married Mary Plimpton.

(VII) Peter Hunt, of Sudbury, born March 3, 1781, married in 1805 Sarah A. Wheeler.

(VIII) George Hunt was born Jan. 3, 1811. His father died when he was but eight years of age, and the boy then went to live with his grand- father, William Hunt. His work upon the farm and his free outdoor life, joined to a naturally observant and susceptible nature, aroused in him a. love for plants and dowers, which but strengthened with time and close contact with city life. Al- though his literary advantages wrere such only as were afforded by the country schools of the early portion of his century, he was so quick, active and bright that he was able to provide for himself when only thirteen years of age. His elder sister had already settled in Providence as the wife of Peter Church, member of the firm of Church & Metcalf, manufacturing jewelers, and when about nineteen years of age George, ambitious for a broader life, removed to' the city and made his home with her. He was apprenticed to the firm of Church & Met- calf, then located on Steeple street, and thoroughly mastered the trade. In 1841 he formed a partner- ship with Ezekiel Owen, under the name of Hunt & Owen, for the manufacture of solid gold jewelry. Their establishment was located at No. 7 President street (now Waterman), the site at present occu- pied by the Rhode Island School of Design. At the outset both Mr. Hunt and Mr. Owen worked at the bench themselves, and relied entirely on hand power. In 1847 they removed to the north side of Steeple street, and in 1855 to the corner of Dorrance and Weybosset streets, where they re- mained for thirty-two years, or until the firm re- tired from business in 1887. At that time the busi- ness had developed into one of the most extensive in the city, the manufactory being provided with the most modern machinery and appliances.

Outside his important business interests Mr. Hunt was deeply concerned in civic affairs and was a prominent participant in the municipal govern-

ment. He served as a member of the common council from 1851 to 1854, and from 1861 to 1863- In politics he was first a Whig and later a Re- publican.

Like most of those who retain a cheerful and elastic nature to a good old age, Mr. Hunt enjoyed a lifelong recreation which kept both his body and his mind in active exercise. In his case the sea- soning of the serious concerns of life was the study of the natural sciences. To the last lie found time to indulge his love of nature by long rambles in the woods, and by visits to the botanical haunts of the State, with which he was very familiar and which he explored year after year with as much pure enjoyment after his eightieth year as in his younger days. With the study of botany he joined later that of entomology, accumulating both an extensive herbarium and a large collection of in- sects, presented after his death to Brown University by his daughter.

At the time of his decease Mr. Hunt was a Fellow of the American Association for the Ad- vancement of Science. He was also a charter mem- ber of the Horticultural Society of Providence, in- stituted in 1845, and for a period of fifty years was an active participant in its committee work and general proceedings, serving as its president from 1876 to 1879. He was also a member of the Franklin Society, being its vice-president from 1869 to 1878.

The following suggestive extract from the Provi- dence Journal is an epitome of Mr. Hunt’s char- acter— a character sketch well worthy of preserva- tion, which appeared in that publication at the time of his death, in Providence, on Feb. 21, 1895 :

"Although engaged in the active duties of a manufacturer, he never gave up the pursuits of a floriculturist. One never went to him with a rare plant, especially if indigenous to Rhode Island, without learning correctly its name, its haunts, its habits and its peculiar characteristics. He showed in the Horticultural Society, as he did everywhere, the breadth of his knowledge, and there, as every- where, he was the quiet, modest, unassuming gentleman, who could express in the clearest man- ner the thought which possessed him, and with a degree of persuasiveness yvhich carried conviction. But let no one imagine, because he was persuasive, that he lacked firmness, or the courage of his con- victions and the willingness to express them when they differed from those of others around him. Truthful and frank to a degree seldom equalled, he was so gentle in his manner, so considerate of others, so just in his judgment, so wise in his de- cisions ami so courteous in stating them, that he won a host of friends ; and ‘once a friend, always a friend,’ could be said of him as of few others. It would seem as if the very flowers of the field would miss him, and if the highways, and stone walls, and the hills and dales are not conscious of some- thing gone, those whose privilege it was to tramp with him will not, while life lasts, forget the keen

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•enjoyment which has been vouchsafed to them in being able to accompany him and share with him a close communion with nature. One could not know him without having a higher idea of the worth and dignity of human nature, and a consci- ousness that one may grow old in years and remain youthful and cheerful in spirit, and keep in touch with the young life of an ever renewing present. As was once said of Stephen Longfellow, of Port- land, an uncle of the poet, so may it be said in closing of Mr. Hunt, ‘Such men never die.’ ”

George Hunt was married in June, 1841, to Evelina Metcalf, daughter of Jesse and Eunice Dench (Houghton) Metcalf, and her biography is given below. Her death occurred twelve years previous to that of her husband, and they were the parents of two daughters : Mary Eva, born Nov. 14, 1845, was married in March, 1869, to Andrew Ingraham, of New Bedford, Mass., now deceased, and they had four children, George Hunt, Mar- garet (deceased), Arthur and Edward; Miss Ellen G., born Oct. 7, 1849, *s a resident of Providence, Rhode Island.

Evelina Metcalf (as the wife of George Hunt was known before marriage) was born in Provi- dence, R. I., Jan. 30, 1820, and died in ber native city Aug. 23, 1883. She came of a family which since the early portion of the eighteenth century had been identified with the history of Providence. About 1737 Eleazer Metcalf, of Dedham, Mass., located at Providence, and in 1780 Joel and Lucy (Gay) Metcalf, of Attleboro, Mass., became resi- dents of the place. The two Joels, Jesse, Joseph G., Col. Edwin, Major George, Alfred, Franklin, Jesse H., Stephen O. and Edward P. Metcalf have all impressed themselves upon the history of Providence. It is the branch of the family repre- sented by Joel Metcalf, of Attleboro, to which Mrs. Hunt belongs. He was her paternal grandfather, born in that place in 1755, and his wife, Lucy Gay, was also a native of Attleboro. Jesse, their son and the father of Mrs. Hunt, was born May 15, 1790, and died in the, prime of life, June 20, 1838. His marriage to Eunice D. Houghton, daughter of John, occurred April 19, 1812, and she died May 5, 1858, the mother of nine children, of whom Eve- lina was the fourth. Her early education was ob- tained under Oliver Angell, who taught a flourish- ing school at the corner of Main and Mill streets. Later she attended a school at Charlestown, Mass., and the Greene street school, of Providence, of which Hiram Fuller was the head. While at the latter institution she came under the influence of that remarkable woman, Margaret Fuller, and from her imbibed a keen love of literature, espe- cially of poetry, while her spiritual nature was stimulated at the same time and strengthened.

Mrs. Hunt’s married life commenced when she was twenty-one years of age, and during the forty years of its duration she was especially identified with the philanthropies of Providence, ever con-

tributing to the relief and enjoyment of others. At the outbreak of the Civil war she became an active figure in the work of the Sanitary Commis- sion, and labored unceasingly to alleviate suffering, both at the front and among the families of the soldiers at home. In her religious belief she was a Unitarian ever upholding that faith by thought, word and deed. During the last twenty years of her life she was an invalid, but though physically unable to enter into much of the work and so- ciability about her she never lost an opportunity to do good, or allowed her interest to flag in the welfare of family and friends, especially of the young. Her death was a distinct loss to the culture and spirituality of the community.

GARRETTSON. The family bearing this name at Newport, where for a quarter of a century it has been represented, and latterly prominently in the social and business life of the city by the Hon. Frederick P. Garrettson, who has served the city as its chief executive officer, is one of many years’ standing in the States of Maryland and New York. A family conspicuous in itself, its members have become allied by marriage and connected with some of the historic, most distinguished and wealthy families of the State of New York. For fifty and more years, beginning with the Revolution, the name of Rev. Freeborn Garrettson, the zealous, earnest and talented itinerant Methodist minister and missionary, was almost a household word from the Gulf of Mexico to Nova Scotia. By the Gar- rettson alliance with the Livingstons the family be- came interwoven with the Beekmans, the Jays, the Van Brughs and the Montgomerys, historic names in and about New York, and, as well, illustrious; Hon. John Jay, statesman and jurist, chief justice of the United States Supreme court, and governor; Hon. William Livingston (Yale, 1741), member of the First, Second and Third Continental Congresses, brigadier-general and commander-in-chief of the militia of New Jersey and that State’s first gov- ernor ; Hon. Philip Livingston, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence ; Hon. Robert R. Livingston, the eminent lawyer, and a justice of the New York Supreme court, member of Congress, etc., and many others of scarcely less note.

The Garrettsons were an early Maryland family ; the immigrant ancestor, coming from Great Britain, was among the first settlers in the Province of Maryland, on the west side of the Chesapeake bay, near the mouth of the Susquehanna river. Here was born, Aug. 15, 1752, Rev. Freeborn Garrettson, a grandson of the settler and a son of worthy par- ents, both members of the Church of England — the father a man of good moral character, and the mother an earnest Christian, somewhat of the Whitefieldian school. Freeborn in time made a pro- fession of religion and became deeply concerned for the spiritual interests of others, and especially of his own friends. He became convinced that it was his

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duty to become a minister, and at the Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 1776, held in Baltimore, he was admitted on trial, and appointed on the Frederick circuit. Previous to this time, he had, in obedience to a strong conviction of duty, manumitted his slaves. He next served on Fairfax circuit, and at the Conference held in 1777 he was appointed to Brunswick circuit, in Virginia. He next served on various circuits through the South and East, including the States of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, preaching from ten to twelve sermons per week and with great diligence and success. In 1780 he was appointed to Baltimore, and during this year, as in preceding ones, had large exper- ience of the preserving goodness of God, and of the bitter hostility of men. In 1781 he was appointed to Sussex circuit in Virginia, where he was greatly obstructed in his labors by the all-engrossing scenes of the Revolution. During the year he traveled about five thousand miles and preached about five hundred sermons, then labored next on the Somer- set and Talbot circuits. In 1784 Mr. Garrettson was present at the famous Christmas Conference in Baltimore, at which the Methodist Episcopal. Church was organized— lie had been active in bring- ing about that important measure — and was one of the eleven who were ordained elders during the ses- sion. At this Conference lie volunteered his ser- vices as a missionary to Nova Scotia. He founded the Methodist Society in Halifax. He continued in Nova Scotia for two years. On his return from that territory in 1787 by way of Boston, lie found at the latter point three Methodists — the remnant of a society founded there seventeen years before, by Mr. Boardman, one of Mr. Wesley's original mis- sionaries in America. Not finding admission to the city pulpits he preached several sermons in private houses, and then passed on to Providence and New- port, R. I., where he was more cordially received and preached with good acceptance. He continued his route to the Baltimore Conference. In 1787 he was appointed presiding elder in the Baltimore Con- ference. In 1788 he set out, by the advice of Bishop Asbury, for New England, with a view to plant Methodism in the eastern States ; but he was de- tained in the city of New York until the ensuing conference, in consequence of the illness of the preacher who was stationed there, and thus was prevented from carrying out his purpose. At the conference of 1789 he was appointed presiding elder of the New York district, having under his care twelve young preachers, whom he designated to cir- cuits along the Hudson, as far northward as Lake Champlain. Several of these routes of ministerial travel bordered on New England ; and thus Gar- rettson became a coadjutor with Jesse Lee in intro- ducing Methodism into that part of the country.

In 1790 Rev. Mr. Garrettson made a tour through New England, and preached in most of the larger towns in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. At the New York Conference of

1791 his district was divided, and he was appointed to that section of it which lay along the New Eng- land border. In 1782 he traveled through the Al- bany district, which included portions of New Eng- land, and in 1793, the Philadelphia district. In 1794 and 1795 he traveled the district including Pittsfield ; in 1796, the New London district ; in 1797,. the New York district; in 1798, the Albany district;, in 1799, the New Jersey district; and from 1800 to 1803, the New York district. In 1804 he was sta- tioned at Rhinebeck ; and in 1805 and 1806, at New York City. In 1807 he was conference missionary. In 1808 lie was stationed at Rhinebeck; and in 1809 and 1810 he was conference missionary again. From 1811 to 1814 he was on the New York dis- trict again. In 1815 he was without an appoint- ment, by his own request; and in 1816 was again conference missionary. At the conference of 1817 he was returned on the supernumerary list; and from this time, during the remainder of his life, he continued to labor at large, extending his travels through the greater part of New England and the Middle States, and scarcely abating his wonted ac- tivity, notwithstanding the growing infirmities of age.

On June 20, 1793, Mr. Garrettson was married to Catherine, daughter of Hon. Robert R. Living- ston, which connected him and his posterity with some of the historic and most distinguished fam- ilies of New York State. His wife received from her mother a farm upon which Mr. and Mrs. Gar- rettson began their married life. Here in the local- ity they built a small Methodist church. In some four or five years they exchanged their farm for one which had a frontage on the Hudson river. Upon this land they built a new and handsome house into which they moved in October, 1799. This later was “Wildercliff” on the banks of the Hudson, long one of the celebrated country seats in the town of Rhinebeck. It is said that it was through the in- fluence of Dr. Thomas Tillotson — a former friend of Mr. Garrettson in Maryland, a surgeon in the army in the Revolution and a prominent public man in Maryland just after the war, who later settled in Rhinebeck — that Mr. Garrettson came to the latter point to preach, and on that occasion met the woman he later married.

On her maternal side Mrs. Garrettson, her mother being Margaret Beekman, descended from (I) William Beekman, who was born in 1623 at Plasselt and came to New Amsterdam, N. Y., at the commencement of Governor Stuyvesant s ad- ministration, being then in the employ of the Dutch West India Company. He married in 1649 Cather- ine, daughter of Frederic Hendricks de Boogh, captain of a Hudson river trading vessel. William Beekman was appointed in 1658 vice-director of the Dutch Colony at the mouth of the Delaware river. He was chosen in 1653-64-65-66-67 one of the schapens of New Amsterdam. In 1670 he pur- chased a farm in the vicinity of the present Beek-

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man street and fronting on the river road now Pearl street, New York City. Mr. Beekman was alder- man at twelve different times under the English till 1696, when he retired from public life. He was a man of high repute among the citizens of his day. He died in 1707. From William Beekman Mrs. Garrettson’s lineage was through Henry, Henry (2) and Margaret Beekman.

(II) Col. Henry Beekman married Joanna de Lopes, and settled in Kingston, N. Y., where he became county judge, served in the Legislature, and was colonel cf militia, etc. He was a deacon and elder in the Protestant Reformed Church.

(III) Henry Beekman (2), horn in 1688, mar- ried Janet, daughter of Robert Livingston.

(IV) Margaret Beekman, baptized in 1724, married Judge Robert R. Livingston.

On the paternal side Mrs. Garrettson's lineage is through (I) Robert Livingston, a native of Anerum, Scotland, son of John Livingston, a Scot- tish Presbyterian divine, the latter of whom was banished in 1663 for non-conformity, and went to Rotterdam, where he died in 1672. Robert came to America, to Charlestown, Mass., in 1673, and set- tled in Albany, and as early as 1675 became secre- tary of the commissionaries, which he held until Albany became a city, in 1686. He held various offices, was town clerk, member of the Colonial Assembly from the city and county of Albany, and later from his manor, and was speaker in 1718. In 1686 he received from the governor a large tract of land which, in 1715, was confirmed by a royal charter from George I, erecting the manor and lordship of Livingston. This tract embraced large parts of what are now the counties of Dutch - ess and Columbia, N. Y., and is still known as the Livingston Manor. He married, in 1679, Alida, widow of Rev. Nicholas Van Rensselaer and daugh- ter of Philip P. Schuyler. One of his grandsons, Philip Livingston, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

(II) Robert Livingston (2).

(III) Robert Livingston, born in 1718, in New York, married Margaret, daughter of Henry Beek- man, and resided on Broadway, near Bowling Green, and at his country seat, “Clermont." He is said to have been the richest landholder, without exception, in New York. One of his daughters, Janet, married Gen. Richard Montgomery, of Rev- olutionary fame. Mr. Livingston became an emi- nent lawyer. In 1760 he was appointed judge of the Admiralty court in New York and three years later was made a justice of the New York Supreme court. He was for years a member from Dutchess county of the Provisional Congress. He was a member of the Congress of 1765, which opposed the measures compelling the adoption of stamps, otherwise the Stamp Act.

(IV) Catherine Livingston, horn Oct. 14, 1752, married in 1793 Rev. Freeborn Garrettson.

Having thus shown in detail how, by marriage.

the Garrettsons are related to the historic Living- stons and.BeeKmans of New York, the direct ge- nealogy of the family is traced, as follows :

Thomas Garrettson, great-grandfather of Fred- erick P. Garrettson, ex-mayor of Newport, was born in Hartford county, Md., and died there. He married a Miss Maddux, of Eastern Maryland, where he was an extensive planter.

Freeborn Garrettson, the grandfather, was a worthy connection and namesake of one of the great pioneers of Methodism in Maryland, Virgi- nia, the Middle States and New England. He was born on the eastern shore of Maryland, May 14, 1793, and died in Rhinebeck, N. Y., Nov. 12, 1866, at tne age of seventy-three years. He studied law, but never practiced the profession. He resided on the large estate at Clifton Point, on the Hudson river, the greater portion of which was afterward purchased by the late William Astor. He was a man of standing and influence, as well as of com- fortable fortune, and for several years was a mem- ber of the New York State Legislature. To him and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Francis Waters, of Baltimore, Md., were born the following chil- dren: Francis T., is mentioned below; Freeborn, Jr., died in Rhinebeck, in 1904; Rutland is a real estate dealer in New York; Robert Livingston is a lawyer residing in New Paltz, N. Y. ; Lyttelton, a lawyer, died in New York; Susan (deceased), was the wife of William S. Waters, a Baltimore lawyer, who is also deceased ; and Mary C., unmarried, is living at Asheville, North Carolina.

Francis Thomas Garrettson, father of Freder- ick P., was born in Rhinebeck, N. Y., May 26, 1826. He received a thorough preliminary education, and was a graduate of Wesleyan College, at Middle- town, Conn. In early life he was a commission mer- chant in New York City and later in Liverpool, England, but subsequently studied law in Rhinebeck and New York and was admitted to the bar in New York in 1851. He immediately took up the practice of his chosen profession in New York City, where he now resides, in retirement and in the quiet en- joyment of the home life to which he is so much at- tached. He still retains his office in New York, although not engaged in active practice. His church affiliations are with the Episcopal denomi- nation. To him and his wife, who was formerly Miss Helen Jay Prime, daughter of Frederick Prime, of New Rochelle, N. Y., and great-grand- daughter of John Jay, were born three children, namely: Frederick P., who is mentioned below; Elizabeth, widow of S. Howland Russell, of New York; and Helen Jay, living at home, unmarried.

Nathaniel Prime, great-grandfather of Freder- ick Prime Garrettson, on his mother’s side, was the son of Joshua Prime, and a descendant of Mark, the settler. He was the founder of the old banking house of Prime, Ward & King, which, though un- der another name, is still doing business. He was of the Rowley (Mass.), family of Primes, a de-

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scendant of Mark Prime, one of three brothers of an excellent family who left Liverpool, England, and settled themselves in Massachusetts. One of them remained there, locating at Rowley, where he was a proprietor before 1650.

(I) Augustus Jay, son of Pierre and Judith (Francois) Jay, he a merchant of La Rochelle, was born in 1665 at La Rochelle, France. The family were Huguenots, and on the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, in 1685, tied from France to England, where the father died. Augustus came to America, landing at Charleston, S. C. He became a prosper- ous merchant of New York City. His death oc- curred in 1751. He had married, in 1697, Anna Maria (or Marie), daughter of Balthazar Bayard, granddaughter of Nicholas and Anna (Stuyvesant) Bayard, and great-granddaughter of Balthazar Bay- ard, and of Governor Stuyvesant.

(II) Peter Jay, son of Augustus, born in 1704, in New York City, married in 1728 Mary, daughter of Jacobus and Eva (Philips) Van Cortlandt, of Yonkers, N. Y. Mr. Jay was a merchant of New York City. He retired to Rye, N. Y., in 1744, and died at Fishkill, N. Y., in 1777.

(III) John Jay, seventh child and sixth son of Peter Jay, born Dec. 12, 1745, in New York City, married in April, 1774, Sarali Van Brugh, youngest daughter of Gov. William Livingston, of New Jer- sey, and two sons came to them, Peter Augustus and William, and daughters Susan, Maria, Ann and Sarah Louise. Mr. Jay was the celebrated Chief Justice Jay of the United States. He died in 1829, at Bedford, New York.

(IV) Peter Augustus Jay, son of Chief Justice John Jay, born Jan. 20, 1776, at Elizabethtown, N. J., married in 1807 Mary Rutherford, daughter of Gen. Matthew and Mary (Rutherford) Clarkson. Mr. Jay was a lawyer of New York City, where he died Feb. 20, 1843.

(V) Mary Rutherford Jay, daughter of Peter Augustus, born April 16, 1810, in New York City, married April 30, 1829, Frederick Prime, youngest son of Nathaniel and Cornelia (Sands) Prime.

(VI) Helen Jay Prime married Francis T. Gar- rettson.

Frederick Prime Garrettson, eldest of the children of Francis T. and Helen Jay (Prime) Garrettson, was born in Rhinebeck, N. Y., July 30, 1857. His education was acquired in St. Paul’s School, Concord, N. H., and at Dartmouth College, with the class of 1879. After leaving col- lege he took up the study of law with his father for a time, but soon decided upon a business career, which he inaugurated with a two years’ clerkship in tlie counting-house of Howland & Aspinwall, on South street, New York. Mr. Garrettson then es- tablished the firm of F. P. Garrettson & Co., whole- sale and retail dealers in fine teas, coffees and fine olive oils at No. 150 Front street, New York, and under his energetic and shrewd guidance the busi- ness has steadily and rapidly increased, until to-day

the firm of F. P. Garrettson & Co. is one of the largest importing houses in its line in New York. In the spring of 1884, at the solicitation of a num- ber of friends, Mr. Garrettson opened a store in Newport, R. I., carrying a large and complete stock of fancy groceries and fine wines, etc. For about six months after coming to Newport his store was located on Bellevue avenue, but in the latter part of the year (1884) he removed his business to Washington Square, where, he has since continued, having met with deserved success. In 1907 Mr. Garrettson was elected a member of the board of directors of the Newport Trust Company.

Socially Mr. Garrettson is a member of the LTnion Club of New York and the Newport Reading Room, and fraternally is a member of Newport Lodge, No. 104, B. P. O. Elks. During its exist- ence he was also identified with the Business Men’s Association of Newport, and for two years served as its president. Being a direct descendant of Gov. William Livingston, lie secured membership in the Society of Sons of the Revolution, being first vice- president and secretary of the Newport Chapter; he is now president.

The business position which Mr. Garrettson soon acquired in Newport made him one of its most influential citizens. Capable, progressive and en- terprising in any movement with which he became connected, his Republican friends decided to put him forward as their municipal leader. In October, 1900, he was made the party nominee for mayor, and in the following month defeated Patrick J. Boyle, the Democratic candidate. Mr. Garrettson’s election was a signal triumph as a marked personal endorsement, as he was the first Republican mayor that Newport had returned for many a year. He gave the city such a good business-like administration that he was defeated the fol- lowing year by only a small majority by his former opponent. In commenting at the time on the nomination of Mr. Garrettson one of the local papers said : “In Mr. Garrettson the Republicans have an energetic, progressive cit- izen— a man who has the best interests of the city at heart, and who has the wisdom and ability to make a mayor to be proud of. There ought to be no question about his election.’’ In 1907 Mr. Gar- rettson was elected a member of the Representative Council from the Third ward for the three-year term.

Mr. Garrettson is a liberal supporter of Trinity Episcopal Church of Newport, while his wife is a member of the Catholic denomination. He was married Nov. 19, 1884, to Marie Angele Frith, daughter of Edward Frith, of New York City, and they have had one daughter, Emily Binsse Garrett- son.

The father of Mrs. Frederick P. Garrettson was an Englishman by birth, a native of Sheffield. He was engaged in the steel business in England, and later came to New York, where he was agent

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for Sanderson Brothers, of England, being their American representative. Mrs. Garrettson’s mother was Emily Victoria Binsse, daughter of Louis Binsse. Louis Binsse married Victoria Bancle, who was “lady-in-waiting” to Queen Marie Antoin- ette. Her family was forced to leave France when Marie Antoinette was beheaded.

The pleasant home of the Garrettsons, which Mr. Garrettson purchased in 1900, is historic ground. It is on Mill street, facing Truro Park and the old stone mill, which was originally owned and occupied by the Carr family, members of which were among the early settlers of Newport. It later became the home of Gov. Benedict Arnold, and still later the residence of the Tillinghast fam- ily, a member of which rebuilt the house in 1720.

Mr. Garrettson is capable, energetic and pro- gressive, possessing unusual business acumen. His manner is affable and courteous, his politeness, be- ing inborn, is natural. As a citizen of Newport he has ever been active in public affairs and alive to the interests which have for their object the ad- vancement of the city. He has refined tastes and is a lover and patron of the fine arts and of stand- ard literature, his library being well-stocked with the works of the noted authors, in the reading of which most of his leisure moments are spent.

FREEMAN (Central Falls family). The Free- mans of New England have been here since 1630, and of the Cape Cod Freemans, says Rich in his work on Truro, Cape Cod, "Probably no family has been more prominent on the Cape, nor has main- tained through so many generations the race char- acteristics of fine physical proportions and average mental endowments of their old English ancestry.” “Edmund Freeman,” continues Rich, “is the ances- tor of all on Cape Cod of the name.”

Samuel Freeman, from Mawlyn, in the County of Kent, England, born, it is said by some, in Dev- onshire, settled in Watertown, Mass., in 1630, and was one of the principal proprietors, owning one- seventh of the town. He built a house there in 1631, but died in England, leaving sons Henry and Samuel, the former of whom owned the Watertown estate. Henry died in Boston without issue. Sam- uel Freeman (2), styled Deacon Samuel, son of Samuel, was born in Watertown in 1630, and was of Eastham in 1638. He married Mercy, daughter of Constant Southworth, of Plymouth, whose mother became the wife of Governor Bradford. Constant Freeman, son of Deacon Samuel, born in 1669, was a proprietor of Truro, Mass., and one of his sons, Jonathan, removed to Gorham, Maine, where he became the ancestor of a branch of the Maine Freemans. The male descendants of the Truro branch of Samuel Freeman did not increase and the name has long been extinct there.

Edmund Freeman, referred to in the foregoing, with his wife Elizabeth and their children, Alice, Edmund, John and Elizabeth, came over from Eng-

land in 1635 in the “Abigail,” settling first at Sau- gus, and then removed to Sandwich, being of the first settlers there. Mr. Freeman was a prominent man, of good business habits, liberal in politics, and tolerant in his religious opinions. He was a mem- ber of the Sandwich Church, which had the repu- tation of being one of the most bigoted and intoler- ant of the Colony, yet Mr. Freeman is said not to have imbibed the persecuting spirit. He lived to be ninety-two years of age, dying in 1682, in Sand- wich, Mass. His wife, Elizabeth, died in 1676, aged seventy-six years. Two of their sons, Major John and Samuel Freeman, married daughters of -Governor Prince. Major John Freeman, it is said, was a more distinguished man than his father. He removed to Eastham and in 1650 married Mercy, daughter of Governor Prince, and lived to a ven- erable old age. One branch of this Cape Cod fam- ily, descended from Edmund, removed from Sand- wich, Mass., to Mansfield, Conn., early in the sev- enteenth century ; another branch settled later at Dover, N. H., and so on.

There were other early Freemans in New Eng- land. Anthony Freeman came in the “Hopewell,” in 1635, and of him, says Savage, nothing more is known. And John Freeman, husbandman, came in the “Abigail” and settled at Sudbury, where he was a proprietor in 1639. This article, however, is to deal especially with the Rhode Island branch of one of the Massachusetts families of the name — that at the head of which was the Hon. Edward Livingston Freeman, of Central Falls, R. I. Mr. Freeman was long one of the conspicuous public men of the State, serving in one branch or other of the General Assembly for approximately thirty- one years, and for a time as Speaker of the House, and was also State commissioner of railroads. As a business man he won the reputation of being one of the most capable in the State.

For years the family home of the Central Falls branch of the Freemans was at Mendon, Mass., where the grandparents of Hon. Edward Living- ston Freeman, Edward and Sarah (Thayer) Free- man, were born, and from that town went out into the world their son, the late Rev. Edward Free- man, of long years of usefulness in the service of the Master, a minister of prominence and useful- ness in the Baptist denomination.

The earlier home of this branch of the family was, perhaps, at Rehoboth, whence came to Attle- boro, Mass., David and Jonathan Freeman, who, says Daggett, in his history of that town, were the probable ancestors of all the Attleboro Freemans. The lineage of the Central Falls family is traced to Ralph Freeman, of Attleboro, Mass., and later of Winchester, N. H. From this Ralph Freeman there follows in chronological order the genealogy and history of the Central Falls family.

Ralph Freeman, of Attleboro, Mass., and Win- chester, N. H., married Sarah Capron, daughter of Banfield Capron, who was born March 11, 1708.

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Their children were : Ebenezer, Benjamin, Nathan, Ralph, Samuel, Dan, Jemima, Sarah, Esther and Sarah (2).

Ralph Freeman (2), son of Ralph and Sarah, married, Jan. 1, 1765, Phebe, daughter of Edward and Margaret Thompson, both of whom were de- scendants of Banfield Capron. Their children were : Willard* Ottis, Ralph, Ebenezer, Phebe, Edward and Alpheus.

Edward Freeman, son of Ralph and Phebe, born April 19, 1781, married Feb. 4, 1804, Sarah, born April 5, 1784, daughter of Benjamin Thayer. They died, she on Aug. 10, 1824, and he Jan. 30, 1827, and both are buried in Bellingham, Mass. Their children were : Phila T. ; Edward, born April 2, 1806; Phila T. (2), born Feb. 12, 1809; and Sarah, born March 31, 1811.

Edward Freeman, son of Edward and Sarah (Thayer) Freeman, born April 2, 1806, in Mendon, Mass., passed his early life in agricultural labor, not entering college until in his twenty-fourth year, when he became a student in Brown University. He was graduated in the class of 1833, being a classmate of the late Gov. Henry B. Anthony and United States Senator Nathan F. Dixon. After this event for several years he was engaged in teaching, first at Bellingham, Mass., and afterward in Waterville, Maine. In 1836 he was ordained and settled as minister of the Baptist Church in Old- town, Maine, where he remained three years. Pie was subsequently settled for the same period in Camden, Maine, and for two years at Bristol, R. I. In 1843 he returned to Camden, and there passed the remaining years of his life. Here he purchased a farm of fifty acres, and for many years kept a classical school, which was highly prosper- ous. He also preached in churches without a min- ister, and was for a time chaplain to the State Prison of Maine.

In November, 1834, Mr. Freeman married (first) Harriet E. Colburn, of Dedham, Mass., who died in June, 1852. He married (second) in March, 1853, Susan Glover, of Camden, Maine, who died in February, 1867. In 1868 lie married (third) Mrs. Kate Blackinton, of Camden, who survived him. Mr. Freeman died Jan. 28, 1882, at Camden, Maine, aged seventy-five years, nine months and twenty-six days. Mrs. Harriet E. (Colburn) Freeman, who was born in 1815, was a liberally educated woman, having graduated with high hon- ors at the Medfield (Mass.) School, and for several years taught both Latin and French. The children of Rev. Edward P'reeman were: Edward Livings- ton, born Sept. 10, 1835 ; Sarah Capron, March 15, 1838; Ellis Colburn, Feb. 22, 1840; Maria Wood, Sept. 30, 1842; Perrin Polk, Nov. 16, 1845; Wayland Baker, March 22, 1847; Milton Heman, June 19, 1848; Harriet Dillingham, Feb. n, 1850; Celia, May 4, 1851; Frank Draper, June 9, 1852 (all to the first marriage) ; Julia Crabtree, Tan. 10,

1854; John Clarendon, Feb. 24, 1856; Phila, June 8, 1857 (of the second marriage).

Edward Livingston Freeman, son of Rev. Edward and Harriet Ellis (Colburn) Freeman, born Sept. 10, 1835, in Waterville, Maine, mar- ried Nov. 10, 1858, Emma E. Brown, daughter of Samuel Brown, of Central P'alls, R. I., and seven children blessed the union.

Mr. P'reeman was partially prepared for college under the direction of his father, but he did not enter, preferring to learn the printer's trade, for which he exhibited great liking. In the spring of 1850, in his fifteenth year, he was apprenticed to Mr. A. W. Pearce, of Pawtucket, for the purpose just cited and under that gentleman acquired a thorough knowledge of the trade. Following his. term of apprenticeship he entered the employ of Hammond, Angell & Co., Providence (the old Providence Journal job office) and remained with them several years, holding a partnership in the firm during the last two years of his connection ; during the period he was an employee of this com- • pany he worked for a time in Washington, D. C., and was present at the inauguration of President Buchanan. Disposing of his interest in the Provi- dence concern in 1863, he opened a printing office in a small room in the large three-story brick build- ing at Central P'alls, R. 1., which subsequently be- came his property, his staff consisting of three men and one boy, and from this modest beginning Mr. P'reeman developed one of the largest printing and publishing establishments in Rhode Island.

As his sons — William C. and Joseph W. Free- man— grew up they were trained in the business under the direction of Mr. Freeman, and in 1885 and 1896, respectively, were admitted to a part- nership, the style of the firm becoming E. L. P'ree- man & Sons. These younger men gave to the bus- iness new vim and vigor and have been important factors in its growth. The printing and binding establishment of the firm has been maintained from the start at Central P'alls, and in 1880 they pur- chased the book and stationery concern in Provi- dence of Valpey, Angell & Co. In 1888 a large stationery store was opened at Pawtucket. Since 1878 this firm has had contracts for the State printing, and employment is given to about seventy- five hands in Central Falls, and fifteen in the stores.

In 1869 Mr. Freeman began the publication of the Weekly Visitor , a journal that contributed greatly to the growth and development of Central P'alls and vicinity. This paper he conducted most successfully for twenty-one years, disposing of it in 1S90. it should have been stated above that from 1873 to 1885 Mr. John E. Goldsworthy was a mem- ber of the firm, during which time the business was conducted under the firm name of E. L. Free- man & Co., and it was on the retirement of Mr. Goldsworthy that Mr. Freeman’s oldest son came into the concern. For several years the younger

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son of the elder Freeman was the manager of the printing department, and now has full charge of the whole business, Mr. E. L. Freeman having practically retired from active participation in the business, though retaining his interest up to his ■death.

Mr. Freeman's early established reputation for activity, persistence, business ability and integrity resulted in his holding many positions of financial trust and responsibility, and his interest in public affairs led to his being called to an uninterrupted period of service in public office for many years. His political affiliations were with the Republican party, and he was chairman of the Rhode Island delegation to the Republican National Convention in June, 1896; he was also a delegate to the Na- tional Convention at which President Grant was nominated for his second term, and to the one which nominated Rutherford B. Hayes. His pub- lic record was a distinguished one. Early devel- oping a remarkable capacity for the clear and com- prehensive understanding of public business, and being a man of progressive and advanced thought, his strong personality and forcefulness left its im- press upon the legislation of the State. For nearly twenty years he was one of the board of fire wards of Central Falls, and there he also served as school trustee. He was a representative of the old town of Smithfield in the General Assembly, 1868-70; Sen- ator from that town, 1870-71 ; the first Senator from the new town of Lincoln, 1871-72; representative from Lincoln, 1874-77, 1879-89, and was Speaker of the House of Representatives from May, 1874, to 1876. Upon retiring from that office he was presented, by the members of the House, a magnificent gold watclg a testimonial which has been rare indeed in the legislative history of the State. He was again chosen senator from Lincoln in 1892, and was re-elected from that town and the city of Central Falls until 1902, and during all that time resided in the same house, the setting off of Central Falls as a city, in 1895, making him a res- ident of the latter. He was elected president of the Senate several times, which was the first time in the history of the State, and upon his retirement from that body, in 1902, the Senate presented him highly appreciative resolutions and a silver-mounted gavel. During his long service his keen insight and capabilities in the practical business of the leg- islation of the State gave him a place on import- ant committees, among them that of chairman for ten years of the Judiciary committee of the Senate, a position rarely held except by a member of the legal profession, and for several years chairman of the Finance committee of the House. Mr. Freeman won the reputation of being among the best business men and most capable public men of Rhode Island — the peer, perhaps, of any one of his day. He was clear-headed, of quick perception and of positive character, and as well a versatile and fluent speaker. From May, 1889. to February, 1907, Mr. Freeman

held the office of State Commissioner of Railroads, having been first appointed to that office by Gov. Royal C. Taft.

In his earlier life Mr. Freeman found time to give some attention to military affairs, and was for many years identified with the State militia as a member of the Union Guards of Central Falls, ris- ing from the ranks to the colonelcy. In 1855 he united with the Central Falls Congregational Church, and for twenty years served as superintend- ent of the Sunday-school of that church. He was active and prominent in many social and fraternal organizations, being especially prominent as a Ma- son. I11 Masonry lie held the office of grand mas- ter of Masons in Rhode Island; grand high priest of the Grand Chapter of Rhode Island ; and grand commander of the Grand Commandery of Knights Templar of Massachusetts and Rhode Island; he had also taken the cryptic degrees and those of the A. and A. Scottish Rite. He was president of the Masonic Temple Company, of Pawtucket, from its organization. Among other fraternal organizations INI r. Freeman belonged to the I. O. O. F. ; the I. O. R. M., in which he was past grand sachem ; and to the K. of P., in which he was an honorary past chancellor commander.

Mr. Freeman was interested in a number of financial institutions and business corporations, be- ing a director for a number of years of the First National Bank of Pawtucket, until that bank was merged with the Industrial Trust Company of Providence, after which time he was a member of the hoard of managers of the Pawtucket branch of the latter institution : lie was a director of the Paw- tucket Hair Cloth Company and the American Hair Cloth Company ; and director and president of sev- eral other companies. He was one of the original members of the Pawtucket Business Men’s Asso- ciation, and had been its president. He was one of the three trustees under the will of the late Stephen L. Adams, who bequeathed to the city of Central Falls the sum of $35,000 for the purpose of building and maintaining a public library.

Mr. Freeman died of pneumonia Feb. 24, 1907. after an illness of less than a week, in his seventy- second year. His wife, Emma E. Freeman, was at- tacked with the same disease the day after his death and she lingered until April 10th, when she too passed away, aged seventy years. She was a woman of quiet tastes and sterling virtues and her companionship and help for forty-eight years were undeniably great factors in the success of her hus- band in his business and political career.

Editorially the Providence Tribune of Feb. 25th said of Mr. Freeman: “The death of the Honor- able Edward L. Freeman, after a worthy life marked by uncompromising personal integrity and filled with modest good works, is hardly less a loss to Rhode Island because with the accumulating years his activities have of late necessarily been somewhat decreased. In public life *he filled many

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offices with assiduous fidelity ; in business he ex- emplified the old-fashioned virtues of honesty, per- severance and thrift; in social life he was a genial companion and a loyal friend, and in the more intimate relations of the family he amply deserved the love that was his. Thus to have discharged all duties entitles a man to a 'well done’ here that the believer confidently feels will be also bestowed elsewhere.”

Of the seven children born to Mr. and Mrs. Edward L. Freeman but three are now living : (1) William Capron (died July 26, 1904) is men- tioned below. (2) Helen R. died in infancy. (3) Joseph W. is mentioned below. (4) Emma R. married John A. Moore, of Richmond, Va., and both are now deceased, he dying March 28, 1902, and she July 22, 1903. They left two children, Edward Freeman and Jeannette, who now make their home with their aunt, Miss Lucy J. Freeman. (5) Edward, born April 14, 1867, was formerly a minister of the M. E. Church, but is now a lawyer practicing at Marlboro, Mass., having been admitted to the Massachusetts Bar. He married Ida Louise Prince, and they have one daughter, Dorothy. (6) Mabel C., born Dec. 20, 1868, died March 11, 1876. (7) Lucy J., the youngest, is a

graduate of Wellesley College and of the Woman’s College of Brown University. She has spent sev- eral years in Europe studying, and takes a deep interest in art ; she is the author of “Italian Sculp- ture of the Renaissance, and is editor of the “Key Books,” a series which deals with painting, sculp- ture and kindred subjects.

William Capron Freeman, son of Edward L. and Emma4 E. (Brown) Freeman, born Aug. 11, 1859, in Central Falls, R. I., married Aug. 27, 1888, Grace Maud Cleveland, of Indianapolis, Ind., daughter of Samuel T. and Malinda M. (Tolman) Cleveland.

Mr. Freeman received his education in the pub- lic schools of his native place, then further pursued his studies in the noted English and Classical School of Mowry & Goff at Providence. From this latter institution he» entered the book and stationery business of his father in Providence, and in time became manager of the store, and in 1885 a member of the firm. In the year named he succeeded in the firm Mr. John E. Goldsworthy, who had been a partner in the business with his father from 1873. On his entrance into the firm it became E. L. Freeman & Son. Mr. Freeman continued in charge of the Providence store until 1888, in which year the concern founded at Central Falls the business of the Artogravure Company, which operated a plant for gelatine printing; and from that time on until 1893 Mr. Freeman gave his chief attention to the new business, still retaining, however, an over- sight of the stationery stores at Providence and Pawtucket, a store having been subsequently opened in the latter city.

In 1893 the Artogravure Company was con- solidated with the Art Publishing Company, of

Gardiner, Mass., and Charles Taber & Sons, of New Bedford, Mass., under the name of the Taber Art Company, and all the plants were moved to New Bedford, and of the new company Mr. Free- man was chosen president, a relation which he sustained with that company until 1898, when the company was consolidated with the L. Prang Com- pany, and the business then became known as the iaber-Prang Art Company, and was removed to Springfield, Mass., after which time Mr. Free- man remained with the company as one of the di- rectors. He then, in 1898, became manager of the Providence stores of E. L. Freeman & Sons, re- maining in that capacity until his death, in 1904.

The work of the Artogravure Company was the reproduction of masterpieces of painting and sculp- ture, photographs of buildings and scenes of inter- est, some being executed in black and others beauti- fully tinted, and all were finely finished, artistic in conception and treatment. The business of the original plant, as had been that of the Taber Art Company, was very successful. In the year fol- lowing his election to the presidency of the com- pany, Mr. Freeman removed his family to New Bedford, where he resided until 1898. Himself a good salesman, he knew the requirements of the trade and was a judge of salesmen, so that, prac- tical, too, himself, in the mechanical work of the business, he was well fitted for the responsible position intrusted to him. He occasionally made trips in the trade to the larger cities and was kept fully occupied. The company executed work of all descriptions in the line of modern process pic- tures, including gelatines, photographs, etchings, artotypes, and manufactured picture frames of all styles and varieties, giving employment to from 200 to 400 persons. Besides this business connec- tion Mr. Freeman continued to retain his interest as a partner in the business of E. L. Freeman & Sons until his death.

During the service of the Hon. William P. Sheffield in the United States Senate, filling the unexpired term in that body of the late Hon. Henry

B. Anthony, Mr. Freeman held the position of private secretary to the new Senator, and continued the same relation for some two years to the newly elected senator, the Hon. Jonathan Chace.

Mr. Freeman was a member of the Rhode Is- land Master Printers Association and of all the Masonic bodies of Pawtucket and of the A. and A. Scottish Rite of Rhode Island. He, was also a member of the Pawtucket Business Men’s Asso- ciation, and of the To Kalon Club, while a resident of that city. He was a member of the Wamsutta Club, of New Bedford, during his residence in that city.

To Mr. and Mrs. Freeman were born children as follows : William B., born Dec. 8, 1889 ; May

C. , Feb. 19, 1891; Harold B., July 20. 1892: Lin- coln W., Oct. 8, 1894 (died Aug. 2, 1897) ; Albert M., June 25, 1897; Maud E., Nov. 1, 1900. Mr. William C. Freeman passed away at his home in

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Providence July 26, 1904, at the age of forty-five years, survived by his widow and five children. Mrs. Freeman subsequently became the wife of Edwin P. Dawley, engineer of construction with the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad Company.

Joseph Wood Freeman, son of Edward L. and Emma E. (Brown) Freeman, born May 9, 1863, in Central Falls, R. I., married June 23, 1886, Elizabeth King Fales, daughter of the late George S. and Frances (Baker) Fales, of Pawtucket. Mr. Fales was an extensive leather manufacturer and leading citizen of Pawtucket, and brother of John R. Fales, of the Fales & Jenks Machine Company, they being sons of the late David G. Fales, of the family of that name, long prominent in the indus- trial life of that section of the State.