CARROLL, Hugh Joseph, attorney-at-law, was born in Lippitt, one of the villages of the town of Warwick, R. L, October 29, 1854, the son of Hugh Carroll and Ann (McElhaney) Carroll.   His parents came from County Monayhan, Ireland. He was educated in the public school at Phenix, near by, and prepared for college by Rev. John A. Couch, Catholic pastor of that place and an old time classical scholar.  He received his college training at Niagara, N. Y., University and at St. Laurent's College, near Montreal, P. Q.   He studied law with Attorney-General Willard Sayles and his partner, Judge Wm. H. Greene, and was admitted to the bar August 27,1877. In 1888 he located in Pawtucket where he has since resided.  When he attained his majority Mr. Carroll entered heartily into politics as a Democrat, his chief object being the abolition of the property qualification, then a requisite for voting in Rhode Island, for naturalized citizens of all kinds, but now repealed. Since then he has served his city in the General Assembly several terms and has been Mayor twice. During his last term of office in 1890 occurred the centennial of the founding of the cotton industry in the United States by Samuel Slater. Mr. Carroll obtained a large appropriation from the General Assembly, which with a similar amount appropriated by the city, enabled Pawtucket to have a week's exhibition which extended the reputation of that busy city through-out the mechanical and manufacturing world; Rev.  Edward Everett Hale assisted at the celebration and took a most lively interest in it. As Mr. Carroll's people were of the hardy, working peasant class of Ireland, he has always been active in Irish national and laboring matters.   He introduced the present ten-hour law for the state, and has always tried to settle any differences between capital and labor, and has succeeded whenever his advice prevailed among strikers. He takes pride in the development of Pawtucket, and is always active in promoting its interests. In 1880 he married Sarah M., daughter of James and Alice Washerton of Phenix, R. I; they have a family of four children.  Biographie Index

CHAGNON, Charles Emile, physician and pharmacist, was born in St. Dominique, Province of Quebec, Canada, October 7, 1863, son of J. B. and Victoria (Des Noyers) Chagnon. His family is of old Norman descent and came to Canada in 1750. He received his early education in the common schools.  He attended the Seminary of St. Hyacinthe, Canada, from 1875 to 1879, and the college of Ste. Marie de Monnoir in 1883-85. From 1879 to 1883 he was engaged in the drug business with his father in Fall River, Mass. In 1885, shortly after leaving college, he went to New Orleans during the World's Exhibition, and while there became interested in a company to explore the gold region of Honduras.  He remained in Central America for three years, visiting all five of the republics and travelling in all parts of that wild country. While there he perfected his linguistic acquirements, so that he speaks fluently Spanish and Portuguese as well as French and English. On his return to New England he entered the Medical Department of the University of Vermont, and continued the study of medicine at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Baltimore from which he graduated in 1890. After graduating he entered his father's office in Fall River, and practiced with him for six months, after which he opened an office in Centerville, R. I. He is a registered pharmacist and proprietor of the " Family Drug Store," one of the finest drug stores in the Pawtucket Valley, with one of the best clienteles of any young physician in the state. He is now serving his third term as Councilman for the town of Warwick In politics he is a Republican "in every sense of the word," but does not let party govern his actions in matters of public welfare. He is a member of the Odd Fellows fraternity; of Washington Lodge, No. 11, Knights of Pythias; Red Men; Foresters; St. John the Baptist Society of Centerville; the Providence Athletic Association, and the Rhode Island Mortar and Pestle Club. He married, August 4, 1891, Miss Victorine Beaudry ; they have three children: Estelle, Colombe, and Jeannette Chagnon.  Biographie Index

CHILD, Benjamin Ham, Chief of Police of the City of Providence, was born in Providence, May 8, 1843, the son of  John Griswold and Mary Ann (Ham) Child, the former a native of Connecticut and the latter of Providence.   He attended the common schools in Providence until fourteen years of age, when he was apprenticed to Granville Greenleaf, a wireworker in  Westminster Street.  He was a youth of eighteen at the opening of the civil war, and in June 1861 he enlisted as private, and was mustered into the United States service in the Second Rhode Island Battery, afterwards Battery A, First Regiment, Rhode Island Light Artillery, for three years, or for the war.   At the first Battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861, he was slightly wounded, and in August following was promoted to corporal.   He was again slightly wounded at the Battle of Antietam, on which occasion he was promoted to Sergeant.   At Gettysburg, in Pickett's charge, he received a severe wound - "shot through the left shoulder," - and was sent to the Satterlee Hospital at West Philadelphia.   And in August 1863 he was commissioned Second Lieutenant of Battery A (afterwards transferred to Battery H, same regiment) by Governor James Y. Smith.   After serving forty-three months in the Second Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, and three times wounded, he was honorably discharged on account of wounds, by special order of General Meade, commanding the Army of the Potomac.   In 1868 he was appointed patrolman in the police department of Providence, by Mayor Thomas A. Doyle, and was successively promoted to Doorman of Station 1 in 1874 Sergeant of Station 4 in 1877, Captain in 1879 he was appointed Chief of Police, January 5, 1881. He is Past Department Commander of the Rhode land G. A. R., Past Grand Chancellor K. of P. of Rhode Island, also a member of Swarts Lodge No.  18,  I. O. O. F., and Massachusetts Commandery of the military order Loyal Legion of the United States. In politics he is a Republican. He was married November 14, 1872, to Mrs. Ruth Avery; they have one daughter : Mary Elizabeth Avery, who married Abner E. Claflin, of Providence, November 12, 1895.  Biographie Index

COLWELL, Francis, City Solicitor of Providence, was born in Cranston, R. L, April 7, 1833, the son of Francis and Harriet B. (Tucker) Colwell. He is a lineal descendant of Robert Colwell, who came to Rhode Island with Roger Williams, and the family became connected with that of Williams by marriage, and located in the town of Glocester. His father, Francis Colwell, was a prominent physician of Providence for many years. The subject of this sketch was educated in the public schools of Providence, and entered Brown University in 1852, but did not graduate. He adopted the law as a profession and entered the office of the late Hon.  Abraham Payne, whose partner he became after his admission to the Rhode Island bar in 1856. He has since practiced his profession in Providence, and has taken a somewhat active part in public affairs. Early in his professional life he was elected Judge of the old Court of Magistrates, and held the office for several years under re-election. He was elected City Solicitor in 1866. He was a member of the House of Representatives in the General Assembly for several years, and was elected Senator in 1875-76 and again in 1884.   He was a member of the Common Council in 1870 and President of that body in 1875-76, was again elected to the office of City Solicitor in 1892, and has since held that position.   He is a member of the Rhode Island liar Club, and of several social associations.   He was for four years President of the Unitarian Club. In politics he is a Republican.   He married, March 17, 1864, Miss Anna F. Packard, daughter of Henry Packard of Providence; they have had two children : Augusta M. (deceased) and Henry F. Colwell.  a banker in Boston.  Biographie Index

COOK, Samuel Penny, City Treasurer of Woonsocket, and banker, was born July 20, 1852, in Albion, R. I., the son of Ariel Lindsey and Mary Harris (Phillips) Cook. He received his early education in the public schools of Woonsocket, and entered the high school, but did not complete the course. He commenced his business career in July 1870 as clerk in the Producers' National Bank, which position he held until August 1885, when he was elected Treasurer of the Producers' Savings Bank, and later Cashier of the Producers' National Bank He has been a Trustee of the Producers' Savings Bank since 1874, and Director of the Producers' National Bank since 18S6. He has been Treasurer of the Woonsocket Opera House Company since 1889.   He was a Director in the Woonsocket Electric Machine and Power Company from 1888 to 1894; has been Treasurer and Director of the Woonsocket Land Company since 1893; Treasurer and Director of the Rhode Island Granite Pressed Brick Company since April 1895, and a Director in the Perforated Pad Company since November 1885. He was Town Treasurer of Woonsocket from August 1885 to January 1889, and since that time City Treasurer, and has been Trustee of the Consolidated School District since April 1889. He was recorder of Woonsocket Commandery Knights Templar from October 1876 to October 1878, and from October 1883 to October 1889. In politics he is a Republican. He married, January 31, 1883, Miss Lucia Grey Moses; they have two children : Theodore Phillips and Gertrude Nourse Cook.  Biographie Index

DAVIS, William Dean, woolen manufacturer, Providence, was born in Davisville, North Kingstown, R I., January 26, 1813, son of Jeffry and Elizabeth (Mawney) Davis. He is descended from Aaron Davis, who, November 13, 1694, became one of the proprietors of Dartmouth, Mass., in the confirmatory deed of Governor William Bradford. Joshua, the son of Aaron, bought the property in North Kingstown, now Davisville, and had a grist-mill there. This property Mr. Davis now owns.  His grandson Joshua, Mr. Davis's grandfather, was Major of the Second Regiment of Kings county in the war of the Revolution, and was afterward a Deputy in the General Assembly from North Kingstown. Jeffry, Mr. Davis's father, was for many years a Senator from North Kingstown in the General Assembly. He received his early education in the public schools and in Kingstown Academy. At sixteen years he went into a store in New York and then into one in Philadelphia, remaining in both places about three years. Returning to North Kingstown he took an interest in the manufacturing of woolen goods, which business had been established by his father and uncle in 1811, with carding machines for custom work, and which was afterward developed into spinning, weaving and cloth finishing. In 1850 he bought a woolen mill in Centreville, Warwick, R I., which he sold in 1860. In 1861 he bought the Uxbridge Woolen Mill in Uxbridge, Mass., which he sold in 1885.   In 1884 he bought, with others, the Quidnick Mills, and formed the Quidnick Manufacturing Company, in which he still retains an interest. He has been a Representative in the General Assembly from North Kingstown and afterward from Warwick  He has been a member of the Squantum Club since 1872. He married, in September 1849, Miss Mary Eleanor Congdon; they have had four children: Jeffry, Elizabeth Le Moine, William Albert and Mary Congdon Davis; the last named died in infancy.  Biographie Index

DOUGLAS, Samuel Tobey, attorney-at-law, was born in Providence, November 15, 1853, son of Rev.  William and Sarah (Sawyer) Douglas. His father was born in Pollock Shaws. near Glasgow, Scotland, of an ancient Scotch house. His mother was a native of Salisbury, Mass., of American and remotely of English descent He received his preparatory education in the public schools of Providence, and entered Brown University, from which he graduated with the degree of B. P. in 1872. He afterwards entered the Department of Law in Union University, Albany, N. Y., from which he graduated with the degree of LL. B. in 1875. He was admitted to the bar of the state of New York, May 21, 1875, to the bar of Rhode Island, November 2, 1875, and to the Circuit Court of the United States, March 7, 1877. He has since practiced his profession in Providence. In January 1890 he was appointed Commissioner of the United States Circuit Court for the District of Rhode Island, which office he now holds He has taken an active part in the service of the Rhode Island militia He was Second Lieutenant and Judge Advocate of the First Light Infantry Regiment from 1879 to 1880; Captain and Adjutant from  1880 to 1884; Major from 1886 to 1887 ; Lieutenant-Colonel from 1887 to 1889 : Adjutant of the Veteran Association from 1884 to 1887 and Major from 1893 to 1895. He was a member of the Common Council from 1887 to 1890 and of the Board of Aldermen from 1890 to 1892.  In politics he is a Republican    He is a member of the First Baptist Church, of the Rhode Island Historical Society, the First Light Infantry Veteran Association, and of the Hope, Athletic, Providence Bar and Young Men's {Republican clubs.   He married, November 20,1878, Miss Alice Crawford Noyes, who died January 10, 1881 they had one child, Samuel Noyes Douglas, now living.   On September 24, 1884, he married Miss Edith Courtney Harris, who died November 27, 1885.   He again married, January 1, 1890, Miss Alice Barnes Wilbur.  Biographie Index

DOUGLAS, William W., Justice of the Supreme Court, was born in Providence, November 26, 1841, son of Rev William and Sarah (Sawyer) Douglas.  His father was a native of Scotland and born near Glasgow.   His mother was a native of Salisbury, Mass.   He was educated in the public schools in Providence and at Brown University, graduating in the class of 1861 with the degree of A. M. After graduation he was attached to the Fifth Regiment R. I. Vols , then recruiting, and received a commission as Second Lieutenant.   He took part with his regiment in the Burnside expedition, participating in the battles of Roanoke Island, Newborn, and the siege of Fort Macon.   He was promoted to First Lieutenant June 7, 1862, and to Captain February 14, 1863.   He was with the regiment on the steamer Escort when the rebel blockade on the Pamlico River was broken by running past the batteries to Washington, N. C.   On the expiration of his term of service, not anticipating any further active service for the regiment, which had been changed to one of heavy artillery, he returned to Providence and studied law, first in the office of Samuel Currey and afterwards at the Law School of Union University, Albany, N. Y., where he graduated in May 1866, with the degree of LL. B.   He was admitted to the bar of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island, January 1, 1867, and practiced law in Providence until elected Justice of the Supreme Court.   He was Commissioner of the United States Circuit Court for the District of Rhode Island from 1874 until 1890.   From 1888 to 1890 he was Chief Supervisor of Elections for Rhode Island under appointment from the United States Circuit Court. In 1890 when serving as Senator from Providence he was elected Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and took his seat in August of that year.   In addition to his law practice he has taken an earnest interest in public and military affairs. He was elected a member of the General Assembly for the first time in 1871 and re-elected the following year. He was a member of the Common Council of Providence from the Second Ward from June 1873 10 January 1876. In 1866 he was appointed Major and division Judge Advocate on the staff of Gen. Olney Arnold, commanding the Rhode Island militia, and held the same position on the staff of Gen. Horace Daniels, Gen. Arnold's successor, until 1874.  In 1881 he was appointed assistant adjutant-general of Rhode Island with rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, and in 1882 was promoted to be adjutant-general with the rank of Brigadier-General, holding the office until it was filled by election in the General Assembly. He was commander of Rodman Post, No. 12, Grand Army of the Republic, Department of Rhode Island, 1869-1870, and was Judge Advocate-General of the Grand Army of the Republic from 1871 to 1877, serving on the staffs of Commanders in-Chief Burnside, Devens and Hartranft. He was senior Vice-Commander of the Massachusetts Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion, 1889-1890. He was for some years treasurer of the society of the First Baptist Church in Providence, and one of the trustees of the Ministerial Fund. He is a member of the Hope, Squantum and Art clubs, the Providence Athletic Association, the Grand Army of the Republie, the Military Order of the Loyal Legion, and various professional and literary societies. In politics he is a Republican. He married, June 30, 1884, Miss Anna Jean Bennett of Newton, Mass; they have no children.  Biographie Index

DOWNES, Lewis Thomas, President of the What Cheer and Hope Mutual Fire Insurance Companies, Providence, was born in Waterbury Conn., July 9, 1824, the son of Anson and Eveline (Welton) Downes.   He is a direct descendant in the seventh generation of John Downes, one of the early settlers of New Haven colony, whose first child was born in 1659.   Mr. Downes' family is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and has an authentic pedigree from A. D. 1243.   His grandfather, great-grand-father and other members of the family took an active part in the early colonial wars and in the Revolution.   His early education was obtained at the Cheshire Academy, the Waterbury Academy, and afterwards at the Newtown Academy, in Connecticut.   He entered Trinity College, Hartford, and graduated in 1848 with the degree of A. B, receiving that of A. M. in 1851.   After graduation he studied law in the office of Judge Francis Parsons of Hartford.   He went to Providence in 1855 and soon afterward entered the office of Royal Chapin, wool dealer and manufacturer.   In 1861 he became associated with George W. Chapin in the manufacture of woolen goods, and the firm soon after built the Riverside Mills.   Previous to this he had spent some time in Europe, studying the methods and processes of the woolen manufacturers in England, France, Belgium,  Germany  and Austria. This resulted in his introducing into this country several machines and processes in the manufacture of woolen goods, not before known in the United States, among which may be mentioned the Bollette First Breaker Card Feeder, the first self-operating woolen mules, the Houget double-cylinder gig, now generally known as the Downes gig, as well as several other woolen finishing machines. Among the goods which were first produced in this country at the Riverside Mills were wool and mohair astrakhans, also worsted coatings and Austrian cloaking in great variety.   In 1872 he left the Riverside Mills, and in 1873, with Elisha Harris, organized the What Cheer Mutual Fire Insurance Company, now one of the New England factory insurance companies, and in 1875 he organized the Hope Mutual Fire Insurance Company, and is now President of both companies.   Since his connection with the business he has brought into the mutual system upward of $65,000,000 of insurance on manufacturing property.   For a great part of his life Mr.  Downes has been known as a church musician and organist.   Having received a careful musical training as a portion of his early education, under some of the most noted masters of the organ and voice, he has cultivated this taste in several trips abroad by careful study of the music in the most famous cathedrals and churches in Europe, and has done much toward raising the standard of church music in this country, particularly in the Episcopal church.  He was for several years a member of the School Committee of Providence and Chairman of the Committee on Music.   He is a member of the Advance Club, being one of its Executive Committee and Chairman of the Committee on Municipal Reform.   He has also been a member of the Churchman's Club since its organization.   In politics he has always been a staunch Republican. In 1857 he married Miss Sarah Chapin, daughter of Royal and Maria T. Chapin; they have had four children: Ellen M., Herbert C, Emma W. and Louis W. Downes, the two latter now living.  Biographie Index

DUBOIS, Henry Joseph Church, Assistant Attorney-General of Rhode Island, was born in London, England, June 22, 1850, during the temporary absence of his parents from the United States. His parents were Edward Church and Emma (Davison) Dubois. On his paternal side he is of American descent; his paternal grandfather, Edward Church, was a native of Kentucky, and was United States Consul at L'Orient, France, for many years, being first appointed thereto by President Madison On his maternal side he is of English ancestry, his mother being descended from the English families of Davison and Moore: the family name, Church, was changed to Dubois in 1857. The subject of this sketch received his early education at Russell's Academy (the Collegiate and Commercial Institute), New Haven, Conn.; the Grove street Grammar school of Pawtucket, R. I., and the Friends' Academy in New Bedford, Mass. He commenced reading law in the office of John K. Risley, Jr.  Providence, and afterward read in the office of Hon. William W. Douglas and Hon. James C. Collins.  He was admitted to the Rhode Island bar at the October term in 1871, and afterward on September 22, 1880, to the United States Circuit Court in Providence. He commenced the practice of his profession in Providence, where he has since successfully practiced.   In 1872 he was appointed by Governor Padelford, Clerk of the Justice Court of the Town of North Providence, and at the May Session of the General Assembly in 1873, was elected to the same office, and held the position until the division of said town. In 1873 he was elected by the Town Council of North Providence, Trial Justice of the Justice Court, of the Third Voting District of said town, and also Coroner, which positions he held until the division of the town. In January 1893 he was elected by the City Council of Providence one of the Justices of the Police Court, and in May 1894 was appointed by Hon. Edward C.  Dubois Attorney General, Assistant Attorney General. He was for several years a member of the Republican City Committee from the Tenth Ward of Providence. He was one of the organizers of the British American Association of Rhode Island and was its president for several years. In politics he has always been a Republican. He married, October 23, 1872, Miss Eoline Glenmore Dean; they have had eight children : Henry Dean, Russell Charles, Edward Davison, Eoline Beatrice, Daisy Alice, Edward Gordon, Gladys Hope and Constance Glenmore Dubois, all of whom are now living excepting Edward Davison, who died in infancy.  Biographie Index

DURFEE, Thomas, Providence. ex-Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, was born in Tiverton, Rhode Island, February 6, 1826. He was the eldest son of Job and Judith (Borden) Durfee. His early years were spent at the home of his parents, and to some extent in the labors of the farm, his father being a great lover of farm and country life. He attended the school of his district in the summer and received instruction at home in the winter, the school being distant. When fourteen years old he went to East Greenwich and began preparing himself for college, first under the tuition of the late Rev. James Richardson, and later under that of the Rev. Nathan Williams.  He entered Brown University in 1842 and graduated in 1846. His class was large for the time and had in it students who have since attained much distinction.  Immediately after his graduation he commenced the study of law, as a student with Tillinghast & Bradley, but pursuing his studies for the first year and more at his home in Tiverton. He was admitted to the bar in October 1848, and at once entered on the practice of his profession in the city of Providence, where he has since resided. In October 1849, he was appointed by the Supreme Court, Reporter of the Decisions and held the office for four years. He then served on the Court of Magistrates of the city of Providence from 1854 to 1860, one year as assistant and five years as presiding magistrate. In 1863 he was one of the Representatives of the city of Providence in the General Assembly and Speaker of the House for that year.  He was an active supporter of the Government during the Civil War with both voice and pen, and in 1864 was one of the delegates from Rhode Island to the convention that nominated Abraham Lincoln for President for a second term, and was by appointment of his associates, president of the delegation. In 1865 he was elected to the State Senate, and in June of that year was chosen an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and soon after took his seat as such. January 28, 1875, he was elected Chief Justice, to succeed Judge Bray ton who had retired, and took the oath of office February 6, 1875, on his forty-ninth birthday. He retired from the Bench March 14, 1891, after a service of more than nine years as Associate, and more than sixteen years as Chief Justice. The Court during his incumbency had a jurisdiction, original and appellate, covering nearly the whole range of judicial proceedings. Its published decisions for that period, extending inclusively from the eighth to the seventeenth volume of the Rhode Island Reports, show in part the importance and variety of the questions before it, and also the manner in which they were met and decided. It may be mentioned here, as an example of the law of heredity, that Judge Durfee's grandfather, Thomas Durfee of Tiverton, was a lawyer and from 1820 to 1829 Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas for Newport county; and that his father, also a lawyer, was Assistant Justice of the Supreme Court from June 1833 to June 1835, and then Chief Justice until his death, July 20, 1847.  Since his retirement Judge Durfee has held no public office. He has for many years been a member of the corporation of Brown University, first as trustee and chancellor, and later as fellow, and received from it, in 1875, the degree of I,L. D. He now fills, and has for some years filled, the office of President of the Providence Public Library.   Judge Durfee has occasionally contributed to periodicals and newspapers, and has written some things which, having been separately published, may be separately mentioned.   In 1856-57 he completed a work on the Law of Highways, commenced by the late Joseph K. Angell, shortly before his death, published by Little & Brown in 1887.   In 1872 he put forth a small volume of verse entitled " The Village Picnic and Other Poems."   In December 1877 he delivered the oration at the dedication of the Providence County Court House, published by order of the State.  In 1883 he prepared a paper entitled "Gleanings from the Judicial History of Rhode Island," published by Mr. Sidney Rider, number eighteen of his series of "Rhode Island Historical Tracts."   In 1884 he published a pamphlet entitled "Some Thoughts on the Constitution of Rhode Island."   It was devoted mainly to the question, whether it is competent for the General Assembly of Rhode Island to call a convention for the amendment or revision of the constitution of the state, the amendments or revisions when prepared by it, to be submitted to the electors for adoption by a simple majority vote.   The constitution contains a provision for its own amendment, prescribing the method to be followed in the most mandatory terms, and requiring for the same, among other requirements, the approval of three fifths of the electors voting.   The contention of the pamphlet was that the General Assembly has no authority to provide for an amendment in any other manner, and that revision, even when it takes the form of a so-called new constitution, is but a work of amendment. On June 24. 1886, Judge Durfee delivered the oration at the celebration of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the planting of Providence, published by the city and in other ways; and June 29, 1894, an oration at the dedication of the statue of Ebenezer Knight Dexter, published by the city of Providence. He married, October 29, 1857, Sarah J. Slater, a daughter of John Slater 2nd, and has one son, Samuel Slater Durfee.  Biographie Index

EAMES, Benjamin Tucker, attorney-at-law, Providence, was born in Dedham, Mass., June 4, 1818, son of James and Sarah (Mumford) Eames. His father was born in Haverhill, Mass., and his mother in Eastford, Conn. His parents in 1820 removed to Providence where they resided during life. He had the advantage of the schools of Providence, and of some of the leading academies of Massachusetts and Connecticut.   At the age of sixteen he was placed in the auction rooms of Martin Stoddard & Co., where he remained for a year or two, and then as bookkeeper entered the employ of Bates & Hutchins, wholesale dry goods merchants of Providence, and subsequently the employ of Borden & Bowen, who were the agents of the Blackstone Manufacturing Company, and the financial agents of the American Print Works in Fall River, Mass.   With a thorough English education, and some knowledge of mercantile and commercial pursuits, which were of service to him in after life, in the fall of 1838 he went to the Worcester Academy, and under the tuition of the late Professor S. S. Greene prepared for, and in the fall of 1839 entered, Yale College, and graduated in 1843 with a fair standing in his class.   He took during his college course an especial interest in the debating and literary societies connected with the college.   In the vacation before graduation he entered his name as a law student in the office of the late Chief Justice Samuel Ames, with whom was then associated Rollin Mathewson, Esq.   For about six months after graduation he was engaged as a teacher in the academy at North Attleboro, Mass.   In the spring of 1844 he went to Cincinnati, Ohio, and entered the law office of the Hon. Bellamy Storer, where he remained until the following winter, when he was admitted to practice in the courts of Kentucky.   Upon his return to Providence he was admitted in 1845 to practice in the courts of Rhode Island and in the United States courts, and since then, except when in Congress and for the past two years, he has been actively engaged in his profession in Providence.   He gradually succeeded in obtaining a remunerative practice and a prominent position at the bar.   From 1845 to 1850 he served as Clerk of the House of Representatives of Rhode Island, and during part of this time was the reporter of the proceedings of the General Assembly for the Providence Daily Journal.  In 1854 he was elected Senator from the city of Providence to the General Assembly, and was re-elected to that office in 1855, l856 1859 and 1863.  He was a member of the state House of Representatives in 1859, 1868 and 1869, serving the last year as Speaker. He was one of the commissioners on the revision in 1857 of the public laws of Rhode Island.

In 1860 he was a Delegate to the Republican Convention at Chicago, which nominated Abraham Lincoln for the Presidency.   In 1870 he was elected Representative to the Forty-second Congress from the First District of Rhode Island, and was re-elected to the  Forty-third,  Forty-fourth   and Forty-fifth Congresses.    In the Forty-second Congress he served on the committees on Elections and Revolutionary Claims and the War of 1812; in the Forty-third, on the Committee on Patents;  in the Forty-fourth on the Committee of Banking and Currency, and in the Forty-fifth on the same committee and Expenditures in the War Department. Among his speeches in Congress that have been published for circulation are those on the presentation by the State of Rhode Island of the Statue of Roger Williams, Currency and Free Banking, Counting the Electoral Votes, Resumption of Specie Payments, Repeal of the Resumption Clause, Coinage of the Silver Dollar, Treasury Notes as a Substitute for National Bank Notes, the Tariff, and Reduction of Letter Postage.   In the fall of 187S he declined to be a candidate for re-election to Congress. He was in 1879 elected a Representative to the General Assembly from Providence.   He was re-elected to that office in 1880, and in 1884 was elected Senator from Providence.   Mr. Fames became identified with the Republican party at its first organization.  He stood by it through the struggle for national life, and has always been a firm supporter of its principles and policy.   He was married in Warwick, R. L, May 9, 1849, to Laura S. Chapin, daughter of Josiah and Asenath (Capron) Chapin; his wife died October 1, 1872. Of four children, two died in infancy; his son Waldo C, a graduate of Yale, class of 1881, died August 20, 1894; his daughter, Laura Chapin Eames, is living.  Biographie Index

EASTMAN, James Henry, Superintendent of Rhode Island State Institutions, was born in Hanover, New Hampshire, May 31, 1842, son of Rev.  Larnard L. and Lucy Ann (Currier) Eastman. Receiving his early education in the district schools, he graduated at the New Hampshire Conference Seminary at Tilton, and entered Wesleyan University in the fall of 1860, but left in his junior year to enter the Union army. He served the remainder of the war, and was discharged as First Sergeant of Captain Sumner T. Smith's Company C, One Hundred and Ninety-First Ohio Volunteers, in August 1865. At the close of the war he entered upon reformatory work, as teacher in the Boys' Reform School at Deer Island, Boston Harbor, during the winter of 1865-66. In April following he went to the Connecticut Reform School, remained there seven and a half years, and in September 1873 was appointed Superintendent of the Girls' Industrial School at Middletown, Conn. He left this position April 1, 1874, to take charge of the Reform School for Boys at Jamesburg, N. J., where he remained ten and a half years, and resigned to take charge of the Sockanosset School for Boys at Howard, R.I., September 1, 1884. In March 1886 he was appointed General Superintendent of Rhode Island State Institutions, holding this position ever since.  He belongs to the West Side, Pomham and Athletic clubs of Providence, and is a member of all the Masonic orders to the thirty-second degree, also of Prescott Post No. 1, Department of Rhode Island, Grand Army of the Republic.  He married, October 10, 1862, Elizabeth Finley of Middletown, Conn.; they have four children: George L., Assistant Secretary of the Rogers' Silver Plate Company, Danbury, Conn.; Frank G., M. D., East Greenwich, R. I.; Alice Trowbridge, Providence, R. I., and Grace Eastman.  Biographie Index

ELY, James Winchell Coleman, physician and surgeon, was born October 2, 1820, in Windsor, Vt., son of Rev. Richard M. and Lora (Skinner) Ely. He came of good old New England stock on both sides. His paternal ancestor, Nathaniel Ely, was made a freeman of Cambridge, Mass., in 1635, and in June 1636 with a hundred others accompanied Rev. Thomas Hooker and made the first settlement of Hartford, Conn ; in 1654, he with others purchased land of Governor Ludlow and settled at Norwalk, and in 1659 he sold his Norwalk property and removed to Springfield, Mass, where he died December 25, 1695.   Dr. Ely fitted for college in an academy at Townsend, Vt., under Prof.  Wheeler, who was afterward Professor of Greek in Brown University. He entered Brown University in 1838 and graduated in 1842 with the degree of A. B-, receiving the degree of A. M. some years later. Immediately upon leaving college he began the study of medicine. He attended two courses of lectures in the Medical Department of Harvard University, and received the degree of M. D.  March 12, 1846. From April 1844 to April 1845 he was Interne at the city institution at South Boston, long before the House of Industry was removed to Deer Island. He settled in Providence in April 1846, and was admitted a fellow of the Rhode Island Medical Society in 1847.   He has served in every office in the gift of the society, and was elected President for two years, 1868-1870. He was one of the founders of the Providence Medical Association, its first Secretary and afterward its President.   In 1847 he was appointed Dispensary Physician for the whole east side of the city, in which place he served four years, and on his resignation was appointed on the board of consultation.

In 1850 he was elected one of the physicians of the Dexter Asylum, and also City  Physician. He served in the former capacity fifteen and a half years, and in the latter eighteen years.   Upon his resignation he was placed upon  the consulting staff of the asylum.  In January 1868 he was elected to the board of consultation at the Butler Hospital, which position he still holds.   Upon the opening of the Rhode Island Hospital in 1868 he was elected one of the attending physicians. He resigned in 1874 and was placed on the consulting staff.   In 1883, at the request of Professor Chace, President of the Board of Trustees, he again took the part of Attending Physician, and  served six years.   Since that time he has been on the consulting staff.    Ever since the opening of the Providence Lying-in Hospital he has been a member of its consulting staff.   He is a member of the American Academy of Medicine, and has served several times as delegate to the American Medical Association.   Soon after settling in Providence he joined the Franklin Society, a scientific association, and was an active member, reading many papers, and having been elected its President.   During the civil war he served with Dr. Joseph Mauran as an examining board for applicants for the positions of surgeons and  assistant  surgeons  in the Rhode Island regiments.   He has served for three years as one of the directors of the Providence Athenaeum, and two years as a member of the city School Committee.   He is a member of the Squantum Club.  He married, June 6, 1848, Miss Susan Backus, daughter of Lieut.-Gov. Thomas Backus, of Killingly, Conn.; he has two children: Joseph C.  and Edward F. Ely.  Biographie Index

ELY, Joseph Cady, attorney-at-law, Providence, was born in Providence, March 24, 1849, the son of Dr. James W. C. and Susan (Backus) Ely. The record of his ancestry will be found in the sketch of Dr. J. W. C. Ely.   He received his early education in the grammar and high schools of Providence.  He entered Brown University and graduated in the class of 1870 with the degree of A. B.   He then entered the Harvard Law School and graduated in 1872 with the degree of LL. B.   He was admitted to the Rhode Island bar in December 1872. He entered the office of James Tillinghast as an assistant, and in 1874 formed a partnership with him, which continued until 1883, since which time he has practiced law alone.   The specialty of his practice is equity, real estate, conveyance and consultation.   In 1890 he was appointed member of a commission to revise the laws of Rhode Island under a statute directing revision and compilation, and whose work has been to reform the judicial system and practice in all courts, bringing the courts into closer relations, giving more efficient administration, more systematic methods of procedure, and speediness in litigation; to reform the property law and the proceedings in cases of insolvency ; also to revise the laws as to corporations, property of married women, marriage and divorce, and  other matters, a  work   not  heretofore attempted in this state.   He was a member of the School Committee of Providence in 1885-86. He is a member and ex-President of the Unitarian Club, ex-President of the First Congregational Church Society. President of the Providence Athenaeum and chairman of its library committee. He is Secretary of the Providence Art Institute, and is a member of the American Bar Association. He married, November 6, 1877, Miss Alice Peck; they have had three children: Alice Louise (deceased), Ruth and Robert B. Ely.  Biographie Index 

FOSTER, Samuel, retired manufacturer. Providence, was born in Dudley, Mass., October 13, 1803, the son of Abel and Mary (Tucker) Foster.  He is descended from old and honorable New England stock.   His great-grandfather, Timothy Foster of Dudley, Mass., had twelve sons and four daughters, and with all his sons served in the Revolutionary war, the aggregate service of the father and sons being sixty years, a circumstance probably unparalleled in that of any other conflict.   His son Timothy, the grandfather of Samuel, served in the French war, enlisting as a private at the age of sixteen; he afterwards served in the Revolution during the war, enlisting as a private and being promoted to a Lieutenant, and was wounded. His brother John, when a boy, lived with General Israel Putnam at Pomfret, Conn.: he served in the French war under Putnam and was in the battle of the Plains of Abraham, where General Wolfe was killed ; he afterwards married, and continued to work for Putnam until the outbreak of the Revolution when with his employer he left the plough for the army; he served under Putnam during the war and was gone eight years, and after the conclusion of the war, settled in Littleton, Mass., where he died in extreme old age.    Joseph, another of the twelve brothers, enlisted in the army of the Revolution at the age of only thirteen years.

Samuel Foster received his education in the common schools, and came to Providence in 1820, where he became clerk for Philip and Charles Potter in the retail grocery business. In 1825 he formed a co-partnership with his brother William under the firm name of S. & W. Foster, for the transaction of the whole-sale grocery business, which continued until 1877.  In 1848 he associated with his brother William and John Atwood, for the manufacture of fine cotton goods, under the name of the Williamsville Manufacturing Company, of Killingly, Conn. He continued an owner in this corporation until 1890, acting as its Treasurer from 1877.   In January 1849 S. & W. Foster admitted Henry J. Burroughs as a partner, under the firm name of S. &. W.  Foster & Co. Prior to the admission of Mr.  Burroughs into the firm, S. & W. Foster were for some time associated with H. S. Hutchins and William Pierce, under the name of Hutchins, Pierce & Co., doing a wholesale grocery business.  In 1853, Addison Q. Fisher was admitted a member of the firm under the firm name of Foster, Burroughs & Fisher, wholesale grocers, which continued until 1858. On the death of Mr. Burroughs the business was continued' under the name of Fosters & Fisher. In 1864, James H. Bugbee was admitted a partner under the firm name of Fosters, Fisher & Company. In 1862, Thomas A. Randall was admitted a partner with S. & W. Foster, under the firm name of S. & W, Foster & Co., for the transaction of a general cotton business; this firm was dissolved in 1866.   In 1866 he formed a partnership with his sons and Addison Q. Fisher, under the firm name of Samuel Foster & Co.. for the transaction of a general cotton business; this firm was dissolved in 1877.   He was a Director in the Third National Bank and the Pawtuxet Bank for many years, and was also President of the First National   Bank of  Providence  for a number of years.   He sold out his interest in the Williamsville Manufacturing Company in 1890 to his partners, the Messrs. Atwood, grandchildren of his first partner, John Atwood.   He is now a large owner in the Central Mills Company of Southbridge, Mass., manufacturers of cotton goods.   He retired from active business in 1890.   He is the senior member of the Providence Board of Trade, and has for many years been a member of the Squantum and other clubs, the Rhode Island Veteran Association and the Rhode Island Historical Society, and during his life he has been connected with many industries of various kinds as owner and manager, all of which has made his life one of great activity.  He is the only survivor of a family of nine children.  He married, June 10, 1841, Miss Priscilla Smith, sister of Amos D. and Gov. James Y. Smith; she died March 24, 1867.   He married, May 13, 1880, Mrs. Aliph Elizabeth Brinley Cornell who died August 21,1890. He had six children by his first wife : Ella Mitchell, who died April 24, 1878, Walter Smith, Louis Tucker, Frederic Leeds, James Herbert and Clara Dennison Foster.  Biographie Index

FRANCIS, E. Charles, banker, was born in Utica, N. Y, September 6, 1851, son of Rev. Eben and Mary   (Hunnewell)   Francis.  The Francis family is of old  New  England stock, Richard Francis having settled in Cambridge, Mass., in the early part of the seventeenth century, and died there on March 24, 1686   The family were prominent in Medford, Beverly and Cambridge, and served with distinction in the Revolutionary war.  He received his early education in the common schools and adopted banking as a business. In 1870 he became a clerk in the Woonsocket National Bank.   He is now assistant cashier and member of the board of investment of the Woonsocket Institution for Savings.   He has held numerous offices of trust and honor.  He was Colonel on the personal staff of Gov. A. H. Littlefield .in 1880-81-82.  He has been an assessor of taxes for Woonsocket since 1885, was a member of the Court House Commission in Woonsocket in 1891, and was elected Senator in the General Assembly from Woonsocket in 1894-95.  He is a thirty-second degree Mason, a Knight Templar, a member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion, of the Sons of the American Revolution, and an associate member of Smith Post, G. A. R In politics he is a Republican. He married, October 20, 1886, Miss Gertrude A. Nourse ; they have no children. Biographie Index

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