Trails to the Past

Providence County RI Biographies

Men of Progress of Rhode Island and Providence Part 2
Source:  Boston New England Magazine 1896
Page 3

 

 

JOSLIN, Henry Van Ambergh, Secretary of the Union Railroad Company, was born in Exeter, R. I., April 24, 1846, son of John H. and Julia A.  (Vaughn) Joslin. His ancestors on both sides came from England about the middle of the seventeenth century, and settled in the southern part of Rhode Island.    He received his early education in the public schools of Providence, and graduated from Brown University in the class of 1867 with the degree of A. B., subsequently receiving that of A. M. in course.   He was engaged in the lumber business in Providence from 1867 to 1874, when he was appointed Mayor's clerk by Hon. Thomas A. Doyle.   He held this position until 1879, when he was elected City Clerk, being elected successively until 1890, when he resigned to accept the position of Secretary of the Union Railroad Company.   He is at present Secretary of the Union Railroad Company, the Cable Tramway Company, the Pawtucket Street Railway Company, and the Pawtuxet Valley Electric Street Railroad Company.   He was a member of the Providence School Committee from 1870 to 1879, when he resigned ; he was again elected in 1891 and is now Chairman of the sub-committee on high schools. He was Major of the First Battalion of Cavalry, Rhode Island militia, from 1875 to 1879, when he resigned.  He is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution, the  Providence Athletic Association and the Providence Board of Trade. In politics he is a Republican. He married, October 29, 1867, Miss Henrietta A. Briggs; they have five children : Effie B., Julia V., Harry A., Marion C.  and Royal K. Joslin. Biographie Index


KEENE, George Frederick, Resident Physician and Deputy Superintendent of the State Insane Asylum, was born in Whitman, Mass., October 22, 1858, son of Africa and Betsey (Turner) Keene.  His maternal grandfather, Daniel Keene, was a prominent member of the Society of Friends of Pembroke, Mass., and his maternal grandmother was Betsey (Turner) Keene, the daughter of Colonel Amos Turner of the Continental army of the Revolution; the father of Amos Turner was Ezekiel Turner, a Colonel in the French and Indian war.  His paternal grandfather, Meshach Keene of Pembroke, was a private in the Revolutionary war, and his paternal grandmother, Anna (Hersey) Keene, was a daughter of James Hersey of Abington, Mass., also a private in the Revolutionary war.   He was educated in the South Abington (now Whitman) high school, and graduated from Brown University in 1875, receiving the degree of A. M. in 1878 in course.   He entered Harvard University, Medical Department, in 1875, and graduated in 1879, having served in the Boston City Hospital for eighteen months.   He was one of the eight successful competitors out of over twenty who came up for examination at the Boston City Hospital, and was assigned to the surgical side, receiving his diploma from the hospital in 1880.  He commenced practice in Providence in May of that year, and was soon appointed to the dispensary district of the First and Tenth wards.   Soon after he was appointed out-patient surgeon to the Rhode Island Hospital and lecturer to the hospital training school for nurses on physiology and material medical, and retained the position until his removal from that city in 1886.   In 1884-85, during the illness of Professor Chapin, he was engaged to lecture one term to the students of Brown University on physiology until the professor recovered his health.   He was elected Physician to the State Institution at Cranston, R. I., in March 1883, and visited there three times per week until 1886, when he was elected by the Board of State Charities and Corrections, a Resident Physician and Deputy Superintendent of the State Insane Asylum, which position he now holds.  Dr. Keene is a thirty-second degree Mason, and a Past Master of Mount Vernon Lodge No. 4 of Providence.   He is a member of the American Medical Association, the American  Academy of Medicine, the American Medico-Psychological Association, the New York Medico-Legal Society. the Harvard Graduate Club, the Harvard Club of Rhode Island, the Boston City Hospital Association, the Rhode Island Medical Society, the Providence Medical Association, the Providence Clinical Club, the Pomham and West Side clubs of Providence and the Providence Athletic Association. He has never entered politics or taken much interest in political affairs, although he has always voted the Republican ticket. Dr. Keene has written several monographs on different subjects pertaining to insanity and in 1882 invented a splint for Colles fracture, now considerably used. He delivered the annual address before the Rhode Island Medical Society, June 6, 1895, and has made many experimental researches with regard to the relation of bovine and human tuberculosis, as was shown in the last annual report of the Board of State Charities and Corrections. He married, January 1, 1884, Miss Frances B., youngest daughter of Hon. Erastus Redman of Ellsworth, Me.; they have two children: George Frederick, Jr., and Bessie Turner Keene. Biographie Index


KELLIHER, Michael William, physician and surgeon, Pawtucket, was born in Palmer, Mass., February 20, 1864, son of Cornelius and Mary (Maunsell) Kelliher. He received his preparatory education in the public schools of Palmer and graduated from the high school. He subsequently spent two years at the University of Vermont. He adopted medicine as a profession and studied at the Medical College of the University of New York, from which he graduated in March 1886. After taking a post-graduate course he began the practice of medicine in Pawtucket the same year.   He was appointed Medical Examiner for Pawtucket and Lincoln by Governor Davis in 1890, for the term of six years. In November 1889 he was elected a member of the School Committee of Pawtucket for three years. He is Consulting Physician of St.  Joseph's Hospital, Providence, is a member of the Rhode Island Medical Society, and the Providence and Pawtucket Medical Association, and Vice-President of the Rhode Island Medico-Legal Society.  He is unmarried. Biographie Index


KIMBALL, James Madison, retired cotton manufacturer and merchant, and President of the Second National Bank of Providence, was born in Smithfield, R. I., May 12, 1814, son of Paul T. and Lillie (Warner) Kimball. He was educated in the common and high schools, the best afforded at that period, and for the first twenty-five years of his business life was engaged in the manufacture of cotton goods, at Fall River, Mass., and at Kirkland, N. Y.  Mr. Kimball spent six winters in the south, one at New Orleans and five at Memphis, in the latter place establishing a house for the purchase of cotton, under the firm name of Taber & Kimball, which continued until the breaking out of the war, and did a large and successful business.   In the year 1860 he removed to Providence and in association with his two sons opened a cotton commission house, under the firm name of J. M. Kimball & Sons, and continued until 1880, at which time he retired from all active business.   Mr. Kimball has been very successful in his business life, and although advanced in years, he is active still, and fills various important official positions of trust and public usefulness. He is President of the Second National Bank of Providence, having served in that capacity since 1884.  In Utica, N. Y., he was in 1845 elected a Director in the Utica City Bank.    In 1870 he was chosen a Director in the Franklin Savings Bank of Providence; in 1884 he was elected a Director in the Blackstone Mutual and Merchants Mutual fire-insurance companies of Providence; he was elected a Director, and also one of the Executive Committee, in the Industrial Trust Company of Providence, in 1887 ; and in 1893 he was elected a Director in the Rhode Island Safe Deposit Company, all of which offices he holds at the present time.   He is also a member of the Central Congregational Church of Providence and of the Congregational Club of that city. In politics he is a Republican. Mr. Kimball was abroad in 1869, with a portion of his family, for about eight months, traveling extensively in England, France, Germany, Austria and Italy. He has been twice married: first, August 4, 1835, to Miss Caroline Maria, daughter of Uriah Benedict of Pawtucket, which union was blessed by five children, two of whom are living : James C. and William B. Kimball; and second, February 17, 1848, to Miss Cornelia, daughter of Otis Walcott, of Smithfield, R. I. Biographie Index


KIMBALL, Harry Waldo, M. D., Providence, Externe of the Dermatological Department of the Rhode Island Hospital, was born in Woonsocket, R. I., January 17, 1868, son of James Frederick and Ada Frances (Wales) Kimball. He acquired his early education in the public schools, and at the Coles English and Classical school, Pawtucket, fitting for college at the last named, and entered in 1888 the Portland (Maine) School for Medical Instruction, later the Medical Department of Bowdoin College, from which he was graduated in 1891. During 1890 he was assistant in the Portland Dispensary, and the following year served as clinical clerk of the Maine General Hospital.   In 1891-92 he filled the position of Interne of Rhode Island State Institutions and the Insane Hospital, and January 1, 1893, was appointed Externe of the Dermatological Department of the Rhode Island Hospital, in which capacity he is now serving. Dr. Kimball has served as Assistant Surgeon, with rank of First Lieutenant, of the First Regiment Infantry Brigade Rhode Island Militia, and Assistant Surgeon First Light Infantry Regiment 1892-94 ; also as Medical Examiner of the Union Mutual Life Insurance Company of Portland, Maine, the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.   He is a Fellow of the Rhode Island Medical Society, member of the Providence Medical Association, the Medical Improvement Club and the Rhode Island Medico-Legal Society, also of Harmony Lodge of Masons, Washington Park Lodge of Odd Fellows and What Cheer Lodge, Ancient Order United Workmen, being Master of the last named. In politics he is a straight Republican, but has never held political office. He married, January 15, 1896, Miss Emma L. Hayward. Biographie Index


LADD, Frank Foster, of Providence, was born in Providence, February 1, 1873, the son of George W. and Mary J. (Bennett) Ladd. His father was widely known as the inventor of the Ladd filled gold watch-case and the founder of the Ladd Watch Case Company. Mr. Ladd received his early education in the Providence schools, and graduated from the Elmwood Grammar School in 1889 and from the Providence Bryant & Stratton Business College in 1890.   He then entered the service of the Ladd Watch Case Company, which he left to accept the position of Treasurer's clerk in the office of the Union Railroad Company.   He afterwards accepted a position in the office of the H. W. Ladd Company, dry goods dealers, and had charge of the retail accounts.   He resigned the position in 1892 and has since been engaged in the real estate and stock-brokerage   business.   He   also  holds the office of Secretary and Treasurer of a Rhode Island company engaged in the manufacture of gas generators.   He is an enthusiastic yachtsman and an active member of the Rhode Island Yacht Club. He is a member of the order of America Mechanics and of the Young Men's Christian Association, and is a member and treasurer of various social organizations.   In politics he holds Republican views. Biographie Index


LARRY, John Hale., clergyman, was born in South Windham, Me., December 2, 1843, the son of Joseph Child and Mary (Purington) Larry. His father was a sturdy yeoman of the old New England type, and his mother a woman of great intelligence and strong religious convictions, which were imparted to her children.    He received his early education in the public schools, and early devoted himself to the profession of teaching, beginning at the age of sixteen, and the same year published "A Key to Outline Map," which was much needed in the schools of the state.   While supporting himself by teaching he attended a course at Gorham Academy, walking eight miles a day for the purpose.  When the civil war broke out he was engaged in teaching at Little Falls, N. H.   He gave up his school and enlisted as a private in Company I, Eighth Massachusetts Volunteers, from Lynn. He participated with his regiment in the campaigns in North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland.   On the expiration of his term of service he re-enlisted in the Eleventh   Unattached   Company, Massachusetts Heavy Artillery, stationed at Fort Independence, in which he was made Orderly Sergeant.   He successfully passed an examination for promotion and was commissioned a Lieutenant in Company H, on which occasion his comrades of Company G presented him with a dress sword and equipment costing over a hundred dollars.   While in the service he acted as Adjutant at Fort Lincoln, D. C, and had charge of the new commissioned officers' school.  He was in command of the detachment which pursued and nearly captured John H. Surratt after the assassination of President Lincoln.    After the close of the war he resigned and resumed the profession of teaching, and for about six years was Principal of the Weston High School.   He was principal of the New England Christian Institute for a time, and had charge of the Normal School and Agricultural School at Hampton, Va., during the absence of Gen. Armstrong in Europe for two years raising funds for the building. But for the effect of the climate he would have continued in mission work at the South. He established "A School of Practice" at Penacook, N. H., to exemplify his educational ideas, but gave it up to adopt the ministerial profession, for which he had long felt a predilection. He was ordained in Boston in 1873, and supplied churches in Lynn for about a year. He was then settled in Smytherville, N. H., and afterward at Wilmot, when he established the " The Kearsage School of Practice." He was then settled in Penacook, N. H., and in 1882 received a call to the Free Congregational Church on Richmond street, Providence, where he has since remained. Since his residence in Providence he has taken an active part in social reforms, and particularly in temperance. He was for some years editor of the Independent Citizen, the Prohibition Organ, and is now the editor of the Pointer, an all around reform newspaper. On the resignation of Gen. C. R. Brayton as Chief of State Police in 1887 he was offered the position by Governor Wetmore, but declined to accept, preferring to continue his church work. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and has been Chaplain of Prescott Post. In 1865 he married Miss Mary E. White, a descendant of Peregrine White, the first white child born in New England; they have six children. Biographie Index


LEWIS, Sam Warren, florist and nurseryman, Olneyville, was born in Exeter, R. L, April 22, 1844, the son of Warren Gardiner and Amy (Reynolds) Lewis.   His grandparents on his father's side were Simon and Rhoda (Wood) Lewis. On his mother's side they were Samuel and Deborah (Lillibridge) Reynolds. On both sides he is of New England ancestry. He received his early education in the public schools, and was employed on a farm until March 1870, when he entered the employ of David Moore, Jr., nurseryman, with whom he remained until 1873 when he commenced business for himself. He first purchased some trees and sold them on the Crawford street bridge of Providence, but now has an extensive nursery, one of the largest in Rhode Island, on Hartford avenue, Olneyville. He has also a greenhouse and is engaged in the florist business, and is also interested in bee keeping and a large producer of honey; at the present time he has sixty-eight colonies of bees. He is a member of the Rhode Island Horticultural Society, and of the Society for the Encouragement of Domestic Industry. He has taken no part in public life and is an Independent in politics. He married, January 10, 1869, Miss Mary Reynolds Lillibridge, who died December 29, of the same year; they had one child, a son, who died in infancy. Biographie Index


LIPPITT, Robert Lincoln, Agent and Manager of the Lippitt Woolen Company, Providence, was born in that city, March 22, 1860, son of ex-Governor Henry Lippitt and Mary Ann (Balch) Lippitt.  He is a brother of Charles W. Lippitt, the present Governor of the State of Rhode Island. They are descendants of John Lippitt, who came to Rhode Island in 1638, two years after its settlement by Roger Williams; their ancestors were officers in General Washington's army, and in later times were all noted as manufacturers. R. Lincoln Lippitt was educated in Mowry & Goff's School in Providence, St. Mark's School in Southboro where he spent the five years from 1873-78, and at Brown University, class of 1882. Upon leaving college he entered the mill of the Lippitt Woolen Company, where he spent three years learning the woolen business, after which he sold woolen goods in the commission house of Walkinshaw & Voigh, 78 Worth Street, until 1889, thus familiarizing himself with the commission business.  He then became Agent and Manager of the Lippitt Woolen Company, which position he now holds. He is also a Director in the Social Manufacturing Company, the Turkey Red Dyeing Company and the Providence Opera House Association, all of Providence. He was elected as a Member of the House in the State Legislature in 1894-95, in which body he is serving the present year as Chairman of the Committee on Corporation. He is also a member of the Commission appointed by the legislature to represent the State at the Atlanta World's Fair, being appointed on the Governor's staff. Mr. Lippitt belongs to the Hope and Union clubs, the Press Club, Anawam Hunt Club, Providence Athletic Association, Rhode Island Yacht Club (vice-commodore), What Cheer Harbor No. 13 American Association of Masters and Pilots of Steam Vessels, and the Sons of the American Revolution, all of Providence; also the New York Yacht Club, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and various other societies and organizations. In politics he is a Republican. He was married in 1882 and has one daughter: Mabelle Clifton Lippitt. At present he is unmarried. Biographie Index


McCARTHY, Patrick Joseph, attorney-at-Law, Providence, was born in Geevagh parish, County Sligo, Ireland, September 1848, the son of Patrick and Alice (Cullen) McCarthy. His parents came to the United States when he was only four years of age, and both died within a few weeks after, while at quarantine on Deer Island, Boston harbor: their place of burial is unknown. He received his early education in the public schools of Boston and Somerville, Mass., and became self-supporting from a very early age.   He came to reside in Providence in 1865, and, after acquiring the necessary means, devoted himself to the study of the law.  He graduated from the Law School of Harvard University, June 28, 1876, and was admitted to the Rhode Island bar the same year.    He has since successfully practiced his profession in Providence.  He has been prominent in municipal politics and was a member in the Common Council in 1890-92 and '94.   He was elected a Representative to the General Assembly from Providence in 1892 and 1893.   He is a member of the Brownson Lyceum, was its president three terms.   In politics he is a Democrat, favoring protection to American industries.   He was married, August 29, 1875, to Miss Anna M. McGinney of Providence, since deceased; they had three children:  Mary Josephine, now living; Patrick, Jr., and Alice, deceased. Biographie Index


McMURROUGH, Thomas, Providence, is a native of Ireland, born July 31, 1840, son of Patrick and Ann (Foley) McMurrough. His ancestry on both sides is Irish. He came to Providence in 1850, and attended the public schools when he could get a chance, which was not often, and his entire schooling was covered by a period of not more than two years in all, being placed at work in a cotton mill when he was eleven years old. He worked in the mills for six years, and in 1858 engaged with the firm of Marsh &: Horton, to learn the iron moulding business.   When the war broke out he entered the employ of John Roach & Sons, New York, and remained with them four years, at the end of which time he returned to Providence where he has since resided.   In May 1870 he engaged in the undertaking business, in a small way, and has kept on steadily increasing, until at the present time he carries one of the largest and best stocks of undertakers' supplies of any house in the state. He has never held any public office.   In politics he is somewhat independent,  usually acting with the Democratic party.   He is a member of the Brownson Lyceum, a literary society organized in Providence about thirty-five years ago, also of Branch 237 Catholic Knights of America.   He has been twice married, first in May 1869, to Mary Murry, a daughter of Lawrence Murry, who for a number of years was connected with Albert Daley's lumber yard in Providence, by whom he had one child, Amy McMurrough; his second marriage was in September 1892, to Mary C. Sinnott, daughter of the late Peter H. Sinnott, clerk a number of years for William H. Gree & Co., Providence. Biographie Index


MOIES, Charles Parmenter, first Mayor of Central Falls, was born in North Providence (now Pawtucket), March 24, 1845, son of Thomas and Susan W. (Seymour) Moies.   He is a grandson of John and Anna (Robinson) Moies of Dorchester, Mass.  On the maternal side his great-grandfather was Capt. John George Curien, who came to this country from France with Lafayette, served in the Revolution, and married Olive Branch of Providence; their daughter Cecilia married George Seymour, and their daughter Susan married Thomas Moies and was the mother of the subject of this sketch.  Charles P. Moies received his early education in the public schools of Central Falls, and attended Schofield's Commercial College, Providence, in 1864.  In March 1865 he went to Chicago, 111., and entered the freight office of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, remaining there until September 1866, when he returned to his home in Central Falls and entered the Pawtucket Institution for Savings as clerk, and assistant to his father, who filled the office of Treasurer.   Upon the death of his father, in November 1886, Charles was elected Treasurer, which office he still holds.   In May 1885 he was elected Treasurer of the Pawtucket Mutual Fire Insurance Company and still holds that office. In January 1881 he was elected Treasurer of the Central Falls Fire District, succeeding his uncle, Charles Moies, who had held the office twenty-six years, and continued in that capacity until March 1895, when the district was abolished by the organization of the city of Central Falls.   He also succeeded his father, upon the latter's death in 1886, as Treasurer of Union School Districts One and Two of Central Falls, and served until May 1892, when the district school system was abolished by the adoption of the town system by the town of Lincoln.  He was also elected Treasurer of the town of Lin-coin upon the death of his father (the former treasurer), and continued in that office until the town was made a city, March 18, 1895, when he was elected the first Mayor of Central Falls, and held the office until January 6, 1896.   In politics he is a Republican, and has represented the town of Lincoln (1885) in the lower branch of the General Assembly.   Mr. Moies left school at the age of seventeen, in September 1862, to enter the army, and served during his   term of enlistment nine months in Company B, Eleventh  Regiment Rhode Island Volunteers.   He is a member of Ballou Post, Grand Army of the Republic, and served two years as its commander.   He is also a member of the order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, Knights of Honor, Veteran Firemen's Association and the Pawtucket Business Men's Association. He was married, December 19, 1876, to Miss Florence Damon Wetherell; they have one son, Charles P. Moies, Jr. Biographie Index


MOWRY, Elisha Capron, attorney-at-law, Providence, was born in what is now North Smithfield R. I., December 26, 1836, son of Harris Jenckes and Fanny Capron (Scott) Mowry. His ancestors were English on both sides, and he is descended from the following, who came to Rhode Island with Roger Williams, or were contemporaries with him : Roger Mowry, Edward Inman, John Steere, John Whipple, Thomas Harris, Thomas Angell, Thomas Arnold, William Wickenden, Richard Scott, Joseph Jenckes and Banfield Capron. He received his early education in the public schools of Providence and of Sheboygan, Wis., and was fitted for college in the University Grammar School of Providence.  He entered Brown University in the class of 1857, but was compelled to leave in the junior year on account of ill-health. He was out of college four years, during which time he was clerk in a large commercial house in Buffalo, N. Y., for a part of the time, and also taught school in Erie county, N. Y., and in Rhode Island. He again entered Brown University and graduated in the class of 1861.  Having adopted the law as a profession he entered the office of the Hon. Samuel Currey of Providence and studied there until his admission to the Rhode Island bar, May 14, 1865, supporting himself by teaching school winters.   In 1864-65 he was Principal of the High School of East Douglass, Mass.  During the civil war he enlisted and served for three months in the Tenth Rhode Island Infantry.  Since May 1865 he has practiced law continuously in Providence, from January 1879 to January 1884 in company with Richard B. Comstock, under the firm name of Mowry & Comstock, and for the last three years in company with Livingston Scott, under the firm name of Mowry & Scott   He was admitted to the United States Circuit Court bar in 1866 and to the United States Supreme Court bar in 1887.   He has taken a prominent part in municipal and state politics.   He was a member of the Common Council of Providence from 1871 to 1877, of the Board of Aldermen from 1878 to 1880, and of the School Committee from 1872 to 1881.   He was elected Senator to the General Assembly from Providence in 1880.   He was the Democratic candidate for Mayor of Providence in 1880, but was defeated by Hon. William S. Hayward, the Republicans being largely in the majority in the city at that time and united upon Mr. Hayward.   He married, October 7, 1869, Miss Hannah Richardson, who died March 17, 1882.   September 18, 1884, he married Mrs. Harriet Marble Page; he has children :   Fanny Richardson,  Benjamin Richardson, Emma Augusta, Charles Matteson, Sarah Ross, Harris Jenckes, Daza Page, Albert Erastus and Elisha Capron Mowry, Jr. Biographie Index

 

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