NICKERSON, Asa Harden, physician, Central Falls, was born in South Dennis, Mass., July 11, 1854, son of Asa Whelden and Ruth Ann (Nickerson) Nickerson.   He comes of old Pilgrim stock and his ancestors on both sides were among the first settlers of the town of Cape Cod.   He is descended in the eighth generation from William and Annie (Busbie) Nickerson, who came from Norwich, Norfolk county, England, landed in Boston in 1637 and settled in Yarmouth, Mass Their son Nicholas married Sarah Bassett and died in Yarmouth.  Their granddaughter Hester married a son of the first white child born in Plymouth, Peregrine White.   Another granddaughter, Mary, married Simeon Crosby, one of the first settlers of Eastham.    A grandson, William, married Mary Snow and was one of the founders of Chatham.  Other descendants intermarried with leading families of the Cape and Plymouth.   Asa received his early education in the public schools of his native town and at Mowry & Goff's School in Providence.  He graduated from the New Hampton Literary and Biblical Institution, New Hampton, in July 1873.  He is also a graduate of the Harvard Medical School, receiving from the University the degree of M. D. June 28, 1882. Since that time he has been a member of the post-graduate medical schools of Boston and New York. While fitting for his profession he worked in a drug store and taught a grammar school in Harwich, Mass.   Dr. Nickerson began the practice of medicine and surgery in Central Falls, R. I., in September 1882, where he has since remained.   In 1895 he was appointed Assistant Eye and Ear Surgeon to St. Joseph's Hospital, also Externe to the Eye Department of the Rhode Island Hospital, Providence.   He was a trustee of the Union School District, which is now the city of Central Falls, in 1886 and 1887, a member of the School Committee of the town of Lincoln from 1887 to 1890, and Superintendent of Schools in Lincoln in 1889.   He is a member of Jenks Lodge A. F. & A. M., Pawtucket Royal Arch grammar school in Harwich, Mass.   Dr. Nickerson began the practice of medicine and surgery in Central Falls, R. I., in September 1882, where he has since remained.   In 1895 he was appointed Assistant Eye and Ear Surgeon to St. Joseph's Hospital, also Externe to the Eye Department of the Rhode Island Hospital, Providence.   He was a trustee of the Union School District, which is now the city of Central Falls, in 1886 and 1887, a member of the School Committee of the town of Lincoln from 1887 to 1890, and Superintendent of Schools in Lincoln in 1889.   He is a member of Jenks Lodge A. F. & A. M., Pawtucket Royal Arch Chapter, Holy Sepulchre Commandery, the Grand Lodge of Masons of Rhode Island, Royal Society of Good Fellows, Washington Lodge K. of P., Pawtucket Medical Association and the Harvard Medical Alumni Association. In politics he is a Republican, but has not taken an active part in public affairs. He married, October 12, 1887, Miss Carrie E. Bunker of Bethlehem, N. H. Biographie Index

PALMER, William Henry, physician and surgeon, Providence, was born in Woodstock, Conn., May 25, 1829, the son of Hezekiah and Lucy (Bugbee) Palmer. He is a descendant in the sixth generation of Thomas Palmer, who was one of the founders of the town of Rowley, Mass., in April 1639. His mother was of the fifth generation in descent from Edward Bugby, who settled in Roxbury, Mass., in 1634. His ancestors on both sides were of the sturdy yeomanry of New England, who lived honorably and peaceably, serving their country and generation to the best of their ability and opportunity. His maternal grandmother was the daughter of Dr. Daniel Holmes, of Woodstock, Conn., grandfather of Oliver Wendell Holmes, and a soldier in the war of the Revolution. His paternal grandfather was also a soldier of the Revolution.  Acquiring his early education in the public schools and at the Academy in Woodstock, he entered Yale College and graduated in the class of 1854 with the degree of B. A. Adopting medicine as a profession, he studied in the Harvard Medical School, and at the University of the state of New York, receiving a diploma there from in 1859-60. Returning from the war in 1866, he settled in Providence, where he has since been engaged in the practice of his profession. He is a member of the American Medical Association ; a Fellow of the Rhode Island Medical Society and served as President for two terms, 1891-1892; a member of the Providence Medical Association ; a member and first President of the Rhode Island Medico-Legal Society for 1885 ; a member of the New York Medico-Legal Society; a contributor to various medico-legal and medical journals, and is often called in court as an expert on medico-legal questions. He served in the war of the Rebellion, was commissioned August 26, 1861, Surgeon and Major of the Third New York Volunteer Cavalry by Governor Morgan, and served three years in the field. On April 10, 1865, contracting as Acting Staff Surgeon, U. S. A., he served as Surgeon in charge of the hospitals in and about Richmond, Va., until September 1866. He has been a member of the Grand Army of the Republic since 1867; was Assistant Adjutant-General of the Department of Rhode Island for two years, and Surgeon for two years; is a Companion of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, and a member and first President of the United States Veteran Volunteers' Association. In 1876 he was appointed acting Surgeon to the Providence Police Force and continued in service until 1891, when he was elected Police Surgeon, and is still serving in said office. In June 1884 he was appointed by the Governor of Rhode Island a Medical Examiner for District Number Ten, county of Providence, and served for six years; was reap-pointed in 1891, and is still serving. On June 10, 1872, he was elected by the City Council, Deputy Superintendent of Health for the city of Providence, and a Coroner from 1875 to 1884, inclusive. He is a member of Corinthian Lodge A. F. & A. M., of Providence Lodge K. of H., and of other beneficial societies. In politics he was an Abolitionist before and during the war, and since has been a Republican. In October 1862 he married Fanny Purdy, author, of New York city; they have two children : Henrietta Raymer and Granville Ernest Palmer. Biographie Index

PECK, Samuel Luther, member of the firm of Arnold, Peck & Co., importers, jobbers and commission merchants in chemicals, drugs and dye-stuffs, Providence, New York and Boston, was born in Warren, R. L, December 17, 1845, the son of James M. and Elizabeth (Luther) Peck. He was educated at the Warren high school and at Bryant, Stratton and Mason's Commercial College. His first occupation was as clerk for Charles E. Boon & Co., from 1864 to 1869. Then he became book keeper for B. B. & R. Knight until 1872, and was salesman for Butts & Mason until 1874, when he entered the firm of Mason, Chapin & Co., which in 1896 was succeeded by the present firm. He has always held his residence in Warren, where he has been Assessor of Taxes three years, was first Chairman of Standing Committee of the George Hail Free Library, was Superintendent of the Methodist Episcopal Sunday School for ten years, and Master of Washington Lodge A. F. & A. M. No. 3 for one year.   He has also been Vice-President of the New England Paint and Oil Club, and is a member of the Providence Athletic Association, Union Club, Rhode Island Yacht Club and Southern Press Club.   He is now Vice-President of the National Hope Bank, and serving his second term as Representative to the General Assembly. In politics he is a Republican. He married, June 23, 1870, Miss Esther Alice Gardner; they lost their only child, Howard Gardner, at the age of three years and nine months. Biographie Index

REMINGTON, John Alfred, physician and surgeon, Central Falls, was born in Coventry, R. I , November 2, 1867, son of Albert D. and Caroline M. (Knight) Remington.   He comes of old Colonial stock, being connected with some of the oldest families in Rhode   Island - the Remington's, Knights,  Potters, Coles, Gardiners, Mattesons, Watermans  and others.   He is a descendant of James Cole of Plymouth, who was the first occupier of the hill back of Plymouth Rock which bears his name.   He is also a descendant of Thomas Remington of Prudence Island, who fled to the mainland when the British were coming up Narragansett Bay in the war of the Revolution : " Prudence Tom," as he was called, became one of the minute men who patrolled the shore of Narragansett Bay watching for the British.  He received his early education in the district schools of Quidnick, in the town of Coventry, R. I., until thirteen years of age, and afterwards attended a private school in Providence for a year.   He adopted medicine as a profession and studied two and a half years in the office of the late Dr. James E. Tobey of Central Falls, whom he succeeded in practice. He studied for three years in the Bellevue Hospital of New York City, and graduated March 30, 1891, afterward locating in Central Falls, where he has since remained. At the last election he received the vote of the Democratic members of the City Council for City Physician.  He is a member of the Pawtucket Medical Association, of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, at present being Past Master Workman and Representative to the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts for one year, of the Knights of Pythias, A. F. & A.  Masons, of the American Order of Druids, and the dramatic order of the Knights of Kohassen  also associate member of the Veteran Firemen's Association of Central Falls. In politics he is a Democrat, and a member of the John W. Davis Club of Central Falls.   He is unmarried. Biographie Index

SACK, August Albert, one of the leading manufacturers of Rhode Island, is a native of Germany, where he was born August 16, 1843. After acquiring a liberal education and gaining a thorough knowledge of all the details of woolen manufacturing in his native country, he came to America in 1867. He was first employed as designer by the Harris Woolen Company of Woonsocket, R. L, and later served in a similar capacity in the Everett Mills at Lawrence, Mass., and the Bates Mills at Lewiston, Me.   This was followed by a brief service in the commission house of Leland, Allen & Bates, Boston, where he had full supervision of all the woolen mills operated by this firm.   In 1873 he came  to  Providence as superintendent of the worsted mill of Owen & Clark.   In 1879 he purchased the business of Mr. Owen, incorporated as the Geneva Worsted Mill.   After successfully managing it until May 1884 he sold his interest in this enterprise.   He then organized the Lymansville Company and under his personal direction built the Lymansville Mills, which are acknowledged to be the most modern, best equipped and managed worsted mills in the country.   From the inception of the enterprise to the present time Mr. Sack as Treasurer of the company has been the dominating force in the management, and to his thorough knowledge of the business, his untiring energy, financial ability and keen business judgment, its notable success can be largely ascribed.   The product consists of worsted yarns and worsted goods; the mills employ four hundred and fifty persons, and about ten thousand pounds of wool is consumed daily.   Mr. Sack is also interested in various other cotton and woolen mills, but his principal attention is directed to the management of the Lymansville Company.   He is a man of unusual executive ability and untiring industry, and despite his careful supervision of extensive business interests, he has managed to find time for mental cultivation and improvement, and is well posted as to the progress of affairs in the political and literary worlds.   He is a Republican in politics, and is a thorough believer in the wisdom of reciprocity and a protective tariff in the interest of home manufactures, holding that labor and the material progress of the country would be best advanced by this policy.   Mr. Sack resides in Providence, and is a member of various clubs and societies, but has never taken a prominent part in them, or in public life, finding his chief pleasures after the close of the day's business within his home circle.   He was married, September 25, 1879, to Miss Alice R.  Davis, eldest daughter of the late George L. Davis, senior member of the Davis & Furber Machine Company of North Andover, Mass.; they have two sons : George D. and A. Albert Sack, Jr. Biographie Index

SACKETT, Frederic Moseley, Adjutant-General of the State of Rhode Island, is a native of Providence, born February 26, 1840, son of Adnah and Eliza (Adams) Sackett.   He is a descendant in the seventh generation of Simon Sackett, who came to America from the Isle of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England, in 1628.   He received his early education at Mount Pleasant Academy, Amherst, Mass., and Phillips Academy, Exeter, N. H., graduated at Brown University, class of 1861, and went from college into the army at the first call of President Lincoln for volunteers in 1861.   He served as Second Lieutenant and afterwards First Lieutenant of Battery C, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, and at different times was in command of the battery.   He was severely wounded at the battle of Chancellorsville.    Following his retirement from the army he engaged in woolen manufacturing from 1864 to 1882, and from 1882 to 1892 was Treasurer of the Richmond Paper Company. He was appointed Adjutant General of the State, November 4, 1895.   Mr. Sackett is a member of the Hope Club of Providence and the University Club of New York, and is also a member of the military order of the Loyal Legion.     He was married, November 15, 1866, to Miss Emma Louisa Paine, and has four children :  Fred M., Jr., Elizabeth Paine, Henry Weston and Franklin Page Sackett.  He resides in Providence. Biographie Index

SAN SOUCI, Joseph Octave, of Providence, head of the large retail shoe and department business of J. O. San Souci & Co., was born in Stukely, Province of Quebec, Canada, July 27, 1855, son of Euzebe and Louise (Couette) San Souci. His father enlisted in the First Vermont Cavalry in 1861, and was killed in action on July 3, 1863. Joseph was eight years old at the time of his father's death.  He had four sisters older and three brothers younger than himself, besides an elder brother who enlisted in the same company as his father, at the age of sixteen.   He attended the public schools at St. Albans, Vermont, until sixteen years of age, and then, as his family were poor, he was obliged to enter upon the active duties of life.   He entered, in 1871, the store of George S. Eddy, Greenfield, Mass., as clerk, selling dry goods and boots and shoes, and later was engaged with M. S. Fellows in the same place. In 1875 he came to Providence and was employed by E. J. Beane at Olneyville, the manufacturing suburb of the city, in the shoe business as salesman. When a boy at school he read in some paper or magazine a statement said to have been made by A. T. Stewart, the great dry goods merchant, something as follows: " If a young man will economize and save one thousand dollars, he will find it comparatively easy to make money afterwards; the hard work comes in getting the first thousand."   He never forgot it, and determined at the start to save this amount as soon as possible.   His earnings were very small at first, only five dollars a week the first year; but he persevered, and in eight years was the proud possessor of eight hundred dollars, when an opportunity presented itself for him to go into business.   His employer opened a large shoe store in the centre of the city, and was desirous of disposing of the Olneyville store.   This was the chance of a lifetime for Joseph, and he grasped it. He succeeded in getting two other young men, S. C. Jameson and Asa M. Pinkham, to combine their small capital with his, and they purchased the store and started it under the name of Jameson, San Souci & Co., making a success from the start. After five years he had purchased the interests of both partners and taken into partnership his younger brother, F. C. San Souci, the firm name being changed to J. O. San Souci & Company.  In a few years, finding that they had more money than was needed in their business, they opened another store in Olneyville, and in 1885 bought the shoe store of W. H. Bigelow at Attleboro, Mass., giving one of their salesmen, T. E. McCaffrey, a half interest.   In 1887 they bought the shoe business of Fowler & San Souci at Hartford, Conn., a firm of which another brother, E. J. San Souci, was a member, and who now was taken into the firm of J. 0.  Souci & Company. Two years later the Boston Shoe Store, in Westminster Street, was sold at auction by the receiver, and they bid it in at $17,050. They then offered their Hartford store for sale, and sold it the following week at a good bonus. Their greatest venture, and what they believe is to be their most successful one, is their elegant department store in Olneyville Square, where they sell dry goods, cloaks, shoes, etc. It was opened for business in November 1892, and is one of the handsomest stores to be found in New England.  Mr. San Souci is entering upon his sixth year as a member of the School Committee of Providence, and has just finished his second year as a Common Councilman, declining re-election on account of the pressure of his private business. He is a member of various fraternal societies, including the American Order of Foresters and Knights of Sherwood, Ancient Order United Workmen, Royal Society of Good Fellows, Royal Arcanum and Knights of Columbus. He was married, June 15, 1890, to Miss Sarah G. Lynch of Providence; they have four children : Paul, aged nine ; George H., aged seven; Joseph O., Jr., aged five ; and Sadie L. San Souci, aged two years. Biographie Index

SAYLES, Albert Leprelett, manufacturer, Pascoag, was born in Burrillville, R. I., August 29, 1826, son of Harden and Laura (Wood) Sayles.  He is descended from an old and well-known Rhode Island family, his ancestor, John Sayles, having married Mary, the daughter of Roger Williams.  He received his early education in the public schools, and commenced his training as a manufacturer in the mill of his father and in that of D.  S. Whipple, who were manufacturers of woolen goods in Burrillville.   He commenced business for himself in connection with his father as early as 1854, and has continued in it ever since, controlling and managing some large and successful establishments.   He has refused all political office, except that of delegate to the Republican National Convention held in Chicago in 1888.    He is one of the Commissioners to erect a new State House in Providence ; is one of the promoters and a Director of the Providence & Springfield Railroad ; a Director of the Pascoag National Bank; President and Director of the Third National Bank of Providence, and a Director of the American and Enterprise Mutual Fire Insurance Companies.   Mr. Sayles has taken an active interest in religious affairs, and was for many years President and Treasurer of the Pascoag Freewill Baptist Society.     He married, December 1, 1852, Miss Fannie Jane Warner; they have had four children: Edgar Franklin (deceased), Ellen Maria, Albert Hardin and Fred Lincoln Sayles. Biographie Index

SHEPARD,  John Jr.,   dry goods merchant.  Providence, was born January 2, 1857, in Boston, Mass.. the son of John and Susan Annie (Bagley) Shepard.   His father is an eminent and successful merchant in Boston.   He received his early education in the public schools of Boston, graduated from the English High School in 1874, and started in business for himself at the age of twenty-three in a store occupying a small portion of the present site on Westminster street,  Providence.   Since that time the business has grown in remarkable proportions, and he now owns the new and elegant building, Nos. 259 to 273 Westminster street, which has been built by him as various enlargements be-came necessary.   He has no partner, all the control of the business emanating from one head and under a thorough and efficient system.   In addition to his dry goods business he is President of the Consolidated Car Fender Company. He has been President of the Rhode Island Business Men's Association and of the Narragansett Boat Club, and is now Treasurer of the Providence Athletic Association.   Mr. Shepard has not taken an active interest in politics or public life. He married, October 22, 1884, Miss Flora E., daughter of Gen. A. P.  Martin of Boston; they have three children : John, 3rd, Edward P. and Robert Ferguson Shepard. Biographie Index

SHOVE, Isaac, Secretary of the Pawtucket Mutual Fire Insurance Company for nearly forty years, was born in Smithfield (now Woonsocket) R. I., October 4, 1823, son of Marvel and Lydia (Fish) Shove. The ancestor of the Shove family in this country was the Rev. George Shove, the third minister of Taunton, Mass., whose wife was Hopestill Newman, daughter of Rev. Samuel Newman, one of the founders of Rehoboth; she died in 1674, and from them the Shoves, few in number, have descended. Isaac's father was a manufacturer at the Globe Mill; his mother died during his infancy, and he went to live with his grandfather, Josiah Shove, in Mendon (now Blackstone), Mass. He attended the district school, and about 1833 went to the boarding school of Thomas Fry in Bolton, Worcester county, Mass., where he was fellow schoolmate with Samuel Foss, for many years editor of the Woonsocket Patriot. At the age of fourteen he went to live with an uncle in the town of Palmyra, Wayne county, N. Y., where he worked on the farm.   In 1846 he returned East and lived in Seekonk, Mass., until 1851, when he came to Pawtucket, Mass., and obtained employment as a clerk.  In 1856 he was elected Secretary of the Pawtucket Mutual Fire Insurance Company, which office he still fills, having held it for a period of nearly forty years. In 1857-58-59 Mr. Shove was on the board of Selectmen of Pawtucket, and in 1860 he was appointed by Governor Banks a Trial Justice with jurisdiction over Pawtucket, Seekonk and Rehoboth.  In 1862 Pawtucket was annexed to Rhode Island, and he was elected Town Clerk and held the office three years. He was elected a member of the House of Representatives in 1865 and again in 1866, and in 1865 was elected by the General Assembly a member of the Court of Magistrates, with jurisdiction over Pawtucket, North Providence and Smith field-an office which under different names he has held, with the exception of two years, up to the present time, about thirty-three years. In 1874, when the town of North Providence was divided and a portion consolidated with Pawtucket, Mr. Shove was again elected to the General Assembly, and yet again in 1881. In 1877 and in 1888 he was President of the Town Council of Pawtucket, subsequently served as Sewer Commissioner, and has held various offices in town and city. In politics he is a Republican. Biographie Index

SLATER, Alpheus Brayton, General Manager and Director of the Providence Gas Company, was born in Warwick, R. L, November 26, 1832, son of Brayton and Patience (Millard) Slater. His family is that of the well-known and respected Slaters of Killingly, Conn., and his maternal grandfather was Charles Millard of Warwick. He received his preparatory education in the public schools of Newburyport, Mass., and East Killingly, Conn., and afterwards attended Smithville Seminary at North Scituate and the Conference Seminary at East Greenwich.   In September 1853, when not quite twenty-one, he entered the service of the Providence Gas Company, and in December 1858, was elected Chief Clerk, in March 1869 was elected Assistant Treasurer, and in February 1870 he was made Director, Treasurer and Secretary, with the additional duties of General Manager, which position he has held continuously to the present time.  The great financial and mechanical success of the corporation is largely due to his practical ability and energy.    He is the only one now remaining of the organization as it existed when he entered the service.   He has taken an active part in the organization and service of the Association for the Development and Improvement of Gas Lighting, is a member of the New England Association of Gas Engineers and served as its President for two years, and is also a member of the New England Guild of Gas Managers, of which he served as Secretary from its organization until he was elected its President in 1885, which position he held for two years.   He is also a member of the Society of Gas Lighting of New York, an honorary member of the Western Gas Association, and a member of the Gas Engineers and served as its President for two years, and is also a member of the New England Guild of Gas Managers, of which he served as Secretary from its organization until he was elected its President in 1885, which position he held for two years.   He is also a member of the Society of Gas Lighting of New York, an honorary member of the Western Gas Association, and a member of the American Gas Light Association, in which he has served on the Finance and Executive Committees, and was elected its President in 1888 at the meeting held in Toronto.   Mr. Slater has always carefully avoided holding any public office not connected with the business.   He is a member of the Squantum Club and of the Providence Athletic Association.  In politics he is a Republican.   He married, June 25. 1855, Miss Ruth Matthews of East Killingly, Conn.; they have three children : Lora R., Alpheus B. and Howard C. Slater. Biographie Index

SMITH, Irving Mauran, President of the Providence Business Men's Association at the time of his death, was born at Rumstick, in Barrington, R. I., July 15, 1852, and died December 1, 1895. He was the son of Nathaniel Church and Sally (Bowen) Smith, and descended from Italian and English ancestry. With a good education preparatory for business, he commenced his active career as a lad in the wholesale department of George L. Claflin & Co., Providence, where his brother Nathaniel had preceded him in a most successful business experience.   He remained with this house until he formed a partnership to carry on the drug business under the firm name of Kenyon, Smith & Co., on Exchange Place.   After a few years at this location he returned to the house of George L. Claflin & Co., where he remained until about July 1895, when he was induced to give up his drug business to become the Secretary and Treasurer of the Inter-State Petroleum Company, which position he held at the time of his death.   Mr. Smith inherited a genial nature, an active disposition and a sanguine temperament.   He needed no stimulus for work, for his busy mind was full of plans for himself and others, which no obstacles could hinder and no discouragements or counter influence check.   He was open-hearted, possessed no arts of concealment or of private scheming so that his life, character and purposes were an open book, known and read of 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.   Arbor day in Rhode Island owes its existence to Mr. Smith's labors, and the first celebration of the day was held in Barrington under his direction.   He was interested among the foremost in the organization of improvement associations, and the Barrington Rural Improvement Association and the Rhode Island Society owe their present successful operations largely to his labors.   He was the efficient President of both of these bodies, as well as of the Providence Business Men's Association, of which he was a charter member.   Mr. Smith was ever lavish of time, strength and enthusiastic interest for the good of his fellows, and a shortened life is the price paid for excessive energy spent in public and private service in the town, in the church at Barrington, in business life, in associational work and in all other pursuits which he followed with such diligence and success. He was married, April 12, 1887, to Carrie Wakeman Ketchum, who survives him; they had two children: Kenneth Valentine and Nathalie Church Smith. Biographie Index

SMITH, Thomas Joseph, M. D., Valley Falls, was born in Adams, Massachusetts, April 18, 1859, son of Michael and Bridget (Malone) Smith, of Irish ancestry. His early education was obtained in the public schools, after which he was employed in a cotton mill until the age of seventeen, when he left to finish his studies. He attended La Salle Academy in Providence, West Farnham College in the Province of Quebec, the University of Ottawa (Canada), and the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Baltimore, Maryland, graduating from the last-named institution March 4, 1884. Since graduation he has practiced medicine in the town of Cumberland. He has visited Europe three times since 1887, for the purpose of gaining experience in the different hospitals, and has enjoyed a successful professional career. Dr. Smith has served as member of the School Committee three years, and as Chairman of the Board of Tax Assessors for one year. He is a member of the Rhode Island State Medical Society, the Providence Medical Association, and the Megantic Fish and Game Club. In politics he is an active Democrat, and has been a member of the Democratic State Central Committee from Cumberland for four years. He was married, July 3, 1888, to Miss Mary Welsh of Clayton Mount (near Manchester), England ; they have four children: Thomas Charles Russell, Mary Beatrice, Helen Welsh and Brenda Angela Smith.  Biographie Index

STEARNS, Henry Augustus, manufacturer, Vice-President of the Union Wadding Company, Pawtucket, and Lieutenant-Governor of Rhode Island in 1891-92, was born in Billerica, Mass., October 23, 1825, son of Abnerand Anna (Russell) Stearns.  His mother was a daughter of Thomas Russell of West Cambridge, Mass.   He is a direct descendant of Isaac Stearns, who came to this country in 1630 with Governor Winthrop, and settled in Watertown, near Mount Auburn, Mass. For more than two centuries the Stearns name has been a leading one in Billerica and the vicinity thereof. Abner Stearns, Henry's father, was a man of great force of character and an inventor of more than local reputation.  Abner was about nine years old at the opening of the Revolution. He and his brother Solomon, a lad of eighteen, sleeping side by side, were awakened at an early hour on April 19, 1775, by their father, Lieutenant Edward Stearns, who announced that the British were coming. The Lieutenant and his son Solomon marched that day with the Bedford militia to Concord, where they acquitted themselves with great credit in the memorable Concord fight.  Captain Wilson of the Bedford militia having been killed, Lieutenant Stearns was placed in command of the Bedford troop during the latter part of the day, and thus it is that the subject of this sketch enjoys the distinction of having had his own uncle a leading participant in the first battle of the Revolution. The death of his parents occurred when he was about twelve years old. His early education was acquired in the public schools, supplemented by two years at Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass.  At the age of twenty he went West, and settled for a time in Cincinnati, where he engaged in the manufacture of cotton wadding. In the spring of 1850, his mill having been twice destroyed by fire, he started for California via the Isthmus of Panama.  From the Isthmus he took passage for San Francisco on an old whaling vessel, ill-conditioned, ill-fitted and overcrowded, and after four months of tossing about on the Pacific and intense suffering from lack of food and water, he finally reached his destination.  He opened the first steam laundry in California, and also ran the first steam ferry between San Francisco and what is now the city of Oakland.  After several years of California life he returned East, and in 1857 engaged in business in Buffalo, N. Y., where for a time he was roommate and friend of a young lawyer, Grover Cleveland, now President of the United States. The financial crisis of 1858 swept away his property in the general disaster which it precipitated upon most young business enterprises and many of long standing throughout the country, and he moved, with his young wife and with courage undaunted, to Illinois, and started anew to build up his fortunes. While in that state he formed a friendly acquaintance with another lawyer, of some local reputation, and in i860, having planned to engage in manufacturing in Rhode Island, but uncertain whether to go into business at that time of political and business agitation, in his perplexity he consulted his lawyer friend, Abraham Lincoln.   Mr. Lincoln advised him to carry out his plans, stating that he expected the war clouds would soon blow over. Accordingly Mr. Stearns went to Pawtucket, R. I., and in conjunction with Darius Goff began the manufacture of cotton wadding.  The inventive genius inherited from his father was now brought into full play; many of his inventions have been utilized in the mill of the Union Wadding Company, of which he is Vice-President and Superintendent, and today this company is one of the largest manufacturers of wadding in the world. Mr.  Stearns resides in Central Falls. and has been many times honored by his fellow-townsmen. He is a Republican in politics. For a number of years he represented the town of Lincoln in the House of Representatives, and then served several terms in the State Senate. In 1891 he was elected Lieutenant-Governor, and in 1892 declined a re-election to that office. He has held various other public and state offices, and has acted as a State Commissioner in many cases; but the one in which he has taken the greatest satisfaction and interest is his connection with the State Home and School for Homeless and Dependent Children, having been Chairman of its Board of Control for many years. While in the Senate he introduced and procured the passage of an act creating the institution, and was Chairman of the Committee to select and purchase the property, which is one of the most charming locations in the state, where hundreds of homeless little ones have been kindly cared for, and good permanent homes found for them. Mr. Stearns is an active member of the Congregational Church in Central Falls, and is also a thirty-second degree Mason. He was married, June 26, 1856, to Miss Kate Falconer, a granddaughter of Hiram Falconer, one of the early pioneers in Southern Ohio; they have had eight children, of whom seven are living: Deshla F., George R., Walter H., Kate R., Charles F., Henry F. and Caroline C. Stearns. Biographie Index

STONE, Waldo Hodge, homoeopathic physician and surgeon, Providence, was born in Olean, New York, July 8, 1855, son of Samuel Hollis and Betsey (Copeland) Stone.    He  is descended on his father's side from the Normans, and on his mother's side from the original Puritans.   He possesses a coat-of-arms from both sides of the house.   He can trace his ancestry directly to 1655, when Hugo Stone came to this country from England. His early education was received in a log-cabin school-house in Calhoun county, 111.  He afterward attended the academy at Bridgewater, Mass., and graduated from the Bridgewater Normal School.   He taught school at West Bridgewater in 1877 and became Superintendent of Schools the next year.   Later he taught school in Danvers, Mass.   He had been pursuing his studies in medicine, and in 1881 became resident physician at the Homoeopathic Dispensary in Boston, and in June 1882 he graduated from the Boston University School of Medicine.   In September 1882 he commenced the practice of medicine in Taunton, Mass., and was City Physician in 1884.  He located in Providence in December 1886, and has been in active and successful practice since.  He is also Surgeon of the Rhode Island Homoeopathic Hospital.    He has been through all the chairs of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and was Noble Grand of What Cheer Lodge in 1893-94, and is now a member of the Grand Lodge of Rhode Island.   He is a member of What Cheer Lodge and Minnehaha Encampment I. O. O. F., of the Knights of Pythias, of What Cheer Lodge, Providence Chapter, and Calvary Commandery A.  F. & A M.   He is also a Noble of the Mystic Shrine.    He has been Secretary of the Rhode Island Homoeopathic Medical Society, and is a member of all the Homoeopathic Medical Societies of prominence in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.  He is also a member of the American Institute of Homoeopathy.   He has never taken an active part in politics, but is keenly alive to the issues of the day.   He is a Republican by party affiliation. He married, June 1,1882, Miss Mary Ellie Goss of Danvers, Mass; they have children: George Burrill and Samuel Hollis. Biographie Index

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