NICHOLSON, Samuel Mowry, President and General Manager of the Nicholson File Company, Providence, was born in Providence, February 25, 1861, son of William Thomas and Elizabeth Dexter (Gardiner) Nicholson. His paternal ancestors were among the early Puritan settlers along the eastern shores of Massachusetts. On the maternal side he traces back to Sir Roger Mowry and Sir Thomas Gardiner, of England, and to Gabriel Bernon, the noted Huguenot, and is connected by birth with some of the oldest and most prominent families of Rhode Island. His early education was acquired in his native city, first in Miss Warren's Primary School, then in the public schools, and afterwards in Mowry & Goff's Classical School. In 1879, at the age of eighteen, he entered the employ of the Nicholson File Company, of which his father was the founder and President, devoting the first year and a half to the mechanical department, and learning the different processes of the manufacture of files and rasps.   He then entered the main office as clerk, acquiring a thorough knowledge of the book-keeping departments, and in 1881 was elected Secretary of the company. He subsequently made numerous trips throughout the United States and British Provinces in the interest of the company, widely extending his commercial acquaintance. In 1890 he was elected a Director of the company, and in 1891 he was made Vice-President. In November 1893, upon the death of his father, he succeeded to the position of President and General Manager, which position he now holds. The company at present operates, in addition to the factories at Providence, the American File Works at Pawtucket, R. I., and the Great Western Works at Beaver Falls, Pa. There are about twelve hundred skilled work-men on the company's pay rolls, and the products are sent to all parts of the globe. Mr. Nicholson is a Director of the following institutions and companies, located in Providence : Rhode Island National Bank ; Enterprise, State and American Mutual Fire Insurance companies; and the Providence, Fall River and Newport Steamboat Company. He is Vice-President for Rhode Island of the National Association of Manufacturers, and a Director in the Exporters' Association of America. He is a member of the Hardware clubs of New York, Boston and Philadelphia, and of the Home Market Club of Boston; also a member of the Providence Board of Trade, the Rhode Island Historical Society, the Hope, Squantum, Commercial and other clubs of Providence. In politics he is a Republican. He was married, November 17, 1886, to Miss Mary Jewett Coe, of Brooklyn, N. Y.; they have two children: Paul Coe and Martha Jewett Nicholson. Biographies Index

NOYES, Robert Fanning, M. D., Providence, was born in South Kingston, R. I., February 8, 1850, son of Thomas W. and Julia Elma (Allen) Noyes. Dr. Noyes is a descendant of Rev. James Noyes, who was born in Cholderton, Wiltshire, England, in 1608, bred at Brazen-Nose College, Oxford, and emigrated from London to America in 1634, in the ship Mary and John, in company with his brother Rev. Nicholas Noyes and his cousin Rev. Thomas Parker. He and his associates above referred to were Puritans and Nonconformists.  They finally settled in 1635 in Newbury, now Newburyport, Mass., where Rev. Mr. Noyes and Rev.  Mr. Parker were associated as teacher and pastor over the first church established in that town, and where Rev. Mr. Noyes in 1647 erected the Noyes house which has been owned and occupied by those in lineal descent almost to the present day, or until within about two years. The subject of this sketch acquired his early education in the public school and at Mrs. S. H. Weeks' seminary in his native town, supplemented by private instruction in mathematics and languages under the tuition of Rev. J.  H. Wells.   Later he attended the Providence Conference   Seminary   at   East  Greenwich, the Friends' School in Providence, and the Connecticut Literary Institute at Suffield, Conn.   At the age of nineteen, in March 1869, he began the study of medicine with Dr. Job Kenyon in Providence, and after one year at the Harvard Medical School in Boston and two years at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City, graduated from the last named institution in February 1873. In December of the same year he engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery in Providence, and has continued as a practitioner in that city ever since.   Dr. Noyes was for several years Physician to Out-Patients at the Rhode Island Hospital in Providence, and is at the present time Visiting Physician to that institution, also Consulting Physician and member of the Advisory Board of St.  Joseph's Hospital in the same city.   He has served as President of the Providence Medical Association (1891-93) and as President of the Rhode Island Medical Society (1893-95), and besides his membership in these medical organizations is a member of the Clinical Club of Providence. Although not a frequent or voluminous writer, Dr. Noyes has contributed a number of valuable articles to the Transactions of the Rhode Island Medical Society. He was married, May 15, 1888, to Miss Katharine Howland Gifford, daughter of Abraham R. and Meribah A. Gifford, of Westport, Mass.; they have one child: Emily Gifford Noyes, born March 26, 1892. Biographies Index

O'LEARY, Charles, M. D., Providence, was born in Ireland in May 1832, son of Denis Wallace and Catherine (Cantel) O'Leary. He is descended on the paternal side from the old historic family of Wallace, of the Barony of Ardagh, County Cork, and one of his near relatives was Arthur O'Leary, the distinguished wit and writer. He was educated for Trinity College, Dublin, studied for honors and made entrance examination in October 1S4S; but owing to his father's death and reduced family circumstances, he was unable to pursue the course of studies contemplated, and came to America in May 1850.  He entered Mount Mary's College at Emmetsburg, Md., continuing his studies and being occupied as tutor in Latin and Greek at the same time, receiving the degree of A. B. in 1851 and that of A. M. in which year he became Professor of Greek and Latin in that institution. In the meantime, in the intervals of vacation and during the year, he studied chemistry, natural philosophy and physiology under Dr. William E. A. Aiken, the Professor of these sciences in the college, and also Professor in the University of Maryland. He wrote and published a Greek Grammar in 1855, which was favorably received and accepted in the schools, but has been allowed to run out of print, the author having turned his attention to other pursuits. In 1856 he went to Cincinnati and commenced the study of medicine in the Medical College of Ohio, teaching, as before, two hours a day, in a college outside of the city.  From there he went to the Long Island Medical College, Brooklyn, N. Y., where he received the degree of M. D. in July 1859. Returning to Cincinnati he was appointed to the chair of Chemistry and Physiology in the Medical College of Ohio, and lectured there two terms; he was also visiting physician to the St. John's and German hospitals. In September 1861 he entered into the United States service as Brigade Surgeon, with the rank of Major, serving on the staff of General Couch through the Peninsular and Maryland campaigns of that year.  In December 1862 he was appointed Medical Director of the Sixth Corps, and served with that corps on the staff of General Sedgwick until February 1864, when at his own request he was relieved of duty in the field and assigned to various duties in New York and Philadelphia-to inspect hospitals and examine soldiers supposed to be detained therein without sufficient cause in the way of disability, and return them to the field; to inspect the Provost Marshal department of the state of Pennsylvania, and to act as member of a board for the examination of invalid and disabled officers. In September of the same year he was ordered to the work of restoring to discipline two hospitals that had lapsed into a state of disorder and abuse - one in Philadelphia, the other in New Haven. Having accomplished this work he was assigned to the command of Lovel General Hospital, near Newport, R. I.; and at the termination of the war, in December 1865, having settled the affairs of the hospital and closed it up, he was mustered out of service with the rank of Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel. In the following May Dr. O'Leary went to Paris, where during his stay in 1866-67 he attended the hospital clinics. He returned to America in October 1867, and in September 1868 took up his residence in Providence, where he has since continued the practice of medicine and surgery. In 1875 he was appointed Visiting Surgeon to the Rhode Island Hospital; this position he re-signed in 1893, but still remains Consulting Surgeon to that institution. He is a fellow of the Rhode Island Medical Society, and in 1881-82 was President of that organization. Dr. O'Leary has written several papers that have been published, and which have been considered valuable contributions to medical science. A work written in the History of the Medical Department of the Army of the Potomac, by Dr. Letterman, Medical Director of the Army, reprints one of Dr. O'Leary's reports and pays him a high compliment for "efficient service of an unusual character." He was married in October 1863, to Miss Louise, daughter of Clement Dietrich of Cincinnati, Ohio; they have six children : Clement D., Arthur, Charles, Louise, Angela and Juliet O'Leary. Biographies Index

OWEN, Franklin Pierce, member of the Rhode Island Bar, was born in Scituate, R. I., December 27, 1883 a son of Elisha B. and Mary E. (Mathewson) Owen. He is of Welsh ancestry. He received his early education in the public schools and at Lapham Institute, Scituate, and in 1870 entered Amherst College, graduating in the class of 1874.  Adopting the profession of law, he studied with George E. Webster, Esq., at Providence, and was admitted to the bar January 26, 1883. He has since practiced his profession in Providence. Mr.  Owen has served in both branches of the State Legislature, as Senator in 1888 and 1889, and as Representative in 1892 and 1893. In politics he is a Democrat, and has been Chairman of the Democratic State Committee since 1889. He is a member of Temple Masonic Lodge No. 18, also of the Union Club and Providence Athletic Association. He was married. December 26, 1877, to Miss Mary S. Fisher; they have three children: Sadie R., Mary F. and Edith R. Owen. Mrs. Owen died December 20, 1892. Biographies Index

PERRY, Oliver Hazard, Chief of Police of Pawtucket, was born in Hope Village, Scituate, R. I,  June 10, 1834, the youngest of eleven children born to George C. and Thankful T. (Carpenter) Ferry.  He comes of good old Rhode Island stock. His ancestry were among the earliest settlers of the state, he being of the South Kingston Perrys, and a direct lineal descendant of Matthew C. and Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry. His early educational training was received in the country school of his district, and in early life he engaged in mill work, with his brothers William G. and John R., first at Georgiaville and later at Pawtucket. In June 1858 he was appointed to the position of cloth inspector at the Dunnell Print Works, which position he held up to November 1882, with the exception of the interval spent in the service of his country during the Rebellion. In 1861, at the call for volunteers, he en-listed in Company E, First Rhode Island Detached Militia, Captain Stephen R. Bucklin, receiving the rank of Corporal, and left Providence for the front April 20, 1861, under command of Colonel A. E.  Burnside. After three months of service, during which time he was promoted to the rank of Sergeant, he was mustered out at Providence. He returned home and again enlisted May 26, 1862, in Company A, Ninth Regiment Rhode Island Infantry, Captain Robert McCloy, receiving the rank of Third Sergeant on date of enlistment, and being promoted to the rank of First Sergeant June 20. This Company was mustered out September 2, after three months' service. Immediately upon his return home he instituted steps to recruit a company for the Twelfth Rhode Island Infantry. In this he was successful, and he enlisted with his company October 13,1862, receiving the rank of Captain. This company served for nine months, being in several important engagements, notably the battle of Fredericksburg, and was mustered out at Providence on the 29th day of July, 1863. Mr. Perry, before and after his service in active defense of his country, was an energetic member of the time honored Pawtucket Light Guards; he joined the organization in its early formation, held every position from private to that of Lieutenant-Colonel, which office he held at the time of disbandment, and has in his possession commissions signed by Governors Sprague, Smith, Burnside, Padelford and Howard. He resigned his position as inspector at Dunnell Print Works to accept the appointment of Chief of Police, November 1, 1882, which office he held until May 1884, and was re-appointed January 1886, at the inauguration of the city formation of government, and has held the office continuously to the present time. In early life he affiliated himself with the Masonic order, having been a member of Union Lodge No. 10 since 1864; he is also a member of the Knights of Honor, the Grand Army of the Republic, and a charter member of Osseraequin Tribe of Red Men.  Mr. Perry was married, September 5, 1855, to Miss Mary C, daughter of Joseph and Abby (Lecraw) Arnold, of Pawtucket; to them were born five children, four of whom, Byron T., Mrs. Samuel N.  Hammond, Mrs. Fred G. Perry and Claude W. Perry, are now living and residents of Pawtucket. Biographies Index

PETTIS, George Henry, City Sealer of Weights and Measures, Providence, was born in Pawtucket, R. I., March 17, 1834, son of Henry Nelson and Olive Graves (Parker) Pettis. His paternal ancestors were among the early settlers of the town of Rehoboth.   His maternal ancestors were of New Hampshire stock, and among them was Captain John Parker, distinguished at the battle of Lexington.  He attended the public schools in Cohoes, N. Y., until the age of ten.   At twelve he entered the " poor boys' college," the printing office, from which he graduated at the age of fifteen.   In 1849 he moved to Providence, where he followed the occupation of a printer until 1854, when he went to California, arriving at San Francisco on June 17 of that year; he was engaged in mining near Garrote, Tuolumne county, from June 1854 until May 1858, when he started for the Frazer River, British Columbia. This adventure not being successful, he resumed his occupation as a printer, and was employed on the Alta California and the Morning Call, and held a situation on the Herald when President Lincoln issued his call for troops from California. He entered the military service as Second Lieutenant of Company B, First California Infantry August 16, 1861, was promoted to First Lieutenant of Company K January 1, 1862, commanding   the company nearly all the time until mustered out February 15, 1865, when he was immediately mustered into service again as First Lieutenant of Company F, First New Mexico Infantry.   He commanded Company F until promoted to be Adjutant June 1, 1865, and was finally mustered out September 1, 1866, with the regiment, having served continually five years and fifteen days.   He was in a number of skirmishes with the Apache and Navajo Indians, and was brevetted Captain of United States Volunteers March 13,1865, for "distinguished gallantry" in the battle of the Adobe Walls, Texas, with the Comanche and Kiowa Indians, November 25, 1864, in which he commanded the artillery. In 1868 Mr. Pettis removed from New Mexico to Providence, where he was engaged as a promoter of various enterprises. He served as a member of the Common Council from the Ninth Ward from June 1872 to January 1876, and was elected a Representative to the General Assembly in 1876 and 1877. He was Boarding Officer of the port of Providence from 187S to 1885. He was marine editor of the Providence Journal from 1885 to 1887.  He is now Sealer of Weights and Measures and Superintendent of Street Signs and Numbers of Providence. He became a member of the Grand Army of the Republic by joining Kit Carson Post No. 1, Department of New Mexico, in 1868, and joined Slocum Post No. 10, Department of Rhode Island, by transfer, in 1872, of which post he held the offices of Adjutant and Chaplain; was a charter member of   Arnold Post No. 4, Department of Rhode Island, in 1877, of which post he has held the positions of Officer of the Day and Senior Vice Commander; was Chief Mustering Officer, Department of Rhode Island, in 1877 and 1979 and Assistant Mustering Officer in 1890; was a member of the National Council of Administration and a Delegate to the Twentieth National Encampment, held at San Francisco in 1886.   He became a member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States,  Commandery of California, November 10, 1886; is Corresponding Secretary of the Rhode Island Soldiers' and Sailors' Historical Society; Secretary of the United States Veteran Association of  Providence;   a  member of the Society of California Volunteers, also of the Society of California Pioneers of New England, was President in 1891-92 of the California Volunteer Veteran Association, and is now Secretary and Treasurer of the same association.   He is an Honorary Member of the Second Rhode Island Veteran Association; Battery B Veteran   Association;   Fourth Rhode Island Veteran Association; and the Fifth Rhode Island and Battery F Veteran associations.   He is a member of  the Providence Press  Club. Mr.  Pettis was married  in September 1859,  at San Francisco, Cal.; he has three children: George Henry, Jr., Annie Olive and Charles Lucian Pettis. Biographies Index

POWE, Darius L, eclectic physician, was born in Canada, April 28, 1854, the son of Josiah and Mary (Grigg) Powe. His parents were both born in England. His fathers ancestry can be traced in a direct line to George III., the name being rather a rare one. His mother was the eldest daughter of Dr. William Grigg, who practiced medicine in Canada for fifty-two years, and died in 1880. He received his early education in the public schools, and his physical training on his father's farm. He was early attracted to the study of medicine by the influence of his grandfather, who was an allopathic physician, and from whom he received much of his early education; but being of a liberal turn of mind he adopted the eclectic system, which he has since pursued. He graduated from the Eclectic Medical Institute of Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1881, and attended a post-graduate course in the New York Post-Graduate College and Hospital in 1891. He first practiced his profession in Boston, Mass., in 1882-83, then in Falmouth, Mass., from 1884 to 1892. He then removed to Providence, where he has since successfully practiced. He has been a member of the Massachusetts Eclectic Medical Society since 1882. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity and an Odd Fellow. He is a collaborator of the Massachusetts Medical Journal and a contributor to other medical journals. He married, in 1885, Miss Mary F. Baker, eldest daughter of Captain N. P.  Baker, of Falmouth, Mass.; they have no children. Biographies Index

RANDALL, Reuben G., banker and business man, Woonsocket, was born in Richmond, N. H., September 24,1826, son of David and Ruth (Allen) Randall. His education was acquired in the public schools of his native town and at the Friends' School in Providence. After leaving school he was book-keeper for Dexter Ballou, manufacturer, at Woonsocket, eight years. In 1850 he became Cashier of the Railroad Bank, which in 1865 became the First National Bank of Woonsocket, and holds this position at the present time. He was made Treasurer of the People's Savings Bank in 1857 and is still serving in that capacity, and has been Treasurer of the Woonsocket Gas Company since 1859. He is also one of the Trustees of the Harris Institute, having held the office since 1863.   Mr. Randall has always been deeply engaged in business, and has never held any public office. He was first married, in November 1853, to Miss Sylvia Harrington. He married, second, Miss Medora Cook, in June 1857 ; they have two children: Willis C. Randall, and Ruth A., now the wife of Henry C. Hubbard, of Woonsocket. Biographies Index

RAY, David Saunders, merchant, East Providence, was born December 24, 1840, son of Robert and Mary P. (Graham) Ray. He received his early education in the public schools of Providence and of Rehoboth, Mass., and his training for active life was that which came from "paddling his own canoe" after the age of ten years. From ten to fourteen he worked on a farm and attended school, and at sixteen he was apprenticed to the shipbuilding trade, working for a year in the shipyard on Palmer River, at Barneysville, where he assisted in the building of the last ship launched there. After the company discontinued business and the ship yard was closed, he apprenticed himself to learn carriage-making in Taunton, Mass., where he remained until the summer of 1858. From that time until 1860 he was employed in Fall River. In the latter year he removed to Seekonk, Mass. (now East Providence, R. I.), and established a carriage shop, where he was engaged at the breaking out of the Rebellion in 1861. He at once endeavored to enlist, but was debarred on account of physical disability. Later in the year, October 1, he was more successful, and enlisted as private in Troop C, First Rhode Island Cavalry. He participated in this regiment's varied service and engagements while in the Army of the Potomac, and with Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley, and was mustered out as a Quarter master-Sergeant at Harrisonburg, Va., October 4, 1864, after three years' service, without having lost a day's duty, and with health fully re-established by the outdoor life and arduous experiences of his campaigns. Upon his return home he took up the business he had dropped in 1861 to enter the army, but in the fall of 1865 emigrated to Ohio and engaged in mercantile pursuits. Returning to Rhode Island in the fall of 1868, he engaged in carriage making in Providence until 1874, when he sold out his business and removed to East Providence, where for eighteen years he carried on successfully a general hardware business, from which he retired in 1892. Mr. Ray has been an active and public-spirited citizen of his town and has done much toward building up this beautiful and prosperous suburb of Providence. He was elected State Senator in 1888, and was re-nominated the following year, but declined the honor. In 1892 he was elected Second Representative to the State Legislature and has continued in that capacity to the present time, serving on several legislative committees, and as Chairman of the Committee on Militia for the past two years.   Mr. Ray has kept up an active interest in military matters, and in the State Militia, under the old law. served as First Lieutenant and Captain of Troop A, Providence Horse Guards.  Under the new law he was First Lieutenant and Commissary five years on the staff of Major George N. Bliss, commanding the First Battalion of Cavalry, R. I. M.   In the Grand Army he joined Prescott Post in 1869, and in 1886 was transferred to Bucklin Post, of which he was elected its first Commander and served three successive terms.   He served as Aide-de-Camp on the staff of the Department Commander two years, and on the National Commander-in-Chief's staff for a similar period; was Quarter-master-General of the Department of Rhode Island two terms; was elected Senior Vice Department Commander in 1891, and at the encampment of 1892 was unanimously elected to the highest office in the Department, that of Department Commander.  He is also a member of various Masonic bodies, including St. John Lodge of Providence, Providence Royal Arch Chapter, Calvary Commandery Knights Templar, and Palestine Temple Order of the Mystic Shrine.   Since retiring from active business Mr. Ray has devoted those talents which proved so successful in his mercantile life to the finances and other interests of the town in which he resides, having been elected Town Treasurer of East Providence in 1874, and continuing in that office ever since.   He has also been for the past three years Vice President of the East Providence Business Men's Association.  He has shown in his public life the same cardinal principles of application and integrity, and the same executive ability, that have characterized his business career.   He stands a living example of a self-made man whose natural modesty forbids his claiming for himself those qualities so much sought for by others.   Mr. Ray was married on his return from the army, October 30, 1864, to Miss Mary H., daughter of Miles B. Lawson of Providence; they have had six children: Miles Hobart, Arthur Graham (deceased), Clara Josephine, Edgar Saunders, Myra Amelia and Emma Louise Ray. Biographies Index

REED, Robert Gaits, M. D., Woonsocket, was born in Lonsdale, R. I., November 10, 1852, son of Joseph and Ann J. (Howard) Reed. He received his early education in the public schools of New Bedford, Mass., graduating from the high school of that city in 1870, and pursued a college course at Dartmouth, from which he graduated in June 1874, with the degree of A. B., and from which he received the degree of A. M. in 1893. He subsequently studied one course at Dartmouth Medical School, and graduated from the Medical School of Boston University in March 1877. Dr. Reed was a member of the City Council of New Bedford in 1880, and since his residence in Woonsocket has served on the School Committee of that city since 1891, and on the Park Board since 1894, in the latter acting as Secretary and Treasurer of the Board.  He was President of the Rhode Island Homoeopathic Medical Society in 1895, and is a member of the Worcester County Medical and the Massachusetts Surgical and Gynecological societies. He is Medical Examiner for the Knights of Honor, the Royal Society of Good Fellows, the Ancient Order United Workmen, and the Mutual Reserve Life Insurance Company of New York, also Surgeon for the Employers' Liability Company of London, England.  He is a member of Morning Star Lodge F. & A. M., and of Union Royal Arch Chapter of which he is a Past High Priest, a member of Woonsocket Commandery Knights Templar, and of Palestine Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He is likewise a member of Washington Lodge Knights of Honor, Ballou. Assembly Loyal Society of Good Fellows, Hope Lodge New England Order of Protection and Blackstone Lodge United Order of Workmen, also of the Woonsocket Business Men's Association and the Rhode Island Universalist Club. In politics he is a Republican. Dr. Reed was married, October 18, 1880, at New Bedford, Mass., to Miss Eudora C.  Libby ; they have no children. Biographies Index

 REMINGTON, Henry Adolphus, undertaker, was born August 7,1834, in Pawtuxet, R. I., the son of Henry Adolphus and Sally Ann (Arnold) Remington. His mother was the daughter of Sion Arnold of Coventry, R. I., a prosperous farmer, and his father was born in Pawtuxet, of English descent.  His early education was obtained in the public schools, which he attended until he was thirteen years of age, when he was put to work on a farm, where lie remained until he was seventeen, when he learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed until he was twenty-two. At nineteen he went South and located in Northern Georgia, at the foot of Kenesaw Mountain, in Cobb county. He lived there two and a half years, getting back to Rhode Island just in time to escape being conscripted into the Confederate army. He then worked at the manufacture of sash and blinds until 1872, when he entered the employ of an undertaking establishment at 55 Ocean street. Providence, in which he is still engaged, for the last seven years in business for himself. He is a member of Eagle Lodge I. O. O. F., Harmony Lodge A. F. & A. M., the American Legion of Honor and Pettacousett Tribe of Red Men. He has had no interest in politics beyond voting for the most capable man according to his judgment. He was married, February 14, 1858, to Miss Mary Cassidy of Providence, and has three children: Anna Frances, the wife of Charles Frederick Jackson; Charles, in business with his father, and Mary Ann, a teacher in the public schools. Biographies Index

 RIPLEY, James Madison, Counselor-at-Law, Providence, was born in Wrentham, Mass., September 8, 1834, son of Benjamin W. and Lucy (Cook) Ripley. He is a great-grandson of Nathaniel Cook, who served with Paul Jones on the Bonhomme Richard, which captured the Serapis.  He was educated at Smithville Seminary, Lyons' and Frieze's Grammar School, and at Brown University.   After leaving college he read law for a time with Carpenter & Thurston, Providence, and then entered the Albany Law School, where he was graduated in 1855. He began the practice of his profession in Providence, at 26, now 42, Westminster street, where he has since been located. After the death of General Carpenter he formed a partnership with Benjamin F. Thurston, with whom he was long associated under the firm name of Thurston & Ripley, and afterwards with Mr. Thurston and his brother under the name of Thurston, Ripley & Co. Mr. Ripley had almost the entire management of the law and equity practice of the firm, in which he achieved marked success, speedily acquiring a reputation which placed him among the ablest lawyers of the state. He attained especial distinction in jury cases, and for many years following his admission to the bar was engaged in the trial of almost every case of homicide in the state.  He is now pursuing the practice of his profession alone, and in which he is very actively engaged.  In 1862 he was appointed Judge Advocate of the Second Brigade, Rhode Island Militia. Mr. Ripley is no less respected for his legal attainments than for his genial disposition and social qualities. In 1856 he was President of the Young Men's Fremont Club of Providence, and has since been identified in politics with the Republican party. He was married, June 30, 1859, to Miss Mary W. Brown, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Brown of Providence, and niece of the late Governor James Y.  Smith; they have two children: James Herbert and Alice Maud Ripley. Biographies Index

 ROCKWELL, Elisha Hutchinson, Factory Inspector of the State of Rhode Island, was born in Lebanon, Conn., October 16, 1829, son of Jabez and Eunice (Bailey) Rockwell, the fifth son in a family of children numbering ten sons and three daughters. He is descended from William Rockwell, who came from England and settled in Dorchester, Mass., in 1630. His early boyhood was spent in farm life of the usually severe kind in those days, as when under nine years of age he was " bound out" for three years to farm work, and having completed that term served another period of two years, his compensation being board and clothes, and four months " schooling " in the winter.  At fifteen he went into the woolen mill of Henry Gillette at Bozrahville, Conn., and two years later secured a better position in the mill of the Rockville Manufacturing Company at Rockville, where he remained two years.   He then decided upon a change of occupation and apprenticed himself for three years to his brother John in the tombstone and  monumental  business at  Norwich, Conn.  After two years of this service he was offered a position as clerk in the steamboat Charles Osgood, running between Norwich, New London and New York, and he bought the remaining year of his apprenticeship for a nominal sum, and started upon a career in the steamship business which he has since followed with remarkable success.   His abilities and especial adaptation to the business were at once demonstrated, and in a year and a half, being then but twenty-three years old, the New York, New London and Norwich Transportation Company tendered him the New York agency of the line, which he accepted and held until the company retired from business in November 1861. The first of January following, the  steamers Charles Osgood and Osceola were started as an opposition line between Norwich, New London and New York, and Mr. Rockwell was appointed the New York agent.   Eighteen months later he was offered and accepted the position as agent of the Providence and Boston line of the Neptune Steamship Company, at their Boston office, where he remained until the line was discontinued by the chartering of the company's steamers for government service in the war of the Rebellion.    Mr. Rockwell then associated himself as partner in the shipping and commission house of Bentley, Smith & Company, New York, but at the end of a year retired from the firm to again accept the Boston agency of the Neptune Steamship Company.   In 1867 he transferred his services to the Providence & New York Steamship Company, as their agent at Providence, in which capacity he continued six years.   In 1873 the Merchants & Miners' Transportation Company re-established their business by a line from Providence to Norfolk and Baltimore, and Mr. Rockwell became their Managing Agent at Providence, a position which he held continuously for twenty-one years, and resigned his agency in June 1893. In June 1894 he was appointed, by Governor D.  Russell Brown, Factory Inspector of the State of Rhode Island for three years, which position he has since held with signal efficiency and ability. Mr. Rockwell is a public-spirited citizen, and has been active in public affairs, notably as a member of the City Government and of the Board of Trade, serving on important committees where his work has amounted to public benefactions. He is a member of Swarts Lodge of Odd Fellows and of the Squantum, Advance and Elm wood clubs. He was married, January 28, 1852, to Miss Martha A., daughter of Captain Erastus Geer of Norwich, Conn.; they have three children: Ella M., now Mrs. Walter J.  Lewis, of Providence; Frank W., who for eleven years was associated with his father in the steamship office in Providence: and William P. Rockwell, now engaged in business in Denver, Colorado.  Biographie Index  

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