Washington County Biographies

Personal Paragraphs of North Kingstown

S

Source The History of Washington & Kent Counties
Written by J. R. Cole published in 1889 by W. W. Preston & Co.


Joseph F. Sealy was born in 1859 at Newark, N. J., and is a son of Joseph Sealy. He is carrying on a news, book and grocery store at Wickford. He is a member of Beacon Lodge, No. 38, I. O. of O. F., and was one of the charter members of the Royal Arcanum here.

 

Alpheus W. Sherman was born in 1849. His wife is a daughter of David Greene. They have two sons: Irving and Thomas Albertis. Mr. Sherman is past chief of the Temple of Honor.

 

James Sherman was born in 1811, and is a son of James (Silas, Eber, William, Eber). Mr. Sherman was married in 1840 to Phebe Arnold, who died in 1867. They have two children : Mary Jane, now Mrs. Reuben D. Gevet, and Phebe Melissa, now Mrs. Orrin G. Thompson. James Sherman was formerly a member of the Free Will Baptist church of Slocumville. He is a democrat in politics, and has been assessor of taxes one year.

 

Robert J. Sherman was born in North Kingstown in 1828, and is a son of Peleg and a grandson of James, mentioned in the preceding sketch. He is a farmer, and owns the homestead of his great-grandfather, Silas Sherman. He was married in 1850 to Sarah Reed, and has two children : Peleg J. and Robert Frank.

 

William G. Sherman was born in 1841 in North Kingstown, and is a son of Silas and grandson of Captain Silas. His greatgrandfather was Silas, previously mentioned. His mother is Amy A., daughter of Elisha Gardner. Mr. Sherman is a farmer and stone mason. He has lived about one mile south of Slocumville since 1874. He was married in 1867 to a daughter of Josiah F. Boss. They have five children : George W., Herbert A., Mary E., Ida L. and William G., Jr.

 

William C. Sherman, Jr., born 1841, is a son of William C, grandson of Nathaniel and great-grandson of Marcus. He was married in 1863 to Harriet, daughter of Bowen ^Mitchell. Their children are: William H., Walter A. (deceased), Walter G. (deceased), Mary E., Fred R., Frank H. and Hattie E. Mr. Sherman has been a mill hand all his life. He has been clerk and trustee of the Advent Christian church of Lafayette. He is a member of Beacon Lodge No. 38, I. O. of O. F.

 

Charles H. Shippee was born in 1855 (Horace J, William, Caleb, 1749-1838, Thomas A., Thomas, Samuel). Samuel came from the valley of the Tweed. Adoniram J. Shippee and Mary E. Shippee are also of this seventh generation. Charles H. patented in 1880 a vertical car coupler. Probably his most valuable invention is an unpatented device for opening and closing house and car windows.

 

Asa Sisson, born in Warwick, R. I., in 1815, is a son of Asa, grandson of Joseph and great-grandson of Richard Sisson, of Portsmouth, R. I. Asa Sisson has been a machinist since 1834. He became a partner in 1889 with Perez Peck & Co. in Coventry, where he remained until 1861. He married Perez Peck's daughter Mary Ann, and has two children, Charles and Emily Sisson. In 1865 he came to Hamilton and manufactured yarn at the Anaquatucket mill. Later he was in a foundry and machine shop with Ambrose E. Vaughn at Wickford.

 

Benjamin Smith, born 1817, is a son of Thomas and grandson of Benjamin Smith. He was married to Susan G. Pierce in 1842. Their children are: Thomas A., Lydia A., John N. and Sarah D. Mr. Smith was town commissioner one year.

 

John S. Smith, born 1830, is a son of Harris (Benjamin, William, 1663 - 1745). Mrs. John S. Smith is Honor A., daughter of Captain Christopher L. Phillips (Major Samuel, Christopher, Samuel). Christopher Phillips was in the colonial legislature in 1740. Samuel was born in 1660 and died in 1736. On the 26th of May, 1709, he, in company with Colonel John Eldred, William Cole and John Carr came from Newport to North Kingstown and bought a tract of 285 acres, including Mr. Smith's present home, and built the house. Mr. Smith is a machinist by trade and has been railroad engineer and fireman. His only child is Mary E., now Mrs. James E. Arnold.

 

Jeremiah Smith, born 1825, is a son of William Smith and a grandson of Amos Smith. He was married in 1863 to Eliza A., daughter of George W. Northup. She died in 1873 leaving one son, William A. Mr. Smith was married in 1880 to Lucy B. Vaughn. His grandfather, Amos, was in the war of the revolution and was wounded and received a pension the balance of his life.

 

George H. Smith, born in 1847, is a brother of John S. He was one of eleven children, of whom there are seven now living. He has always been a farmer and occupies the old homestead. He is a republican and unmarried.

 

Joseph E. Smith, brother of John S., was born in 1837. Mary Sullivan, his wife, was born in Castletown, Ireland, in 1840. Their children are: William A., Hannah A., Joseph E., Jr., Benjamin F., Mary E., John H., Thomas G. (died aged five months). Wesson G., Walter J., and Bessie E. (died aged eight years). Joseph E. was a member of the town council one year as a republican. and was supervisor of roads three years. His business is farming.

 

Nathaniel Smith, born 1827, was married in 1847 to Rebecca, daughter of James M. Gardiner. Their children are: Susan, now Mrs. George Suting; Emma, who died aged three years; Harriet, who is now Mrs. Joseph Madison ; Josephine, now Mrs. George Lewis ; Alvina and Gertrude. Mr. Smith has all his life been a mill hand and has been connected with the Hamilton mill some twenty-seven years. He is a republican.

 

John W. Smith was born in 1833 in North Kingstown, and is a son of Charles Smith. He was in the war of the rebellion three years in Company H, Fourth Rhode Island Volunteers, and now receives a pension. He was married in 1854 to Mercy Mitchell. They have had eight children, five boys and three girls.

 

William A. Spaulding was born in Connecticut. His wife is a daughter of Pardon T. Gardiner. They have one son, C. Eugene Spaulding. Mr. Spaulding has been two years in the town council as a democrat. In 1886 he succeeded Crandall & Ryan as merchants at Narragansett. Mrs. Spaulding's grandmother was a Tillinghast.

 

Albert Spink (John, Nicholas, John, Nicholas, Robert) married Celinda, daughter of Nathaniel Spink (Ishmael, John, Nicholas, Robert). They have raised three sons : Nathaniel, of Providence; William Albert, deceased, and John Byron, who is with his parents at the homestead. This farm is a part of the tract of John.

 

Salma M. Spink, son of Ishmael (Ishmael, John, Nicholas, Robert), was born in 1817. His wife is Frances M. Brown, daughter of John Brown of Newport. They have three children : George B., in Dakota ; Agatha, at home, and Fannie L., now Mrs. George W. Madison of Warwick, Kent county. Mr. Spink has been a farmer here for thirty-two years. He had been a carpenter for twenty years prior. He has been in the town council three years and in the legislature once.

 

George A. Spink, farmer, born in 1844, is a son of Joseph, grandson of Samuel, and great-grandson of Ishmael. The first Robert Spink in 1635 left London for Virginia. He was in Newport in 1648, in North Kingstown about 1678, and bought land in the Atherton tract. George A. married Annie. A., daughter of the late Wilbur T. Reynolds. They have one son and three daughters. Mr. Spink has been assessor several years, moderator fifteen years, and has settled a number of estates for his townsmen.

 

Samuel A. Spink, brother of George A., was born in 1828. He married for his first wife Mary Ann Eldred, and for his second wife her sister Mercy, by whom he had two sons, Henry Milton and Herbert B. Mr. Spink has always acted with the democratic party and has served in the town council some fourteen years, acting as president of that body a part of the time. His occupation has been farming and carpentering.

 

Silas Spink born 1841, is a son of Samuel, and grandson of Silas. He attended Schofield's Commercial College at Providence. He enlisted the day he graduated and was the first North Kingstown man to volunteer for the civil war. He has been in the town council one year as a republican. His business is farming. His wife is Phebe J. Luther, of Massachusetts. Their children are Walter E., Harriet A. and Minnie M.

 

John Thomas Spink, born in 1836, (Thomas Gould, Allen Spink, John, Nicholas) married Sarah B. Manchester, of Bristol, R. I. They have two children, Susie B. and Fannie. His farm of 70 acres is well located and is where his father lived.

 

Jonathan A. Spink, brother of John Thomas, was born in 1881 in North Kingstown. His early days were spent on his father's farm. He was then two years at Boston in school and six years in the produce and provision business. He was four years in the oil fields; was in Providence as contracting machinist three years; then locomotive building for some time. He has been farming for the last four years. He is a republican. He has one son, Russell Spink. His wife was Sarah E. Damuth. She has taught school seven years on Quidnessett Neck and in the Wickford Academy as principal about three years, and in East Greenwich as principal four years.

 

Benjamin W. Spink is a son of Nicholas N. Spink, of Wickford. He was born in North Kingstown in 1838. He went to Providence at eighteen years of age, and three years later took one-third interest in the firm of Oliver Johnson & Co., of which firm he is still a member. He has one son, Nicholas Carr Spink.

 

Daniel Spink was born in 1846 at North Kingstown. He is a son of Daniel, and grandson of Daniel Spink. Mr. Spink has carried on the butcher's business in Wickford about twenty-two years. He succeeded his father, who established the market at the same place about 1852. He was married in 1878 to Melissa, daughter of George Whitman. Their children are: Nellie A., Daniel Herbert, and Mabel.

 

George N. Steere was born in 1843 at Sutton, Mass. He is a son of Horatio, and grandson of Nathaniel Steere. Mr. Steere came to this town in 1862 and entered the Hamilton Mills, where he has been employed since. He now fills the place of superintendent of the web department. He has been a member of the town council two years as a democrat. He was married in 1867 to Ann Eliza, daughter of Jeremiah Potter. Their children are : George N., Jr., William Vaughn, Harry Howard, Mary E. (deceased), and Edward H. (deceased). Mr. Steere is a member of Washington Lodge, No. 5, A. F. and A. M.

 

Charles E. Sweet, born in 1837, is a son of William A. and Mercy (Arnold) Sweet. He has carried on the ice business six seasons, running one wagon to East Greenwich and one in North Kingstown. Mr. Sweet was in the war of rebellion nearly three years, in Company H, Seventh Rhode Island volunteers. He was married in 1857 to Mary A. Taylor. Their children are: Ida J., now Mrs. E. O. Titus, and Edgar A. Mr. Sweet is a member of the East Greenwich Post, G. A. R. He is also a member of Harmony Lodge. No. 5, I. O. of O. F.

 

Daniel C. Sweet, born in Wickford in 1840, is a son of Rufus Sweet, and a descendant of the famous family of bonesetters elsewhere mentioned. Mr. Sweet has been an insurance agent here about thirteen years. He represents the Home, Phoenix and Liberty companies, of New York; the Commercial Union and Imperial, of London; the Travelers', of Hartford, Conn.; the Commercial Life, of New York , besides several others. He was in an office in Providence two years before coming here. Mr. Sweet was married in 1880 to Harriet M., daughter of James B. Arnold. He has been a member of Washington Lodge, No. 5, A. F. and A. M. about twenty-one years.

 

 

 

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