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Providence: Published by Henry R. Caufield
Biographies of Prominent Citizens.
p. 324:
GOODING, William H., son of Henry and Clarissa (Tingley) Gooding, and the oldest of a family of seven, was born in Smithfield, now Central Falls, Oct. 6, 1834. Until he was 18 years old he went to school in his native place. He then served his time to the trade of a machinist, at which occupation he worked for a number of years, when he engaged in mercantile business. In 1873 he became town clerk of Lincoln and held the office until 1889. For a number of years he was overseer of the poor, and also served as assessor of taxes. Since 1889 he has been a real estate broker and auctioneer, and has had the care and settlement of many estates. He is also treasurer of the Home Building Co., of Pawtucket. In politics he has always been a Republican, and all the public offices he has held have been obtained as the regular nominee of his party, for which he has always worked earnestly. Mr. Gooding belongs to the Knights of Pythias and the Odd Fellows. He has been married twice. His first wife was Josephine H. Smith, to whom he was married in 1870, and by this union there were three children: Mabel H., b. in Smithfield, May, 1871; Edith Gertrude, b. in Lincoln, Jan., 1875; William F., b. Jan., 1879. To his second wife, Lydia J. Wood, he was married in 1887.
Mr. Gooding's first American ancestor came to this country in 1760. For generations the Goodings have been numerous in Freetown, Mass., and other towns of the Old Colony.
p. 324 - 326.GOFF, Darius, was for many years one of the foremost manufacturers in the United States, and he bore a leading and very conspicuous part in the modern industrial development of Pawtucket. He was a man of great energy, splendid executive ability, indomitable perseverance, great business foresight, and had the rare faculty of 'bringing things to pass' on a large scale and in accordance with well-thought-out plans. He was born in Rehoboth, Mass., May 10, 1809, died in Pawtucket, R. I., April 14, 1891, and was the youngest son of Lieutenant Richard and Mehitable (Bullock) Goff.
The Goffs trace their descent to Richard Goff, one of the first settlers of the Old Colony and an early inhabitant of Rehoboth. The son of Richard was Joseph, born in Rehoboth in 1824 [sic], who was married to Patience Thurber, and they lived together seventy years and had a family of fourteen children. One of their sons Richard, the father of Darius, became a pioneer manufacturer in the latter part of the last century. In the early history of Rehoboth, as of the country before the introduction of cotton spinning by Samuel Slater, the carding, spinning and weaving of woolen cloth was done in private houses and by hand; but these fabrics were too thin for winter wear. To remedy this defect Richard Goff in 1790 built a fulling and dressing-mill and furnished it with the best machinery then known. He then received the woolen cloth from the farmers and prepared it for use. The cloth was first well rubbed with soap then immersed in water and subjected to pounding and pulling for several hours. It was next rinsed and colored, then rinsed again and put upon the tenter bars to be stretched and dried, after which it was run over a frame-work and carded with a hand card in order to raise a nap. The cloth was next folded, paper card boards being placed between each fold, and put into a hand press with iron plates between each piece. The goods usually remained in this press from twelve to fifteen hours, when they were removed, put into rolls and returned to the owners.
At an early age Darius Goff went into his father's mill to help and learn the processes described. His father continued the business until 1821 when such great improvements had been made in machinery as to supersede the hand loom and all other hand machinery in finishing woolen goods. In 1808 a company formed in Rehoboth, styled the Union Cotton Manufacturing Co., built a small mill and commenced making cotton yarn. The elder Goff was one of the proprietors, and did the coloring for the company. Darius spent four or five years in the coloring department and in the variety store connected with the mill and at 17 years of age in 1826 he engaged with John and Jesse Eddy of Fall River to learn the woolen business. On returning from Fall River he met with a serious accident which disabled him from doing business for two years. In 1828 he secured employment as a clerk in a grocery store in Providence, where he remained about three years. He then engaged with Tillinghast Almy in the grocery and provision trade, in which he continued about three years. This venture not proving successful he returned to Rehoboth and in connection with his brother purchased the Union Cotton mill, which had long been idle, for $4,000. In this small mill about 1836 they commenced the manufacture of cotton batting. This business continued profitable until 1837. At that time they had on hand a large amount of goods for which there was no sale, as well as a quantity of raw material. In order to realize something they shipped some of the goods to the West, and Darius accompanied them as salesman. In a few years the brothers succeeded in paying for the mill. At first they made wadding after the old batting process, but this proved imperfect and slow. In 1840 they bought eight cards and placed them in front of each other a foot higher than usual from the floor. These made a continuous apron, three feet wide, the surface of which ran at the same speed as the surface of the doffers of the cards. The eight slivers of cotton falling on this endless apron made the required thickness of the sheet wadding. The web of cotton thus formed left the endless apron at one end of the row of cards and was then run over a thin sizing and both sides of the sheet were sized by one operation. The process was entirely new and is now nearly in universal use in wadding and batting mills. But to make a colored wadding the firm was obliged to color and dry the cotton before it went to the machine and Mr. Goff determined to invent some method by which the process could be accomplished in the same operation. This he thought could be done by first carding the raw material and then coloring, sizing and drying it in one continuous length. He enlarged the mill and procured the needed machinery but it had just got fairly to work when it was burned.
Mr. Goff gave his attention now more especially to the cotton waste business in which he had been engaged from the commencement of the batting enterprise in 1836, at which time he made a contract for one year with the Lonsdale Co., for the various kinds of wastes made at their mills. This contract has been continued until the present time. Before 1836 the refuse of the cotton mills was thrown away as useless. The waste business afterwards so largely increased, however, that Mr. Goff thought it wise to take a partner and establish himself near the center of paper manufacturing districts. In 1846, therefore, he formed a partnership with George Lawton of Waltham, Mass., and transferred the business to Gray's wharf in Boston and about the same time he removed his residence to Pawtucket, R. I. In 1847 Goff & Lawton bought a tract of land near the railroad in Pawtucket, upon which they built a wadding mill. They then purchased a large engine, made by Thurston Gardiner of Providence, and commenced making wadding on the plan Mr. Goff had nearly perfected in his mills at Rehoboth but in attempting to dry the sheets of colored wadding on copper cylinders heated by steam he met with difficulties and finally the cylinders exploded.
The cotton waste business of the firm had then increased to such an extent, that Mr. Goff devoted himself exclusively to it. The contracts for waste soon embraced nearly all the large mills and many of the smaller ones throughout New England. The firm then leased out the wadding mill at Pawtucket for five years to Henry Turner and several others, but before the lease expired Mr. Turner died and Goff & Lawton resumed the manufacture on their own account. The mill was soon after nearly destroyed by fire but the firm rebuilt it on a larger scale and commenced the wadding manufacture in connection with their waste and paper stock business in Boston. The partnership was dissolved in 1859, Mr. Lawton taking the Boston part and Mr. Goff the Pawtucket mills. Mr. Goff then associated himself with John D. Cranston and Stephen Brownell of Providence under the name of Goff, Cranston & Brownell, to do a general waste and paper stock business, selling his partners an interest in the mill, and Henry A. Stearns was engaged as superintendent, Mr. Goff having sold him an interest. The drying of cotton by copper steam cylinders was resumed, was successful and has been continued ever since. In 1871 the mill was burned, entailing a loss of $150,000, and was only insured for $75,000. The firm built a new mill with new machinery throughout. The buildings, with the additions since made, now cover nearly three acres.
The firm became an incorporated company in 1870 under the old name, with a capital of $200,000 which was soon increased to $300,000, all held by Darius Goff, John D. Cranston, Stephen Brownell and Henry A. Stearns. The officers of the company were Darius Goff, president; Stephen Brownell, treasurer; and Henry A. Stearns, superintendent. In 1879 the name was changed from Goff, Cranston & Brownell to the Union Wadding Co., under which title the business has since been conducted. At that time the capital stock was increased to $500,000, and a year or two later to $1,000,000. Upon the dissolution of the old firm in 1879 the interests of the Union Wadding Co. held by Messrs. Cranston and Brownell were purchased by Mr. Goff and his son Lyman B., and the majority of the stock to-day is held by the Goff family. The present officers are Lyman B. Goff, president; Henry A. Stearns, vice-president; George M. Thornton, treasurer. The company now operates mills in Augusta, Ga., and does a larger waste business in this country and Europe than any other firm or corporation engaged in a similar business.
In 1861 Mr. Goff, his son Darius L., W. F. Sayles and F. C. Sayles began the manufacture of worsted braids under the name of the American Worsted Co. In 1864 the partnership dissolved, but Mr. Goff and his son continued the business under the name of D. Goff & Son. In 1872 the younger son, Lyman B., was admitted to the firm, the name being changed to D. Goff & Sons. In 1884 a charter was obtained under the same name with an authorized capital of $600,000, and the officers were Darius Goff, president, and D. L. Goff, treasurer. In 1881 the firm began the manufacture of mohair plush for car-seating and upholstery purposes, and built a new mill adjoining the braid mill for that purpose.
Mr. Goff was active in business until just before his death, April 14, 1891, in his 82d year. He was a believer in home industries, as was evidenced by the many establishments managed and successfully conducted by him. He was one of the original directors of the Pawtucket Gas Co., the Pawtucket Street Railway Co., the Pawtucket Hair Cloth Co., and the Royal Weaving Co. He was also a director of the Franklin Savings Bank and of the First National Bank. He served repeatedly in the town council of Pawtucket, and in 1871 he was elected state senator. From 1848 Mr. Goff was identified with the Pawtucket Congregational church, and from 1856 was a prominent and active member of that religious organization, contributing most liberally for its support and its numerous allied interests, at one time subscribing $10,000 in liquidation of the church debt. He gave freely of his means for home and foreign missions, his public gifts were widely known and appreciated, and his life was replete with deeds of benevolence and quiets acts of every-day charity.
To within a brief period of his death, Mr. Goff retained in a remarkable degree the full exercise of his mental faculties and physical activity. With unrelaxed interest he visited his mills, gave close attention to the work in hand and the methods employed, and in an advisory way he was to the last the means of effecting more or less salutary changes and improvements. On his decease the city of Pawtucket, through her journals, societies and official boards made grateful acknowledgment of its indebtedness to him for his instrumentality in making it first among the textile manufacturing centres of the United States, relative to its population; and for his activity in the promotion of every undertaking for the advancement of its business, educational, social and religious interests. The National Association of Wool Manufacturers, of which he had long been an active member, at a meeting held in Boston paid earnest tribute to him for his 'preeminent services in the diversification and extension of the wool manufacture, to his high character as a man, his large public spirit, his conscientious discharge of every obligation to society, and the earnest devotion to principle by which his life and actions were governed.'
Holding in affectionate regard the place of his birth and its early associations, in 1884 Mr. Goff purchased and gave to the town of Rehoboth, as a site for a Memorial Hall, the old homestead estate which had been in the family since 1714. The old Goff Inn, one of the noted hostelries of colonial days, still remained, and the spot occupied by it was chosen by him for the place of the Hall. Under his auspices, with liberal aid from the townspeople, a fine edifice was erected, containing schoolrooms, a lecture hall, a library, and an antiquarian room, in which are interestingly exhibited the primitive hand implements of the early days used in the textile arts. The building was dedicated as the Goff Memorial Hall on May 10, 1886, the 77th anniversary of the birth of Mr. Goff, and the 240th anniversary of the delivery of the deeds of the old town by Massasoit to the English.
In May, 1839, Mr. Goff was married to Sarah Lee, a daughter of Israel Lee, of Dighton, Mass. Of the companionship of this wife he was early bereft, by her death, and her only child also died. He was afterward married to Harriet Lee, a sister of his former wife; and the children by this marriage are: Darius L., Lyman B., and Sarah C., wife of Thomas Sedwick Steele of Harford, Connecticut.
p. 327 - 328.GOFF, Daruis Lee, the oldest son of Darius and Sarah (Lee) Goff, was born in Rehoboth, Mass., March 20, 1840. He received his early education in Pawtucket, where his father removed in 1847, and entered Brown Universityin 1858, from which institution he was graduated in 1862.
The same year the American Worsted Co. was formed for the manufacture of worsted braid and yarns, an entirely new industry in this country. The partners in this enterprise were Darius Goff, Darius L. Goff, W. F. Sayles and F. C. Sayles, each partner having an equal interest and D. L. Goff was made agent of the company. A room was secured on the upper floor of the William H. Haskell machine shop and the business was begun in small way with ten braiding machines. Soon after starting, the concern was burned out and the industry was then removed to the old Schroeder printworks property in Smithfield, at that time unoccupied and owned by William F. Sayles. Here the business was enlarged by the importation of worsted spinning machinery and the employment of English overseers. In 1864 the concern was dissolved and the machinery and stock equally divided between the Goffs and Sayles. The Sayles continued the business at the same place under the name of the Union Worsted Co., while the Goffs removed to Pawtucket and set up their machinery in the Old Stone Mill (built in 1813) on the east side of the Blackstone river just below the lower dam, and began business under the firm name of D. Goff & Son. In 1867 the Morrill tariff bill became a law. This gave a special protection to all worsted industries in their infancy and such was the increase in the braid business that the Old Stone Mill was found too small and a large modern brick mill was erected just south of it. In 1877 Darius L. originated the idea of putting braids up on rolls and fastening the end with a wire clasp. He obtained a patent and the new method became a great success. In 1881 the manufacture of mohair plush, for car seats and furniture purposes, was begun and after years of experimenting, a product was turned out equal in every respect to the best Franch makes. In 1872 Lyman B., the younger son, was admitted to the firm, and in 1884 the business was incorporated under the name of D. Goff & Sons, with Darius Goff, president and D. L. Goff, treasurer.
From the beginning in 1862 to the present time Darius L. has devoted his time to the present mills, and much of their success is due to the able manner in which he seconded his father's efforts, and also to the fact that he himself constantly suggested improvements in methods of manufacture and administration. Since the death of his father in 1891, at the age of 82 years, he has been president and treasurer of the company. He is interested in a number of important local industries; is president of the Royal Weaving Co., the Blair Camera Co., and the Pawtucket Electric Co., and a director in the Pawtucket Gas Co., the Union Wadding Co., the First National Bank, and Swan Point Cemetery Corporation of Providence.
He was married Oct. 1866, to Annie E. Pitcher, who died Dec. 1869. He was married again Nov. 1883, to Annie Luther, who died Feb. 1890. By the latter union there were two children, Harriet Lee, born March 19, 1886, and Darius, born Jan. 24, 1890.
p. 328.GOFF, Lyman B., the second son of Darius and Harriet (Lee) Goff, was born in Rehoboth, Mass., Oct. 19, 1841, and has resided in Pawtucket since 1847. He was educated in the grammar and high schools of Pawtucket and was graduated from Brown University in the class of 1862. While returning from a hunting trip through the Far West in the fall of that year, the Sioux war broke out, and he served during its continuance in Fort Abercombie, Dakota. For several years subsequently he was in the employ of D. Goff & Son as salesman, and in 1872 was admitted to the firm as an equal partner, the style of the house being then changed to D. Goff & Sons.
For many years he took an active interest in the militia, and at one time was lieutenant-colonel in command of all the light artillery in the state. Politically he has always been a Republican, and has served a number of times as a representative to the General Assembly from Pawtucket. He was chosen a presidential elector in 1888 and voted for Benjamin Harrison. In 1891 he was unanimously nominated by the Republican state convention for lieutenant-governor, but declined to accept the honor. As a member of the World's Columbian Exposition, being one of the National Commissioners from the State of Rhode Island, he served on the Committees on Classification, Commerce and Machinery. He was chosen for a third time president of the Pawtucket Business Men's Association at the annual election held Jan. 14, 1896.
In 1880 Mr. Goff became treasurer of the Union Wadding Company in Pawtucket, the largest concern of its kind in the world, his father and himself owning a controlling interest therein. Upon the death of his father he was elected its president. This company, which is capitalized at $1,000,000, has also extensive interests in Augusta, Ga., and at other business centres in the South. Mr. Goff is largely interested in manufacturing plants in New Jersey and Canada; is also president of the Excelsior Quilting Company, of New York, with a capital of $200,000 and branches in Chicago; and holds the same position in a number of smaller industries in his own state. He is a director of the First National Bank of Pawtucket, and the Rhode Island Hospital Trust Company, the largest financial institution in the state; is vice-president of the Pawtucket Street Railway Co., one of the branches of the Union Traction Company, the great corporation which now operates all the street cars in this vicinity; a director in the Interstate Consolidated Street Railway Co., and also in many of the manufacturing corporations of the state.
Following out the work begun by their father, Lyman and his brother Darius L. secured by purchase all the land and water rights on the lower dam at Pawtucket, made great improvements, built a power house and utilized the water power for the generation of electricity. Finally this portion of their property was organized and incorporated as the Pawtucket Electric Co., in which the brothers own a controlling interest. A full account of this matter is given in the eighth chapter.
Mr. Goff married to Almira, daughter of Jesse Thornton, Dec. 14, 1864, and by this union there are two children, Lyman Thornton Goff and Elizebeth Lee Goff.
p. 328 - 329:GOLDSMITH, William H., the son of Ovid and Catherine Goldsmith, was born in Stockport, N. Y., Nov. 16, 1845. He went to school in Stuyvesant Falls, N. Y., until he was sixteen years old, when he worked in a cotton mill for a year. He then assisted his father on the home farm for another year. In 1863 he joined the 16th N. Y. Heavy Artillery and served until the close of the civil war, taking part in many of the great battles of that conflict. Upon receiving an honorable discharge, Aug. 7, 1865, he went to work in a cotton mill at Chicopee Falls, Mass., after three years was promoted to be overseer, and held a like position in several large mills in Webster, Fall River, Mass., and Berkeley, R. I. Being of an inventive turn of mind he devised improvements and invented new machines, and finally connected himself with the Atherton Machine Co. of Pawtucket, and commenced the manufacture of the now celebrated Goldsmith Thread Extractor, a machine which is used all over the world. In 1895 he organized a company for the manufacture of his 'Drawing Roll', which was incorporated under the name of the Pawtucket Metalic Drawing Roll Co., and he was elected president, which position he now holds.
Politically Mr. Goldsmith is a Republican. He is a member of Godfrey DeBouillion Commandery, Knights Templars, and of Richard Borden Post, G. A. R., both of Fall River, Mass. June 13, 1869, he was married to Lillias M. Marshall of Holyoke, Mass, by which union there are five children: Lillie M., Mabel B., William H., Jr., George H., and Phebe C.
p. 329 - 330:GOODRICH, Rev. Massena, was born in Portsmouth, N. H., on Sept. 15, 1819, and was the son of Col. John Goodrich. He attended the public schools of his native town from the time he was five years of age till he was seventeen. In the high school he acquired some knowledge of Greek and Latin, but was compelled to leave school on account of a grave inflammation in his eyes. For four years there after he was employed in mercantile pursuits. As his eyes had improved, however, he determined in 1840 to prepared for the Christian ministry. As the denomination to which he belonged had neither a college nor a theological school, he was compelled to master Hebrew, and attained great proficiency in Greek by independent exertions. Dr. Hosea Ballou, the first president of Tufts College, had marked out a course of theological study, and to this Mr. Goodrich devoted over three years. Besides this he taught school for ten months. Late in 1844, however, he accepted an invitation from the First Universalist parish in Haverhill, Mass. There he remained four years and a half. Removing thence to East Cambridge, Mass., he resided there three years and a half. At the expiration of that period he became pastor of the Universalist church at Lewiston Falls, Maine. As the climate seemed too stern for his wife's health, he decided to return to Massachusetts, and at length took the pastoral care of the parish of Waltham. After living there two years he accepted an invitation to the Church of Our Father, Pawtucket, and preached there three years and a half. Receiving an urgent invitation from the St. Lawrence University, he accepted the post of professor of Biblical Languages and Literature in the theological school in Canton, N. Y. He began his work in October, 1860, and prosecuted it for two years. But the school was a young institution, imperfectly endowed, and the war so hindered the fulfillment of the promises made, that Mr. Goodrich resigned his professorship, and at the request of his old parish, returned to Pawtucket. There he retained the pastoral care till early in 1875. As he was afflicted with laryngitis, he refrained from pastoral work for a few years but for over fourteen years has supplied the Universalist parish in Burrillville, R.I.
In 1865, as the war had ended and the theological school had meanwhile been endowed, Mr. Goodrich was invited to resume his professorship, but felt constrained to decline. Four years afterward he was requested to accept a theological professorship in a college in Galesburg, Ill., but this he also declined. Some years ago Tufts College conferred on him the degree of A. M. In 1865 he delivered the address at the Centennial of North Providence, and in 1876 compiled a 'Historical Sketch of Pawtucket'. In 1893, at the World's Fair of Religions he furnished a discourse on the 'Higher Criticism'. Jan. 1, 1845, Mr. Goodrich was ordained, and on New Year's day, 1895, he celebrated, by a sermon in the church at Burrillville, his fiftieth anniversary. He was married April 22, 1846, to Charlotte E. Nutter, and April 22, 1896, they celebrated their golden wedding at their residence. Since 1876 Mr. Goodrich has been chief editorial writer on the Pawtucket Gazette and Chronical.
illustration on page 329: photo, Rev. Massena Goodrich, Editorial Writer Pawtucket Gazette and Chronicle.
p. 330 - 331:GOODWIN, Almon Kent, the present postmaster of Pawtucket, was born in South Berwick, Me., March 27, 1839, and was the third child of Augustus and Mercy (Preble) Goodwin. He attended the public schools and the academy of his native town until he was fifteen years old, when he was prepared for the sophomore class in college. Concluding to adopt the profession of medicine, he decided not to pursue a college course, and instead came to Pawtucket in 1857 and entered upon the study of medicine in the office of Dr. Sylvanus Clapp. Finding this study uncongenial after two years, he concluded to turn his attention to something more in accordance with his tastes, and engaged in mercantile business, being for a number of years the senior member of the well-known firm of Goodwin & Allen, wholesale flour dealers, Providence.
Mr. Goodwin has always been prominent in public affairs. He has been closely identified with the Republican party for thirty-five years, having voted for Abraham Lincoln in 1860; yet while always a Republican he has been popular with men of all parties. He has been chairman of the town, city, and state central Republican committees, and has taken an active part in the various campaigns which came under his jurisdiction, serving as colonel of the Boys in Blue, and in other active campaign organizations. He was a member of the General Assembly in 1875-6, and again in 1882, during which time he served as a member of the committee on corporations and as chairman of the committee on militia. He was a delegate to the National Republican Convention which nominated James A. Garfield in 1880. He served as auditor of the town and city of Pawtucket for several years, and as auditor of the state of Rhode Island in 1887. In the latter year he was first elected mayor of the city of Pawtucket, serving two years, 1888 and 1889, and was again elected in 1890, serving during 1891. Democratic and Republican. After his third term he refused to again be a candidate. As the city's chief executive officer, he was conservative yet progressive. In his first annual message as mayor he advocated the widening of High street, and this great improvement was accomplished during the second term of his administration. In 1891 he was appointed state commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Statistics. He was appointed postmaster of Pawtucket in 1892, which position he now holds.
Mr. Goodwin was for many years active in the state militia, and did good service in the this line while a member of the General Assembly. He served as major on the staffs of Major General Horace Daniels and Major General William R. Walker. He is a pleasant speaker, and has done much for the advancement of his party's interests, as well as for the interests of the city. In every position which he has held he has served the people conscientiously and with marked ability. By his courteous treatment of all with whom he has been brought in contact in his public and private career, and by the affability which is natural to him, he has always been exceedingly popular in the city and state.
Mr. Goodwin was married in 1858 to Sarah M. Tower, daughter of the late John C. Tower, and sister of Capt. Levi Tower, of the Second Rhode Island Volunteers, who was killed at the first battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861, while gallantly leading his men against the rebel foe. Mrs. Goodwin was an excellent singer, whose clear, sweet voice it was always pleasant to hear, and which was heard for many years in the churches in this city. She was a woman of marked ability, and was not only of great aid to her husband in all the affairs of life, public and private, but she took a lively interest in public affairs and an active part in many enterprises for the benefit of the community, among which may be mentioned the Ladies Soldiers Memorial Association, which she served efficiently as a member of the executive committee. She died Feb. 19, 1892.
This union was blessed by one daughter, Margaret Kent, who was born in Pawtucket, and is still living. She inherits decided musical tastes and talents from her mother and to-day is one of the leading pianists in the state.
illustrations on facing page: photos of Fortunat Gagnon, M.D.; Irving R. Garbutt, Teacher in Pawtucket High School; Walter S. Gardner, manufacturer of brooms and brushes; William E. Gardiner, assistant manager Pawtucket Loan Co.; Peter Germain, proprietor Hotel Lincoln, Central Falls; and George Graham, retired Grocer.
p. 332:GORMAN, Peter, was born in Lancashire, England, Dec. 14, 1854, the first child of Thomas and Mary (Henry) Gorman. He went to school until he was 11 years old, when he began to work in a cotton mill, where he learned to be a mulespinner. His father who was born in Ireland, early in life emigrated to England, but came from that country to America in 1872 with his wife and family, and settled in Central Falls. Peter first worked as a mulespinner for the Slater Cotton Company, but devoted his evenings to study, and attended the Pawtucket night school. Being possessed of quick perceptions, and a retentive memory he soon acquired a fair education, which he has steadily improved by close observation. Seeing little opportunity for advancement in the cotton mill he entered the grocery store of James Murphy as salesman, where he remained until 1886, when having acquired considerable knowledge of the business he determined to start on his own account, which he did in July, 1886, at 584 Dexter street, Central Falls, in the grocery and general provision line. Here he remained until 1892, when owing to the great increase in business he found it necessary to secure larger quarters, and built the block at 601 and 603 Dexter street where he is at present located. His business was successful from the first and his present store is among the largest and finest in Central Falls.
Nothwithstanding his close application to business Mr. Gorman has not neglected his public duties. In 1890 he served on the board of fire wards, and was elected to the city council of Central Falls from the fourth ward in 1895 and in 1896. For eight years he was a member of the Kearney Light Infantry and also served as musician in the United Train of Artillery for three years. He belongs to the Ancient Order of Hibernians, the Young Men's Catholic Association, and is president of the Central Falls Democratic Association.
Mr. Gorman was married twice, first, in November, 1877, to Rachael O'Connor of Central Falls, by which union there was one child, Thomas L., b. Sept. 16, 1878. She died in March, 1880. His second wife is Mary A. Tierney of Pawtucket, to whom he was married Aug. 25, 1885. By this union there are six children, Rachael, b. Aug. 29, 1886; Elizabeth, b. March 6, 1888; P. Emmett, b. Feb. 29, 1891, d. Oct. 24, 1894; Cassey, b. July 29, 1892; Vincent J., b. July 1, 1894; and Charles B., b. June 27, 1896.
pp. 332 - 333:GOTTSCHALK, William Von, M. D., mayor of Central Falls in 1896 and 1897, was born in Providence, Dec. 16, 1854, and was the second child of William Von and Elizabeth (Heathcote) Gottschalk. His father was a homeopathic physician, who located in Providence in 1854, where he practiced his profession successfully for 34 years.
William followed in his father's footsteps. He obtained his education in the Providence public schools, and in the Boston University School of Medicine, from which he was graduated in 1877 with the degree of M. D. He practiced his profession for a short time in Providence, but in 1877 removed to Central Falls, where he has built up a large and lucrative practice. He is a Democrat, and has taken an active and prominent part in politics for many years. He represented the town of Lincoln in the lower house of the General Assembly from 1888 to 1890. In 1895 he received the Democratic and Citizens nomination for mayor of Central Falls, but was defeated by a small majority. The following year, however, he was elected, and thus became the second mayor of Central Falls, and was reelected in November, 1896. He was a member of the First Light Infantry of Providence for 15 years, during five of which he held a commission as first lieutenant. In 1887 Governor Davis appointed him aid-de-camp attached to his personal staff.
He is a member of the Rhode Island Homeopathic Medical Society; the American Institute of Homeopathy, and the Pawtucket Medical Association. In society circles Dr. Gottschalk is active, being a Mason, an Odd Fellow, a member of the Knights of Pythias, the Improved Order of Red Men, the First Light Infantry Veteran Association, the Central Falls Veteran Firemen's Association, and is an associate member of Ballou Post, G. A. R. April 24, 1884, he was married to Emma J. Whittle of Saylesville.
p. 333:GRAHAM, George, was born in Belfast, Ireland, Nov. 29, 1823. His father was a hand loom weaver on both cotton and linen goods; with his wife and family he came to America when George was only four months old. The first landed at St. Johns, N. B., and then came on a sailing packet to Boston, from whence they traveled in a stage coach of the old Boston and Providence line and arrive in Pawtucket early in 1824. The father went to work for Samuel Slater as a dresser tender, but several years later he engaged in the retail grocery business in Pawtucket, in which he continued until his death in 1865. George attended the Pawtucket schools until he was 10 years of age. At the age of 13 he went to work in the Dunnell printworks, where he was employed for three years. He then spent three years in New Bedford learning the machinist trade. In 1851 he went to California, via the Nicaraugua route. He dug for gold in Calaveras county, worked a river claim in summer and a placer claim in winter. He was successful in the latter, mined for nearly five years, and personally dug gold to the value of $100 a week for a long time. He accumulated some money, returned to Pawtucket in 1856, and assisted his father in the grocery business until the latter's death in 1865. From that time he carried on the business alone until 1893 when a stroke of paralysis prevented him from giving it his further attention, and the store at 105 and 107 Water street is now conducted by his son, William O. Graham.
Mr. Graham has always been a Democrat. He served as a member of the town council of the old town of Pawtucket, Mass., was a tax assessor, and represented Pawtucket in the Rhode Island legislature for one term. For some years he belonged to the Pawtucket Horse Guards. He has been married twice, first to Elizabeth Brice, by which union there were three children, Samuel J., Jane and Elizabeth. His second wife was Annie E. Oman, and by this union there were four children, William O., Sarah Elizabeth, Carrie Louise and Frank Major.
p. 333 - 334:GRANDFIELD, Michael, M. D., the third child of Thomas G. and Mary (Sears) Grandfield, was born in Dingle, County Kerry, Ireland, June 23, 1857. He attended the Christian Brothers' school of his native town until he was 16 years of age. He came to this country in 1873 with his parents, and they settled in Fall River, where he continued his education under private tuition. He commenced the study of law in the office of David Sullivan, city solicitor of Fall River, but after a short time abandoned it. In 1882-3 he was business manager of the Fall River Herald. Owing to his studious habits he was strongly in favor of a professional career and notwithstanding the allurements of public office - having been elected a member of the Fall River city council - he entered the medical school of the University of New York in 1884 and was graduated with the degree of M. D. in 1887. He commenced the practice of his profession in Springfield, Mass., but established himself at 125 Pine street, Pawtucket in 1891. He has built up a large and lucrative practice and has become widely known as a careful and successful practitioner. He is a physician and medical examiner for a number of fraternal societies, chief among which may be mentioned Courts Woodland and City of Pawtucket, A. O. F. of A., the Sanctuary of Roger Williams, A. O. of Sheperds of America. Nov. 24, 1891, he was married to Jane O'Dowd of Fall River, by which union there are two children: Mary, b. Nov. 24, 1892, and John, b. Feb. 28, 1894.
p. 334 - 335:GREENE, Benjamin Franklin, one of the pioneer manufacturers of Pawtucket and Central Falls, was the son of Capt. Benjamin and Harriet (Greene) Greene. He was born in Warwick, R. I., Jan. 1, 1807. The family homestead was south of Pawtuxet, included the famous Mark Rock, with its notable impressions and inscriptions, and was within the limits of Old Warwick, a region memorable in Rhode Island history. Capt. Benjamin Greene was a well known sea-captain, making voyages to the Indies and to remote countries. His children were William M., Weltha A., Godfrey, Benjamin F., Harriet G., Henry P., Richard W. and Philip A. The grandfather of Benjamin F. was Godfrey Greene, a farmer of the old school, who had seven children: Amy, Betsy, Sarah, Godfrey, William, Caleb C., and Benjamin. The mother of Benjamin F. was the daughter of Hon. William Greene, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island in the days of the revolution. The Judge was a brother of Major-General Nathanael [sic] Greene. The children of Judge Greene were Thomas, Christopher, Warren, Catharine, Harriet and Jeremiah. At one time Judge Greene was the owner of about twenty slaves, all of whom he finally liberated. On the marriage of his daughter Harriet he gave her a slave named Sarah. From disasters at sea and other causes, Capt. Benjamin Greene lost his property, and his family were obliged to labor for their support. He was b. June 25, 1771, and d. Sept. 21, 1847, aged 76 years. His wife, Harriet, b. April 22, 1779, d. March 21, 1837, in her 58th year, and was a woman of great energy and worth.
Benjamin F. had small opportunities of education in the schools, but he supplied this deficiency somewhat by reading. At the age of eight he began to work in the Crompton mills, in Warwick, for one dollar a week. In 1816 he worked in the Natick mills for General Christopher Rhodes. Subsequently he worked for William Sprague, who first established calico printing in the state. In 1824, at the age of seventeen, he engaged at Central Falls as a second-hand in making thread for Walker & Allen, and from 1825 to 1840 was overseer of the mill. When he came to Central Falls he brought all his worldly goods tied up in a handkerchief. In 1840 he commenced business in Central Falls with Stephen Benedict, Joseph Wood, Thomas Benedict, and Samuel Wood, he overseeing the manufacture of thread and the others furnishing capital. In 1845 he went to Mapleville, in Burrillville, R. I., and manufactured thread and warps for Hill & Carpenter. In 1850 he engaged in the thread manufacture at Clarke's Mills in Richmond, R. I., where Horace Daniels became his bookkeeper. Mr. Daniels suggested the idea of putting up the thread on spools. In 1855 Mr. Greene leased a mill in Central Falls for ten years. Mr. Daniels finally entered into business with him as a partner, and invented a machine for polishing the thread.
In 1860 the firm erected a new mill in Pawtucket, across the river from Central Falls, which was enlarged in 1865, making a solid and beautiful brick structure 420 feet long, four stories high, with a French roof, giving another story, and three large towers. The mill cost when completed about $1,000,000, and runs about 25,000 spindles. After the death of his partner, Gen. Horace Daniels, Dec. 14, 1876, Mr. Greene bought out the interest of Gen. Daniels's heirs and became sole owner of the thread business and the mill property. In 1877, however, he made a joint stock company of the concern, although he continued to be the controlling owner, and named the corporation the Greene & Daniels Manufacturing Co., the capital stock being $300,000, all paid in. Until his death, Jan. 29, 1886, Mr. Greene was president, his son, Edward A. Greene, was treasurer, and George P. Grant was agent. At the time of his death Mr. Greene was the oldest American manufacturer of thread in the country.
During the war of the rebellion, although exempt from military service, he was an active member of the Home Guard. In politics he was at first a Whig and then a Republican. In 1866 he served the town of Smithfield as a member of the State Legislature. For many years he was a director in the Slater National Bank of Pawtucket. In 1835 he and his wife united with the First Baptist church in Pawtucket, but in 1844 they became members of the Central Falls Baptist church. For the building of the new church edifice on Broad street, Mr. Greene contributed about $16,000. He was a member of the Home and Foreign Missionary societies of the Baptists, was one of the managers of the Rhode Island Baptist State Convention, and a director in the Baptist Vineyard Association, of Cottage City, Martha's Vineyard. While applying himself closely and successfully to his manufacturing interests he yet found opportunity for travel throughout the United States and Canada.
He married, June 17, 1833, Rebeccca Borden Linnell, daughter of Josiah and Rebecca Linnell of Hyannisport, Barnstable County, Mass., a woman of great industry and rare prudence and piety. She was b. June 28, 1808, and d. in Central Falls, in the Greene mansion, June 3, 1878, in her 70th year. By this union there were six children: Eleanor, who died young; Sarah J., who married Wanton Durfee; Herbert F., who died young; Mary A., who married Ellery W. Greene; Richard F., who married Augusta Brown; and Edward A., who married Annie H. Houghton.
illustration on page 335: photo, Benjamin F. Greene, Founder of the Greene & Daniels Manufacturing Co.
p. 335 - 336:GREENE, Edward A., the youngest child of Benjamin F. and Rebecca Borden (Linnell) Greene, was born in Central Falls, Feb. 9, 1845. He obtained his education in the public schools and at the Bryant & Stratton Business College, Providence, and then became a clerk in the office of Greene & Daniels, of which firm his father was the senior partner. He remained in this position for four years, when he went to Europe. While there he devoted much time to the study of the methods used by many of the large cotton mills. Upon his return, being anxious to acquire a thorough knowledge of the details of his business, he spent four years in the factory. In 1876 Mr. Daniels died, and the firm was then incorporated as the Greene & Daniels Manufacturing Co., and Mr. Greene was elected treasurer. Upon the death of his father in 1886 he was elected president, and when Mr. George Grant resigned as treasurer in 1895 Mr. Greene was elected in his place and is now president and treasurer of the company. He is also a director of the Slater National Bank of Pawtucket, the Pawtucket Mutual Fire Insurance Co., the River Spinning Co. of Woonsocket, and is a trustee of the Franklin Savings Bank of Pawtucket. After graduating from the Bryant & Stratton Business College in 1861 he became a private in the Home Guard and served until 1865. He was quartermaster of the Union Guards of Central Falls for five years and was commissary on the staff of Gen. Horace Daniels, with the rank of major.
Mr. Greene is a member of the Broad Street Baptist church. In national and state affairs he is a Republican. He has taken an active part in the advocacy of public improvements. Feb. 11, 1874, he was married to Annie H. Houghton of Providence, by which union there are four children: Muriel H., b. April 19, 1875; William H., b. June 28, 1878; Edith H., b. July 31, 1886, who d. in infancy, and Madeline H., b. May 27, 1889.
p. 336.GRIMES, William H., is the third of six sons (all living) of Robert and Catherine (McQuillian) Grimes, and was born in the town of Monaghan, Ireland. His brothers are John, Thomas, Francis, Joseph and Edward. The Grimes family removed to the United States in 1848 and took up residence in Uxbridge, Mass. The father was a pioneer Irishman in that town, and by his manly qualities endeared himself to all who knew him. Being an expert in the improved methods of weaving, he sought for and found employment in the mill and soon became the head of the weaving department. The family home remained at Uxbridge until 1875, when the father retired from active business life to reside in Providence. The son, William H. Grimes, attended public school and subsequently Scholfield's Commercial College. In 1865 he obtained employment from his two brothers at Providence. While there he organized the Emmett Guards, a company of the Rhode Island Militia, and without seeking the appointment, he was commissioned as first captain of the company by Gov. Pedelford. He held the office for three years and then resigned. In 1872, he married Miss Julia Butler of Providence, who died in 1881. From this marriage, Madelaine Grimes and Robert Grimes were born.
In 1873 Mr. Grimes and family came to Pawtucket. He started in business at the corner of High and Main streets, and remained there until 1883 when he removed to Nos. 23 and 25 North Main street, in the Manchester block, which he now occupies and holds under lease. At different times he has had branch stores in Pawtucket, and Bridgeport, Conn. He is esteemed as a sound and successful business man.
In 1891, he married Miss Catherine Myers of Brooklyn, N. Y. Three children, William, Miriam Cecilia, and Paul, were born of this union. He and his wife and all of his children, with the exception of Robert, who has a position in Boston, Mass., reside at 34 Denver street, Pawtucket.
Mr. Grimes has taken an active interest in the progress and development of Pawtucket, and while he has not sought for nor held public office he has backed up the ambition of others by his good counsel and substantial support. For the past few years, however, he has declined to enter into partisan movements. Through his kindly and helping disposition and his ready wit, he has made and retains a large circle of friends, and is recognized as a substantial citizen.
p. 336 - 337.HALL, William, son of William and Ann (Britton) Hall, was born in Bradford, England, in 1835. He went to school in his native city until he was 12 years old, when he went to work in a spinning mill which turned out filling for worsted weaving. He learned the entire business, including spinning, drawing, and combing processes. He became an expert, remained with the concern 30 years, and was promoted to have charge of the drawing department. He then engaged with Isaac Tempest to take charge of the drawing, combing and spinning of wool in his large works. He remained in this place six years and then engaged with William Willis Wood, mayor of Bradford, in 1881, to superintend the same processes in his yarn mills. Mr. Hall's reputation as a successful wool spinner became widely known and in 1881 he was engaged by W. F. & F. C. Sayles, came to America and became superintendent of that firm's wool spinning department in the Lorraine Mills. He has continued there ever since, has full charge of the spinning of wool for weaving purposes, with 250 hands and 8000 spindles under his control. In politics Mr. Hall is a Republican. He is a member of the Lorraine Chapel, of which he has been treasurer for nine years. By his exertions the church has been kept out of debt and is on a prosperous basis. He is a prominent member of the Y. M. C. A. Mr. Hall has one son, John, who was born in Bradford, England, and is now an overseer in the drawing room of the Lorraine Mills under his father; he is an active member of the Y. M. C. A., an exemplary young man, was married in 1883 to Elizabeth, daughter of George Howarth of Pawtucket, and they have three children: George, William and John, all born in Pawtucket. Mr. Hall takes a great deal of pride and interest in his grandchildren.
p. 337:HALLIDAY, Frederick F., was born in New York city in 1833, and is of Scotch descent. When two years old, his father, who was an expert wood carver, went with his family to London, England; was employed on the houses of Parliament; but previous to this carried on business for himself for some years in New York city, and died in London in 1845. Frederick attended the public and private schools of London until he was 13 years of age, and from 10 years of age worked during vacations and spare time in a retail store. His mother and father fitted him out with a stock of clothing and started him to New York in the ship London, and he was met in New York by an older brother. After a while he secured a position in a factory where carpenter tools were made.
Later he removed to New Haven where he learned the carpenter's trade. When 21 years of age, he was employed at the works of the Volcanic Repeating Pistol Co., where he set up machinery for the plant. Afterwards he went south and became a contractor and builder in West Virginia. He was in Virginia at the time of John Brown's raid. The outbreak of the war killed his business, and he removed to Kentucky, where he again started as a builder of wagon work, but on account of his Union proclivities was order to leave the state. He was forced to abandon his business and immediately moved to Ohio, but affairs being in a very unsettled condition there he decided to come north. He arrived at Pawtucket in 1861, worked for S. S. Humes for five or six years in the power shop and then for D. D. Sweet & Co. until the failure of that firm, when he became a partner with D. A. Arnold in the pattern-making business. In 1890 he bought out Mr. Arnold, and has since conducted the business under his own name, his specialties being the making of patterns and saddles for spinning frames and mules and the construction of wood work for all kinds of machinery. In 1893 his son Frederick F., Jr., was for a short time a partner in his business.
Mr. Halliday represented the first ward in the common council from 1887 to 1891. He belongs to St. Paul's Episcopal church, is a member of the Holy Sepulchre Commandery, Pawtucket Royal Arch Chapter, and of the Knights of Pythias. He was married to Sarah Jane Cheek of Ripley, Ohio, in 1861, and their children are: Frederick F., Jr., George Thomas, Wilbor, Emma Maria, Jennie, Edith and Alfred.
p. 337 - 338:HALLIDAY, Frederick F., Jr., was born in Pawtucket, R.I., Jan. 15, 1862, and is the first child of Frederick and Sarah Jane (Cheek) Halliday. He attended the public schools of his native town until his 17th year when he went to work in the office of George W. Kent as assistant bookkeeper. As this occupation was not congenial to him he determined to learn a trade and apprenticed himself to D. A. Arnold & Son, pattern makers, with whom he remained twelve years. In 1893 he opened a small pattern shop, which he has continued to enlarge, until now he has a wood-working establishment completely equipped with modern machinery. Besides pattern and cabinet making he does all classes of carpenter and wood work for factories and all kinds of machinery. The business was successful from the first and has increased steadily. June 21, 1889, he was married to Lily Crossley, daughter of Robert Crossley, and they have two children: Robert Crossley, b. March, 1891, and Dorathia Maud, b. April, 1895.
p. 338:HARDING, Nehemiah, was born in West Harwich, Mass., May 13, 1833, and is the fourth child of Nehemiah and Abigail (Smith) Harding. He attended the public schools of his native town until his ninth year. At that early age he went to sea as a fisherman and followed this occupation for 10 years. In 1852 he came to Central Falls and worked at spoolmaking for two years. He was then employed in a general merchandise store by John W. Tingley for three and a half years. In 1857, in copartnership with Henry Gooding, he opened a grocery and crockery store, but owing to poor health he was compelled to retire in 1861. In 1864 he opened another store, which he continued for 10 years, disposing of it to enter the dry goods business in the Edgerton block, Central street. This business increased so that he was compelled to seek larger quarters on the other side of the street, at No. 60, where he remained until July, 1896, when owing to the decrease of business on account of the readjustment of population he removed to his present location, 516 Dexter street, where he now has an excellent trade. He has been successful from the first and his business is continually increasing.
Mr. Harding is a Republican in politics. He attends the Baptist church on Broad street, and is a member of the Knights of Honor, R. S. G. F., Iron Hall, and of the Central Falls Veteran Firemen's Association. Sept. 28, 1856, he was married to Elizabeth B. Gooding of Central Falls, by which union there were seven children, six of whom are deceased. The surviving child, M. Florence, was born in Central Falls, April 23, 1874, and was married Jan. 22, 1896, to J. Henry Weaver.
p. 338:HARLEY, David, was born in Balmerino, Fifeshire, Scotland, Nov. 27, 1852, and is the son of William and Isabella (McLeish) Harley of Perthshire. He received his education in the schools of his native land, and then learned the dry goods business in Coupar-Augus. In 1872 he came to the United States and located in Providence. Late in 1876 he entered into a copartnership with John G. Small, and started a dry goods store in Spencer building, Pawtucket, under the firm name of Small & Harley. Mr. Small withdrew in 1885 and the business was continued by Mr. Harley under the name of David Harley & Co., until it was incorporated in 1894 as the David Harley Co. The store is now at 286 and 288 Main street, and is a modern mammoth department emporium. The officers of the company are: John H. Cumming, president; David Harley, treasurer; and Frank H. Borden, secretary. Mr. Harley is the active and responsible manager of the business.
Mr. Harley is a Republican. He is a member of the Park Place Congregational church and takes a deep interest in church work. He is a charter member of the Pawtucket Business Men's Association, belongs to the Masonic Order, and to Clan Fraser, Order of Scottish Clans. In 1877 he was married to Jessie McKenzie Ferguson, by which union there were three children: William, Isabella, and George. His first wife died in 1889, and he was married the second time to Nellie M. Coalidge, by which union there are two children: Marion Page and Gordon.
p. 338 - 339:HARRINGTON, Francis M., M. D., was born in Boston, Mass., Jan. 1, 1869. He was educated in the Boston public schools and at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Boston, from which he was graduated in 1890 when 22 years old. After spending several months in the hospitals of Europe he established himself as a physician at Roxbury, Mass., where he practiced two years. During this time he was connected with the Ruggles Street Hospital and the Harvard Dispensary. For some time he has been general examiner for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., in which capacity he first came to Pawtucket. Since locating here he has built up a good general practice and ranks high as a physician and surgeon. Oct. 15, 1892, he was married at Littleton, N. H., to Maud Rennie Burton of Boston, and they have one child, Francis Burton, b. March 5, 1895, in Pawtucket. The doctor is a Fellow of the Rhode Island Medical Society and also of the Pawtucket Medical Association, of which last he is secretary.
illustrations on facing page: Photos of Frederick F. Halliday, Pattern Maker; Francis M. Harrington, M.D.; Walter G. Hartford; Lewis T. Haskell; Silas B. Havens, of S. B. Havens & Co., Caterers; and William D. S. Havens, retired grocer.
p. 340:HARRISON, Alfred, was born in Manchester, England, Sept. 26, 1852, and was the first-born of Abraham and Hannah (Robinson) Harrison. Until he was twelve years old he attended the Providence House Academy, at Mirfield, Yorkshire, to which place his parents had removed. He then became a telegraph clerk for the Lancashire and Yorkshire railway locomotive department, where he remained until he was 16, when he went to work for his uncle, Thomas Kenyon, who was a large manufacturer of chemicals for bleachers and dyers. For fourteen years Mr. Harrison was employed in this manufacture and in that period acquired a thorough knowledge of practical chemistry. In 1882 he came to the United States and the following year in partnership with Robert Crossley began in Pawtucket the manufacture of chemicals for beachers and dyers, under the firm name of A. Harrison & Co. The industry was started in a small room on Pine street, but proved so successful that late in the same year a large plant was put in operation on Charles street, North Providence, and a large business has been developed.
Mr. Harrison is a Republican. In religion he is an Episcopalian. He belongs to all the prominent Masonic bodies in Providence, and is a member of the Royal Society of Good Fellows, Central Falls. March 12, 1874, he was married to Mary Hannah Peace Kenyon, daughter of Thomas Kenyon, the founder of the branch of manufacturing chemistry in which Mr. Harrison is now engaged. Mr. Kenyon's business was established in Manchester, England, in 1843. By this union there are five children: Herbert Albert, b. Dec. 31, 1875; Ada Mary, b. June 4, 1877; Sarah Alice Mabel, b. May 28, 1879; Lillian Neath, b. Sept. 5, 1884; George Alfred Frederic, b. Jan. 18, 1891. The first three were born in Manchester, England, and the last two in Pawtucket.
Mr. Harrison's father was born at St. Helen's, near Liverpool, Eng., in 1825, and was a locomotive engineer on the Lancashire and Yorkshire railway. He died in 1870. His mother was born in Manchester in 1829 and died in 1894.
p. 340 - 341:HASKELL, Lewis T., a son of Turner and Patience (Smith) Haskell, was born in Cumberland, R. I., in 1825. He went to school in the district school winters and meanwhile worked on his father's farm. Afterwards he took a course at the Friends School, Providence, when 21 years of age. Not having studied for any profession he began to learn the machinist trade at the Arnold Mills, Cumberland. After a year the business was discontinued and he then went to Woonsocket to engage in the same trade with Whipple and William Metcalf, manufacturers of cotton machinery. He quickly mastered the trade, became an efficient machinist and remained in Woonsocket for three years, when he went to Providence as machinist for the Eagle Screw Co. (now the American), with which concern he continued about three years. In 1853 he came to Pawtucket and founded the business of Pinkham, Haskell & Co., bolt and screw makers. In 1855 he sold out his interest to his brother William H. Haskell, after which he worked as a machinist in Providence and Pawtucket, but meanwhile lived in Pawtucket. In 1868 he opened a store and tinware business in the old Tyler building on Main street, Pawtucket. He succeeded well, but sold out the business in 1888, when he retired. He was married in 1853 to Susan L. Tingley, youngest daughter of Columbia Tingley of Cumberland. He is now living quietly at his home, corner Broad and Nickerson streets, Pawtucket. He is a Republican, and has been a member of the First Baptist church for many years.
p. 341:HASKELL, William Henry, one of the leading manufacturers of Pawtucket, was born in Cumberland, R. I., Sept. 1, 1821. He obtained his education in the district schools of his native town, and worked on his father's farm until he was 18 years old, when he began to learn the machinist trade with Ebenezer and Joseph Metcalf in Cumberland. He worked with them for two years but went in 1840 to Woonsocket and the following year to Fall River, working at his trade in both places. With the experience thus acquired he concluded to establish himself in business. In 1845, in connection with Nathaniel S. Collyer, he did so in a shop on Mill street, Pawtucket, which he and his partner carried on for four years, and the business developed to such an extent that from twenty to thirty men were constantly employed.
In 1850, in company with Curtis Collyer and Lewis T. Haskell, his younger brother, he bought an interest in the bolt and screw manufacturing plant of Pinkham & Jenks, and the new firm was organized as Pinkham, Haskell & Co. In 1857 he purchased his brother's, Mr. Collyer's and Stephen A. Jenks's interests in the firm and became sole owner. In 1861 Robert Sherman entered the firm as a special partner and continued as such until 1868 when Mr. Haskell bought him out. This industry was the successor of an old machine shop established in the first years of the century by Col. Stephen Jenks. Under Mr. Haskell's management the production of the bolt and nut shop was rapidly increased, so that the necessity soon arose for the enlargement of the works. This undertaking was begun in 1860 and completed in 1861, when the large shops on Main street were put in operation. The first building erected was considered mammoth in its proportions, being 100 feet long by 40 feet wide, and two stories high, but in a few years the increase of business demanded its enlargement to 350 feet long by 50 wide, and about 150 employees were required to operate it. The specialties manufactured are bolts, nuts, washers and coach screws. The industry has been uniformly successful and has furnished continuous employment to a large number of skilled mechanics. The present annual production is now valued at about $200,000. The concern was incorporated as the William H. Haskell Co. in 1881, and the present officers are William H. Haskell, president; Edmund S. Mason, treasurer; Daniel A. Hunt, agent.
While giving his best energies to the development of this great business, Mr. Haskell, however, did not neglect his duties as a citizen. He has represented the people in many positions of trust and honor, and has served as town councilman, water commissioner, state senator, and on many boards and commissions. Politically he was originally a Whig, but since before the war has acted with the Republican party. He has always had the respect and confidence of his fellow citizens in a marked degree, and his character and conduct has justified this regard. He is a director in the Pacific National Bank.
Mr. Haskell was twice married, by which unions there were three children, two of whom, both daughters, are living. He is descended from a family whose longevity is remarkable. His grandfather, Samuel Haskell, was 95, and his grandmother, Mary Haskell, 91 years of age, and both died in the same year, 1849. They were among the first settlers of Cumberland. His father, Turner Haskell, was active in public life and served both in the town council of Cumberland and the General Assembly of Rhode Island for many years. He lived and died in the town of Cumberland and was 73 years old when he passed away in 1863. His mother, Patience (Smith) Haskell, died in 1883 at the ripe age of 89. This couple had nine children, of whom William H. was the second son.
p. 341 - 342:HATHEWAY, William Henry. Nature gave to Mr. Hatheway so modest, reserved and patient a character, yet, withal so brave, when true courage was required, as never to shrink when he felt a duty urged him on, that few ever really knew his truly refined and poetic thoughts and ideas. His puritanic bringing up, combined with great conscientiousness, made him seem severe in discipline with those he loved, because he could not endure to think that his own had fallen short of any duty or accountability. Upright to the utmost, his word as good as his bond, fulfilling every obligation, faithful, honest, never self-seeking, he has passed on to that unknown world where all knowledge is his, and the reward of the faithful unto death is given.
He was the son of Frederick and Sally (White) Hatheway, was born at Dighton, Mass., Dec. 11, 1814, and died at Pawtucket, R. I., March 16, 1875. He was a lineal descendant of John Hatheway, who is spoken of in the Colonial Records as the 'Leading Citizen of Taunton', and one of the first proprietors of that town, and its representative at the Plymouth Colony Court many years. He was likewise descended from Richard Williams, one of the first and largest owners of what was called the 'South Purchase', and who named the tract of land Dighton in honor of his wife, Frances Dighton. Richard Williams was a representative to the Plymouth Colony Court many years. Mr. Hatheway was also descended from many other first comers, including John Richmond, John Turner, John Anthony, Thomas Caswell and Richard Godfrey; James Walker, chairman of the committee on war several years, and who held many important offices in colonial times; John Coggeshall, the first president of the colony of Rhode Island; John Coggeshall, Jr., who was deputy governor several years, and one of the signers of the Royal Charter granted by King Charles II, in 1663; from William Bauldstone, another signer of the Royal Charter and one of the governor's council for twenty-two years, as well as treasurer, and the occupant of other important offices; John Greene, surgeon, one of the first purchasers of Warwick; beside from comers in each of the three first vessels, Mayflower, Fortune, and Anne. Others of note and worth in the colonies were his direct ancestors. He was in direct descent from many lines of royalty, William the Conqueror and Charlemagne being among them. The grandfather of Mr. Hatheway was Stephen Hatheway, who was a shipbuilder at Taunton, and on the coming of age of his sons (as was a fashion with many at that early time) gave them a portion of his money or estate. Stephen married Hope Pierce, a descendant of Abraham Pierce of Plymouth colony, and they had twelve children, the names of whom were: Leonard, Alden, Stephen, Nicholas, Anna, Elias, Ebenezer, Frederick, Anson, Hope, Polly and Erastus. The portion of Frederick, who had been educated as a navigator, was two ships laden with produce to carry to the West Indies in exchange for tropical produce to bring to Massachusetts or New England, but, being caught in a terrible gale, the vessels were lost with several of the crew. Captain Frederick never recovered from the exposure and lived many years an invalid, having received a sunstroke by over-exertion for the preservation of the men entrusted to his care.
William lived in the family of his uncle, Alden Hatheway of Freetown, several years, where he attended the village school; later he came to Smithfield, R. I., and there married Miss Fanny Arnold, a descendant of Thomas and William Arnold. He engaged in farming, but later formed a partnership with others and built at Pawtucket in 1853, near the railroad on Broad street, what was styled the Rhode Island Stove Works, but afterwards becoming sole proprietor the name was changed to the Pawtucket Furnace Company. He served the town occasionally as a member of the school committee and of the town council. At Mr. Hatheway's death in 1871 [sic] he left two daughters, who are now living: Belinda Olney, wife of Joshua Wilbour, of Wilbour, Jackson & Co., bankers, Providence, R. I.; Anna, wife of William Henry Park, cashier, First National Bank of Pawtucket.
p. 342 - 343:HAVENS, Silas B., son of Col. O. and Laura (Ralph) Havens, was born at Coventry, R. I., Aug. 29, 1847. He attended school in his native village until he was 16 years old, then worked in a grocery store at Hope for three months, when he took a six months' course at the East Greenwich Academy. After staying at home for a time, he became a clerk for A. & W. Sprague in the corporation store at Cranston, where he remained for six months, and then went to the firm's store at Natick, of which he was soon appointed foreman in the dry goods department. He held this position two years and was entry clerk for 18 months, and then started into the grocery business for himself in Coventry. While conducting this business he was appointed depot master at Coventry, and stayed there in that capacity until 1871, when he purchased a one-fourth interest in the spool and bobbin works at Pottersville, R. I., and a similar interest in the new works the same concern erected at Nipmuck, R. I.; but in 1874 he sold out his stock in both these properties, came to Pawtucket, Sept. 5, 1876, and purchased W. H. Harper's interest in the bakery of Harper & DeWitt, on East avenue. On the death of Mr. DeWitt in 1879, Mr. Haven bought the entire business. In 1883 he added a catering department, and in 1891 purchased the restaurant of S. D. Warburton at 176 Main street.
Under the name of S. B. Havens & Co., he conducted both the bakery and the restaurant until 1894, but since then has confined his attention to the restaurant and to high-class catering. As caterers the firm controls the lion's share of the high-class trade hereabouts and supply every possible requisite for dinner parties, balls, suppers, weddings and breakfasts. The restaurant at 176 Main street is 30 by 60 feet in size, furnished in a sumptuous and very attractive style, with handsome appointments, electric-lights, soda fountain and other superior fixtures, and has accommodations for fifty persons.
Politically Mr. Havens is a Democrat and has been active in his party. In fraternal circles he has taken a conspicuous part. He is Past Master of Union Lodge, No. 10, A. F. and A. M.; member of Pawtucket Royal Arch Chapter, No. 4; Past T. I. M. of Pawtucket Council, No. 2, R. and S. Masters; member of Holy Sepulchre Commandery, Rhode Island Consistory, O. N. M. S., Providence, R. I. He is also a member of Enterprise Lodge, I. O. O. F.; Blackstone Encampment; a Past Schem and charter member of the Red Men; belongs to the United Workmen, Knights of Honor, Knights of Pythias, the Pawtucket Business Men's Association, the Pawtucket Veteran Firemen's Association, and is an associate member of Tower Post, G. A.R.
He was married in November, 1866, to Rhoda A. F. Tefft, of Natick, R. I., by which union there were four children: Christopher O., Justin C., Charles F., Silas H. His first wife died 1873, and he was married again in 1877 to Miss Lizzie DeWitt. By the last marriage there were three children: Ralph DeWitt, Laurie K., and Bessie. Mr. Havens now resides at 468 Pawtucket avenue.
p. 343 - 344:HAVENS, William D. S., son of William and Almira W. (Hale) Havens, was born in Warwick, R. I., in 1823. His family has resided in Rhode Island for several generations and has been prominent in many ways. His father was born in North Kingstown, R. I., where he was a prominent citizen, but came to Pawtucket early in life and engaged in the cotton manufacture. William D. S. went to school in Pawtucket and finished his education at the Hobart Academy, Pawtucket. At the age of 17 he left school and then was a clerk in several retail establishments in Pawtucket. When 22 years of age he formed a partnership with his father in the grocery business on East avenue. The store was afterwards carried on at other locations, but principally in the old LeFavour block, Main street. The business was prosperous. In 1873 Mr. Havens bought out his father's interest and then conducted the business with success until 1885, when he sold out the stock and retired from business. He always carried the finest goods and received the patronage of the wealthy classes. He now lives a retired life and spends his time between his residences in Pawtucket and Warwick, R. I. In politics Mr. Havens was originally a Whig but has been a Republican since the organization of that party. He was a member of the town council of North Providence, and afterwards was a councilman in Pawtucket, after the two towns were consolidated. He was collector of taxes in North Providence for seven years. He is a charter member of the Pawtucket Business Men's Association, and has been a member of the executive committee since its organization. He is a trustee of the Pawtucket Institution for Savings. In 1846 he was married to Mary R. Newcomb of Boston, who is descended from a well-known and long-lived family. Mr. Havens is remarkably well preserved for his years, is as jolly as a boy, and ejoys life highly.
p. 344:HAY, James H., son of David Hay and Ann (Shields) Hay, was born in Glasgow, Scotland, Feb. 9, 1840. He came in 1842 with his parents from Scotland to Providence, where they resided until 1850, when they removed to Pawtucket, where James H. has ever since resided. He attended the public school, but left when quite young to go to work in a cotton mill, where he worked until about 1860. At that time he went to work for William H. Haskell, now the W. H. Haskell Co., but left in 1861 to enlist in the 2d Rhode Island Volunteers, Company F., on May 1st; he was mustered into actual service Aug. 1, 1861, and was honorably discharged Dec. 5, 1862. In 1863 he went to work for the Providence Tool Company on government work. In 1865 he began to work for Fales & Jenks, and continued in the employ of that firm until Sept., 1867, when he went to work for N. P. Hicks in the ring traveller manufacture in the old Slater Mill. In 1871 the name of the firm was changed to E. Jenckes & Co., now the E. Jenckes Manufacturing Co., with which concern he continued until 1893. June 1, 1893, he started in business on his own account under the name of James H. Hay & Co., manufacturers of the United States Standard Ring Travellers, in the Adam Sutcliffe Co. building on Leather avenue.
Mr. Hay was married in Providence, Aug. 26, 1865, to Mary A. Burton of Blackburn, England, by Rev. A. H. Granger, of the Fourth Baptist church, Providence. By this marriage there are seven children, five girls and two boys, all of whom are living: two married daughters and five grandchildren. The names of the sons and daughters are: Mrs. James A. Perry, Mrs. Fred H. Chatterton, James Everett Hay, Marguerite A. Hay, Maude G. Hay, Mabel L. Hay, John Burton Hay. The grandchildren are: J. Weaton Perry, Gladys E. Perry, Ruth A. Perry, Allen H. Chatterton, and Lincoln F. Chatterton.
Continued
These documents are made available free to the public for non-commercial purposes by the Rhode Island USGenWeb Project. Transcribed 2001 by Beth Hurd
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