Providence County Biographies
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FARNSWORTH, John Prescott, Treasurer and Agent of the Providence Dyeing, Bleaching and Calendering Company, was born in Pawtucket, Mass. (now Rhode Island), February 18, 1860, son of Claudius Buchanan and Marianna (Mclntire) Farnsworth. There have been seven generations of the Farnsworth family in New England, principally settled in northern Massachusetts. His great-grand-father fought at Bunker Hill, and was a cousin of Colonel Prescott, who commanded. His near an-cestors were mostly farmers, living in Groton, Mass. He received his early education at a private school in Pawtucket, until the age of thirteen, and in the next four years prepared for college at Rev. C. H. Wheeler's school in Providence. He then pursued the regular course at Harvard University, from which he graduated in 1881 with the Degree of A. B. In July of that year he entered the bleacher)' of the Lonsdale Company as clerk, and remained there in various capacities until January 1885, at which time he was serving as Assistant Superintendent, and resigned to superintend the rebuilding of the Great Falls Company's bleachery at Great Falls, N. H. He severed this connection in July 1885 to accept the position of Agent of the Providence Dyeing, Bleaching and Calendering Company, of which corporation he became Treasurer in 1890. Since becoming the executive head of this large manufacturing establishment he has rebuilt the works of the company, adding six new buildings to the plant, increasing its output over four hundred per cent. Mr. Farnsworth is a member of the A. E. Club of Providence, the Providence Athletic Association, the Churchman's Club of Rhode Island and the Arkwright Club of New York, and has been Secretary of the Harvard Club of Rhode Island from 1889 to the present time. In politics he is a Republican, and was a member of the Republican City Committee in 1890-92. He was married, November 25, 1885, to Miss Margaret Cochran Barbour, by whom he has three children : John Prescott, born February 8, 1888; William Barbour, born September 7, 1892 ; and Claudius Ralph Farnsworth, born March 25, 1895
Source: Rhode Island Men in Progress - Submitted by Marie Miller
FOLSOM, Fred William, sailmaker, Providence, is a native of Wiscasset. Maine, born April 16, 1848, son of Samuel C. and Ann E. (Dammon) Folsom. His ancestry on both sides were among the early pioneers in Maine, on his father's side settlers in Starks j on his mother's side he is a descendant of the Newburys of Newburyport, Mass., who went to Maine in 1765. His educational advantages were confined to the district school of his native town. After working more or less in the lumber mills of Wiscasset, at the age of seventeen he apprenticed himself to John Topham and learned the business of sail-making. In 1871 he came to Providence and went to work at his trade for George S. Dow. After serving in this connection for quite a long term of years, in 1884 he bought a half interest with Albert Jillson, and upon the latter's death, which occurred early in 1894, he assumed the control and management of the business, under the firm name of Fred W. Folsom & Company. They have lately removed from the old stand in South Water street to new and commodious quarters at 108 Dyer street, where they now have one of the largest and best equipped establishments for the manufacture of sails, awnings, tents, canopies, etc., in the state. Mr. Folsom is prominently connected with various fraternal orders, being Past Grand of Eagle Lodge No. 2 I. O. O. F., Past Chief Patriarch of Moshassuck Encampment No. 2 I. O. 0. F., Past Councilor of Narragansett Council No. 2 Order of United American Mechanics, and Past Commander Canton W. S. Johnson No. i I. O O. F. Besides the above named, he is a member of Providence Lodge No. 17 Knights of Pythias, the Rhode Island Yacht Club, and the Ninety-two Club of Boston. He is a Republican in politics. He was married, January 8, 1887, to Miss Dora A. Whit-marsh ; they have no children.Source: Rhode Island Men in Progress - Submitted by Marie Miller
FOSTER, Samuel, retired manufacturer, Providence, was born in Dudley, Mass., October 13, 1803, the son of Abel and Mary (Tucker) Foster. He is descended from old and honorable New England stock. His great-grandfather, Timothy Foster of Dudley, Mass., had twelve sons and four daughters, and with all his sons served in the Revolutionary war, the aggregate service of the father and sons being sixty years, a circumstance probably unparalleled in that of any other conflict. His son Timothy, the grandfather of Samuel, served in the French war, enlisting as a private at the age of sixteen : he afterwards served in the Revolution during the war, enlisting as a private and being promoted to a Lieutenant, and was wounded. His brother John, when a boy, lived with General Israel Putnam at Pomfret, Conn.; he served in the French war under Putnam and was in the battle of the Plains of Abraham, where General Wolfe was killed ; he afterwards married, and continued to work for Putnam until the outbreak of the Revolution when with his employer he left the plough for the army ; he served under Putnam during the war and was gone eight years, and after the conclusion of the war, settled in Littleton, Mass., where he died in extreme old age. Joseph, another of the twelve brothers, enlisted in the army of the Revolution at the age of only thirteen years. Samuel Foster received his education in the common schools, and came to Providence in 1820, where he became clerk for Philip and Charles Potter in the retail grocery business. In 1825 he formed a co-partner-ship with his brother William under the firm name of S. & W, Foster, for the transaction of the whole-sale grocery business, which continued until 1877. In 1848 he associated with his brother William and John Atwood, for the manufacture of fine cotton goods, under the name of the Williamsville Manufacturing Company, of Killingly, Conn. He continued an owner in this corporation until 1S90, acting as its Treasurer from 1877. In January 1849, S. & W. Foster admitted Henry J. Burroughs as a partner, under the firm name of S. &. W. Foster & Co. Prior to the admission of Mr. Burroughs into the firm, S. & YV. Foster were for some time associated with H. S. Hutchins and William Pierce, under the name of Hutchins, Pierce & Co., doing a wholesale grocery business. In 1853, Addison Q. Fisher was admitted a member of the firm under the firm name of Foster, Burroughs & Fisher, wholesale grocers, which continued until 1858. On the death of Mr. P .Burroughs the business was continued' under the name of Fosters & Fisher. In 1864, James H. Bugbee was admitted a partner under the firm name of Fosters, Fisher & Company. In 1862, Thomas A. Randall was admitted a partner with S. & W. Foster, under the firm name of S. & IV, Foster & Co., for the transaction of a general cotton business; this firm was dissolved in 1866. In 1866 he formed a partnership with his sons and Addison Q. Fisher, under the firm name of Samuel Foster & Co., for the transaction of a general cotton business; this firm was dissolved in 1877. He was a Director in the Third National Bank and the Pawtuxet Bank for many years, and was also President of the First National Bank of Providence for a number of years. He sold out his interest in the Williamsville Manufacturing Company in 1890 to his partners, the Messrs. Atwood, grandchildren of his first partner, John Atwood. He is now a large owner in the Central Mills Company of Southbridge, Mass., manufacturers of cotton goods. He retired from active business in 1890. He is the senior member of the Providence Board of Trade, and has for many years been a member of the Squantum and other clubs, the Rhode Island Veteran Association and the Rhode Island Historical Society, and during his life he has been connected with many industries of various kinds as owner and manager, all of which has made his life one of great activity. He is the only survivor of a family of nine children. He married, June 10, 1841, Miss Priscilla Smith, sister of Amos D. and Gov. James Y. Smith; she died March 24, 1867. He married. May 13, 1880, Mrs. Aliph Elizabeth Brinley Cornell, who died August 21, 1890. He had six children by his first wife Ella Mitchell, who died April 24, 1878, Walter Smith, Louis Tucker, Frederic Leeds, James Herbert and Clara Dennison Foster font>Source: Rhode Island Men in Progress - Submitted by Marie Miller
FRANCIS, E. Charles, banker, was bora in Utica, N. Y , September 6, 1S51. son of Rev. Eben and Mary (Hunnewell) Francis. The Francis family is of old New England stock, Richard Francis having settled in Cambridge, Mass., in the early part of the seventeenth century, and died there on March 24, 1686 The family were prominent in Medford, Beverly and Cambridge, and.served with distinction in the Revolutionary war. He received his early education in the common schools and adopted banking as a business. In 1870 he became a clerk in the Woonsocket National Bank. He is now assistant cashier and member of the board of investment of the Woonsocket Institution for Savings. He has held numerous offices of trust and honor. He was Colonel on the personal staff of Gov. A. H. Littlefield. in 1880-81-82. He has been an assessor of taxes for Woonsocket since 1885, was a member of the Court House Commission in Woonsocket in 1891, and was elected Senator in the General Assembly from Woonsocket in 1894-95. He is a thirty-second degree Mason, a Knight Templar, a member of the lilitary Order of the Loyal legion, of the Sons of le American Revolution, and an associate member f Smith Post, G. A. R In politics he is a Repubican. He married, October 20,1886, Miss Gertrude Nourse : they have no children.Source: Rhode Island Men in Progress - Submitted by Marie Miller
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