Providence, Rhode Island Biographies

HARRIS, George Albert, physician and surgeon, was born in North Scituate, R. I., May 19, 1855, the son of James Arnold and Elizabeth Wheeler (Potter) Harris. He is descended from Gideon Harris, one of the earliest settlers of the town of Scituate. Gideon was born March 15,1714, and was the great-grandson of Thomas Harris, who in company with his brother William, Roger Williams, and others, sailed from Bristol, England, in the ship Lyon, William Peirce master, December 1, 1630, landing at Nantasket, Mass., on the 5 th of February following; he settled in Providence in 1638 and died there in 1686. Dr. Harris received his early education at Lap barn Institute, North Scituate, graduating in the class of 1873. After graduation he taught school for a year, and then passed two years in railroad surveying under Edward Everett, a nephew of the statesman of the same name. He began the study of medicine in 1876 with his maternal uncle. Dr. Albert Potter of Chepachet, and graduated from the Columbia College Medical School (the College of Physicians and Surgeons), New York, in the class of 1880. He first settled at Greenville, R. I, and remained there nearly a year, when he was called to Chepachet on account of the illness of his preceptor, and has remained there since. He has been a member of the school committee for nine years. He has been Medical Examiner for District No. 3, Providence county, since 1884. He is a member of the Rhode Island Medical Society, of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and of the Rhode Island Medico-Legal Society. He has always been greatly interested in musical affairs and has been chorister of the Chepachet Church for the past seven years. He was converted under the ministry of Rev. Richard K. Wickett. He has been treasurer of the church since 1887, and deacon since 1893. He has been active in the Christian Endeavor movement. In politics he is a Republican. A careful and conscientious practitioner of medicine, he yet believes that the truest “ Men of Progress” are those who work most industriously for the spiritual welfare of their fellowmen. He married, June 2, 1879, Miss Ella Louise Smith; they have had one child: Amey Elizabeth, born and died June 6, 1889.

Source: Rhode Island Men in Progress - Submitted by Marie Miller

HEMENWAY, Herbert Lewis, ]ate Resident Manager in Providence for Norcross Brothers, con-tractors and builders of Worcester, Mass., was born March 2, 1864, in North Leverett, Mass.. the son of Elihu and Hepsibath Mary (Loring) Hemenway. His ancestry on the father’s and mother’s side were of good old New England stock, of English descent with some admixture of Dutch and Irish. He received his early education in the “little red school-house “ at North Leverett, the high school at Montague, Mass., and Powers Institute at Bernardston, Mass. He graduated from Eastman’s National Business College, Poughkeepsie, N. Y., in 1881. He worked on his father’s farm at North Leverett, when not attending school, until 1880. In 1880 and part of 1881 he was employed in the New Home Sewing Machine Company’s factory. After his course in the business college he worked as an apprentice at the carpenter’s trade with J. L. Car ll, of Greenfield, Mass. In the winter of 1882-83 he was bookkeeper for Emil Weissbrod, manufacturer of pocketbooks at Montague, Mass., and in the summer of 1883 was employed as a carpenter by John Huxley, of Northampton, Mass. In September 1883 he entered the employ of Bartlett Brothers, contractors and builders, of East Whately, Mass., afterwards North Adams, Mass., to complete his mechanical education. In 1885 he became foreman carpenter for the firm in the construction of the Belchertown Library. He was superintendent of construction of the Dedham Library in 1887-88, severing his connection in June 1888 to enter the employ of Norcross Brothers, and superintend the construction of the station at Springfield the Boston & Albany Railroad in 1888-91, and of the Youth’s Companion Building, Boston, in 1891-5 He has been resident manager of the firm Providence since 1892, and superintended the construction of the Industrial Trust Company’s building, the Telephone building, a large building of the Brown & Sharpe Company, and other important works. On December 14, 1895, he terminated his relations with Norcross Brothers,and intends entering into the building business on his own account at a early date. He is a member of Constellation Lodge A. F. & A. M. Dedham, Mass.; Royal Arc Chapter, Providence: Providence Council, R. 1 S. M.; St. John’s Commandery, Knights Templar Providence Chapter, Order of Eastern Star, an Palestine Temple, A. O. N. M. S. He is a member of the Providence Athletic Club. In politics he is an Independent Republican. He married, March 28, 1889, Miss Alice Maud Spaulding; they have two children: Carlotta Efne and Loring Spaulding Hemenway.

Source: Rhode Island Men in Progress - Submitted by Marie Miller

HILL, Lester Seneca, physician and surgeon, was born in Foster, R.I., December 19, 1843, son of Jirah and Amey Whipple (Ormsbee) Hill. He received his early education in the district schools and his physical training on the paternal farm, where “the trees grew big and the rocks grew bigger.” During the civil war he enlisted, September 1861, at the age of seventeen, in Battery E, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, and served in First Division, Third Corps, Army of the Potomac, till December 1863, when he was appointed Second Lieutenant Company F, Fourteenth Rhode Island Heavy Artillery, serving with this regiment in the Department of the Gulf until October 1865. He was at the siege of Yorktown, the battle of Williamsburg, the Seven Days’ battles before Richmond, White Oak Swamp, Malvern Hill, Second Bull Run, Chantilly, Fredericksburg and Gettysburg. On the completion of his term of service he resumed his studies and graduated from Wesleyan Academy, Wilbraham, Mass., in 1870. He entered the Medical College of the University of the City of New York, and graduated in 1872 with the degree of M. D. He then commenced the practice of medicine in Providence, where he has remained since. He has been a member of the School Committee of Providence for fifteen years. He was elected a Member of the House of Representatives of the General Assembly in 1872-73. He has been Grand Master of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows of Rhode Island, and is a member of the Grand Lodge and Grand Chapter A. F. & A. M. of Rhode Island. He was Medical Director of the Department of Rhode Island G- A. R. for three years. He is a member of the Massachusetts Commander of Loyal Legion. In 1894 he was assistant surgeon-general of Rhode Island Militia, with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. He is a member of the Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, and of the Rhode Island Medical Society. In politics he is a Republican.

Source: Rhode Island Men in Progress - Submitted by Marie Miller

HOLBROOK, Albert, manufacturer, Providence, was born in Providence, February 5, 1813, son of Abel and Sally (Hopkins) Holbrook. He was one of the originators of the firm of A. & C. W. Holbrook, manufacturers of raw-hide goods, principally at first of loom pickers, but developing into numerous other articles composed of that material. This business is at the present time managed by his three sons, George A., Albert, Jr., and Charles W. Holbrook 2nd. At its origin, in 1842, the firm name was the same as today; the Charles W. Holbrook associated with him being his brother, about six years his junior. His paternal ancestral line, so far as known, starts from Thomas Holbrook, who emigrated from England in 1635 and settled in Weymouth, Mass., and runs through John, Ichabod, David,’ Ichabod, Nathaniel, Abel and Albert Holbrook. The ancestral home was soon changed to Braintree, Mass., where Abel was born April 5, 1788. About the year 1812 Abel removed to Providence, where he became acquainted with Sally Hopkins and made her his wife. Sally’s ancestral line ran from Thomas Hopkins, son of William and Joanna (Arnold) Hopkins, born in England, April 7, 1616, and continuing through Thomas, Amos, Uriah, Sally and Albert. Four children were born to Abel and Sally: Albert, February 5, 1813; Harriet, June 23, 1814; Charles, July 21, 1816; who died in childhood; and Charles William, January 6, 1819. Mr. Holbrook’s early life was very inauspicious, being left fatherless when six years old and motherless before the age of twelve. In his twelfth year, November 1824, he was sent to live with Benjamin Lewis, who had married a relative, with the understanding that he was to serve an apprenticeship with Mr. Lewis, learning the trade as a mason. This arrangement was early, and it might be said prematurely, entered upon, for in the early summer following his twelfth birthday he was found engaged as a bricklayer on a building being erected at the North End in Providence, by William Randall. This was followed up by a continuance in the various branches of the mason trade, which then embraced many features now divided up into separate and special pursuits and vocations. For about ten months in 1827-8 he labored upon the Providence Arcade, and at the time of this writing (1895) is probably the only living person who was engaged in this department of its construction. Among other prominent buildings in the construction of which he was engaged was the Newport Steam Factory, in the summer of 1831, followed in the autumn of that year by a short service on the Number One Mill of the Lonsdale Company in Smithfield. In 1833, April 30, at the solicitation of his uncle, Benjamin Holbrook, who was a member of the firm of J. Cunliff & Co., manufacturers of loom pickers, he entered into their employment and continued in this position until August 1842, when he associated with his brother, as before noted. This connection lasted until June 1868, when Charles retired, and Albert’s sons, as hereto-fore stated, joined with their father in the continuance of the business. Advancing age with its infirmities prompted his retirement from the firm after his three sons were established, but his personal interest in its growth and success remains unabated. He has also been greatly interested in genealogical and historical matters, and for the past twenty years or more has devoted much time to research and investigation in this line of study, embodying many of the results of his labors in publications of various kinds, through the press and periodicals as well as in pamphlet and book form. His efforts in this line of work have been of great public value and widespread interest, generally taking a broad range, covering a large field, and his services have been ever and freely at the command of any and all inquirers who have approached him with general or specific queries relating to his favorite subjects in which they were interested. That such service has been keenly appreciated is evidenced by the many authors whose acknowledgments appear in their publications, and by the multitude of letters of inquiry he has received from different persons resident in the state and abroad. The class of historical matter, outside the genealogical, to which he has especially devoted himself, is mainly confined to details pertaining to the North End, in Providence. A serial of several numbers, entitled “Ancient North End Landmarks, by an Old Resident,” covered a large field and showed up the forgotten origin of many old homesteads, with details of the personal history of some of the people connected with them. In the genealogical field, one of his most interesting works was published in 1881, entitled “One Line of the Hopkins Family,” coversine the line of Governor Stephen Hopkins and his brother the Commodore, but not the one from which the author descended; although comparatively brief, it embraces nearly every male member belonging to the line that bore the name of Hopkins, and all females born of that line. The line to which the author belongs were more numerous — excessively so; he intended to follow this out, but the task was beyond his strength, with his numerous other cares, although under the title of “Notes on the Hopkins Family” he contributed several articles to the Narragansett Historical Register. At an early period in his life he was very familiar with the famous Commodore’s family then living, and was frequently sent to the old homestead on errands, briefly alluded to in the genealogical work referred to. As his grandfather Uriah Hopkins and the Commodore were second cousins, the association between the author’s people and the Commodore’s descendants continued until most of the latter had passed away. The subject of this sketch was married, January 8, 1838, to Miss Abby Olney Angell, who was born June 23, 1811, and died December 24, 1886; five children were born to them: George Abel, October 14, 1838, graduated at Brown University, class of 1861; Frank Pinckney, May 14, 1842, died young; Albert, Jr., October 7, 1845 ; Charles William, September to, 1848, and Uriah Hopkins Holbrook, November 10, 1850, graduated at Brown University 1874 and at Harvard Medical School in 1877, entered into practice as a physician in Providence with promising success, but died suddenly May 8, 1884.

Source: Rhode Island Men in Progress - Submitted by Marie Miller

HORTON, Horace Francis, real estate dealer. Providence was born in Rehoboth, Mass., January 2, 1838, son of Ellis and Mary Eliza (Craw) Horton. He received his early education in the public schools and at Schofield’s Commercial College, Providence. He first engaged in the grocery business in co-partnership with Major E. S. Horton, from 1859 to 1861, and from 1864 to 1872 with Henry J. Anthony. From 1872 to the present time he has been engaged in the real estate, mortgage and insurance business, giving special attention to the development of land in the vicinity of Providence. He has taken an active part in the religious work of the Baptist society, and has been for twenty-three years Superintendent of the Sunday school of the Jefferson Street Church. He was President of the Rhode Island Baptist Sunday School Convention in 1878 and 1879, and was President of the Rhode Island Baptist Social Union in 1893. He is a director in the executive board of the Rhode Island Baptist State Convention. He married, January 15, 1862, Miss Susan M. Anthony: they have six children: Henry Annie M., Clarence H., Fred E., Marion L. and Laura E. Horton.

Source: Rhode Island Men in Progress - Submitted by Marie Miller

HOWARD, Hiram, manufacturer of silverware, was born in West Woodstock, Windham County, Conn., November 26, 1834, son of Warner and Mary (Taft) Howard. He is descended from good old New England stock, and is connected with the Taft, Olney, Knowlton and Ellis families of Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. He received his early education in the public schools of his native town, at the academies at Ashford and South Woodstock in the same county, and at Dr. Cook’s private school for boys in Webster, Mass. At the age of eighteen he left school and settled in Providence, where he commenced his business career. In 1857 he went to New York, where he engaged in the wholesale jewelry business until the breaking out of the war in 1861. September 18, 1861, he enlisted in the Second Regiment of Artillery, New York Volunteers, serving at first as Second Lieutenant, and afterward as First Lieutenant and Adjutant. He remained in the army until July 1864, nearly three years, when he returned to New York, and again engaged in the jewelry business. In 1881 he returned to Providence and embarked in the manufacture of jewelry, which he conducted successfully for several years, and then engaged in the manufacture of sterling silverware. At the present time he is president of the Howard Sterling Silverware Company, Providence, his son Stephen C., being associated with him in the management. He has taken an active interest in public affairs and in the social and economic questions of the day. In May 1877 the New York Free Trade Club was formed and he became a member in July of the same year, retaining his membership until it was merged into the Reform Club of New York, of which he is consequently one of the oldest members. In 1890-91 he was elected a Representative to the General Assembly from Providence on the Democratic ticket, and in 1889 was the candidate of his party for the Mayoralty. He was appointed and served as a member of the Rhode Island Commission to the Columbian Exposition at Chicago. In politics he has always been a staunch Democrat, as were his father and grandfather before him. He is a member of the Advance Club, the Providence Athletic Association, the Providence Press Club, the Reform Club of New York, and other societies and organizations.

Source: Rhode Island Men in Progress - Submitted by Marie Miller