Providence County Biographies
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WALKER, General William Russell., architect, Providence, and Deputy Grand Commander of the Grand Commandery Knights Templar of Massachusetts and RhodeIsland, was born in Seekonk, Mass. (now East Providence, R. L), April 14, 1830, the son of Alfred and Huldah Bardeen (Perry) Walker. He is a descendant in the third generation of John Walker of Rehoboth, Mass., who was a Sergeant in the Minute Men from Rehoboth in the Lexington alarm and in service during the war of the Revolution. John Walker was descended in the fourth generation from the Widow Walker, who came into the Plymouth Colony at a date unknown, and who was previous to 1643 one of the purchasers and proprietors of the town of Rehoboth. Who her husband was, or what part of the old country she came from, is unknown; but that she and her two sons were the founders of the family of Walker in Southern Massachusetts is unquestionable. The subject of this sketch attended the public schools of his native town, and after graduating from the Seekonk Classical Academy in 1846, went to Providence and became a builder's apprentice, serving for a term of three years, during which time he continued his studies and began mechanical and architectural drawing at the Schofield College. After completing his apprenticeship he removed to Augusta, Ga., remaining there for about a year, and then returned to Rhode Island and located in Pawtucket, where he has since resided. In 1864 he established himself as an architect in Providence, in which profession he has ever since been engaged. He has been closely identified with public life in his adopted city and the state, having served as a member of the Town Councils of both North Providence and Pawtucket, and also having served both towns as a member of the General Assembly of the state. At the breaking out of the Rebellion he was commissioned First lieutenant of Company C, First Regiment Rhode Island Detached Militia, and served until the mustering out of his regiment. He was a commissioned officer of the state militia for more than twenty years, retiring with the rank of Major General in June 1879. He is Past Commander of Tower Post G. A. R., and is at the present time a member of the Board of Park Commissioners of the city of Pawtucket. In politics he is a Republican, and was a delegate to the Republican National Convention at Chicago in 1888. General Walker became a member of Union Lodge No. 10, A. F. & A. M., in 1857, received his capitular degrees in Pawtucket Royal Arch Chapter No. 4, was knighted in Holy Sepulchre Commandery No. 8 in 1871, and has served three terms as Eminent Commander of that body. He is a member of Providence Consistory Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, and of Palestine Temple Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. In the Grand Commandery of Knights Templar of Massachusetts and Rhode Island he has filled the offices of Grand Lecturer, Grand Standard Bearer, Grand Junior Warden, Grand Senior Warden, Grand Captain-General and Grand Generalissimo, and at the annual session of that body in October 1895 he was elected Deputy- Grand Commander, which office he now holds. General Walker was married in 1852 to Miss Eliza Billings Hall, daughter of Nathan Hall of Providence; she passed away February 21, 1896; they had two children: George Clifton, born November 7, 1853, died June 1, 1S83; and William Howard, born January 19, 1856, who resides in Pawtucket and is associated in business with his father, under the name of William R. Walker & Son, as architects in Providence.
Source: Rhode Island Men of Progress - Submitted by Cathy Schultz
WILCOX, George Dawley, physician and surgeon, Providence, was born in West Greenwich, R. I., August 28, 1825, son of John and Dorcas (Tanner) Wilcox. He came from Revolutionary ancestry on both sides. He received his early education in the common schools, and graduated in medicine from the University of New York in 1849. He began the practice of medicine in his native town in the spring of 1849. In 1852, he removed to Phenix Village, Warwick, R. I. In 1856, he became associated with Dr. A. Howard Okie, in Providence. In 1858 he went to Germany and pursued his medical studies in Vienna, Prague and Leipsic for two years, and then went to London, where he was appointed Medical Interne to the London Homoeopathic Hospital, Great Ormond Street. He resumed practice in Providence in 1860. In 1870 he became associated with Dr. Ira Barrows, with whom he remained in partnership until the death of the latter in 1882. From that time he has been associated with Dr. Annie W. Hunt, a former pupil. In May, 1862, he was commissioned Surgeon of the Tenth Regiment, Rhode Island Volunteers, and served with the regiment in the field. In July 1884 he was appointed by Governor Bourne one of the two Medical Examiners for the city of Providence for six years, and was re-appointed at the end of that time, and resigned after serving a year. He is a member of the Rhode Island Homoeopathic Medical Society, honorary member of the Medico-Legal Society of Rhode Island and the British Homoeopathic Medical Society of London, and Corresponding Mitglied des Homoeopathischen Central Vereins of Leipzig. In politics he is a Republican, but has not taken an active part in public affairs. In 1854 he married Miss Mary Fry, who died September 17,1857 ; they had one son, Frank Howard. In 1862 he married Miss Mary Caroline, daughter of Rev. Daniel Leach, of Boston, Mass.; by this union were two children: Mary Lawton and Alice Palmer Wilcox.
Source: Rhode Island Men of Progress - Submitted by Cathy Schultz
WILLIAMS, Horace Newell, physician and surgeon, Providence, was born in Uxbridge, Mass., January 2, 1861, son of Nicholas B. and Charlotte E. (Newell) Williams. He received his early education in the public schools and the High School of Uxbridge. Adopting medicine as his profession he entered the Bellevue Medical College, New York, from which he graduated in 1882. He then served in the surgical department at Bellevue Hospital, from which he graduated in 1884. In that year he established himself in Providence, where he has secured an extensive and lucrative practice. In 1885 he was appointed Assistant Surgeon to the First Light Infantry Regiment and served until 1888. He is a member of the Rhode Island State Medical Society, the Providence Medical Association, and of the Society of the Alumni of Bellevue Hospital. He is a member of Solomon Temple A. F. S: A. M., of Uxbridge, of Providence Royal Arch Chapter and St. John's Commandery. He married, April 30, 1890. Miss Carrie L. Peirce; they have one child, Charlotte Peirce Williams.Source: Rhode Island Men of Progress - Submitted by Cathy Schultz
WILLIAMS, Alfred Mason, journalist and author, was born in Taunton, Mass., October 23, 1840, son of Lloyd Hall and Prudence King (Padelford) Williams. His remote ancestry on both sides were Welsh. His ancestor, Richard Williams, came from Taunton, Somersetshire, England, and founded the town of Taunton, Mass. His great-grandfather, James Williams, was a captain during the Revolutionary war, and for a long series of years town clerk of Taunton. His great uncle, John Mason Williams, was Chief Justice of the Common Plea Court of Massachusetts. His maternal ancestors for several generations were seafaring men. He received his early education in the public and private schools of Taunton, and was fitted for college at Bristol Academy. He entered Brown University in the class of 1860, but was compelled to leave before the completion of the course on account of weakness of the eyes brought on by over use. During the civil war he enlisted in Company K, Fourth Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers, and took part in the Louisiana campaign under General Banks. Having written some letters from the war to the newspapers, he was invited, on his return at the expiration of his term of service, to accept a position as reporter on the Taunton Daily Gazette. In 1865 he was appointed by the New York Tribune to report the Fenian disturbance in Ireland. On landing at Queenstown he was arrested on suspicion of being a Fenian emissary and detained a week, while his papers were being examined in Dublin. When it was discovered that he was no more dangerous a personage than a newspaper correspondent, he was released, and he reported the trials of O'Donovan Rossa and other Fenian leaders in Dublin, besides giving sketches of the people and country for several American newspapers. On his return he took the position of city editor of the Gazette, and was afterward managing editor. In 1868 he was elected a Representative to the Massachusetts Legislature and re-elected the following year by unanimous vote of both parties. In the fall of 1869 he went West and established the Neosho Journal in Neosho, a town in the southwest corner of Missouri near the Indian Territory. While there he spent much time with the Indians in the Territory, and was secretary pro tem. of the last grand council of all the tribes held at Okmulgee in the Creek Nation. Camp life and exposure during a peculiarly wet season brought on a severe attack of fever and ague, which compelled him to abandon his enterprise and return East. He obtained a position on the local staff of the Providence Journal, and after about six months was promoted to the position of chief editorial writer, which he held until the death of George W. Danielson in 1884, when he became editor-in-chief. He held this position, acquiring also a share in the corporation, until 1891, when he resigned while on a visit to Europe. Since his retirement he has contributed a large number of articles to magazines and newspapers on literary and kindred subjects. He has published "The Poets and Poetry of Ireland " with Historical and Critical Essays and Notes, Boston, Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1880; an introduction to the popular edition of the poems of Sir Samuel Fergerson, Dublin, Seeley, Bryers & Walker, 1887; "Sam Houston and the War of Independence in Texas," Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1893; "Studies in Folk Song and Popular Poetry," Houghton, Mifflin & Co., London, Eliot Stock, 1894. In 1882 he received the honorary degree of A. M. from Brown University. In 1888 he was elected a trustee of the Public Library of Providence and has held that position since, serving on the library committee and as chairman of the committee to purchase a site and procure plans for a new building. He was one of the charter members and an early Commander of William H. Bartlett Post 3, G. A. R., Department of Massachusetts, and has been Vice-President of the Fourth Regiment Veteran Association. He was the founder and the first President of the Providence Press Club. He is a member of the English and American Folk-Lore societies, of the Irish Literary Society of London, of the American Historical Society, of the Indian Rights Association, of the Sons of the American Revolution, and the United States Veteran Volunteer Association of Rhode Island. He married, July 5, 1870, Miss Cora Allen Leonard of Taunton, Mass., who died December 11, 1886 ; he has no children.Source: Rhode Island Men of Progress - Submitted by Cathy Schultz
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