History of Bristol, (Bristol County) Rhode Island United States of America

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Local History Notes:

BRISTOL, a county in the E. central part of Rhode Island, has an area of about 25 square miles, being the smallest county in the state. It is bounded on the E. by Mount Hope bay, and on the S. and W. by Narraganset bay. It enjoys almost unrivalled facilities for navigation and the fisheries; a large amount of capital is invested in the whale fishery. The surface is somewhat uneven. Mount Hope, once the residence of the Indian king, Philip, is the greatest elevation. The soil is very fertile. Indian corn, oats, potatoes, and grass are the staples. In 1850 this county produced 25,451 bushels of corn; 11,075 of oats; 24,898 of potatoes; 3062 tons of hay; and 32,262 pounds of butter. There were 3 cotton factories, 1 hinge and 1 nail factory, 1 brass foundry, 1 iron foundry, 2 ship-building establishments, 2 cordage factories, 3 chandleries, and 2 brick yards. It contained 10 churches and 2 newspapers; 1103 pupils attending public schools, and 376 attending academies and other schools. This county was organized in 1746. Capital, Bristol. Population, 8514.

Biographies:

James De wolf, senator, was born in Bristol, R.I., March 18, 1764; son of Mark Anthony and Abigail (Potter) De Wolf. During the Revolutionary war he shipped as a sailor on a privateer, and before reaching his majority was master of a vessel. He soon acquired a large fortune and returning to his native place he engaged in extensive commercial ventures, principally with Cuba and Other West India islands. He also accumulated large sums of money in the slave trade. At the outbreak of the war of 1812 he sent out the private armed brig-of-war, Yankee, which in three years captured nearly $5,000,000 worth of British property. In 1812 he built the Arkwright mills in Coventry, R.I., and carried them on with increasing success. He represented Bristol in the general assembly for nearly thirty years. In 1821 he was elected a U.S. senator, and served until 1825 when he resigned his seat to attend to his private affairs. He was married to a daughter of William Bradford, U.S. senator. He died in New York city, Dec. 21, 1837.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Francis M. Dimond, governor of Rhode Island, was born in Bristol, R.I., in 1796. He attended school in Bristol and later resided in Cuba for several years. He represented the United States as consul at Port au Prince, removed to New Orleans, La., and was subsequently United States consul at Vera Cruz, Mexico, where he acquired a knowledge of the harbor of Vera Cruz that was used to great advantage by the government in the Mexican war. He was official interpreter to General Scott after the capture of Vera Cruz, and he was appointed collector of the city. He afterward returned to Bristol, R.I., and was elected lieutenant-governor of the state for the year 1853-54. On the resignation of Gov. Philip Allen to accept the office of U.S. senator, he was his successor for the unexpired term. Subsequently he became interested in the coustruction of the Southern Pacific railway and was elected president of the company. He died in Bristol, R.I., in 1858.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

John Brown Francis Herreshoff, chemist, was born in Bristol, R.I., Feb. 7, 1850; son of Charles Frederick and Julia Ann (Lewis) Herreshoff. He attended Brown university and was assistant professor of analytical chemistry there, 1869-72. In 1874 he removed to New York city, where he engaged in business as a manufacturing chemist. He was married, Feb. 9, 1876, to Grace Eugenia, daughter of John Dyer, of Providence. He became superintendent of the Laurel Hill chemical works on Long Island in 1876, and soon afterward invented a remarkable process for the manufacture of sulphuric acid. The business under his direction became the largest of the kind in America. Brown university conferred upon him the honorary degree of A.M. in 1890.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Mark Antony De Wolfe Howe, first bishop of Central Pennsylvania and 99th in succession in the American episcopate, was born in Bristol, R.I., April 5, 1808; only child of John and Louisa (Smith) Howe; grandson of Capt. Perley and Abigail D'Wolf Howe and of Stephen and Ruth (Bosworth) Smith; great grandson of the Rev. Perley Howe; of Mark Antony and Abigail (Potter) D'Wolf, and of Samuel and Eliza (Drown) Smith; and a descendant of James Howe, who came in 1637 to Roxbury, and in 1638 settled in Ipswich, Mass., and of Richard Smith, who settled in Bristol, R.I., in 1680 and was clerk of the town. Bishop Howe's grandfather, Capt. Perley Howe, an ardent patriot in the American Revolution, was impoverished by investing in Continental money and spent his last days as a seacher in Hartford and Weathersfield, Conn. His father, John Howe, was born at Killingly, Conn., July 5, 1783, was graduated at Brown in 1805; admitted to the bar in 1808, practised law in Bristol, Conn., 1808-41; was a state representative for several years; collector of customs, 1841-45; farmer, 1845-53; died at the home of his son, Bishop Howe, in Philadelphia, Pa., March 14, 1864. Mark Antony De Wolfe Howe was a pupil of the village school; attended the villageacademywhich was taught by two divinity students of Bishop Griswold, one of them the Rev. Stephen H. Tyng; and received his final preparation for college at Phillips academy, Andover, Mass., and under private tuition at South Kingston and Taunton. He college in 1824 and in 1826 changed to Brown, where he was graduated, A.B., 1828; A.M., 1831. He was usher in the Adams school, Boston, 1828, and head master of the Hawes school, South Boston, 1829-30. He was confirmed in St. Matthew's church, South Boston, by Bishop Griswold in 1830; was a student of theology under the Rev. Mr. Bristed in Bristol, 1830-31, and tutor in Brown university, 1831-32. He was ordained deacon in January, 1832, and priest in February, 1833, by Bishop Griswold. He was assistant and rector of St. Matthew's church, South Boston, Mass., 1832-33; rector of St. James's parish, Roxbury, 1833-34; of Christ church, Cambridge, 1834-35; and of St. James's church, Roxbury, 1836-46. He served as associate editor of the Christian Witness, Boston, 1834-45; declined a call to St. Paul's church, Louisville, Ky., 1845; and was rector of St. Luke's church, Philadelphia. Pa., 1846-71. He was a candidate for election for bishop coadjutor to Bishop Potter of Pennsylvania in 1862 and a deadlock in the contest between him and Dr. Stevens was decided by lot in favor of the latter. In 1865 he was elected missionary bishop of Nevada, which diocese included Utah, New Mexico and Arizona, but declined the office. In November, 1871, he was elected bishop of the newly erected diocese of Central Pennsylvania and was consecrated in St. Luke's church, Philadelphia, Dec. 28, 1871, by his uncle, Bishop Smith, of Kentucky, assisted by Bishops McHvaine, Lee, Potter, Clark, Bedell, Kerfoot and Morris. In 1884 he was given a coadjutor in the person of Bishop Rulison. He was a deputy to the general convention, 1850-71; secretary of the house of clerical and lay deputies, 1850-52; trustee of Brown university, 1872-90; a fellow of Brown university, 1890-93; a member of the Pan-Anglican conference, London, 1878; a founder of the Episcopal hospital, Philadelphia, and corporate trustee of the Philadelphia Divinity school. He celebrated the fifteenth anniversary of his ordination at Christ cathedral, Reading, Pa., Jan. 15, 1882. He received from Brown the degree of D.D. in 1849 and from the University of Pennsylvania that of LL.D. in 1876. He was married, Oct. 16, 1833, to Julia Bowen Amory, who died in February, 1841, leaving two daughters, Louisa and Mary. He was twice married: first, June 17, 1843, to Elizabeth Smith Marshall, of Bristol, R.I.; and secondly, June 9, 1857, to Eliza Whitney, who survived him, as did seven sons and one daughter. His daughter Mary was married in October, 1861, to the Rev. William Hobart Hare, afterward Bishop of South Dakota. His son, the Rev. Reginald Heber , was in 1900 rector of the Church of Our Saviour, Longwood, Brookline, Mass., and Frank Perley (A.B., Brown, 1872; E. M., Lehigh, 1878) and Arthur Whitney (A.B., Brown, 1880) became manufacturers of iron and steel in Philadelphia, Pa. Bishop Howe's published works include: Review of the Report of the Boston Public Schools (1845); Introductory Essays to Butler's Bishop Heber's Poems (1857); Loyalty in the American Republic (1803); Memoirs of the Life and Services of Bishop Alonzo Potter (1871); Charge to Clergy, &c. (1886). He died at Bristol, R.I., July 31, 1895.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor