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

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Biographies:

Samuel King, portrait painter, was born in Newport, R.I., Jan. 24, 1749; son of Benjamin and Mary (Haggar) King; grandson of Samuel and Mehitable (Marston) King, and a descendant of Daniel King, a large landholder who settled in Lynn, Mass., in 1647. His father removed to Newport from Boston, Mass., and engaged in making mathematical instruments. Samuel was a house painter in Boston, but soon returned to Newport and became a portrait painter, having been encouraged to do so by Cosmo Alexander, a Scotch portrait artist. He engaged in painting portraits in oil and miniatures on ivory, and also in teaching the art, and had among his pupils Edward G. Malbone, Anne Hall, and Washington Allston. He also learned the trade of manufacturing mathematical implements, and on the death of his father he took entire charge of the business. He was married to Amy Vernon. Among his portraits are those of Governor Mumford and his wife, Abraham Redwood, Dr. Isaac Senter and Stephen De Blois. He died at Newport, R.I., Dec. 30, 1819.

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

Othniel Foster Nichols, civil engineer, was born in Newport, R.I., July 29, 1845; son of Thomas Pitman and Lydia (Foster) Nichols; grandson of William Stoddard and Eliza (Pitman) Nichols, and of Othniel and Eunice (Browning) Foster, and a descendant of Sergt. Thomas Nichols, who emigrated from Wales to Newport, R.I., in 1660, and of John Foster of Salem, Mass., who settled in Rhode Island early in the seventeenth century. He attended the public schools of Brooklyn, N.Y.; was apprenticed to a machinist in 1862, and was graduated from the Rensselaer Polytechnic institute, C.E., 1868. He was employed on the laying out of Prospect park, Brooklyn, N.Y.; on the first elevated railway in New York city, and was a teacher of mathematics at the Cooper institute, N.Y. He was assistant engineer in the office of Cooper & Hewitt, 1870-71, and was engaged in constructing the tunnel divisions of the Lima and Oroza and of the Chimbote railroad, Peru, 1871-76. He was married, Nov. 21, 1876, to Jennie Swasey, daughter of Judge Samuel Sterne of Newport, R.I He was in Brazil as resident engineer of an English railway enterprise, 1878-79, and was employed by Cooper & Hewitt in the New Jersey Steel and Iron company at Trenton, 1879-81, and by the Peter Cooper glue factory in Brooklyn, in 1882. He was resident engineer of the Henderson bridge over the Ohio river, 1882-86, and chief engineer of the Westerly, R.I water works, 1886. He was principal assistant engineer of the Suburban Rapid Transit company in New York, 1887-88; city and chief engineer of the Brooklyn elevated railroad company, 1888-92, and was elected general manager and chief engineer of the latter, 1892. He was chosen principal assistant engineer of the new East River bridge in February, 1896. He was elected a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers; the American Society of Mechanical Engineers; the Institution of Civil Engineers; a fellow of the American Geographical society, and a trustee of the Engineers' club of New York city.

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

Jonathan J. Hazard, delegate, was born in Newport, R.I., in 1728; a descendant in the 5th generation of Thomas Hazard, an original proprietor of the Island of Aquidneck and a founder of Newport, R.I. He was an early advocate of separation from the mother country and in 1776 was a member of the general assembly of Rhode Island. In 1777 he was elected paymaster in the Continental battalion from Rhode Island and joined General Washington's army in New Jersey. In 1778 he was re-elected to the general assembly and was made one of the council of war. He continued as a member of the assembly by semi-annual re-election throughout the continuance of the war; was a leader of the paper money party in 1786, and was a delegate to the Continental congress, 1787-89. He was an Anti-Federalist and opposed the adoption of the Federal constitution before the state convention at South Kingstown, March, 1790, defeating the measure by a majority of seventeen. In the following May at the convention held at Newport he withdrew his opposition and the constitution was adopted by a majority of one. He was a member of the general assembly of Rhode Island, 1790-1805. He removed in 1805 to New York state and purchased a valuable estate in the Friends' settlement at City Hill, where he died in 1812.

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

Christopher Grant La farge, architect, was born in Newport, R.I., Jan. 5, 1862; son of John and Margaret (Perry) La Farge; grandson of Christopher Grant and Frances (Sergeant) Perry and of Jean Frederic de la Farge; great grandson of Com. Oliver Hazard and Elizabeth Champlin (Mason) Perry, and a descendant, through Frances Sergeant, of Benjamin Franklin and John Dickinson. He was taught to draw by his father whom he assisted in church decoration. He studied in Boston, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1880-81, and in the office of H. H. Richardson, 1882. He then joined his classmate George L. Heins who was established at Minneapolis, and in 1884 they returned to New York, where they took charge of the architectural work of John La Farge. In 1885 they formed a partnership as architects and their first work was upon commercial buildings in the west. In 1891 in competition with sixty-seven other architects for the plan of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York city, they were the successful designers. They also planned the interior of the Church of St. Paul the Apostle, and Church of the Incarnation, New York city; planned the church and rectory for Fourth Presbyterian church, New York city; St. Matthews church, Washington, D.C.; the Church of the Blessed Sacrament, Providence, R.I.; St. Paul's church and parish house, Rochester, N.Y.; Houghton Memorial chapel, Wellesley, Mass.; R. C. church and rectory, Tuxedo, N.Y.; R. C. chapel, West Point, N.Y.; Chapel and parish house of St. Michael's church, Geneseo, N.Y.; Church of the Reconciliation, Brooklyn, N.Y.; Lorillard and Matthiesen mausoleums, Woodlawn, N.Y.; alterations and extensions of Grace church, N.Y., 1901; and accessory buildings for the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. In 1899 his partner, Mr. Heins, was made state architect for the state of New York. Mr. La Farge was married, Sept. 5, 1895, to Florence Bayard, daughter of Benoni and Florence (Bayard) Lockwood and niece of the Hon. Thomas F. Bayard of Delaware.

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