History of Smithfield, (Providence County) Rhode Island United States of America

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Biographies:

Peleg Arnold, jurist, was born at Smithfield, R. I., in 1752. He was admitted to the bar and practised his profession in his native state. He served in the general assembly of Rhode Island, and in 1787 was a delegate to the Continental congress, where he remained two years. He was appointed chief justice of the supreme court of the state serving, 1795-1809 and 1810-'12. He died in Smithfield, R.I., Feb. 13, 1820.

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

Elisha Bartlett, physician, was born at Smithfield, R.I. Oct. 6, 1805. After his graduation from the medical department of Brown university in 1826, he was appointed lecturer on pathological anatomy at the Berkshire medical institution. In 1838 he went to Dartmouth college, where for two years he filled the chair of the theory and practice of medicine and pathological anatomy. He was subsequently professor in the Transylvania college, Lexington, Ky., in the University of Maryland, and in the University of New York. In 1852 he was appointed to the chair of materia medica and medical jurisprudence in the College of physicians and surgeons, New York, holding the position until the year of his death. From 1843 to 1852 he lectured at the Vermont medical college. Among his published works are the following: "History, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Typhoid and Typhus Fever" (1842); "History, Diagnosis, and Treatment of the Fevers of the United States" (1847); "Inquiry into the Degree of Certainty in Medicine" (1848); "Brief Sketch of the Life of William Charles Wells" (1849); "Discourse on Times, Character, and Writings of Hippocrates" (1852), and "Simple Settings in Verse for Six Portraits and Pictures in Mr. Dickens's Gallery" (1855). He was also editor of the Monthly Journal of Medical Literature in Lowell. He died in the house in which he was born, July 18, 1855.

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

Arnold Buffum, abolitionist, was born at Smithfield, R. I., in January, 1782; son of Wm. Buffum, a prominent anti-slavery advocate. His ancestors were Quakers, and had been resident in America since its early settlement. He was educated at private schools in Smithfield and Newport, R. I.; first engaged in the manufacture of hats and afterwards in sheep-raising. He formed an intimacy with Lafayette in Paris in 1830, and on his return to America offered his services to William Lloyd Garrison to help effect the abolition of slavery. In 1832 the New England anti-slavery society was formed. It advocated immediate, rather than gradual abolition, and its constitution was signed by William Lloyd Garrison, Arnold Buffum and thirteen others. He was its second president and its first lecturer. He was an active temperance worker, and late in life a prominent member of the Republican party. He was married at Newport, R. I., in 1804, to Rebecca Gould, a descendant of Daniel Gould, who was whipped on Boston common in the seventeenth century for being a Quaker. He died in Eagleswood, N. J., in March, 1859.

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

Daniel Mowry, delegate, was born in Smithfield, R.I., Aug. 28, 1729; son of Capt. Daniel and Mary (Steere) Mowry; grandson of Capt. Joseph and Alice (Whipple) Mowry and of Thomas and Catherine Steere; great-grandson of Nathaniel and Johannah (Inman) Mowry; great2-grandson of Roger and Mary (Johnson) Mowry, who came from England to Boston in 1631 and whose son Nathaniel settled in Providence, R.I., in 1666. Daniel was brought up on his father's farm and learned the cooper's trade. He represented Smithfield and Glocester in the general assembly of Rhode Island, 1766-76; took an active part in pre-Revolutionary movements and served on many important committees of the Rhode Island Colonial assembly; was one of the census takers, 1774 and 1776; a member of the committee to supervise the erection of forts, 1776; judge of the court of common pleas, 1776-81; a member of the enrollment committee, 1777, and that on appraising taxable property, 1779. He was one of four delegates from Rhode Island to the Continental congress, 1781-82, serving for six months with Senator Varnum. He was also clerk of the town of Smithfield for twenty years. He was thrice married: first, Aug. 27, 1749, to Anne, daughter of Richard and Anne Philips, who died Sept. 13, 1753; secondly, Aug. 19, 1756, to Nancy, widow of Thomas Arnold, and thirdly to Catherine, daughter of Anthony and Rachel Steere, who died, April 4, 1827. He died in Smithfield, R.I., July 6, 1806.

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