Bristol County Biographies

FARRALLY, William Henry, co-editor and proprietor of the Bristol, R. I., Phoenix, was born in Pittsfield, Mass., April 2, 1859, the son of John and Juliette E. (Rogers) Farrally. His father was born in the northern part of Ireland and came to this country when a young man; he served during the war of the Rebellion and was honorably discharged.  On his mother’s side he comes from old Revolutionary stock  his maternal grandfather was Captain Joseph Rogers, who served in the war of 1812, and  his great-grandfather, Captain Joseph Rogers, served in the war of the Revolution. He received his early education in the public schools, and in the high school of Great Barrington, Mass. He learned the printing trade when fifteen years of age in the office of the Berkshire Courier at Great Barrington, where he served seven years, and then accepted the foremanship of the New Milford Gazette, at New Milford, Conn. He was general superintendent there for ten years, and in September 1892 purchased a half interest in the Saturday Record of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and was business manager for two years.   In November 1894 he purchased the Bristol, R.I., Phoenix, in connection with his brother, Joseph Franklin Farrally, who had had a thorough training in the business with Clark M. Bryan of Spring-field, Mass,, and others.   Since that time they have changed the Phoenix from a weekly to a semi-weekly, and greatly enlarged and improved the business in all its departments, being the pioneers of semi-weekly journalism in the state.    He has never engaged in politics or public life, preferring to devote himself strictly to a business career.   He is a member of the executive committee of the Valley Club, a business men’s club of New Milford, Conn. In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, he was a member of the Fifth District Editorial Association.   He is a member of the Southern Rhode Island Press Club and of the Bristol Improvement Society.   He married, October 17,1894, in St. Stephen’s Church, Ridgefield, Conn., Miss Gertrude Adams Scott, daughter of ex-judge Hiram K. Scott of Ridsrcfield.

Source: Rhode Island Men in Progress - Submitted by Erica Beatty

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