Bristol County Biographies

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WARDWELL, William Thomas Church, lumber merchant and banker, was born in Bristol, R. I September 20, 1835, son of Hezekiah Church and Sallie (Gifford) Wardwell. He comes of good old New England stock, and is descended from William Wardwell, who landed in Boston in 1633; his son Uzelle came to Bristol on the settlement of the town in 1680, and his grandson, William, married the granddaughter of John Howland who came over in the Mayflower. From this union the subject of this sketch is descended. His mother, Sallie Gifford, was the lineal descendant of Sir Walter Gifford, who landed in Massachusetts Bay in 1630. His grandmother, Elizabeth Church, was a descendant of Captain Benjamin Church of Indian wars fame. He received his early education in the public schools and academy of Bristol, and was one of the first scholars in the high school in 1848. He first learned the business of a jeweler with Sackett, Davis & Potter of Providence, from 1853 to 1856, then spent some time in Cuba and the city of New York. He came back to Bristol in 1859, and with his brother. Samuel D. Wardwell, succeeded their father, Hezekiah C. Wardwell, who had been in the same business and the same place since the early part of the century, in the lumber business at the foot of Bradford street, corner of Thames. He continued in business with his brother until 1872, when he purchased his brother's interest, and continued the business until 1894, when the Wardwell Lumber Company was organized with W. T. C. Wardwell as President. He has taken an active part in public and business affairs. He has been a Representative and Senator in the General Assembly from Bristol and was Lieutenant-Governor of the State in 1890-91. He is President of the First National Bank of Bristol and a Director of the Industrial Trust Company of Providence. He is a member of the vestry of St. Michael's Church, Bristol. He is a member of the Masonic order to the thirty-second degree and has filled various offices in the organization up to Grand High Priest of the State of Rhode Island. He is a member of the Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. In politics he is a Democrat, and was the candidate of his party for Governor in 1893. He married, November 24, 1874, Miss Leonora Frances Gladding ; they have three children : Hezekiah Church, Bessie Uzelle and Marguerite Wardwell.

  Source: Rhode Island Men in Progress - Submitted by Cathy Schultz

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