Providence County Biographies
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WALKER, General William Russell., architect, Providence, and Deputy Grand Commander of the Grand Commandery Knights Templar of Massachusetts and RhodeIsland, was born in Seekonk, Mass. (now East Providence, R. L), April 14, 1830, the son of Alfred and Huldah Bardeen (Perry) Walker. He is a descendant in the third generation of John Walker of Rehoboth, Mass., who was a Sergeant in the Minute Men from Rehoboth in the Lexington alarm and in service during the war of the Revolution. John Walker was descended in the fourth generation from the Widow Walker, who came into the Plymouth Colony at a date unknown, and who was previous to 1643 one of the purchasers and proprietors of the town of Rehoboth. Who her husband was, or what part of the old country she came from, is unknown; but that she and her two sons were the founders of the family of Walker in Southern Massachusetts is unquestionable. The subject of this sketch attended the public schools of his native town, and after graduating from the Seekonk Classical Academy in 1846, went to Providence and became a builder's apprentice, serving for a term of three years, during which time he continued his studies and began mechanical and architectural drawing at the Schofield College. After completing his apprenticeship he removed to Augusta, Ga., remaining there for about a year, and then returned to Rhode Island and located in Pawtucket, where he has since resided. In 1864 he established himself as an architect in Providence, in which profession he has ever since been engaged. He has been closely identified with public life in his adopted city and the state, having served as a member of the Town Councils of both North Providence and Pawtucket, and also having served both towns as a member of the General Assembly of the state. At the breaking out of the Rebellion he was commissioned First lieutenant of Company C, First Regiment Rhode Island Detached Militia, and served until the mustering out of his regiment. He was a commissioned officer of the state militia for more than twenty years, retiring with the rank of Major General in June 1879. He is Past Commander of Tower Post G. A. R., and is at the present time a member of the Board of Park Commissioners of the city of Pawtucket. In politics he is a Republican, and was a delegate to the Republican National Convention at Chicago in 1888. General Walker became a member of Union Lodge No. 10, A. F. & A. M., in 1857, received his capitular degrees in Pawtucket Royal Arch Chapter No. 4, was knighted in Holy Sepulchre Commandery No. 8 in 1871, and has served three terms as Eminent Commander of that body. He is a member of Providence Consistory Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, and of Palestine Temple Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. In the Grand Commandery of Knights Templar of Massachusetts and Rhode Island he has filled the offices of Grand Lecturer, Grand Standard Bearer, Grand Junior Warden, Grand Senior Warden, Grand Captain-General and Grand Generalissimo, and at the annual session of that body in October 1895 he was elected Deputy- Grand Commander, which office he now holds. General Walker was married in 1852 to Miss Eliza Billings Hall, daughter of Nathan Hall of Providence; she passed away February 21, 1896; they had two children: George Clifton, born November 7, 1853, died June 1, 1S83; and William Howard, born January 19, 1856, who resides in Pawtucket and is associated in business with his father, under the name of William R. Walker & Son, as architects in Providence.
Source: Rhode Island Men of Progress - Submitted by Cathy Schultz
WILCOX, George Dawley, physician and surgeon, Providence, was born in West Greenwich, R. I., August 28, 1825, son of John and Dorcas (Tanner) Wilcox. He came from Revolutionary ancestry on both sides. He received his early education in the common schools, and graduated in medicine from the University of New York in 1849. He began the practice of medicine in his native town in the spring of 1849. In 1852, he removed to Phenix Village, Warwick, R. I. In 1856, he became associated with Dr. A. Howard Okie, in Providence. In 1858 he went to Germany and pursued his medical studies in Vienna, Prague and Leipsic for two years, and then went to London, where he was appointed Medical Interne to the London Homoeopathic Hospital, Great Ormond Street. He resumed practice in Providence in 1860. In 1870 he became associated with Dr. Ira Barrows, with whom he remained in partnership until the death of the latter in 1882. From that time he has been associated with Dr. Annie W. Hunt, a former pupil. In May, 1862, he was commissioned Surgeon of the Tenth Regiment, Rhode Island Volunteers, and served with the regiment in the field. In July 1884 he was appointed by Governor Bourne one of the two Medical Examiners for the city of Providence for six years, and was re-appointed at the end of that time, and resigned after serving a year. He is a member of the Rhode Island Homoeopathic Medical Society, honorary member of the Medico-Legal Society of Rhode Island and the British Homoeopathic Medical Society of London, and Corresponding Mitglied des Homoeopathischen Central Vereins of Leipzig. In politics he is a Republican, but has not taken an active part in public affairs. In 1854 he married Miss Mary Fry, who died September 17,1857 ; they had one son, Frank Howard. In 1862 he married Miss Mary Caroline, daughter of Rev. Daniel Leach, of Boston, Mass.; by this union were two children: Mary Lawton and Alice Palmer Wilcox.
Source: Rhode Island Men of Progress - Submitted by Cathy Schultz
WILCOX, LydiaHere Lydia Wilcox lived for nearly fifty years practically alone in the little country village, daily moving among the people, without revealing to any person the secret of her going forth from the home of her girlhood or the equally baffling secret of why she held no communication with her family or former friends.
In the summer or fall of 1828, Mr. James Anthony, then proprietor of the cotton mill in Centerdaie, had occasion to make a business trip to Boston; and as was the custom in those days, he drove there with his horse and carriage. This was several years before the advent of the steam railroad in this country, and to journey to Boston you would be obliged to either walk, go by stage-coach, or by horse and carriage. Upon his return trip he overtook upon the road a comely young woman of erect carriage, good features, and dark complexion. In accordance with the custom of the time, Mr. Anthony offered the young woman a seat in his carriage, or, to use the old-time country phrase, gave her a "lift" as far as Centerdaie.
Lydia Wilcox's after life gives reason for the supposition that the conversation between the mill owner and his fair passenger had the result of conveying to Mr. Anthony the information that the young woman was a mill worker, and of securing for her a position in the Centerdaie cotton mill. Here she worked for many years, at first boarding with an elderly maiden woman by the name of Rebecca Smith; but afterwards she hired from the same person three small rooms in the basement of a small building now standing and numbered 1000 Smith street, and is the building now used as a fire station by the Centerdale Volunteer Fire Company. June 17, 1843, she purchased the house from her savings, and ever afterwards made her lonely home there until her death, November 1, 1877.
The moral character of Miss Lyddy (as she was always called by the village people, man, woman, and child) always escaped even a hint of lapse or strict rectitude during her half-century of life in a country village, which certainly is high praise indeed. Quite good looking enough to attract sweethearts, and industrious to a degree, such was the personality of Lydia Wilcox that the young men stood aloof from her; and it is agreed by those who knew her that the courage that would enable a man to take undue liberties with "Miss Lyddy" would qualify him for more popular deed of daring.
No better proof can be given of Lydia Wilcox's unapproachableness than the fact that in a rural community, where the one real aim of existence is usually to know as much of everybody's affairs as may be included within the realm of possibility, no person ever succeeded in breaking down the barrier of her reserve so far as to gain her confidence; for this remarkable woman always maintained a state of hostile silence when someone more curious or more foolish than his fellows attempted to invade the secrecy that the Centerdaie oddity preserved inviolate for so many more years than cynics allow womankind for the keeping of a secret. As she grew older, Lydia Wilcox's personality became more and more marked. She took up smoking, and it was no uncommon sight to see her with a common clay pipe of the "T. D." variety, which she always used, puffing away as though she thoroughly enjoyed it.
Miss Lyddy's peculiarities of dress were equally well marked, and her calico gowns lasted for a length of time calculated to plunge dressmakers into despair if the custom became common. A hood in the winter and a sun-bonnet in the summer made up this eccentric woman's headgear, and she was seldom seen with uncovered head; carrying this whim so far as sometimes to work all day at housework, for which she had been hired, with her bonnet or hood upon her head. A shawl tied tightly about the body made up the essentials of "Miss Lyddy's" costume, upon which neither time nor the mutabilities of fashion had the slightest effect, beyond causing a renewal, from time to time, of the materials. When she could, "Miss Lyddy" kept a cow, some pigs and hens, from which she derived some income and a great amount of enjoyment; one of her prominent characteristics being a strong love for dumb animals of all sorts, in which she took an unfailing interest, whether the beasts were her own or her friends; and she would go into ecstacies of praise over a new-born calf or puppy that belonged to anybody she liked, exclaiming, over and over again, "There's for ye, now! Just look at this mark! Just look at that mark! The likeliest one I ever saw! There's for ye now, there's for ye!" Although her unchecked aversion to those whom she did not like would hardly admit of her praising the live stock of her enemy, however good it might be. At such time she would give vent to her feeling by exclaiming, accompanied with a stamp of her foot, "blast him, he never owned a good horse or cow in his life, blast him!"
"Miss Lyddy" was a good hater, and once her dislike was aroused, nothing served to allay it; and this vindictive spirit, together with her personal appearance, which exposure to weather and time affected in the darkening of her complexion to swarthiness, led many to conjecture that she was either a Gypsy or a Canadian; the latter being represented at that time by strolling families of people with a considerable admixture of Indian blood; while others believed her ancestors were of English descent, which, without doubt, was nearest correct.
Lydia Wilcox's end was in keeping with her life, and only a probable cause was ever assumed as causing the tragedy which closed her earthly career.
About seven o'clock on the evening of November 1st, 1877, her home was discovered to be on fire. An alarm was given, and soon the village people gathered and forced open the outside door. Upon entering her room it was seen that the straw bed upon which her unconscious form was lying was on fire. This was quickly removed to the open air, and the flames which enveloped both the bed and the occupant were quickly extinguished. The aged woman, whose life-time custom had been to greet her visitors at her threshold, beyond which none for many years had ever passed, was not quite dead when brought out, but the signs of life were confined to low moans which she gave forth at intervals. She died a few minutes later, without showing other indications of consciousness of her terrible fate. An involuntary movement in sleep over-turning a lighted candle upon the straw bed was supposed to have caused the fire. The body was removed to Armory Hall, where the charred remains were prepared for burial, which occurred November 3d, 1877, Rev. Mr. Donovan, officiating, choosing for his text, "I am a stranger and a sojourner with you, give me a possession of a burying place with you." (Gen. xxiii, 4th v.)
As no heirs to her estate were known to the town authorities, her small estate was taken in charge by the town treasurer of North Providence, who is required by statute law to hold the same in trust for a term of thirty years, when, if no legal heirs appear and establish a claim to the estate, the town treasurer has authority to sell the same the same for the benefit of the town. The time limit expired November 1, 1907, but the town, however, still holds possession of the estate, it being now used as the fire station of the Centerdaie Volunteer Fire Company.
Source: Annals of Centerdale in the Town of North Providence, RI, by Frank C. Angell, 1909, Transcribed by C. Anthony
WILLIAMS, Horace Newell, physician and surgeon, Providence, was born in Uxbridge, Mass., January 2, 1861, son of Nicholas B. and Charlotte E. (Newell) Williams. He received his early education in the public schools and the High School of Uxbridge. Adopting medicine as his profession he entered the Bellevue Medical College, New York, from which he graduated in 1882. He then served in the surgical department at Bellevue Hospital, from which he graduated in 1884. In that year he established himself in Providence, where he has secured an extensive and lucrative practice. In 1885 he was appointed Assistant Surgeon to the First Light Infantry Regiment and served until 1888. He is a member of the Rhode Island State Medical Society, the Providence Medical Association, and of the Society of the Alumni of Bellevue Hospital. He is a member of Solomon Temple A. F. S: A. M., of Uxbridge, of Providence Royal Arch Chapter and St. John's Commandery. He married, April 30, 1890. Miss Carrie L. Peirce; they have one child, Charlotte Peirce Williams.Source: Rhode Island Men of Progress - Submitted by Cathy Schultz
WILLIAMS, Alfred Mason, journalist and author, was born in Taunton, Mass., October 23, 1840, son of Lloyd Hall and Prudence King (Padelford) Williams. His remote ancestry on both sides were Welsh. His ancestor, Richard Williams, came from Taunton, Somersetshire, England, and founded the town of Taunton, Mass. His great-grandfather, James Williams, was a captain during the Revolutionary war, and for a long series of years town clerk of Taunton. His great uncle, John Mason Williams, was Chief Justice of the Common Plea Court of Massachusetts. His maternal ancestors for several generations were seafaring men. He received his early education in the public and private schools of Taunton, and was fitted for college at Bristol Academy. He entered Brown University in the class of 1860, but was compelled to leave before the completion of the course on account of weakness of the eyes brought on by over use. During the civil war he enlisted in Company K, Fourth Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers, and took part in the Louisiana campaign under General Banks. Having written some letters from the war to the newspapers, he was invited, on his return at the expiration of his term of service, to accept a position as reporter on the Taunton Daily Gazette. In 1865 he was appointed by the New York Tribune to report the Fenian disturbance in Ireland. On landing at Queenstown he was arrested on suspicion of being a Fenian emissary and detained a week, while his papers were being examined in Dublin. When it was discovered that he was no more dangerous a personage than a newspaper correspondent, he was released, and he reported the trials of O'Donovan Rossa and other Fenian leaders in Dublin, besides giving sketches of the people and country for several American newspapers. On his return he took the position of city editor of the Gazette, and was afterward managing editor. In 1868 he was elected a Representative to the Massachusetts Legislature and re-elected the following year by unanimous vote of both parties. In the fall of 1869 he went West and established the Neosho Journal in Neosho, a town in the southwest corner of Missouri near the Indian Territory. While there he spent much time with the Indians in the Territory, and was secretary pro tem. of the last grand council of all the tribes held at Okmulgee in the Creek Nation. Camp life and exposure during a peculiarly wet season brought on a severe attack of fever and ague, which compelled him to abandon his enterprise and return East. He obtained a position on the local staff of the Providence Journal, and after about six months was promoted to the position of chief editorial writer, which he held until the death of George W. Danielson in 1884, when he became editor-in-chief. He held this position, acquiring also a share in the corporation, until 1891, when he resigned while on a visit to Europe. Since his retirement he has contributed a large number of articles to magazines and newspapers on literary and kindred subjects. He has published "The Poets and Poetry of Ireland " with Historical and Critical Essays and Notes, Boston, Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1880; an introduction to the popular edition of the poems of Sir Samuel Fergerson, Dublin, Seeley, Bryers & Walker, 1887; "Sam Houston and the War of Independence in Texas," Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1893; "Studies in Folk Song and Popular Poetry," Houghton, Mifflin & Co., London, Eliot Stock, 1894. In 1882 he received the honorary degree of A. M. from Brown University. In 1888 he was elected a trustee of the Public Library of Providence and has held that position since, serving on the library committee and as chairman of the committee to purchase a site and procure plans for a new building. He was one of the charter members and an early Commander of William H. Bartlett Post 3, G. A. R., Department of Massachusetts, and has been Vice-President of the Fourth Regiment Veteran Association. He was the founder and the first President of the Providence Press Club. He is a member of the English and American Folk-Lore societies, of the Irish Literary Society of London, of the American Historical Society, of the Indian Rights Association, of the Sons of the American Revolution, and the United States Veteran Volunteer Association of Rhode Island. He married, July 5, 1870, Miss Cora Allen Leonard of Taunton, Mass., who died December 11, 1886 ; he has no children.Source: Rhode Island Men of Progress - Submitted by Cathy Schultz
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