HIS DESCENDENTS IN AMERICA
SEVENTH GENERATION
(Part Three)
Page 393
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH By REV. D. A. WHEADON, D. D.
Hiram Bennett Aylsworth, son of Judge Eli and Martha B.
Aylsworth, was born
in Foster, R.I., on the 19th of February, 1831, and in that town the
first ten years
of his boyhood were passed. In 1841 he removed with his father to
Killingly,
Conn. , and a year later to Brooklyn, in the same State. His education,
beyond the
public schools, was obtained at the Smithville Seminary, now known as Lapham
Institute, and at East Greenwich, while his training in the elements of
business life
was received at the hand and under the eye of his father, by whom he was
taught
the promptness, exactness, and fidelity which have marked his maturer and
more
responsible years.
At the age of seventeen he removed to Providence and entered
upon a clerkship
in the office of Mr. Preston Bennett, then agent of the Richmond
Manufacturing
Company, with whom he remained until May 20, 1850. He then
became
bookkeeper for Messrs. George F. Rice and Henry R. Congdon, wholesale
dealers in boots and shoes in Providence. This house is now one of the
oldest
mercantile houses in the Slate, having been founded in the year 1815 by
Charles
Cobb, a member of the Society of Friends. It was not , to be expected
that
young Aylsworth, with his energy, would be content with keeping books an
hour
longer than was necessary , and it excites no surprise to learn that in two
years
from that time he was on the road selling by sample. Such was
the care he used
in effecting sales that for thirteen years he did not lose a single bill,
and so
successful was he that on February 8, 1857, he was made a partner in
the
business, the name of the firm becoming Rice, Congdon & Co.
This position, so well earned and so gratifying to his
ambition,. was in " four
months followed by an event of greater consequence and more vitally touching
his
happiness, On the l1th of June, 1857, he was united in marriage with
Miss
Margaret Miller Hatfield, daughter of Elisha and Elizabeth (Miller)
Hatfield,
of
White Plains, N.Y., and sister of Rev. Dr. Robert M. Hatfield, then of New
York
City, a lady of a lovely character, whose rare womanly virtues have for
thirty years
made her the delight of her husband and the joy and ornament of his home.
Few
men have been so fortunate in the companion of their life.
In February, 1860, Mr. James Rothwell purchased the
interest of Mr. Rice,
and for the next two years the business of the concern was conducted under
the
name of Congdon, Aylsworth & Co., and then by the retirement of Mr.
Rothwell,
of Congdon & Aylsworth. In 1875 Mr. Frank H. Congdon, a son of Mr.
Henry
R. Congdon, was admitted a partner, which arrangement continued until
1882.
When the elder Mr. Congdon died, in 1883, Mr. Aylsworth became sole
proprietor, re-
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taining by agreement the old firm name of Congdon & Aylsworth,
Down to May,
1870, the business had been located on North Main Street. At that date
it was
removed to the corner of Pine and Hay, and twelve years afterward, in 1882,
to
the corner of Pine and Peck Streets, where it still (1887) continues.
Whatever
ambitions in life Mr. Ayleworth may have sometimes felt, the highest and
dominant
one has been to be a true business man. If he has at any time listened
to other
voices calling him, it has been only temporarily. While never refusing
co-operation
and aid in other weighty and worthy matters, his business has been his one
work,
and to it he habitually brings his undivided energies. He is not
forgetful of his
relations with those engaged in like pursuits with himself. He was one
of the
original members of the Board of Trade, and for three years a member of
the
executive committee. He was also one of the original members of the
Providence
Commercial Club, and for several years was one of the trustees of the
Mechanics
Savings Bank.
He is one of that class of business men, not too numerous, who
believe in
uprightness, integrity, and devotion to duty. A merchant's word is, in
his view, a
precious thing. Deceit and fraud are to him an abomination, and
laziness a sin; yet
for the unfortunate and distressed he has great tenderness and ready
help. With his
principles and habits it is not strange that his career has been prosperous
and
successful as well as honorable; or that men of like spirit with himself
become his
friends, attached to him with hooks of steel.
On his first coming to Providence Mr. Aylsworth attached
himself to the newly
formed Methodist Episcopal Congregation, which soon located and built a
house
of worship on Mathewson Street. Indeed, he boasts of having earned his
first fifty
cents in serving as its sexton. In 1869 he became a member of that
church, and in
subsequent years held the important offices of steward and trustee. In
these
positions his careful and methodical business habits made his services of
great value.
The plan adopted in connection with the twenty-fifth anniversary of the
Church in
1873, of liquidating its debt of nearly ten thousand dollars, originated
with him, and,
under his management as chairman of the finance committee, was carried to
a
successful issue. In 1876 he transferred his relations to the Union
Congregational
Church, where he performed a like service on a similar committee, with a
much
larger indebtedness. In these and kindred causes, charitable and
religious, he
gives freely or his wealth. He carries the principles of his business
into his
benevolences. He loves to make money, and he equally loves to give it
away.
Many thousands of dollars have gone in this way, and few know the
conscientiousness and care with which these appropriations are made
and
distributed.
Politically, Mr. Aylsworth is a Republican. His innate
hatred of oppression and
wrong made him one. At the breaking out of the slave-
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holders rebellion be sent one of his clerks as a substitute. furnishing him
with an
outfit and continuing his salary, and when he returned wounded in the
first battle
of Bull Run he. took him into his own family until hls recovery and then
gave him
his old position. He then sent another. and continued a soldier in the
field until the
rebellion was I throttled. He has been many times a member of the
Republican
State Convention and often of the State Committee, and in 1873 he was a
member
of the House of Representatives in the General Assembly. To the
principles of his
party he has always been warmly devoted. but. to his credit. party bonds
have
always sat more loosely upon him than principle. and he has on occasion
found a
keen pleasure in breaking the slate of party managers, or spoiling a nicely
framed
political intrigue. In the year 1876 Mr. Aylsworth erected his
pleasant house on
Harvard Avenue, where he now resides. With his stalwart frame,
strong
constitution, temperate habits, and Christian style of living, he has
good reason to
hope for many years yet, surrounded by his friends and with his children
near him.
Mr. Aylsworth has taken a deep interest in the publication of
this family history,
and has been the financial head of the enterprise.
684. ADELINE (7) — Eli (6). Arthur (.5).
James (4). Philip (3), Arthur (2).
Arthur (1) — was born Oct. 26.1834. and
married Apri122. 1857, Abner Harris
Angell. * who was born Aug. 16.
1812. and who was a son of Stephen and Mary
(Harris) Angell. She was
his third wife.
He was a lumber dealer of Providence, R.I., and died Jan.
18.1881.
Children.
i
Martha Harris (8) b. Dec. 21. 1859, m. Sept. 12. 1883, in Mathewson
M.
E. Church. Providence, Benjamin Brown Manchester. born
June 24. 1860, son of
Silas and Ellen Frances (Munroe)
Manchester, of North Attleboro, Mass. Their children:
Benjamin Brown. }b. July 20, {
Harris Angell, } 1884.
{ d. Oct.
16. 1884
ii
Abner H. (8) b. and died Dec. 21. 1859.
iii
William Curtis
(8) b. Jan. 9. 1870.
____________________________________________________________
* Abner H. (1), Stephen (6), John (5), Stephen (,),
John (3). John (2), Thomas (1). — See: :
Angell Genealogy.
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685. ELIZA (7) — Eli (6). Arthur (5), James (4). Philip (3). Arthur (2),
Arthur (1) — was born .June 13, 1836, and married June 6, 1865, Edwin
Harris
Burlingame, who was born in Warwick, R.I., Aug. 13, 1836, and who was a
son
of Erastus N. and Lydia W. Burlingame.
Children.
Children.
Children.
Children.
Children.
Children.
Children.
Children.
Children.
Children.
Children.
Children.
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699. LE GRAND (7) — Pitt Morse (6), Leonard (5),
Stukely (4), Judiah
(3), Arthur (2), Arthur (1) — was born June 9, 1848, in Hillsdale, Mich., and
married Nov. 1,1870, at Mason, Mich.., Martha Ann
Sowers, who was born
Jan. 29, 1850, and dwelt in Ingham, Mich.
Children.
Children.
Children.
Children.
i
Albert Clarence (8)
b. Sept. 24, 1852, and m. Sept. 30, 1873, and
in 1884 was living in
the town of Manchester, Washtenaw Co.,
Mich.
706. WARNER (7) ñ Henry (6), Warner (6), Anthony (5),
Anthony (3),
John (2), Arthur (1 ) — was born June
9, 1827, and married Janette Culver.
They dwelt in Brooklyn, Mich. .
Children.
Children.
Children.
Children.
Children.
i Fred Arnold (8) b. Nov. 10, 1858.
ii
Frank Warner (8)
b. April 6, 1864.
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iii Effie May (8) b.
Aug. 26., 1868.
iv Rose Myrtle
(8) b. Dec. 29, 1871.
v
Charles William (8) b. Oct. 21, 1873.
OBITUARY.
William R. Houghton was a man very highly respected in this
community,
where
by a residence of nine years he had established a reputation for
honesty and
integrity
of character, such as commended him to the confidence of
all who knew him.
The illness of this good man was brief though very
severe, a death sudden and
unexpected. He leaves a stricken companion five afflicted children, besides his
aged parents, one brother and sisters. all
of whom deeply .mourn his loss. His
funeral was attended by a large concourse
of sympathizing neighbors and friends,
on Tuesday, the 25th inst., from the
Congregational Church, Rev. A. M officiating.
His remains were interred in
Harlington Cemetery where to rest in peace until the
resurrection morn.
C.
713. WILLIAM PENN (7) — Warner (6), Warner (5),
Anthony (4),
Anthony (3), John
(2), Arthur (1) — was born June 14, 1841, and lived with his
father until his father's death, and married in 1872 Mary Lanigan, at Muscatine,
Ia.,
removing
to Fayette, Ia., 1875.
He was engaged in moving buildings.
Children.
Children.
Children.
Children.
Children.
Children.
Children.
Children.
Children.
Children.
i
Albert Peleg (8).
ii
Marina (8).
iii William Henry (8) died in infancy.
723. RUSSELL (7) THOMAS — Peleg R. (6)
Thomas, Rowland (5),
Thomas, Russell (4), Arthur (3), John (2),
Arthur (1) — was born May 20,
1818, and married Nov. 20, 1841, Mervin
Constantine Traver.
They probably dwelt at Sand Lake, N.Y., where she died March 22, 1869.
Page 408
Children.
Children.
Children.