Collection: Rhode Island: Three Centuries of Democracy

As lawyer and public-spirited citizen, John Carter Brown Woods has rendered valuable service to his city and State, and in the history of Rhode Island has taken a prominent part. A native of Providence, he has spent most of his life there, and has held many important positions in numerous organizations and institutions associated with the best interests of his home town and State. Mr. Woods was born in Providence, Rhode Island, on June 12, 1851, son of Marshall and Anne Brown (Francis) Woods. He descended from several of the nation’s oldest families. Among his early ancestors were: John Marshall, … Read more

A man of enterprise, ambition and energy, the late John McLaughlin, of Cumberland, Rhode Island, decided to go into business for himself, when he was a mere lad of seventeen years of age. Starting his business operations at that time with a very small capital, his exceptional ability and industry brought him comparatively quick success and for many years he was one of the most successful and substantial business men of his native town. Both in the lumber business and as a contractor and road builder he met with marked success, the more creditable to him because it was the … Read more

One of the pioneers in the development of Texas, in the vicinity of Sabine, and an early Indian trader, the late Benjamin Dyer Potter belonged to one of the most ancient families of Rhode Island, whose descendants have done much in shaping the affairs and contributing to the prosperity of the Commonwealth from its earliest Colonial period. Born in Providence, January 6, 1814, Benjamin Dyer Potter was the son of Joseph Kinnicutt and Abby Pierce (Dyer) Potter, a grandson of William Potter, and a descendant of George Potter, of Portsmouth, Rhode Island. From the time of its founding in Rhode … Read more

Excepting only the first sixteen years of his life and some four years of military service during the Civil War, the late William B. Westcott spent his entire life in Providence. For many years he was widely known there as the president of one of the largest and most successful paint and hardware firms. He enjoyed a very high reputation for probity, was prominently active for many years in religious work and was a member of several patriotic, military, and fraternal organizations. In every respect he was regarded as one of the representative and substantial business men of Rhode Island’s … Read more

Recognized for many years as one of the leading fire insurance experts of the country, Charles D. Dunlop, of Providence, was long one of the prominent business men of the city and took a leading part in the development of the underwriting business. From 1883 until 1929 he was engaged in fire insurance and during this period of almost half a century became as well known on the Pacific slope as he was in the business center here. The name was synonymous with fire adjustment and his reputation as an underwriter expert was second to none in the land. Also, … Read more

A native and lifelong resident of Rhode Island, the late Scott A. Smith was for many years prominently active in various well known and important industrial enterprises in Providence and elsewhere. However, the last twenty years of his life he spent in retirement, giving much of his time during this period to study, the collecting of paintings, and research work in mechanical and electrical engineering. He was also very prominently active throughout his entire life in religious work. These various activities were typical of Mr. Smith’s fine intellect, the breadth of his interests, and his public spirit. Throughout the greater … Read more

It was in the years from 1840 to 1907 that William Henry Pope, a lifelong resident of New England, lived and performed a useful work in the great industrial world. Business enterprises in which he was engaged covered a wide scope; and, though cotton manufacturing was one of his chief interests, it was by no means his only field of activity. For he was one of those public-spirited men who ever contribute to the well-being of others, and whose talents were such as to cause him to be drawn into many different types of commercial, civic and social enterprises. A … Read more