Chief executive of the State of Rhode Island, Governor Norman Stanley Case, now (1931) serving his third term, has been a familiar figure in its public life for the past ten years. He was born at Providence, on October 11, 1888, a son of John Warren and Louise Marea (White) Case, the father a gold and silver refiner by occupation, and a member of the school committee at Providence for several terms. He was a man of considerable local prominence.
Norman Stanley Case attended the Providence public schools. He was graduated from Federal Street Grammar School in 1900, from Classical High School in 1904, and then entered Brown University, where he took the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1908. Meanwhile he had determined upon a legal career, and enrolled at Harvard Law School, where he remained from 1909 to 1911. In the following year he received the Bachelor of Laws degree from Boston University Law School. In 1930, in recognition of his distinguished career, Manhattan College conferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws, and in 1931 Rhode Island State College also honored him.
Governor Case was admitted to the Rhode Island bar in 1911, and the Massachusetts bar in 1912. In 1923 he was admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court. Since 1913. with the exception of the time which he spent in the United States Army, he has followed his profession in Rhode Island. In the practice of law he has met consistent success, rising to a position of prominence at the Rhode Island bar through the merit of his services. Governor Case is now associated with the firm of Greenough, Lyman and Cross, with offices in Providence at No. 1130 Hospital Trust Building.
Governor Case’s career in public life began almost as early as his practice of law. From 1914 to 1918 he was a member of the Providence City Council, and in the course of these years came prominently before the public by his constant devotion to the city’s best interests. At the beginning of the Mexican Border episode, however, he enlisted for army service as first lieutenant of Troop A, First Separate Squadron, Rhode Island Cavalry. He remained with these troops on the border from June to November, 1916. In the following year, after the entrance of the United States into the World War, he again returned to the army, serving from July 25, 1917, to July 19, 1919. Of this period he was overseas wuth the American Expeditionary Forces from October 2, 1917, to July, 1919, at first as captain of Company A, 103d Machine Gun Battalion, of the 26th, or Yankee Division, and later as acting general staff officer.
Returning to the pursuits of peace after the Armistice, Governor Case resumed the practice of his profession at Providence. From 1920 to 1922 he was a member of the Soldiers Bonus Board and in 1921 was appointed United States District Attorney for the district of Rhode Island. This office he filled with distinguished success until 1926. In the elections of that year he was chosen Lieutenant-Governor of Rhode Island on the Republican ticket, and on February 4, 1928, upon the death of Governor Pothier, succeeded to the governorship. Subsequently, as the standard bearer of his party, he was elected for the full term and to which position he was reelected in 1930. Governor Case brought to this office the fullest qualifications, and has discharged its various duties with the same fidelity and fine ability which he demonstrated in his earlier career. His administration has been notably progressive and successful.
Fraternally Governor Case is affiliated with the Free and Accepted Masons, being a member and Past Master of Corinthian Lodge, No. 27, and a member of higher bodies of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, including the thirty-second degree of the Consistory. He is also affiliated with Providence Lodge, No. 14, of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, with the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Delta Upsilon Fraternity, and others. He is a Chevalier de L’Etoile Noire, an honor conferred upon him by the President of France in 1918. Governor Case is a member of the Squantum and Pomham clubs, and of the University Club of Providence. He worships with his family in the Baptist faith, being a member of the First Baptist Church of Providence.
On June 28, 1916, at Providence, Norman Stanley Case married Emma Louis Arnold, of Bethel, Vermont, a daughter of Fred and Martha Phillips (White) Arnold. They are the parents of the following children: 1. Norman Stanley, Jr., born July 8, 1917. 2. John Warren, II, born April 8, 1921. 3. Elizabeth Richmond, born April 28, 1924.
Source: Carroll, Charles. Rhode Island: Three Centuries of Democracy, vol 3 of 4. New York: Lewis historical Pub. Co., 1932.