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- History of the state of RI and Providence Plantations: Biographical
NY: The American Historical Society, Inc. 1920
p. 380 - 381:
CHARLES FREDERICK EDDY, for many years one of the most prominent business men of RI, is a direct descendant of William Eddye, of Cranbrook, County Kent, England. The Eddy family has figured prominently in the history of the early colonies and States of RI and MA since 1630, never relinquishing the prestige and influence which came to it in the infancy of the colonies through the distinguished service rendered by its earliest members.
William Eddye, A. M., was vicar of the Church of St. Dunstan, of the town of Cranbrook, County Kent, England. He was a native of Bristol, and received his education at Trinity College, Cambridge, England. He was vicar from 1589 to 1616. He died November 23, 1616, and was buried in the Cranbrook churchyard. He left the financial affairs of his parish in better order than before, and collected and arranged the loose registers dating back from 1588 in a new parchment book, beautifully engrossing about eighty of the pages and illuminating three title pages, one for births, one for marriages and the third for deaths. The book is still in existence at the vicarage. He married (first), November 20, 1587, Mary Foston, daughter of John Foston, who died in September, 1573. She died in July, 1611, leaving an infant son, Nathaniel, who died nine days after she died. He married (second) in 1614, Elizabeth Taylor, widow.
Samuel Eddy, son of William and Mary (Foston) Eddye, was born in May, 1608, died 1685. He was the immigrant ancestor. On August 10, 1630, with his brother, John, he left London, England, in the ship 'Handmaid', Captain John Grant, arriving at Plymouth, Mass., October 29, 1630. He settled in Plymouth, and on January 1, 1632, was made freeman. On November 7, 1637, three acres of land and thirty acres of meadow were set off to him. On April 3, 1645, he sent his son John to live with Francis Gould until he should come of age. His wife was fined, October 7, 1651, for wringing out clothes on Sunday, but later the fine was remitted. She was summoned before court, May 1, 1660, to answer for traveling on Sunday from Plymouth to Boston, and she declared that she went there on that day because of the illness of Mistress Saffin. She was excused, but admonished. On May 9, 1631, Samuel Eddy purchased a house at Spring Hill at the end of Main street, in Plymouth, of Experience Mitchell, and his sold it in 1645. He was one of the original purchasers of Middleboro, Mass., and owned much land in other places. In 1631 his assessment was half that of Captain Standish, and in 1633 it was the same. He married Elizabeth ------ , who died in 1689.
Charles Frederick Eddy, of the ninth generation of this honorable family, and son of Ferdinand S. and Amey (Dexter) Eddy, was born in Providence, R. I., February 5, 1847. He attended the public schools at North Providence, finishing the grammar courses, then at the age of fourteen years began his business career; for two years he was employed in a Westminster street mercantile house. He then supplemented his education with a course in bookkeeping at the Bryant and Stratton Business College and then secured a bookkeeping position with Governor James Y. Smith, with whom he served for nine years. At the age of thirty, in the year 1877, Mr. Eddy entered the business world as senior member of the firm of Eddy & Street, dealers in cotton yarns; their office was located on South Water street, and for nearly a third of a century was well known throughout the textile world. Mr. Eddy continued active in the business until 1909, when he retired from active business, although he still continues his office at No. 17 Exchange street, Providence. The many years of business success brought with them a high
sense of personal honor that gave Mr. Eddy the respect and confidence of all who were associated with him. He developed sound quality and ability as a business man, yet did not regard life as a mere money-making opportunity, but in all departments of the city was interested and helpful. Although of a quiet, unassuming nature, he has been an active factor in the commercial growth of RI. He retains his interest in the social side of life, and is a member of the Central and Pomham clubs of Providence. He keeps in touch with the business world through membership in the Chamber of Commerce, and is a member of the Central Baptist Church. In politics he is a Republican.
Charles F. Eddy married, in Providence, November 24, 1868, Louise S. Purshouse, and they are the parents of three children: Mrs. William B. Smith; Mrs. William C. Johnson; and Charles Summer Eddy. They have one grandchild, William R. Johnson.
Mr. Eddy, on his maternal side, is a grandson of Nathaniel Gregory Balch Dexter, of Providence, R. I. Mr. Dexter was born June 25, 1788, in Grafton, Mass.; married, in November 1808, Amey Jenckes, born in 1788, in Pawtucket, R. I., daughter of Jerahmeel Jenckes. Mr. Dexter removed with his father's family in 1797 to Pawtucket. He was educated by his parents and never attended school a day in his life. He early entered the counting room as a clerk to Samuel Slater, the first manufacturer of cotton yarn by machinery in America. While in his employ he opened the first Sunday school in the United States, and taught it himself. The scholars were children who worked in the cotton mill. Captain Dexter (as he was familiarly called), with the exception of a short time, about 1810, when he resided in Slatersville, was a resident of Pawtucket, where he had a good estate. For many years he was a manufacturer of cotton yarn on an extensive scale, and most of his sons and their sons and grandsons in turn succeeded to the business. He was one of the main pillars of the Universalist denomination in Pawtucket. He maintained through life the reputation of an upright, prompt and energetic man in his business, and in his civil and social relations he was generous, benevolent, frank, affable and kind. He was ever active in the pursuit of something.
Captain Dexter died April 8, 1866. The children of Captain and Mrs. Dexter were: Jerahmeel J., born in 1809; Lucy W., born in 1811, married William Fletcher; Nathaniel, born in 1814; James Gregory, born in 1817; Simon Willard, born in 1820; Daniel S., born in 1822; Amey, born in 1825, married Ferdinand S. Eddy, of Providence; and Samuel Slater, born in 1827.
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