| 1. | Lee, Joseph Henry was born on 28 Nov 1855 in Providence, RI (son of Lee, John W. and Davis, Caroline). Other Events and Attributes:
Notes:
History of the state of RI and Providence Plantations: Biographical
NY: The American Historical Society, Inc. 1920
JOSEPH H. LEE -- A successful business man, owner and manager of the Providence Brass & Aluminum Foundry, Mr. Lee has proved in his own life the value of hard work as a means of developing not only property in business, but good health in the physical man; his own testimony is that he has built up his present business and physical condition by hard work. The business that Mr. Lee owns was established in 1800 by John T. Jackson on the present site of the Narragansett Hotel, at Eddy and Broad streets, Providence. He took as an apprentice A. H. Manchester, who later became a partner, then a sole owner. In 1847 he built the foundry at No. 460 Eddy street, which later became the property of his son, A. H. Manchester, Jr., who learned the foundrymen's trade with his father, and he became a partner in 1856, and sole owner in 1867. In 1890 Joseph H. Lee purchased the business and plant which he still conducts, and he has developed a large business and a reputation for high grade work. With this good name as a foundation, Mr. Lee began business, and he has continued this same fame for quality rather than for quantity. He has not sacrificed the gentler side of his nature to the demands of business, but has cultivated the beautiful in life, and in his garden, with fruits and flowers, finds deepest enjoyment and contentment.
Joseph H. Lee is a son of John W. and Caroline (Davis) Lee, and a grandson of Joseph and Harriet (Eddy) Davis. John W. Lee was born in Swansea, January 10, 1831, and died in Providence, January 13, 1882. He was in business on South Main street, Providence, where he was a member of the firm, Lawton & Lee, contractors.
Joseph H. Lee was born in Providence, R. I., November 27, 1855, at the family home on Eddy street. He was educated in the private school connected with Friendship Baptist Church, at the Elm Street Grammar School and Providence High School. He remained at the high school for only one year, and then took a business course at the Bryant & Stratton Business School for about two years and a half. From school, he entered the employ of the Phoenix Iron Company to study engineering. At the same time he attended night classes at Bryant & Stratton's Business College, where he took a course in mechanical engineering. From the Phoenix Company he went to the Oliver Johnson Paint Company, and thence with B. G. Luther, where he learned pattern making. He next spent five and a half years with the Franklin Foundry & Machine Company, of Providence, as superintendent, going thence to New York State as superintendent of construction of the Riverside & Oswego Mills in Fulton. He returned to Providence in 1890, and the same year he bought the Provience Brass Foundry, manufacturers of all kinds of brass and bronze castings. He brought to the business wide experience, expert mechanical skill, and an ambitious spirit to do well whatever his hands found to do, and during his more than a quarter of a century of ownership and management, the Providence Brass Foundry has gained high reputation, and its products are sent over all the United States and to many foreign lands. In 1895 Mr. Lee aided in the defense of the American Cup. He made all the castings for the famous yacht 'Defender', the winner of the trophy signifying international yachting supremacy. From boyhood he has been a worker; his early spending money was gained by aiding the lathers employed on the old Hope Street Church and several other buildings. Big work is a foundry specialty, and he made his plant productive of forty ten ton gun carriages. He also cast the inlet and outlet tubes for New York City's park aqueduct and water system. He is a charter member of the Providence Association of Mechancial Engineers, the American Brass Founders' Association, American Institute of Metals, and the American Institute of Mining Engineers. He is well read, and in all that pertains to his craft is an authority. His knowledge of mechanical drawing, pattern making, and machinery, combined with his practical knowledge of the foundry business, make for him an unusually strong mental equipment. Particularly blessed in physique and health, Mr. Lee enjoys life to the utmost, mingling happily his work and his play. He is a member of the Masonic order, the Rotary Club of Providence, the Gold Cross, Royal Arcanum, Edgewood Yacht Club, Edgewood Improvement Association, and the Edgewood Fire Department. In political faith he is a Republican.
On December 25, 1878, Mr. Lee married Ann Northrup, of Pawtucket, who died Janruary 20, 1888, daughter of David Northrup. Mr. and Mrs. Lee were the parents of the following children: Herbert; Annie, married Charles Cummings, of Central Falls, R. I.; and Joseph, deceased.
Joseph married Northrop, Ann on 25 Dec 1878. Ann (daughter of Northrop, David) died on 20 Jan 1888. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]
Children:
- Lee, Herbert
- Lee, Annie
- Lee, Joseph
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