The Biographical Dictionary of America/Anthony, Henry Bowen

ANTHONY, Henry Bowen, statesman, was born in Coventry, R.I., April 1, 1815, son of William Anthony, who managed the third cotton manufactory built in Rhode Island. His maternal grandfather, James Greene, was a member of the society of Friends and a relative of Nathaniel and Ray Greene. His first American ancestor was John Anthony, of Hampstead. Eng., who came to Boston in 1634 on the Hercules, and located in Rhode Island about 1640. The family were Quakers. Henry Bowen received a liberal education at a private school in Providence, entered Brown university in 1829 and was graduated in 1833, when he joined his brother in the manufacture of cotton in Providence, spending much of his time at Savannah, Ga., where he was a casual contributor to newspapers and magazines. In 1838 he assumed editorial charge of the Providence Journal; his success as an editor being instant and marked, and in 1840 he acquired an interest in the publication. His course in 1841-'42, during the discussions which arose in the struggle to change the government of the state, for the avowed purpose of securing an enlarged suffrage, and which brought the contestants, known as the "Dorites" and "Algerines," to the verge of civil war, was marked by courtesy, sound common sense and practicability; as champion of "Law and Order" he helped to educate public opinion, and was largely responsible for the triumph of his party. He was a genuine son of Rhode Island, and held to its traditions; thinking no change in its landmarks desirable, he wished to preserve the institutions which its history had made memorable. He desired no extension of suffrage, and no change of commercial policy. In 1837 he was married to Sarah Aborn, daughter of Christopher Rhodes of Rhode Island. In 1849 he was elected as a Whig to the governorship of the state and held the office for two years, declining a third term. On the death of his wife in 1854 he travelled in Europe, and upon his return took up his editorial work. His influence as a journalist extended beyond the borders of his own state, and his faithful labors for many years built up the Providence Journal. In 1859 the general assembly elected him United States senator, and he was re-elected five consecutive terms. He was a firm supporter of President Lincoln. He was chairman of the committee on public printing for twenty-two years, during which time the contract system was abolished and the national printing office established. He suggested many reforms and restrictive acts not carried out, and endeavored to have the public printing restricted to the legitimate demands of the government. From 1863 he served on the committee of naval affairs and was for many years its senior member. In March, 1869, he was elected president pro tempore of the senate, and re-elected in March, 1871, serving throughout the 41st and 42d congresses; was again elected in 1883, but on account of ill health was obliged to decline. He was orator on the occasion of the presentation by the state of Rhode Island to the national government of the statues of Roger Williams and Nathaniel Greene, which were placed in Statuary Hall in the capitol at Washington. He left to Brown university the "Harris collection of American poetry," numbering about six thousand volumes. This collection was begun by Albert G. Greene, continued by Caleb Fiske Harris, and completed by Senator Anthony. His addresses, historical and memorial, were collected and privately printed in 1875. They embrace his tribute to Stephen A. Douglas, delivered in the U. S. senate July 9, 1861; to John R. Thompson, Dec. 4, 1862; to William Pitt Fessenden, Dec. 14, 1869; to William A. Buckingham, in December, 1875; to Henry Wilson, Jan. 21, 1876; and three addresses on Charles Sumner, — on the announcement of his death in the senate, on his delivery of the senator's body to the governor of Massachusetts, and on the presentation by Senator Boutwell of resolutions of respect to Mr. Sumner's memory. His address on presenting to Congress a bill to provide for repairing and protecting the monument at Newport, R. I., erected to De Tiernay, the commander of the naval forces sent out by France in 1780 to aid the revolutionary cause, was one of his most notable speeches. The president of the United States, a large number of senators and the officials of his native state and city attended the funeral. A memorial volume was published by the general assembly of the state of Rhode Island in 1885. The date of his death was Sept. 2, 1884.