Philip Herbert Wilbour ---------------------------------------------------------------------- USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Rhode Island USGenWeb Project. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The History of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations: Biographical, From pages 121 to 123 of the larger edition.  ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Philip Herbert Wilbour From the time Samuel Wilbore fled from Taunton, Mass., to Providence, driven by the persecutions of his religious opponents, the family has been prominent in the public and business life of the Colony and State of Rhode Island. Without an exception the heads of each of the nine generations of the branch herein recorded have been land owners and substantial farmers, the family possessions lying mainly in the town of Little Compton. Isaac Wilbour, of the sixth generation, although a member of Congress, 1807-09, lieutenant-governor of Rhode Island in 1810, and from May, 1818, to May, 1827, chief justice of the Supreme Court, Rhode Island, ever made his home at his farm, following in that regard the example of his father, and was likewise emulated by his son Philip, his grandson, Isaac Champlin, and his great-grandson, Philip Herbert Wilbour, who inherited from his father the distinction of owning and operating the most extensive poultry farming business in the United States. He has made the continuation of that farm the aim of his business career, but since 1900 has figured prominently in public life. He is of the ninth American generation of the family founded by Samuel Wilbore, of Boston, who was admitted to the church there, December 1, 1633, that being the first recorded mention of the founder of the family in New England. The name Wildbore became Wilbore in the second generation, was so spelled by the third, but in the fourth generation William changed it to Wilbour, which since prevails in this branch, although many of the same family line spell it both Wilbour and Wilbur as well. Samuel Wildbore was one of the founders of the iron industry at Taunton, Mass., building with his associates a furnace at what is now Raynham, the first built in New England. He became wealthy for his day, but his standing in the community could not preserve him from religious persecutions, and for embracing the “dangerous doctrines” of Cotton and Wheelwright he was banished from Massachusetts with seventeen others. Although he owned a house in Boston, and one in Taunton, he abandoned both, and on the advice of Roger Williams he, with seventeen fellow exiles, purchased from the Indians the Island of Aquidneck, he moving there with his family in 1638, these eighteen persons forming a colony under a solemn compact, March 7, 1638. The founder died September 29, 1656, twenty-two years after having been made a freeman at Boston. His first wife Ann was a daughter of Thomas Bradford, of Dorchester, Yorkshire, England. Two of their sons, Samuel and William, settled in Portsmouth, R. I.; another, Joseph, located at Taunton, Mass.; the fourth, Shadrach, in that part of the same town now known as Raynham. Prior to November 29, 1645, Samuel Wildbore married a second wife, Elizabeth. The line of descent from the pioneer settler, Samuel Wilbore, to Philip Herbert Wilbour is through William Wilbor, of Portsmouth, deputy in 1678; his son, Samuel Wilbor, a farmer of Little Compton, R. I., and his wife, Elizabeth (Potter) Wilbor; their son, William Wilbour, also a farmer of Little Compton, and his wife, Esther (Burgess) Wilbour; their son, Charles Wilbour, who owned and cultivated a large tract of land near Sakonnet river in the town of Little Compton, and his first wife, Hannah (Borden) Wilbour; their son, Isaac Wilbour, a farmer of the old homestead, member of Congress, lieutenant-governor, and his wife, Hannah, daughter of Captain Philip Taber; their son, Philip Wilbour, a farmer of one hundred and twenty-five acres yet owned in the family, and his wife, Eliza Penelope (Champlin) Wilbour; their son, Isaac Champlin Wilbour, of further mention, and his wife, Deborah Josephine Wilbour; their son, Philip Herbert Wilbour, of further mention. Isaac Champlin Wilbour, born at the homestead in Little Compton, R. I., May 11, 1831, died September, 1899. He became owner of the home farm of one hundred and twenty-five acres, added to it by purchase until he had increased its area to two hundred and sixty acres. He was the pioneer poultry farmer of his district and developed that business to enormous proportions, having five thousand hens, his yearly shipments of eggs to all parts of the United States, Canada and Europe averaging 150,000 dozen. His energy and progressive ideas won him great success, and he ranked with the leading business men of his section. A work of love which was carried to completion with the aid of his cousin, Charles Edwin Wilbour, was the building of Sakonnet Cemetery, the beautiful chapel therein having a chime of bells imported from Belgium. Within are marble tablets commemorative of many members of the family beginning with Lieutenant-Governor Isaac Wilbour, and there the donor rests. Isaac Champlin Wilbour married (first), Deborah Josephine Wilbour, born July 13, 1834, died, 1865, daughter of Benjamin and Abby M. (Taylor) Wilbour, and granddaughter of Daniel Wilbour and of Samuel Taylor. Mr. and Mrs. Wilbour were the parents of Philip Herbert, of further mention; Caroline Corey, died aged seven; Elizabeth Champlin; Deborah Josephine, married Frederick Marcy Patten, of Brookline, Mass. Mr. Wilbour married (second), Amelia French, of Nantucket, who survived him. They were the parents of a son, William French, a lawyer of New York City. Philip Herbert Wilbour, only son of Isaac Champlin Wilbour and his first wife, Deborah Josephine (Wilbour) Wilbour, was born at the homestead at Little Compton, which he now owns, August 27, 1856. He was educated in the public schools and Friends’ School, Providence, and grew to manhood at the homestead, his father’s chief assistant and later partner in the poultry raising business for which the farm was famous. After the death of the founder of the business in 1899, the son assumed entire control and has continued to successfully manage it along the same lines, improved and added to as experience dictated. The house which sheltered several generations has been remodeled and added to until, with its beautiful grounds, conservatory and location, it is most attractive to the eye of the beholder, and a source of deep pride and satisfaction to its owner. Inheriting the public spirit of his forbears, Mr. Wilbour has taken an active part in public affairs, and given much time to the service of the people of his State. He had been a member of the Town Council prior to the year 1900, and in that year was elected representative from Little Compton to the State Legislature. He served three years in the House, being chairman of the committee on special legislation, and a member of other committees. His work in the House pleased his constituents, and in 1903 he was elected State Senator, and in 1907 reelected. He was chairman of the committees on corporations and finance, and other committees, also upon the floor of the Senate proved one of the able, influential and valuable members of that body. In 1912 Senator Wilbour was elected president pro tempore of the Senate, holding until March 15, 1917. During that period, in the absence of the governor and lieutenant-governor, he officiated several times as acting governor. On November 30, 1897, he was appointed a member of the Shell Fish Commission by Governor Dyer, and after five years on the commission was chosen its president, holding that office twenty years, until January 19, 1917. In 1917 he was elected to his present post, state auditor and insurance commissioner. In politics he is a Republican, influential in the party and potent in council. His farm responsibilities and State public service have not caused him to neglect local duties, and for fifteen years he served Little Compton as town treasurer, was a director of the Tiverton & Little Compton Mutual Fire Insurance Company, a charter member of Pomona Grange, Patrons of Husbandry, and with his wife has continued that membership until the present. He is also a member of the State Grange and the National Grange, and keeps in close touch with the efforts made through these bodies to improve farming conditions. He is a member of Eureka Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, of Portsmouth, R. I., and Sekonnet Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. There is no interest of his State but what appeals to him and commands his loyal support. As a public official his record is one of efficiency, every office being regarded as a trust to be faithfully administered as though it were his own private business. A genial, pleasing personality adds to his popularity, and he has never yet received an adverse decision at the polls. Mr. Wilbour married, in Brooklyn, N. Y., May 28, 1885, Grace Frances Ropes, born in Salem, Mass., daughter of Ripley Ropes. Mr. and Mrs. Wilbour are the parents of a son, Lincoln, born March 6, 1886, now enlisted in the United States Naval Reserve Force, District No. 2, Station, New London, Conn., in business in Providence, R. I.; and two daughters: Elizabeth Champlin, who died young, and Dorothy. There is a portion of the old farm, however, which is held sacred to the preservation of a historical spot, and a story which dates back to the early Indian occupation. This part of the farm bears the name Awashonks Park, and was once the home of the Saugkonnates tribe of Indians, it being known in an earlier day as the Tompee Swamps. Over this tribe reigned Queen Awashonks, a Queen who was gifted with a keener insight and greater wisdom than even the powerful King Philip, and stood firm in her insistence upon the white man’s right to live among them in peace. When King Philip sent his chiefs to her inviting her to join him and them in a war of extermination against the Whites, she flatly refused her aid and tried to dissuade the King from attempting war. She failed and one of the adornments of Awashonks Park is a monument to the good Queen’s memory. This monument is in the form of a great boulder of slate through which runs a gleam of white Hint quartz. The face of the rock bears this inscription: “To the memory of Awashonks, Queen of the Saugkonnates, and friend of the white man.” This inscription is deeply engraved in the face of the rock, and by chance curiously enough the words “White Man” are cut into the strata of white flint in the boulder. Another large boulder serves as a monument to both King Philip and the Queen, commemorating her refusal to join the King in his war against the Whites, a war which resulted in his death. The inscription on this monument is as follows: “Pometocum – August12, 1616 (Philip) King of the Wampanoags.” This part of the old farm Mr. Wilbour has converted into a park, which he has improved and traversed with roads and paths, making all parts of its beautiful area accessible to the public to whom he has opened it, free of charge or expense. He has devoted much time and money to preserve this historic spot for future generations. The beautiful drives reach the spots preserved by tablet or inscription, and no part of the farm, no matter how important it may be to the business thereon conducted, receives the care and attention bestowed upon Awashonks Park, which commemorates the worthy deeds of this so-called “Savage” Queen. The development of its beauty and the preservation of its historical value has given him deep satisfaction, and it is with an honest pride that he regards this chapter in his life’s history. No trees are allowed to be moved until they mar the landscape, and forestry is combined with skillful landscape gardening to produce the best results. To the natural timber Mr. Wilbour has added different varieties with especial regard to their autumn coloring, selecting those whose colors will form with the native trees a beautiful landscape view full of warm color when the frosts of the autumn have developed their richest tints. For the later winter landscape he has caused to be planted the choicest evergreens, and thus in spring, summer, autumn and winter, some particular form of sylvan beauty is presented in Awashonks Park.