Henry Lippitt was an American manufacturer and politician.
Background
Henry Lippitt was a member of a family long associated with industrial interests. His first American ancestor was John Lippitt who settled in Rhode Island in 1638. John's great-grandsons, Charles and Christopher, organized in 1809 one of the pioneer cotton-mills of the state. Warren, son of Charles, followed the sea for a time and rose to the rank of captain, but later in life he became a cotton merchant in Providence and Savannah. He married Eliza Seamans and their son Henry was born on October 9, 1818 in Providence, Rhode Island, United States.
Education
The boy was educated at the academy at Kingston, Rhode Island.
Career
Lippitt first worked as a clerk, and then as a book-keeper, for merchants in Warren and Providence, entering into a partnership in a commission business in 1838. In 1848 with his father and brother he became part owner of a cotton mill, the first of those with which he was later to be connected. The Tiffany Mill at Danielson, Connecticut, and in Rhode Island the Coddington Mill at Newport, the Social and Harrison Mills and the Globe Mill at Woonsocket, and the Manville Mills at Lincoln, came successively under Lippitt's control between 1848 and 1862. He was president of two of its banks, and of corporations controlling its leading hotel and its opera house. With others he organized the Providence Board of Trade, acting as its presiding officer for three years.
As a young man, Lippitt was one of those who organized the Providence Marine Corps of Artillery in 1840. He eventually became lieutenant-colonel of this company and in the Dorr War of 1842 took an active part against Dorr and his party. During the Civil War he served on a commission for enrolling and drafting men under the call for soldiers in 1862.
In 1875 he ran for the governorship of the state. Upon the failure of any of the candidates to obtain a majority of the votes the election was carried to the General Assembly, where Lippitt was elected. He retained the office for a second year, having been chosen in the same manner. He proved a competent executive.
Achievements
Henry Lippitt has been listed as a noteworthy manufacturer, governor of Rhode Island by Marquis Who's Who.
Politics
Lippitt was a member of the Republican Party. As a governor, he was interested in Rhode Island's representation at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. He also favored Rhode Island constitutional amendments to repeal the registry tax and permit naturalized veterans to vote.
Connections
Lippitt married, in 1845, Mary Ann Balch of Providence. They had eleven children, one of whom, Charles Warren, later became governor.
