Charles Warren Lippitt (October 8, 1846 – April 4, 1924) was an American politician and the 44th

Governor of Rhode Island The governor of Rhode Island is the head of government of the U.S. state of Rhode Island and serves as commander-in-chief of the state's Army National Guard and Air National Guard. The current governor is Democrat Dan McKee. In their capac ...

Early life

Lippitt was born in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts ...

on October 8, 1846. He graduated from Brown University. Later, he was involved in his father's cotton and woolen manufacturing firm.

Family

His father,

Henry Lippitt Henry Lippitt (October 9, 1818 – June 5, 1891) was the 33rd Governor of Rhode Island from 1875 to 1877. Family Lippitt was the son of Warren Lippitt and Eliza (Seamans) Lippitt, married to Mary Ann Balch. Lippitt was the father of Charles Wa ...

, was governor of Rhode Island from 1875 to 1877 and his brother Henry F. Lippitt was a

United States senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

from Rhode Island. He married Margaret B. Farnum on February 23, 1886.The Political Graveyard
Lippitt family of Rhode Island. His son, Charles Warren Lippitt, Jr. (1894–1970), attended

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

and served as a sergeant in the

103rd Field Artillery Regiment The 103rd Field Artillery Regiment (103rd FAR) is a regiment of the United States Army. The only currently existing component is the 1st Battalion, 103rd Field Artillery Regiment (1-103rd FAR), a unit of the Rhode Island National Guard. The regim ...

during the First World War. Another son, Alexander Farnum Lippitt (b. 1896), attended Harvard from 1916 to 1917. He enlisted in the Army in August 1917 and served as a 1st Lieutenant in the 166th Infantry Regiment of the 42nd Division. He was awarded the

Distinguished Service Cross The Distinguished Service Cross (D.S.C.) is a military decoration for courage. Different versions exist for different countries. *Distinguished Service Cross (Australia) The Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) is a military decoration awarded to ...

for leading his men in a counterattack against the Germans. He was wounded in action, sent back to the United States and died at Fort Mott in

Cape May, New Jersey Cape May is a city located at the southern tip of Cape May Peninsula in Cape May County, New Jersey, United States, where the Delaware Bay meets the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of the country's oldest vacation resort destinations, and part of ...

on October 6, 1918. Lippitt Park in Providence was dedicated in his memory.

Political career

Lippitt served as a military aide, with the rank of colonel, to his father during his father's term of office as governor from 1875 to 1877. Lippitt served as Governor of Rhode Island from May 29, 1895 to May 25, 1897. He was an unsuccessful candidate for Republican nomination for Vice President in 1896.

Lippitt's Castle

In 1899 Lippitt built an immense castle style brick mansion, near Bailey's Beach in

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and northeast of New Yor ...

, named Lippitt's Castle. After Lippitt's death his son Charles Jr. had the castle torn down and sold the land. It was replaced in 1926 by a mansion named The Waves on the same foundation for the castle. The Waves was designed by renowned architect

John Russell Pope John Russell Pope (April 24, 1874 – August 27, 1937) was an American architect whose firm is widely known for designing major public buildings, including the National Archives and Records Administration building (completed in 1935), the Jeff ...

as his own summer residence. Bricks from Lippitt's Castle can still be found in the waters near where the mansion once stood.

Memberships

Lippitt joined the Rhode Island Society of the

Sons of the American Revolution The National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR or NSSAR) is an American congressionally chartered organization, founded in 1889 and headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky. A non-profit corporation, it has described its purpose ...

in 1896 and served as the Society's president from 1908 to 1909. In 1897 he was admitted as an hereditary member of the Rhode Island Society of the Cincinnati. His sons, Charles Warren Lippitt, Jr. and Gorton Thayer Lippitt, also joined the Sons of the American Revolution. Charles, Jr. became a member of the Society of the Cincinnati after his father's death and Gorton became a member after Charles' death in 1970. Upon the death of Gorton, in 1978, the family's "seat" in the Society was "inherited" by their cousin

Frederick Lippitt Frederick Lippitt (December 29, 1916 – May 11, 2005) was an American military officer, attorney, politician, public servant and philanthropist. He was the scion of a distinguished Rhode Island colonial family, the son of United States Senat ...

, who held the seat until his own death in 2005.

Death

Governor Charles Warren Lippitt died in

Yorktown, New York Yorktown is a town on the northern border of Westchester County, New York, United States. A suburb of the New York City metropolitan area, it is approximately north of midtown Manhattan. The population was 36,569 at the 2020 U.S. Census. Histo ...

on April 4, 1924. He was interred in the

Swan Point Cemetery Swan Point Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Established in 1846 on a 60-acre (0.24 km2) plot of land, it has approximately 40,000 interments. History The cemetery was first organ ...

in Providence.

Legacy

Lippitt Hall on the central quad of the

University of Rhode Island The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of the state of Rhode Isla ...

in Kingston is named after Governor Charles W. Lippitt.

Sources

* Sobel, Robert and John Raimo. ''Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789-1978''. Greenwood Press, 1988.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lippitt, Charles 1846 births 1924 deaths Republican Party governors of Rhode Island Brown University alumni Lippitt family Burials at Swan Point Cemetery 19th-century American businesspeople