Henry Wight Diman Papers (Mss. Gr. 161)

Biographical note

Henry Wight Diman (HWD) was born in Bristol, Rhode Island on April 2, 1835. The Dimans were an old and respected family in Bristol, with antecedents stretching back to 1730 and the arrival of Jeremiah Diman from Easthampton, Long Island. (The Rhode Island Historical Society has a collection of correspondence and diaries from members of the Diman Family, including some papers related to Henry Wight Diman.) Henry’s father, Byron, a prominent member of the Whig party, served as a state senator, and as Rhode Island’s Lieutenant Governor between 1840 and 1842, and 1843 and 1846. In 1846 he successfully campaigned for the Rhode Island governorship, and served in that capacity until 1847. Given this environment, politics was an integral part of Henry’s life, and a fertile source of material for his journals. As the son of a loyal Whig, the Democrats were a frequent target of Henry’s fulminations. Especially repugnant to his sensibilities were the Locofocos, a radical wing of that party organized in New York City in 1835. The name Locofoco derives from the eponymous self - igniting friction matches. The term was coined following an incident in New York wherein the radicals used locofocos to light candles to thwart an attempt by Tammany Hall loyalists to end a nominating convention by turning off the gas lights. Despite Henry’s interest in politics he did not fully embrace elected office, and confined his office holding to brief service in the state legislature.

Diman attended Brown University from 1851 to 1854, leaving without taking a degree. By his own admission he was not a diligent student. He thoroughly enjoyed the social scene while in college, and recalled with special fondness the times spent at Switzer’s Beer Garden, drinking lager and smoking seegars, and sailing and socializing with classmates. This penchant for the social whirl and distraction was a marked contrast to the behavior of his older brother J. Lewis Diman (1831-1881). J. Lewis graduated from Brown in 1851. He established himself as a respected Congregational clergyman, and later became a professor of History and Political Economy at his alma mater. His lectures, orations and essays were collected in two books published posthumously. In addition, his intellectual and teaching acumen brought offers of professorships at Harvard and Princeton, and the presidencies of the Universities of Vermont and Wisconsin. The level of respect he achieved among his peers is reflected in a 363 page tome edited by Caroline Hazard entitled Memoirs of Rev. J. Lewis Diman, D.D. His Letters, Journals and Writings, and the Recollections of his Friends. Although he never sought ordination, J. Lewis’s son, John Byron, (1863-1949) also completed his studies for the ministry, albeit in the Episcopal Church. Like his father, John Byron found his true calling in education. He is credited with the founding of 3 schools. The first two were the St. George's School of Newport, Rhode Island (1901), and an experimental manual training center in Fall River, Massachusetts (1912). Following a long period of reflection he entered the Roman Catholic clergy, and was ordained on December 16, 1917. As a member of the Benedictine Order, Father Hugh- the name Diman assumed upon entering the order- later founded and served as administrative head of the Portsmouth Priory School (1926) now known as the Portsmouth Abbey School.

In contrast to his brother and nephew, Henry followed a desultory career path after leaving Brown. At his father’s urging, he served a brief apprenticeship at the Bank of Bristol, found that unappealing, voyaged to Cuba and Europe, and upon returning, entered an ambitious partnership in an oakum manufactory in Bristol. (Oakum consists of loose hemp treated with tar. Driven into the seams that separate a ship’s planking, oakum helped form an impermeable barrier that kept the vessel from leaking. In a shipping and shipbuilding community such as Bristol, thousands of yards of oakum were needed annually.) None of these endeavors save the Cuba and European voyages seemed to hold Diman’s attention.

In March 1861, shortly before the outbreak of the Civil War, Diman visited Washington, D.C. in hopes of obtaining a Foreign Service appointment, preferably in Cuba. Informed that no action could be taken until fall, he returned to Bristol. Following the shelling of Fort Sumter in April of that year he tried unsuccessfully to secure a commission in the Union army, but managed to obtain an appointment as assistant paymaster on the new gunboat U.S.S. Kineo. In that capacity he served with Admiral David Farragut’s expedition against New Orleans in 1862, and participated in the destruction of the “infernal" Confederate ironclad CSS Arkansas. While on duty news of his appointment as consul in Oporto, Portugal arrived. He had the option of resigning immediately, but chose to remain with the Kineo as that vessel provided artillery support for embattled Union forces during Confederate general (and former U.S. Vice President) John C. Breckenridge’s attack on Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

His fortunes were aided immeasurably by the patronage of Rhode Island Governor (1849-1851) and U.S. Senator (1859-1884) Henry Bowen Anthony. With Anthony’s help Diman first obtained the consular position in Oporto, and later that position at Lisbon.

Diman’s tenure in Portugal occurred in three phases. From 1862-1869, he served as American Consul in Oporto, Portugal’s second largest city and a major port and manufacturing center situated on the banks of the river Douro. In 1869, as the result of internecine Republican Party politics he was replaced as consul. In July 1870 following a brief interlude of unemployment and thanks to the intervention of his brother and Senator Anthony, Henry received the appointment as consul in Lisbon, Portugal’s capital. He filled that position until 1882. In retirement he chose to remain in Lisbon, and died there on September 23, 1884 at the age of 49. He was interred in a Lisbon cemetery.

Diman’s responsibilities as consul were multifaceted but far from taxing. Looking after the needs of the expatriate and business communities, loaning money to importunate Americans, welcoming visiting dignitaries and American naval personnel and periodically investigating legal actions and criminal acts involving Americans were among his official responsibilities. Much time was left for socializing, avocations and travel, and unofficial business. His journals or agendas as he later called them, provide copious examples of these activities. Dinner parties, theatre and musical performances, cricket matches, horse and boat races, and bullfights are frequently described in detail. As he observed shortly before leaving Oporto, it was a pleasant life.

Pleasant perhaps, but not highly remunerative, and his social obligations and style of living did not enhance his financial position. Although an exact salary figure is never mentioned, periodic references to expenses and income leave the distinct impression of a man who lived in frayed gentility. Exacerbating this financial malaise was a series of unfortunate and imprudent investments and business schemes. While designed to enhance his income, none proved more than modestly profitable. Included among these were arrangements to export Portuguese wines and gloves to the United States and investments in a coal mine and phosphate mine. At the time of his death some of the wine, now old and of questionable potability remained in his possession, while the coal stock was deemed worthless.

Even in retirement Diman attempted to maintain a life style beyond his means. As the new American consul reported, "his habits were [not] those of close economy." His estate consisted of stocks and bonds valued at about $1,200 and furniture and other items worth about $1,400.