Governor Aram J. Pothier
From Mill Town to Statehouse
Woonsocket’s third mayor, Aram J. Pothier, was one of the city’s more famous citizens. Pothier who served as mayor in 1894 and 1895 later went on to become one of the state’s most popular governors.
Pothier was born on July 26, 1854, in the province of Quebec. He studied in Canada and later joined his parents who had moved to Woonsocket in 1870. In Woonsocket he worked for the Woonsocket Institution for Savings, as a clerk, and eventually he became President of this institution.
Pothier entered the world of politics in 1885 as a member of the School Board, and in 1887 and 1888 he was elected to General Assembly as a Republican. When Pothier was elected mayor in 1894 he was the first French Canadian to achieve this high office.
Under Pothier’s administration, the Court Street Bridge was constructed. At the time of its construction, this bridge was hailed the longest and widest, and the most costly ever to span the Blackstone River.
He later served as representative for Rhode Island at the Paris World Exposition. Through his influence he was able to induce a number of French and Belgian industrialists to establish textile mills in Woonsocket. These mills, including the French Worsted, the Argonne Worsted, and the Alsace Worsted, account for Woonsocket’s boom of the earlier 20th century.
In 1908 Pothier was elected governor of Rhode Island, and served for five consecutive terms, until 1912. In 1924 he was again elected to the office of governor, and served until his death on February 4, 1928, at the age of 74.
Aram J. Pothier had not only been a capable and talented political and business leader, but he also personified the hopes and aspirations of Rhode Island’s rapidly growing French Canadian population of the early 1900’s. He was buried in a large mausoleum at Precious Blood Cemetery in Woonsocket.
