Thomas Alexander Tefft

• Name — Thomas Alexander Tefft • Born — 2 August 1826 • Birthplace — Richmond, Rhode Island • Died — 12 December 1859 • Place of death — Florence, Italy • Education — Brown University • Significant Buildings — Cannelton Cotton Mill Narragansett Baptist Church Providence Union Railroad Depot (1847–1896) • Illustration — Tefft's design for Freight House No. 1, of the Providence and Worcester Railroad, Providence. 1847, demolished. • Illustration — Tefft's Cotton Mill in Cannelton, IN, completed in 1851. The mill is shown here before its restoration. • Illustration — Providence Union Station, 1847–1896. Note the similarity in style to the Cannelton Cotton Mill

Tefft was born in rural Richmond, Rhode Island, outside of the small village of Wood River Junction. He was the fourth child of William C. and Sarah Tefft. His family worshiped at the Richmond Six-Principle Baptist Church. During his childhood, Tefft experienced poor health; unable to exert himself physically, he developed an appreciation of books. At the age of 10, he enrolled at a school kept by Elisha Baggs. During his later adolescence, Tefft taught at a local schoolhouse. During the 1840s, the state school commissioner, Henry Barnard, embarked on an inspection of the state's public schools. Noting Tefft's talents for drawing and the other arts, Barnard convinced him to move to Providence and study architecture. He entered the office of Tallman and Bucklin–then one of the city's primary offices. By 1846, Tefft played a dominant role in the firm's designs. In 1847, he enrolled at Brown University, where he studied under Alexis Caswell. At this time, Tefft exhibited a strong grasp of Rundbogenstil, amassing a large library of books on the style and advocating for its use.

In 1851, Tefft graduated from Brown. At the same time, the partnership of Tallman and Bucklin was dissolved. Tefft then opened his own office, and ran a notable practice that lasted only five years. In 1856, he decided to embark on a grand tour of Europe. Due to the beginning of an economic downturn, the only work that Tefft had in his office were the initial designs of Vassar College. With that project stagnating, he chose to go. He departed on the steamer Arago on December 13, 1856. He began in England, where he studied the works of Christopher Wren, among others. He also met and was entertained in the home of noted architect Charles Barry. During his tour, Tefft visited the cities of Paris, Rome, Geneva, Berlin, Milan, and Florence, among others. In 1857, he was invited to join the new American Institute of Architects, and was among that organization's first fellows. In December 1859, he fell ill with a fever in Florence at the home of his friend, sculptor Hiram Powers. He died there on the 12th. Tefft was first buried in the English Cemetery in Florence; in February 1860, his body was shipped back to Rhode Island, where it was reinterred in Swan Point Cemetery.

• Barrington School, 351 Nayatt Road, Barrington, Rhode Island (1840) – now a private home * • Illustration — Lawrence Hall, 1846–47 Lawrence Hall, Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts (1846–47) – built as the library, now part of the Williams College Museum of Art • Butler Hospital, 345 Blackstone Blvd., Providence, RI (1847) – significantly altered • Elisha Dyer House, 11 Greene St., Providence, RI (1847) – demolished • Freight House No. 1, Canal St. at Elizabeth, Providence, RI (1847–48) – served as the passenger station until Union Station was completed, demolished • Gatehouse, Swan Point Cemetery, 585 Blackstone Blvd., Providence, RI (1847) – demolished • Receiving Vault, Swan Point Cemetery, 585 Blackstone Blvd., Providence, RI (1847) • Second Universalist Church, 151 Weybosset St., Providence, RI (1847–49) – burned in 2006 • St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 55 Main St., Wickford, RI (1847) • Liberty Street School, 10 Liberty St., Warren, Rhode Island (1847) • Allendale School, 545 Woonasquatucket Ave., Allendale, RI (1848) • Centerdale School, Thomas St., Centerdale, RI (1848) – demolished • Howard's Block, 171 Westminster St., Providence, RI (1848) – burned in 1853 • Providence Union Station, Kennedy Plaza, Providence, RI (1848) – burned in 1896 • Remodeling of house for Richard James Arnold, 124 S. Main St., Providence, RI (1848) – This house was once the Sabin Tavern; it was demolished in 1891. • Union High and Grammar School, 60 High School St., Woonsocket, RI (1848–49) – burned in 1875 • Young Ladies' High School, 235 Benefit St., Providence, RI (1848) • Indiana Cotton Mills, 310 Washington St., Cannelton, Indiana (1849–50) – now the Cotton Mill Apartments • Menzies Sweet House, 12 Arnold St., Providence, RI (1850) • Narragansett Baptist Church, 170 S. Ferry Rd., South Ferry, RI (1850) • Pastors' Rest Monument, Swan Point Cemetery, 585 Blackstone Blvd., Providence, RI (1850) • Remodeling of the Rhode Island State House, 150 Benefit St., Providence, RI (1850)

• Illustration — School House (1840), Barrington RI • Illustration — Providence Union Station (1847) • Illustration — Freight House (1848), Providence • Illustration — Cannelton Cotton Mill (1851), Cannelton, I.N. • Illustration — Narragansett Baptist Church (1850), Narraganset, R.I. • Illustration — Tully Bowen House (1853), Providence • Illustration — Edward Pearce House (1853), Providence • Illustration — Richmond Female Institute (1854), Richmond, V.A. • Illustration — Robert Lippitt House (1854), Providence • Illustration — Martin Hall, Providence College (1855), Providence • Illustration — Charles Potter House (1855), Providence • Illustration — Proposal for Providence City Hall (1855) • Illustration — Central Baptist Church (1856), Providence • Illustration — Proposal for Providence Merchants Exchange Building (1856)