Samuel Ward (Governor)

Samuel Ward

Samuel Ward (born May 25, 1725 in Newport , Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations , † March 26, 1776 in Philadelphia , Province of Pennsylvania ) was a politician in colonial North America . He was the 31st Governor from 1762 to 1763 and the 33rd Governor from 1765 to 1767 of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.

family

Ward was born the son of the politician Richard Ward and his wife Mary Tillinghast in Newport, Rhode Island. His paternal great-grandfather, John Ward, was from Gloucester . He served in Oliver Cromwell's army and emigrated to North America in 1673 after the Stuart Restoration . On his mother's side, Ward was the great-great-grandson of Roger Williams , who is considered the founder of Rhode Island and the first Baptist church on the American continent. Ward grew up in a liberal home. He attended Newport Elementary School and received home schooling from his brother . At a young age he married Anne Ray. Their father gave the couple a piece of land in Westerly , where they settled and ran a farm. The marriage had eleven children, including Samuel Ward . Julia Ward Howe was Ward's great-granddaughter.

Political activity

Ward took up his political engagement in 1756. That year he was elected alderman in Westerly. He held this office for three years. In the battle for the post of governor of the colony, he was deeply at odds with Stephen Hopkins . Between 1758 and 1768, the governor's post changed hands several times between the two men. The opposing positions of the two were also evident in the dispute over whether only coins or banknotes should be permitted in the colony in the future . While Ward advocated the former, Hopkins sided with the latter. The dispute between these two men culminated in Hopkins bringing a lawsuit against Ward in which he sought £ 40,000 damages for defamation . His lawsuit was ultimately dismissed. In 1761 Ward was appointed chairman of the Rhode Island Supreme Court , but gave up the post a year later when he won the election for governor of the colony against Stephen Hopkins on the third attempt. Ward initially held the governor's office for only one term before being replaced by Hopkins again in 1763. During that first term, Ward worked hard to establish Rhode Island College , the forerunner of today's Brown University . When the college finally opened in 1765, Ward was one of the curators .

Stamp Act of 1765

In 1763 Ward lost the election to governor to Hopkins, but won the election again in 1765. Two months before his second election, the UK Parliament passed the Stamp Act . Under this law, all official documents drawn up in the British colonies should be printed on special paper that the colonies should purchase from Great Britain at a set price. In addition, the new tariffs on sugar and coffee were raised. In response to this legislation, Samuel Adams organized a meeting of delegates from all colonies in New York City. In August 1765, the Rhode Island Parliament passed various resolutions that opposed implementation of the Stamp Act. The attorney general in charge refused to carry out this. In September of the same year, Parliament elected the delegates for the meeting in New York. The day before the law came into force, all governors had to take an oath to actually implement the law. Ward was the only governor of the North American colonies to refuse to take this oath, despite the threat of a substantial fine. Ultimately, the law was repealed.

Member of the Continental Congress

In 1767 Ward lost the governor again against Hopkins and retired to his country estate in Westerly. In 1774, however, he returned to politics. In May of the same year it was decided to hold a continental congress in Providence . The Rhode Island Parliament, in its session in June 1774, appointed Ward and Hopkins as delegates to the first continental congress . There he was appointed chairman of the main committee and thus had a significant influence on the content of the United States' Declaration of Independence .

Death and aftermath

Ward died three months before the signing of the Declaration of Independence from the effects of smallpox - infection , which he allegedly suffered during a session of the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, and was initially buried in Philadelphia. In 1860 his remains were transferred to Newport and buried next to his father in the Common Burying Ground and Island Cemetery . In 1937 Westerly High School was named after Ward. The street in front of this school was also renamed Ward Avenue . After the school's campus was remodeled, it was renamed Westerly High School. One of the two buildings is still named after Ward, as is one of the event rooms. In addition, a plaque in the entrance area of ​​the main building indicates Ward.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ John Ward: A Memoir of Lieut.-Colonel Samuel Ward, First Rhode Island Regiment, Army of the American Revolution . Self-published, New York 1875, LCCN  17-009743 , OCLC 5207086 , p. 5 ( [1] [accessed January 19, 2014]).
2. ^ Laura E. Richards, Maud Howe Elliott: Julia Ward Howe 1819–1910 . 1st edition. tape I . Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston et al. a. 1916, OCLC 630528598 , p. 4 .

See also

• List of delegates to the Continental Congress

literature

• John Osborne Austin: The Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island . Gearfield, Albany 1887, ISBN 978-0-8063-0006-1 ( [2] [accessed January 30, 2014]).
• Samuel G. Arnold : History of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations . Vol. 2. Preston and Rounds, Carlisle 1894, pp. 50 ( [3] [accessed January 19, 2014]).
• Thomas Williams Bicknell: The History of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations . Vol. 3. The American Historical Society, New York 1920, pp. 1073–8 ( [4] [accessed January 19, 2014]).

Web links

• Samuel Ward in the database of Find a Grave (English)
• Samuel Ward in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• Brown University Certificate of Incorporation