USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > Providence > Governors for three hundred years, 1638-1959; Rhode Island and Providence Plantations > Part 16
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Greene-Roelker Burial Ground Warwick, R. I.
The wife of Governor Greene was Catherine, daughter of Benjamin Greene. Their children were Benjamin, born May 19, 1724; Samuel, born August 25, 1727; William (second Governor of the name) , born August 16, 1731; Margaret, born No- vember 2, 1733, who became the second wife of Rufus Spencer; Catherine, born Decem- ber 9, 1735, who married John Greene, of Boston; and Christopher. born April 18, 1741, and died the same year.
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GIDEON WANTON
Governor: May 1745 to May 1746, and May 1747 to May 1748.
Born: October 20, 1693 in Tiverton, Massachusetts.
Died: September 12. 1767 in Newport. Rhode Island.
Buried: Newport, R. I. Friends Burial Ground, between White and Feke Sts.
WANTON, GOVERNOR GIDEON, son of Joseph and Sarah (Freeborn) Wanton, was born in Tiverton, October 20, 1693. He held the office of General Treasurer of the colony twelve years, 1732-1744, and two years later succeeded William Greene, as Gov- ernor of Rhode Island. This office he held for one year, and in 1747 he was elected a second time, and was in office one year. He took an active part in the stirring events of the period in which he lived.
Soon after his installation as Governor he was called upon to furnish troops to as- sist in carrying on the war against France, which she had declared, March 15, 1744. An expedition having been planned to proceed to Cape Breton, Rhode Island responded to the call for soldiers. Her troops also took part in the siege of Louisbourg, and when that place was taken they remained to garrison the captured fortress. We are told that "the people of Rhode Island went into this war with great spirit, and no man took a deeper interest in it than the Quaker Governor of Rhode Island." Mr. Bartlett says, "that although a Quaker, he was a belligerent one, and fully equal to the emergency; and had he been Governor and Captain-General of Rhode Island in 1861, would have been among the first to send a regiment of Rhode Island volunteers to Washington. Through life Gideon Wanton was distinguished for his talents and for the influence he exerted in the affairs of the colony." He married, February 6, 1718, Mrs. Mary Cod- man, who died September 3. 1780, and was buried in the Friends Burial Ground, New- port. His own death occurred September 12, 1767. He had four children, Gideon, Jr., John G., Joseph, and Edward.
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GIDEON WANTON 1745-1746 1747-1748
Painting al Newport Historical Society
Friends Burial Ground Newport, R. I.
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STEPHEN HOPKINS
Governor: May, 1755-May, 1757; March 14, 1758-May, 1762; May, 1763-May, 1765; May. 1767-May, 1768.
War Service: Member Council of War, etc., Revolutionary War.
Born: March 7th, 1707 in Providence (Western part of Providence later became Scituate. Feb. 20, 1730) . Rhode Island.
Died: July 13th, 1785 in Providence, Rhode Island.
Buried: Providence, Rhode Island. North Burial Ground east side Ehm Avenue op- posite Hopkins Avenue.
HOPKINS, GOVERNOR STEPHEN, one of the signers of the Declaration of Inde- pendence, was born in western part of Providence (later Scituate, R. I.), Rhode Island, March 7, 1707, a son of William and Ruth (Wilkinson) Hopkins. He left his native place early in life and took up his residence in Providence. His abilities soon won for him the esteem and confidence of his fellow-citizens, and he was sent as their representa- tive to the General Assembly in 1733. Six years later, in 1739, he was chosen Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, and in 1755 was elected Governor of the colony. With the exception of four years he held this office till 1768. At a special meeting of the citizens of Providence, held in 1765, he was appointed chairman of a committee to draw up instructions to be presented to the General Assembly, relative to the Stamp Act. The resolutions which the committee prepared were similar to those which Patrick Henry had laid before the House of Burgesses in Virginia. with the added one, which that body had declined to pass, to wit: "We are not bound to yield obedience to any law or ordinance designed to impose any internal taxation whatever upon us, other than the laws and ordinances of Rhode Island,"-the words Rhode Island being substituted for Virginia. The General Assembly passed the resolutions.
With Governor Samuel Ward he was chosen to represent his native state in the General Congress at Philadelphia, and was a member of that body in 1774-1775, and 1776. His name is always noticed among the signers of the Declaration, as the signature is so peculiar as to attract attention. Goodrich states that he had for some time been afflicted with a paralytic affection which compelled him, when he wrote, to guide his right hand with his left. But the tremulous signature is not indicative of the spirit of the man, who, says the same author, knew no fear in a case where life and liberty were at hazard. On signing the Declaration he remarked. "My hand trembles, but my heart does not." He was one of the important committee which drafted the Articles of Con- federation.
John Adams makes the following pleasant allusion to his personal connection with Governor Hopkins: "Governor Hopkins, of Rhode Island, above seventy years of age, kept us,"-that is, the members of the naval committee, Messrs. Lee and Gasden and himself .- "all alive. Upon business his experience and judgment were very useful. But when the business of the evening was over he kept us in conversation till 11, and sometimes till 12 o'clock. His custom was to drink nothing all day until 8 in the evening. and then his beverage was Jamaica spirits and water. It gave him wit, humor, anec- dotes. science, and learning. He had read Greek, Roman, and British history, and was
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familiar with English poetry, particularly Pope, Thomson, and Milton; and the flow of his soul made all his reading his own, and seemed to bring in recollection in all of us all we had ever read. I could neither eat nor drink in those days; but other gentlemen were very temperate. Hopkins never drank to excess, but all he drank was immediately not only converted into wit, sense, knowledge, and good humor, but inspired us with similar qualities."
Governor Hopkins died at his residence in North Providence, July 13, 1785. His name, says Greene, "is closely interwoven with all that is greatest and best in Rhode Is- land history; an astronomer of no mean pre tensions, a statesman of broad views and deep penetration, a supreme executive, prompt, energetic and fearless, a genial companion when wise men relax from care, and a trusty counsellor when the duties of life bear heaviest on the scrupulous conscience."
Stephen Hopkins was twice married: First, on October 9, 1726, to Sarah Scott, who died in September 1773, and secondly to Ann, daughter of Benjamin Smith. There were five sons and two daughters by his first marriage. Governor Hopkins was the au- thor of "A History of the Planting and Growth of Providence" and "The Rights of the Colonies Examined". Brown University conferred the degree of LL.D. on him. He served Brown University as Chancellor for many years and entertained George Wash- ington overnight at his house in Providence in 1776.
HON. STEPHEN HOPKINS (with William Ellery) 1755-1757, 1758-1762 1763-1765, 1767-1768
Northeast Corridor Second Floor of State House
Original painted by John Trumbull. This painting was copied by Wilfred I. Duphiney from the original which hangs in Yale College. In the painting of the "Declaration of Independence", Hopkins is shown with his Quaker hat on with Wm. Ellery near the door because of the signers of the Declaration, R. I. came in last.
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STEPHEN HOPKINS
THREE HUNDRED YEARS OF
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DEDICATION
at STEPHEN HOPKINS MONUMENT
July 4, 1954
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RALPH S. MOHR AND GOV. ROBERTS
GOVERNORS OF RHODE ISLAND
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SAMUEL WARD
Governor: May 1762 to May 1763, May 1765 to May 1767.
Born: May 27, 1725 in Newport, Rhode Island.
Died: March 26, 1776 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Buried: Newport, R. I. Common Ground Cemetery.
Re-interred to Common Ground Cemetery from First Baptist Church, Philadelphia, March 1860.
WARD, GOVERNOR SAMUEL, son of Governor Richard and Mary (Tillinghast) Ward, was born at Newport, R. I., May 27, 1725, and graduated at Cambridge College, Mass., in 1743. In 1745 he married Anna Ray, of Block Island, and removed to Westerly, R. I. where he began his public career. His excellent character, liberal education, and legal at- taimnents soon won for him public confidence, and he became a leader in the town and in the colony. Fitted to guide in public affairs, he rose to the highest seat in the gift of the people, being chosen Governor three times-in 1762, in 1765, and in 1766.
At this time there was a warm political contest between what was then known as the Ward and Hopkins parties, Stephen Hopkins being the leader of the latter. It was, also. the exciting period when the Stamp Act was agitating the whole country, and irrec- oncilable differences with the mother country were reaching their culminating point. Governor Ward acted a cool, decided, able, noble part in resisting the aggressions of England. The papers that emanated from his pen are among the highly cherished rec- ords of the State. The manifesto composed by him, and adopted by Westerly. February 2. 1774, and widely circulated, kindled enthusiastic responses. It is a masterly paper, both in style and sentiments, and the fifteen resolves lucidly set forth the points of com- plaint against Great Britain.
Associated with him in his patriotic endeavors, by appointment, were Hon. Joshua Babcock. James Rhodes. George Sheffield, and James Babcock. They corresponded with committees in other parts of the country, -- in Boston, Philadelphia, and Virginia. Gov- ernor Ward was distinguished for his penetration. calmness. earnestness. and firmness. Very wisely, at the opening of the Revolutionary struggle in 1774, he was chosen by the colony as colleague with Stephen Hopkins, to whom he was now perfectly reconciled on party grounds, to represent Rhode Island in the first Continental Congress at Philadel- phia. To this responsible position he was reappointed in 1775. and while in the discharge of his duty, died in Philadelphia, March 25, 1776, deeply mourned by Congress and by his native colony.
Governor Ward and his wife Anna were the parents of three sons and six daughters. all of whom were born in Westerly, Rhode Island.
For further reference of the Ward family see biographical sketch of Governor Richard Ward, pages 166-169.
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SAMUEL WARD
COMMON GROUND CEMETERY NEWPORT, R. I.
GOVERNORS OF RHODE ISLAND
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JOSIAS LYNDON
Governor: May 1768 to May 1769.
Born: March 10, 1704 in Newport, Rhode Island.
Died: March 30, 1778 in Warren, Rhode Island.
Buried: Warren, R. I. Old Kickemuit Cemetery, Serpentine Road 0.8 miles from Child Street.
LYNDON, GOVERNOR JOSIAS, was born in Newport, March 10, 1704. He came from a worthy ancestry, and his own immediate family was so situated that he enjoyed such privileges for acquiring an education as were furnished in what was, at that time, one of the wealthiest and most honored places in the country. He was chosen clerk of the Lower House of the General Assembly when he was a little over twenty years of age, and also clerk of the Superior Court of the County of Newport. For many years of a long life he discharged the clerical duties which devolved on him with great fidelity.
The great controversy between Samuel Ward and Stephen Hopkins, the hand- shaking signer of the Declaration of Independence, was a memorable one in its day. It was a bitter strife of political partisanship in the struggle for the election of one of the other of these gentlemen to the Gubernatorial chair, a place of the highest honor in those colo- nial days. The fight went on with varying fortunes for ten years, when the parties in in- terest consented to withdraw their names, and the name of Josias Lyndon was presented for the votes of his fellow-citizens, and he was chosen Governor. He held the office one year, from May 1, 1768, to May 1, 1769.
It was an exciting period in New England history. The British Parliament, in its perplexity to raise funds to meet the nation's pecuniary liabilities, determined to tax the American colonies although they were not represented in the legislative halls of England. The colonies, while in all proper ways declaring their allegiance to the Crown and their attachment to the person and the family of the King, protested in the most solemn man- ner against taxation without representation.
The correspondence of Governor Lyndon, at this time, and the state papers which bore his signature, will show where stood the Executive of the plucky State of Rhode Island. Some of the sentences of the paper, "The Governor of Rhode Island to the King," have the true ring of the old Revolutionary times. The communication is re- spectful, loyal, but in a manly way it protests against the grievances which have been heaped upon the colonies. "Transplanted froni Britain, subjects of the same King, par- takers of the blessings of the same happy Constitution, supported and protected by her power, united with her in religion, laws, manners, and language, and animated with the same love of freedom, we esteem our connection with and dependence upon her as of the last importance to our happiness and well-being, and it will ever be our greatest solicitude to maintain and preserve to the latest posterity this invaluable blessing, replete with so many advantages." He proceeds to dwell upon the circumstances which led to the estab- lishment of the colonies; how the first settlers were driven forth from their native land by the hand of persecution; how, through innumerable difficulties, they settled in this land, and at length, "by the goodness of God, without any expense to the Crown, al-
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JOSIAS LYNDON
INSCRIPTION UPON THE TOMB OF GOVERNOR LYNDON
In memory of the Hon. Josias Lyndon Esq. he was born in Newport on Rhode Island on the 10th of March A. D. 1704, and received a good education in early life. In the year 1730 he was chosen Clerk of the Lower House of Assembly, and of the inferior Court of the county of Newport, and continued so with great applause, with the inter- mission of only two years, until his death. In the year of 1768, to put an end to the vio- lence of party rage, he was prevailed on to accept the place of Governor which he filled with reputation.
He died of Small Pox, at Warren on the 30th of March 1778.
His manner gentle, and innocent his life. His faith was firm on revelation built. His parts were solid, in usefulness he shined. His life was long filled up with doing good.
NOTE: This stone marker was entirely destroyed by vandals December, 1957 and was re- placed by a bronze tablet set in concrete.
ORIGINAL STONE MARKER
See new marker erected by the State of Rhode Island on Page 311.
GOVERNORS OF RHODE ISLAND
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though at much expense of their own blood and of their children's, they settled this, your Majesty's colony." The Governor then refers to the charter granted to Rhode Island by Charles II., which pledged to the inhabitants of the colony all the liberties and immunities of free and natural subjects born within the realms of England, among which was the exclusive right of giving and granting their own money by themselves or by their representatives. In respectful but firm tones, the Governor pleads in behalf of his fellow- citizens, and prays his Majesty not to oppress his subjects. In the same strain he ad- dresses the Earl of Hillsborough, through whom the letter to the King is sent, and begs him to interpose in their behalf. He urges that it is not the right of the colonies to be independent of the mother country. They are firmly attached, he assures his lordship, to his Majesty's person, family, and government. They esteem their close connection with and dependence upon Great Britain as the source of their greatest happiness. All they ask is to be treated as free subjects, and not as slaves.
No more loyal and yet earnest and frank communications were sent to the author- ities across the ocean, from the accomplished statesmen of old Massachusetts itself, than those which bore the signature of Josias Lyndon, Governor of Rhode Island; and, un- availing though all these communications may have been, they have gone upon the pages of history as the protests of a suffering people against the oppressions which they were called upon to endure.
When the British took possession of Newport, the Governor, feeling that one who had shown himself so conspicuously a "rebel" would hardly be safe there, left the place and took up his abode in Warren, where he lived for several years, dying at last of the small-pox, March 30, 1778.
His wife was Mary, daughter of Edward Carr, whom he married October 5, 1727. She was born October 20th, 1693, and was "in poor, helpless condition", when the Lyn- dons removed to Warren, R. I. upon the occupancy of Newport by the British troops, yet she lived to the age of ninety-six. There were no children.
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OLD KICKEMUIT BURIAL GROUND
WARREN, RHODE ISLAND
OLD KICKEMUIT BURIAL GROUND
This is the second burial ground used in the vicinity of Warren, and it is located on the banks of the Kickemuit River about one mile north of the Warren and Bristol Water Works Plant.
The oldest inscription in it is that of John Luther who died April 14, 1697 at the age of 34, and it is probable that the ground was commenced as a burial ground at that time.
GOVERNOR JOSIAS LYNDON IS BURIED HERE Sce Pages 180-182
GOVERNORS OF RHODE ISLAND
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JOSEPH WANTON
Governor: May 1769 to November 7, 1775. Deposed.
Born: August 15, 1705 in Newport R. I.
Died: July 19, 1780 in Newport, R. I.
Buried: Newport, R. I. Golden Hill Cemetery.
WANTON, GOVERNOR JOSEPH, was a descendant of Edward Wanton, who emi- grated from London to Boston about the year 1658, and died, a Friend, at Scituate, Mass., age 85. One of the sons of Edward-Joseph, the eldest-settled in Tiverton, in 1688. He and his wife were preachers in the Society of Friends. Another son, William, in 1704, settled in Newport, and became a successful merchant. He was Governor of the colony of Rhode Island under the Royal Charter in 1732 and 1733. John Wanton, another son, also a wealthy merchant of Newport, and a distinguished Friend, was Governor of the col- ony immediately after his brother, and held the office six years, from 1734 to 1740. Gideon, son of Philip, another son of Edward, and, like his uncles William and John, an enterprising merchant of Newport, was Governor of the colony in 1745 and 1747.
The subject of this sketch, Joseph, was the son of Governor William Wanton, and was born in Newport in 1705. He inherited the taste of his family for mercantile pur- suits, and like them became an opulent merchant in his native place. By blood and af- finity he was connected with the wealthiest and most popular families in the colony. He was elected Lieutenant-Governor of the colony in 1764 and 1767 and in 1769 was chosen as the successor of Governor Josias Lyndon, and was annually re-elected until 1775, when, although again chosen to fill the office, he was not confirmed by the General As- sembly, because of his opposition to a resolution which was presented to the Assembly, to the effect than an "Army of Observation" be raised "to repel any insult or violence that may be offered to the inhabitants; and also, if it be necessary, for the safety and preservation of any of the colonies, to march out of this colony, and join and cooperate with the force of the neighboring colonies." Governor Wanton protested again the pas- sage of this resolution, which, however, was passed over his protest. The "Army of Ob- servation," consisting of fifteen hundred men, was raised, and General Nathanael Greene appointed its commander. An act was passed by the General Assembly to prevent Gov- ernor Wanton from performing the duties of Governor; he was deposed from office, and the office was declared, for the time being, to be vacant.
During the occupancy of Newport by the British he lived in comparative retirement. Whatever may have been the real feeling which he cherished for the English government, he committed no act which was followed by the confiscation of his estate. When the British evacuated the town, and the Americans returned to its possession, he remained without being molested during the brief period which elapsed before his death, which occurred July 19, 1780.
Governor Wanton's wife was Mary, daughter of John Still Winthrop, of New Lon- don, Conn., by whom he had three sons and five daughters. (1) Joseph, who was an Episcopal clergyman at or near Liverpool, England. (2) William, collector of customs at St. Johns, N. S. (3) John, who died when a child. (4) Ann, wife of Winthrop Sal-
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HON. JOSEPH WANTON 1769-1775 Painter Unknown Southwest Corridor Second Floor of State House Original owned by R. I. Historical Society Painting by Smibert
WANTON TOMB Golden Hill Cemetery Newport, R. I.
tonstall, of New London. She died in 1784, leaving five children. Among them was Mary, married November 29, 1789, to Thomas Coit, of New London. They were the parents of two Episcopal clergymen, Rev. Dr. T. W. Coit and Rev. Gurdon S. Coit. (5) Mary, married Captain John Coddington. (6) Elizabeth, married Thomas Wickham, of Newport. (7) Ruth, married William Brown, who was appointed by the British government Governor of Bermuda. (8) Catherine, twice married, first to a Mr. Stoddard, and second Mr. Detileur, a surgeon in the British Army.
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NICHOLAS COOKE
Governor: Nov. 1775 to May 1778.
War Governor: Revolutionary War.
Born: February 3. 1717 in Providence, Rhode Island.
Died: September 14, 1782 in Providence, Rhode Island.
Buried: Providence, Rhode Island. North Burial Ground. Corner Prospect and Main Avenue.
COOKE, GOVERNOR NICHOLAS, third child of Daniel and Mary (Power) Cooke, was born in Providence, February 3, 1717. In his early life he engaged in seafaring busi- ness, and was successful as a shipmaster. On retiring from the sea he was occupied in mercantile pursuits, in which he acquired a handsome property. He was an extensive landowner in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. He also carried on the rope- making and distilling business, and was, in a special sense, "a man of affairs." Upon the displacement of Governor Joseph Wanton by the vote of the General Assembly, October 31, 1775, Mr. Cooke, who had twice held the office of Deputy Governor, was chosen to take the place of the obnoxious chief magistrate of the State. He remained in office until May. 1778, and then declined a re-election.
The circumstances connected with his election are full of interest. There could be but little doubt that if the British should be successful, the chief magistrate of the State, called, as was believed, in an illegal way to take the place of the loyal Governor Wanton, would forfeit his life as a punishment for his rashness. The eyes of the members of the General Assembly were fixed upon Nicholas Cooke as the man of their choice. It is re- lated that "Stephen Hopkins, then preparing for his journey to take his seat in Congress, and Joshua Babcock, the oldest member of the House, were requested to wait on him and, if possible, to obtain his consent. Both Houses were waiting in solicitude for the return of their messengers. They stated the urgency of the case. Mr. Cooke pleaded his ad- vanced age and the retired habits which unfitted him for meeting the expectation of the Assembly. They replied that they considered his duty required him to make a favorable report. He finally consented, though nothing but the critical state of the country would have induced him so to do." The event fully justified the wisdom of the choice of Gov- ernor Cooke. He at once entered upon the discharge of his duties, and in a practical way began to show how sincere was the interest he felt in the welfare of his country.
As early as November 27, 1775, we find him urging the Rhode Island delegates in Con- gress, Messrs. Hopkins and Ward to propose to Congress to encourage the manufacture of saltpetre, to supply the lamentable want of gunpowder in the army. Already the at- tention of the General Assembly had been directed to the subject, and in August, 1775, they offered "a bounty of three shillings per pound for every pound of saltpetre that should be made in Rhode Island by the 26th of August, 1776, and three shillings a pound for the saltpetre." A long letter, addressed to the Rhode Island delegates in Con- gress, written by Governor Cooke on the subject, may be found in Staples's Rhode Island in the Continental Congress, pp. 47, 48, in which he alludes to his own successful attempts in the small way to manufacture saltpetre. Other letters of Governor Cooke's, which may
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