Samuel Ward (American statesman)

Samuel Ward (May 25, 1725 – March 26, 1776) was an American farmer, shop keeper, and statesman from Westerly, Rhode Island. He served as a colonial Governor of Rhode Island and later as a delegate to the Continental Congress.

Samuel was born in Newport, Rhode Island in 1725 to Richard Ward and his wife, Mary Tillinghast Ward, Sabbatarians who observed Saturday as the Sabbath. Richard was a merchant in Newport, and served as the colonial governor of Rhode Island in 1741 and 1742. Very little is known of Samuel's early life and education. In 1745 he married Anna Ray and the couple settled in Westerly where Ward took up farming and opened a store.

Ward began his public career when he was elected to the colony's General Assembly in 1756, and he served there until 1758. Between 1758 and 1761 he made three unsuccessful attempts to be elected governor. In 1761 the Assembly named him to the office of Chief Justice in Rhode Island's superior court. He served only a year before being elected Governor in 1762. He served additional terms as governor in 1765-66. He was also the only colonial governor who refused the oath to enforce the Stamp Act.

In 1774, Rhode Island sent Ward to the Continental Congress. He served on several important committees, including the "Committee on Secrets" and frequently sat in the chair when the Congress met as a committee of the whole. While at the Congress Ward contracted smallpox and died in Philadelphia three months before he would have signed the Declaration of Independence. He was originally buried in Philadelphia but, in 1860, he was reinterred in the "Old Cemetery" in Newport, Rhode Island.

Samuel and Anna had eleven children. Their second son Samuel Ward, Jr. served as a Lt. Colonel in the Continental Army. Their great-granddaughter was Julia Ward Howe who composed the "Battle Hymn of the Republic". Ward was also one of those who joined together to found the College of Rhode Island (now Brown University) which he served as a trustee from 1764 until his death.

Governor Sam Ward was twice descended (in both his maternal and paternal lines) from Roger Williams, founder of Rhode Island.

In the early 20th Century, the Town of Westerly, RI, honored Gov. Ward's memory by dedicating it's new, state of the art, high school for him. The road that formerly fronted the main building of the current high school campus was also named for his family, Ward Avenue. The large Georgian-style building has served the town's students faithfully since 1939 and is currently part of a larger high school campus formed in 2005. The school is made up of two buildings, the Ward Building and Babcock Hall (the former junior high school, built at the same time.) In the late 20th Century, following the path of other school districts, Ward High School was officially renamed Westerly High School, keeping its letters, WHS. But, in keeping with the spirit of the original dedication, the high school's main auditorium was given the former governor's name and a large brass plaque now greets visitors at the space's public entry.

External links

* [http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=W000140 Biographic sketch at U.S. Congress website]
* [http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwdglink.html The Library of Congress American Memory Collection, Letters of the Delegates to Congress] - Volumes 1-3 contain his letters to his children and the diaries he kept of events at the Congress; these tell Ward's story poignantly.
* [http://westerly.k12.ri.us/users/hs_history/high_school/History.html] - online location of the Gov. Samuel Ward High School's history, compiled by its students.