| Sam Ward participated in the American Revolution. Join: 1776 Project Discuss: 1776 |
Gov. Sam Ward (son of Richard Ward and Mary Tillinghast) was born 25 May 1725 in Newport, RI, and died 26 Mar 1776 in Philadelphia. He married Anna Ray on 20 Dec 1745, daughter of Simon Ray and Deborah Greene.
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 of the Rhode Island Supreme 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 Common Burying Ground and Island Cemetery in Newport, Rhode Island.
Samuel and Anna were the parents of Charles, Ann, Catherine, Mary, Samuel, Deborah, Simon Ray, John, Richard, and Elizabeth.
This week's featured connections are Redheads: Sam is 13 degrees from Catherine of Aragón, 15 degrees from Clara Bow, 22 degrees from Julia Gillard, 11 degrees from Nancy Hart, 11 degrees from Rutherford Hayes, 12 degrees from Rita Hayworth, 15 degrees from Leonard Kelly, 14 degrees from Rose Leslie, 13 degrees from Damian Lewis, 16 degrees from Maureen O'Hara, 22 degrees from Jopie Schaft and 29 degrees from Eirik Thorvaldsson on our single family tree. Login to see how you relate to 33 million family members.