Rhode Island Governors

Name, Place of Birth, [Party]

Year(s)in office

Benedict Arnold, Leamington, England

1663-66, 1669-72, 1677-78

William Brenton, Hammersmith, England

1666-69

Nicholas Easton, Lymington, England

1672-74

William Coddington, SR., Lincolnshire, England

1674-76, 1678

Walter Clarke, Newport

1676-77, 1686, 1696-98

John Cranston, Great Britain

1678-80

Peleg Sanford, Portsmouth

1680-83

William Coddington, JR., Newport

1683-85

Henry Bull, South Wales, Great Britain

1685-86, 1690

John Easton, Wales, Great Britain

1690-95

Caleb Carr, Great Britain

1695

Samuel Cranston, Newport (Longest term in office, 29 years)

1698-1727

Joseph Jencks, Providence

1727-32

William Wanton, Scituate, MA

1732-33

John Wanton, Scituate, MA

1734-40

Richard Ward, Newport

1740-43

William Greene, Warwick

1743-45, 1746-47, 1748-55

Gideon Wanton, Tiverton, MA

1745-46, 1747-48

Stephen Hopkins, Providence (Signer of the Declaration of Independence)

1755-57, 1758-62, 1763-65

Samuel Ward, Newport

1762-63, 1765-67

Josias Lyndon, Newport

1768-69

Joseph Wanton, Newport (Deposed by General Assembly)

1769-75

Nicholas Cooke, Providence

1775-78

William Greene, JR., Providence

1778-86

John Collins, Newport

1786-90

Arthur Fenner, Providence

1790-1805

Isaac Wilbour, Little Compton

1806-07

James Fenner, Providence [Law & Order]
(1st Governor under RI Constitution)

1807-11, 1824-31,
1843-45

William Jones, Newport

1811-17

Nehemiah R. Knight, Cranston

1817-21

William C. Gibbs, Newport

1821-24

Lemuel H. Arnold, St. Johnsbury, VT

1831-33

John B. Francis, Philadelphia, PA

1833-38

William Sprague, Cranston

1838-39

Samuel W. King, Johnston

1840-43

Charles Jackson, Providence [Liberation]

1845-46

Byron Diman, Bristol [Law & Order]

1846-47

Elisha Harris, Cranston [Law & Order]

1847-49

Henry B. Anthony, Coventry [Whig/Law & Order]

1849-51

Philip Allen, Providence [D]

1851-53

Francis M. Dimond, Bristol [D]

1853-54

William W. Hoppin, Providence [Whig/R]

1854-57

Elisha Dyer, SR., Providence, [R]

1857-59

Thomas G. Turner, Warren [R]

1859-60

William Sprague, 2nd, Cranston [Unionist/R]

1860-63

William C. Cozzens, Newport [R]

1863

James Y. Smith, Groton, CT [R]

1863-66

Ambrose E. Burnside, Liberty, IN [R]

1866-69

Seth Padelford, Taunton, MA [R]

1869-73

Henry Howard, Cranston [R]

1873-75

Henry Lippitt, Providence [R]

1875-77

Charles C. Van Zandt, Newport [R]

1877-80

Alfred H. Littlefield, Scituate [R]

1880-83

Augustus O. Bourn, Providence [R]

1883-85

George P. Wetmore, London, England [R]

1885-87

John W. Davis, Rehoboth, MA [D]

1887-88, 1890-91

Royal C. Taft, Northbridge, MA [R]

1888-89

Herbert W. Ladd, New Bedford, MA [R]

1889-90, 1891-92

D. Russell Brown, Bolton, CT [R]

1892-95

Charles W. Lippitt, Providence [R]

1895-97

Elisha Dyer, JR., Providence [R]

1897-00

William Gregory, Astoria, NY [R]

1900-01

Charles D. Kimball, Providence [R]

1901-03

Lucius F. C. Garvin, Knoxville, TN [D]

1903-05

George H. Utter, Plainfield, NJ [R]

1905-07

James H. Higgins, Lincoln [D]

1907-09

Aram J. Pothier, Quebec, Canada [R]

1909-15, 1925-28

R. Livingston Beeckman, New York, NY [R]

1915-21

Emery J. San Souci, Saco, ME [R]

1921-23

William S. Flynn, Providence [D]

1923-25

Norman S. Case, Providence [R]

1928-33

Theodore F. Green, Providence [D]

1933-37

Robert E. Quinn, Phenix [D]

1937-39

William H. Vanderbilt, New York, NY [R]

1939-41

J. Howard McGrath, Woonsocket [D]

1941-45

John O. Pastore, Providence [D]

1945-50

John S. McKiernan, Providence [D]

1950-51

Dennis J. Roberts, Providence [D]

1951-59

Christopher Del Sesto, Providence [R]

1959-61

John A. Notte, Jr., Providence [D]

1961-63

John H. Chafee, Providence [R]

1963-69

Frank Licht, Providence [D]

1969-73

Philip W. Noel, Providence [D]

1973-77

J. Joseph Garrahy, Providence [D]

1977-85

Edward D. DiPrete, Cranston [R]

1985-91

Bruce G. Sundlun, Providence [D]

1991-95

Lincoln C. Almond, Central Falls [R]

1995-2003

Donald L. Carcieri, East Greenwich [R]

2003-