Samuel Ward (American statesman)

(1725-1776)

American farmer, politician, and jurist

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Samuel Ward (May 25, 1725 – March 26, 1776) was an American farmer, politician, Rhode Island Supreme Court justice, governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and delegate to the Continental Congress where he signed the Continental Association. He was the son of Rhode Island Governor Richard Ward, was well-educated, and grew up in a large Newport, Rhode Island, family. After marrying, he and his wife received property in Westerly, Rhode Island, from his father-in-law, and the couple settled there and took up farming. He entered politics as a young man and soon took sides in the hard-money vs. paper-money controversy, favoring hard money or specie. His primary rival over the money issue was Providence politician Stephen Hopkins, and the two men became bitter rivals—and the two also alternated as governors of the colony for several terms.