Samuel Ward King (23 May 1786-20 January 1851) was the Whig Governor of Rhode Island from 2 May 1839 to 1 May 1843, succeeding William Sprague III and preceding James Fenner.
Biography[]
Samuel Ward King was born in Johnston, Rhode Island in 1786, and he served as a surgeon during the War of 1812. He became town clerk of Johnston in 1820, served as a Whig presidential elector in 1832, and served as Governor from 1839 to 1843. During his tenure, he opposed the expanded vote franchise, resulting in Thomas Wilson Dorr leading a rebellion of Jacksonian Democrats and setting up a parallel government. The rebellion was suppressed in 1842, and King left office a year later and died in 1851.