Person:Samuel Cranston (1)

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Samuel Cranston (1659–1727) was a governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations during the first quarter of the 18th century. He held office from 1698 to 1727, being elected to office 30 times (twice in 1698), and served as governor longer than any other individual in the history of both the colony and the state of Rhode Island. The son of former Rhode Island Governor John Cranston, he was born in Newport and lived there his entire life. Going to sea as a young man, he was captured by pirates, and held captive for several years before returning to his family.

Cranston had very little political experience when he was first elected as governor of the colony upon the resignation of Walter Clarke in March 1698. The issues that he dealt with during his first three years in office were so critical, that the continued existence of the Rhode Island colony was at stake. One of the major issues of his early tenure was that of piracy, as many privateers who were active in the recent war with France turned to piracy. The crown wanted piracy stopped, while many colonists were sympathetic to the pirates, and Cranston had to make difficult political decisions to satisfy the home country on this issue. Another ongoing issue was the disputed boundary between the Rhode Island and Connecticut colonies. The Narragansett country was given to both colonies by their respective charters, creating many decades of friction. During Cranston's tenure as governor, the dispute was finally ended, entirely in Rhode Island's favor.

The most formidable issue facing the colony began in 1698 with the arrival of Lord Bellomont as Governor of New York, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. Bellomont took an immediate dislike to the governance of Rhode Island, documenting numerous irregularities in the way it operated, and sending copious documentation to the Board of Trade in England. Bellomont wanted the Rhode Island colony to be removed from its charter, and put under closer royal supervision. He would likely have been successful in his quest, had he not died in 1701.

Following Cranston's decisiveness and firmness during the first three years of his tenure, he became extremely popular with the people of the colony, and while virtually every other politician of his era fell by the wayside, he was able to stand the political upheavals of his day, continuing to be elected as governor every year until his death in 1727. His first wife was Mary Hart, a granddaughter of Roger Williams, and his second wife was the widow of his younger brother, Caleb. Cranston is buried in the Common Burying Ground in Newport, and shares a large marker with his father.

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society)
   87:77.
2. ↑ The New England Historical and Genealogical Register. (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society)
   79:251-252.

   Will dated 17 Mar 1726, registered 1 May 1727, mentions
   wife Judith,
   eldest son John, sons James, Samuel (deceased) and Samuel's wife Elizabeth, and Thomas (absent six years and not heard from),
   daughter Frances Brenton;
   grandsons Samuel and Thomas (sons of his son Samuel, deceased, and grandsons of Thomas Cornell), his grandson Peleg (son of his son Thomas), Mary Cranston (daughter of son John),
   his granddaughters Mary and Elizabeth (daughters of son Samuel, deceased), Mary Brenton (daughter of son-in-law Jahleel Brenton), Patience Cranston (daughter of son Thomas), and his daughters-in-law [i.e. stepdaughters] Mary Harwood and Elizabeth Tillinghast (the daughters of his brother Caleb).
   He left 50 for the erection of a suitable tombstone.
   Executors: his wife Judith, his son James, and his son-in-law Jahleel Brenton.

3. ↑ Abstracts of Newport Wills, in Rhode Island Genealogical Register. (Princeton, Massachusetts: A. G. Beaman)
   77, July 1981.

   Samuel Cranston of Newport. Will dated 17 Mar 1726, proved 1 May 1727, pps. 177-183.
   Unnamed first wife deceased who was mother of eldest son John Cranston by whom real estate came to testator.
   Wife Judith who received the estate she was possessed of at the time of her marriage to me.
   Sons John Cranston eldest, Samuel Cranston deceased (who married Elizabeth, a daughter of Thomas Cornell; thus:
   my son Samuel Cranston deceased having 2 sons surviving: Samuel Cranston & Thomas Cranston who each have considerable given them by their grandfather Thomas Cornell deceased, Thomas Cranston and James Cranston.
   Daughters: Frances Brenton wife of Jahleel Brenton & Hart Hatch deceased formerly wife of son-in-law Nathaniel Hatch.
   Grandsons: Samuel Cranston & Thomas Cranston sons of son Samuel Cranston deceased; their other grandfather was Thomas Cornell.
   Granddaughter Mary under age 18 daughter of John Cranston.
   Granddaughters: Mary and Elizabeth both under age 18 daughters of Samuel Cranston deceased.
   Granddaughter Elizabeth Hatch under 18 only daughter of my daughter Hart Hatch deceased.
   Unnamed granddaughters the daughters of my sons John and James Cranston and daughters of my daughter Frances Brenton wife of Jahleel Brenton.
   Grandson Peleg Cranston son of son Thomas Cranston &
   Granddaughter Patience under age 21 daughter of son Thomas Cranston.
   Brother John Cranston.
   Sister Elizabeth Brown.
   Uncle Walter Clarke Esqr deceased
   Daughters-in-law (step daughters) Mary Harwood and Elizabeth Tillinghast.
   Witnesses: Nathaniel ___, Saml H___, Thos Richardson.

4.   Samuel Cranston, in Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.