resting_place lieutenant_governor predecessor successor death_date birth_place profession office birth_date order term_start spouse image article_title term_end name
king family plot , johnston , ri byron diman william sprague iii james fenner 20 january 1851 johnston , rhode island physician governor of rhode island 23 may 1786 15th may 2 , 1839 catherine latham angell govsamuelkingri.jpg samuel ward king
 may 1 , 1843 samuel ward king
samuel ward king

samuel ward king -lrb- may 23 , 1786 -- january 20 , 1851 -rrb- was the 15th governor of rhode island from 1839 to 1843 .
king was born in johnston , providence county , rhode island to william borden king and welthian walton .
he attended brown university but did not graduate .
he became a medical doctor and worked as a surgeon during the war of 1812 .
in 1820 king was elected town clerk of johnston .
he was a presidential elector for rhode island in the election of 1832 .
in 1838 he was elected to the rhode island senate .
he first became governor in 1839 when the legislature failed to grant a majority of votes to the three leading contenders .
he was elected to three other terms .
during his administration as governor of rhode island he took a strong stand against the expanded voting franchise that led to the dorr rebellion in 1841 - 1842 .
president john tyler refused to send in federal troops at governor king 's request to suppress the uprising .
king married catherine latham angell , with whom he had fourteen children .
he is buried in the king family plot in johnston near the intersection of us route 6a and killingly street .
