Arthur Fenner

Who was Arthur Fenner?

Arthur Fenner served as the fourth Governor of Rhode Island from 1790 until his death in 1805. He has the seventh longest gubernatorial tenure in post-Constitutional U.S. history at 5,642 days. Fenner was a prominent Country Party leader. Around 1764, Fenner joined several others as a petitioner for the chartering of the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.

Governor Fenner married Amey Comstock, daughter of Gideon Comstock of Smithfield, Rhode Island. He served as governor of Rhode Island from 1790 to 1805 and died in office. Fenner was governor of Rhode Island when it became the last of the thirteen states to ratify the Constitution on 29 May 1790. The following quote is from the Dictionary of American Biography:

His son, James Fenner, gave up his position as a US senator to be elected governor two years after his father’s death. James served from 1807 to 1811, from 1824 to 1831, and from 1843 to 1845. Arthur and Amey Fenner were members of the First Baptist Church in America, at Providence. They had four children: