Samuel Ward was the distinguished Governor of the Colony of Rhode Island in the period leading up to the Revolutionary War, a cause he famously supported.

An able and efficient administrator, Ward would oversee Rhode Island during a period of both economic and social development. The overarching matter however would not be simple growth of the province: public opposition to the stamp taxation of the ruling British administration placed Ward in a difficult position - whether to enforce the measures enacted by the British rulers, or oppose them.

In choosing the latter, Ward set an example of civil disobedience and emboldened the Revolutionary movement. Retiring from his position in 1767, Ward nevertheless stayed informed of political goings on. Summoned as a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1774, Ward died of smallpox mere months before hostilities commenced with the Declaration of Independence in 1776 - posthumously, his foreshadowing role and patriotism received praise among Americans.