Samuel G. Arnold

Samuel G. Arnold
United States Senator from Rhode Island
In office December 1, 1862 – March 4, 1863
Preceded by	James F. Simmons
Succeeded by	William Sprague
Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island
In office 1852 – 1853 1861 – 1862
Preceded by	William B. Lawrence J. Russell Bullock
Succeeded by	Francis M. Dimond Seth Padelford
Personal details
Born	Samuel Greene Arnold, Jr. (1821-04-12)April 12, 1821 Providence, Rhode Island
Died	February 14, 1880(1880-02-14) (aged 58) Providence, Rhode Island
Resting place	Swan Point Cemetery, Providence, Rhode Island
Political party	Republican
Alma mater	Brown University Harvard University (Law)
Profession	Law, History

Samuel Greene Arnold, Jr. (April 12, 1821 – February 14, 1880) was a United States Senator from Rhode Island. Born in Providence, Rhode Island, he received his early education under private tutors, and graduated from Brown University in 1841 and, in 1845, the law department of Harvard University, gaining admission to the bar that year. He was a lawyer and historian, and was trustee of Brown University from 1848 to 1880.

He married his cousin, Louisa Gindrat Arnold (1828–1905), the daughter of his father's uncle, Richard J. Arnold (1796–1873). Of Louisa he wrote that "...I have brought up my cousin for years to make her my wife, for I am so fastidious & particular on that matter that I knew I never should find a lady to suit me in all respects unless I educated her for the purpose. This is an original idea to be sure..." ^[1]

Career

Arnold was elected lieutenant governor of Rhode Island in 1852 and served as Acting Governor. In 1859, He was elected an Associate Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.,^[2] where he wrote a book called the History of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations in 1859. He was a member of the peace commission held at Washington, D.C. in 1861 in an effort to devise means to prevent the impending war.

In March 1861 Arnold was again elected Lieutenant-Governor after being nominated by the Constitutional Union and Democratic Conventions.^[3] Arnold was again elected Lieutenant-Governor in 1862. During the Civil War he raised a company of light artillery which went to Washington D.C. and was mustered into the Union Army. He was elected as a Republican to the U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of James F. Simmons, and served from December 1, 1862, to March 4, 1863. After his time in the Senate he returned to historical research and was president of the Rhode Island Historical Society from 1868 to 1880. Arnold died in Providence in 1880; interment was in Swan Point Cemetery.

Theodore Francis Green, Samuel Arnold's grandnephew, was also a U.S. Senator from Rhode Island.

Samuel Greene Arnold was the author of the 2-volume History of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations published in 1859-60.

References

• Samuel G. Arnold at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress Retrieved on 2008-02-14

External links

• "Samuel G. Arnold". Find a Grave. Retrieved 2008-02-14. 
• Samuel G. and Louisa G. Arnold papers

v t e United States Senators from Rhode Island Class 1 Foster Potter Howland Malbone Champlin Hunter De Wolf Robbins Dixon I Sprague III Francis A. Greene James Simmons Arnold Sprague IV Burnside Aldrich Lippitt Gerry Hebert Gerry McGrath Leahy Pastore J. Chafee L. Chafee Whitehouse Class 2 Stanton Bradford R. Greene Ellery Fenner Mathewson Howell Burrill Knight Simmons Clarke Allen Anthony Sheffield Chace Dixon III Wetmore Colt Metcalf Green Pell Reed