Samuel Willard Bridgham
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| The First Mayor of Providence, RI |
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| North Burial Ground |
Complete History of Providence Link
In Memory of Samuel Willard Bridgham, first mayor of the city of Providence, son of Dr. Joseph Bridgham, and Martha, his wife, born in Rehoboth, now Seekonk, May 4, 1774 and died in Providence, Dec. 28, 1840 (back)
For nearly forty years he was a lawyer, eminent for ability and assiduity, a steadfast supporter of religious institutions, an active friend of education he was nineteen years president of the Benevolent Congregational Society eight years president of the school committee of Providence, Nineteen years a trustee and twelve years chancellor of Brown University.
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| Samuel Willard Bridgham |
Prudent, sagacious and impartial, he was nineteen times elected by his fellow citizens of Providence a representative to the General Assembly, was for two sessions speaker, and four years attorney general. An upright magistrate, he was eight years mayor of Providence, filling that office from the first organization of the city government, until his death.
Served June 1832 to December 1840 (Whig)
Birthplace: Seekonk, Massachusetts. A graduate of Brown University, Bridgham became the first mayor of Providence at a time when disorder and vice threatened the city. His solutions were free public education, temperance, and relief for the poor. He laid down foundations for good municipal government in Providence and served during one of the city's most significant expansions of the public school system. He died in office at 66. (Portrait number five on third floor)
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