Josias Lyndon
| Josias Lyndon | |
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| File:Lyndon.Josias.GraveMedalion.110723.jpg
Josias Lyndon grave medallion
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| 35th Governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations | |
| In office 1768–1769 |
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| Preceded by | Stephen Hopkins |
| Succeeded by | Joseph Wanton |
| Personal details | |
| Born | March 10, 1704 Newport, Rhode Island |
| Died | March 30, 1778 (aged 74) Warren, Rhode Island |
| Resting place | Kickemuit Cemetery, Warren, Rhode Island |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Carr |
| Occupation | Scrivener, Clerk of Assembly, governor |
Josias Lyndon (March 10, 1704 – March 30, 1778) was a governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, serving for a single one-year term. He was the son of Samuel and Priscilla (Tompkins) Lyndon of Newport, the grandson of Josias Lyndon of Newport, and the great grandson of Augustin Lyndon, a shipwright in Boston in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.[1] Lyndon married in 1727 Mary Carr, the daughter of Edward and Hannah (Stanton) Carr, and granddaughter of Governor Caleb Carr. The couple had no children.[2]
In 1728 Lyndon was made a freeman of Newport, and having been educated in the Newport Grammar School, he became a scrivener (scribe) and went to work the same year as the Clerk of the Assembly, which he continued uninterrupted for nearly four decades until 1767. After serving a term as governor, he resumed this position again from 1770 until 1777, just before his death.[3] As the recorder of colonial affairs, he became familiar with virtually every piece of legislation and every official manuscript written over a period of nearly half a century.[3] At the time of Lyndon's election to governor in 1768, there was a lot of bitter acrimony between one camp led by Samuel Ward and the other camp led by Stephen Hopkins, both of whom had already served multiple terms as governor. Lyndon was elected almost unanimously as a peace and compromise candidate.[4]
Most of Lyndon's year as governor was spent in correspondence with a representative of the King of England, expressing concerns of the colony over the unjust taxation brought about by the Stamp Act.[5] Fifteen letters from the Colonial Secretary, Hillsborough, in London, and as many replies by Lyndon concerning the constitutional rights of the colony were the main business of this administration.[6] The only act of importance during Lyndon's term was the valuation of the Rhode Island colony, an amount that came to a little more than two million pounds.[6]
When war with Britain came to the colonies and Newport was occupied, Lyndon found safety in Warren, Rhode Island where he died of smallpox in 1778. He was buried in a cemetery on Serpentine Road, along the bank of the Kickemuit River in Warren.[6]
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| Judges of Portsmouth (1638–40) |
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| Judge of Newport (1639–40) |
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| Governor of Newport and Portsmouth (1640–47) |
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| Chief Officer (Providence and Warwick) (1644–47) |
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| Presidents of Rhode Island (Patent of 1644) (1647–63) |
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| Governors of Newport and Portsmouth (Coddington Commission) (1651–54) |
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| Governors of Rhode Island (Royal Charter of 1663) (1663–86) |
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| Governors under Dominion of New England (1686–89) |
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| Governors of Rhode Island (Royal Charter of 1663) (1690–1776) |
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Italics Gorton, Smith and Dexter were presidents of Providence and Warwick only, since Coddington had received a commission to remove Newport and Portsmouth from their jurisdiction, valid from 1651 to 1654; before and after these dates the President presided over all four towns of the colony. Dudley presided over the "Narragansett Country" only, later to become Washington County, Rhode Island; Andros subsequently presided over the entire colony.
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