Arthur Fenner (December 10, 1745 –October 15, 1805) was an American politician who 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 NaN days. Fenner was a prominent Country Party (Anti-federalist) 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 (the original name for Brown University).

Early life

Fenner was born in 1745 to a prominent family in Providence, Rhode Island, in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, the eleventh of twelve children. His parents were Arthur Fenner, Jr. (October 17, 1699 – January 21, 1788) and Mary Olney (September 30, 1704 – March 18, 1756). The Fenner family owned a wharf known as Fenner's Wharf, where the Gaspee Affair occurred in 1772. The wharf was located near what is now 155 South Main Street in Providence. His ancestor Captain Arthur Fenner (1622–1703) had been a member of the Town Council, an associate of Roger Williams, and fought in King Philip's War. During the American Revolution he served as a lieutenant in Hitchcock's Regiment in 1775 during the Siege of Boston. He then served as a captain in Babcock's/Lippitt's Regiment of Rhode Island state troops in 1776. For many years before becoming governor, Fenner served as the clerk of the Court of Common Pleas.

Governorship

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 May 29, 1790. The following quote is from the Dictionary of American Biography: Significant events during Fenner's time in office:

Personal life

Fenner married Amey Comstock (c. 1749 – September 5, 1828, in her 80th yr.), daughter of Gideon Comstock of Smithfield, Rhode Island. 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 five children: