Samuel Cranston, 1659-1727, of Newport, was a statesman and governor of Rhode Island for almost twenty-nine years–1698-1727–a tenure not only longer than any Rhode Island governor but also exceeding the tenure of any other chief executive of an American colony or state. Cranston presided over the transformation of Rhode Island from a beleaguered cluster of villages to a flourishing agricultural province. His outstanding accomplishment was to bring his colony into a working relationship with the imperial government in London while preserving its charter privileges.

_{Photograph of Samuel Cranston’s grave medallion, Common Burying Ground, Newport, Rhode Island, 22 July 2011 c. Wikipedia user Sarnold17}