Nov 26

Nov 26 Arthur Fenner Rejects Hamilton's Scheming

Arthur Fenner was the long-time Governor of Rhode Island when he would not be persuaded by Alexander Hamilton’s trickery.

Arthur Fenner

At just 19-years-old, Arthur Fenner was one of the original petitioners who helped create the college that we now know as Brown University.

Fenner was able to do this as he was from a wealthy family that owned a main wharf in Providence, Rhode Island.

It was just off of Fenner Wharf that the Gaspee Affair took place, a major outbreak of violence that was a precursor to the Revolutionary War.

During the war, Arthur served for several years and achieved the rank of Captain.

Rhode Island, 1790

Rhode Island was notoriously against the United States Constitution.

They sent no Delegates to the Philadelphia Convention and refused to even meet and consider ratification for several years.

Once Rhode Island was the only State who had not joined the Union the writing was on the wall and they accepted their fate.

However, they wanted a strong Anti-Federalist to take over as Governor.

Governor Fenner

Arthur Fenner was agreed upon as a compromise candidate between the Rhode Island’s two parties.

Arthur was elected Governor in 1790 and would remain in office for fifteen years, the longest in the State’s history.

Under his watchful eye, Rhode Island went through significant infrastructure improvements and survived a serious fire.

Defending Adams

In 1800, Governor Fenner had a very interesting conversation with Alexander Hamilton.

Hamilton, still the default leader of the Federalist Party, was trying to drum up support against John Adams...the President of his own Party!

Hamilton was of the opinion that Adams would not win reelection and was instead trying to drum up support for his running mate Charles Coatsworth Pinckney.

The thought was that Pinckney, as a southerner, could combine the electoral votes of Federalists with that of Democratic-Republicans from the South and edge out Thomas Jefferson.

Fenner, a supporter of Adams’, asked why he should turn his back on the sitting President.

Hamilton’s response was, “it is better to lose the man than the measure,” after which Arthur made his feelings on the subject known and Hamilton continued on his way.

The incident was later reported in the Albany Register and was a brief controversy, though it quickly faded away after the election was completed.

If you are interested in reading Fenner’s recollection of these events, check out a letter he wrote for FREE here.

If you want to read more about Hamilton being sneaky, here you go:

James A. Bayard Does Hamilton’s Dirty Work

Elijah Paine does not have a biography (and surprisingly, neither does his son Charles).

I thought this would be a good time to recommend a book I enjoyed about Vermont as a whole during the Revolution…’A Few Lawless Vagabonds.’

If you’d like a copy you can get one through the Amazon affiliate link below (you’ll support this site, but don’t worry, Amazon pays me while your price stays the same).