John Gardner (Rhode Island)

John Gardner
35th & 37th Deputy Governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
In office 1754–1755
Governor	William Greene
Preceded by	Jonathan Nichols, Jr.
Succeeded by	Jonathan Nichols, Jr.
In office 1756–1764
Governor	Stephen Hopkins William Greene Samuel Ward
Preceded by	Jonathan Nichols, Jr.
Succeeded by	Joseph Wanton, Jr.
6th Chief Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court
In office May 1756 – May 1761
Preceded by	Stephen Hopkins
Succeeded by	Samuel Ward
Personal details
Born	September 17, 1697 Newport, Rhode Island
Died	January 1764 Newport, Rhode Island
Occupation	Merchant, Assistant, General Treasurer, Chief Justice, Deputy Governor
Religion	Baptist

John Gardner (September 17, 1697 - January 1764) served for more than eight years as the deputy governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and was also a Chief Justice of the colony's Superior Court.

John Gardner was the son of Joseph and Catharine (Holmes) Gardner of Newport, and the grandson of George Gardiner who was an early settler of Portsmouth in 1638. One of his great grandfathers was Obadiah Holmes, a Baptist minister in Newport, who was severely whipped in Boston for his religious views and activism; and another was Randall Holden who was a supporter of the dissident minister Anne Hutchinson and who signed the Portsmouth Compact establishing the first government in the Rhode Island colony. One of his great great grandmothers was Frances Latham, the wife of William Dungan, who has been called "the mother of governors," reputed to have had 14 descendants who were governors, deputy governors, or spouses of governors.

Gardner became a freeman in Newport in 1722 and was an assistant from 1732 to 1737. In 1737 he was on a committee with members from other colonies to help settle the disputed boundary line between New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Four years later he was on another committee to ascertain if two additional companies could be raised for the defense of the colony, and to determine if a fort should be erected on Goat Island for defense of the port. In 1744 he had the rank of Colonel, and was appointed commissary-general. In 1743 he was elected general treasurer, and held this office until 1748, when he once again became an Assistant. In 1754 he was elected to the office of Deputy Governor of the colony, serving for one year, after which Jonathan Nichols, Jr. was elected. Nichols died during his second year in office, and Gardner was selected to replace him. Gardner then served in this office for seven more years until his death in January 1764. Simultaneously with his role as Deputy Governor, Gardner was also chosen as the colony's sixth Chief Justice of the Superior Court, a position he held for five years.

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