Samuel W. Bridgham

Samuel Willard Bridgham
Official portrait in Providence City Hall
1st Mayor of Providence, Rhode Island
In office June 1832 – December 1840
Succeeded by	Thomas M. Burgess
Personal details
Born	May 4, 1774 Seekonk, Massachusetts
Died	December 28, 1840(1840-12-28) (aged 66) Providence, Rhode Island
Resting place	North Burial Ground
Political party	Whig
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Paine Bridgham
Alma mater	Brown University

Samuel Willard Bridgham (May 4, 1776 – December 28, 1840) was the first mayor of Providence, Rhode Island.

A graduate of Brown University class of 1794, he became a lawyer before entering politics. He served nineteen terms in the Rhode Island General Assembly, two of those as the Speaker. He also served as Attorney General of Rhode Island for four years. When Providence was incorporated as a city in 1832, he was elected its first Mayor. He served in that office until his death in 1840, at the age of 66. Bridgham became the first mayor of Providence at a time when disorder and vice threatened the city. His solutions were free public education, temperance, and relief for the poor. He laid down foundations for good municipal government in Providence and served during one of the city's most significant expansions of the public school system.

Outside politics in 1821 he was elected Trustee of Brown University. He served as Brown's Chancellor from 1828 to 1840. For nineteen years he was the President of the Benevolent Congregational Society in Providence. Bridgham was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1813.

He married Elizabeth Paine in 1798 and they had 6 children: Elizabeth W, Abby C, Samuel F, Julia B, Samuel W, and Joseph.