Rhode Island: Governors: 1776-1866

Governor, Captain General and Commander-in-Chief of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
20 Jul 1776 - 6 May 1778	Nicholas Cooke
6 May 1778 - 3 May 1786	William Greene Jr.
3 May 1786 - 5 May 1790	John Collins
5 May 1790 - 15 Oct 1805	Arthur Fenner
Senior Senator
15 Oct 1805 - 7 May 1806	Henry Smith [1]
Lieutenant Governor of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (ex officio)
7 May 1806 - 6 May 1807	Isaac Wilbour
Governor, Captain General and Commander-in-Chief of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
6 May 1807 - 1 May 1811	James Fenner
1 May 1811 - 8 May 1817	William Jones
8 May 1817 - 9 Jan 1821	Nehemiah Rice Knight
Lieutenant Governor of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (ex officio)
9 Jan 1821 - 2 May 1821	Edward Wilcox [2]
Governor, Captain General and Commander-in-Chief of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
2 May 1821 - 5 May 1824	William Channing Gibbs
5 May 1824 - 4 May 1831	James Fenner
4 May 1831 - 1 May 1833	Lemuel Hastings Arnold
1 May 1833 - 2 May 1838	John Brown Francis
2 May 1838 - 3 May 1839	William Sprague III
Acting Governor, Captain-General and Commander-in-Chief of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
3 May 1839 - 6 May 1840	Samuel Ward King [3]
Governor, Captain General and Commander-in-Chief of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
6 May 1840 - 2 May 1843	Samuel Ward King
Governor of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations [4]
2 May 1843 - 6 May 1845	James Fenner
6 May 1845 - 6 May 1846	Charles Jackson
6 May 1846 - 4 May 1847	Byron Diman
4 May 1847 - 1 May 1849	Elisha Harris
1 May 1849 - 6 May 1851	Henry Bowen Anthony
6 May 1851 - 20 Jul 1853	Philip Allen
20 Jul 1853 - 2 May 1854	Francis Moore Dimond
2 May 1854 - 26 May 1857	William Warner Hoppin
26 May 1857 - 31 May 1859	Elisha Dyer
31 May 1859 - 29 May 1860	Thomas Goodwin Turner
29 May 1860 - 4 Mar 1863	William Sprague IV
4 Mar 1863 - 26 May 1863	William Cole Cozzens
26 May 1863 - 29 May 1866	James Youngs Smith

Following the deaths of Lieutenant Governor Paul Mumford and Governor Arthur Fenner, the functions of the office devolved upon "the senior Senator in rank" Henry Smith.
Following the resignation of Governor Knight, the functions of the office devolved upon Lieutenant Governor Wilcox.
Since no candidate received a majority of the vote for either Governor or Lieutenant Governor, senior (first) Senator took the oath of office on 3 May 1839, and assumed the functions of the Governor.
The Constitution of 1842, which came into operation on 2 May 1843, designated governor as "captain general and commander-in-chief of the military and naval forces of (the) State," but the use of "Captain General and Commander-in-Chief" was dicontinued after 1847.