State Library
State House, 2nd floor
Providence, RI 02903
Phone: (401) 222-2473
Fax: (401) 222-3034
TTY: 711
Open to the public
Monday-Friday
8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
List of all persons who have held the office of Recording Secretary or Secretary of State, 1640 to the Present.
Secretary for Pocasset
| William Aspinwall | March 1637 - 1638 |
William Dyre elected clerk in 1638 and Secretary of Portsmouth and Newport on March 12, 1640. Held office until May 19, 1647.
Under The Parliamentary Patent
Secretary
| Henry Walton | 1645 |
General Recorders
| William Dyre, of Newport | May 19, 1647 - May 16, 1648 |
| Philip Shearman, of Portsmouth | May 16, 1648 - the separation |
Providence and Warwick
| John Greene, Jr. | February 1652 - May 1654 |
Portsmouth and Newport
| William Lytherland, of Newport | May 1653 - May 1654 |
Union of the Four Towns
| Joseph Torrey, of Newport | May 1654 - September 1654 |
| William Lytherland, of Newport | September 1654 - May 1656 |
| John Sanford, of Portsmouth | May 1656 - May 1661 |
| Joseph Torrey, of Newport | May 1661 - November 1663 |
Under the Royal Charter of Charles II, 1663
| Joseph Torrey, of Newport | 1663 - 1666 |
| John Sanford, of Portsmouth | 1666 - 1669 |
| Joseph Torrey, of Newport | 1669 - 1671 |
| John Sanford, of Portsmouth | 1671 - 1676 |
| John Coggeshall, of Newport | 1676 - 1677 |
| John Sanford, of Portsmouth | 1677 - 1686 |
[Charter was suspended until 1689]
| Weston Clarke, of Newport | 1691 - 1691 |
| John Coggeshall, of Newport | 1691 - August 1692 |
| 1 John Easton, of Newport | August 1692 - Unknown |
| Weston Clarke, of Newport | July 1695- May 1714 |
| Richard Ward, of Newport | 1714 - 1730 |
| Richard Ward, of Newport | 1730 - 1733 |
| 2James Martin, of Newport | May 1733 - February 1746 |
| 2 Thomas Ward, of Newport | February 1746 - December 1760 |
| 3 Henry Ward, of Newport | December 1760 - November 1797 |
| Samuel Eddy, of Providence | December 1797 - May 1819 |
| Henry Bowen, of Providence | 1819 - 1843 |
| Henry Bowen, of Providence | 1843 - 1849 | |
| Christopher E. Robbins, of Providence | 1849 - 1851 | |
| Asa Potter, of South Kingstown | 1851 - 1854 | |
| William R. Watson, of Providence | 1844 - 1855 | |
| John R. Bartlett, of Providence | 1855 - 1872 | |
| Joshua M. Addeman, of Providence | 1872 - 1887 | |
| Edwin D. McGuiness, of Providence | 1887 - 1888 | |
| Samuel H. Cross, of Westerly | 1888 - 1890 | |
| Edwin D. McGuiness, of Providence | 1890 - 1891 | |
| George D. Utter, of Westerly | 1891 - 1894 | |
| 4 Charles P. Bennett, of Providence | 1894 - 1909 | [R] |
| 5 J. Fred Parker, of Providence | 1909 - 1924 | [R] |
| 6 Ernest L. Sprague, of Cranston | 1924 - 1933 | [R] |
| Louis W. Cappelli, of Providence | 1933 - 1939 | [D] |
| J. Hector Paquin, of Woonsocket | 1939 - 1941 | [R] |
| 7 Armand H. Cote, of Pawtucket | 1941 - 1957 | [D] |
| John A. Notte, Jr., of Providence | 1957 - 1959 | [D] |
| August P. LaFrance, of Pawtucket | 1959 - 1973 | [D] |
| Robert F. Burns, of Pawtucket | 1973 - 1983 | [D] |
| 8 Susan L. Farmer, of Providence | 1983 - 1987 | [R] |
| 9 Kathleen S. Connell, of Middletown | 1987 - 1993 | [D] |
| Barbara M. Leonard, of Providence | 1993 - 1995 | [R] |
| 10 James R. Langevin, of Warwick | 1995 - 2001 | [D] |
| 11 Edward S. Inman, of Coventry | 2001 - 2003 | [D] |
| Matthew A. Brown, of Providence | 2003 - 2007 | [D] |
| A. Ralph Mollis, of North Providence | 2007 - Present | [D] |
Notes:
1. The records are incomplete from August 1692 -
July 1695. [Top]
3. Longest term as Secretary, 37 years. Died in office; November 25, 1797. [Top]
4. Died in office; August 25, 1909. [Top]
6. Elected by Grand Committee; January 16, 1924. [Top]
7. Longest term as Secretary under state Constitution; 16 years. [Top]
8. First woman elected as a state general
officer. [Top]
9. First Democrat woman elected as a state
general officer. [Top]
10. Resigned upon election as U.S. Representative. [Top]
11. Elected by the General Assembly. [Top]
Sources: Rhode Island Colonial Records, 1636 - 1792, the Rhode Island Acts & Resolves, and the Rhode Island Manuals, 1867 - 2004, all published by the Secretary of State of Rhode Island.