Samuel Vernon was born at Narragansett, Rhode Island. He was the son of Daniel Vernon who had been born in London of a wealthy merchant's family. Heavy losses in the great London fire of 1666 may have been the cause of his coming to America about that time.
Daniel was a man of good cultural background and that he was a man of standing in his community is witnessed by his marriage at Narragansett, on September 22, 1679, to Ann Dyre, the widowed daughter of Edward Hutchinson, the younger, and granddaughter of the famous Anne Hutchinson.
Further witness to his standing is the list of local public offices he filled.
Education
Nothing is known of the early years of Samuel Vernon and of his professional training, but the high quality of his work is evidence of a good apprenticeship.
As he was the second cousin to Edward Winslow, 1669-1753, of Boston, one of the most able of colonial silversmiths, there is a possibility that he served his apprenticeship in the Winslow workshop.
Career
In 1715, Vernon engraved the plates for the first indented bills of credit of the first bank established by the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. He received two hundred pounds for the work and the plates were used for various issues up to the year 1737. He served as assistant in the Rhode Island General Court from 1729 until his death, and also as a judge of the superior court of judicature. In 1730, he became a member of a committee "to have a care and oversight of the people and goods that should be suspected to come from Boston" where some smallpox had appeared.
Achievements
Samuel Vernon stands at the head of the list of producers of beautiful silver in early Rhode Island. This silver is notable not only for its craftsmanship but also for the variety of design and the novelty of many of the pieces. Several of his productions are found in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. His mark was his initials in Roman capitals over a fleurdelis, the whole within a heart. His shop was in Newport.
Connections
Vernon was married, on April 10, 1707, to Elizabeth Fleet of Long Island who bore him eight children and who preceded him in death. William Vernon was his son.
