Arnold, Jonathan (1741–1798)
Jonathan Arnold was born in Providence, Rhode Island, December 14, 1741, received a common school education and began to study medicine under a preceptor. At the outbreak of the Revolution he was a member of the General Assembly of Rhode Island and had the honor of drafting the act repudiating English rule in that colony. He became a surgeon in the Continental army. When the French fleet arrived in 1780 at Providence, Arnold and Dr. Isaac Senter conferred with Dr. Craik, sent by Washington, regarding the care of the sick. He was a member of the Old Congress in 1782–84. When the war was over he took up his abode in St. Johnsbury, Vermont, and was judge of the Orange County Court from 1782 until his death which occurred February 2, 1798. His son, Lemuel Hastings, was elected to Congress and was governor of the state of Rhode Island in 1831 and 1832.