Ambrose Everett Burnside
b. May 23, 1824, Liberty, Indiana (moved to Rhode Island c1852)
d. September 13, 1881, Bristol, of a heart attack

Civil War general, Rhode Island governor (1866-'69), and United States senator (1875-'81). It is from his bushy side-whiskers that we get the word "sideburns".
Burnside was inducted into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame in 2003.