Samuel Gorton

Samuel Gorton
Samuel Gorton governor's medallion
5th President of Providence and Warwick
In office 1651–1652
Preceded by	Nicholas Easton (as President of all four towns of Rhode Island Colony)
Succeeded by	John Smith
Personal details
Born	baptized 12 Feb 1592/3 Manchester, Lancashire, England
Died	by 10 December 1677 Warwick, Rhode Island
Resting place	Samuel Gorton Cemetery, Warwick, Rhode Island
Spouse(s)	Mary Mayplett
Children	Samuel, John, Benjamin, Maher, Mary, Sarah, Ann, Elizabeth, Susanna
Education	Private tutors; sufficient to write several books
Occupation	Clothier, assistant, president, commissioner, deputy
Religion	Self proclaimed "professor of the mysteries of Christ"

Samuel Gorton (1593–1677) was an early settler and civic leader of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations and President of the towns of Providence and Warwick. He was also theologically active, and the leader of a small sect of converts known as Gortonists or Gortonites. He had strong religious beliefs that were contrary to Puritan theology and was very outspoken, and as a result he was frequently in trouble with the civil and church authorities in the New England colonies.

Gorton was baptized in 1593 in Manchester, Lancashire, England, and received an education in languages and English law from tutors. In 1637, he emigrated from England, settling first in Plymouth Colony, where he was soon ousted for his religious opinions and his demeanor towards the magistrates and ministers. He settled next in Portsmouth, where he met with a similar fate, being whipped for his insubordination towards the magistrates. He next went to Providence Plantation, where he once again encountered adverse circumstances until he and a group of others purchased land of the Narragansett people. They settled south of the Pawtuxet River in an area which they called Shawomet, later named Warwick.

Gorton refused to answer a summons following the complaints of two Indian sachems about being unfairly treated in a land transaction. He and several of his followers were forcefully taken away to Massachusetts, where he was tried for his beliefs and writings, rather than the original supposed infraction. He was sentenced to prison in Charlestown, though all but three of the presiding magistrates voted to give him a death sentence.