Samuel Gorton
Not to be confused with Samuel Gordon.
Samuel Gorton, a figure etched into the nascent tapestry of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, was far more than a mere settler. He was a force, a tempest of conviction in an era where such things were often met with chains and exile. He served as the 5th President of Providence and Warwick from 1651 to 1652, a testament to his enduring, if often contentious, influence. His predecessor in that specific role, Nicholas Easton, had presided over all four towns of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, a broader jurisdiction that Gorton's presidency did not encompass. He was succeeded by John Smith, another figure navigating the turbulent waters of colonial governance.
Born in Manchester, Lancashire, England, and baptized on February 12, 1592/3, Gorton’s early life was steeped in an education that embraced languages and the intricacies of English law. This intellectual rigor would later fuel his passionate, and often confrontational, theological and political stands. He emigrated from England in 1637, a man driven by a profound yearning for a freedom of conscience that the established order in his homeland could not countenance. His arrival in the New England Colonies was not a gentle settling, but a collision of deeply held beliefs with the prevailing Puritan orthodoxy.
His initial settlement in Plymouth Colony was short-lived. His outspokenness and his perceived disrespect towards the magistrates and ministers quickly led to his expulsion. He then sought refuge in Portsmouth, on Aquidneck Island, but found no greater peace. His defiance of the magistrates there resulted in a public whipping, a punishment that seemed only to harden his resolve. Providence Plantations, founded by Roger Williams on principles of religious tolerance, initially seemed a more promising haven. Yet, even there, Gorton’s radical ideas and his confrontational style sowed discord. He and a group of like-minded settlers eventually purchased land from the Narragansett people, establishing a settlement they named Shawomet, south of the Pawtuxet River.
It was this settlement at Shawomet that precipitated his most significant clash with colonial authorities. Gorton refused to answer a summons stemming from a land dispute with two minor Indian sachems. This act of defiance, perceived as insubordination by the Massachusetts Bay Colony, led to his forceful removal, along with several followers, to Massachusetts. There, he faced not a trial for land fraud, but a prosecution for his radical religious beliefs and writings. The outcome was imprisonment in Charlestown, a sentence that carried the specter of death, with all but three of the presiding magistrates advocating for capital punishment.
Upon his release, Gorton, accompanied by Randall Holden and John Greene, sailed back to England. His purpose was twofold: to seek redress for the injustices he had suffered and to secure official protection for his colony. While in England, he found fertile ground for his radical religious ideas within the burgeoning Puritan underground, preaching in churches and conventicles that embraced unconventional theology. He was instrumental in obtaining an order of protection from the Earl of Warwick, a significant patron. Upon his return to New England, he renamed Shawomet in honor of his benefactor, christening it Warwick. His journey had transformed him, paradoxically, from an outsider to a participant in the very civil authority he had once so vehemently opposed. He served as an assistant, commissioner, deputy, and ultimately, President of the towns of Providence and Warwick, demonstrating a remarkable capacity to adapt and lead, even after his tumultuous early years.
Gorton was a prolific writer, penning several significant works both in England and upon his return. His intellectual breadth and deep faith were undeniable, yet his critiques of magistrates and ministers who held positions he deemed hollow were unsparing. This unwavering stance garnered him fervent admiration from his followers and bitter condemnation from those in power. His legacy was one of controversy, reviled by many for over a century after his death, but in more recent times, his contributions have been re-evaluated, with some now recognizing him as a pivotal colonial leader in Rhode Island's history.
Ancestry and Early Life
Samuel Gorton's lineage traces back to Manchester, Lancashire, England, where he was baptized on February 12, 1592/3. He was the son of Thomas and Anne Gorton, hailing from the chapelry of Gorton, an area within Manchester. His paternal line was established, with his grandfather and great-grandfather likely bearing the same name, Thomas Gorton, and residing in the same locale. The Gorton family was an ancient one, with records indicating their presence in Gorton as early as 1332. Despite Gorton’s later self-styling as a "gentleman" and his emphasis on his family's antiquity, his parents were of modest means. His father, in his will from December 1610, described himself as a "husbandman," a farmer of limited landholdings, and the estate’s value was a mere £25.
Gorton’s education was not that of a common man. He was tutored privately, acquiring a proficiency in languages and a deep understanding of English law. His personal library, a testament to his scholarly pursuits, contained volumes of ancient statutes. He entered the cloth trade, and by the late 1620s, he had established himself in London. His occupations were varied, described as a "clothier," "merchant," and "factor of Blackwell Hall." During the 1630s, while residing in the parish of St. Olave Old Jewry, London, Gorton found himself entangled in debt and embroiled in legal disputes. The parish of St. Olave was a known hub for unorthodox religious thought, and it was here that Gorton began to formulate his own unique and controversial theology.
Gorton's Theology
The genesis of Gorton's theological journey was rooted in the Puritan movement, which challenged the established Anglican Church in early 17th century England. However, Gorton's ideas diverged significantly from mainstream Puritanism, earning him a reputation for radicalism among his contemporaries and subsequent historians. He drew inspiration from figures such as John Saltmarsh, William Dell, and William Erbury. Saltmarsh and Dell served as chaplains in Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army, while Erbury was a Welsh Puritan. All three were considered unorthodox by their peers.
At the core of Gorton's belief system was the concept of the Holy Spirit residing within all individuals, imbuing each person with a form of divinity and blurring the lines between saint and sinner. For Gorton, religious conversion was not about adherence to external doctrines but about the willingness to follow the guidance of this inner divinity, even if it meant defying human authority. He argued that an overemphasis on external religious practices obscured the direct experience of Christ's spirit, compelling individuals to live under the dictates of man rather than God. This theological stance resonated with movements like the Seeker and Ranter groups, and later influenced the Quaker movement, though Gorton himself never formally aligned with any of them.
Gorton harbored a deep suspicion of religious and civil ordinances imposed by governing bodies. His anti-authoritarian ideology stemmed from a conviction in the inherent equality of all individuals, leading him to believe that hierarchical systems, both secular and religious, undermined the "true priesthood of all believers." He viewed the professional clergy as a manifestation of Anti-Christ, a sentiment shared by his intellectual mentors, Dell and Erbury. In his 1669 work, New Englands Memoriall, he asserted, "I would have you know that I hold my call to preach... not inferior to the call of any minister in the country."
Plymouth, Portsmouth, and Providence
Gorton's departure from England in 1637 was driven by a desire for religious liberty. As he articulated in his writings, he "yearned for a country where he could be free to worship God according to what the Bible taught him, as God enabled him to understand it." His biographers noted his profound commitment to liberty, stating he "esteemed liberty more than life" and could not "dwell at ease in a land where the inalienable rights of humanity were not acknowledged or were mocked at." He himself declared, "I left my native country to enjoy liberty of conscience in respect to faith toward God and for no other end."
Arriving in Boston in March 1637, amidst the charged atmosphere of the Antinomian Controversy, Gorton quickly perceived the hostility towards those with unconventional religious views, such as Anne Hutchinson. His stay in Boston was brief. He moved to Plymouth Colony, where he rented lodging. His participation in the Pequot War, alongside his brother Thomas, marked an early engagement with colonial conflicts. However, religious disagreements with his landlord soon led to a court summons in December 1638. His conduct in court, described as "mutinous and seditious" towards both magistrates and ministers, resulted in a sentence requiring him to post bail for good behavior and to leave the colony within two weeks.
He departed Plymouth shortly thereafter, leaving his wife and children behind temporarily. He traveled to Portsmouth on Aquidneck Island, arriving in late December 1638. By April 1639, he and 28 others had signed a compact establishing a "civil body politick" and declaring themselves subjects of King Charles. His time in Portsmouth proved equally tumultuous. In 1640, a dispute involving his servant led to Gorton's indictment on 14 charges, including calling magistrates "Just Asses" and a freeman "saucy boy and Jack-an-Apes." Governor Coddington ordered his arrest, to which Gorton retorted, "All you that own the King take away Coddington and carry him to prison." Due to his prior offenses, he was sentenced to be whipped and soon left Portsmouth for Providence Plantations.
Gorton's arrival in Providence did little to quell the unrest. His democratic ideals regarding church and state created a rift within the settlement. On March 8, 1641, Roger Williams wrote to Massachusetts magistrate John Winthrop, detailing Gorton's disruptive influence: "Master Gorton having abused high and low at Aquidneck, is now bewitching and bemadding poor Providence, both with his unclean and his foul censures of all the ministers of this country (for which myself in Christ's name have withstood him) and also denying all visible and external ordinances in depth of Familism." Gorton's charisma and forceful personality attracted many discontented settlers, creating a faction that challenged the peace established by Williams. This group became known as the Gortonists or Gortonites. Gorton was never formally accepted as an inhabitant in Providence due to his disruptive behavior. He relocated to Pawtuxet, situated along the Pawtuxet River, approximately five miles south of Providence, an area that would later form the boundary between the Rhode Island towns of Cranston and Warwick.
Pawtuxet and Warwick
The settlement at Pawtuxet quickly fractured, with a majority of the inhabitants aligning with Gorton's views. However, a significant group of original Pawtuxet settlers, including William Arnold, his son Benedict Arnold, his son-in-law William Carpenter, and Robert Coles, were deeply offended by Gorton's actions.
On November 17, 1641, these dissenters penned a letter to Massachusetts, complaining of Gorton and his followers' "insolent and riotous carriage" and appealing for assistance. Lacking a formal government in their immediate vicinity, these Pawtuxet settlers placed themselves under the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. This arrangement, which endured for sixteen years, served Massachusetts' strategic interest in gaining access to Narragansett Bay and fueled a border dispute with Rhode Island that persisted for nearly a century. The Arnolds and their allies actively supported Massachusetts' efforts to expel Gorton and his adherents from the region, a move that complicated Roger Williams's efforts to consolidate the towns around Narragansett Bay into a unified government.
In January 1643, Gorton and eleven other settlers acquired a substantial tract of land south of Pawtuxet from the Narragansett chief Miantonomi. The purchase price was 144 fathoms of wampum, equivalent to 864 feet or 263 meters. They named this territory Shawomet, adopting its indigenous name. Here, the settlers felt a measure of security from Massachusetts authorities. They dispatched at least two letters to Massachusetts, filled with "invective" and articulating religious views antithetical to the Puritan orthodoxy of the Bay Colony.
Gorton and the residents of Shawomet were subsequently summoned to the Boston court to address complaints from two minor Indian sachems regarding alleged "unjust and injurious dealing." The Shawomet settlers refused the summons, asserting their allegiance to the King of England and their exemption from Massachusetts jurisdiction. This defiance led to the dispatch of soldiers, the confiscation of their writings, and their forcible removal to Boston for trial. Upon their arrival in court, the charges shifted from the land dispute to Gorton's letters, conduct, and religious doctrines. He was formally accused of being "a blasphemous enemy of the true religion of our Lord Jesus Christ and his Holy Ordinances, and also of all civil authority among the people of God and particularly in this jurisdiction."
The Massachusetts magistrates ordered Gorton's confinement to Charlestown, where he was to be subjected to hard labor and wear restraints to prevent escape. The sentence stipulated that he would face the death penalty if he violated his confinement or persisted in his "blasphemies or abominable heresies." While the majority of the ruling magistrates voted for the death sentence, a significant number of deputies dissented. The sentencing occurred in November 1643. Gorton and his companions were eventually released from prison in March 1644, banished from both Massachusetts and Shawomet, which Massachusetts now claimed. Denied access to their own lands, Gorton and his followers sought refuge in Rhode Island, where they were welcomed by a faction opposed to Governor Coddington.
England
In 1644, Gorton, accompanied by Randall Holden and John Greene, departed from New Amsterdam for England. Gorton spent four years in England, diligently seeking justice for the wrongs inflicted upon him and his colony. During this period, in 1646, he published Simplicity's Defence Against Seven Headed Policy, a work detailing the injustices faced by the Shawomet settlers. The Commissioner of Plantations, responsible for colonial affairs, issued an order instructing Massachusetts to permit the residents of Shawomet and surrounding areas to "freely and quietly live and plant" without external interference.
While Holden returned to the American colonies in 1646 to present the order to Massachusetts authorities, Gorton remained in England. The Massachusetts government found the order unacceptable and dispatched former Plymouth governor Edward Winslow to England as their agent to argue against Gorton's claims. Winslow contended that Gorton's unorthodox preaching and reliance on an "inner spirit" promoted a dangerous form of "inconceivable political liberty." Despite Winslow's efforts, the English commission ultimately ruled in favor of Gorton.
Gorton's presence in England extended beyond legal proceedings. He was actively engaged in preaching, finding receptive audiences for his radical religious views. England was undergoing significant shifts in attitudes towards religious toleration, a stark contrast to the climate he had left in 1637. Parliamentary leaders, seeking broad support for their war against the king, were increasingly open to diverse sectarian ideas. Gorton became a prominent figure within the Puritan underground, particularly in London, where he preached at Thomas Lamb's church in Bell Alley. Lamb was associated with the "General Baptists" and hosted some of the most radical Puritan factions. Detractors described Gorton as expounding "desperate opinions," while others heard him "declare the irrelevance of church ordinances and officers." Gorton’s embrace of unconventional gender roles, including preaching at the conventicle of a woman known as Sister Stag, reflected a view of women's spiritual and social equality that was unusual for the time and later echoed by the Quakers.
Later Life
Gorton returned to New England in May 1648, disembarking in Boston. Although Massachusetts Bay authorities ordered his arrest, he possessed a letter of protection from Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick, which facilitated his safe return to his family. In gratitude for the Earl's intervention, Gorton renamed Shawomet to Warwick.
Gorton's perspective on the role of government underwent a notable transformation following his time in England. With the security of Warwick assured by royal decree, he became actively involved in civic leadership, a path he had previously condemned. The independent settlements of Providence Plantations, Portsmouth, Newport, and Warwick coalesced under a fragile government, electing John Coggeshall as its first President in 1647 and adopting the name Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Riding the momentum of his success in England, Gorton emerged as a colonial leader. In 1649, he was chosen as the Warwick assistant (magistrate) under colonial President John Smith, also from Warwick. Both Gorton and Smith initially declined their appointments, incurring fines, but ultimately served, and their fines were remitted.
During this period, William Coddington was in England, seeking to detach the island towns of Newport and Portsmouth from the jurisdiction of Providence and Warwick, aiming to establish himself as Governor for Life of those towns. In 1651, Gorton was elected President of the colony. However, Coddington’s success in securing his commission meant Gorton presided only over the mainland plantations of Providence and Warwick. In 1652, Smith was again selected as president, with Gorton serving as the assistant from Warwick. A significant piece of legislation enacted during this administration, likely authored by Gorton, was an act for the emancipation of slaves.
Following his tenure as President, Gorton remained actively involved in Warwick's civil affairs. He served as a commissioner for most years between 1651 and 1663 and was listed as a Warwick freeman in 1655. He was among the prominent citizens named in Rhode Island's Royal Charter of 1663. Furthermore, he served as the Warwick Deputy to the General Assembly for four years in the latter half of the 1660s. His final public service occurred in 1670, at the age of 78.
In 1675, Gorton received intelligence of Indian incursions planned in the Connecticut Colony, preceding the outbreak of King Philip's War later that year. The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, though not a direct instigator, suffered disproportionately due to its geographic location. The inhabitants of Warwick were compelled to abandon their homes during the conflict. Upon their return in the spring of 1677, they found a devastated landscape and the arduous task of rebuilding.
Gorton died without leaving a will. However, on November 27, 1677, deeds distributed his properties to his heirs. In one of these documents, he referred to himself as "professor of the mysteries of Christ." His death occurred sometime before December 10, 1677, though the precise date remains unrecorded. He is interred in the Samuel Gorton Cemetery, Warwick, Rhode Island, marked by a governor's medallion and a simple field stone.
Beliefs, Demonization, and Restitution
Samuel Gorton abandoned a comfortable existence in England in pursuit of liberty of conscience in the American colonies. Rhode Island historian Thomas Bicknell described him as a man of profound individualism, recognizing three fundamental pillars of authority: "God, the Supreme One; the King, his vicegerent; and himself, the individual man. Between these he recognized no other source of authority. The freedom of the individual was only limited by the express will of God or the King." Gorton and his followers believed that "by union with Christ, believers partook of the perfection of God, that Christ is both human and divine, and that Heaven and Hell exist only in the mind."
The following are some of the beliefs and actions for which Gorton and his followers faced imprisonment, whipping, hard labor, banishment, and confiscation of property:
- Teaching that heaven and hell were states of being within the human heart, rather than literal afterlife destinations.
- Asserting that infant baptism could not guarantee a child's salvation, as infants lacked the capacity to comprehend or accept Christian tenets—a view shared by Roger Williams and other Baptists.
- Challenging the exclusive authority of ministers and magistrates in the enforcement of biblical interpretations through criminal law.
- Proclaiming that God is a unity rather than a trinity.
- Objecting to mandatory church tithes and attendance, arguing that salvation stemmed from individual faith freely chosen, not from conformity to denominational creeds or rituals.
In his time, Gorton was largely vilified by those outside his circle, and his defiance of colonial leaders made him a frequent target for early chroniclers of Rhode Island's colonial history. Nathaniel Morton, keeper of the Plymouth records, published a "libellous and scandalous" account of Gorton during his lifetime. Gorton responded on June 30, 1669, with a lengthy letter refuting Morton's assertions. Over a century later, Rhode Island Secretary of State Samuel Eddy offered a more balanced perspective, stating, "In the case of Gorton... no one of the first settlers has received more unmerited reproach, nor any one suffered so much injustice. His opinions on religious subjects were probably somewhat singular, though certainly not more so than in any at this day. But that was his business; his opinions were his own and he had a right to them." Later, Rhode Island historian and Lieutenant Governor Samuel G. Arnold lauded Gorton:
He was one of the most remarkable men that ever lived. His career furnishes an apt illustration of the radicalism in action, which may spring from ultra-conservatism in theory. The turbulence of his earlier history was the result of a disregard for existing law, because it was not based upon what he held to be the only legitimate source of power—the assent of the supreme authority in England. He denied the right of a people to self-government, and contended for his views with the vigor of an unrivalled intellect and the strength of an ungoverned passion. But when this point was conceded, by the securing of a Patent, no man was more submissive to delegated law. His astuteness of mind and his Biblical learning made him a formidable opponent of the Puritan hierarchy, while his ardent love of liberty, when it was once guaranteed, caused him to embrace with fervor the principles that gave origin to Rhode Island.
Gorton is also remembered for his gentle and sympathetic demeanor in private interactions, and his generous nature. He championed the right of others to freedom of thought and expression, mirroring the liberty he claimed for himself. One biographer asserted that, after Roger Williams, Gorton was instrumental in establishing the foundations of equal civil rights and liberty in Rhode Island. Puritan scholar Philip Gura viewed him not as a "dangerous and immoral troublemaker but rather a man who, more than any other New Englander, was in step with the religious politics of his times and whose history illuminates the complexity of the relationship of American to English Puritanism."
Writings by and About Gorton
Gorton's literary output was substantial. His first major work was Simplicities Defence. While in England, he also authored An Incorruptible Key composed of the CX. Psalms wherewith you may open the rest of the Scriptures, published in 1647, which further elaborated on his radical theological concepts. Upon his return to New England, he published Saltmarsh returned from the Dead (1655), a tribute to the late New Model Army chaplain John Saltmarsh. This was followed by An Antidote against the Common Plague of the World (1656), dedicated to Oliver Cromwell. This work primarily focused on Matthew 23, criticizing the scribes and Pharisees for corrupting God's will and word. Gorton's final published work was Antidote Against Pharisaical Teachers (1656). He also left behind an extensive unpublished manuscript, Exposition upon the Lord's Prayer, comprising several hundred pages.
Two book-length biographical studies of Gorton have been published. Lewis G. Janes authored Samuel Gorton: a forgotten Founder of our Liberties in 1896. In 1907, Adelos Gorton published The Life and Times of Samuel Gorton, which includes a detailed account of Rhode Island's earliest colonial records.
Family and Descendants
Samuel Gorton married Mary Mayplet before January 11, 1629/30. Mary was the daughter of John Mayplet, a haberdasher, and the granddaughter of the Reverend John Mayplet, Rector of Great Leighs Parish in Essex, Vicar of Northolt in Middlesex, and a scholar of natural history and astrology. Mary’s brother, Dr. John Mayplet, served as a physician to King Charles II.