Person

Samuel Gorton

1593–1677 · 17th century

Samuel Gorton was an English religious dissenter and early settler of New England. Expelled from Plymouth, Portsmouth and Providence for his radical views and defiance of authority, he bought land from the Narragansett and founded Shawomet, later renamed Warwick, in 1642. He secured protection for his settlement from Parliament in England and led a small sect known as the Gortonites.

Samuel Gorton — Image: CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 1 state history

Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

See also

Cite this entry

APA: The Epoch Institute. (2026). Samuel Gorton. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/samuel-gorton
MLA: “Samuel Gorton.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/samuel-gorton. Accessed .
Chicago: The Epoch Institute. “Samuel Gorton.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/samuel-gorton.
Harvard: The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Samuel Gorton’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/samuel-gorton (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻