Clergyman; born in
England about 1600; was a clothier in
London, and embarked for
Boston in 1636, where he soon became entangled in teleological disputes and removed to
Plymouth.
There he preached such heterodox doctrines that he was banished as a heretic in the winter of 1637-38.
With a few followers he went to
Rhode Island, where he was publicly whipped for calling the magistrates “just-asses,” and other rebellious acts.
In 1641 he was compelled to leave the island.
He took refuge with
Roger Williams at
Providence, but soon made himself so obnoxious there that he escaped public scorn by removing (1642) to a spot on the west side of Narraganset Bay, where he bought land of
Miantonomoh and planted a settlement.
The next year inferior sachems disputed his title to the land; and, calling upon
Massachusetts to assist them, an armed force was sent to arrest
Gorton and his followers, and a portion of them were taken to
Boston and tried as “damnable heretics.”
For a while they endured confinement and hard labor, in irons, and in 1644 they were banished from the colony.
Gorton went to
England and obtained from the
Earl of
Warwick an order that the clergyman and his followers should have peace at the settlement they had chosen.
He called the place
Warwick when he returned to it in 1648.
There he preached on Sunday and performed civil service during the week.
He died in
Rhode Island late in 1677.
