Dr. Samuel Gorton was born on March 7, 1716/17 in Warwick, Rhode Island. He was the son of Samuel (III) and Freelove (Mason) Gorton of Warwick. Samuel Gorton IV was a great-grandson of Samuel Gorton, the founder of Warwick, Rhode Island and the immigrant ancestor of this line of Gortons, as well as the fourth in a direct line of Samuels.
On December 9, 1742, at the age of twenty-five, Samuel Gorton IV married Ruth Slade, the eighteen-year-old daughter of William and Hannah (Mason) Slade of Swansea, Massachusetts. Ruth was a descendent of William Slade, the immigrant ancestor from Wales who settled in the Welsh settlement of Swansea in the 1600s. Samuel and Ruth Gorton's first child, a son, was born on March 6, 1743. In their twenty-two years of marriage, the couple had eleven children who survived to adulthood. They are as follows:
- Samuel Gorton, b. 06 March 1742/43.
- Ruth Gorton, b. 15 December 1744; d. Bef. 07 August 1793; m. William Wood, 05 July 1769.
- Mary Gorton, b. 13 November 1746; m. Thomas Wilbur.
- Peleg Gorton, b. 11 January 1749/50; d. January 1802; m. Dorcas Wood.
- Hezekiah Gorton, b. 07 March 1751/52, Swansea, Massachusetts; d. April 1842, West Greenwich, Kent County, Rhode Island; m. (1) Patience Wood, Abt. 1770; m. (2) Eunice Whitford, 15 May 1823, West Greenwich, Kent County, Rhode Island.
- Benjamin Gorton, b. 01 April 1754; d. 18 November 1833; m. Thankful Whitford.
- Slade Gorton, b. Abt. 1757; m. Mary Whitford, 1777.
- William Gorton, b. 15 October 1760; m. Sarah Whitford.
- Freelove Gorton, b. 1761; m. Daniel Wickes.
- John Gorton, b. Abt. 1762; m. Miss Brandt.
- Anthony Gorton, b. Abt. 1763; m. (1) ?? in Coventry; m. (2) Phebe Gorton.
In The Life and Times of Samuel Gorton, Adelos Gorton wrote that Samuel IV "was a distinguished physician, lived at Swansey (probably that part of Swansey which was, with a part of Rehobeth, included in the town of Warren, Bristol County, R. I., but was shortly after 1648 awarded to Massachusetts), Voluntown, Conn., and at Warwick."
Ruth (Slade) Gorton died at the age of forty on December 2, 1764. Samuel was left with a large family of very young children, with Anthony, age 1; John, age two; Freelove, age three; William, age four; Slade, age seven; Benjamin, age ten; Hezekiah, age twelve; Peleg, age fourteen; Mary, age eighteen; Ruth, almost twenty, and Samuel, age twenty-one. A few years later, Samuel took for his second wife, Francis Rice. Four more children., all daughters, were born to Samuel and Frances:
- Sarah Gorton, b. 29 August 1769.
- Catharine Gorton, b. 1771; d. 29 January 1785.
- Elizabeth Gorton, b. 1774; m. John Gorton.
- Waite Gorton, b. 1776; m. William Weaver, 19 June 1796.
Three months before he died, Samuel deeded 122 acres of land to his son Hezekiah in West Greenwich. The date was April 11, 1777. Samuel died in July of 1777. He was buried at the old Gorton burial ground ( also known as Coweset Ground on Coweset Road) on his son, Deacon Benjamin Gorton's homestead farm. Samuel's will was dated July 7, 1777 and probated on September 8, 1777. His second wife, Frances, was mentioned in his will along with his sons Benjamin, Samuel, Peleg, Hezekiah, Slade, William, John and Anthony and his daughters Ruth Wood, wife of William; Mary Wilbur, wife of Thomas; Freelove, Catharine, Elizabeth, and Waite.
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