Samuel Wilbore

Who is Samuel Wilbore?

Samuel Wilbore was one of the founding settlers of Portsmouth in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Coming from Essex, England with his wife and three sons, he first settled in Boston in 1633. He and his wife both joined the Boston church, but in 1636 a theological controversy began to cause dissension in the church and community, and Wilbore became a supporter of the dissident ministers John Wheelwright and Anne Hutchinson, signing a petition in support of Wheelwright. In so doing, he and many others were disarmed, and dismissed from the Boston church. In March 1638 he was one of 23 individuals who signed a compact to establish a new government, and at the urging of Roger Williams this group purchased Aquidneck Island from the natives, establishing the settlement of Portsmouth there.

Soon after settling in Portsmouth, Wilbore repudiated his signing of the petition in support of Wheelwright, thus allowing him back into the Massachusetts colony. By 1645 he had returned to Boston, but also owned property and resided in Taunton within the Plymouth Colony. He was living in Taunton when he wrote his will in April 1656, but was living in Boston when he died the following September. His will distributed his land holdings in Boston, Taunton, and Portsmouth to his three sons. Most of his Rhode Island descendants spell their name Wilbur.