Samuel Ormes was born in England in about 1714. Trained as an apothecary in London, in 1741 Ormes became the overseer of Nathaniel Duckenfield's plantation on Salmon Creek in Bertie County, North Carolina. Ormes arrived in North Carolina by 1744 to assume his duties as an overseer and quickly integrated himself into Bertie County society. In 1745 Ormes became a justice of the peace and he also served as the Bertie County Clerk of the Court from 1753 to 1754. Later Ormes moved to Philadelphia where he died on November 3, 1767.