In the years preceding the American Revolution, Orne built a controversial hospital to quarantine and help smallpox sufferers, became a militia colonel, and was a founding member of the Massachusetts Bay colony's committee of safety.
The hospital operated successfully for several months, but by January 1774, several townspeople of Marblehead conspired to burn or destroy all the structures on the island.
[5] Frequently chosen in his thirties as a selectman to Marblehead's council, by 1773 Orne was a respected legislator in the Massachusetts Provincial Congress.
In 1775, Orne was appointed judge of the general court and held 179 seats on various committees, "the heaviest load of all members.
[4][6] Before and during the war, Orne played an active role in Massachusetts' committees of correspondence and safety, narrowly escaping capture at Menotomy along with fellow members Elbridge Gerry and Jeremiah Lee in the days surrounding Lexington and Concord.
Orne was a delegate to the Hartford Convention in 1780, and was one of those committeemen who created a circular advocating the necessity of taxation to provide for revenue.