He was a descendant of William Arnold, one of the founding settlers of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.

Occurring three years before the Boston Tea Party, it is considered the first act of civil disobedience against the Crown.

As her parents had died, Patience was raised, and married, in the Warwick house of her uncle, William Greene, the Governor of the colony of Rhode Island.

[3] Together, they were the parents of fourteen children, only four of whom lived to maturity, including:[5] In 1785, Arnold built a two and a half story Federal style home at the corner of South Main and Planet Street in Providence.

Samuel married his first cousin, Louisa Gindrat Arnold, daughter Welcome's youngest son, Richard.