John Winthrop, the first governor of Massachusetts, was born in 1587 at Edwardstone in Suffolk, England. He was the only son of Adam Winthrop. The elder Winthrop had a small estate in the English countryside, Groton Manor. Winthrop was privately tutored, and at the age of fourteen, attended the prestigious Trinity College in Cambridge.
John was married to Mary Worth at the age of seventeen, and was a father at eighteen. John and Mary went on to have six children within ten years, until Mary’s sudden death. John remarried within six months, only to have his new wife die on their first wedding anniversary. A year later, John married again, to his third wife, Margaret. Historical accounts tell us that Margaret was of great Christian faith, very beautiful and gracious, and very loved by her husband.
In 1623, he was appointed to the lucrative position of attorney in the court of wards and liveries. Whether he gave this position up, or lost it due to his strong Puritan beliefs, is an argued point today.
Winthrop had strong Puritan ties, and was a member of The Massachusetts Bay Company. In 1630, his Puritan beliefs led him to leave his prosperous law practice, sell, all of his possessions, and take his family to New England.
Winthrop’s wife, Margaret, was expecting a baby, so he decided it was best to leave her and some of his children at home for that year. About three months after departure, Winthrop’s ship arrived at Salem, and he founded the settlement of Shawmut Peninsula community that later became known as Boston. Later, Margaret arrived in New England. Winthrop learned that two of his children had died, one of them being the baby daughter he’d never seen.
Winthrop had been elected governor in 1629 before he and the Massachusetts Bay Company had ever set sail from Yarmouth, England. He began to serve as governor when he arrived in 1630 and eventually would serve twelve terms as governor, from 1630 until 1645.
While en route to the Colonies, Winthrop wrote “The Modell Of Christian Charity”, setting forth the goal of the Massachusetts Bay settlers to establish a model Puritan colony, setting the example to be followed by others.
In his writing, Winthrop felt God had a devine purpose for the colony, and Winthrop felt he understood what that purpose was. Speaking of Boston, Winthrop wrote, “We shall be a city set on a hill.” In the early years of our nation, the church was the center of life. Winthrop went on to say, “We shall find that the God of Israel shall be among us, when ten of us shall be able to resist a thousand of our enemies; when He shall make us a praise and glory that men shall say of succeeding plantations, ‘the Lord make it like that of New England.”
Winthrop felt that other colonies, and eventually other nations, would follow the example he hoped to set. His goal obviously was never reached.
While serving as deputy governor under Sir Henry Vane, Winthrop decided that the doctrines of Anne Hutchinson threatened to subvert moral law. Winthrop presided over the court that found Hutchinson guilty and banished her from the colony.
Being one of the most distinguished citizens of Massachusetts Bay colony, Winthrop’s influence on the development and making of Massachusetts was enormous.
