The territory of the modern Commonwealth of Massachusetts, one of the United States of America, was settled in the 17th century by several different English colonies. The territories claimed or administered by these colonies encompassed a much larger area than that of the present commonwealth, and at times included portions of central and southern New England outside the bounds of the modern state, as well as present-day Maine and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Some colonial land claims extended all the way to the Pacific Ocean.
Popham Colony: 1607–08[]
The Popham Colony was founded on the coast of present-day Phippsburg, Maine in 1607 as a colonization attempt by the Virginia Company of Plymouth. The colony lasted about one year before being abandoned. One of its principal backers was Sir John Popham; his nephew George was the colony's governor for most of its existence.[1] George Popham died in the colony in 1608, and was replaced by Raleigh Gilbert. He and the remaining colonists abandoned the colony after word arrived that John Popham and Gilbert's older brother, Sir John Gilbert had died.[2]
| Governor | Took office | Left office |
|---|---|---|
| George Popham | 1607 | February 1608 |
| Raleigh Gilbert | February 1608 | September 1608 |
| Source: Grizzard and Smith, p. 189 | ||
Plymouth Colony: 1620–86, 1689–92[]
The Plymouth Colony originated as a land grant issued by the London Virginia Company to a group of English religious separatists who had fled to Holland to avoid religious persecution. Their migration to the New World in 1620 aboard the Mayflower was funded by the Merchant Adventurers, who sent additional settlers to engage in profit-making activities in the colony.[3] The settlers had intended to establish a colony near the mouth of the Hudson River, within the bounds of the London Virginia Company's territory, but conditions on the crossing led them to establish it instead on the shores of Cape Cod Bay at what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts.[4] The colonists eventually acquired a land grant from the Plymouth Council for New England in 1621,[5] but its early governance took place under the terms of the Mayflower Compact, a document drafted by the colonists aboard the Mayflower before they landed.[4] In 1630 the colony acquired a formal charter with authority to govern from the Plymouth Council, but it was unsuccessful in attempts to acquire a royal charter that would guarantee its territory against other claimants.[6]
The colony held annual elections for its offices.[7] Between 1620 and 1680 the colony was ruled by a governor, who appointed a temporary replacement if he left the colony. In 1681 they began also electing a deputy governor, who would serve in the governor's absence.[8] The colony's rule was dominated by William Bradford, who served more than thirty terms as governor.[5] The colony was incorporated into the Dominion of New England in 1686.[9] After the dominion was dissolved in 1689, the colony temporarily reverted to its previous rule. In 1691 it was incorporated by charter into the Province of Massachusetts Bay, which took effect in 1692 with the arrival of the new royal governor, Sir William Phips.
- Deputy Governors : The colony had no deputy governors until 1681; the governor named a pro tem governor when he was absent.
| Term | Governor | Took office | Left office | Deputy governor | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | John Carver (1565-1621) | November 11, 1620 | died April 15, 1621[10] | n/a | Died in office during great famine of 1621. |
| 2 | William Bradford (1590-1657) | May 1621 | January 1, 1633 | n/a | wrote history Plymouth Plantation. |
| 3 | Edward Winslow (1595-1655) | January 1, 1633 | March 27, 1634 | ||
| 4 | Thomas Prence (1600-1673) | March 27, 1634 | March 3, 1635 | ||
| 5 | William Bradford (1590-1657) | March 3, 1635 | March 1, 1636 | n/a | Pequot War |
| 6 | Edward Winslow (1595-1655) | March 1, 1636 | March 7, 1637 | n/a | Pequot War |
| 7 | William Bradford (1590-1657) | March 7, 1637 | June 5, 1638 | n/a | Pequot War |
| 8 | Thomas Prence (1600-1673) | June 5, 1638 | June 3, 1639 | ||
| 9 | William Bradford (1590-1657) | June 3, 1639 | June 5, 1644 | ||
| 10 | Edward Winslow (1595-1655) | June 5, 1644 | June 4, 1645 | ||
| 11 | William Bradford (1590-1657) | June 4, 1645 | died May 9, 1657[11] | Died in Office | |
| 12 | Thomas Prence (1600-1673) | June 3, 1657 | June 3, 1673 | ||
| 13 | Josiah Winslow (1628-1680) | June 3, 1673 | December 18, 1680 | ||
| 14 | Thomas Hinckley (1618-1706) | December 18, 1680 | 1686 | James Cudworth (1681–82) | |
| William Bradford (1624-1704) | (1682–86) | ||||
| xx | Dominion of New England | 1686 | 1689 | Not applicable | |
| 14 | Thomas Hinckley (1618-1706) | 1689 | 1692 | William Bradford (1624-1704) | (1689–92) |
| Sources unless otherwise cited: Gifford et al., p. 205; Capen, p. 53 | |||||
Wessagusset Colony: 1622–23[]
The Wesseagussett Colony (sometimes called the Weston Colony or Weymouth Colony) was a short-lived trading colony located in present-day Weymouth, Massachusetts. It was settled in August 1622 by between 50 and 60 colonists who were ill-prepared for colonial life. After settling without adequate provisions[12] and harming relations with local Native Americans,[13] the colony was dissolved in late March 1623. The surviving colonists either joined the Plymouth Colony or returned to England.[14]
| Governor | Took office | Left office |
|---|---|---|
| Richard Greene | April 1622 | died c. October 1622 |
| John Sanders | c. October 1622 | March 1623 |
| Source: Adams and Nash, pp. 11, 14, 27 | ||
Governor-General of New England: 1623–24[]
- See also Wesseagussett Colony - 2nd Colony
In 1623, Robert Gorges was commissioned as Governor-General of New England by King Charles I to oversee Plymouth, Wessagusset, and future New England colonies.[15] Gorges established a small colony on the site of the recently failed Wessagusset Colony; his effort was abandoned after one year for financial reasons.[16][17] Some of his settlers thereafter remained in the area without formal governance, moving to occupy the Shawmut Peninsula (future site of Boston, Massachusetts) among other places.[18]
| Governor-General | Took office | Left office |
|---|---|---|
| Robert Gorges | September 1623 | 1624 |
| Source: Adams and Nash, pp. 29–31 | ||
Massachusetts Bay Colony: 1629–86, 1689–92[]
The Massachusetts Bay Company was established in 1628, and was funded in part by investors in the failed Dorchester Company. In that year, the company elected Matthew Cradock as its governor and received a grant from the Plymouth Council for New England for land roughly between the Charles and Merrimack Rivers.[19] The company dispatched John Endicott (1588-1665) and a small company of settlers to Massachusetts Bay not long after acquiring the grant.[20] In 1629 the company acquired a royal charter as a means to guarantee its grant against other claims, and elected Endecott as the first colonial governor, while Cradock continued to govern the company in London.[21] In August 1629 the company's shareholders reorganized the company so that the charter could be removed to the colony, merging corporate and colonial administration.[22] John Winthrop (1587-1649) was elected governor in October, but did not formally take charge of the colony until he arrived in 1630.[23] Colonial officials (governor, deputy governor, and the council of assistants) were thereafter elected annually by the freemen of the colony. The governorship was dominated by a small group of early settlers, who sought to ensure that the vision of a Puritan settlement was maintained: in addition to Winthrop and Endecott, Richard Bellingham, John Leverett, and Simon Bradstreet all served extended terms. These men, and Thomas Dudley (who served four one-year terms as governor), were regularly in positions of importance when they were not serving as governor.[24]
Following the restoration of Charles II to the throne in 1660, the colony's governance and religious attitudes came under greater scrutiny, which finally led to the revocation of its charter in 1684.[25][26] King James II then established the Dominion of New England, an appointed regime not well received in the colonies.[27] It took effect in 1686 and lasted until 1689, when the Glorious Revolution toppled James and led to the arrest in Massachusetts of the Dominion's unpopular governor, Sir Edmund Andros.[28] The colony reverted to its previous rule on a provisional basis, because it then lacked any sort of legal charter.[29] In 1691 King William III merged the colonies of Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay along with the territory of Maine, the islands south of Cape Cod (including Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket and the Elizabeth Islands), and recently captured Nova Scotia (which included present-day New Brunswick) to form the Province of Massachusetts Bay.[30] This new governmental structure took effect in 1692, with the arrival of the new royal governor, Sir William Phips.[31]
| Term | Governor | Took office | Left office | Deputy governor | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matthew Cradock | 1628 | October 20, 1629 | Thomas Goffe | ||
| 2 | John Endicott (1588-1665) |  |
April 30, 1629 | June 12, 1630[32] | None | |
| 3 | John Winthrop (1587-1649) | 
|
October 20, 1629 | May 14, 1634 | John Humphrey | (1629–30) |
| Thomas Dudley (1576-1653) | (1630–34) | |||||
| 4 | Thomas Dudley (1576-1653) | May 14, 1634 | May 6, 1635 | Roger Ludlow | ||
| 5 | John Haynes | May 6, 1635 | May 25, 1636 | Richard Bellingham | ||
| 6 | Sir Henry Vane the Younger |  |
May 25, 1636 | May 17, 1637 | John Winthrop | |
| 7 | John Winthrop (1587-1649) |  |
May 17, 1637 | May 13, 1640 | Thomas Dudley | |
| 8 | Thomas Dudley (1576-1653) | May 13, 1640 | June 2, 1641 | Richard Bellingham | ||
| 9 | Richard Bellingham | June 2, 1641 | May 18, 1642 | John Endecott | ||
| 10 | John Winthrop (1587-1649) | |
May 18, 1642 | May 29, 1644 | John Endecott | |
| 11 | John Endicott (1588-1665) |  |
May 29, 1644 | May 14, 1645 | John Winthrop | |
| 12 | Thomas Dudley (1576-1653) | May 14, 1645 | May 6, 1646 | John Winthrop | ||
| 13 | John Winthrop (1587-1649) | |
May 6, 1646 | May 2, 1649 | Thomas Dudley | |
| 14 | John Endicott (1588-1665) | |
May 2, 1649 | May 22, 1650 | Thomas Dudley | |
| 15 | Thomas Dudley (1576-1653) | May 22, 1650 | May 7, 1651 | John Endecott | ||
| 16 | John Endicott (1588-1665) | |
May 7, 1651 | May 3, 1654 | Thomas Dudley | |
| 17 | Richard Bellingham | May 3, 1654 | May 23, 1655 | John Endecott | ||
| 18 | John Endicott (1588-1665) | |
May 23, 1655 | May 3, 1665 | Richard Bellingham | |
| 19 | Richard Bellingham | May 3, 1665 | December 12, 1672 | Francis Willoughby (1665–71) | ||
| John Leverett (1671–72) | ||||||
| 20 | John Leverett |  |
December 12, 1672 (acting until May 7, 1673) | May 28, 1679 | Samuel Symonds (1673–78) | |
| Simon Bradstreet (1678–79) | ||||||
| 21 | Simon Bradstreet |  |
May 28, 1679 | May 25, 1686[34] | Thomas Danforth | |
| 22 | Dominion of New England |  |
May 25, 1686[34] | April 18, 1689[35] | Not applicable | |
| 23 | Simon Bradstreet |  |
April 18, 1689[35] | May 14, 1692[36] | Thomas Danforth | |
| Sources unless otherwise cited: Capen, pp. 53–54; Hart, p. 1:607 | ||||||
References[]
- ^ Grizzard and Smith, p. 189
- ^ Vaughan, p. 64
- ^ Hart, p. 1:67
- ^ a b Hart, p. 1:69
- ^ a b Hart, p. 1:72
- ^ Hart, p. 1:78
- ^ Hart, p. 1:83
- ^ Hart, p. 1:607
- ^ Hart, pp. 1:569–572
- ^ Moore, p. 46
- ^ Moore, p. 79
- ^ Thomas, G.E. (March 1975). "Puritans, Indians, and the Concept of Race". New England Quarterly 48 (1): 12. DOI:10.2307/364910.
- ^ Adams and Nash, pp. 15–16
- ^ Adams and Nash, pp. 25–29
- ^ Adams and Nash, pp. 29–30
- ^ Adams and Nash, pp. 30–31
- ^ Levermore, p. 603
- ^ Adams and Nash, pp. 31–34
- ^ Hart, pp. 1:96–99
- ^ Moore, pp. 240, 348
- ^ Moore, pp. 348–349
- ^ Hart, pp. 1:99–101
- ^ Moore, pp. 242,350
- ^ Hart, pp. 1:112, 1:607
- ^ Barnes, pp. 6–32
- ^ Hart, p. 1:566
- ^ Barnes, pp. 46–69
- ^ Hart, pp. 1:600–601
- ^ Hart, p. 1:602
- ^ Barnes, pp. 267–269
- ^ Capen, p. 54
- ^ Moore, p. 244
- ^ Capen (p. 54) incorrectly lists Dudley as deputy; it was in fact Endecott. Davis, p. 163
- ^ a b Moore, p. 393
- ^ a b Moore, p. 385
- ^ Moore, p. 226