John Winthrop II (1606 - 1676)

Born 12 Feb 1606 in Groton, Suffolk, England

Ancestors

Husband of Martha (Fones) Winthrop — married 8 Feb 1630 (to 14 May 1634) in Groton Manor, Suffolk, England

Husband of Elizabeth (Reade) Winthrop — married 6 Jul 1635 (to 24 Nov 1672) in England

Descendants

Died 6 Apr 1676 at age 70 in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay Colony

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John Winthrop II migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

John Winthrop II is Notable.

John Winthrop the Younger, the first child of John Winthrop, founder of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, was born in Groton, England, on 12 February 1606. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin, he studied law briefly (1624) at the Inner Temple, London. He accompanied and survived the disastrous expedition of the Duke of Buckingham to relieve the Protestants of La Rochelle, then went to Italy and the Near East before returning to England in 1629.

In 1631 he migrated to Massachusetts Bay and was one of the "assistants" of the colony intermittently from 1635 to 1649. He was the chief founder of Agawam (now Ipswich, Massachusetts) in 1633, went to England in 1634, and in 1635 returned as governor of the lands granted at the mouth of the Connecticut River to two English lords. In 1657-58 and again in 1659 he became governor of the colony and was re-elected annually until his death in April 1676.

Deeply interested in science, he lived for a time in Massachusetts, where he tried to interest the settlers in developing the colony's mineral resources. He was in England in 1641–1643, and on his return established iron works at Lynn and Braintree, Massachusetts. In 1645 he received title to lands in Connecticut and founded what is now New London, where he moved in 1650. In 1650 he built a grist mill in the town and was given a monopoly on the trade for as long as he or his heirs maintained the mill. This proved to be one of the first monopolies granted in New England.

During his years as governor of Connecticut, he oversaw the acceptance of Quakers, who were banned from Massachusetts. In 1662 he obtained the charter which united the colonies of Connecticut and New Haven. In 1675 he was one of the commissioners of the United Colonies of New England. While in England he was elected a Fellow of the newly organized Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, commonly known as the Royal Society (he had contributed two papers to their "Philosophical Transactions": "Some Natural Curiosities from New England," and "Description, Culture and Use of Maize"). He died on 6 April 1676 in Boston, where he was attending a meeting of the commissioners of the United Colonies of New England.

A man of science

Shortly after becoming governor of the Hartford Colony, a woman named Goody Garlick was accused of witchcraft in East Hampton, New York.

Fortunately for her, John Winthrop was "certainly a more forward thinker than many of his contemporaries. “Virtually every person alive in the 17th century believed in the power of magic,” says Connecticut state historian Walter Woodward, an associate professor at the University of Connecticut. “But some people were far more skeptical about the role of the devil in magic, and about the ability of common people to practice magic.” Junior was one of those skeptics... Winthrop was dubious that your average farmer’s wife—or for that matter, anyone without his level of training or experience—could perform the kinds of magical acts attributed to witches. So he looked to another explanation for people like Goody Garlick and their alleged crimes... Ultimately he ruled her innocent and ordered that

“It is desired and expected by this court that you should carry neighborly and peaceably without just offense, to Jos. Garlick and his wife, and that they should do the like to you.”^[1]

Family

John Winthrop’s first wife was Martha Fones, the twin sister of Elizabeth Fones, who had married his younger brother Henry Winthrop. Martha gave birth to a daughter, who died on the Lyon as they were sailing to Massachusetts. Martha herself died a few years later. The next year, 1635, John remarried. His second wife, Elizabeth Reade (1615–1672), bore him nine children, whose descendants included Dudley's and Saltonstall's who became prominent in New England politics and history. (In Seton’s biography of John Winthrop’s sister-in-law Elizabeth Fones, The Winthrop Woman, Elizabeth is portrayed as being deeply in love with young John Winthrop, but whether this attraction was based on any factual information, I do not know.)

Patricia Prickett Hickin (Prickett-120) 16 October 2014

John Winthrop Jr., also known as John the Younger, was born 12 February 1606 at Groton, Suffolk, England. He was a magistrate and 2-time Governor of Connecticut. He died on 6 April 1676 in Boston, where he had gone to attend a meeting.

Event

Arrival: 1631

Arrived on the second voyage of the Lyon with his stepmother, Margaret and stepbrothers, Deane, Samuel, Nathaniel. Stepsister, Anne, an infant died on the voyage./Boston Harbour

The following is an excerpt from Wikipedia regarding his family -

John Winthrop married (as his second wife) Elizabeth Reade (1615-1672). Their eldest son Fitz-John Winthrop (1638–1707) served as Major-General in the army, an agent in London for Connecticut (1693–1687) and as Governor of Connecticut from 1696 until his death in 1707.

A grandson by their 2nd son Waitstill, John Winthrop, F.R.S., (1681-1747) married Ann Dudley, daughter of Joseph Dudley and granddaughter of Thomas Dudley, both governors of Massachusetts, one of a number of unions between the two families.

John and Ann's daughter, Katharine Winthrop, (1711-1781) married (1st) Samuel Browne of Salem and (2nd) Epes Sargent of Gloucester. Her eldest child by Sargent was Paul Dudley Sargent, a colonel in the American War of Independence. Another daughter, Mary Winthrop (1712–1776), married Gurdon Saltonstall, Jr. (1708–1785), son of Governor of Connecticut Gurdon Saltonstall (1666–1724) of the Massachusetts Nathaniel Saltonstall family. Gurdon and Mary were the parents of Dudley Saltonstall (1738–1796), a Revolutionary War naval commander, most notable for his involvement in the ill-fated Penobscot Expedition.

Death and Probate

John Winthrop, Esq. Governor of Connecticut, died in Bosto,n 5 April 1676.^[2][3]

His last Will was dated in Boston 3 April 1676. "I, John Winthrop, of the Colony of Connecticott in N: Engl., now resident in Boston, being sicke in body, ... my juste debts be duely paid ... & my funerall charges being defrayed, I will & bequeath unto my two sonns, Fitz-John & Wayt Still ..is to be a double portion to each of them, --that is, double to what I give to each of my daughters, -- the rest of my estate to be equally to my five daughters, viz: Elizabeth, Lucy, Margarett, Martha, & Anne." He made note that Elizabeth and Lucy had already been given good farms which should be taken into consideration. He named all his children as executors. He named several men as overseers in case questions or difficulties arose.^[4]

Children

1st child by Martha Fones, remaining children with 2nd wife Elizabeth Reade^[5]

1. Daughter of John and his first wife Martha Fones, b and d. at Agawam, Massachusetts August/September 1634.
2. Elizabeth "Betty" Winthrop baptized in Boston 3 July 1636; died in Boston 4 December 1716; married (1) Antipas Newman; married (2) Zerubbabel Endicott
3. FitzJohn Winthrop born in Boston 14 March 1637/1638; died in Boston 27 November 1707; married Elizabeth Tongue
4. Lucy / Luce Winthrop born in Boston 28 January 1639/1640; died in New London 24 November 1676; married Edward Palmes
5. Waitstill Winthrop, born in Boston 27 February 1641/1642; died in Boston 7 November 1717; married (1) Mary Browne; married (2) Katharine (Brattle) Eyre
6. Mary Winthrop born 3 September 1644; died young, definitely before John's Will 1676, no issue mentioned in his Will
7. Martha Winthrop, born shortly before 14 August 1648; died in Boston 27 September 1712; married Richard Wharton, as his 3rd wife.
8. Anne Winthrop born possibly before 23 February 1650/1651; died 27 June 1704; married John Richards.

Books written by or about John Winthrop

• John Winthrop: America's Forgotten Founding Father by Francis J. Bremer (March 31, 2005) [1]

• The Puritan Dilemma: The Story of John Winthrop (Library of American Biography) by Edmund S. Morgan (October 15, 2006)

• Winthrop's Journal, History of New England, 1630-1649: Volume 1 by John Winthrop (July 25, 2001)[2]

• John Winthrop: Biography as History by Francis J. Bremer (September 11, 2009) [3]

• A Model of Christian Charity by John Winthrop (Link via Wayback Machine, capture date 09 Dec 2020)

• The Journal of John Winthrop, 1630-1649: Abridged Edition (The John Harvard Library) by John Winthrop, James Savage, Richard Dunn and Laetitia Yaendle (January 31, 1997) - Abridged

• Prospero's America: John Winthrop, Jr., Alchemy, and the Creation of New England Culture, 1606-1676 by Walter William Woodward, University of North Carolina Press, ©2010[4]

• The Younger John Winthrop by Robert C. Black III, Columbia University Press, 1968.

• John Winthrop, Jr. and the Origins of American Chemistry by Ronald S. Wilkinson, dissertation, Michigan State University. Department of History, 1969.

Note

For a bit of miscellaneous trivia in re John Jr., click here. (Prickett-120, 6 May 2019).

Sources

1. ↑ Hanc, John. (October 25, 2012). "Before Salem, There Was the Not-So-Wicked Witch of the Hamptons." Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved October 23, 2015 from http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/before-salem-there-was-the-not-so-wicked-witch-of-the-hamptons-95603019/?no-ist
2. ↑ "The Hobart Journal" New England Historical and Genealogical Register. 121:189 [https://www.americanancestors.org/DB522/i/14268/198/264744076 Link at AmericanAncestors ($)] [1676 Aprill] "5 John winthrope Esqr Goue: of Conect: Colony dyed
3. ↑ "Bradstreet's Journal" New England Historical and Genealogical Register. Vol 9 p. 85 [1676] "This year in April Mr. Jno. Winthrop, Govr of this Colony dyed at Boston."
4. ↑ Waters, Thomas Franklin and Robert Charles Winthrop (jr). A sketch of the life of John Winthrop: the younger, founder of Ipswich, Massachusetts in 1633, Volume 7 (Printed for the Society [J. Wilson and son], 1899) Appendix p. 73
5. ↑ Early New England Families, 1641-1700. (Original Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2013. (By Alicia Crane Williams, Lead Genealogist.) https://www.americanancestors.org/DB501/i/13918/6/0

• Connecticut State Library: John Winthrop, Jr. Governor of the Colony of Connecticut, 1657, 1659-1676 <http://www.cslib.org/gov/winthropj.htm />

• Wikipedia:John_Winthrop,_the_Younger

• Publications of the Ipswich Historical Society (The Ipswich Historical Society, Ipswich, Mass., 1900) Vol. 7, Page 1: "A Sketch of the Life of John Winthrop The Younger, Founder of Ipswich, Massachusetts"

• Perley, Sidney. The Indian Land Titles of Essex County, Massachusetts (Essex Book and Print Club, Salem, Mass., 1912) Page 23-6: Deed from Masconomet to John Winthrop, Jr., of the territory constituting Mr. Winthrop's farm, in Ipswich.

See also:

• Category: Patients of John Winthrop Jr

• Early New England Families. (Original Online Database: AmericanAncestors.org, New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2013. (By Alicia Crane Williams, Lead Genealogist.) John Winthrop (m. 1630)

• The Connecticut Quarterly (Hartford, Conn., 1903-4) Vol. 8

• Page 36: He "began his public career as secretary of one of the captains in the expedition for the relief of the Huguenots of Rochelle in 1627. Later he went to Turkey as attache of the English ambassador. Having come over to Massachusetts, he was chosen assistant in 1632. After his return to England and marriage he was commissioned ... as governor of Saybrook Fort. Ultimately he settled at Ipswich, and became a leader in Connecticut, being chosen first assistant in 1651 ... By profession he was a physician ..."

• The Essex Antiquarian (Salem, Massachusetts, 1902) Vol. 6, Page 74-5