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       John Winthrop     1588-1649

       See photo 14:

       John Winthrop was born in Groton, Suffolk, England. He was educated at Cambridge University. Upon graduation he practiced law.

       Winthrop, a Puritan, believed that the Church of England should abolish bishops and other remnants of Roman Catholicism. In 1629,

       Winthrop and a group of other settlers arranged for the removal of the governing body of the recently formed Massachusetts Bay Company.

       It was to be moved from England to New England. In 1628, John Endecott had led a group from England with a Charter granted by

       King Charles I. Thus, the Massachusetts Bay Company was formed. Within a year, Winthrop and his fellow investors and settler were

       granted the right to replace Endecott, the colony's first governor. Winthrop was elected governor while still in England and set sail on

       the Arbella with a fleet of ships and 1,000 settlers, mostly from the the counties of Dorset, Essex and Sussex in England. Soon after

       landing in Salem, Winthrop began searching for the right place to found his "City on a Hill."  Within months he had founded Tremontaine,

       which later became  known as Boston.    Click on John Winthrop for more information.