John Winthrop Jr.

John Winthrop the Younger FRS (February 12, 1606 – April 6, 1676) was an English politician and alchemist. An early governor of the Connecticut Colony, he played a large role in the unification of the colony's settlements into a singular colony and obtaining a royal charter for the colony.

Early life and career

Winthrop was born in Groton, Suffolk, England on February 12, 1606, the son of John Winthrop, founding governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, by first wife Mary Forth. He was educated at the Bury St. Edmunds grammar school, King Edward VI School, and Trinity College, Dublin, and he studied law for a short time after 1624 at the Inner Temple, London.

After finishing his legal studies in 1627, Winthrop accompanied the ill-fated expedition of the Duke of Buckingham for the relief of the Protestants of La Rochelle in France, and then traveled to Italy, the Ottoman Empire, and the Netherlands, returning to England in 1629. In 1631, he followed his father to Massachusetts Bay Colony and was one of the assistants of the Colony in 1635, 1640, and 1641 and from 1644 to 1649. He was the chief founder of Agawam (now Ipswich, Massachusetts) in 1633, then went to England in 1634. He returned in 1635 as governor of lands that had been granted to Lord Saye and Sele and Lord Brooke, and he sent out a party to build a fort named Saybrook in their honor, located at the mouth of the Connecticut River. He then lived for a time in Massachusetts, where he devoted himself to the study of alchemy and attempted to interest the settlers in the development of the colony's mineral resources.

He was again in England in 1641–43, then returned to establish iron works at Lynn ( Saugus Iron Works) and Braintree, Massachusetts. In 1645, he obtained title to lands in southeastern Connecticut and founded New London in 1646, where he settled in 1650. He built a grist mill in the town and was granted a monopoly on the trade for as long as he or his heirs maintained it. This was one of the first monopolies granted in New England. One of Winthrop's Indian servants was Robin Cassacinamon, who became an influential Pequot leader through Winthrop's patronage.

Winthrop was also a physician, traveling around the River Colony serving around twelve patients a day. His success as a physician prompted the then-separate New Haven Colony to invite him to their settlement with the promise of a free house. Winthrop accepted this offer and moved to New Haven in 1655, not for the house but because he was interested in developing ironworks in the town.

Governor of the Connecticut Colony

Winthrop became one of the magistrates of the Connecticut Colony in 1651, was governor of the colony in 1657–58, and again became governor in 1659, being annually re-elected until his death in 1676. During his tenure as Governor of Connecticut, he oversaw the acceptance of Quakers who were banned from Massachusetts. He was also one of the commissioners of the United Colonies of New England in 1675. As governor, Winthrop used his reputation as a learned man to turn the colony from the colony mostly likely to execute people for witchcraft to completely eliminating the practice years before the trials at Salem.

Securing a Charter

With the fall of the Commonwealth of England and restoration of the Stuart Monarchy, many in the colony feared that the colony's lack of legal basis would lead to the new government establishing absolute rule in Connecticut. Accordingly in July 1661, Winthrop sailed for England to obtain a charter from Charles II. With the assistance of William Fiennes, Robert Greville, and Edward Montagu, Winthrop obtained a charter for the colony in May of 1662. The charter granted the colony generous rights and officially combined it with the New Haven Colony.

Later governorship

The Conquest of New Netherland and subsequent Second Anglo-Dutch War caused financial difficulty for both Winthrop and Connecticut. The Dutch harassed colonial shipping, with Winthrop losing at least one cargo of ships. With these difficulties, Winthrop attempted to resign the governorship of the colony in 1667. The colony refused his request to resign and lowered his tax burden in an attempt to convince him to stay. Winthrop again attempted to resign his office in October 1670, but this request was again refused.

Scientific contributions

Winthrop was an avid scientist, who ran experiments on obtaining salt from sea water. He took a trip to England from 1661 to 1663, wherein he showcased New World plants and animals to Charles II and read papers for the Royal Society. Of particular interest to the King was milkweed who wanted a pillow made from it before being convinced it was impractical. Winthrop would send more shipments of milkweed for the King after returning to Connecticut. His scientific contribution led him to being elected an original fellow of the Royal Society while on this trip in 1663. Winthrop would contribute two papers to the society's ''Philosophical Transactions'': "Some Natural Curiosities from New England" and "Description, Culture and Use of Maize". His correspondence with the Royal Society was published in series I, vol. xvi of the Massachusetts Historical Society's Proceedings.
On the return voyage, Winthrop brought the first telescope to America, likely a gift from Benjamin Worsley. With the telescope Winthrop claimed to have sighted a fifth moon of Jupiter, the existence of which would be confirmed by Edward Emerson Barnard in 1892. He would later donate the three and a half foot long telescope to Harvard College in 1671, making it the college's first scientific instrument.

Personal life

Winthrop married his cousin Mary Fones, the daughter of Thomas Fones II and Anne (née Winthrop) on February 8, 1630/1. She and their infant daughter died in Agawam (Ipswich) in 1634.

Winthrop's second wife was Elizabeth Reade (1615–1672), the daughter of Col. Edmund Reade and Elizabeth (née Cooke). They had nine children, including:

* Elizabeth Winthrop (1636–1716), who married Rev. Antipas Newman and Dr. Zerubbabel Endecott, son of Gov. John Endecott
* Fitz-John Winthrop (1638–1707), who served as major-general in the army, a colonial agent in London for Connecticut (1683–1687), and governor of Connecticut from 1696 until his death in 1707
* Lucy Winthrop (1640–1676), who married Maj. Edward Palmes
* Waitstill Winthrop (1642–1717), who married Mary Browne (1656–1690)
* Mary "Mercy" Winthrop (1644–1740), who married the Rev. John Culver III
* Sara Winthrop (1644–1704), who married the Rev. John Culver III
* Margaret Winthrop (–1711), who married John Corwin
* Martha Winthrop (1648–1712), who married Richard Wharton
* Anne Winthrop (–1704), who married John Richards (son of accused witch Wealthean (née Loring) Richards)

Winthrop died in Boston on April 6, 1676, where he had gone to attend a meeting of the commissioners of the United Colonies of New England.

References

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External links

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Biographical sketch of Winthrop at State Library Web site

{{DEFAULTSORT:Winthrop, John the Younger
1606 births
1676 deaths
17th-century people from Connecticut
People from Saybrook Colony
Emigrants from the Kingdom of England
Colonial governors of Connecticut
Lieutenant governors of Connecticut
Original fellows of the Royal Society
People educated at King Edward VI School, Bury St Edmunds
Magistrates of the Connecticut General Court (1636–1662)
American ironmasters
Winthrop family