Hooker's Company reach the Connecticut, publishers: Estes & Lauriat, 1879

Thomas Hooker (July 5, 1586 – July 7, 1647) was a prominent Puritan religious and colonial leader remembered as one of the founders of the Colony of Connecticut. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (877x1282, 433 KB)Hookers Company reach the Connecticut This image was published in: Samuel Adams Drake, History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts (1880, vol. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (877x1282, 433 KB)Hookers Company reach the Connecticut This image was published in: Samuel Adams Drake, History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts (1880, vol. ... is the 186th day of the year (187th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1586 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. ... is the 188th day of the year (189th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1647 (MDCXLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... For the record label, see Puritan Records. ... -1...

Born at rural Marefield, Leicestershire, England, the son of a farm manager, Thomas Hooker won a good scholarship to study at the University of Cambridge, where in time he became the equivalent of a professor of theology. After Mr. Hooker's conversion to belief in the authenticity of Scripture and the saving grace of the Christ, his keenly reasoned reflections upon the meanings of Biblical passages and upon the life of a Christian helped his rise into the leadership of the Puritan movement in England. But this status as a leader in the Puritan movement would cause him to emigrate first to Holland and then to New England in 1633, on the ship Griffin, to escape the persecution of Archbishop William Laud for non-conformity. He was appointed the first pastor of the church at Newtown, Massachusetts (now Cambridge). He is attributed as being the first minister of the First Parish in Cambridge, a church that still exists in the present day. His home was on a plot of land which today is part of the yard at Harvard College. His departure from the Colony of the Massachussettes Bay (the nucleus of the present-day Commonwealth of Massachusetts) was one of the key events leading to the creation of the Colony of Connecticut (the nucleus of the present-day State of the same name). Marefield is a hamlet and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. ... Leicestershire ( IPA: (RP), IPA: (locally)), abbreviation Leics. ... The University of Cambridge (often Cambridge University), located in Cambridge, England, is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world and has a reputation as one of the worlds most prestigious universities. ... For other uses, see Griffin (disambiguation). ... Archbishop William Laud (October 7, 1573 – January 10, 1645) was Archbishop of Canterbury and a fervent supporter of King Charles I of England, whom he encouraged to believe in divine right. ... // Places UK Newtown is the name of several places in the United Kingdom: Newtown, Hampshire Newtown, Isle of Wight Newtown, mid Wales Newtown Ho Newtown Linford Newtown, Birmingham USA Newtown is the name of several places in the United States of America: Newtown, Connecticut Newtown, Indiana Newtown, Missouri Newtown, New... Location in Massachusetts Coordinates: , Country United States State Massachusetts County Middlesex County Settled 1630 Incorporated 1636 Government  - Type Mayor-council city  - Mayor Kenneth Reeves (D) Area  - City  7. ...

In 1635, he was appointed by the General Court of Massachusetts to try to persuade his friend Roger Williams to give up his controversial views. Hooker and Williams took part in a public debate but Williams refused to change his opinions. For other persons named Roger Williams, see Roger Williams (disambiguation). ...

In 1636, Thomas Hooker led 100 of his congregation west to found the new English settlement at Hartford, Connecticut. One of the reasons he left Massachusetts was his failure to agree with John Winthrop about who should take part in civil government. Winthrop held that only admitted members of the Church should vote and hold office; Hooker maintained that any adult male who owned property should be able to vote and participate in civil government, regardless of church membership. John Winthrop (12 January 1587/8–26 March 1649) led a group of English Puritans to the New World, joined the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1629 and was elected their first governor on April 8, 1630. ...

He and his party, which included Thomas Welles, traveled on the Native American trail that was soon known as the Old Connecticut Path. After settling in Hartford, Hooker continued to be in contact with John Winthrop and Roger Williams. Hooker often traveled to Boston along the Old Connecticut Path, to help settle intercolonial disputes. He is also remembered for his role in creating the "Fundamental Orders of Connecticut". This document is one of the modern world's first written constitutions and an influence upon the current American Constitution, written nearly a century and a half later. Thomas Welles (1598-1660) is the only man in Connecticuts history to hold all four top offices: governor, deputy governor, treasurer, and secretary. ... The Old Connecticut Path was the Native American trail that led westward from the area of Massachusetts Bay to the Connecticut River Valley, the very first of the North American trails that led west from the settlements close to the Atlantic seacoast, towards the interior. ... The Fundamental Orders were adopted by the Connecticut council on January 14, 1638. ...

His granddaughter Mary Hooker married the Rev. James Pierpont. Their daughter Sarah Pierpont married Rev. Jonathan Edwards. Some other direct descendants of his included William Howard Taft, William Gillette, Edward H. Gillette, George Catlin, Emma Willard, and J.P. Morgan. Rev. ... For other persons named Jonathan Edwards, see Jonathan Edwards (disambiguation). ... For other persons named William Howard Taft, see William Howard Taft (disambiguation). ... William Gillette as Sherlock Holmes William Hooker Gillette ( July 24, 1853, Hartford, Connecticut; April 29, 1937, Hartford, Connecticut) was an American actor, playwright and stage-manager; recognized as one of the greatest actors in the history of the United States. ... Edward Hooker Gillette (October 1, 1840 – August 14, 1918) was a nineteenth century politician and editor from Iowa. ... George Catlin (1796 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania – December 23, 1872 in Jersey City, New Jersey) was an American painter who specialized in portraits of Native Americans in the Old West. ... Emma C. (Hart) Willard (February 23, 1787 - April 15, 1870), was an American womens rights advocate, and the pioneer who founded the first womens school of higher education. ... John Pierpont Morgan (April 17, 1837 – March 31, 1913), American financier and banker, was born in Hartford, Connecticut, a son of Junius Spencer Morgan (1813–1890), who was a partner of George Peabody and the founder of the house of J. S. Morgan & Co. ...

External links

• Thomas Hooker's Gravesite71.58.156.172 00:19, 17 October 2007 (UTC)