# John Winthrop Jr.

John Winthrop Jr. FRS (February 12, 1606 – April 6, 1676) was an English politician and scientist. 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

Winthrop was born in Groton, Suffolk, England on February 12, 1606, the son of John Winthrop, founding governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. 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.

## Career

Winthrop accompanied the ill-fated expedition of the Duke of Buckingham for the relief of the Protestants of La Rochelle in France, and then travelled in Italy and the Levant, 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 science 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.

### 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. During his tenure as Governor of Connecticut, he oversaw the acceptance of Quakers who were banned from Massachusetts.
In 1662, he obtained the charter in England which united the colonies of Connecticut and New Haven. He was also one of the commissioners of the United Colonies of New England in 1675.

### Scientific contributions

In 1663, while returning from a trip to London, Winthrop brought the first telescope to America. He would later donate the three and a half foot long device to Harvard University in 1671. His scientific contribution led him to being elected an original fellow of the Royal Society 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.

## 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 (c. 1648–1711), who married John Corwin
* Martha Winthrop (1648–1712), who married Richard Wharton
* Anne Winthrop (c. 1649–1704), 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.

### Descendants

Paul Dudley Sargent was a descendant of Winthrop, a Patriot colonel in the American War of Independence. Another descendant was John Sargent, who was a Loyalist during that war. Another descendant was Dudley Saltonstall (1738–1796), a Revolutionary War naval commander most notable for his involvement in the ill-fated Penobscot Expedition.