The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1628–1691),more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay,was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around the Massachusetts Bay,the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as the Province of Massachusetts Bay. The lands of the settlement were in southern New England,with initial settlements on two natural harbors and surrounding land about 15.4 miles (24.8 km) apart—the areas around Salem and Boston,north of the previously established Plymouth Colony. The territory nominally administered by the Massachusetts Bay Colony covered much of central New England,including portions of Massachusetts,Maine,New Hampshire,and Connecticut.
The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a colony in New England which became one of the thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7,1691,by William III and Mary II,the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of England,Scotland,and Ireland,and was based in the merging of several earlier British colonies in New England. The charter took effect on May 14,1692,and included the Massachusetts Bay Colony,the Plymouth Colony,the Province of Maine,Martha's Vineyard,Nantucket,Nova Scotia,and New Brunswick;the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the direct successor. Maine has been a separate state since 1820,and Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are now Canadian provinces,having been part of the colony only until 1697.
Joseph Dudley was a colonial administrator,a native of Roxbury in Massachusetts Bay Colony,and the son of one of its founders. He had a leading role in the administration of the Dominion of New England (1686–1689),which was overthrown in the 1689 Boston revolt. He served briefly on the council of the Province of New York,from which he oversaw the trial which convicted Jacob Leisler,the ringleader of Leisler's Rebellion. He then spent eight years in England in the 1690s as Lieutenant-Governor of the Isle of Wight,including one year as a Member of Parliament for Newtown. In 1702,he returned to New England after being appointed governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay and Province of New Hampshire,posts that he held until 1715.
The Dominion of New England in America (1686–1689) was an administrative union of English colonies covering all of New England and the Mid-Atlantic Colonies,with the exception of the Delaware Colony and the Province of Pennsylvania. The region's political structure was one of centralized control similar to the model used by the Spanish monarchy under the Viceroyalty of New Spain. The dominion was unacceptable to most colonists because they deeply resented being stripped of their rights and having their colonial charters revoked. Governor Edmund Andros tried to make legal and structural changes,but most of these were undone and the Dominion was overthrown as soon as word was received that King James II had left the throne in England. One notable change was the forced introduction of the Church of England into Massachusetts,whose Puritan leaders had previously refused to allow it any sort of foothold.
Simon Bradstreet was a colonial magistrate,businessman,diplomat,and the last governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Arriving in Massachusetts on the Winthrop Fleet in 1630,Bradstreet was almost constantly involved in the politics of the colony but became its governor only in 1679. He served on diplomatic missions and as agent to the crown in London,and also served as a commissioner to the New England Confederation. He was politically moderate,arguing minority positions in favor of freedom of speech and for accommodation of the demands of King Charles II following his restoration to the throne.
A charter is a document that gives colonies the legal rights to exist. Charters can bestow certain rights on a town,city,university,or other institution.
Samuel Dana was an American lawyer and politician who served in both branches of the Massachusetts General Court,as President of the Massachusetts Senate and as a United States representative from Massachusetts.
Thomas Hinckley was the last governor of the Plymouth Colony. Born in England,he arrived in New England as a teenager,and was a leading settler of what is now Barnstable,Massachusetts. He served in a variety of political and military offices before becoming governor of the colony in 1680,a post he held until the colony was folded into the Province of Massachusetts Bay in 1692. A monument,created in 1829 at the Lothrop Hill cemetery in Barnstable,attests to his "piety,usefulness and agency in the public transactions of his time."
King's Chapel Burying Ground is a historic graveyard on Tremont Street,near its intersection with School Street,in Boston,Massachusetts. Established in 1630,it is the oldest graveyard in the city and is a site on the Freedom Trail. Despite its name,the graveyard pre-dates the adjacent King's Chapel;it is not affiliated with that or any other church.
Benjamin Franklin Thomas was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts and an associate justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.
John Easton (1624–1705) was a political leader in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations,devoting decades to public service before eventually becoming governor of the colony. Born in Hampshire,England,he sailed to New England with his widowed father and older brother,settling in Ipswich and Newbury in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. As a supporter of the dissident ministers John Wheelwright and Anne Hutchinson during the Antinomian Controversy,his father was exiled,and settled in Portsmouth on Aquidneck Island with many other Hutchinson supporters. Here there was discord among the leaders of the settlement,and his father followed William Coddington to the south end of the island where they established the town of Newport. The younger Easton remained in Newport the remainder of his life,where he became involved in civil affairs before the age of 30.
The Plymouth General Court was the original colonial legislature of the Plymouth colony from 1620 to 1692. The body also sat in judgment of judicial appeals cases.
Andrew Jackson Waterman was a lawyer and Attorney General of Massachusetts.
The 1689 Boston revolt was a popular uprising on April 18,1689 against the rule of Sir Edmund Andros,the governor of the Dominion of New England. A well-organized "mob" of provincial militia and citizens formed in the town of Boston,the capital of the dominion,and arrested dominion officials. Members of the Church of England were also taken into custody if they were believed to sympathize with the administration of the dominion. Neither faction sustained casualties during the revolt. Leaders of the former Massachusetts Bay Colony then reclaimed control of the government. In other colonies,members of governments displaced by the dominion were returned to power.
Theron Metcalf was an American attorney and politician from Massachusetts. He was a New England jurist and served as an associate justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.
Isaac Addington was a longtime functionary of various colonial governments of Massachusetts,including a brief period as the Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Judicature,the highest court in the Province of Massachusetts Bay.
Benjamin Lynde Jr. was a justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court of Judicature from 1745 to 1771,serving as chief justice from 1769 to 1771. He was appointed by Governor William Shirley.
Charles Henry Warren was a Massachusetts attorney,politician and judge who served as President of the Massachusetts Senate in 1853.
