Tom and All: For the past few weeks I have been reading up on the beginnings of the settlement of America and some of the events in England which led up to the Great Migration. As Tom stated, there were different motives with each group which came over to America from England. Although some of the settlements, and attempts at settling prior to 1620 were primarily commercial enterprises the settlement of Plymouth by the Pilgrams on the Mayflower in 1620 and many of those who followed them were motivated by their religious beliefs and getting away from being persecuted in England. Briefly, the Church of England had been established by King Henry VIII when he essentially took control of the Roman Catholic Church in England. About the only he thing changed was who controlled the Church of England and its money ... The King instead of the Pope in Rome. However the Reformation in Europe brought about a rise in congregationalism which believed that each local church should have control of their own affairs rather than having the decisions handed down from authorities above them. Some sought to reform the Church of England while remaining within it while others advocated separation from the Church. Ministers who advocated the congregational approach were often removed from their churches, imprisoned, or forced to flee to Holland. The Scooby congregation were Puritan Separatists who migrated to Holland to escape persecution but found that the Dutch were too tolerant to suit them. Their children were becomming Dutch. And most of the employment open to them was low paying work. They made an agreement with a London company of merchants to loan them the mony to make the voyage to Virginia [which extended north to the vicinity of New York] and the loan would be repaid by setting up a fishing industry. They went off course and landed at Cape Cod, decided to stay there, and founded Plymouth although they were essentially "squatters" there. Most of the other migrating congregations were Puritans who had hoped to reform the Church of England but gave up hope of accomplishing reform when King Charles I came to power in 1625 and in 1628 appointed William Loud as Bishop of London and Archbishop of Canerbury in 1633. William Loud was an enthusiastic enforcer of Church [and the king's] law and deprived Puritan ministers of their pulpits and cut off their income. In 1626 Rev. John White of Dorchester, England formed a company to settle at Salem, MA and in 1628 about fifty of this company landed at Salem and chose John Endicott as their governor. They set up a Congregational system of church government based on a covenant. This group was absorbed into the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Also in 1628 a number of prominent congregational Puritans bought their way into a group called the New England Company. It took over the rights of the Dorchester Adventurers and obtained a charter from the Council for New England authorizing settlement in the area known as Massachusetts Bay. In March 1629 the New England Company reorganized as the Massachusetts Bay Company and had it proprietary and governmental rights confirmed by the new charter obtained directly from the king. This charter made no mention of where the company meetings were to be held. So, in 1629 the Puritans transferred the company to Massachusetts thereby making it a self governing colony. All new groups coming into the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Bay Company were required to obtain right ot settle from them. While it is true that the Puritans came to America for religious freedom ... they were seeking freedom to worship as THEY believed and were intolerant of those who disagreed with them. For this reason Thomas Hooker obtained permission to move to Connecticut where he founded Hartford. In 1637 Rev. John Davenport from St Stephens in London came to Massachusetts and although Winthrop wanted him and his congregation to remain in Massachusetts he declined because of the theological disagreements that were upsetting the churches in that area. Davenport's group obtained permission to settle in Connecticut and in 1638 they founded New Haven. From the time Davenport's group landed in Boston and their move to New Haven, their number almost doubled mainly from people who were dissatisfied with the political and religious situation there. Thurmon King TSFA Historian http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~tsfa/ http://freepages.books.rootsweb.com/~teking/ On Tue, 23 Mar 2004 06:43:39 -0500 "Tom Smith" <tsmith26@comcast.net> writes: > The following are excerpts from,Hartfords First Church, Rockwell > Harmon Potter: The 16th Minister, Case, Lockwood & Brainard Co., > Hartford, CT, Printer, Ist Church of Christ Hartford, Publishers. > > "The First Church of Christ in Hartford had its origin in Old > England. It was born in the Puritan Movement among the churches of > Essex County .......... > > The Reformation had been at work among earnest and eager spirits in > these churches for more than a generation. Throughout the spacious > days of Queen Elizabeth the spirit and purpose of the new and freer > forms of the Christian faith had been moving toward expression in > shaping the organization and procedure of the ancient churches in > the towns and countryside. .......... > In the third decade of that great seventeenth century Thomas Hooker, > a Fellow of Emmanuel College of Cambridge, was asked to serve as > lecturer in the ancient parish Church of St. Mary's at Chelmsford. > He had been a diligent and faithful student in his course at > Emmanuel and upon his graduation had been appointed to a fellowship, > one of the duties of which was to serve as occasional lecturer in > parishes within the reach of Cambridge where his services might be > desired........ > Accordingly when ecclesiastical authority denied the continuance of > this ministry to the church in Chelmsford, these who had been won to > it sought some means by which they might have this privilege granted > to them for the future. The news had come to them of the new world > overseas which was being opened to English settlers, and in which > there was the opportunity for a larger economic life, for political > freedom and for a religious liberty, which they came to feel they > could not enjoy in the church of their birth and early training. <CLIPPED> > > I found it interesting that this group seem to have come for their > own reasons, instead of at the behest of Gov. Winthrop. It would > also appear that Simon Sackett may have been part of this grand plan > to establish a new church before they left England. It also speaks > to a timeframe for Simon's arrival. > > If any one is interested, I can send the whole 1st chapter Hartfords > First Church, as an attachment. It is pages. > > Tom Smith

As a descendant of Gov. Bradford of the Mayflower, I would like to clarify some information given. The Pilgrim descendants are very particular that they not be confused with the Puritans. They were Separatists, true. They left Scrooby and went to Leiden, Holland to escape persecution. The concern they had there was that their children were learning to be be Dutch and were losing their English Heritage. There is speculation that they knew they were off-course and landed in Cape Cod on purpose. They were very tolerant and did not require that everyone attend their church. They wore brightly-colored clothes when they could. They enjoyed singing and dancing. They were nothing like the Puritans in these areas. The Pilgrim name was given much later. The Mayflower Compact was probably one of the most far-reaching documents of the time in terms of how they were to govern themselves. They lived very peacefully with the Indians for many years until King Philip's War, which lasted a short duration. Then peace settled in again. I don't contribute much as my Sackett line is short -- Mary Sackett m. Alexander McKay -- but I love to read the 'chatter' about the line. There are some really interesting people. As to the above, I just wanted to set the record straight. If anyone in the Seth McKay-Larissa Lamb descent wants to know how to connect to Gov. Bradford, I'd be pleased to send you the connection. Thanks, Mary Lou Petrie California ----- Original Message ----- From: "Thurmon E King" <thurmonking@juno.com> To: <SACKETT-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, April 06, 2004 12:45 AM Subject: Re: [SACKETT-L] Thomas Hooker & his church > Tom and All: > > For the past few weeks I have been reading up on the beginnings of the > settlement of America and some of the events in England which led up to > the Great Migration. As Tom stated, there were different motives with > each group which came over to America from England. > > Although some of the settlements, and attempts at settling prior to 1620 > were primarily commercial enterprises the settlement of Plymouth by the > Pilgrams on the Mayflower in 1620 and many of those who followed them > were motivated by their religious beliefs and getting away from being > persecuted in England. > > Briefly, the Church of England had been established by King Henry VIII > when he essentially took control of the Roman Catholic Church in England. > About the only he thing changed was who controlled the Church of England > and its money ... The King instead of the Pope in Rome. However the > Reformation in Europe brought about a rise in congregationalism which > believed that each local church should have control of their own affairs > rather than having the decisions handed down from authorities above them. > Some sought to reform the Church of England while remaining within it > while others advocated separation from the Church. Ministers who > advocated the congregational approach were often removed from their > churches, imprisoned, or forced to flee to Holland. > > The Scooby congregation were Puritan Separatists who migrated to Holland > to escape persecution but found that the Dutch were too tolerant to suit > them. Their children were becomming Dutch. And most of the employment > open to them was low paying work. They made an agreement with a London > company of merchants to loan them the mony to make the voyage to Virginia > [which extended north to the vicinity of New York] and the loan would be > repaid by setting up a fishing industry. They went off course and landed > at Cape Cod, decided to stay there, and founded Plymouth although they > were essentially "squatters" there. > > Most of the other migrating congregations were Puritans who had hoped to > reform the Church of England but gave up hope of accomplishing reform > when King Charles I came to power in 1625 and in 1628 appointed William > Loud as Bishop of London and Archbishop of Canerbury in 1633. William > Loud was an enthusiastic enforcer of Church [and the king's] law and > deprived Puritan ministers of their pulpits and cut off their income. > > In 1626 Rev. John White of Dorchester, England formed a company to settle > at Salem, MA and in 1628 about fifty of this company landed at Salem and > chose John Endicott as their governor. They set up a Congregational > system of church government based on a covenant. This group was absorbed > into the Massachusetts Bay Colony. > > Also in 1628 a number of prominent congregational Puritans bought their > way into a group called the New England Company. It took over the rights > of the Dorchester Adventurers and obtained a charter from the Council for > New England authorizing settlement in the area known as Massachusetts > Bay. In March 1629 the New England Company reorganized as the > Massachusetts Bay Company and had it proprietary and governmental rights > confirmed by the new charter obtained directly from the king. This > charter made no mention of where the company meetings were to be held. > So, in 1629 the Puritans transferred the company to Massachusetts thereby > making it a self governing colony. All new groups coming into the > jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Bay Company were required to obtain > right ot settle from them. > > While it is true that the Puritans came to America for religious freedom > ... they were seeking freedom to worship as THEY believed and were > intolerant of those who disagreed with them. For this reason Thomas > Hooker obtained permission to move to Connecticut where he founded > Hartford. > > In 1637 Rev. John Davenport from St Stephens in London came to > Massachusetts and although Winthrop wanted him and his congregation to > remain in Massachusetts he declined because of the theological > disagreements that were upsetting the churches in that area. Davenport's > group obtained permission to settle in Connecticut and in 1638 they > founded New Haven. From the time Davenport's group landed in Boston and > their move to New Haven, their number almost doubled mainly from people > who were dissatisfied with the political and religious situation there. > > Thurmon King > TSFA Historian > http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~tsfa/ > http://freepages.books.rootsweb.com/~teking/ > > On Tue, 23 Mar 2004 06:43:39 -0500 "Tom Smith" <tsmith26@comcast.net> > writes: > > The following are excerpts from,Hartfords First Church, Rockwell > > Harmon Potter: The 16th Minister, Case, Lockwood & Brainard Co., > > Hartford, CT, Printer, Ist Church of Christ Hartford, Publishers. > > > > "The First Church of Christ in Hartford had its origin in Old > > England. It was born in the Puritan Movement among the churches of > > Essex County .......... > > > > The Reformation had been at work among earnest and eager spirits in > > these churches for more than a generation. Throughout the spacious > > days of Queen Elizabeth the spirit and purpose of the new and freer > > forms of the Christian faith had been moving toward expression in > > shaping the organization and procedure of the ancient churches in > > the towns and countryside. .......... > > In the third decade of that great seventeenth century Thomas Hooker, > > a Fellow of Emmanuel College of Cambridge, was asked to serve as > > lecturer in the ancient parish Church of St. Mary's at Chelmsford. > > He had been a diligent and faithful student in his course at > > Emmanuel and upon his graduation had been appointed to a fellowship, > > one of the duties of which was to serve as occasional lecturer in > > parishes within the reach of Cambridge where his services might be > > desired........ > > Accordingly when ecclesiastical authority denied the continuance of > > this ministry to the church in Chelmsford, these who had been won to > > it sought some means by which they might have this privilege granted > > to them for the future. The news had come to them of the new world > > overseas which was being opened to English settlers, and in which > > there was the opportunity for a larger economic life, for political > > freedom and for a religious liberty, which they came to feel they > > could not enjoy in the church of their birth and early training. > <CLIPPED> > > > > I found it interesting that this group seem to have come for their > > own reasons, instead of at the behest of Gov. Winthrop. It would > > also appear that Simon Sackett may have been part of this grand plan > > to establish a new church before they left England. It also speaks > > to a timeframe for Simon's arrival. > > > > If any one is interested, I can send the whole 1st chapter Hartfords > > First Church, as an attachment. It is pages. > > > > Tom Smith > > > ==== SACKETT Mailing List ==== > RootsWeb blocks HTML formatting in email messages. 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