John Webster (Governor of the Colony of Connecticut)

Infobox Governor
name = John Webster


order =
office = Governor of the Colony of Connecticut
term_start = 1656
term_end = 1657
lieutenant =
predecessor = Thomas Welles (1656)
successor = John Winthrop, Jr. (1657)
birth_date = August 9, 1590
birth_place = Cossington, Leicestershire, England
death_date = death date and age|1661|4|5|1590|8|9
death_place = Hadley, Massachusetts
party =
spouse = Agnes Smith
profession =
religion = Congregationalist

John Webster (August 9, 1590 – April 5, 1661) was governor of the Colony of Connecticut in 1656.

Webster was born in Cossington, Leicestershire, England, the son of Matthew Webster (1548–1623) and his wife, Elizabeth Ashton. He entered the Massachusetts Bay Colony with his wife and five children in the early 1630's, settling in the area of Newtowne, Massachusetts (which is now known as Cambridge). He left for Suckiaug, Connecticut (which is now known as Hartford) in 1636, in all probability with Thomas Hooker and his adherents. His first public office was as a member of a committee that joined with the Court of Magistrates in determining the course of war with the Pequot Indians. According to the records at the time, he was chosen from 1639 to 1655 to be magistrate, in 1655 he was chosen as Deputy Governor of the Colony of Connecticut, governor of the Colony of Connecticut in 1656, and first magistrate from 1657 to 1659.

A split amongst the church members in Hartford grew when the current reverend at the First Church in Hartford, Samuel Stone, declared that the requirement that stated only parents that had both taken communion should be allowed to have a child baptized would be removed, and non-communicants would be allowed to vote. John Webster, among others, were a part of a council that agreed that this was not acceptable. Reverend Stone chose to ignore this sentiment, and the issue was taken up with the General Court in Massachusetts. The Court ruled that although Reverend Stone had been too strict in ignoring the majority of his parishioners, he was right in liberalizing the baptism ritual. It was also found that those who disagreed with the reverend could remove themselves to a location in Massachusetts to practice how they saw fit. This eventual location chosen was Hadley, Massachusetts, and in 1659, a new community was built there. John Webster only enjoyed it for less than two years, for in the year 1661 he contracted a fever and died.

Family

Webster married Agnes SMITH (born 29 August 1585 in Cossington, Leicestershire, England) on 7 November 1609 at Cossington, Leicestershire, England. They had seven children (five of which were born in England, and two in the Colony). She died in Hadley, Massachusetts in 1667. Their children included Matthew (born about 11 February 1608/1609), married Sarah Waterbury and Mary Reeve; Margaret (born about 21 February 1609/1610 married William Bolton and Thomas Hunt; William (born 26 December 1614) married Mary REEVE; Thomas (born 24 November 1616) married Abigail ALEXANDER; Robert (born 17 November 1619) married Susanna TREAT; Anne (born 29 July 1621) married John MARSH; Elizabeth (born 16 March 1622/1623) married William MARKHAM; Mary (born 30 March 1623) married Jonathan HUNT; and Faith (born 8 April 1627, died 10 days later).

His descendants are numerous, and he is the ancestor of the famous lexicographer Noah Webster.

ee also

*John Winthrop, Jr.
*Noah Webster
*Samuel Stone
*Thomas Hooker

References

cite book
last=Webster
first=William Holcomb and Melville Reuben
coauthors=William Holcomb Webster, Melville Reuben Webster
title=History and Genealogy of the Governor John Webster Family of Connecticut
publisher=E. R. Andrews Printing Company
date=1915
pages=pp. 1-19
month=
isbn=cite book
last=Barbour
first=Lucius Barnes
coauthors=
title=Families of Early Hartford, CT
publisher=Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc.
date=1982
pages=
month=
isbn=cite book
last=Holmes
first=Frank R.
coauthors=
title=Directory of the Ancestral Heads of New England Families 1620-1700
publisher=Genealogical Publishing Company
date=1974
pages=
month=
isbn=cite book
last=Meckler
first=
coauthors=
title=Biographies of American and Colonial Governors
publisher=
date=
pages=
month=
isbn=cite book
last=Goodwin
first=Nethaniel
coauthors=
title=Genealogical Notes First Settlers of Connecticut and Massachusetts
publisher=
date=1856
pages=
month=
isbn=

External links

* [http://www.rays-place.com/families/webster.html Ray's Place for the genealogy of John Webster]
* [http://www.rootsweb.com/~genepool/websjohn.htm Governor John Webster of Hartford Connecticut and Hadley, Massachusetts]
* [http://www.cslib.org/gov/websterj.htm The Connecticut State Library]