"PRÆSERVARE ET TRANSMITTERE"

Whereas, Governor John Winthrop and the Puritan colonists who came with him to plant the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630 were the most important and influential single group of Europeans ever to arrive in North America, The Winthrop Society is dedicated to preserving their memory, philosophy and tradition and transmitting their example of courage, strong faith, civic duty and integrity. The Society is open to all men and women of good character and proven descent from one or more passengers of the Winthrop fleet, or of others who settled in the Bay Colony before December 31, 1632.

The Society means to document the lives and family histories of all these first settlers and their descendants to the fourth generation (to about the year 1700). Our scope of study is the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and not the Plymouth Colony, already ably handled by The Society of Mayflower Descendants. The Winthrop Society, since Summer, 1996, has published a quarterly magazine devoted to recounting the history and expounding the Congregationalist Federalist philosophy of Massachusetts' founders.

The Winthrop Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to historical and genealogical research and the dissemination of educational material. The Society is philosophically aligned with the old unalloyed Congregational Church and the Liberties of New Englishmen but is not connected with any denomination or political group. Our goals are:

1. To identify all these settlers (no complete list of them survives), by consulting every source which can be found in the US, Canada and England.
2. To make a bibliography listing all useful books and resources on the history of the the Colony to about the year 1691, and on the early history of Puritanism in England. As means permit, a library will be collected.
3. To locate the origins and family histories in England of all the colonists as well as can be identified.
4. To make a genealogical database including all the descendants of these colonists to the fourth generation, the reconstructed biographies and ancestries of the colonists as well as can be established, plus the lineages to the present day as submitted to us by the membership.
5. To publish a quarterly periodical including our research findings, historical articles, and new members' and lineages. The ideals and practicalities of Federalism and pure Congregationalism will be frankly expounded, as derived from Puritan writings and example, and related to modern times. Articles submitted by members are welcomed.

Prospective members must be a descendants of a pre-1633 Puritan immigrant to Massachusetts Bay Colony, and will submit their lineages and provide suitable documentation. There is no strict application format. Written text, or PC files of text in ASCII .TXT or Windows Write .WRI files on standard 3.5" HD diskette are acceptable. We also invite GEDCOM files. Sorry, we cannot yet accept Mac files. Work done for applications to other societies (SAR, Founders and Patriots, Mayflower Society) can be used. Applications must be posted BY US MAIL, not by internet. Lineages must be complete and without gaps. The lineage details from 1850 to the present will be accept on faith unless they appear illogical. The generations from 1700-1850 must be accompanied by you best (sufficient but not exhaustive) documentation for the birth events and relationships. Published sources are preferred, but family sources are acceptable, although reproductions may be requested in some cases. To aid in our research, any and all information, sources and argument you can provide on your pre-1700 New England ancestors are most welcome! Where you have multiple qualifying lines, you may choose to send only your best documented line with your application. We will be glad to register other lines later. Applicants will be asked to have their lineages published in the Quarterly.

Surnames of most Winthrop Fleet immigrants, and some others in Massachusetts Bay Colony before 1633 (from Banks):

Abbot, Abell, Agar, Alcock, Aleworth, Andrew, Archer, Aspinwall, Audley, Baker, Balston, Barsham, Bartlett, Bateman, Baxter, Beamsley, Beecher, Belcher, Bendall, Benham, Biggs, Black, Boggust, Boswell, Bosworth, Bourne, Bowman, Bradstreet, Brand, Bratcher, Brenton, Bright, Browne, Buckland, Bugby, Bulgar, Burnell/Bunnell, Burr, Burroughs, Cable, Cakebread, Chadwick, Chambers, Chase, Chauner, Cheesebrough, Child, Church, Clarke, Clough/Cluff, Coddington, Colbron, Colby, Cole, Converse, Cooke, Cowlishaw, Crabb, Crafts, Cranwell, Cribb, Crugott, Dady, Deekes/Dix, Devereaux, Diffy, Dillingham, Dixon, Doggett, Downing, Dudley, Dutton, Edmunds, Eggleston, Ellis, Elston, Fayerweather, Feake, Finch, Firman, Fitzrandolph, Fox, Foxwell, Freeman, French, Frothingham, Gage, Garrett, Gibson, Glover, Goldthwaite, Gosnall, Gosse/Goffe, Goulworth, Gridley, Gyver, Haddon, Hale, Hall, Hammond, Harding, Harris, Harwood, Hawke, Hawkins, Hawthorne, Hesselden, Hoames, Hough/Hoffe, Hopwood, Horne, Hosier, Howlett, Hudson, Hurbirt, Hutchins, Hutchinson, Ijons/Irons, James, Jarvis, Johnson, Jones, Kidby, Kingsbury, Knapp, Knower, Lamb, Lawson, Learned, Leatherland, Legge, Lockwood, Lynton, Lynn, Masters, Matson, Mayhew, Millett, Mills, Morey, Morley, Morris, Morton, Moulton, Mousall, Munt, Nash, Needham, Nowell, Paige, Painter, Palmer, Palsgrave, Parke, Parker, Pattrick, Pelham, Pemberton, Penn, Penniman, Perry, Phillips, Pickering, Pickworth, Pierce, Pond, Porter, Pratt, Pynchon, Rainsford, Ratcliffe, Rawlins, Reade, Reading, Reynolds, Richardson, Royse/Ryse, Rugles, Sales, Saltonstall, Sampson, Sanford, Saxton, Scott, Seaman, Seely, Sharpee, Simpson, Smead, Smith, Smyth, Squire, Stearns, Stileman, Stoughton, Sumner, Swaddon, Talmadge, Taylor, Tomlins, Turner, Tyndal, Underhill, Vassall, Wade, Walker, Ward, Warren, Waterbury, Waters, Webb, Weed, Weldon, Weston, Wilbore, Wilkinson, Williams, Wilsby, Wilson, Wilton, Winthrop, Woods, Woolrich, Wright.

Below are surname of the first settlers of Dorchester who arrived on the Mary and John in 1630, or were known to be in Dorchester before 1633 (from Anderson, NEHGR 147):

Benjam, Clap, Collicot, Cooke, Denslow, Dyer, Eggleston, Ford, Gallop, Gaylord, Gibbs, Gibson, Gillet, Glover, Grant, Greenaway, Homan, Hoskins, Hulbird/Hubbert, Hull, Johnson, Lumbert/Lombard, Louge, Ludlow, Maverick, Newton, Phelps, Phillips, Pierce, Pomeroy, Rockwell, Rossiter, Smith, Southcott, Stoughton, Terry, Upsall, Warham, Way, Williams, Wolcott, Woodridge.

The following are some early Dorchester settlers who came before 1633 (from original records):

Allen, Bascomb, Branker, Capen, Clarke, Clement, Cogan, Drake, Duncan, Eales, Elwell, Feakes/Fooks, French, Gilbert, Hall, Hannum, Hathorne, Hayden, Hill, Holcomb, Holland, Holley, Lovell, Marshfield, Mason, Minot, Moore, Newbury, Pinney, Pitcher, Purchase, Richards, Rocket, Strong, Sylvester, Tileston, Tilly, Wilton.

The following men were transported in 1631 (from the London Rolls Office) probably aboard the William and Francis:

Gamlin, Harris, Hart, Hayward, Hill, Levins, Mannering, Norton, Olliver, Perkins, Smallie, Thomas, Whetson, Woodford, Winslow.

Those settled by Gorges, 1623, and other very early settlers:

Blaxton, Burslin, Hilton, Jeffrey, Hennens, Maverick, Pierce, Pratt, Sanders, Thomson, Walford.

Among the very first Puritan settlements (Cape Ann & Naumkeag, 1623-1627):

Allen, Balch, Conant, Cushman, Gardner, Gray, Jeffrey, Knight, Lyford, Norman, Oldham, Palfrey, Patch, Pickryn, Winslow, Woodbury.

Among those who arrived with Endecott on the Abigail at Salem, 1628:

Brackenbury, Brown, Davenport, Elford, Endecott, Gott, Laskin, Leach, Maurie/Morey, Puchett, Scruggs, Trask.

Among those who arrived with the Higginson fleet to Salem, 1629:

Archer, Beard, Brand, Brown, Brude, Claydon, Craddock, Dixy, Dodge, Edes, Edmonds, Ewstead, Farr, Graves, Hanscombe, Haughton, Haward, Herrick, Higginson, Holgrave, Ingersoll, Malbon, Massie, Miller, Moulton, Rickman, Ryall, Sharpe, Sibly, Skelton, Sprague, Stileman, Tillie, Waterman, Webb, Wilson

Others in Salem by 1633:

Auger, Bennet, Clark, Dike, Huson, Johnson, Leavit, Manning, Noddle, Norton, Peach, Sweet, Wincoll

A list of the approximately 350 colonists who arrived in Salem with the Endecott fleet of 1628 and the Higginson fleet of 1629 is being prepared by the Society. Family historians SHOULD NOT BE DISCOURAGED if a name they are researching is not in the above lists. Contributions and arguments are especially welcome concerning ALL early Massachusetts immigrants, and the purpose of the Society is to establish true histories of this epic migration.

Tentative, unofficial list of immigrants to New England before 1633 from Freeman Family Lines (from SMLawson):

Peter Aspinwall, Edward Baker, William Bond, Henry Bright, Abraham Browne, Benjamin Child, John Coolidge (debatable), Lt. Walter Fyler, Nathaniel Foote (debatable), Thomas Ford, Thomas Holcomb, Capt. John Johnson, George Morey I, William Phelps, Edward Rossiter, Dr. Bray Rossiter, Thomas Spencer, Elder John Strong (debatable) and Abigail (Ford) Strong (accepted), Stephen Terry, Capt. Nathaniel Turner, Rev. John Warham, John Warren.

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