Colonies & Provinces of Colonial America

Colonies & Provinces of Colonial America

(These are the areas most of our forefathers emigrated to, arrived, settled, and colonized)

Virginia

Colony of Virginia

1607–1776

The Colony of Virginia, chartered in 1606 and settled in 1607, was the first enduring English colony in North America, following failed proprietary attempts at settlement on Newfoundland by Sir Humphrey Gilbert in 1583, and the subsequent farther south Roanoke Island (modern eastern North Carolina) by Sir Walter Raleigh in the late 1580s.

The founder of the new colony was the Virginia Company, with the first two settlements in Jamestown on the north bank of the James River and Popham Colony on the Kennebec River in modern-day Maine, both in 1607. The Popham colony quickly failed due to a famine, disease, and conflict with local Native American tribes in the first two years. Jamestown occupied land belonging to the Powhatan Confederacy, and was also at the brink of failure before the arrival of a new group of settlers and supplies by ship in 1610. Tobacco became Virginia's first profitable export, the production of which had a significant impact on the society and settlement patterns.

Jamestowne Society: Seventeenth Century Qualifying Ancestors

http://www.jamestowne.org/qualifying-ancestors.html

Shires of Virginia

The eight Shires of Virginia were formed in 1634 in the Virginia Colony. These shires were based on a form of local government used in England at the time, and were redesignated as counties a few years later. As of 2007, five of the eight original shires were considered still extant in the Commonwealth of Virginia in essentially their same political form, although some boundaries and several names have changed in the almost 400 years since their creation.

In 1634, a new system of local government was created in the Virginia Colony by order of King Charles I of England. Eight shires were named by the House of Burgesses, each with its own local officers. The term shire in this system was officially renamed as county only a few years later. There were also several early individual name changes, notably Warrosquyoake, a Native American name with varied spellings that became Isle of Wight. Also, during the English Civil War, Charles River County and the Charles River were changed to York County and York River respectively (though Charles City County kept its royal name).

The original Shires of Virginia were:

Accomac Shire (now Northampton & Accomack Counties)

Charles City Shire (now Charles City County)

Charles River Shire (now York County)

Elizabeth City Shire (extinct – consolidated with the City of Hampton)

Henrico Shire (now Henrico County)

James City Shire (now James City County)

Warwick River Shire (extinct – consolidated with the City of Newport News)

Warrosquyoake Shire (now Isle of Wight County)

Four of the shire names included names of cities that had been created in 1619. Between 1637 and 1642, their names formalized from "Shire" to "County", and the results apparently caused confusion two centuries later. This is due to names, such as "James City County" and "Charles City County" that seem contradictory to some in Virginia because after independent cities were introduced by the 1870 Constitution of Virginia, an area can be in a city or in a county, but cannot be in both.

The county that included the original 1607 settlement at Jamestown apparently attempted to address any potential confusion long ago, when its legal name was the "County of James City" for a time. It is now officially James City County again.

In 1952, the citizens of "Elizabeth City County" voted to relinquish county status, and consolidate with the independent city of Hampton. They also voted to assume the better-known and shorter name of Hampton.

Also in 1952, Warwick County converted to an independent city. On July 1, 1958, the still nascent city of Warwick was politically re-consolidated with the independent city of Newport News to the south and east, which had itself broken away from Warwick County earlier in 1896.

James Cittie / James City Shire / James City County

1619 / 1634 / 1642

In 1619, the Virginia Company of London under a new leader, Sir Edwin Sandys, instituted a number of changes, to help stimulate more investment and attract settlers from England. In the long view, foremost among these was the establishment of what became the House of Burgesses, the first representative legislative body in the European settlement of North America, predecessor of today's Virginia General Assembly, first convened by a Royal Governor, Sir George Yeardley, of Flowerdew Hundred Plantation. Also in 1619, the plantations and developed portions of the Colony were divided into four "incorporations" or "citties," as they were then called. These were (east to west) Elizabeth Cittie (initially known as Kecoughtan), James Cittie, Charles Cittie, and Henrico Cittie. Each cittie covered a very large area. Elizabeth Cittie not only included land on both side of the James River, but most of what we now know as South Hampton Roads and also included Virginia's Eastern Shore.

The Virginia Company's "James Cittie" stretched across the Peninsula to the York River, and included the seat of government for the entire colony at Jamestown Island. Each of the four citties extended across the James River, the major thoroughfare of commerce for the settlers, and included land on both the north and south shores. With the incentives of 1619, many new developments, known as "hundreds" were established.

The privately owned Virginia Company lost its charter in 1624, and Virginia became a royal colony. In 1634, the English Crown created eight shires (i.e., counties) in the colony of Virginia, with a total population of approximately 5,000 inhabitants. James City Shire, as well as the James River and Jamestown which had been named earlier, took its name from King James I, the father of the then-king, Charles I. About 1642–43, the name of the James City Shire was changed to James City County.

Charles River Shire

1634-1643

Charles River Shire was one of eight shires of Virginia created in the Virginia Colony in 1634. Charles River Shire became York County in 1643.

Elizabeth City County

1634-1952

Elizabeth City County was a county in southeastern Virginia from 1634 until 1952 when it was merged into the city of Hampton. Originally created in 1634 as Elizabeth River Shire, it was one of eight shires created in the Virginia Colony by order of the King Charles I. In 1636, it was subdivided, and the portion north of the harbor of Hampton Roads became known as Elizabeth City Shire. It was renamed Elizabeth City County a short time later.

Henrico Shire, Colony of Virginia

1634-1728

In 1634, Henrico Shire was one of the eight original Shires of Virginia established in the Virginia Colony.

Between 1637 and 1642, their names formalized from "Shire" to "County".

Since then, 10 counties and three independent cities have been formed from the original territory of Henrico Shire.

County/City Year Founded

Goochland County 1728

Albemarle County 1744

Chesterfield County 1749

Cumberland County 1749

Amherst County 1761

Buckingham County 1761

Fluvanna County 1777

Powhatan County 1777

Nelson County 1807

City of Richmond 1842

Appomattox County (part) 1845

City of Charlottesville 1888

City of Colonial Heights 1948

York County, Virginia

1643-Present

During the English Civil War, Charles River County and the Charles River were changed to York County and York River respectively (though Charles City County kept its royal name).

English colonists arrived and established Jamestown in 1607 on the southern shore of the Virginia Peninsula in the Colony and Dominion of Virginia. In 1619, the area which is now York County was included in two of the four incorporations (or "citties") of the proprietary Virginia Company of London which were known as Elizabeth Cittie and James Cittie.

In 1643 Charles River County and the Charles River (also named for the king) were changed to York County and York River, respectively. The river, county, and town of Yorktown are believed to have been named for York, a city in Northern England.

Surry County

1652

In 1652, Surry County was formed from the portion of James City County south of the James River.

When colonists arrived from England in 1607, some traveled along the Nottoway River, but when they established the first counties, James City County included both sides of the James River all the way to the North Carolina line. The south side of the James River became Surry County in 1652.

Accowmake / Accomac Shire

1634-1642

(see, Accomac County, below)

Northampton County

1642-Present

(see, Accomac County, below)

Accomac County

1663-1670

1671-1940

Accomac Shire was established in 1634 as one of the eight original shires of Virginia. The name comes from the native word Accawmacke, which meant "on the other side". In 1642 the name was changed to Northampton, following a policy of eliminating "heathen names". Northampton County was divided into two counties in 1663. The northern adopted the original name, while the south remained Northampton. In 1940, the General Assembly officially added a "k" to the end of the county's name to arrive at its current spelling. The name of "Accomack County" first appeared in the Decisions of the United States Board on Geographical Names in 1943.

In 1670, the Virginia Colony's Royal Governor William Berkeley abolished Accomac County, but the Virginia General Assembly re-created it in 1671.

King and Queen County

1691

King and Queen County was established in 1691 from New Kent County. The county is named for King William III and Queen Mary II of England. King and Queen County is notable as one of the few counties in the United States to have recorded a larger population in the 1790 census than in the 2010 one.

Yorktown

1691

Yorktown was named for the ancient city of York in Yorkshire, Northern England. It was founded in 1691 as a port on the York River for English colonists to export tobacco to Europe.

Spotsylvania County

1721

As the colonial population increased, Spotsylvania County was established in 1721 from parts of Essex, King and Queen, and King William counties. The county was named in Latin for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia Alexander Spotswood.

Caroline County

1727

Caroline County was established in the British Colony of Virginia in 1727 from Essex, King and Queen, and King William counties.

Orange County

1734

Orange County, as a legal entity, was created in August 1734 when the Virginia House of Burgesses adopted An Act for Dividing Spotsylvania County.

Culpeper County

1749

Culpeper County was established in 1749, with territory partitioned from Orange County. The county is named for Thomas Colepeper, 2nd Baron Colepeper, colonial governor of Virginia from 1677 to 1683.

Sussex County

Virginia's General Assembly formed Sussex County from the southwestern end of Surry County in 1754.

Commonwealth of Virginia

1776-1788

Before statehood: Colony of Virginia (prior to 1776)

Admitted to the Union: June 25, 1788 (10th)

After declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1775, before the Declaration of Independence was officially adopted, the Virginia colony became the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Massachusetts

Plymouth Colony

1620–1686

1689-1691

Plymouth Colony (sometimes Plimouth) was an English colonial venture in America from 1620 to 1691 at a location that had previously been surveyed and named by Captain John Smith. The settlement served as the capital of the colony and developed as the town of Plymouth, Massachusetts. At its height, Plymouth Colony occupied most of the southeastern portion of Massachusetts.

Plymouth Colony was founded by a group of Puritan Separatists initially known as the Brownist Emigration, who came to be known as the Pilgrims. It was the second successful colony to be founded by the English in America after Jamestown in Virginia, and it was the first permanent English settlement in the New England region. The colony established a treaty with Wampanoag Chief Massasoit which helped to ensure its success; in this, they were aided by Squanto, a member of the Patuxet tribe. Plymouth played a central role in King Philip's War (1675–1678), one of several Indian Wars, but the colony was ultimately merged with the Massachusetts Bay Colony and other territories in 1691 to form the Province of Massachusetts Bay.

Scituate, Plymouth Colony

- is a seacoast town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts

European settlement brought a group of people from Plymouth about 1627, who were joined by immigrants from the county of Kent in England. They were initially governed by the General Court of Plymouth, but on October 5, 1636, the town incorporated as a separate entity.

In establishing the bounds of Scituate the General Court at Plymouth took the somewhat strange action of reserving a section in the northerly part of the Town for the exclusive benefit of certain individuals, viz. Messrs. Hatherly, Beauchamp and Shirley. This grant included the entire part of the Town northerly from Satuit Brook and extending to the Conihasset marshes; as the bounds were not definite and some settlers had previously occupied parts of this land controversies arose which were not adjusted for several years. In the meantime Mr. Hatherly purchased the entire tract from the other grantees and in 1646 divided it into thirty shares, reserving one fourth of them for himself and sold the remaining for 180 pounds to a company which became known as the Conihasset Partners, which Company functioned as a Government, carrying on its own affairs, building its own roads, keeping its own records etc. in disregard of the fact that they were legally and technically a part of the Town of Scituate with no objections on the part of the Town, which was due probably to the fact that the proprietors of the Conihasset Grant were also men interested in the government of the Town itself The last meeting of the Partners was held in 1767, after which their affairs reverted to the town.

The name Scituate is derived from an Indian word which the early settlers understood as Satuit, which means "Cold Brook", and referred to the small stream flowing into the harbor; this they spelled in various ways as Sityate, Cituate, Seteat, etc., and it was not until about 1640 that the name came to be universally spelled in its present form. No one knows why the silent "c" was added, but around that time it was quite common to add this "c" to such words as site, situation, etc.

Bridgewater, Plymouth Colony

This area was established as a part of Duxbury in 1645 by purchase from the Native Americans by 54 proprietors - most who did not settle there. Bridgewater was created on 3 June 1656 from Duxbury in Plymouth Colony. The town was was placed in Plymouth County when counties were formed in 1685. For a brief time, the town was part of the Dominion of New England from 1686 to 1689. The town is still in Plymouth County, though was in limbo, until the "Colony" was merged with Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1691 that became the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Suffolk County

The county was created by the Massachusetts General Court on May 10, 1643, when it was ordered "that the whole plantation within this jurisdiction be divided into four shires". Suffolk initially contained Boston, Roxbury, Dorchester, Dedham, Braintree, Weymouth, and Hingham. The county was named after Suffolk, England, which means "southern folk."

Hingham -

The town of Hingham was within Suffolk County from its founding in 1643 until 1803, and Plymouth County from 1803 to the present.

Hull -

Hull was a settlement in 1622 before it became part of Massachusetts Bay Colony. The town was placed in Suffolk County when counties were formed in 1643. For a brief time, the town was part of the Dominion of New England Genealogy from 1686 to 1689. When the new Norfolk County was formed in 1793, Hingham and Hull were cherry-picked to stay in Suffolk County while [Norfolk County, Massachusetts Genealogy|Norfolk County]] bordered it on the west and east. Hull was annexed to Plymouth County on 18 June 1803, still leaving its west and east borders with Norfolk County. Hull remains in Plymouth County.

Middlesex County

The county was created by the Massachusetts General Court on May 10, 1643, when it was ordered that "the whole plantation within this jurisdiction be divided into four shires." Middlesex initially contained Charlestown, Cambridge, Watertown, Sudbury, Concord, Woburn, Medford, Wayland, and Reading. In 1649 the first Middlesex County Registry of Deeds was created in Cambridge.

Middlesex County was one of the four original counties when Massachusetts Bay Colony Genealogy created counties in 1643. When established, it had no defined western or northern border. These borders were more clearly defined when Worcester County was created in 1731 on the west and the Province of New Hampshire in 1680 to the north, but this border remained in dispute until 1741. Early settlers in this county went north, west, and south to establish new settlements in the 1600s and 1700s. The oldest college in the United States was established in Cambridge in 1636 - Harvard College, now Harvard University.

On April 19, 1775, Middlesex was site of the first armed conflict of the American Revolutionary War.

Barnstable County

1685

Barnstable County was formed as part of the Plymouth Colony on 2 June 1685, including the towns of Falmouth, Sandwich and others lying to the east and north on Cape Cod. Plymouth Colony was merged into the Province of Massachusetts Bay in 1691.

Plymouth County

In 1685, the County was created by the Plymouth General Court, the legislature of Plymouth Colony, predating its annexation by the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

List of counties in Massachusetts

The oldest counties still in Massachusetts are Essex County, Middlesex County, and Suffolk County, created in 1643 with the original Norfolk County which was absorbed by New Hampshire and bears no relation to the modern Norfolk County. When these counties were created, they were a part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, which would remain separate from the Plymouth Colony and that colony's counties until 1691.

https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_counties_in_Massachusetts

Wessagusset Colony

1622-1623

Wessagusset Colony (sometimes called the Weston Colony or Weymouth Colony) was a short-lived English trading colony in New England located in Weymouth, Massachusetts. It was settled in August 1622 by between fifty and sixty colonists who were ill-prepared for colonial life. The colony was settled without adequate provisions, and was dissolved in late March 1623 after harming relations with local Indians. Surviving colonists joined Plymouth Colony or returned to England. It was the second settlement in Massachusetts, predating the Massachusetts Bay Colony by six years.

Weymouth Colony

1623-1630

1635-Present

Weymouth was settled in 1622 as Wessagusset Colony founded by Thomas Weston, who had been the main financial backer of Plymouth Colony. The settlement was a failure, as the 60 men from London were ill-prepared for the hardships required for survival.

In September 1623, a second colony was created on the abandoned site at Wessagusset, led by Governor-General Robert Gorges. This colony was rechristened as Weymouth and was also unsuccessful, and Governor Gorges returned to England the following year.

Despite that, some settlers remained in the village and it was absorbed into the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630.

Essex Colony

1623-1628

The Essex colony started at Cape Ann in 1623 with a party led by Thomas Gardner and John Tylly. For this party, there were two ships with 32 people who were to settle the area commercially. About a year later, this party was joined by a group from Plymouth led by Roger Conant. These efforts were funded by the Dorchester Company, which withdrew its funding after 1625. In 1626, some of the original party, as many left to return to England or to go south, moved the settlement, in hopes of finding more success, to Naumkeag. This settlement worked out and became Salem.

The English colony at Cape Ann was first founded in 1623. It was the fourth colonizing effort in New England after Popham Colony, Plymouth Colony and Nantasket Beach. Two ships of the Dorchester Company brought 32 in number with John Tylly and Thomas Gardner as overseers of a fishing operation and the plantation, respectively. This colony predated Massachusetts Bay charter and colony. For that reason, members of the colony were referred to as "old planters". The first Great House in New England was built on Cape Ann by the planters. This house was dismantled on the orders of John Endecott in 1628 and moved to Salem to serve as his "governor's" house. When Higginson arrived in Salem, he wrote that "we found a faire house newly built for the Governor" which was remarkable for being two stories high.

By 1630, Puritan interests had organized a massive influx led by John Winthrop, who decided the Cape Ann area was not suitable for the number of arriving colonists, and founded Boston to the south instead. Even though center of government was in Boston, by 1700, the population of the Cape Ann area, which was organized into Essex County in the 1640s, had also grown rapidly. The population of New England went from less than 500 to over 26,000 in the years from 1629 to 1640.

Essex County

Essexshire, Massachusetts Bay Colony

The county was created by the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony on May 10, 1643, when it was ordered "that the whole plantation within this jurisdiction be divided into four sheires". Named after the county in England, Essex then comprised the towns of Salem, Lynn, Wenham, Ipswich, Rowley, Newbury, Gloucester, and Andover. In 1680, Haverhill and Salisbury, both located north of the Merrimack River, were annexed to Essex County. These communities had been part of Massachusetts' colonial-era Norfolk County. The remaining four towns within colonial Norfolk County, which included Exeter and what is now Portsmouth, were transferred to what became Rockingham County in the Province of New Hampshire. The ten large founding Massachusetts-based settlements were then subdivided over the centuries to produce Essex County's modern composition of cities and towns.

Massachusetts Bay Colony

1628–1686

1689–1691

The Massachusetts Bay Colony, more formally The Colony of Massachusetts Bay (1628–1691), was an English settlement on the east coast of America in the 17th century around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as the Province of Massachusetts Bay. The lands of the settlement were located in southern New England, with initial settlements situated on two natural harbors and surrounding land about 15.4 miles (24.8 km) apart—the areas around Salem and Boston.

The Massachusetts Bay Colony was founded by the owners of the Massachusetts Bay Company, including investors in the failed Dorchester Company which had established a short-lived settlement on Cape Ann in 1623. The colony began in 1628 and was the company's second attempt at colonization. It was successful, with about 20,000 people migrating to New England in the 1630s. The population was strongly Puritan, and governed largely by a small group of leaders strongly influenced by Puritan teachings. Its governors were elected by an the electorate limited to freemen who had been formally admitted to the local church. As a consequence, the colonial leadership showed little tolerance for other religious views, including Anglican, Quaker, and Baptist theologies.

The territory nominally administered by the colony covered much of central New England, including portions of Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, and Connecticut. Territory claimed but never administered by the colonial government extended as far west as the Pacific Ocean. The Dutch colony of New Netherland disputed many of these claims, arguing that they held rights to land beyond Rhode Island up to the western side of Cape Cod, under the jurisdiction of Plymouth Colony at the time.

The Founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony

https://www.thoughtco.com/massachusetts-colony-103876

New England Confederation

1643-1681

Dominion of New England

1686–1689

The Dominion of New England in America (1686–89) was an administrative union of English colonies covering New England and the Mid-Atlantic Colonies (except for Delaware Colony and the Province of Pennsylvania). Its political structure represented centralized control similar to the model used by the Spanish monarchy through 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 Sir 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 introduction of the Church of England into Massachusetts, whose Puritan leaders had previously refused to allow it any sort of foothold.

The Dominion encompassed a very large area from the Delaware River in the south to Penobscot Bay in the north, composed of the Province of New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay Colony, Plymouth Colony, Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut Colony, Province of New York, and Province of New Jersey, plus a small portion of Maine. It was too large for a single governor to manage. Governor Andros was highly unpopular and was seen as a threat by most political factions. News of the Glorious Revolution in England reached Boston in 1689, and the Puritans launched the 1689 Boston revolt against Andros, arresting him and his officers.

Province of Massachusetts Bay

1691–1780

The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a crown colony in British America 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. 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.

Connecticut

Connecticut Colony

1636–January 9, 1788

The Connecticut Colony or Colony of Connecticut, originally known as the Connecticut River Colony or simply the River Colony, was an English colony in New England which became the state of Connecticut. It was organized on March 3, 1636 as a settlement for a Puritan congregation, and the English permanently gained control of the region in 1637 after struggles with the Dutch. The colony was later the scene of a bloody war between the colonists and Pequot Indians known as the Pequot War. Connecticut Colony played a significant role in the establishment of self-government in the New World with its refusal to surrender local authority to the Dominion of New England, an event known as the Charter Oak incident which occurred at Jeremy Adams' inn and tavern.

Two other English settlements in the State of Connecticut were merged into the Colony of Connecticut: Saybrook Colony in 1644 and New Haven Colony in 1662.

The colony struggled and, by 1644, merged with the more vibrant Connecticut Colony a few miles up river.

Religion

The original colonies along the Connecticut River and in New Haven were established by separatist Puritans who were connected with the Massachusetts and Plymouth colonies. They held Calvinist religious beliefs similar to the English Puritans, but they maintained that their congregations needed to be separated from the English state church. They had immigrated to New England during the Great Migration. In the middle of the 17th century, the government restricted voting rights with a property qualification and a church membership requirement. Congregationalism was the established church in the colony by the time of the American Revolutionary War.

Saybrook Colony

1635–1644

The Saybrook Colony was an English colony established in late 1635 at the mouth of the Connecticut River in present-day Old Saybrook, Connecticut by John Winthrop, the Younger, son of John Winthrop, the Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

New Haven Colony

1638–1664

The New Haven Colony was a small English colony in North America from 1637 to 1664 in what is now the state of Connecticut.

One by one in 1662–64, the towns joined Connecticut Colony until only three were left, and they submitted to Connecticut in 1664. It then became the city of New Haven, from which other modern towns in the New Haven region were later split off.

Rhode Island

Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

1636–1686

1689–1776

The Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations was one of the original Thirteen Colonies established on the east coast of America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean. It was founded by Roger Williams. It was an English colony from 1636 until 1707, and then a colony of Great Britain until the American Revolution in 1776, when it became the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (since 2020 known simply as Rhode Island).

During winter they had very harsh weather and cold summers ranging from 70 to the mid 70’s. They made money from fishing, whaling, and shipbuilding. Other parts of Rhode Island made money by exporting agricultural and food products, selling maple syrup, livestock, rum, whiskey, and beer.

The land that became the English colony was first home to the Narragansett Indians, which led to the name of the modern town of Narragansett, Rhode Island. European settlement began around 1622 with a trading post at Sowams, now the town of Warren, Rhode Island.

Roger Williams was a Puritan theologian and linguist who founded Providence Plantations in 1636 on land given to him by Narragansett sachem Canonicus. He was exiled under religious persecution from the Massachusetts Bay Colony; he and his fellow settlers agreed on an egalitarian constitution providing for majority rule "in civil things," with liberty of conscience on spiritual matters. He named the settlement Providence Plantation, believing that God had brought them there. (The term "plantation" was used in the 17th century to mean an agricultural colony.) Williams named the islands in the Narragansett Bay after Christian virtues: Patience, Prudence, and Hope Islands.

In 1637, another group of Massachusetts dissenters purchased land from the Indians on Aquidneck Island, which was called Rhode Island at the time, and they established a settlement called Pocasset. The group included William Coddington, John Clarke, and Anne and William Hutchinson, among others. That settlement, however, quickly split into two separate settlements. Samuel Gorton and others remained to establish the settlement of Portsmouth (which formerly was Pocasset) in 1638, while Coddington and Clarke established nearby Newport in 1639. Both settlements were situated on Rhode Island (Aquidneck).

The second plantation settlement on the mainland was Samuel Gorton's Shawomet Purchase from the Narragansetts in 1642. As soon as Gorton settled at Shawomet, however, the Massachusetts Bay authorities laid claim to his territory and acted to enforce their claim. After considerable difficulties with the Massachusetts Bay General Court, Gorton traveled to London to enlist the help of Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick, head of the Commission for Foreign Plantations. Gorton returned in 1648 with a letter from Rich, ordering Massachusetts to cease molesting him and his people. In gratitude, he changed the name of Shawomet Plantation to Warwick.

In 1651, William Coddington obtained a separate charter from England setting up the Coddington Commission, which made him life governor of the islands of Rhode Island and Conanicut in a federation with Connecticut Colony and Massachusetts Bay Colony. Protest, open rebellion, and a further petition to Oliver Cromwell in London led to the reinstatement of the original charter in 1653.

Following the 1660 restoration of royal rule in England, it was necessary to gain a Royal Charter from King Charles II. Charles was a Catholic sympathizer in staunchly Protestant England, and he approved of the colony's promise of religious freedom. He granted the request with the Royal Charter of 1663, uniting the four settlements together into the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. In the following years, many persecuted groups settled in the colony, notably Quakers and Jews. The Rhode Island colony was very progressive for the time, passing laws abolishing witchcraft trials, imprisonment for debt, most capital punishment, and slavery of both blacks and whites, enacting the first law prohibiting slavery in America on May 18, 1652, more than 210 years before the Emancipation Proclamation.

In the 1680s, Charles II sought to streamline administration of the English colonies and to more closely control their trade. The Navigation Acts passed in the 1660s were widely disliked, since merchants often found themselves trapped and at odds with the rules. However, many colonial governments, Massachusetts principally among them, refused to enforce the acts, and took matters one step further by obstructing the activities of the Crown agents. Charles' successor James II introduced the Dominion of New England in 1686 as a means to accomplish these goals. Under its provisional president Joseph Dudley, the disputed "King's Country" (present-day Washington County) was brought into the dominion, and the rest of the colony was brought under dominion control by Governor Sir Edmund Andros. The rule of Andros was extremely unpopular, especially in Massachusetts. The 1688 Glorious Revolution deposed James II and brought William III and Mary II to the English throne; Massachusetts authorities conspired in April 1689 to have Andros arrested and sent back to England.[citation needed] With this event, the dominion collapsed and Rhode Island resumed its previous government.

New Hampshire

New Hampshire Colony

1623-1629

New Hampshire Colony was founded in 1623. The land in the New World was granted to Captain John Mason, who named the new settlement after his homeland in Hampshire County, England. Mason sent settlers to the new territory to create a fishing colony. However, he died before seeing the place where he had spent a considerable amount of money building towns and defenses.

Permanent English settlement began after land grants were issued in 1622 to John Mason and Sir Ferdinando Gorges for the territory between the Merrimack and Sagadahoc (Kennebec) rivers, roughly encompassing present-day New Hampshire and western Maine. Settlers, whose early leaders included David Thomson, Edward Hilton, and Thomas Hilton, began settlements on the New Hampshire coast and islands as early as 1623, that eventually expanded along the shores of the Piscataqua River and the Great Bay. Mason and Gorges, neither of whom ever came to New England, divided their claims along the Piscataqua River in 1629. Mason took the territory between the Piscataqua and Merrimack, and called it "New Hampshire", after the English county of Hampshire.

Pannaway Plantation

present-day Portsmouth

New Hampshire was founded in 1622 when John Mason and Ferdinando Gorges were given a land grant by the Council for New England. Only three years after the Pilgrim's landed at Plymouth, the first settlers arrived near present-day Portsmouth in 1623. They were fisherman. Before long, the settlers built a fort and fish-processing buildings. They named the area Pannaway Plantation. Eventually, some of the settlers moved from Pannaway Plantation and in 1629, founded the settlement of Strawbery Banke. Strawbery Bank would eventually become Portsmouth.

Lower Plantation

1630–1641

Conflicts between holders of grants issued by Mason and Gorges concerning their boundaries eventually led to a need for more active management. Captain Walter Neale was appointed in 1630 by the proprietors of the Strawbery Banke (or "Lower") plantation (present-day Portsmouth and nearby communities) as agent and governor of that territory. Neale returned to England in 1633, and John Mason appointed Francis Williams to govern the lower plantation in 1634. Early New Hampshire historian Jeremy Belknap called Williams the governor of the lower plantation, and claimed that he served until the New Hampshire plantations came under Massachusetts rule, at which time he became a magistrate in the Massachusetts government. However, Belknap's claim is disputed by historian Charles Tuttle, who observes that there are no records prior to 1640 in which Mason or Gorges refer to Williams as governor. Tuttle claims that Mason appointed Henry Josselyn to succeed Neale, and that Mason's widow appointed Francis Norton, a Massachusetts resident, in 1638 to oversee the estate's interests, although when his stewardship ends is unclear.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_New_Hampshire#Lower_plantation_governors,_1630%E2%80%931641

Upper Plantation

1631–1641

The territory then comprised modern-day Dover, Durham, and Stratham. Wiggin is styled in some histories as a governor, and was referred to in contemporary documentation as "[having the] power of Governor hereabouts". However, his powers appear to have been limited to transacting the proprietors' business, including the granting of land, and the proprietors themselves did not possess the power of government. Wiggin and Walter Neale apparently disagreed on territorial boundaries of their respective domains, and supposedly almost came to blows, although whether this occurred in 1632 or 1633 is unclear. In the fall of 1637 the upper communities banded together and formed a government headed by the Rev. George Burdett.

The first governor of the "Dover" or "Upper Plantation" was Captain Thomas Wiggin. The exact date of his appointment is uncertain. He was known to be in the area in 1629 and 1631, when Belknap suggests he was appointed governor by Mason and Gorges. He received a more definite appointment for administration of this plantation by 1633, when he was commissioned by Lords Brooke and Say and Sele, who had purchased land in the area from Mason.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_New_Hampshire#Upper_plantation_governors,_1631%E2%80%931641

Massachusetts Governors of Upper & Lower Plantations, New Hampshire

1641–1680

Mason's widow decided in 1638 to abandon financial support of the colony. After shifting for themselves for a time (during which much of the Mason property was appropriated by the colonists), the plantations of New Hampshire agreed in 1641 to join with the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The towns of New Hampshire sent representatives to the Massachusetts legislature, and were governed by its governors, who were elected annually.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_New_Hampshire#Massachusetts_governors,_1641%E2%80%931680

Royal Province of New Hampshire

First Provincial Period

1680–1689

In 1679, King Charles II issued a royal charter for the Province of New Hampshire. John Cutt was appointed president, and took office on January 21, 1680. He was succeeded after his death by his deputy, Richard Waldron. At the urging of the heirs of John Mason, who were trying to recover their inherited claims, Charles issued a new charter in 1682, with Edward Cranfield as lieutenant governor. This government survived until the Dominion of New England was introduced in 1686, although Cranfield departed the province in 1685, replaced in the interim by his deputy, Walter Barefoote.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_New_Hampshire#First_provincial_period,_1680%E2%80%931689

Province of New Hampshire

1629–1641

1679–1686

1689–1776

The Province of New Hampshire was a colony of England and later a British province in North America. The name was first given in 1629 to the territory between the Merrimack and Piscataqua rivers on the eastern coast of North America, and was named after the county of Hampshire in southern England by Captain John Mason, its first named proprietor. In 1776 the province established an independent state and government, the State of New Hampshire, and joined with twelve other colonies to form the United States.

Europeans first settled New Hampshire in the 1620s, and the province consisted for many years of a small number of communities along the seacoast, Piscataqua River, and Great Bay. In 1641 the communities were organized under the government of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, until Charles II issued a colonial charter for the province and appointed John Cutt as President of New Hampshire in 1679. After a brief period as a separate province, the territory was absorbed into the Dominion of New England in 1686. Following the collapse of the unpopular Dominion, on October 7, 1691 New Hampshire was again separated from Massachusetts and organized as an English crown colony. Its charter was enacted on May 14, 1692, during the coregency of William and Mary, the joint monarchs of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Between 1699 and 1741, the province's governor was often concurrently the governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay. This practice ended completely in 1741, when Benning Wentworth was appointed governor. Wentworth laid claim on behalf of the province to lands west of the Connecticut River, east of the Hudson River, and north of Massachusetts, issuing controversial land grants that were disputed by the Province of New York, which also claimed the territory. These disputes resulted in the eventual formation of the Vermont Republic and the US state of Vermont.

Permanent English settlement began after land grants were issued in 1622 to John Mason and Sir Ferdinando Gorges for the territory between the Merrimack and Sagadahoc (Kennebec) rivers, roughly encompassing present-day New Hampshire and western Maine. Settlers, whose early leaders included David Thomson, Edward Hilton and his brother William Hilton, began settling the New Hampshire coast as early as 1623, and eventually expanded along the shores of the Piscataqua River and the Great Bay. These settlers were mostly intending to profit from the local fisheries. Mason and Gorges, neither of whom ever came to New England, divided their claims along the Piscataqua River in 1629. Mason took the territory between the Piscataqua and Merrimack, and called it "New Hampshire", after the English county of Hampshire.

Conflicts between holders of grants issued by Mason and Gorges concerning their boundaries eventually led to a need for more active management. In 1630, Captain Walter Neale was sent as chief agent and governor of the lower settlements on the Piscataqua (including Strawbery Banke, present-day Portsmouth), and in 1631 Captain Thomas Wiggin was sent to govern the upper settlements, comprising modern-day Dover, Durham and Stratham. After Mason died in 1635, the colonists and employees of Mason appropriated many of his holdings to themselves. Exeter was founded in 1638 by John Wheelwright, after he had been banished from the neighboring Massachusetts Bay Colony for defending the teachings of Anne Hutchinson, his sister-in-law. In the absence of granting authority from anyone associated with the Masons, Wheelwright's party purchased the land from local Indians. His party included William Wentworth, whose descendants came to play a major role in colonial history. Around the same time, others unhappy with the strict Puritan rule in Massachusetts settled in Dover, while Puritans from Massachusetts settled what eventually became Hampton.

Because of a general lack of government, the New Hampshire settlements sought the protection of their larger neighbor to the south, the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In 1641, they collectively agreed to be governed from Massachusetts, provided the towns retained self-rule, and that Congregational Church membership was not required for their voters (as it was in Massachusetts). The settlements formed part of that colony until 1679, sending representatives to the Massachusetts legislature in Boston. Mason's heirs were in the meantime active in England, seeking to regain control of their territory, and Massachusetts was coming under increasing scrutiny by King Charles II. In 1679 Charles issued a charter establishing the Province of New Hampshire, with John Cutt as its first president.

Upper Province of Massachusetts

1641-1679

In 1641, the Massachusetts colony claimed the territory that was New Hampshire. New Hampshire became known as the "Upper Province" of Massachusetts. It remained the Upper Province until 1679 when it became a "Royal Province". Once again, it was reunited with Massachusetts in 1698. Finally, in 1741, New Hampshire gained its independence and elected its own governor - Benning Wentworth, who governed the colony until 1766.

Dominion of New England and Interregnum

1686-1689

From 1686 to 1689 the province was joined into the Dominion of New England. After the dominion collapsed in April 1689, the New Hampshire communities were left without government. Although they briefly established a government in January 1690, they petitioned Massachusetts for protection, and Massachusetts Governor Simon Bradstreet de facto governed the colony from March 1690.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_New_Hampshire#Dominion_of_New_England_and_interregnum

Second Provincial Period

1692–1775

From 1692 to 1699, Samuel Allen was the governor of New Hampshire. For most of his tenure, he remained in London, pursuing legal actions relevant to proprietary land claims he had purchased from the Masons, but he came to the colony briefly before the arrival of his replacement as governor, the Earl of Bellomont. From 1699 to 1741, the governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay was also commissioned as governor of New Hampshire. The lieutenant governor controlled the province, acting as governor unless the commissioned governor was present. In 1741 the governance of Massachusetts and New Hampshire was divided. As a result, during the tenures of the last two governors, Benning and John Wentworth, the role of the lieutenant governor diminished. John Temple, the last lieutenant governor, apparently held the office in title only.

One commission was issued but not used. On February 8, 1715/6, Colonel Elizeus Burges was appointed to succeed Joseph Dudley as governor of both Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Before coming to North America, Burges was bribed by Massachusetts operatives to resign his commissions; Colonel Samuel Shute was then chosen to replace Dudley.

The column labeled "Commissioned" indicates the date when the governor's commission was issued in London, and does not represent when the governor arrived in the province to formally take up the government. The column labeled "Left office" shows the date when the individual was replaced by the arrival of his successor, with a few exceptions. Two governors, Bellomont and William Burnet, died while still holding their commissions (although neither was in the province at the time). Governor Shute effectively abandoned his office by abruptly departing Boston for England on January 1, 1723. His administration effectively came to an end then, but he was technically the office holder until Burnet was commissioned in 1728. The last governor, John Wentworth, fled the province in August 1775, after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War brought threats to his rule and family. The province was thereafter governed provisionally until January 1776, when Meshech Weare was elected the independent state's first president under a new state constitution.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colonial_governors_of_New_Hampshire#Second_provincial_period,_1692%E2%80%931775

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New Netherland

Nieuw Nederland

1614–1667

1673–1674

New Netherland (Dutch: Nieuw Nederland; Latin: Nova Belgica or Novum Belgium) was a 17th-century colony of the Dutch Republic that was located on what is now the east coast of the United States. The claimed territories extended from the Delmarva Peninsula to southwestern Cape Cod, while the more limited settled areas are now part of New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Connecticut, with small outposts in Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.

Nieuw Amsterdam

New Amsterdam (Manhattan)

1624–1664

was a 17th-century Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island that served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. The initial trading factory gave rise to the settlement around Fort Amsterdam. The fort was situated on the strategic southern tip of the island of Manhattan and was meant to defend the fur trade operations of the Dutch West India Company in the North River (Hudson River). In 1624, it became a provincial extension of the Dutch Republic and was designated as the capital of the province in 1625.

By 1655, the population of New Netherland had grown to 2,000 people, with 1,500 living in New Amsterdam. By 1664, the population of New Netherland had risen to almost 9,000 people, 2,500 of whom lived in New Amsterdam, 1,000 lived near Fort Orange, and the remainder in other towns and villages.

In 1664 the English took over New Amsterdam and renamed it New York City after the Duke of York (later James II & VII). After the Second Anglo-Dutch War of 1665–67, England and the United Provinces of the Netherlands agreed to the status quo in the Treaty of Breda. The English kept the island of Manhattan, the Dutch giving up their claim to the town and the rest of the colony, while the English formally abandoned Surinam in South America, and the island of Run in the East Indies to the Dutch, confirming their control of the valuable Spice Islands. What was once New Amsterdam became New York City's downtown.

Niew Dorp

1662-1664

In the Spring of 1662, Petrus Stuyvesant, Director General of New Netherland, established the village of Niew Dorp on the site of an earlier Native American Settlement. On June 7, 1663, during the Esopus Wars the Esopus attacked and destroyed the village, and took captives who were later released. England acquired the Dutch Colony on September 6, 1664. On September 17, 1669, the village, abandoned since the Esopus attack, was resettled and renamed Hurley. It has been stated that the resettled village was named after Francis Lovelace, Baron Hurley of Ireland. However, no such title existed and it is more likely that Lovelace renamed the settlement Hurley somehow in reference to, or solidarity with, his kinsmen and fellow Royalists, the Barons Lovelace of Hurley in Berkshire, England (contemporaries as well as modern historians often confuse Francis Lovelace the colonial governor with a son of Richard, 1st Baron Lovelace (1564-1634) of Hurley, Berkshire. This earlier Francis was to be the grandfather of the John Lovelace (1672-1709) a later colonial Governor). In 1708 two large land patents from the New York Colonial government expanded the bounds of Hurley northward to near the present boundary with the Town of Woodstock and southward to the old boundary of the Town of New Paltz.

Wiltwijck

1661-1669

Wiltwijck (Wiltwyck), Esopus, Nieuw Nederland

In 1654, European settlers began buying land in what now is Kingston from the Esopus Indians, although historians believe the two cultures had drastically different conceptions of property and land use. Tension between the two cultures rose quickly as a result.

Common sources of friction between Dutch settlers and the Esopus included settlers' livestock trampling Indian cornfields, disputes over trade, and the adverse effects of Dutch brandy on the Native Americans. Prior to the Europeans' arrival, they had no experience with liquor. In the spring of 1658, Peter Stuyvesant, Director-General of New Amsterdam, ordered the consolidation and fortification of the settlement on high ground in what today is Uptown Kingston. The building of the defensive Stockade increased the conflicts. Tensions broke out in what is now known as the Esopus Wars.

In 1661 the settlement was granted a charter as a separate municipality; Stuyvesant named it Wiltwijck (Wiltwyck). It was not until 1663 that the Dutch ended the four-year conflict with the Esopus, defeating them with a coalition of Dutch settlers, Wappinger and Mohawk peoples.

Wiltwyck was one of three large Hudson River settlements in New Netherland, the other two being Beverwyck, now Albany; and New Amsterdam, now New York City. With the English seizure of New Netherland in 1664, relations between the Dutch settlers and the English soldiers garrisoned there were often strained. In 1669, the English renamed Wiltwyck as Kingston, in honor of the family seat of Governor Lovelace's mother. In 1683, citizens of Kingston petitioned the Kingston court to buy more land from the Esopus people. Officials from Ulster County maintained contact with the Esopus until 1727.

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New York

Province of New York

1664–1776

The Province of New York (1664–1776) was a British proprietary colony and later royal colony on the northeast coast of North America. As one of the middle Thirteen Colonies, New York achieved independence and worked with the others to found the United States.

The Province of New York was divided into twelve counties on November 1, 1683, by New York Governor Thomas Dongan.

In 1617 officials of the Dutch West India Company in New Netherland created a settlement at present-day Albany, and in 1624 founded New Amsterdam, on Manhattan Island. New Amsterdam surrendered to Colonel Richard Nicholls on August 27, 1664; he renamed it New York. On September 24 Sir George Carteret accepted the capitulation of the garrison at Fort Orange, which he called Albany, after another of the Duke of York's titles. The capture was confirmed by the Treaty of Breda in July 1667.

In 1664, after the Dutch ceded New Netherland to England, it became a proprietary colony under James, Duke of York. When James ascended the throne in February 1685 and became King James II, his personally owned colony became a royal province.

The Fourth Provincial Congress convened in White Plains on July 9, 1776, and became known as the First Constitutional Convention. New York endorsed the Declaration of Independence the same day, and declared the independent state of New York.

The State of New York entered the union as the 11th state on July 26, 1788.

Gardiners Island

1639-1783

In 1639, the island was settled by Lion Gardiner, who moved there with his family from Connecticut. The island was originally in its own jurisdiction, not part of Connecticut or Rhode Island, long before there was a State of New York. It has been privately owned by Gardiner's descendants for 382 years.

East Hampton was the first English settlement in the state of New York. In 1639 Lion Gardiner purchased land, what became known as Gardiner's Island, from the Montaukett people. In 1648 a royal British charter recognized the island as a wholly contained colony, independent of both New York and Connecticut. It kept that status until after the American Revolution, when it came under New York State and the Town of East Hampton authority.

East Hampton (village/town), New York

1640

Was part of Connecticut Colony until 1683.

On June 12, 1640, nine Puritan families from Lynn, Massachusetts landed at what is now known as Conscience Point, in Southampton; some later migrated to present-day East Hampton.

East Hampton was the third town established on eastern Long Island by New England colonists.