John Winthrop (c. 1587-1649) was a devoutly religious Puritan elder who led a large migration of Puritans from England to America in 1629 and became the first governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony o...
Increase Mather (1639-1723) was an influential Boston Congregational minister during the period when colonial leadership passed over to the first native-born generation in North America. He attende...
Cotton Mather (1663-1728) was Increase Mather's son, a Puritan clergyman and a writer like his father. Cotton was ordained in 1685 and became a colleague of his father at North Church, Boston. He w...
Roger Williams (c.1603-1683), a clergyman and advocate of religious freedom, was the founder of Rhode Island. Williams founded the capital, Providence, after he was exiled from Massachusetts Bay Co...
Anne Hutchinson (1591-1643) was an outspoken and controversial figure in the religious development of Massachusetts Bay Colony. After migrating there in 1634, Anne organized weekly meetings to disc...
Metacom (c. 1638-1676) was the second son of Wampanoag chief Massasoit. His father coexisted peacefully with the Pilgrims and gave them crucial knowledge to survive their first harsh winters. He al...
Squanto (unknown-1622), also known as Tisquantum, was born into the Pawtuxet tribe that lived around present-day Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Little is known about his early life, until he came...
Weetamoo (unknown-1676) was the squaw-sachem (or warrior-leader) of the Pocassets. She exercised substantial power in the Wampanoag and Narragansett communities and was Metacom's sister-in-law. Wee...
Mary Rowlandson (c. 1637-1701), a housewife in Lancaster, Massachusetts, became one of North America's first female authors after her harrowing experience in Native American captivity during Metaco...
