John Webster Governor of the Colony of Connecticut, 1656 Baptized: August 16, 1590, Cossington, Leicestershire, England
College: None
Political Party: None
Offices: Assistant, General Court of the Colony of Connecticut, 1639-1655
Commissioner to the United Colonies of New England, 1654
Deputy Governor, Colony of Connecticut 1655
Governor, Colony of Connecticut, 1656
Chief Magistrate, Colony of Connecticut, 1657
Magistrate, Hadley, Massachusetts, 1660
Died: April 5, 1661, Hadley, Massachusetts John Webster was born on August 16, 1590 in Cossington, Leicestershire, England to Matthew and Elizabeth (Ashton) Webster. His was a family of some substance. On November 7, 1609, he and Agnes Smith were married at Cossington. They had five children by the time they immigrated to New England, and had two more after they arrived. The Colony of Connecticut elected him as Deputy Governor in 1655, with Thomas Welles as Governor. The next year, 1656, John Webster was elected as Governor. Elections were annual, and prior to 1659 it was believed that no person should serve a term of more than one year. In 1657 John Winthrop was elected as governor, with Thomas Welles as Deputy Governor and John Webster as Chief Magistrate. John Webster was one of the leading members of the First Congregational Church of Hartford, whose minister, the Rev. Thomas Hooker, was the dynamic leader of the first settlers that came to Hartford. When Hooker died in 1647, a controversy arose as to who should become his successor. The Rev. Samuel Stone, Hooker's assistant, was supported by a majority of the church members. However, Rev. Stone wanted to change some aspects of church procedures, including liberalizing the eligibility requirements for infant baptism and admission to communion, while limiting the autonomy of each congregation. A significant number of the parishioners disagreed with Stone and wanted Michael Wigglesworth as Rev. Hooker's successor. A religious dispute arose, and the congregation became split. Church and state were not separate at that time, so this became a political as well as a spiritual crisis for Hartford. | |
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