Massachusetts Bay Colony

The Massachusetts Bay Colony (sometimes called the Massachusetts Bay Company, for the institution that founded it) was an English settlement on the coast of North America in the 1600s, centered around the present-day city of Boston, which is now in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, one of the 50 United States.

Predecessor companies

The 1623 Sheffield Patent allocated Cape Ann to Robert Cushman, Edward Winslow, and their associates. During the winter of 1623-24, John White and the Dorchester Company settled on this land at Stage Point (present-day Gloucester, Massachusetts). In 1625, they invited Roger Conant to run the fishing colony.http://www.salemwitchmuseum.com/education/conant.shtml

Related Topics:
Sheffield Patent - Cape Ann - John White - Gloucester, Massachusetts - Roger Conant

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They were joined by some members of the Plymouth Colony. http://35.1911encyclopedia.org/S/SA/SALEM_MASS_.htm

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By 1626, the attempted had failed. Most colonists returned to England, but Courant lead about 20 to Naumkeaghttp://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0813147.html (which was renamed Salem in 1629http://35.1911encyclopedia.org/S/SA/SALEM_MASS_.htm), where they set up a trading post.

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The bankrupt Dorchester Company (in 1627?) was then superceded by the New England Company (which had overlapping membership).http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/fknewengl/immigration.htm The Company received a land patent from the Plymouth Council for New England extending from the Merrimack River to the Charles River plus three miles on either side.http://35.1911encyclopedia.org/S/SA/SALEM_MASS_.htm

Related Topics:
Merrimack River - Charles River

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John Endicott led a group of Puritan settlers to Salem, and served as governor from their arrival on September 6, 1628.

Related Topics:
John Endicott - Puritan - September 6 - 1628

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The Massachusetts Bay Company replaced both of these when the Puritans were able to convert the patents into a royal charter on March 4, 1629, which styled them the "Company of the Massachusetts Bay in New England".http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0832127.html

Related Topics:
March 4 - 1629

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