Honorable John Webster was born 16 August 1590 in Cossington, Leicestershire, England and died 5 April 1661 in Hadley, Massachusetts of a fever. He was buried April 1661 in Hadley, Massachusetts in The Old Hadley Cemetery. John Webster was the fifth governor of the Connecticut Colony (1646).

Brief Biography

This Webster family settled at Watertown, Massachusetts in the early 1630s and moved to the present Hartford in 1636, probably with Rev. Thomas Hooker’s group; he was one of the original Hartford landowners. He was there a magistrate, Deputy Governor, Governor, and one of the Commissioners of the United Colonies. He was an influential member of the church in Hartford, took a deep interest in the controversy which agitated that and other churches, and was one of the leaders of the Hadley Company. When Hooker died, his congregation became split, first over who the successor would be, then over the liberalized baptism policy the new minister supported. Webster was part of the dissenting group that broke away and moved to Hadley, MA.

Links

• Connecticut State Library: John Webster, Governor of the Colony of Connecticut, 1656
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Webster_(Governor_of_the_Colony_of_Connecticut)
• P. Lange's Genealogy Homepage. 1635: Two Early Connecticut Governors Last updated August 2008
• Suite 101: Descent from Colonial Gov. John Webster Last updated July 2009
• Webster, William H, and Melville R. Webster. History and Genealogy of the Gov. John Webster Family of Connecticut: With Numerous Portraits and Illustrations. Rochester, NY: E.R. Andrews Print. Co, 1915.
• Love, William D. L. The Colonial History of Hartford: Gathered from the Original Records. Hartford, Conn: The author, 1914
• G. Larson's Rootsweb Database Last updated May 2011
• S. Lawson's Family Group Sheet Last updated March 2001