Wikipedia Biographical Summary:

"...John Endecott (before 1601 – 15 March 1664/5,[1] also spelled Endicott) was an English colonial magistrate, soldier and the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. During all of his years in the colony but one, he held some form of civil, judicial, or military high office. He served a total of 16 years as governor, including most of the last 15 years of his life; this period of service was the longest of any colonial governor. He also held important posts representing the colony as part of the New England Confederation, and was a leading force in expanding the settlement of Salem, Massachusetts and other parts of Essex County..."

SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Endicott

Role in establishing Salem

In March 1627/8, Endecott was one of seven signatories to a land grant given to "The New England Company for a Plantation in Massachusetts" (or the New England Company) by the Earl of Warwick on behalf of the Plymouth Council for New England... Endecott was chosen to lead the first expedition, and sailed for the New World aboard the Abigail with fifty or so "planters and servants" on 20 June 1628. The settlement they organized was first called Naumkeag, after the local Indian tribe, but was eventually renamed Salem in 1629.

Uncertainties about his wife and ancestry

Before he came to the colonies in 1628, Endecott was married to his first wife, Anne Gower, who was a cousin of Governor Matthew Craddock. After her death in New England, he was married in 1630 to a woman whose last name was Gibson, and by 1640 he was married to Elizabeth, the daughter of Philobert Cogan of Somersetshire. It is uncertain whether these represent two different wives, or a single wife whose name was Elizabeth (Cogan) Gibson. Because of the uncertainty concerning his wives, it is not known who the mother of his two sons was. There is only firm evidence that he was already married to Elizabeth in 1640, and the records that survive for the 1630s, when his sons were born, do not otherwise identify his wife by name. Endecott's last wife, Elizabeth, was a sister-in-law of the colonial financier and magistrate Roger Ludlow. Endecott's two known children were John Endecott and Dr. Zerubabbel Endecott, neither of whom, seemingly to his disappointment, followed him into public service. There is also evidence that Endecott fathered another child in his early years in England; in about 1635 he arranged funds and instructions for the care of a minor also named John Endecott.

Controversy about Endecott's town of origin: Dorchester or Chagford?

"Most of what is known about John Endecott's origins is at best circumstantial. Biographers of the 19th century believed he was from the Dorset town of Dorchester because of his significant later association with people from that place.[2] In the early 20th century, historian Roper Lethbridge proposed that Endecott was born circa 1588 in or near Chagford in Devon.[3] (Based on this evidence, Chagford now has a house from the period named in Endecott's honour.)[4] However, more recent research by the New England Historic Genealogical Society has identified problems with Lethbridge's claims, which they dispute.[3] According to their research, Endecott may have been born in or near Chagford, but there is no firm evidence for this, nor is there evidence that identifies his parents."

SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Endicott