The Life of Thomas Hooker

Thomas Hooker (1586-1647) is known as the "Father of Connecticut." He was born in Marfield, England and attended school in Cambridge. For four years he was a popular preacher at Chelmsford, England, but was eventually silenced for declining conformity to "superstitious externals." He taught for a while and then left for Holland. After three years, in 1633, he sailed for New England with friends John Cotton and Samuel Stone. Initially he pastored in Newtown (Cambridge), then removed to Hartford. This biography offers reasons to dispute the commonly held belief that Hooker left Massachusetts because he had a clash with John Cotton. He was formative in the governments of church and state of colonial New England. A chapter presents different selections illustrating Hooker's writings. This book was previously published as "Lives of the Chief Fathers of New England," Vol. 6., 324 pages, Boston, 1870.