In 1630, a short distance from the Plymouth Colony, eleven boatloads of Puritans arrived in the Boston Harbor.  While the Pilgrims or Separatists were lower middle class Englishmen, the Puritans were upper class, land-owning Englishmen.  One of which was, John Winthrop, a Cambridge educated lawyer.  Their goal was not to separate but to purify church and state, but like their neighbors in nearby Plymouth, their goal was religious freedom from the hierarchy of kings, bishops and archbishops.  They were quick to set up first church in Boston as a true congregational church.    

Pilgrim pride comes easy to Americans, but Puritan pride gives us pause for consideration. In an age of moral complacency, the word "purify" by definition means excessively moral. Modern authors and critics have given the Puritans a drab image of solemn, black-robed witch hunters. The words from John Winthrop's journals tell a different story: a story of real and warmhearted men, women and children who planted corn, fished the sea, built houses and ships, started businesses, and welcomed newcomers with games and gifts. Power struggles occurred, opinions differed, tender feelings were hurt, compromises were made, and freemen and their families took sides on political and church issues. It was no easy task for mere humans to build a godly society in the wilderness.    

Many of the first New England colonist fled from the cruel tyranny of Archbishop Laud in England, and strange as it may seem, these sufferers for conscience's sake began, almost from the beginning of their settlement, to formulate their doctrines and practices into laws which were quite as severe against those who dissented from them as were those of the mother church from which they had fled. In 17th-century England there was no such thing as freedom of religion. There was only the Church of England.  But as the Church grew more politicized and hostile to Puritan ideas, it became clear to John Winthrop that there was little or nothing he could do to reform the Church from within.  He did not want to start a war that he could never win, the only option was to move away to a new land where he could worship God freely and raise his children in an environment of faith.    

In 1629, John Winthrop heard about a new venture called the Massachusetts Bay Company. In those days, groups of investors would put their money together and establish trading companies. The company would send workers to the New World to obtain furs, spices, and other exotic goods and ship them back to England for a profit. Each company had to be specially chartered by the King to receive authority and land to establish a colony in the New World. The colony would have a governor, but the board of directors and chief executive officer would stay in England, overseeing the operation and collecting the profits. On paper, the Massachusetts Bay Company appeared to be just another trading company. But there was a small technical detail that made it different from the other companies: The board of directors was not required to meet in London. In fact, the charter did not mention where the Company would meet.     

The King of England didn't notice this fact when he signed the Company charter. But the implications of this small oversight were enormous. The whole company, including the board of directors and the governor, could move to the New World and effectively set up their own autonomous government. They could establish their own laws and operate without any direct supervision by the King's authorities in London. Most of the members of the Massachusetts Bay Company were Puritan. They had the full legal authority, if they so desired, to move to New England and build an independent society where they could govern themselves according to the dictates of their conscience.    

When members of the MA Bay Co. realized what a remarkable opportunity had come, they seized it and decided to go to the New World. But there were many obstacles to overcome. First of all, they needed leadership. They needed a man of faith and vision who could lead them to the New World and govern them once they arrived. John Winthrop was recognized by all as a man of ability, maturity, and faith, and the Company elected him as its governor. Next, they had to raise an enormous amount of money to transport them to the New World. They had to obtain funds from private investors, not all of who were Puritan, to support them in this venture. Then they had to organize a group of settlers who would live in the colony and support its purpose. There were many non-Puritans who were eager to go to the New World for purely economic reasons, and they had to be weeded out as much as possible.   

Two months later they arrived in Salem, Massachusetts. The settlers could scarcely believe their eyes. It was a total wilderness; except for a few huts and clearings made by previous settlers, there was nothing but forest. How could they raise crops to supply themselves in the coming winter? When the settlers saw what the new land was like, scores of them refused to get off the ships and decided to sail back to England immediately. Others were so weakened by malnutrition that they were already dying. Within a few days of their arrival, John's son Henry drowned in a river. The situation was more than a mortal man could bear. But John Winthrop refused to give up. He seized control of the situation, confident that God was with them and would see them through. Rather than giving orders, he rolled up his sleeves and began to build shelters. He led by example and soon the whole company was working as hard as he.    

Winthrop decided to move the colony away from Salem, someplace where they would have room to build houses and raise crops. After exploring the coast he led the colonists to what is now called Boston harbor. He ordered them to fan out, and they settled throughout the areas of Charlestown, Cambridge, Boston, Watertown, Roxbury and Dorchester. Governor Winthrop collected provisions while the settlers made shelters for the winter. They carved caves in the hillsides and dug holes in the ground. When autumn came, many began to fall sick and die. By November, Winthrop had lost eleven servants from his household. But he never wavered; he set the example in bravery. In his letters to his wife there was no hint of despair, and he never suggested that the rest of his family should stay in England. Fall turned to winter, and hundreds died. The whole company was tottering on the brink of starvation. In February, their supplies totally ran out. John Winthrop reached into a barrel to pull out their last handful of grain to give to a starving settler. Just as his hand was coming out of the barrel, someone shouted, "It's here!" At that very moment a ship arrived, bringing new supplies of food. John Winthrop distributed the food and proclaimed a day of thanksgiving.    

Out of one thousand who had come to the New World, two hundred died the first winter. When spring came, another two hundred gave up and went back to England. Many of the British investors decided this was a losing business and pulled out, leaving the colonists without support or supplies. John Winthrop took his own money which he had acquired from the sale of his estate and used it to buy more provisions. In that first year, Winthrop almost single handedly fed the colony out of his own pocket. Later that year, his wife Margaret and the rest of his children arrived. Winthrop found that two more of his children had died that year, including the newborn baby daughter whom he never saw. But he praised God for bringing his family to the New World, and he never wavered in his conviction that the Lord was with them.