Boston
After the Winthrop Fleet sailed in 1630, Sanford remained in England and was in almost constant contact with John Winthrop, Jr., serving as his business agent. He made many purchases for the New England colony, and presented his bills to Winthrop for payment. In October 1630, the younger Winthrop met Captain Pierce of the ship Lyon, and made arrangements for loading provisions destined for the colonies. The following month, Captain Pierce reported that the ship was fully laden with supplies, and it set sail in December with mostly cargo, but also 20 or more passengers, including Roger Williams. The Lyon returned to England about May 1631, and was loaded in July and early August for its next voyage to New England. In mid-August the ship once again set sail, with about 60 passengers, including Mrs. Margaret Winthrop (the wife of John Sr.), John Winthrop Jr. and his wife, John Sanford, Elizabeth Webb (the future wife of Sanford), and Rev. John Eliot. Upon arriving in New England, Sanford was made a member of the church in Boston within a month, and became a freeman the following year. In 1633 he and others were chosen to oversee the building of cart bridges over Muddy River and Stony River. With his military background, he was appointed the following year to assess the status of ordnance, powder, and shot, and to report his findings to the court. Later the same year he was chosen as cannoneer for the fort at Boston, and was paid 20 pounds for the previous two years, and the following year. In 1636 he was once again chosen cannoneer for the fort, and overseer of the arms and ammunition, being paid 30 pounds for himself and his assistant.
In 1636 an issue erupted in Boston that would consume the attention of the magistrates for nearly two years. Sanford's mother-in-law, Anne Hutchinson (from his second wife Bridget), and her brother-in-law, John Wheelwright, were attracting many converts to their religious views which were at odds with the rigid Puritan dogma. Both of them were ultimately accused of blasphemy for their religious opinions, and banished from the colony. In November 1637 Sanford and other supporters were disarmed when their guns, pistols, swords, powder, and shot were to be delivered to the authorities because the "opinions and revelations of Mr. Wheelwright and Mrs. Hutchinson have seduced and led into dangerous errors many of the people here in New England." Many of these supporters fled to other colonies, and on 7 March 1638, while still in Massachusetts, Sanford and many other supporters of Mrs. Hutchinson signed a document to establish a Christian-based government. With the encouragement of Roger Williams, they bought land of the Indians and settled on the island of Aquidneck in the Narragansett Bay, naming the settlement Pocasset, but later changed the name to Portsmouth.
Read more about this topic: John Sanford (governor)
Famous quotes containing the word boston:
“Those who first introduced compulsory education into American life knew exactly why children should go to school and learn to read: to save their souls.... Consistent with this goal, the first book written and printed for children in America was titled Spiritual Milk for Boston Babes in either England, drawn from the Breasts of both Testaments for their Souls’ Nourishment.”
—Dorothy H. Cohen (20th century)
“Consider the China pride and stagnant self-complacency of mankind. This generation inclines a little to congratulate itself on being the last of an illustrious line; and in Boston and London and Paris and Rome, thinking of its long descent, it speaks of its progress in art and science and literature with satisfaction.... It is the good Adam contemplating his own virtue.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“In the early forties and fifties almost everybody “had about enough to live on,” and young ladies dressed well on a hundred dollars a year. The daughters of the richest man in Boston were dressed with scrupulous plainness, and the wife and mother owned one brocade, which did service for several years. Display was considered vulgar. Now, alas! only Queen Victoria dares to go shabby.”
—M. E. W. Sherwood (1826–1903)