Individual Details
Rev. Thomas E. Hooker II
(5 Jul 1586 - 7 Jul 1647)
Wikipedia Biographical Summary: "...Thomas E. Hooker, II (July 5, 1586 – July 7, 1647) was a prominent Puritan religious and colonial leader remembered as one of the founders of the Colony of Connecticut. Born at rural Marefield, Leicestershire, England, the son of a farm manager, Thomas Hooker won a good scholarship to study at the University of Cambridge, where in time he became the equivalent of a professor of theology. After Mr. Hooker's conversion to belief in the authenticity of Scripture and the saving grace of the Christ, his keenly reasoned reflections upon the meanings of Biblical passages and upon the life of a Christian helped his rise into the leadership of the Puritan movement in England. But this status as a leader in the Puritan movement would cause him to emigrate first to Holland and then to New England in 1633, on the ship Griffin, to escape the persecution of Archbishop William Laud for non-conformity. He was appointed the first pastor of the church at Newtown, Massachusetts (now Cambridge). He is attributed as being the first minister of the First Parish in Cambridge, a church that still exists in the present day. His home was on a plot of land which today is part of the yard at Harvard College. His departure from the Colony of the Massachussettes Bay (the nucleus of the present-day Commonwealth of Massachusetts) was one of the key events leading to the creation of the Colony of Connecticut (the nucleus of the present-day State of the same name). In 1635, he was appointed by the General Court of Massachusetts to try to persuade his friend Roger Williams to give up his controversial views. Hooker and Williams took part in a public debate but Williams refused to change his opinions. In 1636, Thomas Hooker led his congregation west to found the new English settlement at Hartford, Connecticut. One of the reasons he left Massachusetts was his failure to agree with John Winthrop about who should take part in civil government. Winthrop held that only admitted members of the Church should vote and hold office; Hooker maintained that any adult male who owned property should be able to vote and participate in civil government, regardless of church membership. He and his party traveled on a trail that is now known as the Old Connecticut Path. After settling in Hartford, Hooker continued to be in contact with John Winthrop and Roger Williams. Hooker traveled to Boston often to help settle intercolonial disputes. He is also remembered for his role in creating the "Fundamental Orders of Connecticut". This document is one of the modern world's first written constitutions and an influence upon the current American Constitution, written nearly a century and a half later. His great-granddaughter Sarah Pierpont married Rev. Jonathan Edwards. Some other direct descendants of his included William Howard Taft, William Gillette, Edward H. Gillette, George Catlin, Emma Willard, and J.P. Morgan..."
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The Reverend THOMAS HOOKER, the first minister of Cambridge, and the father of the colony, as well as of the churches, of Connecticut, was born at Marfield [sic; should be Marefield], in Leicestershire, in 1586. He was educated at Emanuel College, Cambridge, in England, where he was afterwards promoted to a fellowship, in which office “he acquitted himself with such ability and faithfulness, as commanded universal approbation and applause.” Upon his leaving the University, he preached occasionally for some time in London; till, at length, in 1626, he was chosen Lecturer at Chelmsford. Here he preached, with great success, for several years, and was so well beloved by the neighbouring clergy, that, when the Bishop of London silenced him for Nonconformity, forty-seven of them signed a petition in his favour, testifying, That Mr. Hooker was orthodox in doctrine, honest and sober in his life and conversation, of a peaceable disposition, and no ways turbulent or factious. But this petition had no effect on the imperious and inexorable Laud. Mr. Hooker was constrained to lay down his ministry; and he set up a Grammar School at a village in the neighbourhood of Chelmsford. At the next visitation, however, he was cited by the Bishop to appear before the High Commission Court. Thus cruelly persecuted, he absconded, and went to Holland, where he lived two or three years, preaching sometimes at Delft, and sometimes at Rotterdam.
In 1633, he came to New-England; and, though he had been “ordained presbyter by a bishop in England,” he was ordained “then again by the brethren at New-Town.” He was a man of “the most exemplary piety, self-denial, patience, and goodness. In his day, he was one of the most animated and powerful preachers in New England. In his sermons, he was searching, experimental, and practical.” In disputation he was eminent. During his residence in Holland, he became intimately acquainted with the celebrated Dr. Ames, author of Medulla Theologiae, who declared, that “though he had been acquainted with many scholars, of divers nations, yet he never met with Mr. Hooker’s equal, either for preaching, or for disputing.” In prayer he excelled. “In conversation he was pleasant and entertaining, but always grave. He was exceedingly prudent in the management of church discipline. He was affable, condescending, and charitable; yet his appearance and conduct were with such becoming majesty, authority, and prudence, that he could do more with a word, or a look, than other men could do with a severe discipline.” It was not uncommon for him to give away five or ten pounds, at a time, to persons in indigence. He died of an epidemical fever, July 7, 1647, aetat. LXII. “He had for many years enjoyed a comfortable assurance of his renewed estate, and when dying said, I am going to receive mercy. He closed his own eyes, and appeared to die with a smile on his countenance. He published, in his life time, several practical treatises; and his friends, after his death, published several of his sermons, which were well received. “Mr. Hooker’s books (says a contemporary writer) are of great request among the faithful people of Christ.” His principal work, entitled, “A Survey of the summe of Church-Discipline,” was transcribed “under the eye and exact review of the eminently accomplisht author himselfe,” and sent over to be published in England, about a year before his death. “But it was then buried,” says Dr. Goodwin, “in the rude waves of the vast ocean, with many precious saints on their passage hither.” Another copy of it, however, was sent to England, and published in 1648, under the inspection of the celebrated Dr. Thomas Goodwin, (a member of the Assembly of Divines at Westminster, and some time President of Magdalen College in Oxford) who says, “As touching this Treatise and the worthy author of it, to preface any thing, by commendation of either were to lay paint upon burnished marble, or add light unto the sun. There is no inscription on Mr. Hooker’s tombstone. An historian, who, in general, is not entitled to credence, says truly: “The tomb of Mr. Hooker is viewed with great reverence.”
Spouse: Susannah Harkes Garbrand Goodwin 1593–1676 (m. 1621)
Children:
Son Hooker unknown–1634
Joanna Hooker Shepard 1622–1646
Mary Hooker Newton 1624 – unknown
Anne Hooker 1625–1626
Sarah Hooker 1628–1629
Sarah Hooker Wilson 1630–1725
John Hooker 1631 – unknown
Samuel Hooker 1633–1697
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The Reverend THOMAS HOOKER, the first minister of Cambridge, and the father of the colony, as well as of the churches, of Connecticut, was born at Marfield [sic; should be Marefield], in Leicestershire, in 1586. He was educated at Emanuel College, Cambridge, in England, where he was afterwards promoted to a fellowship, in which office “he acquitted himself with such ability and faithfulness, as commanded universal approbation and applause.” Upon his leaving the University, he preached occasionally for some time in London; till, at length, in 1626, he was chosen Lecturer at Chelmsford. Here he preached, with great success, for several years, and was so well beloved by the neighbouring clergy, that, when the Bishop of London silenced him for Nonconformity, forty-seven of them signed a petition in his favour, testifying, That Mr. Hooker was orthodox in doctrine, honest and sober in his life and conversation, of a peaceable disposition, and no ways turbulent or factious. But this petition had no effect on the imperious and inexorable Laud. Mr. Hooker was constrained to lay down his ministry; and he set up a Grammar School at a village in the neighbourhood of Chelmsford. At the next visitation, however, he was cited by the Bishop to appear before the High Commission Court. Thus cruelly persecuted, he absconded, and went to Holland, where he lived two or three years, preaching sometimes at Delft, and sometimes at Rotterdam.
In 1633, he came to New-England; and, though he had been “ordained presbyter by a bishop in England,” he was ordained “then again by the brethren at New-Town.” He was a man of “the most exemplary piety, self-denial, patience, and goodness. In his day, he was one of the most animated and powerful preachers in New England. In his sermons, he was searching, experimental, and practical.” In disputation he was eminent. During his residence in Holland, he became intimately acquainted with the celebrated Dr. Ames, author of Medulla Theologiae, who declared, that “though he had been acquainted with many scholars, of divers nations, yet he never met with Mr. Hooker’s equal, either for preaching, or for disputing.” In prayer he excelled. “In conversation he was pleasant and entertaining, but always grave. He was exceedingly prudent in the management of church discipline. He was affable, condescending, and charitable; yet his appearance and conduct were with such becoming majesty, authority, and prudence, that he could do more with a word, or a look, than other men could do with a severe discipline.” It was not uncommon for him to give away five or ten pounds, at a time, to persons in indigence. He died of an epidemical fever, July 7, 1647, aetat. LXII. “He had for many years enjoyed a comfortable assurance of his renewed estate, and when dying said, I am going to receive mercy. He closed his own eyes, and appeared to die with a smile on his countenance. He published, in his life time, several practical treatises; and his friends, after his death, published several of his sermons, which were well received. “Mr. Hooker’s books (says a contemporary writer) are of great request among the faithful people of Christ.” His principal work, entitled, “A Survey of the summe of Church-Discipline,” was transcribed “under the eye and exact review of the eminently accomplisht author himselfe,” and sent over to be published in England, about a year before his death. “But it was then buried,” says Dr. Goodwin, “in the rude waves of the vast ocean, with many precious saints on their passage hither.” Another copy of it, however, was sent to England, and published in 1648, under the inspection of the celebrated Dr. Thomas Goodwin, (a member of the Assembly of Divines at Westminster, and some time President of Magdalen College in Oxford) who says, “As touching this Treatise and the worthy author of it, to preface any thing, by commendation of either were to lay paint upon burnished marble, or add light unto the sun. There is no inscription on Mr. Hooker’s tombstone. An historian, who, in general, is not entitled to credence, says truly: “The tomb of Mr. Hooker is viewed with great reverence.”
Spouse: Susannah Harkes Garbrand Goodwin 1593–1676 (m. 1621)
Children:
Son Hooker unknown–1634
Joanna Hooker Shepard 1622–1646
Mary Hooker Newton 1624 – unknown
Anne Hooker 1625–1626
Sarah Hooker 1628–1629
Sarah Hooker Wilson 1630–1725
John Hooker 1631 – unknown
Samuel Hooker 1633–1697
Events
| Birth | 5 Jul 1586 | Marefield, Tilton, Leicestershire, England | |||
| Christen | 7 Jul 1586 | Marefield, Leicestershire, England | |||
| Death | 7 Jul 1647 | Hartford, Hartford County, Connecticut | |||
| Burial | 9 Jul 1647 | Ancient Burying Ground, Hartford, Hartford County, Connecticut |  |
Families
| Father | Thomas E. Hooker I (1553 - ) |
| Mother | Susanna Pym (1564 - 1631) |
| Sibling | John Hooker (1584 - 1655) |
| Sibling | Ann Amy "Anna" Hooker (1594 - 1667) |
| Sibling | Dorothy Hooker (1589 - 1662) |
| Sibling | Elizabeth Hooker ( - 1675) |
Endnotes
1. Find A Grave Memorial 497.