List of colonial governors of Connecticut

Map depicting Connecticut's early colonial settlements and boundary disputes

The territory of the United States state of Connecticut was first settled by Europeans in the 1620s, when Dutch traders established trading posts on the Connecticut River. English settlers, mainly Puritans fleeing repression in England, began to arrive in the 1630s, and a number of separate colonies were established. The first was the Saybrook Colony in 1635, based at the mouth of the Connecticut; it was followed by the Connecticut Colony (first settlement 1633, government from 1639) and the New Haven Colony (settled 1638, government from 1639). The Saybrook Colony merged with the Connecticut Colony in 1644, and the New Haven Colony was merged into Connecticut between 1662 and 1665 after Connecticut received a royal charter.

The Connecticut Colony was one of two colonies (the other was the neighboring Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations) that retained its governor during the American Revolution. The last colonial governor, Jonathan Trumbull, became the state of Connecticut's first governor in 1776.

## Saybrook Colony, 1635–1644

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Main article: Saybrook Colony

The Saybrook Colony was established in late 1635 at the mouth of the Connecticut River in present-day Old Saybrook, Connecticut by John Winthrop the Younger, son of Massachusetts Bay Colony founder and governor John Winthrop. The former was designated governor by the original settlers who included George Fenwick and Lion Gardiner. They claimed possession of the land via a deed of conveyance from Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick. The colony was named in honor of Puritan Lords Saye (William Fiennes, 1st Viscount Saye and Sele) and Brooke (Robert Greville, 2nd Baron Brooke), who were prominent Parliamentarians and the colony's principal investors.

John Winthrop the Younger, the first governor of Connecticut

The colony was little more than a single community. It came under the de facto governorship upon the arrival of Fenwick, who was the only signer of the deed to actually live in the colony. In 1644 Fenwick conveyed the right of government to the flourishing Connecticut Colony, although issues surrounding this transfer led to litigation over property rights afterward. Fenwick returned to England and served in the English Civil War, and Winthrop continued to be active in Connecticut politics.

#  | Governor  | Took office  | Left office

|
|
|

1 |
John Winthrop the Younger | 1635 | 1639
2 | George Fenwick | 1639 | 1644

## New Haven Colony, 1639–1665

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Main article: New Haven Colony

The New Haven Colony was established by the Puritan colonist Theophilus Eaton, who was of the opinion that the policies of the Massachusetts Bay Colony were too lax in enforcing Puritan standards. After some exploration he purchased land from local Indians at the mouth of the Quinnipiac River in cx[clarification needed] 1638\. The colony in 1639 established a government modeled on that drafted by the leaders of the Connecticut Colony, which called for annual elections of its governor. Eaton was elected governor until his death in 1658. Following the restoration of King Charles II to the English throne in 1660, the colony became a subject of his ire when it harbored two fugitive regicides of Charles I, Edward Whalley and William Goffe. In 1662 Charles II issued a royal charter for the Connecticut Colony that merged the two colonies. The process of merger was not completed until 1665. The colony's last governor, William Leete, also later served as governor of Connecticut.

#  | Governor  | Took office  | Left office

|
|
|

1 | Theophilus Eaton | 1639 | 1658
2 | Francis Newman | 1658 | 1660
3 | William Leete | 1661 | 1665

## Connecticut Colony, 1639–1776

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Jonathan Trumbull, the last governor of the Connecticut Colony

Main article: Connecticut Colony

For the period after independence, see the List of governors of Connecticut.

The Connecticut Colony was formed from the towns of Hartford, Windsor and Wethersfield. Between 1639 and 1655, consecutive terms were not allowed, so the governorship rotated between John Haynes and Edward Hopkins each year, except for 1642 when George Wyllys served. Thomas Welles and John Winthrop the Younger also served non-consecutive terms.

John Winthrop the Younger was the governor of the combined Connecticut Colony in 1662, the year it received its royal charter. However, the regime change did not include an election for governor; Winthrop was merely retained in his position. The merger took three years to complete, during which time William Leete remained in New Haven. A similar situation happened to Jonathan Trumbull in 1776; the royal government was discarded for state government without a gubernatorial election, making Trumbull the independent state's first governor.

Sir Edmund Andros attempted to merge Connecticut into the Dominion of New England in 1687. As governor of the Province of New York in the 1670s, he had attempted to enforce the Duke of York's claims to territories as far east as the Connecticut River, and his assumption of Dominion control in October 1687 was marked by a failed attempt to seize the colonial charter. Andros is pointedly excluded from numbered lists of Connecticut governors; however, his portrait hangs, along with those of other governors, in Memorial Hall in the Connecticut State Supreme Court/State Library/State Museum building across from the State Capitol in Hartford. As Andros failed to take the Connecticut Charter, Connecticut was never absorbed into the Dominion of New England.

Governors of the Connecticut Colony  No. | Governor[1][2] | Term in office[1][2] | Party  | Deputy Governor

|
|
|
|

1  |  |  | John Haynes
(1594–c. 1653) | 1639

1640 | No party  |  | Roger Ludlow
2  |  |  | Edward Hopkins
(1600–1657) | 1640

1641 | No party  |  | John Haynes
3  |  |  | John Haynes
(1594–c. 1653) | 1641

1642 | No party  |  | George Wyllys
4  |  |  | George Wyllys
(1590–1645) | 1642

1643 | No party  |  | Roger Ludlow
5  |  |  | John Haynes
(1594–c. 1653) | 1643

1644 | No party  |  | Edward Hopkins
6  |  |  | Edward Hopkins
(1600–1657) | 1644

1645 | No party  |  | John Haynes
7  |  |  | John Haynes
(1594–c. 1653) | 1645

1646 | No party  |  | Edward Hopkins
8  |  |  | Edward Hopkins
(1600–1657) | 1646

1647 | No party  |  | John Haynes
9  |  |  | John Haynes
(1594–c. 1653) | 1647

1648 | No party  |  | Edward Hopkins
10  |  |  | Edward Hopkins
(1600–1657) | 1648

1649 | No party  |  | Roger Ludlow
11  |  |  | John Haynes
(1594–c. 1653) | 1649

1650 | No party  |  | Edward Hopkins
12  |  |  | Edward Hopkins
(1600–1657) | 1650

1651 | No party  |  | John Haynes
13  |  |  | John Haynes
(1594–c. 1653) | 1651

1652 | No party  |  | Edward Hopkins
14  |  |  | Edward Hopkins
(1600–1657) | 1652

1653 | No party  |  | John Haynes
15  |  |  | John Haynes
(1594–c. 1653) | 1653

1654 | No party  |  | Edward Hopkins
16  |  |  | Edward Hopkins
(1600–1657) | 1654

1655 | No party  |  | Thomas Welles
16  |  |  | Thomas Welles
(c. 1594–1660) | 1655

1656 | No party  |  | John Webster
17  |  |  | John Webster
(c. 1590–1661) | 1656

1657 | No party  |  | Thomas Welles
18  |  |  | John Winthrop the Younger
(1606–1676) | 1657

1658 | No party  |  | Thomas Welles
19  |  |  | Thomas Welles
(c. 1594–1660) | 1658

1659 | No party  |  | John Winthrop the Younger

* * *

John Mason
20  |  |  | John Winthrop the Younger
(1606–1676) | 1659

1676 | No party  |  | John Mason
21  |  |  | William Leete
(c. 1612–1683) | 1676

1683 | No party  |  | Robert Treat
22  |  |  | Robert Treat
(1624–1710) | 1683

1698 | No party  |  | James Bishop

* * *

William Jones
23  |  |  | Fitz-John Winthrop
(1637–1707) | 1698

November 27, 1707 | No party  |  | Robert Treat
24  |  |  | Gurdon Saltonstall
(1666–1724) | 1708

September 20, 1724 | No party  |  | Nathan Gold
25  |  |  | Joseph Talcott
(1669–1741) | 1724

October 11, 1741 | No party  |  | Jonathan Law
26  |  |  | Jonathan Law
(1674–1750) | 1741

November 6, 1750 | No party  |  | Roger Wolcott
27  |  |  | Roger Wolcott
(1679–1767) | 1750

1754 | No party  |  | Thomas Fitch
28  |  |  | Thomas Fitch
(c. 1699–1774) | 1754

1766 | No party  |  | William Pitkin
29  |  |  | William Pitkin
(1694–1769) | 1766

October 1, 1769  | No party  |  | Jonathan Trumbull
30  |  |  | Jonathan Trumbull
(1714–1799) | October 1, 1769

October 10, 1776  | No party  |  | Matthew Griswold

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Connecticut State Register and Manual 2002. Hartford: Secretary of the State of Connecticut. 2002. pp. 81–2\. ISBN 1-888951-13-3.
2. ^ a b Norton, Frederick Calvin (1905). The Governors of Connecticut (PDF). Hartford, CT: The Connecticut magazine.

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