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industry, the auth. says, "Matthew Cradock was the first Gov. of the
Mass. Comp." yet, facing the same page, he inserts the picture of John
Endicott with a title at the bottom, "first Gov. of Mass." and 16 pages
onward he inserts the picture of John Winthrop with the title, giv. by the
author, "sec. Gov. of Mass." Prob. no reader will be deceiv. for every one
will ask, wh. was the second, third, fourth, &e. gov. of the Mass. Comp. wh.
bec. the Col. of Mass. Bay only by transfer of all the authority, &c. in
1629, when Cradock was "first" gov. On his resignat. within six mos. of
his elect. that yr. Winthrop was chos. the same day, and Cradock an Assist.
But Cradock never came to our country, and so if W. be the sec. Gov. of
Mass. because C. was the first; of course W. would be justly reckon. the
first in Mass. The order of success. of the Chart. Governors is this:
first, Cradock, nam. in that instrum. 4 Mar. 1629, and rechos. in May; sec.
Winthrop chos. and sw. 29 Oct. 1629, on Cradock's resignat. and in 1631, 2,
and 3; third, Dudley, May 1634; fourth, Haynes, May 1635; fifth, Vane, 1636;
next yr. Winthrop again, and two foll. yrs.; and Dudley, again, in 1640; sixth,
Bellingham, 1641; next yr. Winthrop again, and rechos. the yr. foll.; seventh,
Endicott, 1644; next yr. Dudley, again; and the foll. Winthrop again, three
yrs. till his d. Honor eno. there is for Endicott, the earliest patentee
wh. came over under the indenture from the Plymouth Company, without
challeng. for him any that does not belong to him. He was the first, and
only, Gov. of London's Planta. and if he ever was qualif. by tak. the oaths
under that delegat. from the Gov. and Comp. of Mass. (wh. is unlikely, or
at least cannot be prov.) he never had a successor in that office, wh.
was merg. in the superior title on arr. of Winthrop a few mos. after. With
scrupul. precision, Increase Mather calls Winthrop "the First Gov. that New
Eng. saw at the head of the Mass. Col." On 13 May 1629 (the Charter day of
the Gen. Court for elections), Endicott was not chos. an Assist. or other
officer of Mass. Bay, being absent; still, however, he contin. head of the
Planta. as much as he had been a fortnight, and, indeed, on his arr. eight
mos. bef. no other patentee being on this side of the ocean; but on 20
Oct. next, at the election in London (after transfer of the whole
authority of the patent to those wh. would come to N. E.), when Winthrop was
chos. gov. and Humphrey dep. gov. immediat. on resignat. of Cradock and
Goffe, he was again rais. to be one of the eighteen assist. being the
first time he was ever chos. under the Chart. In this office, to the duty
of wh. he took the o. to qualif. him (as he could not earlier), 7 Sept. 1630,
he cont. 9 yrs. by success. elect. exc. in 1633, when for his indiscreet
zeal against the cross in the ensign, he was left out; but in 1636 he was
made head of the first exped. against the Pequots; in 1641, for the first
time, dep. gov.
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