Thomas Hooker

Thomas Hooker (probably born 7 July 1586 at Markfield, Leicestershire, England; died 7 July 1647 at Hartford, Connecticut Colony) led roughly one hundred settlers overland from Massachusetts Bay to the Connecticut River in 1636 and founded Hartford, one of the three original River towns of the Connecticut Colony. His sermon to the General Court of the Connecticut River towns in May 1638, arguing that the foundation of authority lies in the free consent of the people, is credited with shaping the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, ratified 14 January 1639 and often cited as an early written constitution establishing a government. Trained as a Puritan minister, this is his constitutional and colonial founding facet; his religious career, including his role as a moderator of the 1637 Newtown synod during the Antinomian Controversy, is covered on DivinityAtlas, the same historical figure viewed from its own domain.