The Winthrop Papers Digital Edition
When the Arbella arrived off the eastern coast of North America in 1630, she carried on board the earliest colonists of the Massachusetts Bay company. Among their number was John Winthrop, the first governor of the colony and the patriarch of the Winthrop family in New England. The collection of papers produced by the Winthrop and related families constitutes a rich and critical record of colonial settlement in New England and the events that unfolded in the decades that followed. Beginning in the 16th century, that record encompasses letters and diaries, memoranda and legal documents, and John Winthrop’s journal/history of the colony in Boston. The Winthrop Family Papers, the largest collection of extant Winthrop documents, is held by Massachusetts Historical Society; read more about the collection.
Some examples from this digital edition
My truely beloved and deare wife, I salute thee heartylye, givinge thankes to God who bestowed thee vpon me, and hath continued thee vnto me, the cheifest of all Comfortes vnder the hope of Salvation...John Winthrop to Margaret Winthrop, 23 January, 1620
The winde still S: w: close weather, we stood to and again all this daye within sight ofJohn Winthrop, June 11, 1630Cape Anne. theiles of Sholeswere now within 2: leagues of vs, andwe sawe a shippe lye there at Anchorand5: or 6: shalloppsvnder sayle vp and downe.
In my youth I was very lewdly disposed, inclining unto and attempting (so far as my yeares enabled mee) all kind of wickednesse, except swearing and scorning religion, which I had no temptation unto in regard of my education. About ten years of age, I had some notions of God, for in some great frighting or danger, I have prayed unto God, and have found manifest answer; the remembrance whereof many yeares after made mee think that God did love mee, but it made mee no whit the better.John Winthrop, January 1637