John Winthrop (1587–1649) was a devoutly religious Puritan elder who led a large migration of Puritans from England to America in 1629 and became the first Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony on...

Increase Mather (1639–1723) was an influential Boston Congregational minister during the period when colonial leadership passed over to the first native-born generation in North America. He atten...

Cotton Mather (1663–1728) was Increase Mather's son, a Puritan clergyman and a writer like his father. Cotton was ordained in 1685 and became a colleague of his father at North Church, Bosto...

Roger Williams (1603–1683), a clergyman and advocate of religious freedom, was the founder of Rhode Island. Williams founded the capital, Providence, after he was exiled from Massachusetts B...

Anne Hutchinson (1591–1643) was an outspoken and controversial figure in the religious development of Massachusetts Bay Colony. After migrating there in 1634, Anne organized weekly meetings...

Metacom (1638–1676) was the second son of Wampanoag chief Massasoit. His father coexisted peacefully with the Pilgrims and gave them crucial knowledge to survive their first harsh winters. He als...

Squanto (unknown–1622), also known as Tisquantum, was born into the Pawtuxet tribe that lived around present-day Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Little is known about his early life, until h...

Weetamoo (unknown–1676) was the squaw-sachem (or warrior-leader) of the Pocassets. She exercised substantial power in the Wampanoag and Narragansett communities and was Metacom's sister-in-law. W...

Mary Rowlandson (1637–1701), a housewife in Lancaster, Massachusetts, became one of North America's first female authors after her harrowing experience in Native American captivity during Metacom...