Win·throp  (wĭn'thrəp)  English-born American colonial administrator who was the first governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, serving seven terms between 1629 and 1649. His son John (1606-1676) was three times governor of Connecticut (1636, 1657, and 1659-1676), and his grandson John (1638-1707), born in America, was also governor of Connecticut (1698-1707). |
A Puritan political leader of the seventeenth century, born in England. Winthrop was sent to America as the first governor of Massachusetts. He compared the colony to “a city upon a hill,” suggesting that it would be a model for all nations.