This week in Christian history: Bishop calls for end of Hindu caste system; Puritan leader sails for America

By Michael Gryboski, Mainline Church Editor Sunday, July 04, 2021

Founder of Connecticut sets sail for America – July 10, 1633

Theologian and preacher Thomas Hooker (1586-1647) and a company of supporters reach the Connecticut River. Hooker is credited with helping to found the Connecticut colony. | Public Domain

This week marks the anniversary of when Thomas Hooker, a preacher and founder of the modern state of Connecticut, began his journey to colonial America.

Originally from the county of Leicestershire, England, Hooker sought to reestablish his English Puritan congregation in New England. He sailed for the Puritan stronghold of Boston.

“In June 1636, less than three years after Thomas Hooker arrived in Boston, he and one hundred members of his congregation set off on the two-week overland journey, accompanied by 160 head of cattle, goats, and pigs,” notes Connecticut History.org.

“They followed a Native American trail, later known as the Connecticut Path or the Bay Path, west to the Connecticut River and then south to the future site of Hartford.”