Israel Stoughton
Encyclopedia
Israel Stoughton was an early English colonist in Massachusetts
, and later a Parliamentarian officer in the First English Civil War
.
, he emigrated to New England
in 1632. He settled at Dorchester, of which he was admitted a freeman on 5 November 1633. He was chosen representative for Dorchester in the assemblies of 1634 and 1635.
When the colony was disturbed by the antinomian disputes, Stoughton wrote a book which attacked the constitution of the colony and offended the general court. The author somewhat strangely petitioned that the book might be ‘forthwith burnt, as being weak and offensive.’ In spite of Stoughton's subsequent submission, he was declared incapable of holding office for three years. This sentence, however, was remitted in 1636, and Stoughton was chosen assistant in 1637.
He was entrusted with the command of the Massachusetts force against the Pequot Indians, where he took brutal measures. Stoughton was annually chosen as assistant till 1643, and in 1639 he, together with John Endecott
acted as a commissioner on behalf of Massachusetts to settle a boundary dispute with Plymouth Colony
.
Stoughton visited England towards the end of 1643 or the beginning of 1644, returned to America, and crossed again towards the end of 1644. He was then appointed a lieutenant-colonel in the parliamentary army, and soon afterwards died at Lincoln. His children included William Stoughton
, best known as the chief magistrate of the Salem witch trials
.
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, and later a Parliamentarian officer in the First English Civil War
First English Civil War
The First English Civil War began the series of three wars known as the English Civil War . "The English Civil War" was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations that took place between Parliamentarians and Royalists from 1642 until 1651, and includes the Second English Civil War and...
.
Life
Born in England, a younger brother of John StoughtonJohn Stoughton (clergyman)
John Stoughton was an English clergyman, of influential millennial views.-Life:He was baptized at Naughton, Suffolk in 1593. He was one of three sons of the clergyman Thomas Stoughton , who lost his living of Coggeshall, Essex in 1606 as a nonconformist, and his wife, Katherine ; Israel Stoughton...
, he emigrated to New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
in 1632. He settled at Dorchester, of which he was admitted a freeman on 5 November 1633. He was chosen representative for Dorchester in the assemblies of 1634 and 1635.
When the colony was disturbed by the antinomian disputes, Stoughton wrote a book which attacked the constitution of the colony and offended the general court. The author somewhat strangely petitioned that the book might be ‘forthwith burnt, as being weak and offensive.’ In spite of Stoughton's subsequent submission, he was declared incapable of holding office for three years. This sentence, however, was remitted in 1636, and Stoughton was chosen assistant in 1637.
He was entrusted with the command of the Massachusetts force against the Pequot Indians, where he took brutal measures. Stoughton was annually chosen as assistant till 1643, and in 1639 he, together with John Endecott
John Endecott
John Endecott was an English colonial magistrate, soldier and the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. During all of his years in the colony but one, he held some form of civil, judicial, or military high office...
acted as a commissioner on behalf of Massachusetts to settle a boundary dispute with Plymouth Colony
Plymouth Colony
Plymouth Colony was an English colonial venture in North America from 1620 to 1691. The first settlement of the Plymouth Colony was at New Plymouth, a location previously surveyed and named by Captain John Smith. The settlement, which served as the capital of the colony, is today the modern town...
.
Stoughton visited England towards the end of 1643 or the beginning of 1644, returned to America, and crossed again towards the end of 1644. He was then appointed a lieutenant-colonel in the parliamentary army, and soon afterwards died at Lincoln. His children included William Stoughton
William Stoughton (Massachusetts)
William Stoughton was a colonial magistrate and admininstrator in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. He was in charge of what have come to be known as the Salem Witch Trials, first as the Chief Justice of the Special Court of Oyer and Terminer in 1692, and then as the Chief Justice of the...
, best known as the chief magistrate of the Salem witch trials
Salem witch trials
The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings before county court trials to prosecute people accused of witchcraft in the counties of Essex, Suffolk, and Middlesex in colonial Massachusetts, between February 1692 and May 1693...
.