Thomas Hooker

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Thomas Hooker
File:Hooker.jpg
Hooker's Company reach the Connecticut, publishers: Estes & Lauriat, 1879
Born(1586-07-05)July 5, 1586
likely Marefield or Birstall, Leicestershire
DiedJuly 7, 1647(1647-07-07) (aged 61)
Hartford, Connecticut Colony
Nationality England
OccupationCongregationalist minister
Known forHelped found the Connecticut Colony and write one of the first written constitutions
SpouseSusanna Hooker (2nd wife)
The name of his first wife is not known[1]
Children6[1]
Signature

Thomas Hooker (July 5, 1586 – July 7, 1647) was a prominent Puritan religious and colonial leader, who founded the Colony of Connecticut after dissenting with Puritan leaders in Massachusetts. He was known as an outstanding speaker and a leader of universal Christian suffrage. Hooker also had a role in creating the "Fundamental Orders of Connecticut", one of the world's first written constitutions.

Life

Hooker and Company Journeying through the Wilderness from Plymouth to Hartford, in 1636, Frederic Edwin Church, 1846

Thomas Hooker was likely born at Marefield or Birstall, Leicestershire,[2] and went to school at Market Bosworth.[3] He received his Bachelors of Arts from Emmanuel College, Cambridge in 1608, continuing there to earn his Masters of Arts in 1611.[3][4][5] He stayed at Emmanuel as a fellow for a few years.[3] After his stay at Emmanuel, Hooker preached at the Esher parish, where he earned a reputation as an excellent speaker.[3][5]

Around 1626, Hooker became a lecturer at the Chelmsford Cathedral.[3] However, in 1629 Archbishop William Laud suppressed church lecturers, and Hooker was forced to retire to Little Baddow.[3] His leadership of Puritan sympathizers brought him a summons to the Court of High Commission. Forfeiting his bond, Hooker fled to Rotterdam, Holland[5], and from there immigrated to Massachusetts Bay Colony aboard the Griffin.[1][3]

In Massachusetts Bay Colony, Hooker became the pastor of The First Parish in Cambridge at Newetowne, now Cambridge. His parish became known as "Mr. Hooker's Company".[3] Discontented with the suppression of Puritan suffrage and at odds with the colony leadership[5], Hooker led a group of about 100[6] who, in 1636, founded Hartford, Connecticut. This led to the founding of the Connecticut Colony.[3][7] Hooker became more active in politics in Connecticut, helping to draft the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut in 1639. Some historians consider it the first written constitution in the western tradition.[3][8] He also participated in negotiations which led to the New England Confederation.[3] Hooker continued as the leader of the Hartford church until his death in 1647.[3]

Views

Plaque honoring Hooker's ministry at the First Church of Cambridge, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Thomas Hooker strongly advocated extended suffrage to include Puritan worshipers, a view which would lead him and his followers to colonize Connecticut.[3] He also promoted the concept of a government that must answer to the people, stating: "[T]hey who have the power to appoint officers and magistrates, it is in their power, also, to set the bounds and limitations of the power and place unto which they call them" through "the privilege of election, which belongs to the people according to the blessed will and law of God".[3] Thomas Hooker argued for greater religious tolerance towards all Christian sects.[9]

Hooker defended the calling of synods by magistrates, and attended a convention of ministers in Boston whose purpose was to defend Congregationalism.[3] He later published A Survey of the Summed of Church-Discipline in defense of Congregationalism, and applied its principles to politics and government.[5]

Thomas Hooker was a strong leader of the contrition doctrine. He believed that much of God's favor needed to be re-earned by men.[10] To Hooker, sin was the most crafty of enemies, defeating grace on most occasions. He disagreed with many of the predecessor theologies of Free Grace theology, preferring a more muted view on the subject. He focused on preparation for heaven and following the moralist character.[10]

Family

House of Thomas Hooker, Hartford, Connecticut

Thomas Hooker's son Samuel, likely born at Cambridge, Massachusetts, graduated from Harvard College in 1653. He became the well-known minister of Farmington, Connecticut, where his descendants lived for many generations.[notes 1] Of Rev. Samuel Hooker, Cotton Mather wrote in Magnalia Christi Americana: "Thus we have to this day among us our dead Hooker, yet living in his worthy son Samuel Hooker, an able, faithful, useful minister at Farmington, in the Colony of Connecticut."

John Hooker, son of Rev. Samuel and grandson of Rev. Thomas, served as Speaker of the Connecticut Assembly, and previously as Judge of the state supreme court. James Hooker, brother of John and son of Rev. Samuel, also became a prominent political figure in Connecticut. He married the daughter of William Leete of Guilford, Connecticut, and subsequently settled there. James Hooker served as the first probate judge, and later as speaker of the Connecticut colonial assembly. Rev. Thomas's granddaughter Mary Hooker, the daughter of Rev. Samuel, married the Rev. James Pierpont. Their daughter Sarah Pierpont married the Rev. Jonathan Edwards.

Other direct descendants of Rev. Thomas Hooker include Henry Hooker, Mary Hooker Pierpont, William Howard Taft, Timothy Dwight V, Aaron Burr, William Gillette, William Huntington Russell, Edward H. Gillette, George Catlin, Emma Willard, J.P. Morgan, Rev. Joshua Leavitt, Roger Hooker Leavitt, Hart Leavitt, Thom Miller, and Adonijah Rockwell.[1] On May 16, 1890, descendants of Thomas Hooker held their first reunion at Hartford, Connecticut.[11]

Works

  • The Application of Redemption (1659). Ames, Iowa (USA): International Outreach. 2008. p. 450. ISBN 7981892838155. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid prefix (help)
  • A Brief Exposition of the Lord's Prayer (1645). Whitefish, MT (USA): Kessinger Publishing. p. 92. ISBN 1436719224.
  • The Christian's Two Chief Lessons: Self-Denial and Self-Trial. Ames, Iowa (USA): International Outreach. 2002. p. 174. ISBN 0964180375.
  • The Covenant of Grace Opened. Whitefish, MT (USA): Kessinger Publishing. p. 90. ISBN 0766168115.
  • The Danger of Desertion Or A Farewell Sermon of Mr. Thomas Hooker. Whitefish, MT (USA): Kessinger Publishing. p. 36. ISBN 0766171957.
  • An Expostion of the Principles of Religion (1645).
  • The Poor Doubting Christian Drawn to Christ (1629). Whitefish, MT (USA): Kessinger Publishing. p. 24. ISBN 0766168980.
  • The Saint's Dignity and Duty (1651). Whitefish, MT (USA): Kessinger Publishing. p. 262. ISBN 0766169464.
  • The Soul's Exaltation (1638). Whitefish, MT (USA): Kessinger Publishing. p. 314. ISBN 0766167992.
  • The Soul's Humiliation. Ames, Iowa (USA): International Outreach. 2000. p. 167. ISBN 1892838052.
  • The Soul's Ingrafting into Christ (1637).
  • The Soul's Preparation for Christ: Or, A Treatise of Contrition, Wherein is discovered How God breaks the heart, and wounds the Soul, in the conversion of a Sinner to Himself The Soul's Preparation for Christ (1632). Ames, Iowa (USA): International Outreach. 1994.
  • A Survey Of The Summe Of Church-Discipline: Wherein The Way Of The Churches Of New England Is Warranted Out Of The Word (1648). Whitefish, MT (USA): Kessinger Publishing, LLC. p. 646. ISBN 0766169251.

Notes

  1. ^ Married to the eldest daughter of Capt. Thomas Willett of Plymouth Colony, a Plymouth merchant and later first mayor of New York City, Rev. Samuel Hooker was the progenitor of all Hookers who claim descent from Rev. Thomas Hooker of Connecticut. [1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Hooker, Edward (1909). The Descendants of Rev. Thomas Hooker, Hartford, Connecticut, 1586-1908. Harvard University. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ Thomas Hooker. ABC-CLIO. 2006. ISBN 9781576076781. Retrieved 19 April 2010. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o "THOMAS HOOKER (1586–1647)". Encyclopædia Britannica. 1911. {{cite encyclopedia}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  4. ^ "Hooker, Thomas (HKR604T)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  5. ^ a b c d e "Hooker, Thomas (1586-1647)". Encyclopedia of World Biography. 1998.
  6. ^ Lucas, Beverly Johnson (August 2002). "History in houses: the Butler-McCook house and garden in Hartford, Connecticut". The Magazine Antiques. pp. 88–96.
  7. ^ Kennedy, David (2006). The American Pageant 13th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. p. 49. ISBN 0-618-4790-6. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: length (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ Black, Karla (Spring 1994). "The Connecticut State Constitution: A Reference Guide". Publius. 24 (2): 148–149. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  9. ^ Goode, Stephen (5 May 1997). "Why religious persecution violates American values". Insight on the News. pp. 14–15.
  10. ^ a b Parnham, David (December 2008). "Redeeming free grace: Thomas Hooker and the contested language of salvation". Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture. 77 (4). New Haven, Connecticut: American Society of Church History: 915–955. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  11. ^ "In Honor of Thomas Hooker, His Descendants to Hold a Reunion in Hartford, Conn.", The New York Times, May 1, 1890

External links

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