https://www.sec.state.ma.us/divisions/cis/historical/historical-sketch.htm

In 1628, a shipload of emigrants led by John Endicott left England for Salem, joining Roger Conant’s band of refugees from the abandoned fishing station on Cape Ann. The Rev. John White originally formed the station in 1623 as the “Dorchester Company.” It originally consisted of a group who came to be called the “Old Planters” — Richard Norman, John Balch, Peter Palfrey, Walter Knight, and John Woodbury. The company did not succeed as a fishing station, so it was abandoned and some members returned to England. The remaining settlers, including John Woodbury, moved in 1626 from Cape Ann further south to Salem, then called “Naumkeag.”

In 1627, Woodbury returned to England to seek a charter for Rev. White’s supporters. On March 19, 1628, the King granted a royal charter to the Massachusetts Bay Company, promoting the settlement of the territory “from sea to sea” that had been granted to the Puritans, and to govern its colonies. The charter was the first foundation of government for the Massachusetts Bay Colony. It provided for a General Court, a single body of which the Court of Assistants was an integral part. The Court of Assistants eventually separated from the General Court and became America’s first elected Upper House.

John Winthrop arrived at Salem in 1630 bearing the prized charter, establishing a self-contained English colony governed by its own members. Winthrop eventually moved from Salem to Charlestown, and then to Boston, founding additional settlements. By 1640, the immigrant population Massachusetts numbered 16,000, all seeking greater opportunity and a free environment for their dissentient religious views.

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