Thomas Hooker, 1647
The Reverend Thomas Hooker, who led his Puritan congregation on a 100-mile trek through the wilderness from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to settle Hartford, where he served as pastor of the First Congregational Church until his death, is commemorated by a massive tablestone probably erected a century after he died in 1647. Where, or if, he is interred in the Ancient Burying Ground, or in Farmington where he died, is unknown.
In a 1638 sermon, Hooker proclaimed the then-radical idea that government derived its authority from the will of the citizenry. This was the basis of the Fundamental Orders, a framework of self-government adopted in 1639 by the Connecticut River towns of Hartford, Windsor, and Wethersfield that some consider the first written constitution in history.
Learn more about the stories of people buried at the Ancient Burying Ground:
- Reverend Thomas Hooker and Government by the Consent of the People
- Nathaniel Willet and his role in Connecticut’s Witchcraft Trials
- Governor William Leete – Connecticut and New Haven Became One
- John Allyn, securing the Royal Charter and the Charter Oak
- Elizabeth Willson from Hartford as a successful Colonial Business And Commercial Center
- Col. Nathan Payson and Dr. Eliakim Fish, who served in the military in several Colonial Conflicts
- Richard Bernham and Ebenezer Watson in Connecticut’s Run-Up To Rebellion
- Captain Pownal Deming and Moses Dunbar – opposing roles in the American Revolution
- Jeremiah Wadsworth – Creating A New State And Nation
- Learn more about the People of Diverse Races and Ethnic Heritages found at the Ancient Burying Ground