Officers of the Mass. Bay Commonwealth

The Officers
of the Massachusetts Bay Commonwealth
1630 - 1686

The following tables show the officers of the Commonwealth's government from the arrival of the Charter to America in 1630 to the royal suppression of the Charter, 1686.

The number of Assistants varied from seven to eighteen, but the other offices were unique. If two Speakers are noted for the same year, they each served in sequence for part of that year.

The tables are divided arbitrarily at May 1659 into two successive generations of officers. Of a total of 77 persons here listed, eleven appear in both tables: Atherton, Bellingham, Bradford, Denison, Endecott, Gookin, W. Hathorne, R. Russell, Symonds, Wiggin, and Willard. The Year of record below generally indicates election to office in May of that year, with term of office to run to May of the year following. In the few exceptional cases (the more frequent election of Speakers), if election was between January 1 and March 25, it is included, modern style, in the subsequent year (for instance, Jan to Mar 1645/46 is included in the same year with Apr to Dec 1646). Therefore the following table can be read accurately if one considers the years to be of the modern Gregorian calendar.

Abbreviations:
G = Governor
D = Deputy Governor
A = Assistant (member of the Governor's council)
S = Speaker of the House of Deputies

YEAR 16--	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	YEAR 16--	40	41	42	43	44	45	46	47	48	49	YEAR 16--	50	51	52	53	54	55	56	57	58
Part 1: Officers of the Massachusetts Bay Commonwealth, 1630 - 1658
Humphrey Atherton	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Atherton	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Atherton	.	.	.	S	A	A	A	A	A
Richard Bellingham	.	.	.	.	.	D	A	A	A	A	Bellingham	D	G	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	Bellingham	A	A	A	D	G	D	D	D	D
Simon Bradstreet	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	Bradstreet	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	Bradstreet	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A
Robert Bridges	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Bridges	.	.	.	.	.	.	S	A	A	A	Bridges	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	.	.
William Coddington	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	.	.	.	Coddington	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Coddington	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
George Cooke	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Cooke	.	.	.	.	.	S	.	.	.	.	Cooke	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
Daniel Denison	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Denison	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	S	Denison	.	S	S	A	A	A	A	A	A
Thomas Dudley	D	D	D	D	G	A	A	D	D	D	T.Dudley	G	A	A	A	A	G	D	D	D	D	T.Dudley	G	D	D	.	.	.	.	.	.
Richard Dummer	.	.	.	.	.	A	A	.	.	.	Dummer	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Dummer	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
John Endecott	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	Endecott	A	D	D	D	G	A	A	A	A	G	Endecott	D	G	G	G	D	G	G	G	G
Thomas Flint	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Flint	.	.	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	Flint	A	A	.	A	.	.	.	.	.
Edward Gibbons	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Gibbons	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Gibbons	A	A	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
John Glover	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Glover	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Glover	.	.	A	A	.	.	.	.	.
Daniel Gookin	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Gookin	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Gookin	.	S	A	A	A	A	A	A	A
Roger Harlakenden	.	.	.	.	.	.	A	A	A	.	Harlakenden	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Harlakenden	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.

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YEAR 16--	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	YEAR 16--	40	41	42	43	44	45	46	47	48	49	YEAR 16--	50	51	52	53	54	55	56	57	58
William Hathorne	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	W.Hathorne	.	.	.	.	S	.	S	.	S	.	W.Hathorne	S	.	.	.	.	.	.	S	.
John Haynes	.	.	.	.	A	G	A	.	.	.	Haynes	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Haynes	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
William Hibbens	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Hibbens	.	.	.	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	Hibbens	A	A	A	A	A	.	.	.	.
Joseph Hill	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Hill	.	.	.	.	.	.		S	.	.	Hill	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
Atherton Hough	.	.	.	.	.	A	.	.	.	.	Hough	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Hough	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
John Humphrey	.	.	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	Humphrey	A	A	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Humphrey	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
Isaac Johnson	A	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	I.Johnson	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	I.Johnson	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
Edward Johnson	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	E.Johnson	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	E.Johnson	.	.	.	.	.	S	.	.	.
Roger Ludlow	A	A	A	A	D	.	.	.	.	.	Ludlow	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Ludlow	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
Increase Nowell	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	I.Nowell	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	I.Nowell	A	A	A	A	A	A	.	.	.
Herbert Pelham	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Pelham	.	.	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	Pelham	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
William Pynchon	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	.	.	.	W.Pynchon	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	W.Pynchon	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
Edward Rossiter	A	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Rossiter	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Rossiter	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
Richard Russell	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	R.Russell	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	S	S	.	R.Russell	.	.	.	.	S	.	S	.	S
Sir Richard Saltonstall	A	A	.	A	.	.	.	.	.	.	R.Saltonstall	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	R.Saltonstall	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.

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YEAR 16--	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	YEAR 16--	40	41	42	43	44	45	46	47	48	49	YEAR 16--	50	51	52	53	54	55	56	57	58
Richard Saltonstall, Jr.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	A	A	A	R.Saltonstall, Jr.	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	R.Saltonstall, Jr.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
Thomas Sharp	A	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Sharp	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Sharp	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
Israel Stoughton	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	A	A	A	I.Stoughton	A	A	A	A	.	.	.	.	.	.	I.Stoughton	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
Samuel Symonds	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Symonds	.	.	.	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	Symonds	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A
Sir Henry Vane	.	.	.	.	.	.	G	.	.	.	Vane	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Vane	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
William Vassall	A	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Vassall	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Vassall	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
Thomas Wiggin	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Wiggin	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Wiggin	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	.
Simon Willard	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Willard	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Willard	.	.	.	.	A	A	A	A	A
Francis Willoughby	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Willoughby	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Willoughby	A	A	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
John Winthrop	G	G	G	G	A	A	D	G	G	G	Winthrop	A	A	G	G	D	D	G	G	G	.	Winthrop	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
John Winthrop, Jr.	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	Winthrop, Jr.	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	Winthrop, Jr.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.

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YEAR 16--	59	60	61	62	63	64	65	66	67	68	YEAR 16--	69	70	71	72	73	74	75	76	77	78	YEAR 16--	79	80	81	82	83	84	85	86
Part 2: Officers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1659 - 1686
Isaac Addington	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Addington	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Addington	.	.	.	.	.	.	S	A
Samuel Appleton	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Appleton	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Appleton	.	.	A	A	A	A	A	A
Humphrey Atherton	A	A	A	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Atherton	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Atherton	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
Richard Bellingham	D	D	D	D	D	D	G	G	G	G	Bellingham	G	G	G	G	.	.	.	.	.	.	Bellingham	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
Simon Bradstreet	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	Bradstreet	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	Bradstreet	G	G	G	G	G	G	G	G
William Browne	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Browne	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Browne	.	A	A	A	A	.	.	.
Peter Bulkeley	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Bulkeley	.	.	.	.	.	.	S	S	A	A	Bulkeley	A	A	A	A	A	A	.	.
Thomas Clarke	.	.	.	S	.	.	S	.	.	.	Clarke	S	S	.	S	A	A	A	A	A	.	Clarke	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
Elisha Cooke	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Cooke	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Cooke	.	.	.	.	S	A	A	A
Thomas Danforth	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	Danforth	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	Danforth	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D
Humphrey Davy	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Davy	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	A	Davy	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A
Daniel Denison	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	Denison	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	Denison	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A
Joseph Dudley	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	J.Dudley	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	A	A	A	J.Dudley	A	A	A	A	A	.	A	.
John Endecott	G	G	G	G	G	G	.	.	.	.	Endecott	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Endecott	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
Daniel Fisher	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Fisher	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Fisher	.	S	S	S	A	.	.	.

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YEAR 16--	59	60	61	62	63	64	65	66	67	68	YEAR 16--	69	70	71	72	73	74	75	76	77	78	YEAR 16--	79	80	81	82	83	84	85	86
Bartholomew Gedney	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Gedney	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Gedney	.	A	A	A	A	.	.	.
Daniel Gookin	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	Gookin	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	.	.	.	Gookin	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
William Hathorne	.	.	S	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	W.Hathorne	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	W.Hathorne	A	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
John Hawthorne	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	J.Hawthorne	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	J.Hawthorne	.	.	.	.	.	A	A	A
Joshua Hubbard	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Hubbard	.	.	.	.	.	S	.	.	.	.	Hubbard	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
John Hull	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Hull	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Hull	.	A	A	A	A	.	.	.
Elisha Hutchinson	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Hutchinson	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Hutchinson	.	.	.	.	.	A	A	A
William Johnson	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	W.Johnson	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	W.Johnson	.	.	.	.	.	A	A	A
John Leverett	.	.	.	.	S	S	A	A	A	A	Leverett	A	A	D	D	G	G	G	G	G	G	Leverett	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
Eliezer Lusher	.	.	.	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	Lusher	A	A	A	A	.	.	.	.	.	.	Lusher	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
Samuel Nowell	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	S.Nowell	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	S.Nowell	.	A	A	A	A	A	A	A
Robert Pike	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Pike	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Pike	.	.	.	A	A	A	A	A
John Pynchon	.	.	.	.	.	.	A	A	A	A	J.Pynchon	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	J.Pynchon	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A
John Richards	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Richards	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Richards	.	A	A	A	A	A	A	A
Richard Russell	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	R.Russell	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	.	.	R.Russell	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.

YEAR 16--	59	60	61	62	63	64	65	66	67	68	YEAR 16--	69	70	71	72	73	74	75	76	77	78	YEAR 16--	79	80	81	82	83	84	85	86
James Russell	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	J.Russell	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	J.Russell	.	A	A	A	A	A	A	A
John Saffin	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Saffin	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Saffin	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	S
Nathaniel Saltonstall	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	N.Saltonstall	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	A	N.Saltonstall	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A
Thomas Savage	S	S	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Savage	.	.	S	.	.	.	.	.	S	S	Savage	.	A	A	.	.	.	.	.
Samuel Sewall	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Sewall	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Sewall	.	.	.	.	.	A	A	A
John Smith	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Smith	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Smith	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	A
William Stoughton	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	W.Stoughton	.	.	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	W.Stoughton	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A
Samuel Symonds	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	Symonds	A	A	A	A	D	D	D	D	D	D	Symonds	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
Peter Tilton	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Tilton	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Tilton	.	A	A	A	A	A	A	A
Edward Tyng	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	A	Tyng	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	Tyng	A	A	.	.	.	.	.	.
Richard Waldron	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	S	S	S	Waldron	.	.	.	.	S	S	S	.	.	.	Waldron	S	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
John Wayt	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Wayt	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Wayt	.	.	.	.	.	S	.	.
Thomas Wiggin	A	A	A	A	A	A	.	.	.	.	Wiggin	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Wiggin	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
Simon Willard	A	A	A	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Willard	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Willard	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
Francis Willoughby	.	.	.	.	.	A	D	D	D	D	Willoughby	D	D	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Willoughby	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.
John Woodbridge	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Woodbridge	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	Woodbridge	.	.	.	.	A	A	.	.

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