Captain Edward Johnson (1598–1672) was a leading figure in colonial

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, and is one of the founders of

Woburn, Massachusetts Woburn ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 40,876 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Woburn is located north of Boston. Woburn uses Massachusetts' ...

. Johnson probably came to America in the

Winthrop Fleet The Winthrop Fleet was a group of 11 ships led by John Winthrop out of a total of 17funded by the Massachusetts Bay Company which together carried between 700 and 1,000 Puritans plus livestock and provisions from England to New England over th ...

in 1630. He returned to England in 1636 or 1637 to bring his wife and children to America. He was considered the "Father of Woburn," and served as its first town clerk (from 1640 until his death). He was selected as Deputy from Woburn to the

Massachusetts General Court The Massachusetts General Court, formally the General Court of Massachusetts, is the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts located in the state capital of Boston. Th ...

(the colonial legislature) almost every year from 1646 on. Johnson was the first military officer commissioned in Woburn, and was one of the founders of the

Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts The Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts is the oldest chartered military organization in North America and the third oldest chartered military organization in the world. A volunteer militia of the Commonwealth of Massachusett ...

. He served as an ensign in Cooke's Company in the

Pequot War The Pequot War was an armed conflict that took place in 1636 and ended in 1638 in New England, between the Pequot nation and an alliance of the colonists from the Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, and Saybrook colonies and their allies from the Na ...

, served as lieutenant for the Middlesex County Troop in 1643, and was made captain in 1644. He served as Surveyor General of the military stores of the colony in 1659. Johnson is regarded as the author of the first printed history of New England, '' The Wonder-Working Providence of Sions Savior in New England,'' which was published in England in 1654. Johnson was selected by the General Court to make the first map of Massachusetts. He established the boundary between Massachusetts and New Hampshire, and also laid out the boundaries of Woburn and other towns.Johnson, Edward Francis, ''Captain Edward Johnson of Woburn, Massachusetts, and Some of His Descendants,'' Press of David Clapp & Son, Boston, MA, 1905.

References

External links

Woburn Historical Society Web site

Wonder-working Providence of Sions Saviour in New England
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Edward People from Woburn, Massachusetts Founders of cities in the Thirteen Colonies 1598 births 1672 deaths People from colonial Massachusetts English emigrants to Massachusetts Bay Colony