Pynchon, John
(1626–17 January 1703)
- William Pencak
Extract
Pynchon, John (1626–17 January 1703), entrepreneur and politician, was born in Springfield, Essex, England, to William Pynchon and Anna Andrew. He sailed with his parents in 1630 to Massachusetts, living with them first in Dorchester and then Roxbury, near Boston. In 1636 the family moved to the Connecticut River, where William Pynchon founded the town of Springfield, which he governed and used to dominate New England’s fur trade. In 1645 John Pynchon married Amy Wyllys, daughter of George Wyllys of Hartford, Connecticut. His future trading partners, Samuel Wyllys and John Allyn, were his wife’s cousins. The Pynchons had five children, three of whom survived infancy....
