Daniel Gookin (± 1612 - March 19, 1686 or 1687) was an Irish colonist in America who controlled the colonies of Virginia and Massachusetts. He also wrote some books about the Indians. biography
Gookin was probably born in the second half of 1612, third son of Daniel Gookin and Mary Byrd. His supposed birthplace is County Cork. On December 6, 1612, the young Daniel Gookin was christened in Bristol's church. Around 1616 his father must have lived in Carrigaline, where young Daniel Gookin has probably spent his childhood. Later, Daniel went to England to attend education.
Shortly after his eighteenth birthday, while living on his father's plantation in Virginia, Daniel was employed as an apprentice with Thomas Addison, one of the administrators of the Marie's Mount Plantation. When Addison retired, Daniel Gookin received 61 ha of land.
In 1641, Gookin and his wife Virginia and their newborn child Samule went to Virginia where they lived at the Nansemond Plantation. Gookin received the title of Deputy (Burgess) and represented Upper Norfolk County at the "Grand Assembly" in Jamestown on January 12, 1641/42. On December 29, 1637, he received 10 square kilometers of land allocated northwest of the Nansemond, and on November 4, 1642 another 5.7 square kilometers along the Rappahannock.
On April 6, 1648, Gookin sold 2 square kilometers of his plantation to the Rappahannock to Captain Thomas Burbage. In July of the same year, he moved to Cambridge with his family, where he was appointed captain. He held this function for the following forty years. In the first years after his appointment, Gookin received several administrative functions. On May 11, 1681, he was elected Chief Commander of the Colonial Armed Forces.
After his death, Gookin was buried on Old Cambridge Burying Ground, Cambridge's main cemetery. Bibliography
wiki
