On September 7, 1630, the new settlement in Massachusetts was formally named Boston and designated the capital of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Life along the Charles River in cold New England was hard. The early mortality rate was high and relationships with the indigenous Indians often treacherous. Nonetheless, in the next few years a steady stream of settlers made their way from Lincolnshire to Massachusetts.

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In 1633 aboard the Griffin, John Cotton sailed to join his congregation already building the “City upon a Hill” in the new colony. Some 10 percent of Boston’s people took part in the emigration to Massachusetts Bay, including Richard Bellingham, the town’s MP.

In the new Boston, John Cotton was given the title “Teacher” in what is now the old First Church in Boston’s Back Bay. During the remaining 19 years of his life, Cotton was the “senior statesman” of the church as it quickly spread with the Massachusetts colony along the shores of northern New England. He served as an arbiter of theologi­cal controversy and largely defined the characteristics of what became New England Congregationalism.

Other men from Boston and St. Botolph’s Church went on to play leading roles in early colonial Massachusetts as well. Their names are familiar to New Englanders still, in towns, institutions and features of geography bearing their names: Thomas Leverett, Richard Bellingham, Thomas Dudley, Simon Bradstreet and others known together in the new colony as the “Boston Men.” In fact, one or another of the four served as governor or deputy governor of the colony during all but four of its first 56 years. They are memorialized in a stained-glass window in St. Botolph’s.

No, the new Boston wasn’t the first American colony. Both Jamestown and Plymouth Bay are older by a few years. It is fair to say, however, that Boston became the center of the first truly successful community and growing English colony in the New World, and that it did so largely with political and religious leaders from Boston, Lincolnshire. In fact, like Bartholomew Gosnold, John Cotton is an under-recognized figure in history. It was he who lit the flame that motivated the colony of Massachusetts Bay and, once there, more than any other single individual defined the society that became New England.

Over the years, the old and new Bostons have kept in touch. St. Botolph’s Church was restored in the mid-1800s and again between 1929-33, both times with significant help from the people of Boston, Mass. As it happens, the town offers unique hospitality for Americans as a result.

At Fydell House, a community center once the townhouse of a wealthy mercer and importer, the owner’s study on the ground floor front is designated the American Room. It is a comfortably and deliberately furnished sitting room, lined with pictures of Boston’s early well-known emigrants, devoted for the use of American visitors for rest, relaxation and writing letters home. In thanks for the aid the new Boston provided for the restoration of St. Botolph’s, the American Room was dedicated by Ambassador Joseph P. Kennedy in 1938.

I n 1999 the Partnership of the Historic Bostons was formed to reestablish the relationship between Boston, Mass., and its mother town in England, with committees on both sides of the Atlantic working to keep the connections alive. Every year in Boston, Mass., Boston Charter Day celebrates the anniversary of Boston’s naming and creation as a political entity on September 7, 1630. Events are coordinated by the Partnership (www.historicbostons.com).

Among the projects literally on the drawing board, according to English Partnerships chair Judy Cammack, is “The Puritan Path,” a series of memorials along the walk from the marketplace to St. Botolph’s telling the story of John Cotton, the early Puritan leaders of Boston and the founding of Massachusetts Bay Colony.

It is amazing that such magnificent churches as the Boston Stump maintain their fabric and their purpose for 700 years. The maintenance on such edifices is constant. St. Botolph’s has two full-time stonemasons on its staff. Once again, the church is being given its periodic facelift, and the parish and town have launched the Boston Stump Restoration and Development Appeal, seeking to raise ? 3 million for the conservation of the building. Once again, donors from Boston and across America will be helping to maintain this dramatic and living symbol of their heritage and English roots.

Old Boston, meanwhile, loves to welcome American visitors, whether they are from new Boston or elsewhere. The town is gearing up for a yearlong series of events celebrating St. Botolph’s 700th anniversary in 2009 and will be delighted to have visitors come to Boston to join the party.

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