Rev. Thomas James (Puritan)

Rev. Thomas James, Jr. (1620-1698) was a Puritan minister in East Hampton, Long Island, during the late 17th century. In 1648, the first inhabitants of East Hampton arrived, having mostly migrated from Maidstone, a town in Kent, England. Prior to reaching eastern Long Island, they made a stopover in Lynn, Massachusetts, and then moved on to Connecticut. Their journey to America was primarily driven by religious persecution and oppressive governmental regulations. These settlers sought not just religious freedom, but also civil liberties.