Life in England had become unbearable under King Charles I due to heavy taxation and political and religious unrest. Like so many others, John, Bent, Sr. and his wife Martha, with their 5 small children, decided to emigrate to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in search of civil and spiritual freedom. In April 1638, they set sail out of Southampton, England on board the ship Confidence. At the time, John Bent, Jr. (baptized 1636-1717) was only two or three years old. The family settled in Su...
