of twenty five families, mostly farmers from Surrey and Kent, to travel to the New Haven colony. Also among the party was Edward Jones, an indentured builder who, in exchange for passage, agreed to help the newcomers construct houses for three years. George Hubbard, one of the original Guilford settlers, noted that almost all of the founders of Guilford, with the exception of Whitfield, were young men. Dorothy Whitfield's brother Jacob Sheafe and two of her sisters emigrated with them. [12] Upon arrival in June 1639, Whitfield consulted Fenwick and Reverend John Davenport, founder of the New Haven Colony, and decided to purchase land from the Quinnipiac tribe halfway between the New Haven and Saybrook colonies.[7] Quinnipiac land stretched from New Haven on the west to Madison on the east and north to Meriden. Each party in the land transaction was ignorant of each other's culture. The indigenous tribal leaders likely viewed the goods that they received as a goodwill gesture from the English. Historian Richard Carlson noted that “for the Quinnipiacs the treaties represented agreements to share uses of the land, not agreements for exclusive ownership of the land itself.” [14] Whitfield and his followers started establishing the Guilford colony in September. They began constructing his house, although it was not finished until the following spring due to winter weather conditions.[9] In the early years of the Guilford colony, Whitfield served as both the minister and community leader, delivering sermons, conducting marriage ceremonies as well as settling civil disputes.[7] In 1641 the colony of New Haven expanded to include Guilford as well as several other settlements under the New Haven General Court's jurisdiction. New Haven was officially recognized as a colony by the English Parliament under Oliver Cromwell. Beginning in 1642 several leaders of the New Haven Colony returned to England to join in the political struggles over religious freedom. [16] By the late 1640s, Whitfield was reconsidering whether to remain in the New World. Between 1646 and 1648, seven founding members of Guilford, most of them young men, had died. Political conditions in England had changed. Archbishop Laud, who represented King Charles I's unyielding religious policies was arrested on charges of treason in 1641, and executed on January 10, 1645. [15] By 1650 England had become more tolerant of religious differences and more attractive to New Englanders who were wearying of life in the wilderness. Prominent citizens, many