The First Church in Windsor, Connecticut is the oldest Congregational church in Connecticut. Its origin can be traced back to 1630, when 140 men and women sailed out of Plymouth, England on the Mary & John. This was the first of 17 ships in the so-called Winthrop Fleet, bound for the Massachusetts Bay Colony. When they heard from the Indians about the fertile land along the Connecticut River in what is now called the Connecticut River Valley, a small contingent of settlers travelled southwest and established the first settlement in Connecticut at Windsor in 1633. Word soon spread that Windsor was a good place in which to settle: in 1635, the congregation of the First Church departed from their homes in Dorchester, Massachusetts to relocate to Connecticut.