John (mad Jack) Oldham, a trader who had been banished from the Plymouth Colony for being a troublemaker, had bought an old land claim inheritance granted by a former king. The Massachusetts Bay Colony, led by John Winthrop, had a land grant from the current king, King Charles I, for that same land.
They also were given the incentive to move by John Winthrop, then the governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, who suggested that they move to another plot of land in what is now called Dorchester that would be better for grazing their cattle.
The settlers recognized the wealth of resources from the Charles River. In 1632 the General Court under John Winthrop, authorized the construction of a weir on the Charles at the fall line in Watertown, which marked just where the tidal river ended.
