John Harvard graduated from Emanuel College in Cambridge, England, in 1632. Three years later he earned a master's degree. After inheriting considerable wealth in 1635, he sailed for America with his bride in 1637 and settled in Charlestown, Massachusetts Bay Colony. Harvard became a teaching elder in the church and a leading member of the community. He died in 1638 at the age of 31. In his will he left half of his estate, 400 pounds sterling, and his 400-volume library to the proposed school or college which in 1636 the Great and General Court of Massachusetts Bay Colony had authorized. Classes began in mid-1638. On March 13, 1869, the school officially was named Harvard College.