You may be thinking of John Winthrop, a real-life historical figure who was the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 17th century. While he doesn't appear in the novel, his influence and the Puritan ideals he represented are deeply embedded in the social and moral landscape of the story.
Hawthorne uses the historical backdrop of Puritan New England as a canvas for exploring themes of sin, guilt, and the hypocrisy of a society that rigidly enforces moral laws. While Winthrop is not a character, his legacy and the ideals of the Puritan society he helped to build are central to understanding the context and significance of the events in "The Scarlet Letter".