Clergyman and writer, born in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, the son of Increase Mather. He entered Harvard at age 12, graduated when he was 15, was ordained (1685), and held office at Boston's Second Church for the rest of his life (as his father's colleague until 1723). In 1689 he advocated rebellion against the unpopular Sir Edmund Andros with his political writings. He supported the new Massachusetts charter (1691) and the new royal governor, Sir William Phips, of whom he wrote a biography, Pietas in Patriam (1697). His writings on witchcraft may have increased the mind-set that led to the Salem witch trials (1692), but he believed that fasting and prayer were the proper methods for fighting witchcraft. His political popularity declined after 1692, but his religious leadership remained strong, and he began to sponsor Yale, rather than Harvard, as the centre for Congregational education. He wrote over 450 books during his lifetime.
| Cotton Mather | |
|---|---|
| Cotton Mather, circa 1700 | |
| Born | February 12, 1663 |
| Died | February 13, 1728 |
| Occupation | Minister |
Cotton Mather (February 12, 1663 – February 13, 1728). Cotton Mather was the son of influential minister Increase Mather.
Background
Mather was likely named after his grandfather, John Cotton. It was not until his father's death, in 1723 that Mather assumed full responsibilities as Pastor at the Church. Author of more than 450 books and pamphlets, Cotton Mather's ubiquitous literary works made him one of the most influential religious leaders in America. Mather set the nation's "moral tone," and sounded the call for second and third generation Puritans, whose parents had left England for the New England colonies of North America to return to the theological roots of Puritanism. Mather's text thus was one of the more important documents in American history because it reflects a particular tradition of seeing and understanding the significance of place. In particular, Mather's review of the American experiment sought to explain signs of his time and the types of individuals drawn to the colonies as predicting the success of the venture. From his religious training, Mather viewed the importance of texts for elaborating meaning and for bridging different moments of history (for instance, linking the biblical stories of Noah and Abraham with the arrival of eminent leaders such as John Eliot, John Winthrop, and his own father Increase Mather).
A friend of a number of the judges charged with hearing the Salem witch trials, Mather on numerous occasions warned against ignoring "spectral evidence," (compare "The Devil in New England") though he accepted that it should not be heard in court, only as evidence needed to begin investigations. Writing of the trials later, Mather stated:
"If in the midst of the many Dissatisfactions among us, the publication of these Trials may promote such a pious Thankfulness unto God, for Justice being so far executed among us, I shall Re-joyce that God is Glorified..."Highly influential due to his prolific writing, Mather was a force to be reckoned with in secular, as well as in spiritual, matters. After the fall of James II of England in 1688, Mather was among the leaders of a successful revolt against James's Governor of the consolidated Dominion of New England, Sir Edmund Andros.
Mather was influential in early American science as well.
Of Mather's three wives and fifteen children, only his last wife and two children survived him. Then, at Mather's urging, one doctor, Zabdiel Boylston, tried the procedure on his only son and two slaves–one grown and one a boy. Boylston and Mather encountered such bitter hostility, that the selectmen of the city forbade him to repeat the experiment. a lighted grenade was even thrown into the house of Mather, who had favored the new practice and had sheltered another clergyman who had submitted himself to it.
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