Cotton Mather

MATHER, Cotton.  b. Boston, Massachusetts, 12 February 1663; d. Boston, Massachusetts, 13 February 1728.  Mather, one of the leading Puritan ministers of the American colonies, was instrumental in introducing the hymns of Isaac Watts* to North America. He was born into one of the prominent Puritan families of Colonial America.  His father, Increase Mather (1639-1723), was minister of the prestigious Old North Church in Boston, and president of Harvard College (now Harvard University) from 1692 to 1701. Cotton’s mother, Maria (née Cotton) (1641?-1714), was the daughter of the noted and controversial preacher and theologian, John Cotton (1585-1652).  Cotton Mather graduated from Harvard at...