Cotton Mather
A zealous Puritan intellectual whose writings on witchcraft fueled hysteria, yet who also championed early science and inoculation in colonial America.
1663–1728 (age 65)·Puritan clergyman·Birthday: February 12
Biography
Cotton Mather was born into Boston's Puritan elite, the son of influential minister Increase Mather, and carried that weight with a fierce, complicated intellect. A child prodigy who entered Harvard at twelve, he became a pillar of the Old North Church, preaching sermons that shaped the moral climate of New England. His legacy is irrevocably tied to the Salem witch trials; his book 'Wonders of the Invisible World' provided a theological framework for the panic, though he later expressed private doubts about the court's methods. Paradoxically, Mather was also a curious man of science. A fellow of the Royal Society, he promoted smallpox inoculation after learning of the practice from an enslaved man, Onesimus, facing down violent public opposition to do so. His over 450 published works reveal a mind torn between a rigid, supernatural worldview and an empirical curiosity about the natural one.
#1 When Cotton Was Born
The biggest hits of 1663
Cotton's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1663Born
1668Started school
1676Became a teenager
1679Could drive
1681Could vote
1684Turned 21
1693Turned 30
1703Turned 40
1713Turned 50
1723Turned 60
1728Died at 65
Key Achievements
- Published 'Wonders of the Invisible World' (1693), a definitive contemporary justification of the Salem witch trials.
- Successfully advocated for smallpox inoculation in Boston in 1721, a pioneering public health move in the colonies.
- Authored 'Magnalia Christi Americana' (1702), an ecclesiastical history of New England that shaped its early identity.
- Became the first American-born member of the prestigious Royal Society of London in 1713.
Did You Know?
He reportedly taught himself Hebrew, Greek, and Latin as a young child.
He kept a detailed diary for most of his life, providing a rich source on colonial thought.
He owned a slave named Onesimus, who taught him about the African method of smallpox inoculation.
His name 'Cotton' was chosen in honor of his maternal grandfather, John Cotton, another leading Puritan minister.
“Religion brought forth prosperity, and the daughter destroyed the mother.”
