Cotton Mather was one of the most well known ministers in colonial Boston-along with his father, Increase Mather. He preached in the Old North Church long before it became legendary for a lantern that was lit there. He is best known for his participation in the absurdly erroneous Salem Witch Trials. Apart from that, he was a relatively respected minister and a devout Puritan.
Cotton Mather was born in Boston, Massachusetts on February 12, 1663. He spent much of his young life being tutored and, like most children in 1600s Boston, becoming familiar with the Bible and its God. Cotton Mather was sent to school at Harvard when he was 12-years-old. He graduated with his Masters when he was 18-years-old.
In 1680, Cotton Mather gave his first sermon. He continued preaching, though he did not become an ordained minister until 1685. His life was that of a God and Satan-fearing man. He prayed, fasted and preached like any good Puritan minister of the time. Nonetheless, he was also a progressive man who strove to teach goodness to his flock. Cotton rightly believed in education for blacks. He was focused on community and humanitarian efforts, even though his beliefs would lead him to be a somewhat sinister character in Massachusetts history.
Cotton Mather did preach to a very large congregation. However, he was not always popular with them. He publicly approved of smallpox inoculations, which were frowned upon in Boston at the time, for whatever reason. He even went as far as to have his son inoculated. Some people even violently opposed him at this time, vandalizing his home.
So we know Cotton Mather was something of a forward-thinking man, but he was also a very backward-thinking man. He believed that Satan had ruled over America before the appearance of European settlers. He strongly believed in witches and possession, making him a dangerous man in 1692. He was one of the men who investigated the events that led up to the Salem Witch Trials. It was his assertion that witches were present in Salem. What is worse, he had some influence over the handling of evidence in the trials. Cotton Mather thought that confessions of witchcraft should be viewed as evidence, despite the fact that they were obtained under threats and violence.
The Salem Trials did not turn out well for the accused. However, for a brief period, Cotton Mather and his associates believed it a success. Cotton Mather even wrote a lengthy publication on the subject. Eventually, the sentiment changed and Cotton became something of a scapegoat concerning the Salem Witch Trials, though Samuel Sewall was the only man who publicly apologized for his part in it. They were all equally to blame.
Samuel Sewall had apologized because he came to believe that God was punishing him for his part in the trials. He had lost several children after the trials and was of the belief that only atonement for his sins would deter God’s wrath. Cotton Mather never expressed such a feeling. However, his losses were very similar to those Sewall suffered. Cotton was married three times and had a total of fifteen children. By the time he died on February 13, 1728, only two of his children were living.
