Cotton Mather was born on February 12, 1663. His father was Increase Mather. Increase Mather was the pastor of the original Moth Church (puritan church). His grandfathers were John Cotton who was also a pastor and Richard Mather.
He got his first name from his mother's madden name. Cotton Mather followed in his father's footsteps and became the pastor of his father's church (original North Church.) He became the pastor of the original North church in Boston in 1723 after his father died. Cotton Mather wrote over 450 books in his lifetime. Cotton Mather was one of the most influential religious leaders in America because of all of the books that he wrote.
Cotton Mather had three wives and fifteen children. Only one of his three wives and two of his fifteen children outlived him. Many members of his family like his two wives and many of his children became sick in his lifetime and many of those people in his family died at young ages.
Title page of first edition of Cases of Conscience...
English: Portrait of Cotton Mather downloaded from...
Title page of "Wonders of the Invisible World"One of his sons (Increase) even got thrown into prison for rioting. He always felt that the devil was against him and his ministry. The devil was against Cotton Mather because of the great things he did in America and by his books is still doing. The devil tried to discourage Cotton Mather to make him stop his work but this did not work.
He was ordained in 1685. He was not only a very successful pastor but he was also a scientist. He was one of the first people to start experimenting with plant hybridizing.
He also was a very educated man. He was educated in Latin, Hebrew, and religion. He attended Boston Latin School and Harvard University. He graduated from Harvard in 1678. He was only twelve years of age when...