← Back to Biographies
John Cotton
December 4, 1585 – December 23, 1652
Puritan Minister
Patriarch of New England Puritanism
Biography
English Puritan minister who became one of the most influential leaders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Known as the 'Patriarch of New England,' he shaped the theology and church polity of early American Congregationalism from his pulpit at First Church in Boston.
Faith & Testimony
Cotton was a brilliant scholar at Cambridge before his Puritan convictions forced him to emigrate to New England. He became the leading theologian of the Massachusetts colony, influencing everything from church governance to civil law. His grandson was Cotton Mather.