John Cotton (Puritan)

John Cotton
Painting by John Smibert
Born	4 December 1585 Derby, Derbyshire
Died	23 December 1652(1652-12-23) (aged 67) Boston, Massachusetts
Resting place	King's Chapel Burying Ground, Boston
Education	B.A. 1603 Trinity College M.A. 1606 Emmanuel College B.D. 1613 Emmanuel College
Occupation	Clergyman
Spouse(s)	(1) Elizabeth Horrocks (2) Sarah (Hawkred) Story
Children	(all with second wife) Seaborn, Sariah, Elizabeth, John, Maria, Rowland, William
Parent(s)	Mary Hurlbert and Rowland Cotton
Relatives	grandfather of Cotton Mather

John Cotton (4 December 1585 – 23 December 1652) was a clergyman in England and the American colonies and, by most accounts, the preeminent minister and theologian of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Following five years of study at Trinity College, Cambridge, and another nine years at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, he had already built a reputation as a scholar and outstanding preacher when he accepted the position of minister at Saint Botolph's Church in Boston, Lincolnshire, in 1612. As a Puritan, he wanted to do away with the ceremony and vestments associated with the established Anglican Church and preach in a simpler, more consensual manner. Though he felt the English church needed significant reforms, he nevertheless was adamant about not separating from it; his preference was to change it from within. While many ministers were removed from their pulpits for their puritan practices, Cotton thrived at St. Botolph's for nearly 20 years because of supportive aldermen, lenient bishops, and his very conciliatory and gentle demeanor. By 1632, however, the Anglican church had greatly increased its pressure on the non-conforming clergy, and Cotton was forced to go into hiding. The following year he and his wife boarded a ship for New England.

Cotton was highly sought as a minister in Massachusetts and was quickly installed as the second pastor of the Boston church, sharing the ministry with John Wilson. He generated more religious conversions in his first six months than had been made the previous year. While early in his Boston tenure, Cotton became only peripherally involved in the banishment of Roger Williams, Williams blamed much of his troubles on Cotton. Soon thereafter, Cotton became embroiled in the colony's Antinomian Controversy, when several adherents of his "free grace" theology, most notably Anne Hutchinson, began criticizing other ministers in the colony. While he tended to support his adherents through much of the controversy, it was not until near its conclusion that he came to realize that many of his followers held theological positions that were well outside the mainstream of Puritan orthodoxy, which he did not condone.