COTTON, JOHN English and American Puri tan divine, sometimes called "The Patriarch of New England," born in Derby, England, on Dec. 4, 1585. He was educated at Trinity college, Cambridge, and became a fellow of Emmanuel college, Cambridge, then a stronghold of Puritanism. In June 1612 he became vicar of the parish church of St. Botolph in Boston, Lincolnshire, where he remained for 21 years. Becoming more and more a Puritan in spirit, he ceased, about 1615, to observe certain ceremonies prescribed by the legally authorized ritual, and in 1632 action was begun against him in the high commission court. He thereupon escaped, disguised, to London, lay in concealment for several months, and eluding the watch set for him at the various English ports, in July 1633 emigrated to the colony of Massachusetts Bay, arriving at Boston early in September. On Oct. Io he was chosen "teacher" of the First Church of Boston, of which John Wilson (1588-1667) was pastor, and here he remained until his death on Dec. 23, 1652. In the newer, as in the older Boston, his popularity was almost un bounded, and his influence, both in ecclesiastical and in civil affairs, was probably greater than that of any other minister in theocratic New England. He was a man of great learning and was a prolific writer. His writings include : The Keyes to the Kingdom of Heaven and the Power thereof (1644), The Way of the Churches of Christ in New England (1645), and The Way of Congregational Churches Cleared (1648), these works constitut ing an invaluable exposition of New England Congregationalism; and Milk for Babes, Drawn out of the Breasts of Both Testa ments, Chiefly for the Spirituall Nourishment of Boston Babes in either England, but may be of like Use for any Children (1646) , widely used for many years, in New England, for the re ligious instruction of children.
See the quaint sketch by Cotton Mather, John Cotton's grandson, in Magnalia (London, 1702) , and a sketch by Cotton's contemporary and friend, Rev. Samuel Whiting, printed in Alexander Young's Chronicles of the First Planters of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay from 1623 to r636 (Boston, 1846) ; also A. W. McClure's The Life of John Cotton (Boston, 1846), a chapter in Arthur B. Ellis's History of the First Church in Boston (Boston, 1881), and a chapter in Willis ton Walker's Ten New England Leaders (i9oi) . (W. W.)