Quoted directly from Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England by James Savage, Boston, 1860-1862 Vol III, page 171-174. Select abbreviations for futher definition by Savage.
MATHER, ATHERTON, Dorchester, s. of Timothy, rem. to Windsor, there m. 20 Sept. 1694, Rebecca, d. of Thomas Stoughton, and by her had William, b. 2 Mar. 1698; and Jerusha, 18 July 1700; his w. d. 1704, and by sec. w. Mary he had Joshua, 26 Nov. 1706; Richard, 31 Mar. 1708; Mary, 2 Mar. 1711; rem. to Suffield, there had Thomas, 5 Apr. 1713; Eliakim, 10 July 1715; and Catherine, 5 Jan. 1718, wh. d. at 15 yrs.; and he d. 9 Nov. 1734. COTTON, Boston, eldest s. of Increase, freem. 1680, when he was only 17 yrs. old, so that he came forward with strange rapidity (hav. join. The ch. of his f. 31 Aug. 1679), wh. is the more striking, as his f. was never adm. freem. that we find; and if his course at coll. were full one, he must have ent. at 11 ½ yrs. Yet more than two or three have been min. in Boston younger than he; but with less sagacity than his f. he was ord. at 2d ch. collea. with him 13 May 1685; disting. as a scholar above most of his contemp. but kn. in mod. days chiefly as author of the Magn. in seven books, London 1702, a work of no little value, and more curious than valuable, d. 13 Feb. 1728. He m. 4 May 1686, Abigail, d. of John Phillips of Charlestown, wh. d. 28 Nov. or as town rec. says, 1 Dec. 1702, hav. borne to him nine ch. of wh. five d. young, three bef. bapt. and he m. 18 Aug. 1703, Eliz. d. of Dr. John Clark, wid. of Richard Hubbard, mariner, with a good est. had six more ch. of wh. Rev. Samuel, b. 30 Oct. bapt. 3 Nov. 1706, H. C. 1723, attained no humble share of celebrity; and she d. 18 Nov. 1713. He next m. 5 July 1715, Lydia, d. of Rev. Samuel Lee, wid. of John George, wh. long surv. On 3 Jan. preced. he had writ. to Colman, saying he had "no manner of prospect of return. unto" the married state; tho "I have no doubt foolishly eno. been ready to fall into this weakness." Hardly any more curious letter can be found in the Geneal. Reg. See V. 60. In less than a yr. aft. his m. with this d. of Lee, her sis. Catharine, by sudden death of her h. Henry Howell, was left with two ch. of two and three yrs. of age, to wh. in evil hour, M. was appoint. guardian, and suffer. much anxiety in conseq. Sec. 4 Mass. Hist. Coll. II. 122. Twelve of ch. with dates of bapt. and names, are in the appendix to Rev. Chandler Robbins’s Hist. of the 2d ch. but six of them are by the sec. w. In the pious labor of his s. Rev. Samuel, on the biography of his f. he is more copious than exact. The most agreeable of all the copious writings of Mather, will, perhaps, be found in some apologues design. to magnify the merits of his f. in obtain. the new chart. for wh. however, little favor was found in the mind of Calef. They may be seen in 3 Mass. Hist. Coll. I. 126, 133. But his epistolary exercises are most frequent. refer. to, and they are very num. As the sample of his style, and also highly illustrat. the politics of the day, that his f. was too much engag. in for the larger part of his life, the reader will glad. turn to the letters in 1 Mass. Hist. Coll. III. admonish Gov. Dudley by f. and s. each, as if in rivalry, more venomous than the other. ELEAZER, Northampton, s. of Richard, was the first min. at N. ord. 18 June 1661, m. 29 Sept. 1659, Esther, youngest d. of Rev. John Warham, had Eunice, b. 2 Aug. 1664; Warham, 7 Sept. 1666, H. C. 1685; and Eliakim, 22 Sept. 1668; and d. 24 July 1669, only 3 mos. aft. his f. His wid. m. Rev. Solomon Stoddard, success. of her h. outliv. him, and d. 10 Feb. 1736, in her 92d yr. Eunice m. Rev. John Williams, and was k. by the Ind. the day aft. the capt. of Deerfield by them and their French allies, 29 Feb. 1704; Eliakim d. bef. mature age; but the other ch. freem. of Mass. 1690, aft. some yrs. preach. and many yrs. teach. sch. sat down at New Haven, was judge of Pro. Ct. and there d. 12 Aug. 1745. INCREASE, Boston, youngest br. of Eleazer, hav. tak. at Harv. his A. B. went at 18 yrs. of age to his br. Samuel at Dublin, and studied there for his A. M. in 1658, preached in sev. places, as Co. Devon and Isle of Guernsey, leav. the latter aft. the restorat. but. ret. at the end of Aug. 1661, to N. E. and on 8 Sept. utter. his first sermon on our side of the water in that ch. where he serv. above 60 yrs. tho. he was not ord. until 27 May 1664. He was chos. Presid. of the coll. 1685, and fill. the office until 1701, when the increase of dissatisfact. long prevail. at his refusal to give up his pulpit in Boston, and reside at Cambridge, compell. his resigna. Next yr. he fear. the glory of N. E. was depart. and that the coll. under direct. of Willard of the O. S. ch. should "become a nursery, not of plants of renown, but of degenerate plants, who will forsake those holy principles of truth," &c. &c. But his talents had new scope in the intermed. time, for in the last dangerous yr. of Sir Edmund Andros, he was sent in disguise, on board a ship, to intercede with king James, and sail. 7 Apr. 1688, being absent from his coll. duties, on political engagem. until 14 may 1692, when Sir William Phips the Gov. of his own nominat. land. with him, bring. the new chart. of William and Mary. Unhappi. the desire to manage state affairs ever aft. possessed him, and lessen. his usefulness, beside embitter. his life. He d. 23 Aug. 1723, and was bur. 29, with the greatest marks of esteem and affection. He m. 6 Mar. 1662, Mary, sometimes spell. Maria, d. of famous John Cotton, wh. d. 4 Apr. 1714; had Cotton, H. C. 1678, bef. ment. b. 12, bapt. 15 Feb. 1663; Maria, 7, bapt. 19 Mar. 1665; Eliz. 6 Jan. bapt. 3 Feb. 1667; Nathaniel, H. C. 1685, 6, bapt. 11 July 1669, whose great promise of disting. talents was cut off 17 Oct. 1688, at Salem; Sarah, 9, bapt. 12 Nov. 1671; Samuel, H. C. 1690, 28, bapt. 30 Aug. 1674; Abigail, 13, bapt. 20 Apr. 1677; Hannah, 30 May, bapt. 16 July 1680; Catherine, 14, bapt. 17 Sept. 1682, d. within 9 mos.; and Jerusa, 16, bapt. 20 Apr. 1684. He m. sec. w. 1715, Ann, d. of Thomas Lake, wid. of Rev. John Cotton of Hampton, wh. outliv. him, and d. at Brookline, 29 Mar. 1737, in 74th yr. All the ds. exc. her wh. d. in infancy were m. and of the six, all but Hannah had ch. Maria m. Bartholomew Green, and next, Richard Fifield, surv. him, and d. 24 Nov. 1746; Eliz. m. July 1696, William Greenough, and next, 6 Oct. 1703, Josiah Byles, and d. 20 Aug. 1745; her only ch. was Mather B. a min. of celebr. in Boston, wh. resembled, in some points, his uncle Cotton; Sarah m. 1691, Rev. Nehemiah Walter of Roxbury; Abigail m. Newcomb Blake, and next, 1727, Rev. John White of Gloucester; Hannah m. 28 Jan. 1698, John Oliver, and d. 2 Dec. 1706; and Jerusha m. 8 Mar. 1710, Peter Oliver, and d. 30 Dec. foll. her d. Jerusha d. 5 days aft. A ridic. mistake of ano. Jerusha, niece of this, tho. not b. bef. her death, mystified the geneal. of the late Gov. Smith of Conn. Samuel, the third s. went to Eng. was sett. as min. at Witney, in Oxfordsh. made some preparat. for an abridg. of his br. Cotton’s Magnalia, wh. from many judicious omissions it is regret. that he had not complet. and published. His copy is in the library of the Mass. Hist. Soc. JOSEPH, Dorchester, s. of Timothy, m. 2 or 20 June 1689, Sarah Clap, had Catherine, b. a. 1690, and he d. a. 1691. NATHANIEL, Dorchester, s. of Richard, b. at Toxteth, near Liverpool, Eng. went some yrs. aft. his gr. at Harv. to Eng. had the living at Barnstable, 1656, by presentat. of Oliver Cromwell, it is wildly said, meaning, perhaps, by his recommend. for eccles. patronage had ceased; ejected in 1662, preach. at Rotterdam, aft. some yrs. was at Dublin, success. to his br. Samuel, whence he sent contrib. for relief to the suffer. in Philip’s was 1676, and last London, d. 26 July 1697, hav. serv. at the altar 47 yrs. in Eng. Holland, Ireland, and Eng. again. RICHARD, Dorchester, s. of Thomas, b. 1596, of an ancient fam. as his gr.s. Cotton in Magn. III. c.20, assures us, at Lowton, in the parish of Winwick, Lancash. was employ. in teach. a sch. some yrs. bef. going to the Univ. but at length, on 9 May 1618, was ent. of Brazen Nose Coll. Oxford, yet soon call. to Toxteth, where he had taught the sch. preach. his first sermon 30 Nov. of the same yr. There most faithful. he serv. 15 yrs. and was then suspend. for non-conform. and feeling the true sense of his office, resolved on expatriat. In disguise he emb. at Bristol in the James, arr. 17 Aug. 1635, aft. peril in the remarka. storm two days bef. and on 25 Oct. with w. Catherine join. the ch. of Boston. He had m. 29 Sept. 1624, that d. of Edmunt Holt, Esquire, of Bury, in Lancash. had Samuel, b. 13 May 1626, H. C. 1643; Timothy; Nathaniel, 20 Mar. 1630, H. C. 1647, bef. ment.; and Joseph, wh. d. in childhood; aft. com. to N. E. had Eleazer, 13 May 1637, H. C. 1656; and Increase, 21 June 1639, H. C. 1656, bef. ment. He was a man of excel. discretion, of less learning, it is prob. than his ambitious s. Increase, and less brilliancy, it is clear, than his eccentr. gr.s. the never dying author of Magnalia, but in true serv. as min. happier than either, and better than both. He was sett. at D. 23 Aug. 1636; his w. d. 1655, and he m. 26 Aug. 1656, Sarah, wid. of his great friend John Cotton, and d. 22 Apr. 1669. A few days bef. he had met a great indignity, in being refus. adm. with sundry others, sent by an ecclesiast. council, met at Boston, to attempt conciliat. in the first ch. there, as John Hull, one of the aggriev. mem. relates in his Diary, p. 229 of the Vol. pub. by the Antiq. Soc. of Worcester. The wid. made her will 3 May 1670, but did not d. for six yrs. His life, written by Increase, print. 1670, is condensed in the Magn. the author of wh. could never be scrupulous in use of materials; and of course he shows that he had not resort. to the MS. of the journal of his gr.f. Yet the slight extracts from the interesting work, caused a desire for the orig. wh. in Young’s Chron. was print. from the autogr. 210 yrs. aft. its date. RICHARD, Dorchester, s. of Timothy, m. 1 July 1680, Catherine, d. of Joseph Wise of Roxbury, had Timothy, b. 20 Mar. 1681; Eliz. 20 Nov. 1682; Samuel, 23 Jan. 1684; and Joseph, 29 Jan. 1686. He had sett. at Lyme, and d. 17 Aug. 1688. Goodwin calls his w. Eliz. wh. seems wrong. SAMUEL, Dorchester, eldest s. of the first Richard, b. in Eng. freem. 1648, aft. large preparat. here for his profess. went home, preach. in Eng. Scotland, and Ireland, sett. in Dublin, was made a fellow of Trinity Coll. there, says fam. tradit. m. a sis. of Sir John Stevens, and d. 29 Oct. 1671. SAMUEL, Windsor, eldest s. of Timothy, preach. some time at Deerfield, and on destruct. of that town by the Ind. 1675, went down with the surv. people to Hatfield, and there preach. and elsewhere, but was call. from preach. at Branford to be ord. at W. 1682, bef. wh. he had m. Hannah, d. of Gov. Treat, wh. d. 8 Mar. 1708, had Samuel, b. 1677, H. C. 1698, a physician, wh. d. 6 Feb. 1746; Hannah, Sept. 1682, d. next yr.; John, Joseph; and Azariah, 29 Aug. 1685, a min. wh. d. at Saybrook, 11 Feb. 1737; Ebenezer, 3 Sept. 1687; Joseph, 6 Mar. 1689; Eliz. 2 Jan. 1691; Nathaniel, 30 May 1695; Benjamin, 29 Sept. 1696; and John. He was one of the first Trustees of Yale Coll. and d. 18 Mar. 1728. The s. kept up the name to our times. TIMOTHY, Dorchester, s. of Richard, b. in Eng. m. Catherine, d. of Humphrey Atherton, had Samuel, b. 5, bapt. 7 Sept. 1651, H. C. 1671, bef. ment.; Nathaniel, bapt. 30 Jan. 1653, prob. d. very soon, wh. may explain the fail. of entry of b.; Richard, 22, bapt. 25 Dec. 1653, bef. ment. (of course not bapt. on Wednesday, 2 Nov. of that yr. as print. in Geneal. Reg. XIII.280); Catherine, 6, bapt. 13 Jan. 1656; Nathaniel, again 2, bapt. 5 Sept. 1658; Joseph, 25, bapt. 26 May 1661; and Atherton, 4 Oct. 1663, bef. ment.; and he d. 14 Jan. 1685, by falling from a scaffold in his barn, says Blake’s Ann. His wid. Eliz. wh. he m. 20 Mar. 1680, d. 20 Feb. 1710, aged 70 yrs. Of the eleven male descend. of famous Richard, bred at Harv. as above enum. ten were of the seventeenth cent. and the other had his A. B. a hundred and thirty yrs. since. From 1705 to 1837 eighteen have been gr. at Yale.Note: There are no listed Additions and Corrections in Vol III or Vol IV for Mather.
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