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Born: May 8, 1658 Hampton, New Hampshire |
Died: March 27, 1710 Hampton, New Hampshire |
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Father: Seaborn Cotton Mother: Dorothy Bradstreet |
Brothers and Sisters: Elizabeth Cotton Anna Cotton Mary or Maria Cotton Sarah Cotton Mercy Cotton Abiah Cotton Dorothy Cotton |
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Spouse: Anne Lake m. August 17, 1686 |
Children: Anna Cotton John Cotton Mary Cotton Dorothy Cotton Thomas Cotton Simon Cotton Samuel Cotton Lydia Cotton |
Additional Information:
"He was graduated from Harvard in 1678 and on Aug. 31, 1679, with his classmate and cousin, Cotton Mather, was admitted to the first church of Boston, then under the care of Increase Mather. He was chosen fellow of Harvard college, Aug. 9, 1681, and was made librarian of the college Nov. 7, 1681, probably continuing in the office till 1690, at which time his office as fellow expired. His father died April 19, 1686, and on Nov. 28, 1687, a committee of Hampton was chosen to treat with him in reference to settlement. After declining several invitations to be settled over the church, he finally accepted and was ordained Nov. 19, 1696, the church at that time consisting of ten male and fifteen female members. He was one of the four settled ministers in New Hampshire at the beginning of the eighteenth century. During his ministry two hundred and twenty persons were admitted to full communion and four hundred and seventy-eight were baptized. A protrait, similar to the one accompanying this sketch, is given erroneously in Drake's History of Boston, as that of John Cotton the Puritan. The autograph is probably his but the protrait is unquestionably that of his grandson, the Hampton minister. He was married Aug. 17, 1686, to Ann, daughter of Capt. Thomas and Mary (Goodyear) Lake and had eight children. His daughter Mary married the Rev. John Whiting (Harvard, 1700) and his daughter Dorothy married the Rev. Nathaniel Gookin (Harvard, 1703). His widow became in 1715 the wife of Increase Mather (Harvard, 1656). John Cotton died suddenly of apoplexy at Hampton, N.H., March 27, 1710."
--From The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans: Volume II