Transcript:Savage, James. Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England/v1p462

    COTTON, JOHN, Boston, the most disting. divine that came from Eng.
in the first age, b. at Derby, 4 Dec. 1585, s. of Rowland, or rather Roland
Cotton, Esq. was ent. at the Univ. of Cambridge, when 14 yrs. old, bred at
Trinity Coll. where he took his A. M. 1606, bec. fellow of Emanuel, after
spend. as he says, fourteen yrs. at Cambridge, preach. at Boston, Lincolnsh.
twenty-one yrs. from 1612, being by the choice of the corpor. made
vicar; came with sev. of his parish in the Griffin, arr. 4 Sept. 1633,
with w. Sarah and their first ch. nam. at bapt. Seaborn (from the circumstance
of his b.), rec. at the ch. on Sunday foll. 8 Sept., on 10 Oct. was
ord. teacher of that ch. freem. 4 May 1634, d. 23 Dec. (yet the old copy
of town rec. of wh. I presume no orig. has been kn. for 150 yrs. has it
15), 1652. His d. ensu. on tak. cold in cross. the ferry as he went to
preach a few days bef. at Cambridge. His will of 30 Nov. of that yr.
with codic. of 12 Dec. ment. the four ch. Seaborn, John, Elizabeth and Mary,
w. Sarah, and "ho. and garden in the market-place of Boston, in
Lincolnsh." as well as the "small part of my house, wh. Sir Henry
Vane built, whilst he sojourn. with me," and at his departure, gave by
deed, to s. Seaborn; and also ment. cous. Henry Smith, and cous. John
Angier, with his w. and ch. all liv. at his ho. and kinswom. Martha
Mellowes, wh. I judge to be wid. of Abraham. But the name of gr.ch.
Betty Day, in the codic. can only be explain. by suppos. that his w. had
by former h. a d. wh. had m. a Day and had this ch. We kn. she was
not gr.ch. in nat. descent. He liv. 18 yrs. with w. Elizabeth Horrocks, and
had no ch.; by sec. w. wid. Sarah Story, wh. outliv. him, and In. 26
Aug. 1656, Richard Mather, outliv. him, and d. 27 May 1676, had the
s. bef. ment. b. on the ocean, 12 Aug. 1633, bapt. 4 days aft. reach.
port; Sarah, b. 12, bapt. 20 Sept. 1635, betroth. to Jonathan Mitchell,
but d. of smallpox, 20 Jan. 1650; Elizabeth 9, bapt. 10 Dec. 1637; John,
15, bapt. 22 Mar. 1640, H. C. 1657; Mary or Maria, 16, bapt. 20 Feb.
1642; and Rowland, a. 6 days old, bapt. 24 Dec. 1643, d. of smallpox, 29
Jan. 1650. Elizabeth m. 12 Oct. 1655, Jeremiah Eggington, d. 31 Aug. foll.
hav. Elizabeth b. 15 Aug. wh. d. soon; Maria m. 6 Mar. 1663, Rev. Increase
Mather, and d. 4 Apr. 1714. Twenty-one of his descend. in the male
line (beside the many thro. male or fem. of the Mather blood, and many
gr.ds. and other females), had been, in 1818, gr. at Harv. of wh. two
thirds were clerg. JOHN, Plymouth, s. of the preced. after being some
yrs. at Wethersfield, where he was excor. of the will of Gov. Wells, m.
7 Nov. 1660, Joanna, d. of Dr. Bray Rossiter, wh. outliv. him, and d.
12 Oct. 1702, aged 60; was preacher at W. and freem. of Conn. 1661;
but rem. without sett. back to his nat. town, had unhappiness of being
excom. by his father's ch. for three aggrav. offences, May 1664, I presume
without public prosecut. and happily long aft. d. of his pious f.;