John Cotton
1585 - 1652

In 1612, John Cotton became vicar of St.Botolph's Church in Boston, England, and began a long history of ticking-off church authorities with his "nonconformist preachings." Despite pressure from the more conservative establishment, he attracted great numbers to his congregation including many prominent people who were later to help found the town's namesake in New England.

Cotton was instigator responsible for many Puritans leaving their native shores to begin new lives across the Atlantic. He promoted membership of the Massachusetts Bay Company and inspired the group of Lincolnshire men who led the founding and development of Boston MA in 1630.

John Cotton emigrated himself in 1633 along with John Leverett and Edmund Quincy, whose descendants were to become the second and sixth American presidents. Motivated by ill-health to leave Boston in 1631, he sailed to America in July 1633. He was ordained as the first vicar of Boston, Massachusetts on 15th October of that year and continued until the time of his death.