Genealogy Report: Descendants of Richard Mather
Descendants of Richard Mather
2.TIMOTHY4 MATHER (RICHARD3, THOMAS2, JOHN1) was born 1628 in Liverpool, England, and died 14 Jan 1684/85 in Dorchester, Suffolk County, Massachusetts.He married (1) CATHARINE ELIZABETH ATHERTON 1650, daughter of HUMPHREY ATHERTON and MARY WALES.She was born 28 Sep 1628 in Winwick, Lancashire, England, and died 02 Feb 1709/10 in Dorchester, Suffolk County, Massachusetts.He married (2) ELIZABETH WEEKS 20 Mar 1678/79 in Dorchester, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, daughter of AMIEL WEEKS.She died Unknown.
Notes for TIMOTHY MATHER:
"All persons in this country by the name of Mather who descend from the New England Mathers can be traced to Thimothy Mather, as the name ceases in all other lines with Samuel Mather, the grandson of Rev. Dr. Cotton Mather."
More About TIMOTHY MATHER:
Burial: Unknown, Upham's Corner Cemetery, Dorchester, Massachusetts
Cause of death:: 1684, A fall in his barn
Nickname: 1650, "the Mather Farmer" (only son of Rev. Richard Mather who did not become a preacher.)
More About TIMOTHY MATHER and CATHARINE ATHERTON:
Marriage: 1650
More About TIMOTHY MATHER and ELIZABETH WEEKS:
Marriage: 20 Mar 1678/79, Dorchester, Suffolk County, Massachusetts
Children of TIMOTHY MATHER and CATHARINE ATHERTON are:
| 4. | i. | SAMUEL5 MATHER, b. 05 Jul 1650, Dorchester, Suffolk County, Massachusetts; d. 18 Mar 1725/26, Windsor, Hartford, Connecticut. | |
| ii. | NETHANIAL MATHER, b. 1653; d. Unknown. |
| More About NETHANIAL MATHER: Marital status: 1653, never married; died as a child |
| 5. | iii. | RICHARD MATHER, b. 22 Dec 1653, Dorchester, Suffolk County, Massachusetts; d. 17 Aug 1688, Lyme, New London County, Connecticut. | |
| iv. | CATHARINE MATHER, b. 06 Jan 1654/55, Dorchester, Suffolk County, Massachusetts; d. 1694. |
| More About CATHARINE MATHER: Marital status: 1694, never married |
| v. | NETHANIAL MATHER, b. 02 Sep 1658; d. Unknown. | ||
| vi. | JOSEPH MATHER, b. 25 May 1661; d. 08 Jan 1690/91; m. SARAH CLAPP, 02 Jun 1689, Dorchester, Suffolk County,Massachusetts; d. Unknown. |
| More About JOSEPH MATHER and SARAH CLAPP: Marriage: 02 Jun 1689, Dorchester, Suffolk County,Massachusetts |
| 6. | vii. | ATHERTON MATHER, b. 04 Oct 1663, Dorchester, Suffolk County, Massachusetts; d. 09 Nov 1734. |
3.INCREASE4 MATHER (RICHARD3, THOMAS2, JOHN1) was born 21 Jun 1639 in Dorchester, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, and died 23 Aug 17234.He married (1) MARIA COTTON 06 Mar 1661/625, daughter of JOHN COTTON and SARAH HAWKRIDGE.She was born 16 Feb 1640/41 in Boston, Massachusetts5, and died 17146.He married (2) ANN LAKE 1715.She died Unknown.
Notes for INCREASE MATHER:
Increase Mather was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts on 12 June 1639. He was ordained in 1664, and by the time of the Salem witchcraft trials was a prominent Boston minister. He had previously been the first President of Harvard College, and had headed a commission sent to England to negotiate for a new charter for the colony. It was unprecedented for a clergyman to perform such an important civil function, and he was widely praised for his efforts.
Increase was the father of Cotton Mather, who was also a minister, although with a radical and oversexed theology compared to that of Increase. Both Mathers, however, developed doubts as to whether the witchcraft trials in Salem were achieving justice, and warned against the admission of spectral evidence. Much of the negative history surrounding the Mathers comes from Cotton's early writings on witchcraft which are widely seen as having inspired the initial diagnoses of witchcraft affliction in Salem. In addition, another writer of the period, Robert Calef, gleefully libeled and slandered both father and son (while acknowledging, on occasion, that much of what he wrote was not entirely true).
Although Increase was one of the few ministers to associate sexual activity with witchcraft, he flatly rejected such tests for accused witches as reciting the Lord's Prayer, swimming, or weeping (superstition was the witches lacked these abilities). In 1684, he published An Essay for the Recording of Illustrious Providence, a lengthy defense of the existence of apparitions, witches, diabolical possessions and "other remarkable judgements upon noted sinners." In it he reasserted puritan views of witchcraft and also asserted his belief that the sins of the population had brought on the Indian wars, the unusual thunderstorms, and other judgements of God upon New England. He warned his readers of the dangers of Satan and urged them to change their sinful ways.
Despite doubts as to the trials, Increase would never denounce the judges, most likely because many of them were his personal friends. After receiving the petition of John Proctor, Increase and seven other ministers from Boston met at Cambridge on August 1, 1692. This meeting began the change in feelings towards the witch hunt. After the meeting, Increase attended the trial of George Burroughs at Salem, becoming convinced of his guilt. Increase visited many of the accused in prison, and several of them recanted their confessions to him. About the time rumors began that Increase's wife would be named a witch, he presented his "Case of Conscience," which represented a dramatic break from his former position on witchcraft. In it he publicly questioned the credibility of the possessed persons, confessed witches, and spectral evidence.
(Source: http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/ASA_INC.HTM)
In 1691 he obtained a new charter for New England from King William and Queen Mary.
More About INCREASE MATHER:
Appointed: 27 May 1669, President, Harvard College: Mather House opened in 1970. Mather House was named for Increase Mather (A.B. 1656), seventh President of Harvard (1685-1692), negotiator with James II of the Massachusetts Charter, and father of Cotton Mather (A.B. 1678).6,7
Burial: Unknown, Copp's Hill, Old North Church, Boston
Graduation: 1656, Harvard College
Ordination: 27 May 1664, North Church, Boston8
Relocated: Sep 1661, back to New England from England
Resigned: 1701, President, Harvard College
More About INCREASE MATHER and MARIA COTTON:
Marriage: 06 Mar 1661/628
More About INCREASE MATHER and ANN LAKE:
Marriage: 1715
Children of INCREASE MATHER and MARIA COTTON are:
| 7. | i. | COTTON5 MATHER, b. 12 Feb 1662/63, Dorchester, Suffolk County, Massachusetts; d. 13 Feb 1727/28, Boston, Massachusetts. | |
| ii. | MARIA MATHER, b. Mar 1664/65; d. Unknown. | ||
| iii. | ELIZABETH MATHER, b. Jan 1666/67; d. Unknown; m. (1) ? GREENBOUGH; d. Unknown; m. (2) ? BYLES; d. Unknown. | ||
| iv. | NATHANAEL MATHER, b. 06 Jul 16699; d. 17 Oct 1688, Salem, Massachusetts9. |
| More About NATHANAEL MATHER: Graduation: 1685, Harvard College |
| v. | SAMUEL MATHER, b. Nov 1671; d. Unknown. |
| More About SAMUEL MATHER: Graduation: 1690, Harvard College9 |
| vi. | SARAH MATHER, b. Aug 1674; d. Unknown. | ||
| vii. | ABIGAIL MATHER, b. Apr 1677; d. Unknown; m. (1) REV. JOHN WHITE10; d. Unknown; m. (2) NEWCOMB BLAKE11; d. Unknown. | ||
| viii. | HANNAH MATHER, b. May 1680; d. Unknown. | ||
| ix. | CATHERINE MATHER, b. Sep 1682; d. Unknown. | ||
| x. | JERUSHA MATHER, b. Apr 1684; d. Unknown. |