Abandoning America by Susan Hardman Moore

Author:Susan Hardman Moore [Moore, Susan Hardman]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, United States, Colonial Period (1600-1775), Europe, Medieval, Modern, General
ISBN: 9781783271412
Google: kM7OjwEACAAJ
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer, Incorporated
Published: 2016-10-21T04:10:10+00:00

MATHER, Increase (1639–1723)

Increase Mather was born in New England at Dorchester, Massachusetts, the son of Richard and Katherine Mather, and the younger brother of Samuel* and Nathaniel Mather*. Richard Mather named his son ‘Increase’ to mark the ‘great Increase of every sort’ with which ‘God favoured the country … about the time of his nativity’. Two years later, Mather baptised another Dorchester child with the name ‘Return’ – a sign of changed times in New England, ‘the times of the unsettled humours of many men’s spirits to return for England’. Increase and Return grew up in the same small settlement. As an adult, Return Munnings defied his name by staying on in America. Increase Mather defied his name by sailing to England as soon as he could: twelve days after he turned eighteen and preached his first sermon.

Mather entered Harvard in 1651 but after six months went to be tutored by John Norton of Ipswich, ‘my parents … fearing that the Colledge diet would not well agree with my weake natural constitution of Body’. He moved with Norton to Boston in April 1653, and rejoined the graduating class of 1656. He would have graduated in 1655 but stayed on, at his father’s request, for the extra year imposed on students by the Harvard president, Henry Dunster. Mather graduated BA in 1656. During his time at Harvard he attended the church at Cambridge and was influenced by Jonathan Mitchell’s ministry.

In 1657, Mather recalled, ‘My brother Samuel … wrote to my Father encouraging him to send me to Dublin … Now having my selfe a marvellous inclination and bent of spirit that way, I prevailed with my Father to give his consent that I should go for England.’ He had an emotional parting from his father, who ‘as I took my leave of him, laid his hands over my shoulders, and wept over me abundantly (and so did I pour out tears on him) and solemnly blessed me … so we parted, not expecting to see one another again in this world’. Increase Mather left New England on 3 July 1657.

After an Atlantic crossing of five weeks, Mather landed at Portsmouth. He rode to London and on 24 August 1657 left for Lancashire, ‘where I was very kindly entertayned by my Fathers old friends and Christian acquaintance’. In September 1657 he sailed from Liverpool to Dublin, and met Samuel, who he had not seen for seven years: ‘Hee did not know me, but by the letters which I brought and discourse with him, Hee was easily convinced of my being his Brother.’ Mather studied at Trinity College, Dublin, and graduated MA in June 1658. He declined a fellowship. He received several invitations to be a minister. The Lord Deputy and Irish council settled Magherafelt on him, and were keen for him to stay: ‘The Lord Deputy was so respective as to send me word, that I should not go for England for want of encouragement in Irland whilest hee was in power.’ Mather, however, felt the ‘moyst Irish Air’ was not good for his health.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.