Cotton Mather (February 12, 1663 February 13, 1728). A.B. 1678 (Harvard College), A.M. 1681; honorary doctorate 1710 (University of Glasgow). Son of influential minister Increase Mather, Cotton Mather was a socially and politically influential New England Puritan minister, prolific author pamphleteer, and is often remembered for his connection to the Salem witch trials.