biography
| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1652–1725)
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| biography:
| Congregational clergyman, theologian, and writer, born in Roxbury (now part of Boston), Massachusetts, USA. A Harvard graduate (1673), he served as a preacher in Branford, CT (1675–6), in Hatfield, MA (1677–8), and in Ipswich, MA, where he was ordained (1683). He spent the rest of his life in Ipswich (with the exception of service as chaplain of the 1690 expedition to Quebec) and became embroiled in battles against colonial taxes. He also protested against the centralization of Church government, as seen in The Vindication of the Church Government of New-England Churches (1717). Known for his independent views and lively prose, he also defended those accused of witchcraft (1703) and promoted smallpox vaccinations. His egalitarian ‘democratic’ views made him a popular writer for both American Revolutionaries and abolitionists. |
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