John Cotton, “Diary of John Cotton, Jr.” (kept from 6 March 1666-Nov. 1667 and 12 Oct. 1670-23 July 1678, together with a Massachuset Indian Language vocabulary)
Emma Weiss, Shavonne Renfro Cox, Isabelle Durso
The diary of John Cotton, Jr. was kept from March 1666 to November 1667 during his missionary trip in Martha’s Vineyard and from October 1670 to July 1678 during his time as a minister in Plymouth. While in Martha’s Vineyard, Cotton became fluent in the Wampanoag language and devoted his time to helping Indians understand Puritanism. He also addressed many of the Indians’ questions and concerns about conversion. Cotton recorded all of his findings in his diary, including translations between Wampanoag vocabulary and English, the Indians’ questions and interpretations of scripture and religion, sermons that Cotton delivered, and names of converted Indians. The diary documents John Cotton, Jr.’s communication with the Indians about religion and language, and it shows how his time in Martha’s Vineyard impacted his ministry in Plymouth.
In his early life, Cotton was a Puritan minister at the First Church of Boston, where his esteemed father preached. In 1664, Cotton was excommunicated from the church for sexual misconduct; in an attempt to repent his sins, he traveled to Martha’s Vineyard to replace Thomas Mayhew, Jr. as a preacher and missionary. Cotton was readmitted to the church a month later, but decided to stay in Martha’s Vineyard with Thomas Mayhew to continue his work with the Indians. Cotton used the blank space in his journal to create a dictionary for the Wampanoag language and a translation between Wampanoag and English vocabulary. Cotton also recorded Indians’ conversations and wrote down their questions about Puritanism and conversion. By 1669, Cotton was considered one of New England’s most promising missionaries. Cotton’s journal is mainly informative, providing today’s historians with valuable knowledge and a window into his life.
Cotton arrived in Martha’s Vineyard in 1664 to a well-established community of Praying Indians. Thomas Mayhew and John Eliot began converting the natives to Puritanism as early as the 1640s, drawing similarities between their practices, beliefs, and God, thus creating indigenized Christianity. Upon Cotton’s arrival, the Wampanoags controlled the spread of Christianity through indigenous day schools and churches; therefore, Cotton was largely responsible for answering Indians’ questions about the Bible and helping them reckon with Puritanism in their own culture.
Cotton’s journal provides key insights into how the Indians combined Christian faith with Wampanoag culture. He notes their many questions, which ranged from clarifications in scripture to contradictions in Christianity. Some significant issues Cotton documents are those with the concepts of sin and limited human means. Another conflict was how the different cultures perceived gender, which the Praying Indians resolved by allowing women to participate in church.
The Praying Indians struggled with separating from non-Praying Indians socially and spiritually. They wondered if they should encourage their non-praying counterparts to convert or love those who did not love God. The converts also feared that they would face violence after changing belief systems, especially leading up to King Philip’s War. Cotton was able to reassure them that the neighboring tribes would not harm them, which strengthened his relationship with the Indians.
Following Cotton’s time as a minister in Martha’s Vineyard, he traveled to Plymouth, where he was minister of the church and fully responsible for teaching scriptures and converting nearby tribes. The church in Plymouth was impoverished and the local tribes had little to no exposure to Christianity before Cotton’s arrival. In his first year of ministry, Cotton nearly tripled the number of church members, changing it from 27 to 74. While having the full responsibility of minister in Plymouth was beneficial to the expanding Christian influence in the area, it meant that Cotton had much less time to write in his diary. He had fewer interactions with the Indians, but when he did, there was an emphasis on native language. Cotton also made the church in Plymouth much more inclusive through his preaching, catechism, and modifications. Much of his success was due to his experience in Martha’s Vineyard.
Cotton began his ministry as an excommunicant removed from his home, but ended it as a respected man who rebuilt his status through his commitments to preaching and communicating with the Indians. His journal tracks their many conversations, questions, and fears. By learning their language, Cotton was able to strengthen relationships with Praying Indians and extend Christian influence to both Martha’s Vineyard and Plymouth. He became known as a distinguished figure with immense scriptural knowledge who made the church more accessible. Through Cotton’s journal, historians can understand the Indian perspective of Puritanism and gain insight into how it changed their relationships with their people and culture.