(1639-1723) American colonial and religious leader. As a defender of the colonial right to self-government, he went to England 1688 to protest revocation of the Massachusetts charter. However, his silence during the Salem witch trials of 1692 lessened his public influence.
Born in Dorchester, Massachusetts, and educated at Harvard University, Mather served as a cleric in England during the Puritan Commonwealth, returning to Massachusetts 1661 where he was named teacher of Boston's Second Church 1664. He was president of Harvard 1685–1701.

(1663-1728) American theologian and writer. He was a Puritan minister in Boston, and wrote over 400 works of history, science, annals, and theology, including Magnalia Christi Americana/The Great Works of Christ in America 1702, a vast compendium of early New England history and experience. Mather appears to have supported the Salem witch-hunts.
Born in Boston, Mather graduated from Harvard with a master’s degree 1681 and was ordained a minister 1685. He was a promoter of strict Congregationalism, and a man of great learning. He wrote Memorable Providences Relating to Witchcraft and Possession 1689 and told of the witchcraft trials in Wonders of the Invisible World 1693.