Cotton (John) is born in Derby, England.

[12/4/1585] The vicar of St. Botolph’s Church, Lincolnshire, and a promoter of the Massachusetts Bay Colony project, Rev. John Cotton arrives in Boston aboard the Griffin on September 14, 1663, builds a house on Pemberton Hill (later renamed Cotton Hill) near today’s 3 Center Plaza, and is named “teacher” at the First Church in Boston. Initially a supporter of Anne Hutchinson, Cotton later denounces her, and is said to be the model for the character of Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale in Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter. Cotton dies in Boston on December 23, 1652, after catching pneumonia on the ferry from Brighton to Cambridge on his way to preach to students at Harvard College, and is buried in King’s Chapel Burying Ground.