Professor of history at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, Len Travers is co-editor of the correspondence of the Reverend John Cotton 1640 to1699 published by the Colonial Society of Massachusetts. On February 26, 2025, Travers gave a presentation about The Rev. John Cotton, longtime pastor of the Plymouth church, and his role in the events that began, and ended, the conflict known as King Philip’s War (1675-1676).  Click here for a 50-minute video of his talk by Alden House.

Cotton was the second son and namesake of John Cotton the Elder 1585 to 1652, the minister of Boston’s First Church. John Jr attended Harvard College, and when he received an invitation to the pastorate of Weathersfield Connecticut early in 1660, he promptly accepted in November of that year. Cotton displayed a propensity for impulsive reckless speech that resurfaced periodically over the rest of his career.

Cotton said he never tried to convert Phillip but he did go to work on nearby Sowams with mixed results early in his Mainland Ministry.

The Rev. Cotton’s duties to his congregation, and his responsibilities as missionary to the colony’s Christian Indians, put him front and center in the murder trial that initiated King Philip’s War and the final, tragic decisions made concerning enemy prisoners.