Increase Mather

Increase Mather was a Puritan theologian, astronomer and historian active in New England principally as a clergyman, serving as the sixth president of Harvard College from 1685 to 1701. Mather conducted extensive research into biblical prophecy, astronomical phenomena, and New England history. During Mather's tenure at Harvard, which coincided with the notorious Salem witch trials, he was influential in the administration of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.