Journal: Priscilla Papers
Volume: PP 26:2 (Spring 2012)
Article: Joanna Cotton: An Unexpected (Proto-) Egalitarian
Author: Jason Eden

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PP 26:2 (Spring 2012) p. 19

Joanna Cotton: An Unexpected (Proto-) Egalitarian

Jason Eden

Jason Eden is an Associate Professor in the history department at Saint Cloud State University in Minnesota. His wife, Naomi, is a gerontologist, and together they are studying the history of age segregation and ageism among North American Christians.

In 1664, a young Puritan minister named John Cotton Jr. was found guilty of “lascivious unclean practices with three women.”1 Mr. Cotton was a Harvard graduate, a descendant of well-respected parents, and a husband and father. As a punishment for his sinful deeds, English officials in Massachusetts forced Cotton to give up his pastorate of a local church. The question was, what could he do to support Joanna, his wife, and their children? Puritan leaders found the answer in an unlikely place: Martha’s Vineyard. For many years, members of the Mayhew family had labored as missionaries on the island, trying to teach local Indians about Christianity. The Mayhews needed help, and John Cotton Jr. was sufficiently qualified, in the eyes of the English at least, to preach to Indians. So, in 1666, John Cotton Jr. began a long missionary career on both Martha’s Vineyard and in the town of Plymouth. In many respects, his legacy lasted beyond his death, for his two sons, Josiah and Roland Cotton, preached to Indians in Massachusetts long after their father was gone.2

Other scholarly works have examined male members of the Cotton family and how they interacted with Native Americans.3 In this article, however, I wish to explore the experiences of Joanna Cotton, a wife and mother of missionaries in colonial America. In particular, I will explore the extent to which Joanna fell in line with expectations regarding gender roles in colonial New England. These roles typically involved a degree of female subordination to males.

Supposedly, New England Puritans carefully adhered to interpretations of Scripture that restricted women’s roles. For example, one Puritan minister wrote that women could not teach men about the Bible, “for this the Apostle accounteth an act of authority, which is unlawful for a woman to usurpe over the man.”4 Other ministers spoke regularly about husbands being the leaders of households and about the dangers of assertive women. Such statements by male Puritan leaders imply that Puritan women were relegated to the private sphere of home life while men pursued business and political opportunities in the public sphere of society.5

While Pur...

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