Michael Wigglesworth
Encyclopedia
Michael Wigglesworth was a Puritan
minister and poet whose poem The Day of Doom
was a bestseller in early New England
.
, Lincolnshire
.
His father was Edward Wigglesworth, born 1603 in Scotton
, Lincolnshire, and his mother was Ester Middlebrook of Wrawby (born in Batley
), who married on October 27, 1629 in Wrawby. The family moved to New England
in 1638. They originally lived in Charlestown, Massachusetts
, then soon moved to New Haven, Connecticut
. When Wigglesworth was ten years old his father became bed-ridden, forcing him to leave school to help maintain the family farm.
He graduated from Harvard
in 1651 and taught there as a tutor until 1654, sometimes preaching in Charlestown and Malden, Massachusetts
. He became a minister in Malden in 1654 but not actually ordained until 1656.
s in his early life, he was thereafter convinced of his damnation
. Through his diaries, he recounts his struggle to remain pure and good, despite continually relapsing into what he viewed as man's natural depravity.
When Wigglesworth became a minister of a church, he was soon overcome with a psychosomatic disorder in which he felt he could do everything except preach. His confused and disappointed congregation elected to find a replacement for Wigglesworth, an unnamed preacher who went on to embezzle funds from the church. Thereafter, Wigglesworth was reinstated and encouraged to take up preaching again.
In his diaries, Wigglesworth expresses an overwhelming sense of inferiority. First with his refusal to accept the presidency of Harvard due to his lack of self-confidence, and again when he married his cousin because, he claims, he is not good enough to find another woman.
Yet he was eventually to marry three times: Mary Reyner in 1655, Martha Mudge in 1679 and Sybil (Avery) Spearhawk in 1691.
A daughter Mercy Wigglesworth was born February 21, 1655. With his second wife he had six children, including Samuel Wigglesworth born circa 1689. His youngest son, with his third wife was clergyman Edward Wigglesworth
(1693–1765) who had several namesakes.
Son Samuel had 12 children, including one also named Edward Wigglesworth (1741–1826) who was Colonel in the American Revolutionary War
.
In 1662 he published The Day of Doom
or a Poetical Description of the Great and Last Judgment, a "doggerel epitome of Calvinistic theology", according to the anthology, Colonial Prose and Poetry (1903), that "attained immediately a phenomenal popularity. Eighteen hundred copies were sold within a year, and for the next century it held a secure place in [New England] Puritan
households. As late as 1828 it was stated that many aged persons were still alive who could repeat it, as it had been taught them with their catechism; and the more widely one reads in the voluminous sermons of that generation, the more fair will its representation of prevailing theology in New England appear."
Despite the fierce denunciations of sinners and the terrible images of damnation in The Day of Doom, its author was known as a "genial philanthropist, so cheerful that some of his friends thought he could not be so sick as he averred. Dr. Peabody used to call him 'a man of the beatitudes', ministering not alone to the spiritual but to the physical needs of his flock, having studied medicine for that purpose," according to Colonial Prose and Poetry.
Other works by Wigglesworth include God's Controversy with New England, Meat out of the Eater, and "God's Controversy with New England," (1662). The latter poem was unpublished, yet provides a lengthy commentary on the fears of Puritans that they would be stricken by God for their sin, and persecuted by House of Stuart.
Wigglesworth died June 10, 1705 in Malden
, Middlesex County
.
This epitaph on Wigglesworth's grave has been attributed to Cotton Mather
:
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
minister and poet whose poem The Day of Doom
The Day of Doom
The Day of Doom was a religious poem by clergyman Michael Wigglesworth that became a best-selling classic in Puritan New England for a century after it was published in 1662. The poem describes the Day of Judgment, in which a vengeful God sentences sinners to punishment in hell...
was a bestseller in early New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
.
Family
Michael Wigglesworth was born October 18, 1631 in WrawbyWrawby
Wrawby is a small village in North Lincolnshire east of Brigg and close to Humberside Airport on the A18. It is most notable for Wrawby Postmill....
, Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
.
His father was Edward Wigglesworth, born 1603 in Scotton
Scotton, Lincolnshire
Scotton is a village and civil parish in Lincolnshire, England. The village is in West Lindsey district, and south of the larger village of Scotter. The western boundary of the parish is formed by part of the A159 Gainsborough to Scunthorpe road...
, Lincolnshire, and his mother was Ester Middlebrook of Wrawby (born in Batley
Batley
Batley is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England. It lies southeast of Bradford, southwest of Leeds and north of Dewsbury, near the M62 motorway. It has a population of 49,448 . Other nearby towns include Morley to the northeast, Ossett to the southeast...
), who married on October 27, 1629 in Wrawby. The family moved to New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
in 1638. They originally lived in Charlestown, Massachusetts
Charlestown, Massachusetts
Charlestown is a neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, and is located on a peninsula north of downtown Boston. Charlestown was originally a separate town and the first capital of the Massachusetts Bay Colony; it became a city in 1847 and was annexed by Boston on January 5, 1874...
, then soon moved to New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
. When Wigglesworth was ten years old his father became bed-ridden, forcing him to leave school to help maintain the family farm.
He graduated from Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
in 1651 and taught there as a tutor until 1654, sometimes preaching in Charlestown and Malden, Massachusetts
Malden, Massachusetts
Malden is a suburban city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 59,450 at the 2010 census. In 2009 Malden was ranked as the "Best Place to Raise Your Kids" in Massachusetts by Bloomberg Businessweek Magazine.-History:...
. He became a minister in Malden in 1654 but not actually ordained until 1656.
Work
Wigglesworth believed that he was essentially not worthy of believing in God as a result of merely being human. When he underwent a series of nocturnal emissionNocturnal emission
A nocturnal emission involves either ejaculation during sleep for a male, or lubrication of the vagina for a female. It is also called a wet dream, and is sometimes considered a type of spontaneous orgasm....
s in his early life, he was thereafter convinced of his damnation
Damnation
Damnation is the concept of everlasting divine punishment and/or disgrace, especially the punishment for sin as threatened by God . A damned being "in damnation" is said to be either in Hell, or living in a state wherein they are divorced from Heaven and/or in a state of disgrace from God's favor...
. Through his diaries, he recounts his struggle to remain pure and good, despite continually relapsing into what he viewed as man's natural depravity.
When Wigglesworth became a minister of a church, he was soon overcome with a psychosomatic disorder in which he felt he could do everything except preach. His confused and disappointed congregation elected to find a replacement for Wigglesworth, an unnamed preacher who went on to embezzle funds from the church. Thereafter, Wigglesworth was reinstated and encouraged to take up preaching again.
In his diaries, Wigglesworth expresses an overwhelming sense of inferiority. First with his refusal to accept the presidency of Harvard due to his lack of self-confidence, and again when he married his cousin because, he claims, he is not good enough to find another woman.
Yet he was eventually to marry three times: Mary Reyner in 1655, Martha Mudge in 1679 and Sybil (Avery) Spearhawk in 1691.
A daughter Mercy Wigglesworth was born February 21, 1655. With his second wife he had six children, including Samuel Wigglesworth born circa 1689. His youngest son, with his third wife was clergyman Edward Wigglesworth
Edward Wigglesworth
Edward Wigglesworth was a clergyman and teacher in Colonial America.-Life:His father was clergyman and author Michael Wigglesworth ....
(1693–1765) who had several namesakes.
Son Samuel had 12 children, including one also named Edward Wigglesworth (1741–1826) who was Colonel in the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
.
In 1662 he published The Day of Doom
The Day of Doom
The Day of Doom was a religious poem by clergyman Michael Wigglesworth that became a best-selling classic in Puritan New England for a century after it was published in 1662. The poem describes the Day of Judgment, in which a vengeful God sentences sinners to punishment in hell...
or a Poetical Description of the Great and Last Judgment, a "doggerel epitome of Calvinistic theology", according to the anthology, Colonial Prose and Poetry (1903), that "attained immediately a phenomenal popularity. Eighteen hundred copies were sold within a year, and for the next century it held a secure place in [New England] Puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
households. As late as 1828 it was stated that many aged persons were still alive who could repeat it, as it had been taught them with their catechism; and the more widely one reads in the voluminous sermons of that generation, the more fair will its representation of prevailing theology in New England appear."
Despite the fierce denunciations of sinners and the terrible images of damnation in The Day of Doom, its author was known as a "genial philanthropist, so cheerful that some of his friends thought he could not be so sick as he averred. Dr. Peabody used to call him 'a man of the beatitudes', ministering not alone to the spiritual but to the physical needs of his flock, having studied medicine for that purpose," according to Colonial Prose and Poetry.
Other works by Wigglesworth include God's Controversy with New England, Meat out of the Eater, and "God's Controversy with New England," (1662). The latter poem was unpublished, yet provides a lengthy commentary on the fears of Puritans that they would be stricken by God for their sin, and persecuted by House of Stuart.
Wigglesworth died June 10, 1705 in Malden
Malden, Massachusetts
Malden is a suburban city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 59,450 at the 2010 census. In 2009 Malden was ranked as the "Best Place to Raise Your Kids" in Massachusetts by Bloomberg Businessweek Magazine.-History:...
, Middlesex County
Middlesex County, Massachusetts
-National protected areas:* Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge* Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge* Longfellow National Historic Site* Lowell National Historical Park* Minute Man National Historical Park* Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge...
.
This epitaph on Wigglesworth's grave has been attributed to Cotton Mather
Cotton Mather
Cotton Mather, FRS was a socially and politically influential New England Puritan minister, prolific author and pamphleteer; he is often remembered for his role in the Salem witch trials...
:
- His pen did once Meat from the Eater take
- And now he's gone beyond the Eater's reach
- His body once so thin was next to none
- From hence he's to unbodied spirits flown.
- Once his rare skill did all diseases heal
- And he doth nothing now uneasy feel.
- He to his paradise is joyful come
- And waits with joy to see his Day of Doom.