The English physician; or, An astrologo-physical discourse of the vulgar herbs of this nation by Nicholas Culpeper
Rev. Michael Wigglesworth was a Massachusetts divine, physician, & poet. Born in Yorkshire to a Puritan family, Wigglesworth came with his parents to America in 1638, settling first at Charlestown, MA, & then removing to New Haven, CT. Michael was educated by Ezekiel Cheever at New Haven, briefly, but was taken from school to assist his father, who had been injured. In 1644 he resumed his education, & entered Harvard in 1647. He graduated in 1651, & was quickly named a fellow of the college, in which capacity he served as a tutor. Wigglesworth began medical training, then took up the ministry during his time as a Harvard tutor, & was called to be the teacher of the church at Malden in 1654. He was ordained somewhat later, around 1656.
He was stricken by an unknown illness (perhaps a violent asthma) in the late 1650s which left him unable to preach, & turned to literary production. His The Day of Doom, a religious poem published in 1662, was a bestseller; more than 1,800 copies sold within a year. In hopes to improve his health, Wigglesworth traveled to Bermuda in September 1663, remaining there until the following May (when, he says, he became "unable to bear the heat"). He returned to Malden, where he composed his second book of poems, published in 1670 as Meat out of the Eater. Increase Mather attempted to persuade Wigglesworth to return to Harvard employment (probably the presidency) in 1684, but was rebuffed: "I cannot think my bodily strength competent enough to undertake or manage such a weighty work as you mention, if it were desired; nor have I reason to judge myself in any measure fit on other accounts."
Wigglesworth married first Mary Reyner, who died 21 December 1659, leaving a young daughter. Michael's second wife was Martha Mudge, just eighteen years old when he married her in 1679 (against the advice of Increase Mather). Martha died in 1690, leaving a son & five daughters. He married a third time in 1691, to Sybil (Sparhawk) Avery, the widow of Dr. Thomas Avery of Dedham, with whom he had one son.
By 1686, Wigglesworth's health appears to have improved; he preached the annual election sermon that year, & the Artillery Company sermon in 1696. Less than two years thereafter his health again declined, & he never fully recovered, dying in June 1705. Cotton Mather preached a eulogy at Malden. A catalog of Wigglesworth's library was taken on 22 October 1705 by Jonathan Pierpont & James Augier. A transcription is available in John Ward Dean's Memoir of Rev. Michael Wigglesworth.
