Michael Wigglesworth

Michael Wigglesworth

5 Sermons|1 Books
Michael Wigglesworth (1631–1705) was an English-born American preacher, Puritan minister, physician, and poet whose work profoundly influenced early New England religious life. Born on October 18, 1631, likely in Yorkshire, England, to Edward Wigglesworth and Ester Middlebrook, he emigrated with his family to New England in 1638, settling first in Charlestown, Massachusetts, then in New Haven, Connecticut. His father’s illness forced him to leave school at age 10 to work on the family farm, but he later attended Harvard College, graduating in 1651. He served as a tutor there from 1652 to 1654 and was ordained in 1656, becoming pastor of the First Parish in Malden, Massachusetts, where he ministered until his death, despite frequent health challenges. Wigglesworth’s preaching career was marked by his role as a Puritan pastor, delivering sermons that reflected the era’s strict Calvinistic theology, emphasizing sin, judgment, and redemption. His most famous work, The Day of Doom (1662), a long poem depicting the Last Judgment, became a colonial bestseller, selling 1,800 copies in its first year and shaping Puritan thought with its vivid imagery. He also practiced medicine to support his ministry and wrote additional works like God’s Controversy with New England and Meat out of the Eater. Married three times—first to Mary Reyner in 1655, then to Martha Mudge in 1679 after being widowed, and finally to Sybil Avery Sparhawk in 1691—he fathered multiple children. Wigglesworth died on June 10, 1705, in Malden, leaving a legacy as a preacher whose writings and sermons encapsulated Puritan fears and faith.
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