Brattle, William (1662-11-22 - 1717-02-15)

GEMMS Person ID
GEMMS-PERSON- 2783
(old series: GEMMS-PERSON-3001)
Name
William Brattle
Title
Mr.
Gender
Male
Denomination
Congregationalist
Lived
b. 1662-11-22 d. 1717-02-15 (new)
Manuscripts
Linked Sermons
Linked Reports
Associated Places
Source of Data

Catherine Evans; Brent Nelson

Biographical Sources Consulted

John Langdon Sibley, "Biographical Sketches of Graduates of Harvard University, Vol. III, 1678-1689", pp. 200-204.

Kennedy, Rick. “BRATTLE, William (22 Nov, 1662-15 Feb. 1717).” In American National Biography. Gen. eds. John A. Garraty and Mark C. Carnes. New York: OUP, 1999, vol. 3 pp. 437-8.

Other note

Brattle was the fourth child of Thomas Brattle of Boston and Elizabeth, daughter of Captain William Tyng. He was part of the Harvard class of 1680, and graduated M.A. He was ordained at Cambridge on 25 November 1696 as the successor of Nathaniel Gookin in the pulpit of the congregational church of Cambridge, holding that position until his death. He acted with independence throughout his work there, allowing his church to allow private examinations for admission to fellowship. Brattle tended to sick students during the smallpox outbreak of 1690/1 and eventually fell ill with it, and was given the name "Father of the College". He maintained "intimate contact with the students and faculty [of the College] as unofficial chaplain and professor of divinity," and "[f]rom 1697 to 1707 Brattle was the on-site, de facto leader of the college" in the absence of College President Increase Mather (Kennedy, 437-8).

GEMMS record created
June 26, 2020
GEMMS record last edited
April 3, 2025