Danforth, Samuel (1626-10-17 - 1674-11-19)

Samuel Danforth was baptised at Framlingham, Suffolk on 17 October 1626. In 1632, his widowed father, Nicholas, brought him to Cambridge, MA. Samuel graduated from Harvard College in 1643. In 1650, he was ordained at Roxbury, MA. He served as assistant to John Eliot until Eliot's death in 1674. In 1670, Danforth preached on the occasion of the opening session of the General Court. Danforth was also an astronomer, and published An Astronomical Description of the Late Comet in 1665, in addition to the earliest surviving American almanacs. He died on 19 November 1674.