Samuel Willard

Samuel Willard
President of Harvard College
In office
1701–1707(acting)
Preceded byIncrease Mather
Succeeded byJohn Leverett the Younger
Personal details
Born(1640-01-31)January 31, 1640
Concord, Massachusetts Bay Colony
DiedSeptember 12, 1707(1707-09-12) (aged 67)
Cambridge, Province of Massachusetts Bay
Resting placeGranary Burying Ground
Spouse(s)
Abigail Sherman
(m. 1664)

Eunice Tyng (m. 1679)
OccupationMinister
Signature

Samuel Willard (January 31, 1640 – September 12, 1707) was a New England Puritan clergyman. He was born in Concord, Massachusetts, graduated from Harvard College in 1659, and was minister at Groton from 1663 to 1676, before being driven out by the Indians during King Philip's War.[1] Willard was pastor of the Third Church, Boston, from 1678 until his death. He opposed the Salem witch trials and was acting president of Harvard University from 1701. He published many sermons; the folio volume, A Compleat Body of Divinity, was published posthumously in 1726.

  1. ^ Green, Samuel (1891). An Historical Sketch of Groton, Massachusetts 1655-1890. Groton: Groton, 1894. p. 71.