Samuel Danforth

Samuel Danforth (1626–1674) was a Puritan minister, preacher, poet, and astronomer, the second pastor of The First Church in Roxbury and an associate of the Rev.

[1] Danforth's studies included astronomy, and during this time he published three almanacs (for 1647, 1648, and 1649), which are the earliest surviving American examples of the form.

These almanacs included his own original poetry (some in the form of enigmas or word puzzles), and are among the earliest examples of secular verse published in New England.

In April 1674, he delivered what is regarded as the first published “execution sermon”:The Cry of Sodom Enquired Into, on the occasion of the sentencing to death by hanging of Benjamin Goad, a young man from his congregation convicted of bestiality upon being discovered in a compromised position with a lady-horse.

William Sprague, in his Annals of the American Pulpit (I, 139), describes him as follows: “As a preacher, he was remarkable for sustaining all his positions by arguments from Scripture; for adhering closely to the main object before him; for a free, clear and rapid utterance; and for a depth and power of feeling which in almost every sermon manifested itself in tears.

The other surviving son, Samuel (1666–1727), graduated from Harvard College in 1683, and served as the minister at Taunton from 1687 until his death.

His older brother Thomas Danforth (1623–1699) was treasurer of Harvard College, deputy governor, and justice of the colony's superior court.