John Wise was probably the most original prose writer in colonial America. His works were filled with rough country humor, homely metaphors, and practical examples that appealed directly to the common townsfolk of New England rather than to the learned ministerial elite.

Wise was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, in August 1652, the son of Joseph Wise, a former indentured servant. From shortly after his 1673 graduation from Harvard College until November 1677. Wise served as minister in Branford, Connecticut. During that time he also briefly acted as chaplain to the colonial troops in King Philip's War (1675-1676). Wise accepted a call from the Hatfield, Massachusetts, congregation in 1677 and served as minister there until 1682. While in Hatfield, he married Abigail Gardner of Muddy River, Massachusetts, in December 1678, and in November 1679 Jeremiah Wise, the first of John Wise's seven children, was born. In 1682 Wise accepted an offer to become the first minister of...