Fifth Generation

63. Giles Cory⁷ was born before 19 Aug 1621 in Northhampton, Northhamptonshire, England. He was baptized on 19 Aug 1621 in St. Sepulcher's Church, Northampton, England. He died on 19 Sep 1692 in Salem, Essex Co, MA. Giles was the son of Giles and Elizabeth Cory. His birth recorded, parish of St. Sepulchre.

A short description of Giles Cory is given in "Genealogical and Family History of the State of New Hampshire". It is full of inaccuracies, but is a good short overview.

The first on record in this country was Giles Corey, who was residing in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1649, with his wife Margaret. Their daughter Deliverance was born there August 5, 1658. The mother died previous to 1664, and on April 11 of that year Giles Corey married (second" Mary Britz[sic]. She died August 28, 1684, at the age of sixty-three years, and he had a third wife, Martha, who was admitted to the church in Salem Village (now Danvers", April 27, 1690. She was the victim of the terrible witchcraft delusion in Salem, and was apprehended in March, 1692, and hung on the following Thursday (She was not hung until Thurday, September 22, 1692). In a very short time her husband was also arrested and was imprisoned, in April. He was kept in confinement and moved about from one jail to another, going to Boston and back again to Salem, and was finally executed (The word executed is not correct, he was tortured to death." on September 19, 1692, in the most horrible manner ever used on the continent. He was pressed to death, being the only one who ever suffered that form of execution in Massachusetts. He was a member of the first church of Salem, from which he was excommunicated the day preceding his death. Such was the tenacity of the execrable witchcraft delusion in Salem that this sentence was not expunged from the church record until twenty years after, and a period of eleven years elapsed before justice was done to the memory of his wife in the Danvers church. Though a petition for relief appears in the Essex records on behalf of the children, no mention of their names is found except of Martha, who made the petition in behalf of the family, and Deliverance before mentioned. It is probable that there were several sons. Jonathan and Thomas Corey are mentioned as having been at Chelmsford at an early period

The following is taken from the "Cory Family Newsletter", Volume 7, number 3, Sep 1992. It contains what I feel are several errors.

Giles Cory was born ca 1619 in England. There is, I am told but not have had the privilege of obtaining a copy of his baptismal record from England. When he arrived in the Americas is not certain but there is evidence he was in Salem in 1640. There are quite a few entries in the court documents as to his behavior, it was not all good, but in those times any accusation was an offense against the state. Giles married first, Margaret, the mother of all his children. We believe they were married in England. Giles had no male heirs (I don't believe this to be true. It seem to be predicated on his will, which is not enough justification to make that statement).

There were Martha, married William Cleaves in 1675. They had three children. Martha died in 1683. Margaret, also married William Cleaves (No, this was William Clements." on 18-May-1683. They had five children. After William died, Margaret married Jonathan Biles. Deliverance born 5-Aug-1658, married Henry Cross (No, this was Henry Crosby." 5-Jun-1683. Elizabeth married John Moulton. Mary, born 1653 married John Parker. She died before Feb-1697. They had seven children.

Giles second wife was Mary Brite, they were married 11 April 1673 (No, this is recorded twice in the Salem V.R. as 1664). She died 27-Aug-1684. She is buried in Salem Grave yard. Giles third wife was Martha Penoyer, widow of Henry Rich. They were married in 1685 (This is more likely 1690, when she was admitted to the church). Martha had a son Thomas. He shows up as a petitioner for loss and damages resulting from his mother being hanged illegally during the witch trials. He was awarded £50 on 29-Jun-1723. "Corys of America" mentioned that this may have been Thomas Rich, born Sep 1642(?) in England.

One source, ROLLAND COREY, says that Giles Cory came to Salem, MA in 1644.

Giles Corey, Antram's boy, first appears in Salem Court records, as a witness in the court, July 11, 1644, against Obadiah Govis, servant of Thomas Trusler, who was ordered to be severely whipped for the

Giles was listed as a watchman in 1647.

In the Salem court, June 28, 1649, Giles Corey was fined for stealing wheat, powder, soap, flax, tobacco, bacon, pork, butter and knives from Mr. Curwin and Thomas Anthrom.

The use of the phrase "Antram's boy" is unclear to me. In 1644 Giles would have been 23 years old. The word "boy" does not fit this interpretation well. In the above court record Thomas Anthrom is mentioned. The phase would also fit if Giles were the servant or indentured to Thomas Anthrom. One or both of these spellings would then be incorrect.

In "The History of Salem", Vol. II in a footnote at the bottom of page 193, it says:

Giles Corey was born about 1619; married, first Margaret ______; second, Mary Brite April 11, 1673 (This is an error, her name was Mary Bright and she was married April 11, 1664); third, Martha ______; pressed to death Sept. 19, 1692; wife Martha was hung as a witch Sept. 22, 1692; Children:
1. Deliverance, born in Salem Aug. 5, 1658; married Henry Crosby June 5, 1683;
2. Margaret; married William Cleaves (Spelled Clements in the Vital Statics of both
Marblehead and Beverly) of Beverly;
3. Elizabeth; married John Moulton of Salem.

Mr. Corey lived in what is now Peabody about ten rods westerly of the West Peabody Junction railroad station, adjoining the southerly side of the location of the Salem and Lowell railroad. Caleb Moore stated that when he was in Virginia with his father, the latter bought Mary, Cory's second wife, out of a London ship.

Giles brought suit 26-Feb-1650 [26 (12) 1650]

Feb. 18, 1661/2, Giles Corey, in consideration of some of his land having been made use of for a highway, was granted a small strip of about two acres of land near that which was Roger Morey's meadow, and also a spot or hole of meadow near Henry Phelps' house and near his own meadow.



On April 11, 1664 he married Mary Bright. Margaret must have died between 1658 and 1664, "Corys of America" lists the date about 1663. Mary "was bought out a London ship in Virginia by the father of Caleb More; who testified to this and to her good character
when she was accused in 1678".

Salem December Ye 10th 1678. -Caleb More aged thirty yeares: or thare about testifieth that he being with his father in Virginia: When his father bought Mary which in now Ye wife of Gyels Cory; out of a London ship: and douth testify that Ye hole ships company gau har the caretar of onest Seuel woman: and douth further testify thatt wither in the the time of couming home in Ye ketch or while she liued with my father or senc she has ben Cory's Wife. that hee did neuer hare har Sware: or See har ouer taken in drinck: or Spake Ryproch fuly of har naibors: or of any body else: nitha did I euer hare any body else Saye any such things of har.

Giles Cory signed a petition Oct 10, 1667, dealing with "Constable Watches" by farmers.

About 1670, his son John or Jonathan was born.

He deposed June 17, 1672, [17 (4" 1672] age about 55 years.

November of 1675, Giles Cory is the subject of a testimony by Mrs. Mary Cory.

About the last of November, 1675, as Mrs. Mary Corey testified, Elizabeth, wife of Zachariah Goodale, told her that the latter's brother Jacob Goodale had been to Zachariah's house and got into the cellar and took some apples. Zachariah was then coming in with a log of wood, and laying it down, he took a stick and "pade (pade - this is the Old English word, paid, meaning to chastise or beat.) hem to som porpos." About ten days later, in the beginning of December, Giles Corey unreasonably beat Jacob with a stick of about an inch in diameter nearly a hundred blows in the presence of Elisha Kebee, who told Corey that he would knock him down if he did not forbear. About ten days later, Corey went to the house of Zachariah Goodale, and told him that his brother Jacob Goodale had had a fall. He was afraid that he had broken his arm, and desired him to take Jacob to Mrs. Mole's in the town. Jacob was then thirty-four years of age, and up to that time he had been lusty. Now, Jacob went "very ravel (ravel - as though confused)" and stooping, and he was very pale and his eyes sunken. Thereupon, Zachariah went to Corey's house, and saw Jacob, who was there. The roads were slippery, and Corey said that his horse was not caulked, so he could not go with him. Jacob went so badly, Zachariah asked him if he had any other hurt than his arm, but he would not tell. Zachariah then requested that some one might go with him; whereupon Goody Corey went with him.

(Goody - [from goodwife] a woman, especially an old woman or housewife, of lowly social status: formerly used as in New England, as a title with the surname)

Jacob died a few days later, and inquest was held. The jury consisted of Nathaniel Felton, Francis Nurse, Anthony Buxton, Michael Shafilin, Jeremiah Meacham, John Traske, Thomas Small, Samuel Very, Thomas Preston, John Cooke, Joshua Rea and Eleazer Giles, and they made the following report: "we find several wrongs he hath had in his body as upon his left arm and upon his right thigh a great bruise which is very much swold and upon the reins of his back in color differing from the other parts of his body we caused an incision to be made much bruised and run with a jelly and the skin broke upon the outside of each buttock." For his abuse Corey was fined.

In July of 1678, Giles Cory is once again of the subject of a court action. In "The History of Salem", Vol. III, pages 118 and 119, it says:

A small house belonging to John Procter, which stood on the northerly side of Lowell Street, about one hundred and fifty rods easterly from the Georgetown branch of the Boston and Maine Railroad, was partially burned in July, 1678. The roof and that part of the walls above two feet upward from the upper floor was burned away. This occurred about two hours before day, and but for the timely appearance and strenuous efforts of John Phelps and Thomas Fuller, who passing, it would have been wholly destroyed. Procter suspected that Giles Corey set the fire. A warrant was issued on the twenty-fourth for his appearance in court, as he had done so many ill things to his neighbors, --threatened and suggested fires, etc. He proved that he was at home and abed all the night of the fire, and was discharged.

On August 27, 1684, his second wife Mary, died at the age of 63 (as is marked on her grave stone". He married for a third time, April 27, 1690, to Martha. Martha was the admitted to the church at Salem Village, now Danvers, where Giles lived.

In "Mayflower Families", Volume III, page 134, it mentions that Martha Penoyer married Henry Rich at Stanford in December 1680 and later married Giles Cory of Salem.

Between 1664 and 1692 Giles Cory witnessed the deed when a neighbor, Capt. Thomas Flint, bought the house owned by William Dounton for £100. William Dounton was Thomas Flint's father-in-law.

Both Giles and Martha were victims of the Salem witchcraft trials. Martha was convicted and hanged for witchcraft on September 22, 1692. Giles Cory was pressed to death for refusing to plead on September 19, 1692.

His will is presented in several works:

Written on the twenty forth day of April anno dom one thousand six hundred ninety two, by Gyles Coree (his mark and seale". Personally appeared and did acknowledge this instrument to bee his act and voluntary deed. Signed sealed and delivered Ipswch July Ye 25th 1692.

The will so states:

In consideration of which and for ye fatherly Love and Affection wch I have & doe beare unto my beloved soñe in Law William Cleeves of Ye town of Beaverly. in ye aboves county and to my soñe in Law John Moulton of ye town of Salem in sd county both yeomen.

The will goes on to state that Giles gives to these sons in Laws all his property, real and personal including stock, lands and meadow, house, bedding, money, and all movable estate.

After Giles death, Capt. Thomas Flint bought his property to add to his estate. This house was located "in the triangle west of the West Peabody Station and north of Pine St." The 1692 Salem map Shows the Giles Cory property was located across the road from the Thomas Flint property.

Salem Witch Craft Trials

The following is taken in part from:
The "Cory Family Newsletter", Volume 7, number 3, Sep 1992,
"The History of Salem", Volume III, pages 286-293,
"The Witchcraft Episode", pages 36-57,
"Salem In The Seventeenth Century", Chapter XXV,
"The Witches at Salem, 1692", by Dick Eastman on the Compuserve Genealogy Forum
"Witches and Wizards", by Robert Ellis Cahill former Essex County (Mass.) Sheriff and
Keeper of the Salem Jail.

The opprobrious epithet of witch-city which has tenaciously clung to Salem since 1692 is due to the fact that the witch trials and executions took place in that town. The source of the excitement which resulted in the death for alleged witchcraft of twenty persons within a year, lay in the a neighboring settlement, now the town of Danvers. At the time it was a parish of Salem Town, known as Salem Village.

Difficulties and acrimonious disputes over church affairs had long prevailed in this community, which reached a climax when the Rev. Samuel Parris was finally chosen, in 1689, to take charge of the parish affairs. Parris appears to have entered the ministry somewhat late in life and had spent considerable time in the West Indies in business pursuits. He brought with him to Salem Village two native servants, or slaves of West Indian and African blood, known as Indian John and Tituba his wife---the immediate instigators of the events which were soon to follow.

Parris' difficulties began at once. He was at odds with his parishioners over salary, his parsonage, church rates, and in fact, over all matters pertaining to the conduct of his office. This led to a degree of bitterness in the community unusual even in those times of agitated public feeling. Apart from church affairs, there were also many disputes as to land rights, and personal animosities were widespread and rancorous. The setting was complete for an emotional outbreak.

In the long and bitter winter of 1691-92, some young women and girls at Salem Village had some meetings to learn palmistry and fortune-telling from Tituba. She was skilled in necromancy and various magic arts---perhaps African in origin, perhaps practiced by Indians---and found apt pupils in the children, who soon acquired proficiency in their use. Tituba claimed to know how to discover witches and the children may have read about evidences of witchcraft, but at any rate those impressionable young people soon began to act queerly and have spasms and fits.

These sessions apparently fired the imaginations of the girls, several of whom later started performing nightmarish fits and telling tales of witchcraft and of being possessed of evil spirits amongst them in Salem. On 20-Jan-1692, nine-year-old Elizabeth Parris and eleven-year-old Abigail Willams began to exhibit strange behavior, such as blaphemous screaming, convulsive seizures, trance-line states and mysterious spells. Within a short time, several other Salem Girls began to demonstrate similar behavior.

Doubtless at the outset, all this was innocent enough, until it attracted the attention of the elders who were at first mystified and then alarmed. Instead of keeping the children quietly at home and breaking up the meetings, their parents called in the local physician, Dr. Griggs. The doctor, who knew nothing about nerves and believed in witchcraft, finally decided, as was usual when the diagnosis was in doubt, that the actions of the girls in their fits and contortions could only be explained on the basis of witchcraft.

This group, know as the afflicted children, included:

1. Elizabeth Parris, nine years old, daughter of the Reverend Samuel Parris.

2. Abigail Williams, eleven years old, a niece of Mr. Parris and member of the
household.

3. Ann Putnam, twelve years old, daughter of Sergeant Thomas Putnam, clerk of the
parish.

4. Mercy Lewis, seventeen years old, who had been in the family of the Reverend
George Burroughts while he was at the Village, but now was a servant in Sergeant
Putnam's family.

5. Mary Wolcott, seventeen years old, daughter of Captain Jonathan Wolcott, deacon
of the parish.

6. Elizabeth Hubbard, seventeen years old, a niece of Mrs. Griggs, wife of the
Village Doctor.

7. Elizabeth Booth, eighteen years old.

8. Susannah Sheldon, eighteen years old.

9. Mary Warren, twenty years old, servant in the family of John Proctor.

10. Sarah Churchill, twenty years old, servant in the family of George Jacobs, Sr.

These ten, with the occasional help of three married women, Mrs. Ann Putnam, mother of one of the girls, a Mrs. Pope, and Goody Bibber from Wenham, provided all the initial testimony on which nineteen persons were hanged, and well over a hundred more were cast into prison.

During the early spring of 1692 these children continued to have fits and convulsions at their meetings and attracted considerable attention to their antics and actions. They were all attributed by the people to witchcraft, and presently the children under this favorable notice began to extend their activities to the meeting-house on Sundays, crying out that they saw yellow birds sitting on the minister's hat, and other similar nonsense. It is not on record that Mr. Parris tried to suppress his niece and her friends and some of the parish grew annoyed and stayed at home.

In late February Mr. Parris sent for the neighboring ministers to come to his house to conduct solemn services to try to rescue the children from the clutches of the Evil One. Prayer services and community fasting were conducted by Reverand Samuel Parris in hopes of relieving the evil forces that plagued them. They corroborated the opinion of Dr. Griggs that the children's actions were the work of witches. In an effort to expose the "witches", Indian John baked a witch cake made with rye meal and the afflicted girl's urine. This counter-magic was meant to reveal the identities of the "witches" to the afflicted girls.

Pressure was put on the children to tell who afflicted them an they began to name various people: Goody Good, Goody Osburn, and the old Indian woman Tituba, and warrants were obtained for their arrest. They were arrested on February 28, 1692.

On March 1, 1692, John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin, the magistrates, proceeded in state to the Village to hear the cases, escorted by the marshal of Essex and the constables, and stopped at Nathaniel Ingersoll's tavern, but the gathering was so great that they had to adjourn to the meeting-house.

The three accused women were brought to Salem Town and examined by Magistrates Jonathan Corwin and John Hathorne. Corwin's home, the "Witch House", still stands at the corner of North and Essex Streets in Salem, providing guiding tours and tales of the first witchcraft trails.

Before an excited crowd, all of whom believed in the possible existence of witchcraft and in a personal devil, Sarah Good, Sarah Osburn, and Tituba were brought in. In spite of the "afflicted children" who charged them with hurting them, the first two steadfastly maintained that they had made no compact with the Devil, had not hurt the children, and were innocent; but the surprising thing is that Tituba admitted that she did serve the Devil; that her fellow prisoners were witches; also that they rode around on broomsticks accompanied by familiar spirits and did all sorts of injury. Tibuba confessed to seeing the devil who appeared to her "sometimes like a hog and sometimes like a great dog". What's more, Tituba testified that there was a conpiracy of witches at work in Salem. For five days the examination continued, and then the magistrates committed all three of the women to the jail in Boston.

The girls, under the lead of the elder girl, started to tell lies about different town folks which included Witchcraft accusations.

Over the next weeks, other townspeople came forward and testified that they, too, had been harmed by or had seen strange apparitions of some of the community members. As the witch hunt continued, accusations were made against many different people.

Frequently denonuced were women whose behavior or economic circumstances were somehow disturbing to the social order and conventions of the time. Some of the accused had previous records of criminal activity, including withchcraft, but others were faithful churchgoers and people of high standing in the community.

Sarah Osborne and Sarah Dustin were both convicted of witchcraft and sentenced to be hung. Both died in the Salem Dungeon from exposure, ill treatment and lack of adequate food before the sentences could be carried out. It is also said that Sarah Osborne died two months later, May 10, in the Boston jail.

Sarah Good was tried and convicted in June and hanged on the nineteenth of July, while Tituba lay in jail over a year and was finally sold as a slave for her board bill, as the Reverend Samuel Parris, her master, refused to redeem her.

John Willard early assisted in arresting the accused, but he had expressed sympathy with those under condemnation, and said, "Hang them, they they are all witches." It was latter reported that Mercy Lewis and Mary Walcott, while investigating an illness in the Wilkins family, that they "saw the apparitions of Sarah Buckley and John Willard upon the throat and breast of Henry Wilkins," and saw them press and choke him until he died.

A warrant for the arrest of Willard was issued May 10th on complaint of Thomas Fuller and others; but he could not be located until the eighteenth, when he was produced in court, having been found in Groton. He was given a preliminary examination at Beadle's Tavern, in Salem, at which the deposition of Mrs. Ann Putnam was probably put in evidence. The deposition concerned Willard, but finished with these words:

. . . Joseph Fuller's apparition also the same day came to me and told me that Goody Corey had killed him.

March 19th, a warrant was issued for the arrest of Martha Cory, wife of Giles Cory, and she was immediately taken into custody. She was examined before Justices Hathorne and Corwin. A woman of superior judgment and discretion, from the beginning she resolutely and persistently denounced the whole witchcraft proceedings. She endeavored to persuade her husband not to attend the hearings, nor to countenance the prosecutions in any manner. It is said that once she took the saddle off his horse to prevent him from going to an examination.

Martha Cory was generally disliked by her neighbors, something that may have been a contributing factor to her being accused. Years earlier she had given birth to an illegitimate child which apparently had not been well-received by the Puritans of Salem. When the girls first mentioned the name of Mrs. Cory, Edward Putnam and Ezekiel Cheever went to see her about the matter, March 12th. They saw Ann Putnam on the way, and asked her what clothes Mrs. Cory wore when her apparition appeared to her as Ann had said. Ann said that she was so blinded she could not see. Arriving at the Cory house, Mrs. Cory said to them, "I know what you have come for. You are come to talk with me about being a witch, but I am none. I cannot help people talking about me." She inquired whether the afflicted had attempted to describe her clothes. This last statement was deemed to be supernatural, and was used in her trial later on. She told them that she did not think there were any witches.

Martha Cory, Giles third wife and Rebecca Nurse were arrested March 19th. Probably the arrest of Rebecca Nurse was instigated by the enmity of the Putnams, who, mother and daughter, were among the chief accusers though the following months. Overwhelmed by the accusations against two such respected persons as Goodwives Cory and Nurse and inflamed by a sermon preached by Rev. Deodat Lawson, which was interrupted by the antics of several of the prosecuted children, popular feeling reached a degree of panic, which precluded any possible control of the rising excitement.



On March 28 Elizabeth Proctor was denounced as a witch and on April 3, Sarah Cloyce, Rebecca Nurse's sister, was accused of witchcraft.

On April 11, the colony as a whole took cognizance of the trouble, and the Deputy Governor Thomas Danforth and six magistrates, James Russell, John Hathorne, Isaac Addington, Major Samuel Appleton, Captain Samuel Sewall, and Jonathan Corwin appeared in Salem to hold court.

Elizabeth Proctor and Sarah Cloyce were examined before Hathorne, Corwin, Deputy Governor Thomas Danforth, and Captain Samuel Sewall. During this examination, John Proctor was also accused and imprisoned.

In the examination of Martha Cory, the following colloquies occurred:---

Mr. Hathorne.
You are now in the hands of authority. Tell me, now why you hurt these persons?

Martha Cory.
I do not.

Hathorne.
Who doth?

Cory.
Pray give me leave to go to prayer. (This request was made at sundry times.)

Hathorne.
We do not send for you to go to prayer, but tell me why hurt these.

Cory.
I am an innocent person. I never had to do with witchcraft since I was born. I
am a gospel woman.

Hathorne.
How could you tell, then, that the child was bid to observe what clothes you wore when some one came to speak with you?

(Cheever interrupted her and bid her not begin with a lie, and so Edward Putnam declared the matter.)
Who told you that?

Cory.
He said the child said.

Cheever.
You speak falsely. (Then Edward Putnam read again.)

Hathorne.
Why did you ask if the child asked what clothes you wore?

Cory.
My husband told me the others told.

Hathorne.
Goodman Cory, did you tell her? (The old man denied that he told her so.)

Hathorne.
Did you say your husband told you so?

Cory --- no answer.

Hathorne.
You dare thus lie in all this assembly. You are now before authority. I expect
the truth. You promised it. Speak now and tell who told you what clothes.

Cory.
Nobody.

Once the children cried, "A man is whispering in her ear.

Hathorne.
What did he say to you?

Cory.
We must not believe all that these distracted children say.

In his report of this trial, Mr. Parris said: When she bit her lip, several of the afflicted were bitten; when her hands were at liberty, they were pinched; etc., etc.

Mrs. Cory was badgered by Hathorne, badgered by Corwin, badgered by Rev. Mr. Noyes, badgered by the Marshall and others.

Her own husband testified against her, and said that in the evening, sitting by the fire, she asked him to go to bed; he told her that he would go to prayer, and when he went to prayer he not utter his desires with any sense nor open his mouth to speak; she perceived it and came toward him. In a little while, he prayed. Sometime in the previousweek, he brought an ox well out of the woods about noon and the ox lay down in the yard. When he went to yoke him, he could not rise, but dragged his hinder parts as if he had been hip shot, but afterward rose. Cory had a cat the same week which was strangely and suddenly taken sick and he thought she would die. Mrs. Cory asked him to knock her in the head, but he did not, and she recovered. Mrs. Cory was wont to sit up after he had gone to bed, and he had seen her kneel on the hearth, as if she was at prayer, but heard nothing.

During her examination, Mrs. Pope threw a shoe at her and it struck on her head.

After the same absurd scenes and alleged evidence, Sarah Cloyse and John Proctor and his wife Elizabeth, with Rebecca Nurse, Martha Cory, and Dorcas Good, the little five-year-old daughter of Sarah, who had been held in Salem, were sent to Boston Jail.

Rebecca Nurse was first granted a reprieve by the jury in her witchcraft case. Judge John Hathorne refused to accept the verdict and he convinced the jury to change their verdict. Judge Hathorne is now known as Salem's "witch hanging judge" and also was the great-great-grandfather of Nathaniel Hawthorne, author of the "House of Seven Gables." John Hathorne is buried in the Charter Street "Old Burying Point."
He was a Farmer in Salem, Essex Co, MA. This examination was most unfortunate, as it immediately gave the matter importance throughout the colony, whereas it had been a local affair up to that time.

As if there was not excitement enough, the Reverend Deodate Lawson was invited back to preach a powerful lecture-day sermon on the text, "And the Lord said unto Satan, the Lord rebuke thee, O Satan! even the Lord that has chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee; is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?" As may be supposed, he handled the Devil in a way to let no one doubt his reality, or the utter damnation that would follow any association with him. This did not tend to allay the excitement.

The accusers were not satiated yet. Warrants and commitments now followed in rapid secession. The next victim was Giles Cory, eighty years of age (Really 71 years old.). He was infatuated by the storm of witchcraft, and attended the hearings. At last the girls did not think that he was as strong as he ought to be in some of his evidence in a case, and cried out upon him, declaring that he afflicted them with fits and pinches.

On April 18th, Giles Cory and Mary Warren of the Village, Abigail Hobbs of Topsfield, and Bridget Bishop of Salem were arrested. On April 19th, they were examined. Only Abigail Hobbs confessed.

The court ordered Cory's hands to be tied, and they asked him if it were not enough to "act witchcraft at other times, but must you do it now in face of authority?" He replied, "I am a poor creature and cannot help it." Again, a magistrate exclaimed, "Why do you tell such wicked lies against witnesses?" One of his hands was loosed and the girls were afflicted. He held his head on on side, and the heads of the afflicted were held on one side. He drew in his cheeks, and the cheeks of the afflicted were sucked in.

This was a preliminary examination. He was never formally tried, as he would not plead. He was committed to jail.

Two days later, April 22th, nine more, Nehemiah Abbott, William and Deliverence Hobbs, Edward and Sarah Bishop, Mary Easty, Mary Black, Sarah Wildes, and Mary English were examined before Hathorne and Corwin. Only Nehemiah was cleared of charges.

May 2, Sarah Morey, Lydia Dustin, Susannah Martin, and Dorcas Hoar were examined by Hathorne and Corwin.

Several other arrests followed.

Reverend George Burroughs had earlier been pastor of the Salem Village church but had left for a parish in Wells, Maine after arguments with Ann Putnam, the mother of the 12-year-old of the same name. In 1692, daughter Ann Putnam testified that Rev. Burroughs had appeared before her in an apparition one night asking her to sign the Devil's books. Two women also appeared in this apparition, Ann Putnam reported that they were the Rev. Burroughs' first and second wives. These wives "told" Ann Putnam that Rev. Burroughs had murdered both of them. Based upon this apparition, on May 4, Rev. George Burroughs was arrested in Wells, Maine and brought back to Salem. Burroughs was examined by Hathorne, Corwin, Sewall, and William Stoughton on May 9. One of the afflicted girls, Sarah Churchill, was also exammined.

May 10th, Geoge Jacobs, Sr. and his granddaughter Margaret were examined before
Hathorne and Corwin. Margaret confessed and testified tha her grandfather and
George Burroughs were both witches.

On May 14th, several more warrents, including one for Elizabeth Cory of Charlestown, were issued. This continued through the first week of June.

Also on May 14th, Increase Mather returned from England, bringing with him a new charter and the new governor, Sir William Phips.

Now the trouble took a new turn. A woman in Andover was sick of some fever not understood, so her husband posted down to Salem Village to get a couple of the "afflicted children" to come up and say who was bewitching her. They came and trouble spread like wildfire. Dudley Bradstreet, son of the old Governor, was the magistrate, and at first went along with the excitement, but, when some fifty persons had been arrested, he declined to go further. He was, of course, suspected, so he and his wife and brother fled and escaped. A dog supposed to have been bewitched by the brother was executed!

May 18th, Mary Easty was released from prison. Yet, due to the outcries and protests of her accusers, she was arrested a second time.

May 27th, a new court of primarly Boston men was appointed by the new Governor, Sir William Phips. The special Court of Oyer and Terminer comprised of seven judges to try the witchcraft cases. Appointed were Lieutenant Governor William Stoughon, Nathaniel Saltonstall, Bartholomew Gedney, Peter Sergeant, Samuel Sewall, Wait Still Winthrop, John Richards, John Hathorne, and Jonathan Corwin.

These magistrates based their judments and evaluations on various kinds of intangible evidence, including direct confessions, supernatural attributes (such as "witchmarks", and reactions of the afflicted girls. Spectral evidence, based on the aaumption that the Devil could assume the "specter" of an innocent person, was relied upon despite its controversial nature.

Martha Carrier, John Alden, Wilmott Redd, Elizabeth Howe, and Phillip English were exmined before Hathorne, Corwin, and Gedney on May 31.

John Alden, son of the couple John Alden and Priscilla Mullins, was a resident of Boston when accused by the young girls of Salem of witchcraft. Alden was arrested and brought to Salem to face the girls. When Alden approached them in court, the girls who had accused him all fell to the floor in a faint. Alden then turned to Judge Hathorne and said, "What's the reason you don't fall when I look at you?" Hathorne had no answer, but he imprisoned Alden anyway. Three months later John Alden managed to escape from jail and he was never apprehended. On June 2nd, the initial session of the Court of Oyer and Terminer was held. The court held its meetings in the town-house and began its sessions the first week in June. They tried and sentenced Bridget Bishop.

Soon after Bridget Bishop's trail, Nathaniel Saltonstall resigned from the court, dissatisfied with its proceedings.

Bridget Bishop was the first to be hung for witchcraft. There is still debate today as to whether or not she should be included in the list of Salem witches of 1692. Bridget Bishop had been tried for witchcraft in 1679 and acquitted. She was a twice-widowed tavern owner, owning "an ordinary" on the road between Salem and Beverly. She served a new and powerful drink called "rum" to many of the sailors who frequented her place. The sailors also played an evil new game called "shuffleboard that upset many of the neighbors. Bridget wore bright clothes, a major offense in the eyes of the Puritans of Salem. Bridget apparently was condemned more for her lifestyle and for the veiled accusations of prostitution that cannot be proven or disproven today. Bridget Bishop was hanged June 10 in Salem, the first official execution of the Salem witch trails.

Following her death, accusations of witchcraft escalated, but the trials were not unopposed. Several townspeople signed petitions on behalf of accused people they believed to be innocent.

During this time, two dogs were also hung by the neck at Gallows Hill because one of the girls said they had appeared to her as the Devil's disciples and gave her the evil eye. On June 29-30, they tried and sentenced five more, Rebecca Nurse, Susannah Martin, Sarah Wildes, Sarah Good, and Elizabeth Howe.

The following dialogue is based on the exmination of Sarah Good by Judges Hathorne and Corwim, from "The Salem Witchcraft Papers", Book II, page 355.

What evil spirit have you familiarity with?

None.

Have you made no contract with the devil?

No.

Why do you hurt these children?

I do not hurt them. I scorn it.

Who do you imploy then to do it?

I imploy no body.

What creature do you imploy then?

No creature. I am falsely accused.

In mid-July an effort to expose witches afflicting his life, Joseph Ballard of nearby Andover enlisted the aid of the accusing girls of Salem. This action marked the beginning of the Andover witch hunt.

July 19, Rebecca Nurse (age 70), Susannah Martin, Elizabeth Howe, Sarah Good, and Sarah Wildes were executed.

August 2-6, the court condemned six more, George Jacobs, Sr., Martha Carrier, George Burroughs, John and Elizabeth Proctor, and John Willard.

All were executed on the nineteenth except Elizabeth Proctor by hanging on Gallows Hill.

The September sitting of the court began the sixth and ended on the seventeenth. The trial of Mrs. Cory occurred September 10th, and she was convicted and sentenced on the same day. Mary Easty, Alice Parker, Ann Pudeator, Dorcas Hoar, and Mary Bradbury were also tried and condemmed.

Mary Bradbury of Salisbury was found guilty of witchcraft, but managed to escape the jail before execution. She apparently had assistance in this from her friends and relatives, she was never re-captured. By Sep 17, Margaret Scott, Wilmott Redd, Samuel Wardwell, Mary Parker, Abigail Faulkner, Rebecca Eames, Mary Lacy and her mother Ann Foster, and Abigail Hobbs were tried and condemmed.

Mary Lacy of Andover was accused of witchcraft and admitted to it. She said "me and Martha Carrier did both ride on a stick or pole when we went to witch meetings at Salem Village." Ironically, those who confessed to being witches were not executed, but many of those who denied witchcraft were hung. Mary Lacy was allowed to go free after her "confession" but she had damned Martha Carrier in the process. Martha was hung a few weeks later. Mary Lacy's mother, Ann Foster, died in a Salem Dungeon due to ill treatment from Sheriff George Corwin.

At the September sitting of the court, Giles was arraigned. The following deposition is by one of the girls who accused Giles of witchcraft. The document is from the records of the Court of Oyer and Terminer, September 9, 1692, property of the Supreme Judicial Court, Division of Archives and Records Preservation, on deposit at the Essex Institute, Salem, Essex Co, MA.

Mercy Lewis v. Giles Cory

The Deposition of Mercy lewes agged about 19 years woh testifieth and saith that on the 14th April 1692 I saw the Apperishtion of Giles Cory com and aflect me urging me to writ in his book and so he contineued most dreadfullly to hurt me by times beating me & almost braking my back tell the day of his examination being the 19th April and then allso during the time of his examination he did affect and tortor me most greviously: and also several times sence urging me vehemently to writ in his book and I veryly believe in my heart that Giles Cory is a dreadfull wizzard for sence he had ben in prison he or his apperance has com and most greviously tormented me.

Mercy Lewis affirmed to the jury of Inquest. that the above written evidence: is the truth upon the oath: she has formerly taken in court of Oyer & Terminer: Septr 9: 1692

He was asked to plead, that is, to appeal to his country, to a jury trial, which at that time all persons charged with crime must do before a jury could try them. He "stood mute," and would not plead. The old English Law of "Peine forte et dure" furnished but one remedy for this situation. The prisoner should:

be remanded to the prison from whence he came and put into a low dark chamber, and there be laid on his back on the bare floor, naked, unless when decency forbids; that there be placed upon his body as great a weight as he could bear, and more, that he hath no sustenance, save only on the first day, three morsels of the worst bread, and the second day three droughts of standing water, that should be alternately his daily diet till he died, or, till he answered.

Giles Cory suffered this rather than to appeal to his countrymen, as he was fully convinced that he must die anyway, and he was obstinate enough to cheat the gallows. So to avoid giving the prosecution any advantage, he would answer nothing, whereupon he was sentenced to be pressed to death. Hence, refusing to put himself on trial (no trial actually took place). Giles reportedly was a stubborn, fiery man who realized that he would not get a fair trial. By not pleading one way or the other, English law dictated that a person could not be tried, but the penalty for standing mute was "slow crushing under weights" until a plea was forthcoming or the person died. His death was the result of his obstinacy and firmness with scarcely a parallel---certainly not in American annals.

On September 17, the Sheriff led Giles to a pit in the open field beside the jail and before the Court and witnesses in accordance with an English procedure of the "Peine forte et dure". They striped Giles of his clothing, laid him on the ground in the pit, placed boards on his chest, six men lifted heavy stones, placing them one by one, on his stomach and chest. Giles Corey did not cry out, which perplexed Sheriff Corwin whose duty it was to squeeze a confession from the old man.

After two days, Giles was asked three times to plead innocent or guilty to witchcraft, to which he would say more weight. "Do you confess?" the Sheriff cried over and over. More and more rocks were piled onto him, and the Sheriff, from time to time, would stand on the boulders staring down at Corey's bulging eyes. Robert Calef, who was a witness along with other townsfolk, later said, "In the pressing, Giles Corey's tongue was pressed out of his mouth; the Sheriff, with his cane, forced it in again."

Three mouthfuls of bread and water were fed to the old man during his many hours of pain. Finally, Giles Corey cried out at Sheriff Corwin, "Damn you. I curse you and Salem!" Giles Corey died a few seconds later.

Sewell's diary states, under date of Monday, September 19, 1692:

About noon at Salem, Giles Cory was pressed to death for standing mute; much pains was used with him two days, one after another, by the court and Captain Gardner of Nantucket who had been of his acquaintance, but all in vain.

In the whole history of English law very few people had had the fortitude to "stand mute" and endure a penalty expressly designed to discourage such obstinacy. This is the only instance in the history of New England where this law was applied. The execution of Giles Cory by this process had nothing to do with witchcraft. If he had refused to plead to a charge of burglary, the penalty would have been the same.

Except in the cases of treason, conviction could not be obtained on a prisoner who stood mute. With out conviction his property could not be confiscated by the crown or provincial government. Many of Corey's friends believed he remained silent in court because his conviction for the came would have meant the forfeiture of his estate. Otherwise, the Sheriff would confiscate it. But the fact is that he had executed a deed before this to his sons-in-law. Civil and criminal charges had followed him most of his life.

The day following Cory's death, Thomas Putnam sent to Judge Sewall the following communication:

Last night my daughter Ann was grievously tormented by witches, threatening that she should be pressed to death before Giles Corey, but through the goodness of a gracious God, she had, at last, a little respite. Whereupon there appeared unto her (she said) a man in a winding sheet who told her that Giles Corey had murdered by pressing him to death with his feet; but that the devil then appeared unto him and convenanted with him and promised him that he should not be hanged. The apparition said, God hardened his heart that he should not hearken to the advice of the court, and so die an easy death; because, as it said, it must be done to him as he had done to me. The apparition also said that Giles Corey was carried to the court for this and that the jury had found the murder; and that her father knew the man and the thing was done before she was born.

On Sep 21, Dorcas Hoar was the first of those pleading innocent to confess. Her
execution was delayed.

For the forth and last time, the procession left Salem jail for the place of
execution of those persons condemned for witchcraft, on Thursday, September 22d. There were eight victims this time. Samuel Wardwell of Andover was the only man to thus suffer, the women were Mrs. Martha Cory, wife of Giles Cory, Alice Parker, wife of John Parker, and Ann Pudeator, widow of Jacob Pudeator, all of Salem, Mary (Towne) Easty, sister of Rebecca Nurse and wife of Isaac Easty of Topsfield, Margaret Scott, widow of Benjamin Scott of Rowley, aged about seventy-five, Wilmot Reed ("Mammy Red"), wife of Samuel Reed, of Marblehead, and widow Mary Parker of Andover. Upon the ladder, Mrs. Cory, protesting her innocence, concluded her life with an earnest prayer. After the sheriff had done his part in the affair, Rev. Nicholas Noyes, of Salem, turned toward the suspended bodies of the victims, and said: "What a sad thing it is to see eight firebrands of hell hanging there."

After 20 people had been executed in the Salem witch hunt, Thomas Brattle wrote a letter on October 8th, criticizing the witchcraft trials. This letter had great impact on Governor Philps, who ordered that reliance on spectral and intangible evidence no longer be allowed in trials.

On Oct 29, Governor Philps dissolved the Court of Oyer and Terminer.

The General Court of the colony created the Superior Court on Nov 25 to try the remaining witchcraft cases which took place in May 1693. This time no one was convicted.

In the spring of 1693, Sir William Phips, Governor of Massachusetts, liberated 168 people in Salem's Witch Dungeon who awaiting the hangman's noose. Several of these people died shortly thereafter from their neglect and abuse while in the dungeon. By 1710, the General Court had begun to "reverse some of the convictions, judgments and attainders and declare them null and void," and in the next year or two some compensation, if inadequate, had been paid to the families of some of the sufferers. The First Church in Salem erased from their records and blotted out the excommunication of Rebecca Nurse and Giles Cory.

The Reverend Samuel Parris, after a long acrimonious struggle with the men whose wives, mothers, and friends he had helped to drag to the gallows, was driven from the Village in 1697, and, after unimportant service in the frontier towns, died in Sudbury in 1720. His wife died and was buried in Danvers before he left that parish.

One of the young girls, Ann Putnam confessed her fraud 14 years later at the age of 26. She had her minister read the confession at Sunday service "It was a great delusion of Satan that deceived me in that sad time whereby I justly fear I have been instrumental to bring upon myself and this land the guilt of innocent blood." The following is a list of those hanged at Gallows Hill, Salem, Massachusetts for witchcraft:

Name Village or Town Date
Bridget Bishop Salem 10-Jun-1692
Sarah Good Salem Village (Danvers) 19-Jul-1692
Susanna Martin Amesbury 19-Jul-1692
Elizabeth Howe Ipswich 19-Jul-1692
Rebecca Nurse (or Nourse) Salem Village (Danvers) 19-Jul-1692
Sarah Wildes Topsfield 19-Jul-1692
George Jacobs Salem Village (Danvers) 19-Aug-1692
Martha Carrier Andover 19-Aug-1692
Reverend George Burroughs Wells, Maine 19-Aug-1692
John Proctor Salem Village (Peabody) 19-Aug-1692


John Willard Salem Village (Danvers) 19-Aug-1692
Martha Corey Salem Village (Peabody) 22-Sep-1692


Mary Easty Topsfield 22-Sep-1692
Alice Parker Salem 22-Sep-1692
Mary Parker Andover 22-Sep-1692
Ann Prudeater Salem 22-Sep-1692
Wilmot Reed Marblehead 22-Sep-1692
Margaret Scott Rowley 22-Sep-1692
Samuel Wardwell Andover 22-Sep-1692

While the term "Salem Witches" is common nowadays, it ignores the fact that most of the accused were not from Salem. The jail and site of executions were in Salem, but the accused were mostly from other towns and villages in the area. Only 10 the 134 who were accused and were held in Salem's Jail were from Salem Towne. The complete count was:

1 Amesbury
38 Andover
2 Boxford
1 Boston
6 Billerica
6 Beverly
3 Charlestown
1 Chelmsford
3 Gloucester
3 Haverhill
1 Great Island
2 Marblehead
7 Lynn
1 Malden
4 Reading
1 Rowley
1 Romney Marsh (today called Revere)
1 Salisbury
10 Salem
30 Salem Village (today this is part of Danvers and of Peabody)
7 Topsfield & Ipswich
1 Wells, Maine
3 Woburn

In addition to the 134 above, another 34 were accused and in various jails awaiting trial when Governor Phips released all the prisoners.

The only person who seemed to profit from the witchcraft hysteria was Sheriff George Corwin who confiscated property and pocketed fees collected from the accused and their relatives.

It is remarkable that the original 552 documents recording court testimony during the witchcraft trial have been preserved and are still stored by the Peabody Essex Museum.

There is a popular theory today that mouldy rye was the real cause of the Salem hysteria. An article in "Science Magazine," April 2, 1976, by Linda, Caporael, a University of California graduate student, reveals that the physical afflictions of the accusing girls might have been caused by "Convulsive Ergotism", a disorder resulting from the ingestion of contaminated rye grain. "Rye, which grows in low, wet ground, yields ergot," wrote Miss Caporael. Rye was known to be a staple in the diets of the Salem Puritans. Rye was a common ingredient of bread and was eaten as a cereal. Judge Sewall's diary for the summer of 1692 states that the rye harvest was during a time that was "rainy and warm, hot and stormy." Ergot (claviceps purpura) is spread by a fungus that causes symptoms of hallucination, violent fits, choking, pinching, itching, a crawling sensation in the skin and muscular contractions. Linda Caporael adds that "females and children are more likely to get ergot poisoning than the males."