These “diverse, new, and dangerous opinions” did not sit well with the Puritan leaders, and he was convicted of sedition and heresy. Williams, who was the acting pastor of the Salem church in 1634, believed that Native Americans should be paid for their land and that Church and State should be separate. He is buried in the Broad Street Cemetery in Salem.Īdditional note: The property on which the Witch House stands is thought to be where the early 1630s home of Roger Williams once stood. He never showed remorse for his actions of 1692 and died in 1718 at the age of 78, very rich and respected. After the witchcraft trials, Corwin served on the Superior Court and as the judge of Probate. In 1690, Governor Simon Bradstreet sent both Corwin and Hathorne on a fact-finding mission to Maine and New Hampshire, to assess the strength of the garrisons against Native American attack. In addition to his close friendship with John Hathorne, they were also brothers-in law (Corwin’s sister Abigail married Hathorne’s brother Eleazor). Corwin served as a Deputy to the General Court and on the Safety Council. It helped that she was a wealthy woman who was also related to one of the judges.Ĭorwin, who was born in Salem in 1640, was a merchant who purchased this house in 1675. Margaret Thatcher, was accused of witchcraft by one of her servants, although she was never arrested. One of his own children was thought to be afflicted early in the witchcraft “outbreak.” In addition, his mother-in-law, Mrs. The letter did not seem to change Corwin’s mind.Īs with others involved in the pursuit of “witches,” Corwin didn’t escape a personal connection. Judge Corwin received a strongly argued letter from Salisbury’s Major Robert Pike in September of 1692, in which Pike questioned the use of spectral evidence to convict people of witchcraft. Corwin was a principle figure in the pursuit and questioning of former Salem Village minister, Reverend George Burroughs.
Both clearly thought all were guilty of the charges from the start. Corwin usually let Hathorne take the lead in the examinations, but the two together were unrelenting in seeking confessions of witchcraft.
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