Two of the Six Men Executed During The Salem Witch Trials, & One Who Escaped
PROCTOR / WARDWELL / ALDEN
PROCTOR / WARDWELL / ALDEN
I have relatives on both sides of my family who were hung as witches during the Salem Witch Trials. Both were men. Their wives and daughters were convicted as well but subsequently pardoned.
On my mom’s side, John Proctor, Jr., second-cousin of my 9th great-grandfather Robert Proctor, was the first male accused of being a witch during the trials. Initial accusations were aimed at his third wife, Elizabeth, but when he defended her and vocally expressed his disbelief in the accusers, fingers were then pointed at him as well. In all, 12 members of the Proctor family were tried on August 5, 1692, found guilty, and sentenced to death by hanging. John was hanged on August 19, 1692. Elizabeth, who was then pregnant, was given a reprieve until she gave birth, which thankfully came after the trials and executions ended. But while the Proctors had been locked in jail, the sheriff seized their property. The cattle were sold cheaply, and the Proctor Tavern was sold. Elizabeth and the children were left with no means of support. (Two extended family members, the Towne sisters, Rebecca Nurse and Mary Estey, were both convicted and hanged. A third sister managed to escape).
On my dad’s side, Samuel Wardwell, Sr., the first cousin of my 10th great-grandfather John Wardwell, was put on trial along with his wife and daughters. He was convicted of witchcraft and hanged on September 22, 1692. Samuel had been long regarded by locals as an eccentric but rather harmless soul who liked to entertain his friends by telling their fortunes and dabbling in folk magic. Even though the practice of fortune-telling was not uncommon among New Englanders in the 17th century, it was a forbidden practice by Puritans. Samuel had married a wealthy widow by the name of Sarah Hooper Hawkes on January 9, 1673. His neighbors’ jealousy, or their belief that he had cast some sort of spell on the vulnerable woman, sealed his doom. After he was executed, his wife and daughters were pardoned for witchcraft but had all of their property confiscated by the town of Salem.
Also on my dad’s side, John Alden, Jr., one of the sons of my 10th great-grandpa, John, Sr. (a Mayflower passenger), was accused of witchcraft and arrested. While awaiting trial, he broke out of jail and escaped to Duxbury, where he stayed with friends until, as he later said, “the public had reclaimed the use of its reason”. When he returned, he was cleared by proclamation.