John Proctor (1632–1692) was a tavern-keeper in 17th century Massachusetts. During the Salem witch trials he was accused of witchcraft, convicted and hanged. See also: 1632 (novel) Events February 22 - Galileos Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems is published July 23 - 300 colonists for New France depart Dieppe November 8 - Wladyslaw IV Waza elected king of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth after Zygmunt III Waza death November 16 - Battle of Lützen... Events February 13 - Massacre of Glencoe March 1 - The Salem witch trials begin in Salem Village, Massachusetts Bay Colony with the charging of three women with witchcraft. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... 1876 illustration of the courtroom; the central figure is usually identified as Mary Walcott The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings by local magistrates and county court trials to prosecute people alleged to have committed acts of witchcraft in Essex, Suffolk and Middlesex Counties of Massachusetts in 1692...

Early life

Proctor was born in Assington, Suffolk, England, to John Proctor (1595–1672) and Martha Harper (1607–1659). The family, including a younger child, Mary (born 1634), departed from London on April 12, 1635 bound for the Massachusetts Bay Colony. After a two-month voyage, the Proctors settled in Ipswich, Massachusetts. Suffolk (pronounced ) is a large historic and modern non-metropolitan county in East Anglia, England. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... is the 102nd day of the year (103rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events February 10 - The Académie française in Paris is expanded to become a national academy for the artistic elite. ... A map of the Massachusetts Bay Colony Capital Charlestown, Boston History  - Established 1629  - New England Confederation 1643  - Dominion of New England 1686  - Province of Massachusetts Bay 1692  - Disestablished 1692 The Massachusetts Bay Colony (sometimes called the Massachusetts Bay Company, for the institution that founded it) was an English settlement on...

In 1655, young John married Martha Giddons, in Ipswich. They had four children, John, Martha, Mary and Benjamin, of whom only Benjamin survived childhood. The death of Martha on June 13,1659 left Proctor a widower. In December of 1662 he married his second wife, Elizabeth Thorndike, also in Ipswich, Massachusetts. Elizabeth was the daughter of the founder of Ipswich, John Thorndike, and his wife Elizabeth Stratton. Proctor had seven children with Elizabeth.

Map of West Peabody, MA showing the location of the Proctor homestead, made by William P. Upham in 1904.^[1]

In 1666, Proctor moved from Ipswich to Salem, Massachusetts, where he leased a 700 acre estate called Groton. Groton was adjacent to Proctor's own 15 acre farm. Proctor gained his first license to operate a tavern in 1668. His inn was located on the Ipswich river about a mile south of the Salem Village line. The men in the family ran the farm, while the women ran the tavern. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 487 pixelsFull resolution‎ (1,168 × 711 pixels, file size: 629 KB, MIME type: image/png) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 487 pixelsFull resolution‎ (1,168 × 711 pixels, file size: 629 KB, MIME type: image/png) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Nickname: Location in Essex County in Massachusetts Coordinates: , Country State County Essex County Settled 1626 Incorporated 1868 Government  - Type Mayor-council city  - Mayor Michael J. Bonfanti Area  - City  16. ...

In 1672 Proctor inherited one third of his father’s estate in Ipswich. His brothers Benjamin and Joseph also each inherited one-third shares. John’s portion of the estate was worth 1200 pounds.

In April 1674, Proctor married for a third time to Elizabeth Bassett, with whom he had six children. Elizabeth Proctor was an indirect victim of the Salem witch trials whose husband, John Proctor, was executed. ...

Salem Witch Trials

Background to John Proctor's involvement

John Proctor was nearly 32 years old when the Salem Witch Trials began. During the witchcraft hysteria, he disparaged the trials and accused the girls of lying. When his wife and children were accused of witchcraft, he proclaimed the innocence of his family, which made him a direct target of the accusers and he became the first man to be accused. 1876 illustration of the courtroom; the central figure is usually identified as Mary Walcott The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings by local magistrates and county court trials to prosecute people alleged to have committed acts of witchcraft in Essex, Suffolk and Middlesex Counties of Massachusetts in 1692...

Letter to Boston

He wrote a letter to the authorities in Boston, Massachusetts to alert them to the issues taking place in Salem and asking them to intervene. In this letter he claimed that if a woman as well respected as Rebecca Nurse could be convicted, then no restraint was left in the town, and he asked that the trials be moved to Boston, Massachusetts or that new judges be appointed. His letter brought about a meeting of eight ministers at Cambridge, Massachusetts on August 1, 1692. No records survive of what took place at this meeting, but when the ministers emerged, they had drastically changed their position on spectral evidence, having previously decided that the devil could take on the form of innocent people. Unfortunately for John Proctor, their decision made no practical difference until after his execution. Boston redirects here. ... Rebecca Towne Nurse (baptized February 21, 1621 – July 19, 1692) was an important figure in the Salem witch trials. ... Location in Middlesex County in Massachusetts Coordinates: , Country State County Middlesex Settled 1630 Incorporated 1636 Government  - Type Mayor-City Council  - Mayor Kenneth Reeves (D) Area  - Total 7. ... is the 213th day of the year (214th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events February 13 - Massacre of Glencoe March 1 - The Salem witch trials begin in Salem Village, Massachusetts Bay Colony with the charging of three women with witchcraft. ... One of the great injustices of the Salem Witchcraft Trials was the admission of spectral evidence. ... This is an overview of the Devil. ...

Accusations and trial

Mary Warren, the twenty-year-old maidservant in the Proctor house, accused John as well. Warren was later accused of witchcraft herself.

John and Elizabeth Proctor were tried on August 5, 1692. They were both found guilty and sentenced to hang. Elizabeth, who was then pregnant, had her execution postponed until she had given birth, and was eventually released. John was hanged on August 19,1692. is the 217th day of the year (218th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events February 13 - Massacre of Glencoe March 1 - The Salem witch trials begin in Salem Village, Massachusetts Bay Colony with the charging of three women with witchcraft. ...

Accusations towards others in the Proctor family

In 1692, 141 complaints were filed. 12 were against relatives of the Proctor family. It should be noted, only John and Elizabeth (Bassett) Proctor were convicted and only John was executed.

• John Proctor, husband of Elizabeth (Bassett) Proctor and the father of Benjamin, William and Sarah Proctor.
• Elizabeth (Bassett) Proctor, third wife of John Proctor
• Benjamin Proctor, son of John and his first wife Martha Giddons
• William Proctor, son of John and Elizabeth
• Sarah Proctor, daughter of John and Elizabeth
• Mary DeRich, Elizabeth's sister
• Sarah Bassett, Elizabeth's sister-in-law (wife of William Bassett, Jr., Elizabeth's brother)
• Extended family:
  • Thomas Farrar, Sr., father-in-law of Elizabeth (Hood) Farrar, sister of Sarah (Hood) Bassett
  • Elizabeth Hart, wife of Isaac Hart whose sister, Deborah Hart, was married to Benjamin Proctor, brother of John Proctor
  • Rebecca Nurse, her maiden name was Towne. She was the sister of Sarah (Towne) Cloyce & Mary (Towne) Esty and the wife of Francis Nurse; Elizabeth Proctor, daughter of John Proctor and Elizabeth Bassett, married Thomas Very in 1681. His sister, Elizabeth Very was the second wife of John Nurse, the eldest son of Rebecca Nurse.
  • Mary Esty, her maiden name was Towne. She was the sister of Rebecca (Towne) Nurse and Sarah (Towne) Cloyce and the wife of wife of Isaac Esty.
  • Sarah Cloyce, her maiden name was Towne. She was the sister of Rebecca (Towne) Nurse and Mary (Towne) Esty and the wife of Peter Cloyce.

There was also one family member among the accusers; John DeRich, son of Mary (Bassett) DeRich. Elizabeth Proctor was an indirect victim of the Salem witch trials whose husband, John Proctor, was executed. ... William Proctor may refer to: William Proctor (UK politician) (1896–1967), Labour Party Member of Parliament (MP) for Eccles 1945–1964 William Proctor (Salem), one of the accused in the Salem witch trials. ... Rebecca Towne Nurse (baptized February 21, 1621 – July 19, 1692) was an important figure in the Salem witch trials. ...

Aftermath

On December 17, 1711, monetary compensation was finally awarded to the wrongly accused; 150 pounds was awarded to the Proctor family, who received much more money than most of the other families. The monies were distributed in January and February 1712, with the monies for the Proctor family being given to Thorndike Proctor, son of John and his second wife, Elizabeth Thorndike. The legislature only granted money if the heirs or those accused asked for it. On February 14, 1712, Benjamin Proctor, son of John and his first wife, Martha Harper, filed a petition with the court requesting damages for the suffering of his family. He objected because the monies for Mary, Abigail and Joseph Proctor (his siblings), were given to his brother Thorndike. He felt that since he had been responsible for all of the family's debts in 1692, that the monies were rightfully his. The committee refused to take action and left the family to deal with the problem. December 17 is the 351st day of the year (352nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1711 (MDCCXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ... // Events Treaty of Aargau signed between Catholic and Protestants. ... is the 45th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... // Events Treaty of Aargau signed between Catholic and Protestants. ...

The Crucible

A fictionalised version of John Proctor is one of the main characters in the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller. In the play, Proctor is in his thirties and Abigail Williams is 17 and a half years old, while the real John Proctor and Abigail Williams were respectively about sixty and eleven years old at the time of the witch trials. In the play, they have an affair, as a result of which Abigail accused Elizabeth Proctor of witchcraft. In reality, the Proctors' servant, Mary Warren, was the one who accused Elizabeth. For other uses, see Crucible (disambiguation). ... Arthur Bob Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright and essayist. ... Abigail Williams testimony against George Jacobs, Jr. ...

In the film based on the play, Proctor was played by Daniel Day-Lewis. Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis (born 29 April 1957) is an Academy-Award winning and Golden Globe-award nominated actor. ...

References

Bibliography

• University of Massachusetts: John Proctor
• The Salem News, “Documents Shed New Light On Witchcraft Trials”, By BETSY TAYLOR, news staff Danvers, Massachusetts
• The History of the Town of Danvers, from its Earliest Settlement to 1848, by J. W. Hanson, copyright 1848, published by the author, printed at the Courier Office, Danvers, Massachusetts
• House of John Proctor, Witchcraft Martyr, 1692, by William P. Upham, copyright 1904, Press of C. H. Shephard, Peabody, Massachusetts,
• Puritan City, The Story of Salem, by Frances Winwar, King County Library System, 917.44, copyright 1938, Robert M. McBride & County, New York.
• The Salem witchcraft papers : verbatim transcripts of the legal documents of the Salem witchcraft outbreak of 1692 / compiled and transcribed in 1938 by the Works Progress Administration, under the supervision of Archie N. Frost ; edited and with an introduction and index by Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum; Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library; pg. 662; Essex County Archives, Salem -- Witchcraft Vol. 1
• The Founders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, A Careful Research of the Earliest Records of Many of the Foremost Settlers of the New England Colony: Compiled From The Earliest Church and State Records, and Valuable Private Papers Retained by Descendants for Many Generations, by Sarah Saunders Smith, Press of the Sun Printing Company, 1897, Pittsfield Massachusetts.
• The Devil Discovered : Salem Witchcraft, 1692 by Gaylord Robinson
• Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft by Paul Boyer
• Chronicles of Old Salem, A History in Miniature by Francis Diane Robotti
• The Devil in Massachusetts, A Modern Enquiry Into the Salem Witch Trials, by Marion L. Starkey, King County Library System, copyright 1949, Anchor Books / Doubleday Books, New York
• A Delusion of Satan: The Full Story of the Salem Witch Trials by Frances Hill
• The Salem Witch Trials Reader by Frances Hill
• The Witchcraft of Salem Village by Shirley Jackson
• Salem Witchcraft; With an Account of Salem Village and a History of Opinions on Witchcraft and Kindred Subjects. by Charles W. Upham
• The Devil Hath Been Raised: A Documentary History of the Salem Village Witchcraft Outbreak of March 1692 by Richard B. Trask
• The Visionary Girls: Witchcraft in Salem Village by Marion Lena Starkey
• The Salem Witch Trials, A Day by Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege, by Marilynne K. Roach, copyright 2002, Cooper Square Press, New York, NY.
• The Crucible, Arthur Miller