John Hathorne
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Bio
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Family
William Hathorne (father)
- He was a local judge who came to the New World on the Arabella. The Arabella was one out of a total of eleven ships that belonged to John Winthrop, which had brought over 800 puritans to the colony in 1630.
- He was known as a bitter persecutor of Quakers and was responsible for ordering the public whipping of Ann Coleman in Salem in 1662.
- Was in the military, served as captain of the Salem military company in 1646, and was promoted during King Phillip’s war to major in 1656.
- Used land grants to secure extensive property, which he turned into farmland and owned much of Salem Village, which is now part of Danvers.
Witch trials and his methods
- He returned to Salem Village in 1692 as the chief examiner of the Salem Witch trials.
- He would refuse to reconsider a verdict even after major witnesses had recanted their testimony. Many thought this was due to the fact that he was profiting from the accused.
- His first examination was on march 1st. Here he had questioned Sarah Osbourne, Tituba and Sarah Good. These examinations took place at the Salem Village meetinghouse
- Hathorne's questioning always began with a presumption of guilt rather than innocence, and he appeared to be on the side of the accusers.
- Altered the tradition of previous witch trials by encouraging those under examination not only to confess to witchcraft but also to name others who might be witches - a move that accelerated the number of accusations.
- Began his questioning in an accusatory tone, and he would then proceed to badger the accused in an attempt to drive out a confession and, better yet, more accusations.
- Hathorne might have also stood to have some financial gain from the trials from the seizure of property that took place, and the same with the other judges.
Life after the witch trials
- Since everyone had was focused on hunting and destroying the witches they forgot about everything else. Planting, cultivating, the care of houses, barns, roads, fences, were all forgotten. Due to this food had become scarce and taxes were rised. Farms would be mortgaged or sold, first to pay prison fees, then to pay taxes, or they would be abandoned. "Salem Village began that slow decay which eventually erased its houses and walls, but never its name and memory.”
- Later in the 1690s Hathorne followed in his father's military footsteps. He continued to be active in the colonial militia, and was promoted to colonel in 1711. He was a commander-in-chief in the failed siege of Fort Nashwaak in Nova Scotia in 1696.
- In 1702, John was appointed to the Superior Court where he held this position for 10 years before he resigning in 1712.