John Hathorne (August 1641 – May 10, 1717) was a merchant and magistrate of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and Salem, Massachusetts. He is best known for his early and vocal role as one of the leading judges in the Salem witch trials.
Who was the main judge of the Salem witch trials?
Judge John Hathorne was one of the most vocal participants during the Salem witchcraft trials. Judge Hathorne lived south of the Town House/Salem Courthouse in 1692, on present-day Washington Street, a short walk from home to court.
What did Judge Hathorne do?
A very religious man, Hathorne served on a committee to find a replacement for Salem minister George Burroughs in 1686. He later sentenced Burroughs to death in the 1692 witch trials. Hathorne believed the devil could use witches to undermine the purpose of the church and do harm to people.
How many judges presided over the Salem witch trials?
Presided over by William Stoughton, the colony’s lieutenant governor, the court consisted of seven judges. The accused were forced to defend themselves without aid of counsel.
Was Judge Hathorne a real person?
John Hathorne was a judge in the Salem Witch Trials and the great-great grandfather of author Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hathorne was born in Salem on August 5, 1641 to William Hathorne and Anne Smith. He was the fifth of nine children.
Who is judge Hawthorne?
The Real-Life Judge Hathorne
The historical John Hathorne lived from 1641-1717 and was a merchant and magistrate of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and Salem, Massachusetts. He was one of the most prominent judges during the Salem witch trials beginning in 1692.
Who were the judges in the witch trials?
The chief justice was William Stoughton, the newly appointed deputy governor of the colony. He was from Dorchester, and was joined by four judges from neighboring Boston: Captain Samuel Sewall, Major John Richards, Major-General Wait Winthrop and Peter Sergeant.
Who is The Crucible judge?
Governor Danforth represents rigidity and an over-adherence to the law in The Crucible. Danforth is clearly an intelligent man, highly respected and successful. He arrives in Salem to oversee the trials of the accused witches with a serene sense of his own ability to judge fairly.
What happened to Judge Hathorne after the Salem witch trials?
He continued to be active in the colonial militia, and was promoted to colonel in 1711. He was also finally appointed to the Superior Court by Governor Joseph Dudley, a seat he held until 1711. He died in Salem in 1717, and is interred in the Burying Point Cemetery along with a number of his descendants.
How old is Judge Hathorne?
In all, fourteen men and women were convicted by the court and died before the court was disbanded by Governor Phips.
Why does Hale quit the court?
At the end of Act 3, Reverend Hale quits the court in Salem out of frustration because he sees that irrationality and hysteria have taken over the proceedings. However, in Act 4, we learn that he has returned to Salem to speak with the prisoners and convince them to confess.
What did William Hathorne do to Ann Coleman?
” . . . William Hathorne was ‘a bitter persecutor’ who ordered the whipping of Quaker Ann Coleman through Salem and two other towns. Nathaniel Hawthorne seemed haunted by his ancestor’s association with the punishment of the Quaker, the ‘strange people’ who had the ‘gift of a new idea'”(31).
What happened to Elizabeth Proctor in real life?
Elizabeth Proctor was convicted in the 1692 Salem witch trial. While her husband was executed, she escaped execution because she was pregnant at the time she would have been hanged.