By Justin Santamaria JUDGE SAMUEL SEWALL

 My father had gone to Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1635 and met my mother  They later got married, returned to England in the 1640s, and became a wealthy family  I was born in Bishopstoke, Hampshire, England on March 28, 1652 to Henry and Jane Sewall BIRTH

 My family decided to move across Atlantic Ocean to Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1661 when Charles II was restored to the English throne  Settled in Newbury  Grew up along the Parker River and Plum Island Sound  Attended grade school at the home of James Noyes, mainly instructed by reverend Thomas Parker CHILDHOOD

 Entered Harvard College in 1667  Received Bachelor’s Degree in 1671  Received Master’s Degree in 1674  Began keeping a diary during final year at Harvard, which became one of the major historical documents of the time EDUCATION

 Married Hannah Hull in 1676, who was the daughter of one of the wealthiest men in all of the colonies (was a goldsmith)  Married second wife, Abigail Woodmansey in 1719, but she died 7 months later  In 1722, I married Mary Gibbs, who lived longer than I did  Out of my 14 total children, only 6 survived childhood FAMILY LIFE

 Appointed official printer of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1681  Elected to replace John Hull on the colony’s council of assistants after he died in 1683  After being part of local politics for a while, I earned the position of assistant magistrate in the judiciary CAREERS

 This was the judiciary that judged those accused of witchcraft in Salem  Appointed associate justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court of Judicature in 1693 by Governor William Phips  Appointed chief justice of the court in 1717 by Governor Samuel Shute CAREERS CONTINUED

 One of nine men chosen by Governor William Phips to bring to trial people accused of witchcraft  I was chosen because of my high social status and strong theological background  I was present at most of the trials, even though only five out of the nine judges were needed to convict someone of witchcraft INVOLVEMENT IN SALEM WITCH HYSTERIA

 The court executed 19 people before William Phips decided to shut it down a year later  I regretted my part in executing the witches, and issued an apology five years later  Continued to believe that witches exist, but nothing needed to be done about them INVOLVEMENT IN SALEM WITCH HYSTERIA CONTINUED

 Devout Puritan  Received a Master’s degree in Divinity from Harvard, but never became a minister  Believed that bad things happen to show God’s displeasure  Misfortunes kept eating away at the colony after the witch trials and a lot of people, including myself, felt that it was God’s punishment RELIGIOUS PRACTICES

 Died on January 1, 1730 at home in Boston at the age of 77  Buried in the family tomb in Boston’s Granary Burying Ground DEATH

 Cox., Mr.. "Judge Samuel Sewall." Site Map. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct  Mason, Robin C.. "Samuel Sewall: Salem witch judge - Boston genealogy | Examiner.com." Welcome to Examiner.com | Examiner.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct  "PAL: Samuel Sewall ( )." California State University Stanislaus | Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct  "Salem Witch Trials Important Persons." The Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct  "Samuel Sewall." UMKC School of Law. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct BIBLIOGRAPHY