John Proctor (9 October 1631 – 19 August 1692) was a landowner in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He and his wife Elizabeth were tried and convicted of witchcraft as part of the Salem Witch Trials, whereupon he was hanged.
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Early life
Proctor was born in Suffolk, England, to John Proctor (1594–1672) and Martha Harper (1607–1667). When he was just three years old, his parents brought their family to America. They sailed from London on 12 April 1635 on a ship called the Susan and Ellen.
Upon arrival, they settled in the Chebacco area of Ipswich, Massachusetts. The elder Proctor owned many properties and was considered one of the wealthiest residents of Ipswich. He had two shares in Plum Island in 1664. He also held various offices within the colony.
Adult life
Proctor was a good businessman, comfortable working with people from all levels of society. Around 1653, Proctor married Martha. They had four children: John (1653–1658), Martha (1655–1658), Mary (1656/57–1657/58) and Benjamin (1659–1720). Many people have given Martha the surname of Giddon or Giddens, but no sources have been located to verify the accuracy of this information.
Martha died in childbirth on 13 June 1659. Her death registry reads "Martha, wife of John Procter, died the 13 June 1659"; Benjamin Proctor was the only surviving child from this marriage.
On 1 December 1662, Proctor married Elizabeth Thorndike (1641–1672), daughter of John Thorndike, founder of Ipswich, Massachusetts. They had seven children: Elizabeth (1663–1736) married in 1681 to Thomas Very; Martha (1665–?); Martha married Nathaniel Gowing; Mary (1667–1668); John (1668–1748); Mary (1669–?); Thorndike (1672–1759), married in 1697 to Hannah Felton, widow of Samuel Endicott, the grandson of John Endicott, the first Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony and daughter of Nathaniel Felton and Mary Skelton.
In 1666, Proctor moved to Salem and leased a 700-acre estate called Groton farm (also known as Downing Farm) in Salem Farms, the section of Salem Township just to the south of Salem Village in what is now part of Peabody. The farm was leased from Emmanuel Downing, brother-in-law to John Winthrop. In 1668, Proctor received his first license to operate a tavern here and the license was renewed annually. The Inn was located on Ipswich Road about a mile south of the Salem Village line. Elizabeth (Thorndike) Proctor died on 30 August 1672 shortly after she gave birth to their seventh child, Thorndike Proctor. Proctor's father also died in 1672 and he inherited 1/3 of the estate in Ipswich. His brothers Benjamin and Joseph inherited the other 2/3 of the estate. Each portion was valued at £1,200.
On 1 April 1674, Proctor married Elizabeth Bassett (1651–?), daughter of William and Sarah (Burt) Bassett of Lynn, Massachusetts. They had seven children: William (1674/5 – after 1695); Sarah (1677–1751); Samuel (1685–1765); Elisha (1687–1688); Abigail (1689 – after 1695); Joseph (before 1691 – ?); John (1693–1745).
Elizabeth and some of the older children ran the tavern while Proctor and his eldest son, Benjamin, tended to their extensive farm properties in Salem and Ipswich. If customers in the tavern had insufficient funds, Elizabeth insisted they pay with pawned goods.
Accusations and trial
Initial accusations were aimed at Proctor's third wife, Elizabeth (Bassett). When he began to defend her and vocally express his disbelief in the accusers, fingers were then pointed at him as well. Although Abigail Williams was John Proctor's chief accuser, he was also named by Mary Walcott, who stated he tried to choke her, and by his former servant Mary Warren on 21 April. Warren told magistrates that Proctor had beaten her for putting up a prayer bill before forcing her to touch the Devil's Book. Further allegations of an increasingly salacious nature followed. Proctor continued to challenge the veracity of spectral evidence and the validity of the Court of Oyer and Terminer, which led to a petition signed by 32 neighbors in his favor. The signatories stated that Proctor had lived a "Christian life in his family and was ever ready to help such as they stood in need".
The Proctors were tried on 5 August 1692, found guilty, and sentenced to death by hanging. While Proctor and his wife were still in jail, the sheriff seized all of their household belongings. The cattle were sold cheaply, slaughtered, or shipped to the West Indies. The beer barrels at the tavern were emptied. Their children were left with no means of support. Proctor was hanged on 19 August 1692. Elizabeth, who was then pregnant, was given a reprieve until she gave birth, which came after the trials ended.
Accusations against other Proctor family members
In 1692, one hundred and forty-one complaints were filed. Of those, twelve were against relatives or extended members of the Proctor family. John Proctor, Elizabeth Proctor, and Rebecca Nurse were convicted, and John and Rebecca were executed.
John Proctor, husband of Elizabeth Bassett aka Elizabeth Proctor and the father of Benjamin, William, and Sarah Proctor.
Elizabeth Bassett Proctor, third wife of John Proctor and mother of William Proctor.
Benjamin Proctor, son of John Proctor and his first wife Martha.
William Proctor, son of John Proctor and his third wife, Elizabeth.
Mary Bassett DeRich, the sister of Elizabeth Proctor.
Extended family:
Thomas Farrar Sr., father-in-law of Elizabeth (Hood) Farrar, sister of Sarah Hood aka Sarah Bassett
Elizabeth Hutchinson, wife of Isaac Hart whose daughter, Deborah Hart, was married to Benjamin Proctor, brother of John Proctor.
Elizabeth Proctor, daughter of John Proctor and Elizabeth Thorndike Proctor, married Thomas Very in 1681. His sister, Elizabeth Very was the second wife of John Nurse, the eldest son of Francis and Rebecca (née Towne) Nurse.
Rebecca Nurse, sister of Mary Eastey and Sarah Cloyce.
Mary Eastey, sister of Rebecca Nurse and Sarah Cloyce.
Sarah Cloyce, sister of Rebecca Nurse and Mary Eastey.
Related accuser
One other family member was drawn into the Trials, joining the accusers: 16-year-old John DeRich, the son of the imprisoned Mary Bassett DeRich and her husband, Michel DeRich, who had recently died. John testified against George and Sarah Jacobs, Giles Corey, and Sarah Pease.
Aftermath
In June 1696, Elizabeth filed an appeal to contest her husband's will. She testified in court that "in that sad time of darkness before my said husband was executed it is evident somebody had contrived a will and brought it to him to sign, wherein his whole estate is disposed of." The will had already been probated and assets distributed and she stated that her step-children "will not suffer me to have one penny of the estate, neither upon the account of my husband's contract with me before marriage nor yet upon the account of the dower which, as I humbly conceive, doth belong or ought to belong to me by law, for they say that I am dead in the law".
On 22 September 1696, Elizabeth remarried to Daniel Richards. On 19 April 1697, the probate court ordered Elizabeth's step-children to return to her the dowry as she was "now restored to benefit of law.
On 2 March 1703, twenty-one spouses and children of those condemned, as well as three women who were convicted but not executed, including Elizabeth, filed petitions before any action was taken on Elizabeth's appeal for reversal of attainder. They requested that "something may be publicly done to take off infamy from the names". Two more petitions were filed in June 1703. These included requests from eleven ministers to reconsider the convictions and restore the good names of the citizens. The Massachusetts House of Representatives finally passed a bill disallowing spectral evidence. However, they only gave a reversal of attainder for those who had filed petitions.
In 1705, another petition was filed requesting a more equitable settlement for those wrongly accused. In May 1709, 22 people who had been convicted of witchcraft, or whose parents had been convicted of witchcraft, presented the General Court with a petition to take action on the 1705 proposal demanding both a reversal of attainder and compensation for financial losses. In May 1710, the legislature appointed a committee to hear the petitions. After many delays, on 17 October 1711, the General Court passed a bill reversing the judgment against the people listed in the 1709 petition and Governor Joseph Dudley signed the bill into law. There were still an additional seven people who had been convicted but had not signed the petition. There was no reversal of attainder for them. The bill read as follows:
Province of Massachusetts Bay Anno Regni, Anna Reginae Decimo.
In popular culture
In The Crucible by Arthur Miller, a 1953 fictionalized version of the trials portrayed as a theatrical play, John Proctor is cast as the main character whose story is centered around his powerful and unrivaled position in the society and consequential wrongfully convicted fate. However, the storyline of the play diverges from his actual history in numerous ways.
In the 1957 screen adaptation of Miller's piece, Proctor was depicted by Yves Montand. In the 1996 film based on the play, Proctor was played by Daniel Day-Lewis.
A re-examination of some issues in The Crucible takes place in the play John Proctor Is the Villain.