John Proctor
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John Proctor (1632 – 1692) was a farmer and an American Puritan who was accused and executed during the Salem Witch Trials.
He enters the play in his mid 30's.
The Crucible by Sir Arthur Miller. The fictional character is based on the real John Proctor.
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[edit] Early life
Proctor was born in Assington, Suffolkshire, England. His father (also named John), his mother Martha Harper and his sister Mary born 1634 left London, England for the Massachusetts Bay Colony on April 12, 1635 on a ship called the Susan and Ellen. The journey took a little over two months. The family settled in Ipswich, Essex Co., Massachusetts which was still a fairly new settlement, having been started in 1633. There John Sr. and Martha had six more children.
In 1655 John (Jr.) married Martha Giddens in Ipswich, Essex Co., Massachusetts. They had four children, only one, Benjamin Proctor, of whom lived to adulthood. Martha McComas died June 13, 1659 in Ipswich. In December 1662 he married for a second time to Elizabeth Thorndike. John Jr.'s second wife Elizabeth Thorndike's parents were John Thorndike and his wife Elizabeth Stratton. John and Elizabeth had three children, all born in Ipswich.
In 1666, John II moved to Salem, Essex Co., Massachusetts where he leased a 700-acre estate called Groton in Salem Farms, the section of Salem Township just south of Salem Village. The Groton farm was adjacent to his own 15 acre farm. Beginning in 1668, the Proctors operated a tavern at this location as well. The men ran the farm and the women ran the tavern.
John II and Elizabeth had four more children born in Salem Village.
[edit] The Witch Trials
John Proctor was a tall and outspoken man. Around the time the trials started, he was near 60 years of age. During the witchcraft hysteria he disparaged the trials and accused the girls of lying. When his wife and children were accused of participating in witchery he defended the innocence of his family. This made John a direct target and he was the first man to be accused.
In his letter he asked Boston to intervene and either have the trials moved to Boston or have new judges appointed. He wrote the letter to bring to light the atrocities being committed. For example, if a woman with the reputation of Rebecca Nurse could be convicted, as she was a well-respected community member, no restraint was left in the town. His letter brought about eight ministers to meet at Cambridge, Massachusetts on August 1, 1692. No records survive of the meeting, but when they emerged, they had drastically changed their position on spectral evidence. The ministers decided in the meeting that the devil could take on the form of innocent people. Unfortunately for John, their decision did not make any significant changes until after his execution. Mary Warren, the twenty-year-old maid servant in the Proctor house, accused John as well. Mary Warren was later accused of practicing witchcraft herself.
John and Elizabeth were tried on August 5, 1692. They were both found guilty and sentenced to hang. Elizabeth had her execution delayed until she gave birth. John tried to save himself one last time at his execution saying he was not fit to die. His attempt was unsuccessful, and he was hanged on August 19, 1692.
Following John II's death, his son Thorndike Proctor purchased the Groton Farm from the Downings of London. The farm was renamed Downing Farm where eight generations of Proctors resided up until 1851. Thorndike subsequently sold nearly half of the Downing Farm to his half brother Benjamin.
[edit] The trials' aftermath
In January 1693, while still in jail, Elizabeth (Bassett) Proctor gave birth to a son, John Proctor III. Elizabeth and John III remained in jail until May 1693 when a general release freed all of those prisoners who remained jailed. Unfortunately, even though the general belief of the people was that innocent people had been wrongly convicted, Elizabeth had in fact been convicted and was considered guilty. In the eyes of the law she was considered a "dead woman" and could not claim any of her husband estate. Elizabeth petitioned the court for a reversal of attainder to restore her legal rights. No action was taken for seven years.
In June 1696, Elizabeth filed an appeal to contest her husband's will. At the time John wrote his will, he had assumed that Elizabeth would be executed and had left her nothing. September 22, 1696 Elizabeth married again to Daniel Richards.
In July 1703, several more people filed petitions before any action was taken on Elizabeth’s appeal for reversal of attainder. The Massachusetts House of Representatives finally passed a bill disallowing spectral evidence. However, they only gave reversal of attainder for those who had filed petitions. This basically applied to only two people – Elizabeth Proctor and Rebecca Nurse.
In 1705, another petition was filed requesting a more equitable settlement for those wrongly accused. In 1709, the General Court received a request to take action on this proposal. In May 1709 22 people who had been convicted of witchcraft, or whose parents had been convicted of witchcraft, presented the government with a petition in which they demanded both a reversal of attainder and compensation for financial losses.
On October 17, 1711, the General Court passed a bill reversing the judgment against the 22 people listed in the 1709 petition. There were still an additional 7 people who had been convicted, but had not signed the petition. There was no reversal of attainder for them.
On December 11, 1711, monetary compensation was finally awarded to the 22 people in the 1709 petition. 578 pounds 12 shillings was authorized to be divided among the survivors and relatives of those accused. Most of the accounts were settled within a year. ₤150 was awarded to the Proctor family for Elizabeth. The Proctor family received much more money from the Massachusetts General Court than most families of accused witches
By 1957, not all the condemned had been exonerated. Descendants of those falsely accused demanded the General Court clear the names of their family members. In 1957 an act was passed pronouncing the innocence of those accused, however, it only listed Ann Pudeator by name and the others as "certain other persons", still failing to include all names of those convicted.
In 1992, The Danvers Tercentenial Committee persuaded the Massachusetts House of Representatives to issue a resolution honoring those who had died. After much convincing and hard work by Salem school teacher Paula Keene, Representatives J. Michael Ruane and Paul Tirone and a few others, the names of all those not previously listed were added to this resolution. When it was finally signed on October 31, 2001 by Governor Jane Swift, more than 300 years later, all were finally proclaimed guiltless.
[edit] Proctor and Arthur Miller
A loose comparison to the character of the fictional John Proctor and Arthur Miller himself can be drawn. On May 31, 1958, Miller was found guilty of contempt of Congress for refusing to reveal the names of members of a literary circle suspected of Communist affiliation. Like John Proctor and witchcraft, Miller refused to acquiesce to the fear of Communism during an age of McCarthyism and the Second Red Scare. This is especially notable because many of Miller's peers chose to disclose the names of their associates under pressure from the House Un-American Activities Committee. His conviction was reversed on August 8, 1958 by the U.S. Court of Appeals.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
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 it’s 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 Win war, 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 Enders A. Robinson
Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraf 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, Taylor Trade Publishing, Lanham, Maryland.
| Salem witch trials | |
|---|---|
| Authorities | Thomas Danforth | John Hale | Increase Mather | Samuel Parris | William Phips | William Stoughton |
| Accusers | Elizabeth Hubbard | Mercy Lewis | Betty Parris | Ann Putnam, Jr. | Susannah Sheldon | Mary Walcott | Abigail Williams |
| Accused | John Alden | Edward Bishop | Sarah Bishop | Mary Black | Mary Bradbury | Sarah Cloyce | Rebecca Eames | Mary English | Phillip English | Abigail Faulkner | Dorcas Good | William Hobbs | Mary Lacy | Sarah Morey | Benjamin Proctor | Elizabeth Proctor | Sarah Proctor | William Proctor |
| Confessed and Accused Others | Dorcas Hoar | Abigail Hobbs | Deliverance Hobbs | Margaret Jacobs | Tituba | Mary Warren |
| Executed | Bridget Bishop | George Burroughs | Martha Carrier | Martha Corey | Mary Eastey | Sarah Good | Elizabeth Howe | George Jacobs, Sr. | Susannah Martin | Rebecca Nurse | Alice Parker | Mary Parker | John Proctor | Ann Pudeator | Wilmot Redd | Margaret Scott | Samuel Wardwell | Sarah Wildes | John Willard |
| Died in Prison | Lydia Dustin | Ann Foster | Sarah Osborn | Roger Toothaker |
|
Died During Interrogation |
Giles Corey |
