John and Elizabeth Proctor are my 8th great-grandparents through their son Samuel who was 7 years old in 1692. He later moved to Falmouth, Maine and a descendant of his married a Crockett, an old Kittery family. My great-grandmother Alice Arminta Crockett married my ggf George Whitefield Haskell Jr. from Newburyport, Massachusetts. Interestingly, the Haskell's had originally settled in Salem Basse River Side (today's Beverly) in 1635. Fourteen of the people hanged are in my family tree (the Towne sisters are 9th great-grandaunts, Rev Burroughs is a 1st cousin, etc.) I also have Hale and Noyes ancestors (Sarah Noyes is a 2nd cousin, Elizabeth Somerby is a 1st cousin), and I am a direct descendant of Anne Hutchinson (through Captain Edward Huchinson) and Mary Dyer (speaking of heresy and uppity women).
There is a family story that my 1st cousin 9x removed, Mark Haskell, son of Roger Haskell of Beverly, was called for jury duty in the trials and, being a free-thinker, skipped town and moved down to Rochester in Plymouth Colony on advice from his brother John who had earlier married Patience Soule (daughter of George Soule) and moved to Middleboro. Mark was the first town clerk of Rochester and ancestor of Colonel Elnathan Haskell who moved to South Carolina after the Revolution. He also earned the cool nickname of "Witchcraft" Mark. Mark's wife's (Mary Smith) uncle was Jacob Goodale, the simple-minded indentured servant who Giles Corey had beaten to death in 1675.
The "afflicted" girls were the social media influencers of their day. Their drama troupe played in the courthouse and the ordinaries.
John and Elizabeth Proctor are my 8th great-grandparents through their son Samuel who was 7 years old in 1692. He later moved to Falmouth, Maine and a descendant of his married a Crockett, an old Kittery family. My great-grandmother Alice Arminta Crockett married my ggf George Whitefield Haskell Jr. from Newburyport, Massachusetts. Interestingly, the Haskell's had originally settled in Salem Basse River Side (today's Beverly) in 1635. Fourteen of the people hanged are in my family tree (the Towne sisters are 9th great-grandaunts, Rev Burroughs is a 1st cousin, etc.) I also have Hale and Noyes ancestors (Sarah Noyes is a 2nd cousin, Elizabeth Somerby is a 1st cousin), and I am a direct descendant of Anne Hutchinson (through Captain Edward Huchinson) and Mary Dyer (speaking of heresy and uppity women).
There is a family story that my 1st cousin 9x removed, Mark Haskell, son of Roger Haskell of Beverly, was called for jury duty in the trials and, being a free-thinker, skipped town and moved down to Rochester in Plymouth Colony on advice from his brother John who had earlier married Patience Soule (daughter of George Soule) and moved to Middleboro. Mark was the first town clerk of Rochester and ancestor of Colonel Elnathan Haskell who moved to South Carolina after the Revolution. He also earned the cool nickname of "Witchcraft" Mark. Mark's wife's (Mary Smith) uncle was Jacob Goodale, the simple-minded indentured servant who Giles Corey had beaten to death in 1675.