The Proctor Family of Salem Massachusetts

“The Witch No. 1” lithograph by Joseph E. Baker, Library of Congress

While researching my ancestors from Gloucester, Massachusetts in the 1600s, I discovered that several of their families were directly involved in the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. This includes the following:

Clement Coldham, my 11th great-grandfather, who testified in a witch trial in support of accuser Elizabeth Hubbard, one of the primary instigators of the witchcraft hysteria.

James Stevens, my 10th great-grandfather, who accused three Gloucester women of witchcraft when his sister Mary fell ill in 1692.

Joseph Eveleth, brother of my 10th great-grandmother Susannah Eveleth Stevens, who served on the jury that convicted John Proctor in Salem.

I have found these stories, and the connection to such a turbulent time in American history, absolutely fascinating. Another element that I find remarkable is that my husband's ancestors were also involved. The Coldham, Stevens, and Eveleth families are down my Smith line, and those ancestors seem to be constantly intertwined with those in my husband's Field line in early New England. This is particularly true in the community of Northfield, Massachusetts and surrounding towns, where both my Smith ancestors and my husband's Field ancestors were early settlers.

Our connection in Salem is John Proctor. John Proctor is my husband's 9th great-granduncle. My husband descends from John's sister, Mary Proctor Hadley. My 10th great-granduncle, Joseph Eveleth, was on the jury that convicted John Proctor of witchcraft in 1692 and sentenced him to death. While Eveleth soon came to realize the injustice of the witch trials, and signed a letter expressing regret for his involvement in the trials, it was too late to save John Proctor's life.

This moment in time places my ancestor in direct opposition to my husband's ancestor. In Northfield, 80 years later, the conflict between these families centered around British control of the colonies, something the Smith family, as conservative church leaders, supported heartily. The Fields, who tended to be lawyers and active in town government, opposed British control and encouraged their neighbors to fight for a free America. It is interesting that in most places where I've found the Smiths and Fields living nearby, their perspectives were not aligned. So, too, in Salem, did these ancestors find themselves on opposite sides of an important historical moment.

348 Lowell Street in present-day Peabody, Massachusetts. The house is called the John Proctor House because generations of the Proctor family lived here, although likely not John Proctor himself. It may have served as the tavern run by John Proctor, but that is not certain. In 2018, the property was sold, and interior photos are viewable here.

John Proctor

John Proctor was born in Suffolk, England, the son of John Proctor and Martha Harper. The family emigrated to Massachusetts when John Jr. was a young child and settled in Chebacco, a small community on the outskirts of Ipswich. John Proctor's father became a wealthy landowner and was involved in local government. The family prospered.

John was married three times. His first marriage, to Martha in 1653, ended with Martha's death in 1659 and produced one surviving child, Benjamin. In 1662, John married Elizabeth Thorndike, who was the daughter of Ipswich founder John Thorndike. They had seven children together. In 1666, John Proctor left Chebacco and moved to nearby Salem with his wife and children. There, Elizabeth Proctor ran a local tavern with some of the Proctor sons, while John tended to his extensive farmlands. Elizabeth died in childbirth in 1672. In 1674, John married a third time, to Elizabeth Bassett. They would also have seven children together.

When the witchcraft hysteria began in 1692, John Proctor was 60 years old and a thriving local farmer and businessman with over a dozen adult children living in and around Salem. Typically, witchcraft accusations were leveled at older women and marginalized residents in New England communities. However, as I wrote in my post about the Stevens family of Gloucester, the targets were sometimes also notable community figures. This was the case with John Proctor. In the course of running a farm and tavern, he had been involved in some disagreements with neighbors and customers. In particular, he had a difficult relationship with his neighbor Giles Corey, and they had variously sued each other over the years. John had once accused Giles of setting his house on fire. This was exactly the kind of environment where personal disputes erupted into witchcraft claims. 

In March 1692, Elizabeth Proctor was accused of witchcraft. Elizabeth was the granddaughter of Ann Holland, a Quaker who acted as a nurse in their community. Because the Puritans disliked Quakers and were suspicious of anyone who acted a healer, Ann had been accused of witchcraft in 1669. The stigma of this accusation likely attached itself to Ann's family, and made her granddaughter Elizabeth an easy target. The allegations against Elizabeth came from Proctor family servant Martha Warren, aged about 11, and her friends Mercy Lewis and Abigail Williams. These girls were the source of many witchcraft accusations, and were likely just pointing a finger at people they didn't like. Martha, a young orphan with a sad past, did not feel she had been treated well in the Proctor home. John Proctor angrily and loudly defended his wife, having no patience for what he perceived as being clearly nonsensical claims. Then, the accusers shifted their focus to John. Both John and Elizabeth were imprisoned and required to stand trial. The accusations against the Proctors were immediately denounced by their community.

In April 1692, 31 men from Ipswich, Massachusetts, filed a petition attesting to the upstanding character of John and Elizabeth and denying that they had ever seen anything that would indicate either of the couple were witches.

In May 1692, a similar petition was filed on behalf of John and Elizabeth, containing signatures of 20 men and women, including several of the wealthiest landowners of Topsfield, Massachusetts and Salem Village. The petition questioned the validity of spectral evidence, testified to the Christian lives that John and Elizabeth had led, said that they "were ever ready to help such as stood in need of their help," and that the petitioners had no reason to believe the couple were witches. [Wikipedia]

In May 1692, three of John's children were also arrested amidst a flurry of witchcraft accusations, as were Elizabeth's sister and sister-in-law. Understanding that his family was specifically being targeted, and doubting the possibility of a fair trial in Salem, John sent a letter to state government officials in Boston asking to have his and Elizabeth's trial moved elsewhere, or to have different judges appointed. State leaders were becoming increasingly alarmed by events in and around Salem, and on August 1, 1692, the use of spectral evidence in witchcraft trials was disallowed. This should have made a difference for John and Elizabeth, since the primary evidence against them was the claims from three young girls that they had seen the Proctors' apparitions while in various states of duress, implying that the devil was working via the Proctors to inflict suffering on them. However, it was too little too late. The jury had already heard the claims and on August 5, they found John and Elizabeth guilty and sentenced them to death. John was hanged on August 19.

Elizabeth was given a reprieve because she was pregnant at the time of her conviction. She gave birth to a son, John Proctor III, in prison on January 27, 1693. At this point, the witch trials had lost some of their steam. On October 29, 1692, Massachusetts Governor William Phips had intervened, legislating an end to the Court of Oyer and Terminer and replacing it with a court that was not permitted to consider spectral evidence. This may have been because Phips' own wife was accused around this time. While accusations and trials continued until May 1693, fewer accused were actually convicted, and all those sentenced to be hanged were pardoned by Phips, along with those lingering in jail and facing execution.

Elizabeth Proctor was released from jail in May 1693, nine months after her conviction and the execution of her husband. John's lands and possessions had been stripped after he was found guilty, so Elizabeth was now impoverished. She fought for years for restitution. 

Mary Proctor Hadley and Her Descendants

John's sister Mary is my husband's 9th great-grandmother. John was the first child born to John Proctor and Martha Harper, and Mary was the second, born in England in 1633.  The family emigrated in 1635, when John and Mary were very young, and settled in Ipswich, Massachusetts. 

Sometime between 1651 and 1655, Mary married George Hadley, who may have been the son of George Hadley and Elizabeth Spooner, although this parentage is disputed. George was born in England and brought to the colonies as a child. After George and Mary were married, they moved from their hometown of Ipswich to a farm in Rowley, which is on the Merrimack River near Haverhill, Massachusetts. They came back to Ipswich in 1666 after exchanging farms with Thomas Kimball. George and Mary had somewhere between seven and ten children together. My husband descends from Samuel Hadley, their eldest son, who was born in 1655. 

Mary Proctor Hadley died in 1667 at the age of 34, so she did not live to see her brother John accused in the Salem Witch Trials in 1692. George remarried Deborah Prince Skilling in 1668, at the age of 40. Deborah would have a small role in the witch trials, testifying in support of her neighbor Elizabeth Howe in July 1692. This testimony was in vain, for Elizabeth was found guilty and hanged on July 19.

Samuel Hadley, my husband's 8th great-grandfather, was also affected by the Salem Witch Trials. He was alive when his uncle, John Proctor, was executed in 1692. There was another connection to the trials, as well. In 1676, Samuel married Jane Martin, the daughter of George Martin and Susannah North Martin. Samuel's mother-in-law Susannah Martin was accused of witchcraft in 1692, found guilty, and hanged on July 19, the same day that Elizabeth Howe was executed. Jane Martin Hadley's father, George Martin, had died in 1686, leaving Susannah a widow with few resources. Older women were a frequent target of witchcraft accusations. Susannah Martin and Elizabeth Howe were two of fourteen women to be executed in Salem after witchcraft convictions. There were five women hanged on July 19, 1692 alone, Rebecca Nurse, Susannah Martin, Sarah Good, Elizabeth Howe, and Sarah Wildes. 

Samuel and Jane Hadley's daughter, Esther Hadley, b. 1676, married Richard Goodwin in Amesbury, Massachusetts, in 1702. She is my husband's seventh great-grandmother.

The Salem Witch Trials consumed Salem and surrounding communities in 1692 and 1693. Seemingly everyone was connected to the trials in some way, and all felt the impact of the accusations and convictions. It's incredible that my family and my husband's family converged in this moment of great historical importance, with my 10th great-granduncle convicting my husband's 9th great-granduncle in a trial that continues to capture the imagination 331 years later.