Salem Witchcraft, Volumes I and II: With an Account of Salem Village and a History of Opinions on Witchcraft and Kindred SubjectsUpham, Charles Wentworth
History
Salem Witchcraft, Volumes I and II: With an Account of Salem Village and a History of Opinions on Witchcraft and Kindred Subjects
Upham, Charles Wentworth
Salem (Mass.) -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775; Witchcraft -- Massachusetts -- Salem -- History -- 17th century
There has been uncertainty where William Haynes came from, or to what
family of the name he belonged. Among the papers of the Ingersoll
family, it has recently been found that he is mentioned as "brother to
Lieutenant-Governor Haynes." There seems to be no other person to whom
this language can refer than John Haynes, who, after being Governor of
Massachusetts, removed to Connecticut where he was governor and
deputy-governor, in alternate years, to the day of his death. John
Haynes, as Winthrop informs us, was a gentleman of "great estate." His
property in England is stated to have yielded a thousand pounds per
annum. Dr. Palfrey says he was "a man of family as well as fortune; and
the dignified and courteous manners, which testified to the care
bestowed on his early nurture, won popularity by their graciousness, at
the same time that they diffused a refining[i.140] influence by their
example." If William of the village was brother to John of Connecticut,
the fact that he and his brother Richard could make such large
purchases of lands, and the remarkable respect manifested towards him,
are well accounted for. The Ingersoll family traditions and entries
would seem to be the highest authority on such a point.
Job Swinnerton was a brother of John who for many years was the
principal physician in the town of Salem. He had several grants of
land, and was a worthy, peaceable, unobtrusive citizen. He seems to
have kept out of the heat of the various contentions that occurred in
the village; and, although his influence was sometimes decisively put
forth, he evidently did nothing to aggravate them. He died April 11,
1689, over eighty-eight years of age. He had a large family, and his
descendants continue the name in the village to this day. Daniel Rea
came originally to Plymouth, and in 1630 bought a dwelling-house,
garden, and "all the privileges thereunto belonging," in that town. In
1632 he removed to Salem, and at once became a leading man in the
management of town affairs. He had a grant of one hundred and sixty
acres, which he occupied and cultivated till his death in 1662. He had
but two children: one, the wife of Captain Lothrop; the other, Joshua
Rea, became the founder of a large family who acted conspicuously in
the affairs of the village for several generations. Jacob Barney was an
original grantee, and for several years a deputy. His son of[i.141] the
same name became a large landholder, and, on the 5th of April, 1692, at
the very moment when the witchcraft delusion was at its height, gave
two acres conveniently situated for the erection of a schoolhouse. He
conveyed it to inhabitants of the neighborhood to be used for that
purpose, mentioning them severally by name. I give the list, as it
shows who were the principal people thereabouts at the time: "Mr.
Israel Porter; Sergeant John Leach; Cornet Nathaniel Howard, Sr.;
Corporal Joseph Herrick, Sr.; Benjamin Porter; Joshua Rea, Sr.; Thomas
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