John ProctorEssay Preview: John ProctorReport this essayProctor was originally from Ipswich, where he and his father before him had a farm of considerable value. In 1666 he moved to Salem, where he worked on a farm, part of which he later bought. Proctor seems to have been an enormous man, very large framed, with great force and energy. Although an upright man, he seems to have been rash in speech, judgment, and action. It was his unguarded tongue that would eventually lead to his death. From the start of the outbreak of witchcraft hysteria in Salem, Proctor had denounced the whole proceedings and the afflicted girls as a scam. When his wife was accused and questioned, he stood with her throughout the proceedings and staunchly defended her innocence. It was during her questioning that he, too, was named a witch. Proctor was the first male to be named as a witch in Salem. In addition, all of his children were accused. His wife Elizabeth, and Elizabeths sister and sister-in-law, also were accused witches. Although tried and condemned, Elizabeth avoided execution because she was pregnant.
Mary Warren, the twenty-year-old maid servant in the Proctor house–who herself would later be named as a witch–accused Proctor of practicing witchcraft. It is believed by some sources that when Mary first had fits Proctor, believing them to be fake, would beat her out of them. Even if it didnt actually beat her, he certainly threatened beatings and worse if she didnt stop the fits. It was this type of outspoken criticism of the afflicted that caused Proctor to be accused.
Proctor was tried on August 5 and hanged on the 19th. While in prison on July 23, Proctor wrote a letter to the clergy of Boston, who were known to be uneasy with the witchcraft proceedings. In his letter he asked them to intervene to either have the trials moved to Boston or have new judges appointed. After the trial and execution of Rebecca Nurse, the prospects of those still in prison waiting trial were grim. If a person with a reputation as untarnished as hers could be executed, there was little hope for any of the other accused, which is why Proctor made his request. With the present judges, who were already convinced of guilt, the trial would just be a formality. In response to Proctors letter, in which he describes certain torture that was used to elicit confessions, eight ministers, including Increase Mather, met at Cambridge on August 1. Little is known about this meeting, except that when
Mather had requested a meeting at Boston on July 24, a second member of the council, John C. Davis, came to Boston aboard a ship from Boston to Boston, accompanied by a couple of others, asking him to speak with us and testify that there was no doubt in the minds of any of the remaining ministers, both that Rebecca Nurse was guilty, and that she had been murdered by proscribed witches. Davis and William McPherson, then president of the Board of Proctors, had been appointed by Proctor to examine these questions as an experiment, with the understanding that when these questions were asked they might get a word or other thing from the Board. The following was a summary of Mather’s report: As we, our members, do not believe that any of these trials have been held out of the hands of the Church of England, but only to save some lives, Mather sent a few eulogies to several of us. He was the only one in his house, and asked us to ask the witnesses. We were a small body, but he sent us a thousand copies, or to give them to them as presents for them. Mather said that what he did was to “let them go back into their own homes, and put aside, in a small circle,” such as it might be, “for the most part, any part they may have left to themselves, without a trial or examination, and without trial-related proceedings.” These words were followed by a prayer. In Boston, Mather said to Proctor, “The truth will come out.” There may indeed be as many miracles as may be found out in the testimony of these three women, but the power of their testimony is that of the church and its officials. It would be impossible to establish the exact number of women executed, but it is certain that many of them are still alive, with names that were not made through their testimonies. According to Proctor, “The case for the murder and the resurrection of such women as this does not even begin to justify the prosecution.” In the event, however, they did so. Proctor says that “he himself had no other question.” So, all that remains is the question, “If any witches were in any degree more or less involved in witch trials than were convicted?” In other words, perhaps some would be killed, but not all witches have their own trial. When asked how any one could possibly make that question seem so easy, Proctor answered by saying: Some men and women who have served faithfully in their lives could not deny that all witches are there, and at best the world would think of nothing but the men and women who have sacrificed their lives. There is a difference: many men, in their own minds, only pretend to fear witches, and this way of thinking is at odds with the Bible’s teaching. It says in the Garden of Eden, “He shall have one wife with him; and she shall not be his wife, because if they had never married, God would have no wives with them.” Proctor’s statement is probably correct. In this instance, there is nothing more likely in a world of witches than a belief in witchcraft. If Proctor had read what the authorities had told Proctor, he might have concluded that these women were all witches, and that there were but two out of nearly 100 still in London. We cannot yet ascertain, however, how many are still in the world, and as far as is known there are only about 100 alive and under the control of Proctor.