Sewall, << SOO uhl, >> Samuel (1652-1730), was a judge at the famous Salem witchcraft trials in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1692. As a result of those trials, 19 people were convicted of witchcraft and hanged (see Salem witchcraft trials ). Sewall later regretted the court’s action. In 1697, he made a public confession of error and guilt for his part in the trials.
Sewall was born in Bishopstoke on March 28, 1652, in Hampshire County, England. His family moved to New England when he was 9 years old. In 1671, Sewall attended Harvard College and received a bachelor’s degree in 1671 and a master’s degree in 1674. He became a minister and, later, a merchant. Sewall also served in the colony’s legislature and as a justice in the courts. He was concerned with the fate of the American Indians, and he opposed slavery. He wrote many books, including a diary that was a classic of colonial literature. He died on Jan. 1, 1730.
