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'Samuel Sewall' (March 28, 1652 - January 1, 1730), was a Massachusetts judge, best known for his involvement in the Salem witch trials, for which he later apologized, and his traducement of slavery, ''The Selling of Joseph'' (1700).

Contents

Biography

Bibliography

References

External links

Biography

Samuel was born in Hampshire, England. The son of Henry and Jane Sewall, and grandson of Henry Sewall the Mayor of Coventry, England. Sewall was an associate magistrate at the Salem witch trials. A devout Puritan, he emigrated from England to the Massachusetts colony in 1661. He settled in Boston, where he attended Harvard University, hoping to study for the ministry, but he eventually left to pursue a career in business. He also entered local politics, and was elevated to the judiciary that in 1692 judged the people in Salem accused of witchcraft. Sewall was perhaps most remarkable among the magistrates involved in the trials in that he was the only magistrate who, some years later, publicly regretted his role in the trials, going so far as to call for a public day of prayer and fasting and reparations. As well, Sewall opened up his home to one of the initial afflicted children, Betty Parris, daughter of Salem Village reverend Samuel Parris, and shortly afterward Betty's 'afflictions' appear to have subsided.
Quite apart from his involvement in the trials, Sewall could be very liberal in his views. In ''The Selling of Joseph'' (1700), for instance, he came out strongly against slavery, making him one of the earliest white colonial abolitionists. Here he argues:
:"Liberty is in real value next unto Life: None ought to part with it themselves, or deprive others of it, but upon the most mature Consideration."
he regarded "man stealing as an atrocious crime which would introduce amongst the English settlers people who would remain forever restive and alien:
:"There is such a disparity in their Conditions, Colour, Hair, that they can never embody with us, and grow up into orderly Families, to the Peopling of the Land."
Although holding such segregationist views,he however maintained that:
:"These Ethiopians, as black as they are; seeing they are the Sons and Daughters of the First Adam, the Brethren and Sisters of the Last ADAM, and the Offspring of God; They ought to be treated with a Respect agreeable."
His ''Diary'', kept from 1673 to 1729, describes his life as a Puritan against the changing tide of colonial life, as the devoutly religious community of Massachusetts gradually adopted more secular attitudes and emerged as a liberal, cosmopolitan-minded community. As such, it is an important work for understanding the transformation of the colony in the days leading to the American Revolution.
In 1717 Sewall was appointed Chief Justice of Massachusetts.
Sewall married three times: Hannah Hull (1676-1717); Abigail Tilley (1719); Mary Gibbs (1722-1730)
He died in Boston, Massachusetts, and was interred in the family tomb at the Granary Cemetery, Tremont Street, Boston. His great grandson Samuel Sewall {Harvard Class of 1776}would later represent Massachusetts in the U. S. Congress.

Bibliography

^[1]

★ ''The Revolution in New England Justified'', 1691

★ ''Phaenomena quaedam Apolyptica'', 1697 online text (PDF version)

★ ''The Selling of Joseph'', 1700 online text (PDF version)

★ ''Proposals Touching the Accomplishment of Prophecies'', 1713

★ ''Diary of Samuel Sewall'', 1674-1729.

★ ''Judge Sewall's Apology'', Richard Francis, 2005, ISBN 1841156779

References

1. http://web.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/chap1/sewall.html#works

External links

★ The Selling of Joseph: A Memorial page images & transcription at Massachusetts Historical Society

★ First Parish Cemetery, York, Maine. Descendants buried here.