I'll echo that Starkey is outdated and unreliable. Boyer and Nissbaum is a fascinating look at the sociological factors but sometimes too slanted, especially if it's the first book on the subject that you're reading. I haven't read Norton's book. For specifics regarding Salem, I'd agree with the recommendation of _Salem Story: Reading the Witch Trials of 1692_ by Bernard Rosenthal. Also, I think Salem should be seen as an extreme episode in the century-long use of witchcraft prosecutions as a means of resolving community disputes and other tensions. With that in mind, my recommendations would be John Demos, _Entertaining Satan_ or Richard Weisman's _Witchcraft, Magic and Religion in 17th Century Massachusetts_. Francine Nicholson _________________________________________________________________ MSN 8 helps eliminate e-mail viruses. Get 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus

On Saturday, January 11, 2003, at 08:58 PM, Lester M Powers <lesterps@juno.com> wrote: > I bought a copy of Marion Starkey's "The Devil in Massachusetts" so > that I can brief myself on the story. The Starkey is really dated in many ways, by contemporary scholarly standards. She makes a lot of statements in it which can't be corroborated. Anyone wanting a good overview "telling of the tale" would be better served by Bernard Rosenthal's "Salem Story" and/or Mary Beth Norton's "In the Devil's Snare." btw, have many of you read the Norton yet? Just curious to hear other perspectives on it! :D Cheers, Margo Margo Burns, List Owner of the Salem-Witch List at rootsweb.com margo@ogram.org

Funny, I just joined the list recently as well, my interest also being generated by a Putnam ancestral connection. (Diverging from yours almost immediately however, being descended from another of Thos. and Ann Carr Putnam's sons, born after the trials.) In this moderately experienced researcher's humble opinion, the Eben Putnam genealogy, while difficult to find, is extensive, well organized, and apparently well researched. I had to make copies of the relevant pages from an ancient copy in the reserves of the Boston Public Library, and have searched in vain for a copy on the used/rare book market for years with no success. The microfilms are a great way to gain the information without having to hurriedly hand-xerox over a hundred pages (at ten cents/sheet) on your last day in an out-of-town library at closing time with an unsympathetic rent-a-cop looming over your shoulder and reminding you that closing time is now only 7 minutes away!. As I recall, the Putnam descendants are traced through the late 1800's in Eben Putnam's book. I expect that you will have no trouble whatsoever verifying or correcting the lineage you are researching. I believe I also remember reading some reference to a planned second volume, which may or may not ever have come into being. The capsule biographies are very well-written and informative, and the pages devoted to the "troubles" are thoughtful if somewhat defensive. While I found Starkey's book informative and enjoyable, it's been long enough since I read it that I'll leave it to others to rank it among the other available texts. I can however unhesitatingly recommend the recently published book "In The Devil's Snare" by Mary Beth Norton. While I've only just started it, it is so far exhaustively researched and well-assembled, while bringing new perspectives into the light which I had been entirely unaware of. The book that has had by for the most impact on me, and has (to date) shed the most light on potential motivations of many of those involved in the trials, and particularly the Putnams, is Boyer & Nissenbaum's "Salem Possessed". I believe it remains out of print, but is readily available in libraries or through used book channels. (Try Alibris.com if you want your own copy. The prices are even quite reasonable!) My Putnam ancestors also migrated to Vermont (near Montpelier, but not Putnamville) but that may be coincidence rather than any close kinship. I'll be happy to compare notes with you later if you like, as my research mat'ls are not at hand. Might I ask what the URL is for the Putnam web site you mention? The Putnam family's story is really quite fascinating, while morbid and sad at times. It's well worth the time spent researching, and if you find yourself near Salem, by all means go visit the old Putnam family cemetery, the "founder's cemetery", the Israel Putnam homestead, and the Danvers Library, all vastly rewarding places to see. (All of these are in or near modern-day Danvers, once named Salem Villages.) Good luck ! Feel free to write if you need help or want to dig deeper. Kurian Davis San Francisco, CA

I am a new kid on the block, just now joined the list. Yesterday I learned that my great-great grandfather's brother's wife's sister's husband Enos Putnam of Vermont is allegedly a descendant of Thomas Putnam of Salem, the Thomas Putnam who had a role in the witch trials there. I stumbled upon this information by accident on a web site while browsing idly for Putnams just to pass some time. These Putnams are, of course, quite distant from my own lineage, but I was impressed by the historical significance of this dogleg jutting out of the family saga, off yonder though it may be. It has been too long now since I've come across things of historical significance in my work. Today was a family history center day out here, and I ordered a film of the book, "A History of the Putnam Family in England and America," by Eben Putnam, 1891. On the way home I bought a copy of Marion Starkey's "The Devil in Massachusetts" so that I can brief myself on the story. My initial question here is: What can I expect from the Eben Putnam book? I imagine this is might be a good list for finding knowledgeable authorities on the Putnams. I ordered a film of the book today, but it will be awhile before I can see it. The alleged lineage I am looking at is Enos Putnam, son of Joshua, son of Ebenezer, son of Holyoke, son of Edward, son of Edward, son of Thomas of Salem witch trial repute (m. Ann Holyoke), son of John. This appears on a private web site on the net, minus sources for anythng, thus inherently lacking in credibility. I refuse to accept net lineages like the one I found, but I also hate reinventing wheels, thus my investment in the Eben Putnam book. If anyone is familiar with Eben, I would like to know if his work seems reasonably solid, and also just how far down the Enos Putnam lineage Eben will get me. I am hoping that Eben's book will get me to Ebenezer, son of Holyoke (and hoping too, of course, that Eben has a good reputation out there). I won't see this book for at least 10 days hence. My guess is that I will have to connect Enos to Joshua to Ebenezer myself, and that part might be a very tough row. I checked the archives of this list at my public library on the way home from the FHC, and I did see some old posts by Putnam descendants, though none of the line I am interested in. I also saw that the old Putnam posts here generally are more numerous than I will be able to sort through for a quite a while yet. So, I'll be busy off-list. Meanwhile, I thought I might start by asking around with regard to whether or not Enos Putnam's ancestry, above, might be real. I am beginning at square one with the Putnams and know next to little about them, especially from Enos working back eventually to Salem. Lester Powers ________________________________________________________________ Sign Up for Juno Platinum Internet Access Today Only $9.95 per month! Visit www.juno.com

I just read a very interesting essay/book review of 'In the Devil's Snare' by Mary Beth Norton. The essay by Carol Karlsen, 'Devils in the Shape of Good Men', is wide ranging, including comments on "a Half-Century of Writing on New England Witchcraft". Find it online: http://www.common-place.org/ David Creelman

Greetings! On Tuesday, January 7, 2003, at 09:51 PM, Bjohn3237@aol.com wrote: > I thought I remembered reading that [Corey had beaten a servant to > death, but was never charged] but I can't remember where I came across > that info. This refers to the death of Jacob Goodale in 1675, 17 years earlier. According to Bernard Rosenthal's "Salem Story," this story appears in Cotton Mather's "Wonders of the Invisible World," in am undated letter from Thomas Putnam to Samuel Sewall, claiming that a specter of the dead man had come to Ann Putnam, Jr. and told her that he was murdered by witches, an event which had preceded her birth. I can't lay my hands on the reference this morning, but I seem to recall that the investigating jury at the time of Goodale's death did not rule it homicide, despite Goodale being pretty severely beaten up. I'm sure there are other references to this episode out there -- anyone else? > I also seem to remember that when his wife was accused of witchcraft > he actually made statements against her. When it looked like his > statements might "turn" against him, he then came to his wife's > defense. I'll have to try to track down the source of that > information. Believe it or not, just *yesterday* at the Peabody-Essex, I was looking at the original of the document outlining what Giles had said that implicated his wife. It is a very strange little document, which can be viewed at http://etext.virginia.edu/salem/witchcraft/archives/essex/ecca/vol1/ small/043_0001.jpg and found on pages 259-260 of Boyer & Nissenbaum. http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer- new2?id=BoySal1.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/ oldsalem&tag=public&part=218&division=div2 I say it is "strange" because the handwriting is unusually small and tight, and I can't figure out whose it is. In Richard Trask's "The Devil Hath Been Raised," he speculates that it is Rev. Nicholas Noyes' handwriting, which would be interesting, but I can't find evidence to support this attribution. The structure of it is more in bullet format than a simple "statement," even though it does claim that Giles "testifieth" to the content. Happy New Year All! --Margo Margo Burns, List Owner of the Salem-Witch List at rootsweb.com margo@ogram.org

In a message dated 1/7/2003 9:20:45 PM Eastern Standard Time, WARLOCK92 writes: > He was a large brutish man who some years > earlier had allegedly beat a servent of his to death, but > was never tried or > convicted of the act. Dana, I thought I remembered reading that but I can't remember where I came across that info. I also seem to remember that when his wife was accused of witchcraft he actually made statements against her. When it looked like his statements might "turn" against him, he then came to his wife's defense. I'll have to try to track down the source of that information. Bonnie Johnson great x 8 granddaughter of Susanna Martin

Hello All, I'm not a fan of Giles Cory. He was a large brutish man who some years earlier had allegedly beat a servent of his to death, but was never tried or convicted of the act. As to "in perfect memory" was simply how some wrote "of sound mind". Bear in mind that they spoke and wrote (if literate) differently in that period. Just thought I'd throw in my two cents. I probably just took a stick and poked a hornets nest. Sorry. One other pet peave. As an English minor when I was in college it was drilled into us that: people are hanged, things are hung. Just my OCD talking. Thanks All, Dana A. Wildes Greatx8 Grand son of Sarah Wild (Wildes) Greatx8 Nephew of Rebecca Nurse, Mary Esty, Sarah Cloyce, etc......

Helen or anyone, do you know what line the `940'a New England author Ferris Greenslet belongs to? Surely descended from Ann Greenslit Pudeator's children, right? Lisa 14th Generation direct from Ann

Adrienne Foster wrote: >I can see my 9×great grandpa George Martin left a highly unusual will by >leaving the bulk of his estate to his wife. This was rarely done during >most of the 19th century, much less the 17th. William Morse left almost all of his estate to his wife Elizabeth and named her executor. This was despite her having been convicted of witchcraft and setenced to house arrest for the remainder of her life. I don't know what happened to the estate. There doesn't seem to have been any effort to confiscate property, despite her having been in jail for almost a year, so I assume her husband was paying her jail bills. I've often wondered why he named her executor. Perhaps it was because his sons moved to another county that was not within commuting distance. Or perhaps there were family rifts that were never documented. I've often wondered, too, whether Elizabeth was the mother of all of William's children, especially the sons, but I have no proof one way or the other. >If I remember what my mother told me correctly, he had a falling out with >his eldest son and it looks like the father cut George Jr. out completely. I read somewhere that the failure to mention a child in a will didn't necessarily mean there was a rift. Often, according to what I read, the older children had received substantial gifts when they reached maturity. The bulk of the estate was left to the child with whom the surviving spouse would probably be living. >Maybe this was why the Martins didn't put more effort into having their >property reinstated after Susannah was executed. With the Martin family >situation being so complicated, her persecutors probably saw her as easy >prey for confiscation. Unless someone in the family had the means and will to do so, they may not have thought it was worth it. Did any of the families who sued actually get much for their efforts? Francine Nicholson _________________________________________________________________ STOP MORE SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail

Sorry. That's my faulty memory at work. I thought I had seen a George among their brood. My mother is the one who had done the actual research, so she's much more familiar with all of these details than I am. Still, I am rather impressed that Grandpa George actually left the bulk of his estate to his surviving wife. I wonder what it was about colonization that prompted these men in that direction. When you consider the only state in the Western frontier that granted women land during the 19th century was Wyoming, it's surprising to find that some men actually thought of women as capable people in 17th. Adrienne Foster 9×great-granddaughter of Susannah and George Martin, through their son John Bjohn3237@aol.com wrote: > > In a message dated 1/3/2003 8:26:54 PM Eastern Standard Time, > ajfoster@pacbell.net writes: > > > If I remember what my mother > > told me correctly, he had a falling out with his eldest son and it looks > > like the father cut George Jr., completely. > > Richard Martin was "presented by the grand jury at the Salisbury Court, 1669, > for abusing his father and throwing him down, taking away his clothes and > holding up an axe against him." The court found Richard guilty and he was > sentenced to be "whipped ten stripes." (The American Genealogist, Oct. 1982, > David L. Greene) > > The following is quoted from an article by David L. Greene in The American > Genealogist listing the children of George and Susanna Martin. I'm only > including the part about George Martin, Jr. > > "iii. George, b. 21 8m (Oct.) 1648; d. probably by 19 Jan. 1683/4 when his > father failed to mention him in his will, a document that leaves token sums > to children that had apparently already received their portions. He may have > been living when his father sued Thomas Sargent by writ dated 8 April 1669 > "for saying that his son Gorge Marttin was a bastard and that Richard was > Goodwife Martin's imp (R&F 4:129). His father was called "senior" when he was > mentioned in a 1679 deposition, according to the index to colony and state > court records at the Suffolk Co. Courthouse (I have not examined the document > itself, which is in File #1763). He was most certainly not, as has been > claimed, George Martin of Ipswich. See my paper on the latter in TAG > 56:155-159. That discussion cites a chart prepared in 1921 by Charles > Shepard, now of Rochester, N. Y., as the earliest to conclude that George > Martin of Ipswich was identical with George (2) Martin of Amesbury. Since > that article appeared, Mr. Shepard has courteously informed me that after he > had prepared the chart, he too had concluded that the Georges were not > identical and that the Ipswich George was the one who had immigrated to MA in > 1679 on the Hannah and Elizabeth, a probability that I discussed too > hesitantly in my paper." > > Bonnie Johnson 8th great granddaughter of Susanna and George Martin

Hi all, I was just poking around the Essex County wills, and I found that, in 1653 my ancestor, William AVERILL, starts out his will with, "being weake in bodye but of perfect memorye", and then he goes on to leave 5 shillings to each child, and the rest of his estate to his wife, Abigail! Of the twentyfive or more wills that I opened, ALL BUT ONE used the words memory, sense or understnading, with the vast majority being, "of perfect memory"!! Many of these were written 15 or MORE years before the "Witch Hunts" of 1692, so the phrase was obviously just common at the time Giles Corey wrote his will. Also, there does seem to be quite a few that leave the majority of their estates to their wives, so that must not have been as unusual as we might have thought!! Also, for those of you who are doing your family history and have the time and the patience, it might be worth the effort to browse through the main <A HREF="http://www.rootsweb.com/~maessex/wills/"> WILL page</A> (http://www.rootsweb.com/~maessex/wills/) as MANY of these wills list the names of sons-in-law and/or grandchildren, which might tie in family relationships that you were previously unaware of!!! HAPPY HUNTING! Joan

In a message dated 1/3/2003 8:26:54 PM Eastern Standard Time, ajfoster@pacbell.net writes: > If I remember what my mother > told me correctly, he had a falling out with his eldest son and it looks > like the father cut George Jr., completely. Richard Martin was "presented by the grand jury at the Salisbury Court, 1669, for abusing his father and throwing him down, taking away his clothes and holding up an axe against him." The court found Richard guilty and he was sentenced to be "whipped ten stripes." (The American Genealogist, Oct. 1982, David L. Greene) The following is quoted from an article by David L. Greene in The American Genealogist listing the children of George and Susanna Martin. I'm only including the part about George Martin, Jr. "iii. George, b. 21 8m (Oct.) 1648; d. probably by 19 Jan. 1683/4 when his father failed to mention him in his will, a document that leaves token sums to children that had apparently already received their portions. He may have been living when his father sued Thomas Sargent by writ dated 8 April 1669 "for saying that his son Gorge Marttin was a bastard and that Richard was Goodwife Martin's imp (R&F 4:129). His father was called "senior" when he was mentioned in a 1679 deposition, according to the index to colony and state court records at the Suffolk Co. Courthouse (I have not examined the document itself, which is in File #1763). He was most certainly not, as has been claimed, George Martin of Ipswich. See my paper on the latter in TAG 56:155-159. That discussion cites a chart prepared in 1921 by Charles Shepard, now of Rochester, N. Y., as the earliest to conclude that George Martin of Ipswich was identical with George (2) Martin of Amesbury. Since that article appeared, Mr. Shepard has courteously informed me that after he had prepared the chart, he too had concluded that the Georges were not identical and that the Ipswich George was the one who had immigrated to MA in 1679 on the Hannah and Elizabeth, a probability that I discussed too hesitantly in my paper." Bonnie Johnson 8th great granddaughter of Susanna and George Martin

George Peaslee sent me an update on those URLs Margo and Leslie posted. They are: http://www.rootsweb.com/~maessex/wills/coreyg.htm http://www.rootsweb.com/~maessex/wills/marting.htm I can see my 9×great grandpa George Martin left a highly unusual will by leaving the bulk of his estate to his wife. This was rarely done during most of the 19th century, much less the 17th. If I remember what my mother told me correctly, he had a falling out with his eldest son and it looks like the father cut George Jr. out completely. Maybe this was why the Martins didn't put more effort into having their property reinstated after Susannah was executed. With the Martin family situation being so complicated, her persecutors probably saw her as easy prey for confiscation. Adrienne Foster -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web - Check your email from the web at http://mail2web.com/ .

I went through the archives before I posted, so that I wouldn't be redundant. I've traced my family back to a Joseph Howe, born in Cumberland County, PA, around 1718. Then it comes to an abrupt halt. Can anybody tell me if he is related to Elizabeth Jackson Howe? I would really appreciate any information anyone may have. _____________________________________________________________ Freedom of Religion means ALL Religions! The Witches' League for Public Awareness http://www.celticcrow.com/ _____________________________________________________________ Select your own custom email address for FREE! Get you@yourchoice.com w/No Ads, 6MB, POP & more! http://www.everyone.net/selectmail?campaign=tag

Hi Adrienne & all, Oddly enough, they DID work LAST WEEK, but they aren't working now!!! On the PAGE NOT FOUND page, you have an option to go to the Essex County Home Page....if you scroll down, you'll find ALL the listed wills for Essex County, which include all four that Margo posted last week!! HAPPY HUNTING!! Joan In a message dated 1/2/2003 8:24:29 PM Eastern Standard Time, ajfoster@pacbell.net writes: > I have tried all four of these links, using both Netscape 4.7 and Explorer, > and all I get is "Page not found." Has anyone else succeeded in accessing > these websites? > > Adrienne Foster > >

I have tried all four of these links, using both Netscape 4.7 and Explorer, and all I get is "Page not found." Has anyone else succeeded in accessing these websites? Adrienne Foster Original Message: ----------------- From: Margo Burns margo@ogram.org Date: Sun, 29 Dec 2002 02:35:37 -0500 To: SALEM-WITCH-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [SALEM-WITCH-L] Giles Corey's Will Hi all! While we're on this thread, I thought I'd point out that the text of Giles Corey's will is available on-line at: http://www.essexcountyma.org/wills/coreyg.htm There are a lot of transcribed wills from this period in Essex County at this site. John Proctor's will is there at: http://www.essexcountyma.org/wills/proctorj.htm and a settlement of the estate of William Towne of Topsfield, father of Rebecca Nurse, Mary Easty & Sarah Cloyce at: http://www.essexcountyma.org/wills/townew.htm along with the will of William Andrews of Boxford, father of Thomas Andrews and Mary (Andrews) Cummings, both of whom testified against Elizabeth Howe: http://www.essexcountyma.org/wills/andrewsr.htm Cheers, Margo Margo Burns, List Owner of the Salem-Witch List at rootsweb.com margo@ogram.org -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web - Check your email from the web at http://mail2web.com/ .

Hi All, Francine wrote: >>This relates to my earlier question concerning Giles Corey's reason for refusing to plead. If the property had already been conveyed to his sons-in-law, there was no need to use the strategem of not pleading in order to save the proerty from being seized. (and in fact, the sheriff tried other means to justify seizing the property). So, why did Giles Corey refuse to plead? Sheer cussedness?<< As you state, even though the property had already been conveyed, the sheriff STILL tried to find a way to seize it...perhaps Giles was trying to make DOUBLE certain that there would be no way for the property to be seized. It would be hard enough to seize property belonging to the family of the convicted, but even harder should the accused never be tried, thereby never convicted. Personally, I don't believe that the sole motivating factor in Giles' refusal to plea was safeguarding his properties. The entire situation had gotten completely out of control; Salem had entered "new legal territory" in allowing spectral evidence. Some of the accused were pleading guilty to avoid the noose, but what kind of a life was left for them in Salem AFTER their guilty pleas??? It's not difficult to imagine that Giles was an intelligent man, who saw that there was NO good solution to an accusation, so perhaps he decided to "try" NOT pleading, since none of the other alternatives had been overly beneficial to those who went before him. Alternatively, perhaps he was just a man who saw the hopelessness in the whole affair, and basically "refused to play the game"?!! If you saw NO WAY OUT, why not just refuse to play by "their" rules...or more correctly, USE their rules to upset the order of things? I think it would be far easier to send someone to the gallows than to slowly press them to death...maybe he believed, right up to the very end, that SOMEONE would see the insanity of it all before it was too late?!! >>He doesn't say "mentally competent" or "sound of mind"--he says "in perfect memory." To me that sounds like the sort of wording used by people who have been hearing people tell them that their memories are *not* perfect, and, as I noted earlier, his court testimony indicates that he changed his story.<< I've seen LOADS of wills worded very similar to Giles' will. They don't all say of "sound mind", and I've never seen one that refers to "mental competence". Many of the older wills that I have seen locally say, "of perfect memory", or something very similar. HAPPY NEW YEAR to all!! Joan

I had written: >I have another question about Giles Corey: his behavior seems somewhat >contradictory, and he doesn't always seem to have been clear as to what he >saw or did, then emphasized in his will that his body was less than >healthy, but his memory was perfect. Why emphasize that? Might he have had >a cognitive illness like Alzheimer's? To which Lisa Small wrote: >I think not, Francine. Then, as now, the standard for will-making is >mental competence. Physical disability is irrelevant. Many old wills >begin by saying "sound in mind and body" or words to that effect, but >others -- such as Corey's -- strive to convince the reader (judge, probate >court, heirs, etc.) that though the individual may have many physical >ailments, their mind is sharp enough to make competent legal decisions >about where their property should go after death. I'm afraid Lisa misunderstood my question. From personal experience, I'm aware of the role that "mental competence" plays in determining whether or not someone's conveyance of property to someone else will be respected by a court. Please look at the wording that Giles Corey uses in his document: "I ye said Gyles Coaree lying under great trouble & affliction through wch I am very weake in body but in perfect memory...." He doesn't say "mentally competent" or "sound of mind"--he says "in perfect memory." To me that sounds like the sort of wording used by people who have been hearing people tell them that their memories are *not* perfect, and, as I noted earlier, his court testimony indicates that he changed his story. Francine Nicholson _________________________________________________________________ Add photos to your e-mail with MSN 8. Get 3 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/featuredemail&xAPID=42&PS=47575&PI=7324&DI=7474&SU= http://www.hotmail.msn.com/cgi-bin/getmsg&HL=1216hotmailtaglines_addphotos_3mf

Lisa Small wrote: >1. Since people were charged for their own costs of imprisonment even >BEFORE trial, and even if NOT found guilty, perhaps the properties were >seized to pay ongoing incarceration costs? Does this make sense in the >Proctor situation? Were they imprisoned for long? Apparently this was the justification that the heirs of Giles and Martha Corey were given for the threatened seizure of their parents' property (John Moulton, husband of Elizabeth Corey and on behalf of all the heirs in 1710 sued for compensation). The document filed seeking redress reads: " these are to give you a short a Count of our sorrows and suferings which was in the yere 1692 some time in march our honerd father and mother Giles Corey & Martha his wife ware acused for soposed wich Craft and imprisoned and ware Removed from on prison to another as from Salem to ipswich & from ipswitch to boston and from boston to Salem againe and soe remained in Close imprisonment about four months we were att the whole Charge of their maintenance which was very Chargable and soe much the more being soe farr a distance from us as also by Reason of soe many removes in all which wee Could doe noe less than Acompanie them. which further added both to our trouble and Charge and although that was very Great is the least of our greavence or cause of Thease lines but that which breakes our hearts and for which wee goe mourning still is that our father was put to soe Cruell and painfull a death as being prest to death our mother was put to death also though in another way. " And as wee Cannot sufficiantly Express our Griffe for the loss of our father and mother in such away -- soe we cannot Compute our Exspences and Coast but Shall Comite to your wisdome to judge of but after our fathers death the sh'rife thretened to Size our fathers Estate and for feare thar of wee Complied with him and paid him Eleaven pound six shillings in monie by all which we have bee[n] greatly damnified & impovershd by being Exsposed to sell Creaturs and other things for litle more than half the worth of them, to get the monie to pay as afores'd and to maintaine our father & mother in prison but that Which is grieveous to us is that wee are not only impoverished but also Reproached and soe may bee to all generatians and that wrongfully two unless something bee done for the removeall thereof all which we humbly Committe to the honorable Court Praying God to direct to that which may bee axceptable in his sight and for the good of this land" So it seems that Giles' efforts (whether by transferring his property to his sons-in-lsw or by refusing to plead) kept his property from being seized outright, but the sheriff did *try* to seize it. It also seems that unnecessary expenses were incurred by transferring the prisoners several times. What's not clear to me is *when* the attempt to seize the property occurred, before or after the deaths of Giles and Martha. Lisa also wrote: >2. Even in modern times, and despite the U.S. Constitution's guarantees >against unreasonable seizures without due process of law, properties are >still routinely seized before trial. I'm inclined to think that this practice was the reason that Giles Corey was writing out a conveyance right after he was arrested. It's called a will, but it's really more than that--it states, "In Consideration of which and for ye fatherly Love & affection wch I have & doe beare unto my beloved sone in Law William Cleeves of ye town of Beaverly, in ye abovesd Countye and to my sone in Law Jno Moulton of ye town of Salem in sd County both yeomen as also for divers other good causes & Considerations mee att ye prsent Espetially moveing, Have Given, Granted and by these prsents doe Give Grant and Confirm unto ye said Willm Cleeves my sone in Law & to ye said Jno Moulton my full power strength and auctority to occupie possesse & enjoye & manage in my stead & place all my Land & Meadow lying & being in ye bounds of Salem town aforesd, & being Butted & bound as p. my deed doth appeare & all my neat cattle & all other my stocke upon sd Farme or elsewhere as Likewise all my howsing & all my moveable estate whatsoever or wheresoever found wth all ye prviledges and apprtenance thereunto belonging or in wise apprtaining in my stead & for my use & supply during my natural life And after my decease" etc. as may be seen at the URL cited by Margo (thank you, Margo!). So on 25 July 1692, the Corey property was conveyed to the sons-in-law. This relates to my earlier question concerning Giles Corey's reason for refusing to plead. If the property had already been conveyed to his sons-in-law, there was no need to use the strategem of not pleading in order to save the proerty from being seized. (and in fact, the sheriff tried other means to justify seizing the property). So, why did Giles Corey refuse to plead? Sheer cussedness? Also, do I understand correctly that the judge named Corwin and the sherriff named Corwin were related? Francine Nicholson _________________________________________________________________ The new MSN 8: smart spam protection and 3 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail&xAPID=42&PS=47575&PI=7324&DI=7474&SU= http://www.hotmail.msn.com/cgi-bin/getmsg&HL=1216hotmailtaglines_smartspamprotection_3mf