Editing Salem, Massachusetts (section)

=== Witchcraft Trials ===
{{main|Salem witch trials}}
One of the most widely known aspects of Salem is its history of witchcraft allegations, which started with [[Abigail Williams (Salem witch trials)|Abigail Williams]], [[Betty Parris]], and their friends playing ''"with a [[Mirror|Venus glase]] & an Egg"'' to learn ''"what trade their sweet harts should be of."''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Breslaw |first=Elaine G. |title=Tituba, Reluctant Witch of Salem: Devilish Indians and Puritan Fantasies |year=1997 |page=89}}</ref> The infamous Salem witch trials began in 1692, and 19 people were executed by hanging because of the false accusations; [[Giles Corey]] was [[Crushing (execution)|pressed to death]] for refusing to plead innocent or guilty, thus avoiding the noose and instead dying an innocent man.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/people?group.num=G01|title=Salem Witch Trials Notable Persons|website=salem.lib.virginia.edu}}</ref> Salem is also significant in legal history as the site of the [[Dorothy Talbye Trial]], where a mentally ill woman was hanged for murdering her daughter because Massachusetts made no distinction at the time between insanity and criminal behavior.<ref>{{cite book
|author= Albert Christopher
|url=https://archive.org/details/romanticstorypu01addigoog
|page= [https://archive.org/details/romanticstorypu01addigoog/page/n202 131]
|title=The Romantic Story of the Puritan Fathers: And Their Founding of New Boston
|publisher=L.C. Page & Co.
|access-date=2007-11-14
|year = 1912}}</ref>

[[William Hathorne]] was a prosperous entrepreneur in early Salem and became one of its leading citizens. He led troops to victory in [[King Philip's War]], served as a magistrate on the highest court, and was chosen as the first speaker of the House of Deputies. He was a zealous advocate of the personal rights of freemen against royal emissaries and agents.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.usgennet.org/usa/topic/newengland/philip/21-end/ch22.html|title=Soldiers in King Philip's War, Chapter 22|website=www.usgennet.org}}</ref><ref>Anderson, Robert, ''The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620–1633,'' Entry for William Hathorne, New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, MA, 1999.</ref> His son Judge [[John Hathorne]] came to prominence in the late 17th century when witchcraft was a serious felony. Judge Hathorne is the best known of the witch trial judges, and he became known as the "Hanging Judge" for sentencing accused witches to death.<ref>Starkey, Marion, ''The Devil in Massachusetts,'' Knopf, Doubleday, 1969.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.hawthorneinsalem.org/Life%26Times/Family/Paternal/Introduction.html#JohnHathorne|title=The Paternal Ancestors of Nathaniel Hawthorne: Introduction|website=www.hawthorneinsalem.org|access-date=2011-02-10|archive-date=2020-12-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201205092910/http://www.hawthorneinsalem.org/Life%26Times/Family/Paternal/Introduction.html#JohnHathorne}}</ref>