TWO DOCUMENTS SIGNED BY NOTORIOUS SALEM WITCH TRIALS JUDGE SAMUEL SEWALL 

Two manuscript documents signed by notorious Salem witch trials judge Samuel Sewall (1652–1730). The documents concern the family affairs and estate of an old friend, Sergeant John Bull (1650–1720), and illustrate the long Sewall's long civic career in Massachusetts Bay Colony as a prominent merchant, printer, and magistrate whose legacy remains inextricably tied to his role in the Salem Witch Trials of 1692–1693.

1. Manuscript document signed by Samuel Sewall as Justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court of Judicature. Boston, Province of Massachusetts Bay, 31 July 1710. 1 page, 8vo. Addressed to the "Selectmen of the Town of Boston," advocating for a property tax or boundary reappraisal for his longtime friend, Sergeant John Bull. Sewall writes of Bull's grievances regarding a property boundary dispute affecting his home: "Sergeant John Bull is under apprehensions that some of his small estate is diminished by an erroneous line which is gravanimous in his old age. What he speaks of is his wharf before his house." Explicitly leaning on his personal relationship with the aging colonist, Sewall admits to the selectmen that he cannot "withstand the importunity of [his] old friend."

2. Manuscript Letter of Administration from Sewall, as Chief Justice of the Superior Court Judicature. Boston, Massachusetts Bay Colony, 30 September 1723. 2 pages, folio. Addressed to Jonathan Bull, a mariner and the son of John Bull, concerning the settlement of his late father's estate, with docketing to verso. Because the elder Bull had died intestate (without a valid will), the legal authority to settle his worldly affairs fell directly under Sewall's judicial purview. Sewall formally delegates this administration to the younger Bull: "John Bull late of Boston... lately died intestate whereby the power of committing administration and full disposition of all and singular the goods, chattels, rights, and credits of the said deceased... doth appertain unto me. Trusting therefore in your care and fidelity, I do... commit unto you full power to administer [the estate]."

Crucially, both of these legal documents postdate the Salem trials as well as Sewall’s seminal 1700 anti-slavery tract, The Selling of Joseph, wherein he also publicly apologized for his involvement in the witch trials. Seemingly plagued by a sense of divine retribution for his role in the 19 executions at Salem, Sewall famously further issued a public confession of error and called for a day of prayer, fasting, and financial reparations to the victims' families. His growing theological and humanitarian radicalism carried over into written testaments against the injustices of slavery, and his personal journals reveal progressive advocacy for Native Americans, whom he regarded as a "lost tribe of Israel." Finally, his 1724 essay, Talitha Cuni, even wades into theological gender equality, advocating for the spiritual and natural rights of women, penned after the deaths of his wife and daughter.

Despite his infamous ties to the hysteria of 1692, Sewall's otherwise liberal legal mind and deep civic roots ensured his continued popularity among the residents of Massachusetts Bay. His judicial career flourished in his later decades: Sewall was appointed Judge of Probate for Suffolk County in 1715 (acting as the authoritative "Judge of Wills" responsible for resolving inheritance disputes) and was elevated to Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Judicature in 1718.

[Colonial America, 13 Colonies, Thirteen Colonies] [Manuscripts, Documents, Letters, Ephemera, Signatures, Autographs]