Reference

before 1750, though Samuel Sewall, William Stoughton and John Leverett were clearly learned men by the standards of their society. With respect to post-1750 jurists, intellectual activities persisted for most after their college years. Members of the Superior Court not only came from leading families but possessed the

Samuel had held a position of assistant magistrate for a bit of time before 1692 when the Salem Witch Trials broke out. Due to his experience, he became one of the nine judges appointed to the Court of Oyer and Terminer by Governor Phips. He participated in and documented some of the trials. One of those that he documented was the death of

Samuel Sewall was a British-American colonial merchant and a judge in the Salem witchcraft trials, best remembered for his Diary (Massachusetts Historical Society; 3 vol., 1878-82), which provides a rewarding insight into the mind and life of the late New England Puritan. ... member of the Council (1684-1725), and chief justice of the