elizabeth+procter

In April 1692, 31 men from ipswich__. __massachusetts, filed a petition attesting to the upstanding character of John and Elizabeth and denying that they had ever seen anything that would indicate they were witches. In May 1692, a similar petition was filed on behalf of John and Elizabeth containing signatures of 20 men & women, including several of the wealthiest landowners of Topsfrield.Massachusetts and Salem Village. It questioned spectral evidence, testified to the Christian lives that John and Elizabeth had led, stated that they “were ever ready to help such as stood in need of their help” and stated that they had no reason to believe they were witches. On June 2, 1692, a male doctor and several women completed a physical examination of Elizabeth and several of the other accused. They looked for birth defects, moles or other markings that they believed were a sign that the person was a witch, and found none. On August 2, 1692, the court met in Salem to discuss the fate of John and Elizabeth and several others. At some point during this time, John wrote his will, but he did not include Elizabeth. Some assume this is because he assumed she would be executed along with him. In spite of the petitions and testimonies from friends, both John and Elizabeth were found guilty, and were sentenced to death on August 5, 1692. Elizabeth, who was pregnant at the time, was granted a stay of execution until after the birth of the baby. John tried to postpone his execution, but failed. On August 19, 1692, John was executed. Elizabeth remained in jail. Action was eventually taken on the petition that John had filed to save his life and that of Elizabeth, but it was too late for John.

Though Elizabeth was free, the ordeal was not over for her, for in the eyes of the law, she had been convicted. Although the law stated that possessions would be seized when someone was convicted, the Proctors' possessions were confiscated long before their trials, and Elizabeth could not claim any of John's property, some of which had been salvaged by this time. She could not regain her dowry because legally, she no longer existed. Elizabeth petitioned the General Court for reversal of attained to restore her legal rights. No action was taken for seven years, even though it was now widely accepted that innocent people had been wrongly convicted. On April 19, 1697, the probate court at Salem ordered the Proctor heirs to give Elizabeth her dowry. On September 22, 1699, Elizabeth married her second husband, Daniel Richards, in Lynn, Massachusetts. The public demanded that the courts apologize, and a written apology was issued on March 18, 1702.