Salem Witch Judge

June 4, 2007
In 1692, Salem magistrate Samuel Sewall (1652–1730), along with several others, presided over the conviction and execution of 20 people accused of witchcraft. Five years and much soul-searching later, Sewall publicly repented of his part in the witch trials. Much as she did in American Jezebel
, the marvelous biography of her 12th-generation ancestor Anne Hutchinson, LaPlante, who counts Sewall as her sixth-great-grandfather, richly narrates his life in its cultural and religious setting. Drawing on Sewall's diaries and stories told by her Aunt Charlotte, LaPlante sketches a compelling portrait of a committed family man, a dedicated magistrate and a deeply religious Puritan confronting his own shortcomings and questioning the doctrines of his religion. After his public repentance, Sewall reconsidered many Puritan teachings and wrote controversial treatises arguing for the equality of Native Americans, women and slaves. LaPlante's splendid biography brings a personal touch to Sewall's story (also recently recounted by historian Richard Francis in Judge Sewall's Apology
, 2005) and his efforts to take the difficult but righteous path.

June 1, 2007
Sewall (16521730) was an English-born American jurist who presided over the 1692 witchcraft trials in Salem, Massachusetts. Nineteen innocent men and women were hanged, and one man was pressed to death with large stones, the result of trumped-up charges of witchcraft. Some suspects were strangers to Sewall, but others were his friends. For several years, he struggled with a growing sense of shame and remorse and later assumed in public the blame for the executions. He spent much of the remainder of his life trying to restore himself in the eyes of God. Sewall wrote prodigiously and left behind extensive diaries, poems, essays, books, annotated almanacs, ledgers, and letters. His diary, covering the years from 1672 to 1729, was first published in the nineteenth century and is still in print. LaPlante also chronicles the mans later lifeSewall became the author of Americas first antislavery tract and published an essay affirming the equality of the sexes. A fascinating account of the man and of daily life in colonial America.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)

June 15, 2007
Historian LaPlante ("American Jezebel") offers a biography of her controversial Colonial New England ancestor, and it is as well researched, readable, and engaging as her first about Anne Hutchinson. Here, LaPlante examines the radical religious, moral, and philosophical transformations experienced by Samuel Sewall, the only judge presiding over the Salem witchcraft trials who repented for sending more than 20 men and women to their deaths. A direct descendant of him, LaPlante discusses in fascinating detail how a condemned male "witch" convinced the judge of his innocence before being hanged. This spurred Sewall into reconsidering his baseless actions and publicly repenting. He spent his later years publishing a series of seminal essays that challenged Puritan beliefs and societal norms in 17th-century America. Regrettably, LaPlante does not examine the responses to Sewall's bold repentance and his liberal essays supporting gender equality, the abolition of slavery, and the reverent treatment of Native Americans. Instead, she focuses on her subject's internal struggles, as revealed or hinted at in his voluminous diaries. She includes a genealogy that traces her ancestry back to Sewall, a helpful chronology, a generous bibliography, a travelog, and excerpts from Sewall's essays. Recommended as a complement to Sewell's diaries in academic libraries.Douglas King, Univ. of South Carolina Lib., Columbia

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