Samuel Sewall (1652-1730)
Although Sewall is noted in American literature for his
classic diary, chockfull of facts and ponderings reflecting the
Puritan life and ethic, it was his role as a judge at the 1692
Salem Witch Trials that secured his place in American history.
During this dark episode of witchcraft hysteria, thirty persons,
mostly women, were condemned to death and nineteen were hanged for
supposedly practicing the occult arts.
In front of the Old
South Church congregation in 1696, Judge Sewall became the only
judge involved in the witch trials to publicly recant his actions
Jimmy’s Tangents:
In his 1710 essay,
"The Selling of Joseph", Sewall comes out
strongly against slavery thus making him one of the earliest white
colonial abolitionists
John Hull, Sewall's father-in-law, is also buried in this tomb
Hull was the colony's, and the New World's, first coin minter when he was authorized to create what became known
as the Pine Tree Shillings starting in 1652
When Hull was appointed mint master he was paid a shilling for
every twenty single shilling coins he made; authorities tried to
renegotiate this lucrative arrangement but Hull refused and indeed
became very wealthy
Legend has it that when Sewall married Hull's daughter, Hannah,
he was given a wedding present of Hannah’s weight in Pine Tree
Shillings (luckily for Sewall, Hannah was what we refer to today as
“plus” size!)
The Pine Tree Shillings is a chapter in Nathaniel Hawthorne's
collection of short stories, "The Grandfather Chair".
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