Spooky Halloween - John Hull's Son-In-Law Samuel Sewall, Witch Trial Judge

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Author	Replies: 5 / Views: 674
kbbpll Pillar of the Community United States 4233 Posts	Posted 10/31/2023 02:08 am Maybe this is common knowledge, but I had never heard this before. John Hull was the mint master who produced the first "official" coinage of the Colonies, in Massachusetts in 1652. I had read the story of how he gave is daughter Hannah her weight in Pine Tree Shillings as a dowry upon her wedding to Samuel Sewall. Well, tonight I was reading a news article about a group seeking to clear the names of all the accused witches in Massachusetts from the infamous Salem Witch Trials, and learned that one of the judges presiding over these trials was none other than Samuel Sewall, son-in-law of the man who produced our first coins. An interesting footnote in numismatic history, and a little bit spooky. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Sewall Report this Post to the Staff

999pure New Member United States 3 Posts	Posted 10/31/2023 02:22 am Report this Post to the Staff
lcutler Pillar of the Community United States 1677 Posts	Posted 10/31/2023 04:28 am Yep, if interested in the subject I would recommend the book "The Witches" by Stacy Schiff. Absolutely fascinating and unbelievable how something so terrible occurred with no evidence. Report this Post to the Staff
Coinfrog Bedrock of the Community United States 94367 Posts	Posted 10/31/2023 11:41 am Good link, thanks. Report this Post to the Staff
paralyse Bedrock of the Community United States 12057 Posts	Posted 10/31/2023 12:58 pm Ironically, Salem is now one of the most popular Halloween destinations in the United States. It's gotten so busy that the mayor has been asking visitors and tourists to bike in, ride the MBTA, or take the ferry due to traffic congestion. Around Halloween you can see a great many visitors in their finest witch costumes roaming the streets and shops. Some of the local businesses have had to hire on seasonal extra staff to keep up with demand, something more associated with the traditional winter holidays. Those old witch-hunting Puritans, were they around today, would have dropped dead at the shock of seeing hundreds of "witches" walking the town streets, along with zombies, demons, ghouls, vampires, and every other Halloween horror imaginable! Member ANA - EAC - TNA - SSDC - CCT #890 "Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossible before they were done." -- Louis D. Brandeis Report this Post to the Staff
jbuck Moderator United States 196100 Posts	Posted 10/31/2023 1:46 pm Very interesting! Coin Collector Since 1978 Avatar Old Avatar 7070 Eisenhower Australia Canada World CCF Members on eBay CCF eBay Search Engine Report this Post to the Staff
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