Testimony of the Rev. John Hale against Dorcas Hoar, Salem, September 1692

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title
Testimony of the Rev. John Hale against Dorcas Hoar, Salem, September 1692
type
deposition
date
6.7.1692 [6 Sep 1692]
repository
Essex County Court Archives, Salem Witchcraft, vol. 1 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, Judicial Archives, Massachusetts State Archives, Boston)
reference
vol. 1, no. 211; SWP No. 68.10 (Boyer and Nissenbaum, The Salem Witchcraft Papers, 1977)
url
https://salem.lib.virginia.edu/n68.html
seen
image
access
public

The original deposition of John Hale, minister of Beverly, in the trial of Dorcas Hoar for witchcraft. Its heading reads "John Hale aged 56 years Testifieth 6.7.1692": the sixth day of the seventh month, so 6 September 1692 in the old reckoning, when the year began in March. That is the day of her trial.

Hale tells the court:

  • that for several years stories had been told of Dorcas Hoar as a fortune-teller. She had told her own fortune: "yt shee should live poorly so long as her husband William Hoar did live, but ye said Will should dye before her, & after yt shee should live better."
  • that "about twenty two yeares agoe" she had shown him "great repentance" for her former life, and told him she had borrowed a book of palmistry. When he told her it was an evil book, she seemed to give such practices up.
  • that "14 years ago last spring" he had discovered "an evil practice" between a servant of his and some of the Hoar children, "conveying goods out of my house" to the Hoars'. This was the theft case of 1678 (Records and Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Massachusetts), in which Ellen (Lynn) Ellinwood, then the wife of William Bath, testified that Goody Hoar had offered her pease;
  • that his daughter Rebecca, then eleven or twelve, knew of the stealing but dared not tell, because she had been warned that Goody Hoar was a witch and had a book by which she could tell what Rebecca told of her.

He ends with his late daughter's fear of the Hoars, "till quieted by yt Scripture. Fear not them which can kill ye body &c."

No Ellinwood appears in the trial papers of 1692. The family sat in Hale's congregation throughout (CHAPTER TWO RESEARCH FILE).

The transcript at the Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive (SWP No. 68.10) continues on the reverse with Major Denison's inquiry about the fortune book, and Hale's talk with Dorcas Hoar in Boston prison in May 1692. It ends "Jurat in Curia," endorsed "Mr. Jno. Hale."

  1. ---
  2. title: "Testimony of the Rev. John Hale against Dorcas Hoar, Salem, September 1692"
  3. type: deposition
  4. date: "6.7.1692 [6 Sep 1692]"
  5. repository: Essex County Court Archives, Salem Witchcraft, vol. 1 (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, Judicial Archives, Massachusetts State Archives, Boston)
  6. reference: "vol. 1, no. 211; SWP No. 68.10 (Boyer and Nissenbaum, The Salem Witchcraft Papers, 1977)"
  7. url: "https://salem.lib.virginia.edu/n68.html"
  8. seen: image
  9. access: public
  10. ---
  12. The original deposition of John Hale, minister of Beverly, in the trial of Dorcas Hoar for
  13. witchcraft. Its heading reads "John Hale aged 56 years Testifieth 6.7.1692": the sixth day of
  14. the seventh month, so 6 September 1692 in the old reckoning, when the year began in March. That
  15. is the day of her trial.
  17. Hale tells the court:
  18. - that for several years stories had been told of Dorcas Hoar as a fortune-teller. She had told
  19. her own fortune: "yt shee should live poorly so long as her husband William Hoar did live, but
  20. ye said Will should dye before her, & after yt shee should live better."
  21. - that "about twenty two yeares agoe" she had shown him "great repentance" for her former life, and
  22. told him she had borrowed a book of palmistry. When he told her it was an evil book, she seemed
  23. to give such practices up.
  24. - that "14 years ago last spring" he had discovered "an evil practice" between a servant of his
  25. and some of the Hoar children, "conveying goods out of my house" to the Hoars'. This was the
  26. theft case of 1678 (`court-records-essex-quarterly-courts`), in which Ellen (Lynn) Ellinwood,
  27. then the wife of William Bath, testified that Goody Hoar had offered her pease;
  28. - that his daughter Rebecca, then eleven or twelve, knew of the stealing but dared not tell,
  29. because she had been warned that Goody Hoar was a witch and had a book by which she could tell
  30. what Rebecca told of her.
  32. He ends with his late daughter's fear of the Hoars, "till quieted by yt Scripture. Fear not them
  33. which can kill ye body &c."
  35. No Ellinwood appears in the trial papers of 1692. The family sat in Hale's congregation
  36. throughout (`research/ellingwood/ellingwood-ch2-research.md`).
  38. The transcript at the Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive (SWP No. 68.10) continues on the
  39. reverse with Major Denison's inquiry about the fortune book, and Hale's talk with Dorcas Hoar in
  40. Boston prison in May 1692. It ends "Jurat in Curia," endorsed "Mr. Jno. Hale."

Pictures

John Hale's testimony against Dorcas Hoar, September 1692John Hale's testimony against Dorcas Hoar, September 1692

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