Samuel E. Sewall "Witch Trials-Mass.Cheif Justice"

Samuel E. Sewall was born at Bishopstoke, England, on 28 March 1652. He received his early education in England before his parents moved to New England and settled at Newbury, Massachusetts, where his schooling continued. He was prepared to enter Harvard in 1667, received his first degree in 1671, and received a second degree in 1675.

Sewall studied divinity and preached once before his marriage. On 28 February 1677, he married Hannah Hull, daughter and only child of John and Judith [Quincy) Hull. After his marriage, he left plans for the ministry and entered public life. His connection with the Hull family, including his father-in-law's work as treasurer and mint-master, was said to have influenced this change. He also managed a printing press in Boston for three years; another note dates this work to 1681–1684.

In 1684 Sewall was chosen an assistant and served for two years. In 1688 he traveled to England on business, remained abroad for a year, and visited several places of interest. In 1692 he became a member of the council and a judge of the probate court. That year he was also appointed among the commissioners to try witchcraft cases in Salem. During July and August, the court sentenced 19 people to death.

Sewall later publicly acknowledged his error in the witchcraft proceedings. On 14 January 1697, at Old South Church in Boston, the Rev. Samuel Willard read Sewall's confession of error and guilt before the congregation while Sewall stood in his place. The supplied account states that Sewall thereafter observed an annual day of fasting, meditation, and prayer in remembrance of the offense.

In 1699 Sewall became a commissioner for the English Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in New England and later served as its secretary and treasurer. In 1700 he published The Selling of Joseph, an essay described as an early appeal against slavery and as an argument for the rights of enslaved people. He later published The Accomplishment of Prophecies (1713), A Memorial Relating to the Kennebec Indians (1721), and A Description of the New Heaven (1727).

Sewall was named judge of probate for Suffolk County in 1715. In 1718 he became chief justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court of Judicature, the province's high court. He served until 1728, retiring because of increasing infirmities of age. He died in Boston, Massachusetts, on 1 January 1730.

Sewall kept a diary covering much of his life, a letter-book containing copies of important letters, and a commonplace book of quotations from his reading. At his death, he had also filled twelve manuscript volumes with abstracts of sermons and addresses he had heard. The Massachusetts Historical Society published his diary in its Historical Collections and also published his letter-book. His funeral sermon was preached by the Rev. Thomas Prince.