Samuel Sewell (Salem Witch Trials) Court Documents true copy 19th, 20 century For Sale

Late 1800’s early 1900’s Manuscript true copy (GV Foxwell late 19th, early 20th century) document Samual Sewell as Justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court of Judicature. Boston, Province of Massachusetts Bay, 31 July 1710. 1 page, 8vo. Addressed to the "Selectmen of the Town of Boston," advocating for a property tax or boundary reappraisal for his longtime friend, Sergeant John Bull. Sewall writes of Bull's grievances regarding a property boundary dispute affecting his home: "Sergeant John Bull is under apprehensions that some of his small estate is diminished by an erroneous line which is gravanimous in his old age. What he speaks of is his wharf before his house." Explicitly leaning on his personal relationship with the aging colonist, Sewall admits to the selectmen that he cannot "withstand the importunity of [his] old friend."This legal document postdate the Salem trials as well as Sewall’s seminal 1700 anti-slavery tract, The Selling of Joseph, wherein he also publicly apologized for his involvement in the witch trials. Seemingly plagued by a sense of divine retribution for his role in the 19 executions at Salem, Sewall famously further issued a public confession of error and called for a day of prayer, fasting, and financial reparations to the victims' families. His growing theological and humanitarian radicalism carried over into written testaments against the injustices of slavery, and his personal journals reveal progressive advocacy for Native Americans, whom he regarded as a "lost tribe of Israel." Finally, his 1724 essay, Talitha Cuni, even wades into theological gender equality, advocating for the spiritual and natural rights of women, penned after the deaths of his wife and daughter.

Despite his infamous ties to the hysteria of 1692, Sewall's otherwise liberal legal mind and deep civic roots ensured his continued popularity among the residents of Massachusetts Bay. His judicial career flourished in his later decades: Sewall was appointed Judge of Probate for Suffolk County in 1715 (acting as the authoritative "Judge of Wills" responsible for resolving inheritance disputes) and was elevated to Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Judicature in 1718.

[Colonial America, 13 Colonies, Thirteen Colonies] [Manuscripts, Documents, Letters,