Sewall, Samuel
March 28, 1652
Hampshire, England
January 1, 1730
Boston, Massachusetts
Massachusetts businessman and judge
"Tis pity there should be more caution used in buying a horse, or a little lifeless dust, than there is in purchasing men and women. . . . "
Samuel Sewall.
Samuel Sewall was a prominent businessman and judge in Boston during a time of social and political upheaval in the Massachusetts colony. He is perhaps best known for making a dramatic public apology for the role he played as a judge in the Salem witch trials, which resulted in the executions of nineteen people. Sewall is also famous for his diary, a remarkable work that spans more than fifty years and provides modern historians with a vivid picture of life in Puritan New England. (The Puritans were a Christian group who observed strict moral and spiritual codes; they controlled social and political life in Massachusetts.) Sewall also was one of the first colonists to speak out against the keeping of African slaves.
Begins Long Public Career
Samuel Sewall was born in Hampshire, England, on March 28, 1652, the son of Henry and Jane (Dummer) Sewall. When he was nine years old, his parents emigrated (moved from one country to another) to Newbury, Massachusetts, where he was educated at a private school.
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