John Dane Jr. Sitting in Judgment of His Cousins in the Salem Witch Trials
John Dane Jr. 1642-1707 (Maternal 7th Great-Granduncle)
While researching my 8th Great-Grandfather John
Dane, I ran across information about his son John Dane, my 7th
Great-Granduncle, that absolutely stunned me. He served as a juror for some of
the Salem Witch Trials, which meant he was hearing testimony against and
rendering verdicts upon his own cousins, who were the children and
grandchildren of his uncle, Reverend Francis Dane. Some of those cousins were
sentenced to death. How could a good Puritan like John Dane turn against his
own family in this way?
I have been unable to find birth records for John Dane, but
his gravestone states he died in 1707 in his 65th year, which would
indicate he was born in 1642 or 1643. His parents were John Dane and Eleanor
Clark of Ipswich, Massachusetts. He was the oldest of their two sons. He left
several parcels of land in his will, so it appears he was engaged in farming.
John Dane married Abigail Warner on December 27, 1671, and
they lived in Ipswich. The couple had six children—three sons and three
daughters—over a period from 1673 to 1691.
The Salem Witch trials began in 1692. Under English law, a Court
of Oyer and Terminer was called up to hold inquiries into all charges of
treason, felonies, and misdemeanors. The name comes from the French phrase oyer
et terminer which literally means “to hear and to determine.” Massachusetts
Governor William Phipps called for the court to be appointed to hear the witch
trials, and local officials were told to summon a pool of jurors. Each
community was asked to contribute jurors, with local magistrates responsible
for issuing the summonses.
I have found some of the summons paperwork, but John Dane
Jr.’s name was not on the Ipswich summons. He may have been called up at a
later date, covered by a different summons document. Since the jurors were
issued summonses requiring them to serve, John Dane had little choice in the
matter. He had to participate once he was summoned. In a small society like
early colonial Massachusetts, the Puritan culture demanded conformity and
obedience.
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| Cover of the book where the jurors' letter appears |
Some records from the period provide partial lists of
jurors. John Dane’s name is on at least one of the lists I located. But most
significantly, John Dane Jr. was one of twelve signatories on a 1697 letter
expressing regret for their actions as jurors. While the original letter did
not survive, a transcription was printed in a 1700 book titled “More Wonders
of the Invisible World” by Robert Calef. The letter reads as follows:
“Some that had been of several juries have given forth a
paper, signed with our own hands in these words. We whose names are
underwritten, being in the year 1692 called to serve as jurors in court in
Salem, on trial of many who were by some suspected guilty of doing acts of
witchcraft upon the bodies of sundry persons.
We confess that we ourselves were not capable to
understand, nor able to withstand the mysterious delusions of the powers of
darkness and prince of the air, but were for want of knowledge in ourselves and
better information from others, prevailed with to take up with such evidence
against the accused as on further consideration and better information, we
justly fear was insufficient for the touching the lives of any, Deuteronomy
17.6, whereby we fear we have been instrumental with others, though ignorantly
and unwittingly, to bring upon ourselves and this people of the Lord, the guilt
of innocent blood, which sin the Lord saith in Scripture, he would not pardon,
2 Kings 24.4, that is we suppose in regard of His temporal judgments. We do,
therefore, hereby signify to all in general (and to the surviving sufferers in
especial) our deep sense of and sorrow for our errors in acting on such
evidence to the condemning of any person.
And do hereby declare that we justly fear that we were
sadly deluded and mistaken, for which we are much disquieted and distressed in
our minds, and do therefore humbly beg forgiveness, first of God for Christ’s
sake for this our error. And pray that God would not impute the guilt of it to
ourselves nor others. And we also pray that we may be considered candidly and
aright by the living sufferers as being then under the power of a strong and
general delusion, utterly unacquainted with and not experienced in matters of
that nature.
We do heartily ask forgiveness of you all, whom we have
justly offended and do declare, according to our present minds, we would none
of us do such things again on such grounds for the whole world, praying you to
accept of this in way of satisfaction for our offense, and that you would bless
the inheritance of the Lord that He may be entreated for the land.
Foreman, Thomas Fisk
Thomas Perly, Senior
William Fiske
John Peabody
John Batcheler
Thomas Perkins
Thomas Fisk, Junior
Samuel Sather
John Dane
Andrew Elliott
Joseph Evelith
Henry Herrick, Senior
End of the letter in the Wonders book.
I can certainly understand why John Dane would have longed
for forgiveness. Rev. Francis Dane and all his children and grandchildren must
have felt betrayed by John’s work on the jury. Francis Dane barely escaped
being charged with witchcraft himself. Two of his daughters, Abigail Dane
Faulkner and Elizabeth Dane Johnson, were accused and convicted, but escaped
death. In addition, five of his grandchildren were charged with witchcraft: two
of Abigail’s daughters, ages 12 and 9, and Elizabeth’s two daughters and one
son, ages 22, 14 and 11. In addition, Francis’ daughter-in-law, Deliverance
Haseltine Dane, was charged. Two of Francis’ nieces by marriage, Martha Carrier
and Elizabeth How, were convicted and hung. The Dane family suffered greatly.
It would be hard to excuse John Dane’s complicity in this suffering.
I find it interesting that the jurors stated that they felt
unable “to withstand the mysterious delusions of the powers of darkness”. They
seem to be blaming the devil for compelling their actions. They probably did
feel compelled, but more by the opinions of their neighbors and friends who
believed in the witchcraft charges. The jurors probably feared becoming targets
themselves if they didn’t find the persecuted people guilty.
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| John Dane's headstone, courtesy of Findagrave. |
John Dane died in 1707 and is buried in Hamilton Cemetery in
Essex County, Massachusetts.
Sources:
“The Apology of the Salem Jury,” 1697. More Wonders of
the Invisible World, or The Wonders of th Invisble World, Display’d in Five
Parts. Collected by Robert Calef. Printed in London for Nath. Hillar, at
the Princes-Arms, in Leaden Hall Street. 1700. https://archive.org/details/morewondersofinv01cale
The Founders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Page 202. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/23628/images/dvm_GenMono005699-00116-0?usePUB=true&pId=197
Findagrave Listing for John Dane. Photo by Adrian Theirry. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/52810448/john-dane/photo#view-photo=267987016
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