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Stephen Sewall, Clerk of The Court, Salem Witch Trials, Signed Document, COA
Stephen Sewall, Clerk of The Court, Salem Witch Trials, Signed Document, COA
Stephen Sewall, Clerk of The Court, Salem Witch Trials, Signed Document, COA

Stephen Sewall, Clerk of The Court, Salem Witch Trials, Signed Document, COA

$ 1055.99

Availability: 100 in stock
  • Original/Reproduction: Original
  • Autograph Authentication: Pages of History
  • Condition: Three fold lines, minor age toning--excellent for a 323 year old document
  • Signed: Yes
  • Item must be returned within: 30 Days
  • Return shipping will be paid by: Seller
  • Industry: Historical
  • Refund will be given as: Money Back
  • Signed by: Stephen Sewall
  • Modification Description: Signed
  • Modified Item: Yes
  • Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
  • Restocking Fee: No
  • All returns accepted: Returns Accepted

    Description

    Stephen Sewall (1657-1725).  He was Clerk of the Court for the Salem Witch Trials of 1692.  His signature on a beautiful 7 1/2" x 12" manuscript document, a deed by which Mary Barnum transfers property to her son Thomas Barnum, dated April 7, 1698.  The document is signed by Mary Barnum (by mark), Nathemiah Jewet and Philemon Dane as witnesses, and John Appleton as Justice of the Peace.  It is also signed by Stephen Sewall as Register of Deeds.  Stephen Sewall was born in Baddesley, England in 1657.  He came to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1661 with his parents.  He married Margaret Mitchell in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1682.  They settled in Salem, Massachusetts and had seventeen children.  He earned military distinction in the Bay Colony's Indian wars, and held numerous county offices including  register of probate, register of deeds and clerk of courts.  In the latter capacity he also served as clerk of the Court of Oyer and Terminer especially convened to dismiss charges or indict persons accused of witchcraft during the hysteria of 1692, and was responsible for attesting to the accuracy of all documents and transcripts produced by the court, and so was an official eye-witness at every trial convened.  In later years he participated in the capture of convicted pirate John Quelch who would be hanged in Boston with four of his crew in 1704.  Stephen's brother Samuel Sewall was one of the witch trial magistrates.  Stephen Sewall died at Salem on October 17, 1725 and was buried with military honors at Broad Street Cemetery where two of his infant children were buried memorialized by a marker composed by their father.  There is no individual marker for Stephen Sewall.
    Pages of History, UACC Registered Dealer No. 036, provides a lifetime guarantee of authenticity.  We are full time autograph and document dealers and members of the Manuscript Society.  We will combine shipping on multiple purchases.  Payments must be by PayPal. (237)