George Jacobs Sr. (1609–1692) was an English colonist in the Massachusetts Bay Colony who was accused of witchcraft in 1692 during the

Salem witch trials The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in Province of Massachusetts Bay, colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. More than 200 people were accused. Not everyone wh ...

in Salem Village, Massachusetts. He was convicted and hanged on August 19, 1692. His son, George Jr., was also accused but evaded arrest. Jacobs' accusers included his daughter-in-law and granddaughter, Margaret.Enders A. Robinson. ''The Devil Discovered: Salem Witchcraft 1692''. Waveland Press, Prospect Heights, IL. 2001 (1991). pp. 336–339. Jacobs was believed to be the George Jacob baptized 13 February 1608/09 at St. Dunstan in the West, London, son of barber-surgeon George Jacob and wife Priscilla of

Bishop's Stortford Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town and civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district, in the county of Hertfordshire, England. It is in the London metropolitan area, London commuter belt, near the border with Essex, just west of the ...

, Hertfordshire.

Burial

Jacobs' body was buried near where he was hanged. Tradition stated that he was buried on his farm and the location was forgotten when the farm was abandoned. In the 1950s, the bones were unburied when developers began to bulldoze the former farm site. The bones were boxed up and passed through the hands of several local historical societies. In the 1970s the bones were rediscovered, believed to belong to Jacobs. They were tested and found to have

osteoarthritis Osteoarthritis is a type of degenerative joint disease that results from breakdown of articular cartilage, joint cartilage and underlying bone. A form of arthritis, it is believed to be the fourth leading cause of disability in the world, affect ...

. George Jacobs walked with two canes. The bones were found in a drawer at the Danvers Historical Society. At a ceremony in 1992 marking the 300th anniversary of the Salem Witch Trials, Jacobs' remains were reinterred at the Nurse Graveyard at the Rebecca Nurse Homestead, which is maintained as a historic site.

''Trial of George Jacobs''

The painting ''Trial of George Jacobs, August 5, 1692'' was created by Tompkins H. Matteson in 1855, and is based on the accounts of George Jacobs' granddaughter. The painting depicts Jacobs, who is being consoled by his son, George. On the left of the painting is Chief Magistrate William Stoughton, who would later serve three terms as Governor of Massachusetts. Jacobs' principal accuser was his granddaughter, who implicated him in an attempt to save her own life. Jacobs' daughter-in-law is the woman standing and being held back. She was thought to be mentally ill (brain tumour).

John Hathorne John Hathorne (August 1641 – May 10, 1717) was a merchant and magistrate of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and Salem, Massachusetts. He is best known for his early and vocal role as one of the leading judges in the Salem witch trials. Hatho ...

, the judge hearing the accusation, is thought to be an ancestor of

Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne (né Hathorne; July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer. His works often focus on history, morality, and religion. He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, from a family long associat ...

. He holds a book and points at Jacobs' granddaughter as if challenging her to substantiate her earlier written statements. In the foreground are a girl and boy who are having fits, allegedly caused by Jacobs' wizardry. The boy is unknown but the girl may be either Jacobs' servant or accuser

Ann Putnam Jr. Ann Putnam (October 18, 1679 – 1716) was a primary accuser, at age 12, at the Salem Witch Trials of Massachusetts during the later portion of 17th-century Colonial America. Born 1679 in Salem Village, Essex County, Massachusetts Bay Colony, s ...

Representation in other media

Jacobs appears as a minor character in the 1996 film ''

The Crucible ''The Crucible'' is a 1953 play by the American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Province of Massachusetts Bay from 1692 to 1693. Miller wrote ...

,'' based on

Arthur Miller Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are '' All My Sons'' (1947), '' Death of a Salesman'' (1 ...

's 1953 play about the Salem witch trials. He was portrayed by William Preston. Image:GeorgeJacobsHouse.jpg, Archival photograph of George Jacobs' house taken in the later 19th century or early 20th century Image:GeorgeJacobsHouse-ruin.jpg, Archival photograph of the ruin of the house taken circa 1935, before it fell down entirely in 1938 HABS MASS,5-DAV,7

Burial

''Trial of George Jacobs''

Representation in other media

References

Further reading