Jonathan Corwin (also Curwin or Corwen, November 14, 1640 – June 9, 1718) was a New England

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...

, politician, and magistrate. He is best known as one of the judges involved in the

Salem witch trials The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. More than 200 people were accused. Thirty people were found guilty, 19 of whom w ...

of 1692, although his later work also included service as an associate justice of the

Massachusetts Superior Court of Judicature The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Although the claim is disputed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the SJC claims the distinction of being the oldest continuously funct ...

, the highest court of the

Province of Massachusetts Bay The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a colony in British America which became one of the thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7, 1691, by William III and Mary II, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of ...

Life

Jonathan Corwin was born on November 14, 1640 in Salem, a leading port town of the

Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as the ...

, one of five children born to George and Elizabeth (Herbert) Corwin. His father had arrived in Salem in 1638 and his mother was the daughter of

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

mayor John Herbert. His father was a wealthy merchant and shipbuilder in Salem, and Jonathan continued in the mercantile trade. He married Elizabeth Gibbs (née Sheaf), widow of Robert Gibbs, in 1675 and had ten children. Corwin was also involved in public affairs. He was twice elected to the colonial assembly, in 1682 and in 1689, and he was a stalwart supporter of the old regime when the

Dominion of New England The Dominion of New England in America (1686–1689) was an administrative union of English colonies covering New England and the Mid-Atlantic Colonies (except for Delaware Colony and the Province of Pennsylvania). Its political structure repres ...

was established in 1686. He was also an active

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a ''magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

of the local courts, hearing cases dealing with petty crimes and minor charges such as drunkenness and burglary.

Salem witch trials

When reports of

witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have u ...

began circulating in Essex County, Corwin was one of the magistrates called on to make preliminary inquiries into the reports. He and

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 ...

, another local magistrate, held hearings in early March 1692 in which testimony was gathered from

Tituba Tituba Indian was an enslaved woman who was one of the first to be accused of witchcraft during the Salem witch trials of 1692-1693. She was brought to colonial Massachusetts from Barbados by Samuel Parris, the minister of Salem Village. She w ...

, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborne, the first three women accused of being witches. Due to the uncertain constitutionality of the Massachusetts government in 1692 (its charter was vacated in 1684, and it had reformed with the charter following the

1689 Boston revolt The 1689 Boston revolt was a popular uprising on April 18, 1689, against the rule of Sir Edmund Andros, the governor of the Dominion of New England. A well-organized "mob" of provincial militia and citizens formed in the town of Boston, the cap ...

that ended Dominion rule of Sir

Edmund Andros Sir Edmund Andros (6 December 1637 – 24 February 1714) was an English colonial administrator in British America. He was the governor of the Dominion of New England during most of its three-year existence. At other times, Andros served ...

), there was a reluctance among colonial leaders to establish courts to hear the cases until Sir

William Phips Sir William Phips (or Phipps; February 2, 1651 – February 18, 1695) was born in Maine in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and was of humble origin, uneducated, and fatherless from a young age but rapidly advanced from shepherd boy, to shipwright, s ...

arrived in May 1692 with the charter that established the

. By this time a significant number of people had been jailed on accusations of witchcraft in the Salem area. Phips, who was appointed governor of the province, as one of his early acts established a special court of Court of Oyer and Terminer to hear the accumulated cases. Corwin was not initially assigned to the court, but when Nathaniel Saltonstall resigned in protest over the first hanging, Phips assigned Corwin to the panel. Corwin signed several arrest warrants and transcribed a few of the hearings but scarcity of records from the 1692 events makes it impossible to determine Corwin's overall role in the trials as well as his attitude toward the acceptance in court of

spectral evidence Spectral evidence is a form of legal evidence based upon the testimony of those who claim to have experienced visions. Such testimony was frequently given during the witch trials of the 16th and 17th centuries. The alleged victims of witchcraft w ...

, the idea that actions seen in visions could be an indicator of witchcraft. The special court convicted nineteen of witchcraft and sentenced them to the gallows before it was disbanded in October 1692. The provincial court system was set up in January 1693, with the

Superior Court of Judicature The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Although the claim is disputed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the SJC claims the distinction of being the oldest continuously funct ...

, the province's high court, hearing the remaining witchcraft cases. The Witch House

Corwin's own mother-in-law, Margaret Sheaf Thacher (née Webb; born 1625, Boston, to Henry and Dorabell (née Smith) Webb — died February 23, 1694, Boston), was accused of witchcraft by her servant, Mercy Short. Thacher held extensive holdings in Boston, including her home and acreage which was next to Governor

' house. Several years after her first husband's death, she married the Reverend Thomas Thacher. From 1669 to his death in 1678, Thacher served as the founding minister of the Old South Church. Thacher, known as a woman of great piety, was never charged, but Short would spend some time behind bars after confessing to witchcraft herself.

Later life

Corwin was not initially appointed to the Superior Court; he was appointed to the Governor's Council from 1692 to 1714, and served as a judge in the Court of Common Please for Essex County from 1692 to 1708. In that year he was nominated by Governor

Joseph Dudley Joseph Dudley (September 23, 1647 – April 2, 1720) was a colonial administrator, a native of Roxbury in Massachusetts Bay Colony, and the son of one of its founders. He had a leading role in the administration of the Dominion of New England ...

to be an associate justice of the Superior Court following the resignation of

John Leverett John Leverett (baptized 7 July 1616 – 16 March 1678/79In the Julian calendar, then in use in England, the year began on 25 March. To avoid confusion with dates in the Gregorian calendar, then in use in other parts of Europe, dates between ...

; he would hold that post until his death in 1717.

Legacy

Corwin's son George (not to be confused with Corwin's nephew, High Sheriff George Corwin) went to Harvard and became minister at the First Church in Salem. Corwin's house is the only remaining structure in Salem with direct ties to the Salem witch trials of 1692. It is now a museum that focuses on seventeenth-century furnishings, architecture, and lifestyle.The Witch House website
salemweb.com; accessed December 27, 2015.

Notes

* Corwin, Edward Tanjore
''Corwin Genealogy''
google.com; accessed October 2, 2015.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Corwin, Jonathan 1640 births 1718 deaths People of the Salem witch trials Justices of the Massachusetts Superior Court of Judicature