Salem Witch Judge: The Life and Repentance of Samuel Sewall
by Eve LaPlante
A Book Review by Mary Reger
March 2009
Eve LaPlante’s Salem Witch Judge: The Life and Repentance of Samuel Sewall
provides insight into important aspects of both New England colonial history and the
Salem Witch Trials. The book provides historical, religious, and political insight into the
time period of the Salem Witch Trials, which helps to understand LaPlante’s discussion
of Sewall and his participation in the Trials. Written by the sixth great-granddaughter to
Samuel Sewall, the book offers a personal insight into why Samuel Sewall sought
forgiveness for his part in the Salem Witch Trials.
LaPlante begins the book with Samuel, as she refers to him, at the age of 31
taking care of his sick newborn baby while his wife Hannah sleeps. She develops
Samuel’s character as a loving and devoted husband, father, and friend. She wants the
reader to know Samuel in depth before the Salem Witch Trials so that they will
understand his heart and grief. Samuel was a deeply religious Puritan man who loved
God and desperately wanted to be forgiven for any sins he had committed throughout
his life.
Samuel had deep roots in New England. His grandfather had come in 1634 and
settled and farmed in the coastal town of Newbury, about 30 northeast of Boston.
However Samuel’s parents returned to England before Samuel was born in 1652. He
lived in England until he was nine years old when his family returned to Newbury.
Samuel was a very learned man; he read and wrote Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. He
graduated from Harvard College with a Master’s degree in divinity. Although he never
practiced in the ministry, he led a very pure life, reading the Bible daily and teaching
from it to his family. Samuel found comfort in singing the Psalms when he wanted to
celebrate and grieve. In 1676, Samuel married Hannah Hull, the daughter of one of the
wealthiest men in Boston. Because Hannah was the only living child of John Hull,
Samuel and Hannah moved in with her father so that Samuel could be John’s heir.
Samuel very quickly became a prominent figure in Boston. He was an assistant to the
court, the captain of the local militia, and eventually became a judge of the court. These
were just a few of his titles. Samuel was a kind-hearted and earnest man who knew
nearly everyone in Boston, both rich and poor.
Hannah and Samuel had fourteen children of which only five grew to adulthood.
Only three of his children outlived him. Because Samuel believed in the original sin of
Adam and believed himself to be a sinner, he often wrestled with the fact that maybe he
lost so many of his children because of his or Hannah’s sins. Samuel loved his children
dearly and found it very difficult every time one of them died.
Not only does LaPlante do an excellent job of acquainting us with Samuel and
who he was but she also gives a thorough history of the Boston area along with the
politics and religion in Boston. She explains in detail the court system and religious
structure in Boston thus giving the reader vital information for better understanding the
mentality of the people at the Salem Witch Trials. She not only focuses on Boston and
the events happening there but she includes major issues going on in the world
throughout Samuel’s life. While the Salem Witch Trials are going on the French and
Indians are attacking towns in northeastern New England causing fear and anxiety in
the Boston area as well. She also gives the history of England and its royal leaders as
they are related to Boston and New England’s political and religious structure.
Only four of the chapters in the 20 chapter book cover the Salem Witch Trials.
While the Salem Witch Trials is the pretense for the book being written, it is not the
focus of the author’s thesis. LaPlante builds the story to show that her sixth great
grandfather was not a witch hunter and that this one small event in his life did not stain
his character. She writes the story of families, towns, and a country to show who this
man was and to prove that he was a Christian man who strived his entire life to be a
good man and a follower of Christ. She shows how he dealt with the guilt of sending 20
people to their death. Samuel felt so badly about this that in 1697, five years after the
Salem Witch Trails ended, he publicly repented for having sat on the court that
sentenced them to death. Because Samuel did not want to forget the agony he felt he
wore a hair shirt under his clothing. Christians wore hair shirts when they felt it would
help them to resist temptations and to show bodily mortification of sins committed.
LaPlante does not stop at Samuel’s repentance to show his sincere and
repentant character but goes on to describe the rest of the events in his life, especially
his concern for equity, fairness, and Christ’s love for mankind. Even though New
England was in the midst of a war with the French and Indians Samuel helped two
Indians go to Harvard College. He also wrote an essay in 1697, titled Phaenomena
quaedam Apocalyptica ad Aspectum, wherein he tells his belief in the godliness of the
Indians and America. He also did not believe in slavery and he himself never owned a
slave even though many people in Boston did. In 1700, Samuel wrote the first antislavery tract published during the period, titled The Selling of Joseph, A Memorial. At
this time in history Samuel had no supporters; in fact people thought he was crazy when
they read his essay. Samuel was constantly reading scripture and searching his own
soul. While one of his daughter’s was on her death bed he thought about the role of
women on earth and in Heaven. Puritans believed that only men would be resurrected.
This bothered Samuel and he searched the Bible for answers to his questions and
wrote another essay titled, Talitha Cumi, in which he argued that women as well as men
would be resurrected.
LaPlante goes into great depth to show that Samuel Sewall in fact was one of the
most Christian men of his time. She showed how he did not follow the wrong doings of
others just because it was an accepted practice and that he also put himself out on a
limb in his thinking of equality of all man (and woman) kind. She was able to tell an
accurate story of this man and his world by not only using numerous secondary sources
but also important primary sources from the archives in and around Boston, including
histories of the towns, grave marker inscriptions, Samuel Sewall’s papers, essays, and
diaries. Published primary sources such as diaries of several people, court records,
sermons, psalms and hymns, and political records, were also used.
The book itself included a couple of maps of the New England area, psalms that
Samuel sung, a couple of paintings, Samuel’s signature in his Indian Bible and the
essays that Samuel wrote. These sources were helpful in understanding and being
able to relate to the history and story. LaPlante also includes a chronology of Samuel’s
life and a genealogy chart that shows the line from Samuel to LaPlante. These helped
in keeping the dates and people in order for easy reference. It was very engaging to be
able to read through the essays that Samuel actually wrote after reading about his life.
LaPlante wrote in such detail that the reader feels as if she personally knew Samuel.
The one detail that LaPlante lacked was citations. There were times when I would like
to have known where particular information could be found. Although the book is rather
scholarly, LaPlante being the acclaimed author of American Jezebel, she wanted to
attract a wider audience which would not be as interested in specific notes.
LaPlante also brings the reader into the book with a note about the text and an
introduction. In the notes on the text she explains how dates were different at the time
of history, how names were changed, and how other abbreviations were used. In her
introduction she explains Samuel’s repentance honestly and tells her background and
relationship to the story and how the story came about in her family, all useful
information to have before reading the story.
This book is quite different from other books that revolve around the Salem Witch
Trials. While The Salem Witch Trials might be a point of interest to attract the reader to
this book, the lessons of soul searching, forgiveness, humility, civil rights, and humanity,
are the focus in Samuel Sewall’s life. A more in-depth account of the actual practice
and history of witchcraft and the school of thought revolving around witchcraft and the
Salem Witch Trials can be found in A Delusion of Satan by Frances Hill. The Salem
Witch Trails; A Day-By-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege by Marilynne K.
Roach is an excellent detailed reference source of people and events during the actual
Salem Witch Trials. Another book that looks specifically at the women who were
accused of witch craft is The Devil in the Shape of the Woman by Carol F. Karlsen.
Figures of the Salem Witch Trials by Stuart A. Kallen is another brief, easy-to-read book
that focuses on the major persons at the witch trials, including Samuel Sewall.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who would like to know more
about New England Colonial history and specifically about Boston and the
Massachusetts Bay Colony. LaPlante organizes her chapters clearly and
chronologically, often going back in time to provide more background so the reader has
a better understanding of the whole picture. Because this book does not make the
Salem Witch Trials its principal focus, it provides the reader with a broader insight into
the issues surrounding the Trials.
Even in death, Samuel’s character has not rested from the Salem Witch Trials.
In the epilogue LaPlante goes on to tell how Samuel’s great-grandson, Reverend
Samuel Joseph May (1797-1871), a Unitarian minister, wrote in his memoirs about his
great-grandfather. He wrote about Samuel Sewall, “He ‘was among the first to suspect,
and afterward to expose, the delusion’ of the witch hunt, and he ‘strove in so many ways
to atone for that early wrong’” (272-273). Nearly a hundred years later the historian
Charles Upham wanted to
‘leave before your imagination one [scene] bright with all the
beauty of Christian virtue.’ That was ‘Judge Sewall standing
forth in the house of his God and in the presence of his
fellow-worshippers, making a public declaration of his sorrow
and regret of the mistaken judgment he had cooperated with
others in pronouncing. Here you have a representation of a
truly great and magnanimous spirit,’ which had achieved a
‘victory over itself; a spirit so noble and pure, that it felt no
shame in acknowledging an error, and publicly imploring, for
a great wrong done to his fellow-creatures, the forgiveness
of God and man’ (273-274).
Over three hundred years later authors such as Eve LaPlante continue to write about
Sewall’s remarkable repentance because, as she notes, “Samuel Sewall’s world is less
distant than it seems. We too may never transcend superstition and misjudgment. Yet
he can be our guide in acknowledging and rectifying our wrongs. Like him, we are
capable of a change of heart” (274).