George Corwin (February 26, 1666 – April 12, 1696) was the High Sheriff of

Essex County, Massachusetts Essex County is a County (United States), county in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Massachusetts. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the total population was 809,829, making it the third-most populous county in the stat ...

during 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 ...

, for which he signed warrants for the arrest and execution of those condemned 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 us ...

Family

George Corwin was the grandson of

John Winthrop the Younger John Winthrop the Younger (February 12, 1606 – April 6, 1676) was an early governor of the Connecticut Colony, and he played a large role in the merger of several separate settlements into the unified colony. Early life Winthrop was born ...

, the Governor of

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

. His wife, Lydia Gedney, was the daughter of

Bartholomew Gedney Bartholomew Gedney (June 14, 1640 – February 28, 1698)''Collections of the Maine Historical Society'', Volume 2 (1902), p. 179 was a merchant, physician, military officer, and native of Salem, Massachusetts. He is best known as one of the mag ...

, one of the magistrates involved in the witch trials.

Involvement in witch trials

Corwin was also responsible for choosing the execution site in

Salem Salem may refer to: Places Canada Ontario * Bruce County ** Salem, Arran–Elderslie, Ontario, in the municipality of Arran–Elderslie ** Salem, South Bruce, Ontario, in the municipality of South Bruce * Salem, Dufferin County, Ontario, part ...

for

hanging Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging i ...

the 19 innocent people. On September 16, 1692, Corwin was ordered by the Court of

Oyer and Terminer In English law, oyer and terminer (; a partial translation of the Anglo-French ''oyer et terminer'', which literally means "to hear and to determine") was one of the commissions by which a judge of assize sat. Apart from its Law French name, the ...

to preside over the interrogation under torture of

Giles Corey Giles Corey ( August 1611 – September 19, 1692) was an English-born American farmer who was accused of witchcraft along with his wife Martha Corey during the Salem witch trials. After being arrested, Corey refused to enter a plea of guilty or ...

, who was pressed to death for refusing to stand trial for witchcraft.

After the trials

Corwin died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

on April 12, 1696, at the age of 30. After his death, his burial was blocked by a Salem resident Phillip English, who had been accused during the witch trials, and whose property had been seized by Corwin. English put a lien on Corwin's corpse, and delayed its burial until he had been reimbursed for the property he lost to Corwin. He was eventually reimbursed, allowing the burial to proceed. George Corwin supervised 81 year old Giles Corey's death by torture, September 19, 1692, for refusing to enter a plea. With no plea entered, Corey technically remained innocent, and his property could not be legally seized, but Corwin still attempted to extort money from Corey's heirs: In 1710, Corey's daughter Elizabeth and her husband filed a lawsuit seeking damages from Corwin's estate. Her statement to the court read, : "After our father's death the sheriff threatened to seize our father's estate and for fear that of we complied with him and paid him eleven pound six shillings in money."

References

1666 births 1696 deaths People of the Salem witch trials Witch hunters Sheriffs of Essex County, Massachusetts {{Salem-stub