The Real Life and Times of John Proctor

By Richard Wood

In 1634, John Proctor and Martha Harper of Suffolk, England gave birth to the infamous John Proctor, the man who was hung for the practice of witchcraft on citizens of Salem.  Although he is well known within the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Proctor, as a child, moved with his family from London to American Colonies.  Proctor and his family first moved to the town of Ipswich, Massachusetts.  When older, Proctor, with much land inherited from his father, Proctor gained a handsome sum of wealth.  Between the years 1655 and 1674, Proctor had wed three times, to three separate women: Martha Giddons (1655), Elizabeth Thorndike (1662), and Elizabeth Bassett (1674); his third wife being the same Elizabeth Proctor that was accused, and found guilty of, witchcraft in the Salem Witch Trials.  When the Salem Witch Trials occurred, Proctor was nearly 60 years of age.  Much rumor has spread that Proctor had had an affair with his accuser, Abigail Williams prior to the witch incident; however, analysts at the Bostonian Enquirer have uncovered that, at the time of the trials, Abigail was only at the age of 11, too young for an affair with Proctor.  Nonetheless, on August 5^th, 1692, Proctor and his wife were tried and found guilty of witchcraft.  He was executed on the 16^th of that same month.

Family Tree:

John Procter

{{{Martha Harper}}}

William Bassett Sr.

{{{ Sarah }}}

Benjamin Procter

Martha (Giddons) Procter

John Procter

Elizabeth (Bassett) Procter

Mary (Bassett) DeRich

William Bassett, Jr.

Sarah (Hood) Bassett

Benjamin Procter

William Procter

Sarah Procter