John Willard is undoubtedly Kith's cousin of some kind.

Captain John Peabody is Bill's first cousin six times removed.

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January 6, 1999, a final comment by Bill Gateley:

Pages 256-257 of The Devil Discovered says in regard to the aftermath of the trials:

I have just discovered that Captain John Peabody, my first cousin six times removed, was a member of that jury which convicted John Willard as well as the other Salem victims. Also it is quite likely that Thomas Perkins, another jury member, is my relative because a Dorothy Perkins (my fifth great grandmother) married Francis Peabody in 1714. Also, Selim Peabody in the Peabody Genealogy writes when discussing the early Peabodys in Massachusetts: "…It is enough for the present purpose to note the intimacy of the Peabody and Perkins families."

The Examination of John Willard. 18 May 1692

The afflicted in most miserable fits upon his this examination drawing near

After several of them were recovered, he lookd upon them, & they again fell into fits, whilst the warrant & returne was reading

Here is a return of the warrant that you were fled from Authority that is an acknowledgement of guilt, but yet notwithstanding we require you to confess the truth in this matter.

I shall, as I hope, I shall be assisted by the Lord of Heaven, & for my going away I was affrighted, & I thought by my withdrawing it might be better, I fear not but the Lord in his due time will make me as white as snow.

What do you say ? Why do you hurt these ? It is you, or your appearance.

I know nothing of appearance.

Is this the man ? Several of the afflicted said yes. They charge you, it is you or your appearance.

I know nothing of appearance, & the God of Heaven will clear me.

They charge you, not only with this, but with dreadfull murder, & I doubt not if you be guilty, God will not want evidence.

Eliz: Hubbard testified that he afflicted her, & then he lookd upon her and she fell into a fit.

Mary Lewis testimony read.

If you desire mercy from God, then you must confesse & give glory to God.

Sr as to sins I am guilty of, if the Minister asks me I am ready to confesse

If you have revolted from God you are a dreadful sinner.

Mary Warren cryed out, oh he bites me

Ann Putnam cryed out much of him

Open your mouth, don't bite your lips.

I will stand with my mouth open, or I will keep it shut: I will stand any how, if you will tell me how.

Ann Putnam evidence read

Do you hear this evidence read ?

Yes, I do hear it.

Susan: Sheldons evidence read

What do you say to this murdering & Bewitching your relations ?

One would think (said he) that no creature except they belong to hell from their cradle would be guilty of such things.

You say you will bewitch your Grandfather because he prays that the Kingdom of Satan may be thrown down

The examinant began a large oration

We do not send for you to Preach.

Ben: Wilkins testifyed for all his natural affections he abused his wife much & he broke sticks about her in beating of her You had need to boast of your good affections

These are a great many lies told, I would desire my wife might be called

Peter Prescot testifyed that he with his own mouth told him of his beating of his wife.

It seems very much one of your confidence & ability to speak, should no more {en} couragious than to run away: by your running away you tell all that {world} you are afraid

The examinant called upon Aaron Way & urged him {before} to speak if he knew any thing against him

Aaron Way if I must speak I will, I can say you have been very cruel to poor creatures.

Let some person goe to him

Ann Putnam said she would go.

He said let not that person but another come.

John Indian cryed out Oh! he cuts me.

Susan: Sheldon said there is the black man whispering in his ear, & should not confess

What do you say to this ?

I heard nothing, nor see nothing.

Susan: Sheldon tryed to come near him but fell down immediately, & he took hold of her hand with a great deal of do, but she continued in her fit crying out, O john Willard, John Willard &

{The ex} What was the reason you could not come near him ?

The black man stood between us.

They cannot come near any that are accused.

Why do you say that they could not come near any that are accused: you know Nehemiah Abbot they could talk with him.

Mary Warren in a great fit carried to him & he clasping his hand on her arm was well presently.

Why said he was it not before so with Susannah Sheldon ?

Because said the standers by you did not clasp your hand before.

The like said the constable & others. They all or most testifyed that the dead those that he had murdered were now about him.

Do you think these are Bewitched ?

Yes I verily believe it.

Well others they have accused it is found true on & why should it be false in you ?

Sus: Sheldon & Mary Warren testify that now his appearance comes from his body & afflicts them.

What do you think of this ? How comes this to pass ?

It is not from me, I know nothing of it

You have taxt your self wonderfully, it may be you do you not think of it.

How so ?

You cryed up your tender affection and here round about they testify your cruelty to man & beast, & by your flight you have given great advantage to the Law, things wll bear hard upon you, if you can therefore find in your heart to repent it is possible you may obtain mercy & therefore bethink your self

Sr. I cannot confess that I do not know

Well but if these things are true Heaven & Earth will rise up against you.

I am is innocent as the child that is now to be born.

Can you pray the Lords prayer ?

Yes .

Well let us hear you.

1. He stumbled at the threshold (that is the {beging} begining) & said Maker of Heaven & Earth.
2. He began {against} again, & mist

It is a strange thing, I can say it at another time. I think I am bewitcht as well as they & caught

3. Again he began & said trespass against & mist us.

4. He begun again, & cryed being puzled

Well this is a strange thing I cannot say it.

He begun again & could not say it

Well it is these wicked ones that do so overcome me

Josh: Rea Senr gave in testimony that last night he said he hoped he should confess tho he had a hard heart, but he
hoped he should confess.

Well say wt you will confess.

I am as innocent as the child unborn.

Do you not see God will not suffer you to pray to him, are you not sensible of it ?

Why it is a strange thing.

No it is no strange thing that God will not suffer a wizard to pray to him. There is also the jury of inquest for murder that will hear hard gainst you. Therefore confess. Have you never wisht harm to your Neighbours ?

Never since I had a being.

Well confess & give glory to God. Take counsell.

I desire to hearken to all good counsell. If it was the last time I was to speak I am innocent.

This is a true account of the Examination of John Willard without wrong to any party according to my original from characters at the moments thereof

Witness my hand Sam: Parris

The sections below deal with your cousin John Willard and represent all that we know about him at this time. John is Kith's first cousin, seven times removed.

Your closest Willard ancestor is Cordelia Sophia Willard, Fred Andrew's mother and Kith's great-grandmother.

The second son of Major Simon Willard (John's grandfather) was the Reverend Samuel Willard who, as will be seen, played an important role in the 1692 events. He is Kith's 7^th great uncle.

The bracketed comments which I (Bill Gateley) have added include the letters "BG"; this distinguishes them from the author's comments.

 THE DEVIL DISCOVERED

Hippocrene Books, Inc. (1991)

John Willard had married into the Wilkins family of Salem Village [BG: now Danvers, Massachusetts]. His wife, Margaret (Wilkins) Willard, was the daughter of Thomas Wilkins, and the granddaughter of Bray Wilkins, age eighty-one. Constable John Putnam, Jr. tried to employ John Willard to take in some of the accused. Appalled at the idea of capturing innocent people, Willard refused. On Saturday April 23, 1692, the apparition of John Willard came for the first time to Ann Putnam, Jr. [age twelve]. She told the apparition, "I am very sorry to see you so. You were one that helped to tend me, and now you have come to afflict me." But Ann's pleas to the specter did no good. She said that on April 24, 1692, Sabbath day, "The apparition of John Willard did so grievously afflict me that he forced me to cry out against him before all." On the next day John Willard visited Sergeant Thomas Putnam's house and denied the allegations. For three or four days Ann was silent before she started in again, saying, "The apparition of my little sister Sarah, who died when she was about six weeks old, is crying out for vengeance against John Willard."

In desperation, Willard went to the house of his grandfather-in-law, Bray Wilkins, knowing of his friendship with the Putnams. He asked Bray to pray with him. Bray put him off, and did not hear from him again. Bray stated, "Whether my not answering his desire did offend him, I cannot tell, but I was jealous afterwards that it did."

On Tuesday May 3, 1692, John Willard asked his uncle-in-law Henry Wilkins (a son of Bray) to go to Boston with him for election week. Henry's son, Daniel Wilkins, age seventeen, and the beau of Mercy Lewis, entreated him not to go with Willard, saying, "It would be well if Willard were hanged." This surprised Henry Wilkins, but he went with Willard anyhow. After his father had been gone a few days, Daniel Wilkins became ill.

Bray Wilkins had also gone to Boston, staying at his brother-in-law's house. Many family members met there for dinner with their guest, the Rev. Deodat Lawson. Bray's son Henry Wilkins, and Bray's grandson-in-law John Willard, arrived. Soon after, Bray said, "Willard looked upon me in such a sort as I have never before discerned in anybody." Bray then fell into a strange condition, of which he later said, "I cannot express the misery I was in, for my water was suddenly stopped, and I had no benefit of nature, but was like a man on a rack." He told his wife, "I am afraid that Willard has done me wrong." Bray's pain continued, and finding no relief, his "jealousy" also continued. Mr. Lawson was "amazed and knew not what to do." However, "a woman, accounted skillful, used means." Bray lay there in bed, recuperating.

Meanwhile, in Salem Village Daniel Wilkins' sickness grew worse each day. Dr. William Griggs, one of the conspirators, was called in. Griggs, true to form, "affirmed that his sickness was by some preternatural cause, and would make no application of any physic." Mercy Lewis was there and "affirmed that she saw the apparition of John Willard afflicting Daniel. Quickly after came Ann Putnam, [Jr.], and she saw the same apparition."

On Tuesday May 10, 1692, while Daniel lay sick at home in Salem Village and Bray lay sick in Boston, Bray's son Benjamin Wilkins, Sr. took legal action. Although not a member of the conspiracy he was allowed to file a complaint [#14]. It was, of course, against John Willard, charging him with afflicting Bray Wilkins and Daniel Wilkins. This time the girls in the circle were not afflicted, but acted as seers and soothsayers, using their spectral sight to detect witchcraft. A couple of months later they would be called in this capacity to Andover.

A warrant for Willard's arrest and appearance at Beadle's Tavern in Salem on Wednesday May 11, 1692, was issued. On Thursday May 12, Constable John Putnam, Jr., one of the conspirators, reported: "I went to the house of the usual abode of John Willard and made search for him, and in several other houses and places but could not find him, and his relations and friends then gave me account that to their best knowledge he was fled." John Willard made his escape to Lancaster, about forty miles west of Salem, and went into hiding. Lancaster had been founded by Major Simon Willard, commander-in-chief during King Phillip's Indian War of 1675-1676. Because of the destruction inflicted on the frontier towns during the conflict, many birth records were lost, but it can be inferred that John Willard was one of the Major's grandson's. Major Simon Willard had died in 1676, at the bleakest point in that war, but in 1692, Lancaster was still home to several of his children and grandchildren. Lancaster was the most exposed part of the frontier with the Indians; to flee further would have put John Willard in enemy territory.

Bray Wilkins, still sick, returned to his home in Salem Village. He said that on the evening of May 14, 1692, "some of my friends coming to see me, one of the afflicted persons, Mercy Lewis, came with them, and they asked whether she saw anything. She said 'Yes. They are looking for John Willard, but there he is on his grandfather's belly.' And at that time I was in grievous pain in the small of my belly." In addition, Mercy Lewis said, "I also see the apparition of John Willard afflicting Daniel Wilkins [the apparition of] John Willard tells me he will kill him within two days."

Two days later, on May 16, 1693, as foreseen by Mercy Lewis, Daniel Wilkins died, "bewitched to death." Daniel and Mercy, both seventeen, "were nursed on the self-same hill, fed the same flock, by fountain, shade, and rill. But O the heavy change, now thou art gone and never must return!" [John Milton, "Lycidas"]

A second arrest warrant was issued. On Tuesday, May 17, 1692, the marshal wrote to the magistrates John Hawthorne and Jonathan Corwin, then at Boston, "This day going to Salem Village by your order, I found all five persons brought there which we were in pursuit of. We had no sooner secured them in the watch house but Constable John Putnam, Jr. came in with John Willard, having seized him at Nashaway.

[Nashaway, or Nashua, or however it is spelled, is the Indian name for Lancaster, Massachusetts. Two months later, on July 18, 1692, the Indians destroyed Lancaster and massacred many of its inhabitants, including women and children.]

At the third meeting of the court [BG: Court of Oyer and Terminer], August 5, 1692, six more were tried, four men and two women: the Rev. George Burroughs, the minister at Wells, Maine; John Proctor and his wife, Elizabeth Proctor, of Salem Farms; John Willard of Salem Village; George Jacobs, Sr. of Salem; and Martha Carrier of Andover. All were found guilty and condemned to death. Because Elizabeth Proctor was pregnant, she was reprieved from death until the death of her child. She remained in prison. The other five were executed on August 19.

In the trials of the previous session of the court (June 30, 1692) an afflicted girl had cried out publicly upon the Rev. Samuel Willard, the minister of the Third Church in Boston. "She was sent out of court, and it was told about that she was mistaken in the person." Three of the justices, Samuel Sewall, Peter Sergeant and Wait Still Winthrop, were members of the Rev. Willard's congregation, and for them to even suggest that their minister was an agent of Satan would be disastrous to their prestige. Under this umbrella, the Rev. Willard worked to dispel the delusion.

As we have noted, the Rev. Samuel Willard and the Rev. Joshua Moody effected the escape of Philip English and his wife. The Rev. Willard's son, John Willard [BG: a different John Willard], instrumental in the escape of the wife of Captain Nathaniel Cary on July 30, 1692, was "bound over upon suspicion of conveying off Mrs. Elizabeth Cary from their Majesties' jail in Cambridge." The imprisoned John Proctor wrote a letter dated July 23, 1692 to five ministers known to harbor some doubts about the delusion; they were Samuel Willard, together with James Allen, Joshua Moody, John Baily, and Increase Mather.

Thomas Brattle, in his letter of October 8, 1692 opposing the witch trials, stated "In particular, I cannot but think very honorably of the endeavors of a reverend person [the Rev. Samuel Willard] in Boston, whose good affection to his country in general, and spiritual relation to three of the judges [Sewall, Sergeant, and Winthrop] in particular, has made him very industrious in this matter. Had his proposals been followed when these troubles were in their birth, they never would have grown. He has met with little but unkindness, abuse, and reproach from many men, but I trust that, in after times, his wisdom and service will find a more universal acknowledgment; and, if not, his reward is with the Lord."

Yet at the present session August 5, 1692, John Willard, the nephew of the Rev. Samuel Willard, was sentenced to death. The Rev. Willard's work failed to save his kinsman, but by inspiring Brattle and others it helped finally put a stop to the witch hunt .

On Thursday morning, August 19, 1692, Lecture Day, the condemned, the Rev. George Burroughs, John Proctor, John Willard, George Jacobs, Sr., and Martha Carrier, were carried in a cart through the streets of Salem to execution. As Burroughs went to the place of death, he moved his lips in prayer, not a petition for himself alone, but embracing all his fellow sufferers and the frantic multitude. As he stood upon the ladder, he made a speech stating his innocence with such solemn conviction that the crowd was deeply moved. His prayer, which he concluded by repeating the Lord's Prayer, was truly remarkable, spoken with compassion, spirit and grace. So affected were the people that many were left in tears. For a moment it seemed the crowd would force the sheriff to stop the execution. Ever alert, the afflicted girls instantly proclaimed that the Black Man had stood and dictated the prayer to him. While the executioner prevented Burroughs from speaking further, Cotton Mather, mounted upon a horse, seized the moment to address the people. To avoid a stain on the reputation of the Puritan clergy, he told the crowd that Burroughs was not a properly ordained minister. To convince them that a man of Burroughs' education and background could be guilty, Cotton Mather cited scripture, shouting, "For Satan himself is transformed into an Angel of Light." [2 Cor. 11:14]. The executions went on.

When Burroughs was cut down, he was dragged by the halter to a grave, only about two feet deep, scrapped into the shallow soil between two rocky outcrops. Burroughs had been wearing the good quality clothing customary for a minister. The sheriff pulled the shirt and trousers from Burroughs' body, replacing them with an old pair of trousers of one of the others executed. His body was then thrown into the grave with the bodies of Willard and Carrier. One of his hands and his chin, and a foot of one of the other bodies, were left uncovered. In the afternoon, the Rev. Nicholas Noyes gave the Lecture Day service in his church.

John Willard was born about 1662 in Massachusetts. He married, in 1685, Margaret Wilkins, born 1668, the daughter of Hannah (Nichols) and Thomas Wilkins of Salem Village. Thomas Wilkins was a son of Bray Wilkins. Bray Wilkins (1610-1702) had, among other children, Henry Wilkins and Benjamin Wilkins.

John Willard had previously lived in Lancaster, but settled in Salem Village after his marriage to Margaret Wilkins. Some animosity towards John had since developed among other members of the Wilkins family, for nine of them would later testify against him.

In 1692 John, about thirty and black-haired, was a farmer with a comfortable estate. He and Margaret had three children. On May 10, 1692, Benjamin Wilkins and Thomas Fuller, Jr. filed a complaint [No. 14] against John Willard. They accused him of afflicting Bray Wilkins and Daniel Wilkins, born in 1675, the son of Henry Wilkins. A warrant for his arrest was issued for appearance on May 11 at Beadle's Tavern in Salem. On May 12 John Putnam, Jr., constable of Salem, reported, "I went to the house of the usual abode of John Willard and made search for him, and in several other houses and places, but could not find him. His relations and friends then gave me account that to their best knowledge he was fled." On May 15 another warrant for arrest was issued to the marshal of Essex, the constables of Salem, and marshals and constables within the colony. On May 17 George Herrick, marshal of Essex County, wrote to the magistrates John Hawthorne and Jonathan Corwin. "I have found all the five persons which we were in pursuit of, and constable John Putnam, Jr. came in with John Willard having seized him a Nashaway [Lancaster]."

[BG: The author Nathaniel Hawthorne was John Hawthorne's great-great-grandson. Nathaniel married Sophia Peabody who was born in Salem in 1809 and is my 3^rd cousin, 4 times removed.]

Herrick took his account of Daniel Wilkins' death from Benjamin Wilkins. "On 14^th day of May, Daniel Wilkins was taken speechless and never spoke until the 16^th day. We sent to the French doctor but he sent word again that it was not a natural cause but absolutely witchcraft to his judgment. That same day two of the afflicted persons came to visit Daniel Wilkins. Mercy Lewis and Mary Walcott both did see the [specters of] John Willard and Goodwife Buckley upon Daniel Wilkins, and said they would kill him, and in three hours Daniel departed life in the most doleful and solemn condition." This account was sent by Ezekiel Cheever and attested by Herrick, constable Joseph Neale, constable Jonathan Putnam, Nathaniel Putnam, John Punam, Sr., Jonathan Walcott, Thomas Flint, Edward Putnam, John Buxton, and Thomas Putnam. The notation, "Mr. Parris is gone to Salem" explains why his signature is absent. The jury of inquest returned the verdict, "To the best of our judgments, he died an unnatural death by some cruel hands of witchcraft or diabolical act." The twelve-man jury was made up of almost the same men as had attested Herrick's report.

On May 18, 1692 in his examination, John Willard was accused of murdering Daniel Wilkins, bewitching Bray Wilkins, and abusing his own wife. Willard said, "There are a great many lies told. I would desire my wife might be called." The magistrate said, "Confess and give glory to God. Take counsel while it is offered." He answered, "I desire to take good counsel, but if it was the last time I was to speak, I am innocent." He would not confess.

When Susannah Sheldon, one of the afflicted girls, tried to come near Willard, she "fell down immediately." Magistrate John Hawthorne asked, "What is the reason she cannot come near you?" Willard answered, "They cannot come near any that are accused." Hawthorne then said, "Why do you say so, they could come near Nehemiah Abbot, the children could talk with him." Hawthorne, in referring to Abbot, was trying to present the fairness of the proceedings, as Nehemiah Abbot, Jr., was the only person known to have been released after examination.

On June 2, 1692 at the first sitting of the Court of Oyer and Terminer at Salem, John Willard and John Proctor were given physical examinations which yielded the report, "We do not find anything to further suspect them." At the jury of inquest, Ann Putnam, Sr. stated that the apparition of John Willard had told her that he had killed thirteen people including her baby, Sarah Putnam, six weeks old. On June 3 depositions were entered against John Willard. In addition to the usual negative statements from the Putnams, the afflicted girls, and the Rev. Samuel Parris, there were depositions made against him by many of his own in-laws such as Margaret (Wilkins) Knight, twenty, Samuel Wilkins, nineteen, Rebecca Wilkins, nineteen, Henry Wilkins, forty-one, Benjamin Wilkins, thirty-six, John Wilkins, twenty-six, and Bray Wilkins, eighty-one. On a list of evidences against John Willard appear the names of the afflicted girls, "Nathaniel Putnam etc. upon murder," and Ann Putnam, Sr. The names of Sarah Churchill and Margaret Jacobs are given with the comment, "that Willard dissuaded them from confession."

At the grand jury inquest for the Court of Oyer and Terminer at Salem, Elizabeth Hubbard, Rebecca Wilkins, the Rev. Samuel Parris, Nathaniel Ingersol, Edward Putnam, Thomas Putnam, and others testified against John Willard. At the August 5 session, the court sentenced him to death. On about August 8, "for a little time," Margaret (Wilkins) Willard obtained a reprieve for her husband. On August 19, 1692 John Willard, about thirty, was hanged at Salem.

In 1694 his widow, Margaret (Wilkins) Willard, married William Towne of Topsfield. William Towne's three aunts, Rebecca (Towne) Nurse, Sarah (Towne) Bridges Cloyce, and Mary (Towne) Easty, had been imprisoned, and Rebecca and Mary had been hanged in 1692. In December 1694 Margaret's brother, Thomas Wilkins, Jr., twenty-one, married Elizabeth Towne, who was the sister of William Towne.

In 1710 Margaret (Wilkins) Willard Towne recorded, "John Willard suffered death in that hour of the power of darkness as if he had been guilty of one of the greatest crimes that ever any of the sons of Adam have been left of God to fall into. The fearful odium cast on him by imputing to him and causing him to suffer death for such a piece of wickedness as I have not the least reason in the world to think he was guilty of, I say besides that reproach and the grief and sorrow I was exposed to by that means, I do account that our damage as to our outward estate to have been very considerable. My husband being seized and imprisoned, all our husband's concerns were laid by for that summer. We had not opportunity to plant or sow whereas we were wont to raise our bread corn.