George Jacobs (Salem witch trials) George Jacobs (Salem witch trials) George Jacobs Sr. (1609–1692) was an English colonist in his 70s in the Massachusetts Bay Colony who was accused of witchcraft in 1692 during the Salem witch trials in Salem Village, Massachusetts. He was convicted and hanged on August 19, 1692. His son, George Jr., was also accused but evaded arrest. Jacobs' accusers included his daughter-in-law and granddaughter, Margaret. Jacobs is believed to be the George Jacob baptized 13 February 1608/09 at St. Dunstan in the West, London, son of barber-surgeon George Jacob and wife Priscilla of Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire. Jacobs' body was buried near
Salem witch trials generally known as the "Salem" witch trials, the preliminary hearings in 1692 were conducted in several towns: Salem Village (now Danvers), Salem Town, Ipswich, and Andover. The most infamous trials were conducted by the Court of Oyer and Terminer in 1692 in Salem Town. The episode is one of Colonial America's most notorious cases of mass hysteria. It has been used in political rhetoric and popular literature as a vivid cautionary tale about the dangers of isolationism, religious extremism, false accusations, and lapses in due process. It was not unique, but a Colonial American example of the much broader phenomenon