John Richards (Salem witch trials) John Richards (Salem witch trials) John Richards (died April 2, 1694) was a colonial military officer, businessman, politician, and magistrate, best known for his participation in the Salem witch trials in 1692. John Richards was born in England, and traveled with his parents in 1630 to North America as part of the first major wave of migration to the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In 1644 Ricards was enrolled in the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, which he would remain involved with for the rest of his life. A resident of Dorchester for most of his life, he operated a mill, and
Witch trials in the early modern period for witchcraft in Wallingford, Connecticut, the last of such trials in New England. While found innocent, they were compelled to leave Wallingford to settle in Staten Island, New York. In 1706 Grace Sherwood of Virginia was tried by ducking and jailed for allegedly being a witch. An example of a rural trial culminating in a conviction for witchcraft The trial of witchcraft in Kasina Wielka in 1634 Rationalist historians in the 18th century came to the opinion that the use of torture had resulted in erroneous testimony. Witch trials became scant in the second half of the 17th century, and