John Proctor (Salem witch trials) John Proctor (Salem witch trials) John Proctor (March 30, 1632 – August 19, 1692) was a landowner in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He was the son of John Proctor, Sr. (1594–1672) and Martha Harper (1607–1667). He was hanged on August 19, 1692 in Salem Village, Massachusetts Bay Colony during the Salem Witch Trials after being falsely accused and convicted for witchcraft. John Proctor was born in Suffolk, England. When he was just three years old, his parents brought their family to America. They sailed from London, England, on 12 April 1635 on a ship called the "Susan and Ellen". Upon
Salem witch trials in 1692, although dated 1693, with an introductory letter of endorsement by William Stoughton, the Chief Magistrate. The book included accounts of five trials, with much of the material copied directly from the court records, which were supplied to Mather by Stephen Sewall, his friend and Clerk of the Court. Mather's father, Increase Mather, published "Cases of Conscience Concerning Evil Spirits", dated October 3, 1692, after the last trials by the Court of Oyer and Terminer. (The title page mistakenly lists the publication year as "1693".) In it, Increase Mather repeated his caution about the reliance on spectral evidence, stating