THE SALEM MARTYR.


COREY, GILES. 1611-1692. Autograph Document Signed with the mark of Giles Corey, being the waiver of the marriage dowry of Mary Bright (1664-1684), Corey's second wife, 1 p, folio leaf, [Salem, MA], May 20, 1681. also signed by the notary Barthlomew Gedney, and witnessed by Richard Roads and Thomas Pierson, old fold lines and remains of seal, strengthened along folds on verso, with browning and wear along folds with loss of some letters.RARE SIGNATURE OF ONE OF ONLY 4 MEN TO DIE AS A RESULT OF THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS OF 1692, killed without a trial at the age of 80, by pressing with stones, as he had pleaded not guilty, but also refused to recognize the court. He survived three days of pressing before succumbing. His wife Mary was hanged a few days later on September 22nd as a witch. The Salem Witch Trials resulted in over 200 individuals being accused as witches and wizards; many arrests were made and 27 stood trial, with 19 being executed. The notary Gedney, who signs this waiver of the dowry, also sat on bench of the Salem Witch Trials, and participated in the decision to press Corey, which in effect condemned Corey to death. The story of Giles Corey's death was enshrined in literature by Longfellow's Giles Corey of the Salem Farms in 1900, and also in Arthur Miller's play the Crucible. According to local legend, the apparition of Giles Corey appears and walks around the graveyard each time disaster is about to strike Salem, as was reported the night before the "Great Fire of Salem" in 1914.