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William Stoughton (30 September 1631 – 7 July 1701) acted as judge and prosecutor during the Salem Witch Trials.
Family
Born in the Kingdom of England, Stoughton was the son of Israel Stoughton and his wife Elizabeth Knight. Soon after the birth of William they moved to the Massachusetts Bay Colony where they had a plentiful amount of land. His parents were among the founders of Dorchester, Massachusetts.
His paternal grandparents were Thomas and Elizabeth Stoughton.
Life Account
Stoughton graduated from Harvard University in 1650. He intended to become a religious minister and continued his studies in New College, Oxford. The Kingdom of England had by then be replaced by the Commonwealth of England.
Stoughton received a Master's degree in June, 1653. The same year the Commonwealth was replaced by The Protectorate of Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell.
Stoughton served as a curate in Sussex during the English Restoration of 1660. He was a Puritan at a time when this denomination was strongly connected to the recently deceased Cromwell. They fell out of favor with the Restoration of Charles II of England to the throne. Stoughton would not hold his position for long.
Having lost his position as a curate and having little chance to gain another, Stoughton returned to Massachusetts in 1662. He served in various positions in the colonial government. By the early 1690s he was colonial chief magistrate, the first Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Court. In 1692 he acted as judge and prosecutor during the Salem Witch Trials, notoriously allowing spectral evidence and denying the accused defense counsel.
Stoughton was acting Governor of Massachusetts from 1694 to 1699, while still serving as Chief Justice, and again from 1700 to 1701. He was an adroit politician who managed the factions of the Colony's politics using the power of his governorship and judgeship and appointments to both his council and to lower courts.
In 1726 the town of Stoughton, Massachusetts was named in his honor.
One of the Harvard College dormitories in Harvard Yard is named after Stoughton.
Notable sister
His sister Rebecca Stoughton was married to William Tailer. Their namesake son William Tailer would serve as acting Governor of Massachusetts from 1715 to 1716 and again in 1730. Their daughter Elizabeth Tailer was married to John Nelson (c. 1654 - 1734) who served as Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts.
John Nelson and Elizabeth Tailer were parents to Rebecca Nelson, grandparents to Margaret Lloyd and great-grandparents to Rebecca Smith. Rebecca Smith was mother to John Aspinwall, Jr, grandmother to Mary Rebecca Aspinwall and great-grandmother to James Roosevelt senior.
External links
1631 births | 1701 deaths | Puritanism | Salem witch trials | William Stoughton
"William Stoughton (Massachusetts)"