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Those final unfortunates were hanged, and one man was crushed to death while being tortured. The Witch House never had any accused witches living in it, but it does offer a fascinating glimpse into the daily life of a person of means in 17th Century New England. Open to the public, there are guided and self-guided tours available. In 2022, lawmakers exonerated Elizabeth Johnson Jr., clearing her name 329 years after she was convicted of witchcraft in 1693 and sentenced to death at the height of the Salem witch trials. Johnson is believed to be the last accused Salem witch to have her conviction set aside. The ceremony came 325 years to the day when Sarah Good, Elizabeth Howe, Susannah Martin, Rebecca Nurse and Sarah Wildes were hanged at a site in Salem known as Proctor’s Ledge.
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If you're visiting Salem during Samhain, better known as Halloween or anytime in the month of October, get there early (even during the week). One does not simply get a parking space for any length of time. Corwin usually let Hathorne take the lead in the examinations, but the two together were unrelenting in seeking confessions of witchcraft. Both clearly thought all were guilty of the charges from the start. Corwin was a principle figure in the pursuit and questioning of former Salem Village minister, Reverend George Burroughs.
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The historic site is an area located in between Proctor and Pope Streets in Salem, Massachusetts. The Witch House is a beautiful building which gives a great insight into the life of a rich 17th-century family. The Witch House also offers a small glance into the witch trials in which Jonathan Corwin played a large part in.
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Numerous books have been written about the events of 1692, but this one is the first to illuminate the major role that Andover played in the process. Salem’s only building with direct ties to the witch trials, the 17th century home of Judge Jonathon Corwin. The museum store offers a wide assortment of items from educational materials to attractive apparel.
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Self-guided admission is $8.25 for adults, $6.25 for seniors (60+), $6.25 for veterans, $4.25 for youths (6-14), free for children under 6. The Witch House was marked by the witch hunt, permanently touched by his intolerance. With eight Corwin lives lost to premature death, this “Historic Home” has testified to tragedy, terror, and tall tale. The Witch House was even uprooted and relocated, mystifying an already mysterious two-and-half-story home. Those wrongly accused of witchcraft, or those caught by the “Corwin Curse”?
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The house is an excellent example of seventeenth-century architecture. Judge Corwin, buried in the nearby Broad Street Cemetery, purchased the structure in 1675 when he was 24 years old and lived there for more than forty years. This historic site offers public tours and educational programs. The Witch House, listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of Salem’s historic McIntire District, was built between 1642 and 1675. It is the only home in modern Salem with direct ties to the witchcraft trials of 1692.
Nineteen were hanged during the Salem witch trials while a 20th victim was pressed to death. In 1648, Margaret Jones, a midwife, became the first person in Massachusetts — the second in New England — to be executed for witchcraft, decades before the infamous Salem witch trials. Laid out in 1637 on what would come to be known as the “Burying Point,” Charter Street is one of the oldest cemeteries in the United States. It is the resting place of many famous Salem residents, ranging from two witch trials judges and Governor Simon Bradstreet to architect and carver Samuel McIntire. Her lies Giles Corey’s first wife, as well as a young man allegedly bewitched by Bridget Bishop. The gravestones at Charter Street are remarkable works of art whose elaborate decoration tells us much about the evolving nature of society and belief in early Salem.
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Luckily, the Great Salem Fire, which swallowed up most of the city in 1914, didn’t touch the McIntire District. This meant the Witch House and a handful of other beautiful historic houses survived the disaster unscathed and remained fully intact. When Jonathan Corwin and the widow Elizabeth Gibbs wed in 1675, they needed a house to match their status as heirs to two prominent Puritan families who made their fortunes in the shipping trade. She brought her three children from Boston to his native Salem, then the shipping capital of the northern colonies, and they settled in a house that featured three steep gables, vaulted ceilings and a massive central chimney.
These historic buildings were not protected by any kind of historical society. The foundation of the Witch House was established between 1620 and 1642, yet was left unfinished until Jonathan Corwin’s purchase of the house in 1675. Corwin then had the partial construction remodeled by Daniel Andrews, improving the four-bedroom house with a six-foot, stone-walled cellar, underpinning, and steps. A building contract from February 19, 1675, reveals that the Witch House was likewise renovated to include five additional fireplaces on each floor of the two-and-a-half-story structure.
All 19 refused to admit to witchcraft and maintained their innocence. The only structure still standing in Salem that has a direct connection to the witchcraft trials and is open to the public is the Witch House, on the corner of Essex and North Streets. This home, built circa 1675, was the residence of Judge Jonathan Corwin in 1692. Although the Witch House welcomed no witches, the Witch House bore witness to Salem’s Witch Trials.
While the result was an older appearance, the house today consists of "much twentieth-century material".[1] The residence now operates as a museum by the City of Salem and is open seasonally. The Witch House was the home of Judge Jonathan Corwin (1640–1718) and is one of the few structures you can visit in Salem with direct ties to the Salem witch trials of 1692. Another accused Boston witch, known as Goodwife Ann Glover or Goody Glover, was hanged in the city in 1688. It was a tough life, and the hysteria that occurred during the witch trials made it even worse.
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However, I definitely think that if you’re offered a guided tour of The Witch House, you should snap it up! You’ll get to ask your guide as many questions as you like and learn so much more than exploring on your own. If a guided tour is available the next time I’m in Salem, I’ll be sure to take it. The only option for me that morning was to take a self-guided tour. I usually enjoy self-guided tours because I like roaming at my own pace, taking as many photos as I want and trying to imagine myself living alongside the place’s original residents.
Please note that RSVP's are required to attend as we have limited capacity. Death Cafe is an opportunity for people to gather, drink tea, and talk about their experiences with death and grief. It is a group directed discussion of death with no agenda, objectives or themes. Please note that it is a discussion group rather than a grief support or counseling session. HistoryNet.com is brought to you by HistoryNet LLC, the world’s largest publisher of history magazines.
HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 25,000 articles originally published in our nine magazines. Peterson says it is likely that in Corwin’s era the house interior would have included bright colors on the woodwork, tiling and the filling between the beams. The image of the stark Puritan grays and whites would be for plebeians, not for wealthy townfolk like the Corwins, who would have favored reds or blues or yellows. Exterior clapboards would have been treated with linseed oil, which darkened with age. And there would have been decorative wood pendants and the like hanging from house corners, once again the show of wealth. Indeed, according to inventory records the family kept, Corwin was something of a dandy.

Accusers believed witches floated but Krieger sank and was saved, the marker states. In 1711, colonial leaders passed a bill clearing the names of some convicted in Salem. "It's a pivotal part of American history. It's informed our modern day judicial undertakings." "We are happy to be able to bring years of debate to an end," Salem State University Professor Emerson Baker told the city of Salem. "Our analysis draws upon multiple lines of research to confirm the location of the executions." The first stop was the kitchen, which had a brick fireplace that covered the entire left wall.
When I was there, I could imagine women in their long dresses lifting up the large black pot hanging above the fire. Standing on the corner of North Street and Essex Street, the striking black Witch House is the only remaining structure from the infamous Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Do you have Indigenous Ancestry amongst the New England Tribes? Dan Marshall has shared his love of history with the public for over 20 years.
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