Giles Corey
Encyclopedia
Giles Corey was a prosperous farmer and full member of the church in early colonial America who died under judicial torture
during the Salem witch trials
. Corey refused to enter a plea, and was crushed to death by stone weights in an attempt to force him to do so. In April 1692, he was accused of witchcraft by Ann Putnam, Jr., Mercy Lewis, and Abigail Williams
. Ann Putnam Jr claimed that on April 13, the specter of Giles Corey visited her and asked her to write in the Devil's book. Later, Putnam also claimed that a ghost
appeared before her to announce that it had been murdered by Corey. Other girls were to describe Corey as "a dreadful wizard" and recount stories of assaults by his specter. Corey's reported last words were "More rocks" or "More weight".
. Margaret was the mother of his daughters and he had no sons. His second wife was Mary Bright; they were married on April 11, 1664. Mary Bright died aged 63 on August 27, 1684, according to her gravestone in Salem
Graveyard. His third wife was a woman referred to as "Lady Perkins". His final marriage was on April 27, 1690, to Martha Corey
.
Martha was admitted to the church at Salem Village (now Danvers
), where Giles lived. Martha had a son named Thomas; he showed up as a petitioner for loss and damages resulting from his mother being hanged
illegally during the witch trials. He was awarded £50 on June 29, 1723.
Giles and Martha lived in the southwest corner of Salem village, what is now Peabody
about 10 rods (50 m) west of the West Paramount high school Junction railroad station, adjoining the south gate gangs of the location of the Salem and Lowell railroad.
, Abigail Hobbs
, and Bridget Bishop
. The following day, they were examined by the authorities, during which Abigail Hobbs confessed to Giles being a warlock
.
Corey refused to plead (guilty or not guilty), was committed to jail and subsequently arraigned at the September sitting of the court.
The records of the Court of Oyer and Terminer
, September 9, 1692, contain a deposition by one of the girls who accused Giles of witchcraft.
(property of the Supreme Judicial Court
, Division of Archives and Records Preservation, on deposit at the Essex Institute
)
Again, in this court, Corey refused to plead.
As a result of his refusal to plead, on September 17, Sheriff
George Corwin
led Corey to a pit in the open field beside the jail and in accordance with the above process, before the Court and witnesses, stripped Giles of his clothing, laid him on the ground in the pit, and placed boards on his chest. Six men then lifted heavy stones, placing them one by one, on his stomach and chest. Giles Corey did not cry out, let alone make a plea.
After two days, Giles was asked three times to plead innocent or guilty to witchcraft. Each time he replied, "More weight." More and more rocks were piled on him, and the Sheriff from time to time would stand on the boulders staring down at Corey's bulging eyes. Robert Calef
, who was a witness along with other townsfolk, later said, "In the pressing, Giles Corey's tongue was pressed out of his mouth; the Sheriff, with his cane, forced it in again."
Three mouthfuls of bread and water were fed to the old man during his many hours of pain. Finally, Giles Corey cried out "More weight!" and died. Supposedly, just before his death, he cursed Sheriff Corwin and the entire town of Salem.
Samuel Sewall
's diary states, under date of Monday, September 19, 1692:
It is unusual for persons to refuse to plead, and extremely rare to find reports of persons who have been able to endure this painful form of death in silence. Since Corey refused to plead, he died in full possession of his estate, which would otherwise have been forfeited to the government. It passed on to his two sons-in-law, in accordance to his will.
The pressing of Giles Corey is unique in New England
. It is similar to the case, in England, of Margaret Clitherow
, who was arrested on March 10, 1586 for the crime of harboring priests, hearing Mass, and secretly being of the Catholic faith.
's play
The Crucible
, in which he is portrayed as a hot-tempered but honorable man, giving evidence critical to the witch trials. His wife Martha
(executed on September 22, 1692) was one of the nineteen people hanged during the hysteria. In The Crucible, Giles felt guilty about the accusation of his wife because he had told a minister that Martha had been reading strange books, which was discouraged in that society. Corey also appears in Robert Ward's operatic treatment
of the story, in which his role is assigned to a tenor.
He was also the subject of a Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
play entitled Giles Corey of the Salem Farms and an 1893 play Giles Corey, Yeoman by Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman
.
The Boston metalcore band Unearth
have a song entitled "Giles" about Corey, which was the first single from their 2006 album III: In the Eyes of Fire
.
Swedish progressive metal outfit Evergrey
have a song entitled "The Corey Curse" about Corey from their 1999 album, "Solitude, Dominance, Tragedy
".
The University of Louisville
occasionally publishes a journal of student-written literary and artistic works under the title, "The Giles Corey Press".
Leeds
post-rock
band I Like Trains described Corey's fate in their 2007 song "More Weight".
American artist Daniel Barrett
uses Giles Corey
as an artist name for his self-titled LP called Giles Corey
.
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
during the Salem witch trials
Salem witch trials
The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings before county court trials to prosecute people accused of witchcraft in the counties of Essex, Suffolk, and Middlesex in colonial Massachusetts, between February 1692 and May 1693...
. Corey refused to enter a plea, and was crushed to death by stone weights in an attempt to force him to do so. In April 1692, he was accused of witchcraft by Ann Putnam, Jr., Mercy Lewis, and Abigail Williams
Abigail Williams
Abigail Williams was one of the initial accusers in the Salem witch trials of 1692, which led to the arrest and imprisonment of over 150 innocent people.-Salem Witch trials:...
. Ann Putnam Jr claimed that on April 13, the specter of Giles Corey visited her and asked her to write in the Devil's book. Later, Putnam also claimed that a ghost
Ghost
In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
appeared before her to announce that it had been murdered by Corey. Other girls were to describe Corey as "a dreadful wizard" and recount stories of assaults by his specter. Corey's reported last words were "More rocks" or "More weight".
Marriages
Giles Corey was married four times. He is believed to have married his first wife, Margaret, in EnglandEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Margaret was the mother of his daughters and he had no sons. His second wife was Mary Bright; they were married on April 11, 1664. Mary Bright died aged 63 on August 27, 1684, according to her gravestone in Salem
Salem, Massachusetts
Salem is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 40,407 at the 2000 census. It and Lawrence are the county seats of Essex County...
Graveyard. His third wife was a woman referred to as "Lady Perkins". His final marriage was on April 27, 1690, to Martha Corey
Martha Corey
Martha Corey was accused of being a witch during the 1692 Salem witch trials.The community was surprised to see Corey accused, as she was known for her piety and dedicated church attendance. However, she had never shown support for the witch trials, since she did not believe witches existed...
.
Martha was admitted to the church at Salem Village (now Danvers
Danvers, Massachusetts
Danvers is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. Located on the Danvers River near the northeastern coast of Massachusetts, Danvers is most widely known for its association with the 1692 Salem witch trials, and for its famous asylum, the Danvers State Hospital.-17th century:The land...
), where Giles lived. Martha had a son named Thomas; he showed up as a petitioner for loss and damages resulting from his mother being hanged
Hanging
Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...
illegally during the witch trials. He was awarded £50 on June 29, 1723.
Giles and Martha lived in the southwest corner of Salem village, what is now Peabody
Peabody, Massachusetts
Peabody is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population is about 53,000. Peabody is located in Boston's North Shore suburban area.- History :...
about 10 rods (50 m) west of the West Paramount high school Junction railroad station, adjoining the south gate gangs of the location of the Salem and Lowell railroad.
Arrest, examination, and refusal to plead
Giles Corey was arrested on April 18, 1692, along with Mary WarrenMary Warren
Mary Ann Warren was the oldest of the accusers during the 1692 Salem witch trials, in her teens. She was a servant for John and Elizabeth Proctor. Renouncing her claims after being threatened to be hanged, she was later arrested for practicing witchcraft herself, but did not confess...
, Abigail Hobbs
Abigail Hobbs
Abigail Hobbs was a girl of about 17 years old when she was arrested for witchcraft on April 18, 1692 along with Giles Corey, Mary Warren, and Bridget Bishop. Prior to living in Salem Village , she and her family had lived in Casco, Maine, the frontier of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, during a time...
, and Bridget Bishop
Bridget Bishop
Bridget Bishop was the first person executed for witchcraft during the Salem witch trials of 1692....
. The following day, they were examined by the authorities, during which Abigail Hobbs confessed to Giles being a warlock
Warlock
The term warlock in origin means "traitor, oathbreaker".In early modern Scots, the word came to be used as the male equivalent of witch ....
.
Corey refused to plead (guilty or not guilty), was committed to jail and subsequently arraigned at the September sitting of the court.
The records of the Court of Oyer and Terminer
Oyer and terminer
In English law, Oyer and terminer was the Law French name, meaning "to hear and determine", for one of the commissions by which a judge of assize sat...
, September 9, 1692, contain a deposition by one of the girls who accused Giles of witchcraft.
Mercy Lewis v. Giles Corey: The Deposition of Mercy Lewis aged about 19 years who testified and said that on the 14th of April 1692 "I saw the Apparition of Giles Corey come and afflict me urging me to write in his book and so he continued most dreadfully to hurt me by times beating me & almost breaking my back tell the day of his examination being the 19th of April and then also during the time of his examination he did affect and tortor me most greviously: and also several times sense urging me vehemently to write in his book and I veryly believe in my heart that Giles Corey is a dreadful wizard for sense he had been in prison he or his appearance has come and most greviously tormented me." Mercy Lewis affirmed to the jury of Inquest. that the above written evidence: is the truth upon the oath: she has formerly taken in court of Oyer & Terminer: Septr 9: 1692
(property of the Supreme Judicial Court
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The SJC has the distinction of being the oldest continuously functioning appellate court in the Western Hemisphere.-History:...
, Division of Archives and Records Preservation, on deposit at the Essex Institute
Essex Institute
The Essex Institute in Salem, Massachusetts, was "a literary, historical and scientific society." It maintained a museum, library, historic houses; arranged educational programs; and issued numerous scholarly publications...
)
Again, in this court, Corey refused to plead.
Pressed to death
According to the law at the time, a person who refused to plead could not be tried. To avoid persons cheating justice, the legal remedy for refusing to plead was "peine forte et dure". In this process the prisoner is stripped naked, with a heavy board laid on their body. Then rocks or boulders are laid on the plank of wood. This was the process of being pressed.
... remanded to the prison from whence he came and put into a low dark chamber, and there be laid on his back on the bare floor, naked, unless when decency forbids; that there be placed upon his body as great a weight as he could bear, and more, that he hath no sustenance, save only on the first day, three morsels of the worst bread, and the second day three draughts of standing water, that should be alternately his daily diet till he died, or, till he answered.
As a result of his refusal to plead, on September 17, Sheriff
Sheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
George Corwin
George Corwin
George Corwin was the High Sheriff of Essex County, Massachusetts during the Salem witch trials. He signed warrants for the arrest and execution of those condemned of witchcraft...
led Corey to a pit in the open field beside the jail and in accordance with the above process, before the Court and witnesses, stripped Giles of his clothing, laid him on the ground in the pit, and placed boards on his chest. Six men then lifted heavy stones, placing them one by one, on his stomach and chest. Giles Corey did not cry out, let alone make a plea.
After two days, Giles was asked three times to plead innocent or guilty to witchcraft. Each time he replied, "More weight." More and more rocks were piled on him, and the Sheriff from time to time would stand on the boulders staring down at Corey's bulging eyes. Robert Calef
Robert Calef
Robert Calef was a Boston, Massachusetts Baptist cloth merchant who came to America before 1688. He is best known as the author of More Wonders of the Invisible World, a treatise that he published in 1700 against the state clergy, particularly Rev. Cotton Mather, for its role in the Salem witch...
, who was a witness along with other townsfolk, later said, "In the pressing, Giles Corey's tongue was pressed out of his mouth; the Sheriff, with his cane, forced it in again."
Three mouthfuls of bread and water were fed to the old man during his many hours of pain. Finally, Giles Corey cried out "More weight!" and died. Supposedly, just before his death, he cursed Sheriff Corwin and the entire town of Salem.
Samuel Sewall
Samuel Sewall was a Massachusetts judge, best known for his involvement in the Salem witch trials, for which he later apologized, and his essay The Selling of Joseph , which criticized slavery.-Biography:...
's diary states, under date of Monday, September 19, 1692:
About noon at Salem, Giles Cory [sic] was pressed to death for standing mute; much pains was used with him two days, one after another, by the court and Captain Gardner of Nantucket who had been of his acquaintance, but all in vain.
It is unusual for persons to refuse to plead, and extremely rare to find reports of persons who have been able to endure this painful form of death in silence. Since Corey refused to plead, he died in full possession of his estate, which would otherwise have been forfeited to the government. It passed on to his two sons-in-law, in accordance to his will.
The pressing of Giles Corey is unique in New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
. It is similar to the case, in England, of Margaret Clitherow
Margaret Clitherow
Saint Margaret Clitherow is an English saint and martyr of the Roman Catholic Church. She is sometimes called "the Pearl of York".-Life:...
, who was arrested on March 10, 1586 for the crime of harboring priests, hearing Mass, and secretly being of the Catholic faith.
Influence on folklore and fiction
He is a character in Arthur MillerArthur Miller
Arthur Asher Miller was an American playwright and essayist. He was a prominent figure in American theatre, writing dramas that include plays such as All My Sons , Death of a Salesman , The Crucible , and A View from the Bridge .Miller was often in the public eye,...
's play
Play (theatre)
A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...
The Crucible
The Crucible
The Crucible is a 1952 play by the American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatization of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Province of Massachusetts Bay during 1692 and 1693. Miller wrote the play as an allegory of McCarthyism, when the US government blacklisted accused communists...
, in which he is portrayed as a hot-tempered but honorable man, giving evidence critical to the witch trials. His wife Martha
Martha Corey
Martha Corey was accused of being a witch during the 1692 Salem witch trials.The community was surprised to see Corey accused, as she was known for her piety and dedicated church attendance. However, she had never shown support for the witch trials, since she did not believe witches existed...
(executed on September 22, 1692) was one of the nineteen people hanged during the hysteria. In The Crucible, Giles felt guilty about the accusation of his wife because he had told a minister that Martha had been reading strange books, which was discouraged in that society. Corey also appears in Robert Ward's operatic treatment
The Crucible (opera)
The Crucible is an English language opera written by Robert Ward based on the play The Crucible by Arthur Miller. It won both the 1962 Pulitzer Prize for Music and the New York Music Critics Circle Citation. The libretto was lightly adapted from Miller's text by Bernard Stambler.Ward received a...
of the story, in which his role is assigned to a tenor.
He was also the subject of a Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline...
play entitled Giles Corey of the Salem Farms and an 1893 play Giles Corey, Yeoman by Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman
Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman
Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman was a prominent 19th century American author.- Biography :She was born in Randolph, Massachusetts, and attended Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, for one year, from 1870–71...
.
The Boston metalcore band Unearth
Unearth
Unearth is an American metalcore band from Winthrop, Massachusetts. Formed in 1998, the group has released five studio albums. Their fourth record, The March was released on October 14, 2008 meeting with high positive reception by many...
have a song entitled "Giles" about Corey, which was the first single from their 2006 album III: In the Eyes of Fire
III: In the Eyes of Fire
III: In the Eyes of Fire is the third studio album by Unearth, released on August 8 2006. The album entered the Billboard album charts at number 35, selling approximately 22,000 copies. The album had sold in excess of 105,000 copies in the US....
.
Swedish progressive metal outfit Evergrey
Evergrey
Evergrey is a progressive metal band from Gothenburg, Sweden. The band was founded in 1995 and released its debut album The Dark Discovery in 1998. Their most recent album Glorious Collision was released in 2011.-Lyrical themes:...
have a song entitled "The Corey Curse" about Corey from their 1999 album, "Solitude, Dominance, Tragedy
Solitude, Dominance, Tragedy
Solitude, Dominance, Tragedy is the second album by the progressive power metal band Evergrey.-Track listing:#"Solitude Within" - 5:32#"Nosferatu" - 5:39#"The Shocking Truth" - 4:34#"A Scattered Me" - 4:16#"She Speaks to the Dead" - 4:57...
".
The University of Louisville
University of Louisville
The University of Louisville is a public university in Louisville, Kentucky. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of the first universities chartered west of the Allegheny Mountains. The university is mandated by the Kentucky General...
occasionally publishes a journal of student-written literary and artistic works under the title, "The Giles Corey Press".
Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
post-rock
Post-rock
Post-rock is a subgenre of rock music characterized by the influence and use of instruments commonly associated with rock, but using rhythms and "guitars as facilitators of timbre and textures" not traditionally found in rock...
band I Like Trains described Corey's fate in their 2007 song "More Weight".
American artist Daniel Barrett
Daniel Barrett
Daniel Barrett may refer to:*Daniel J. Barrett, American writer and software engineer*Dan Barrett , American attorney & judicial candidate from North Carolina*Dan Barrett , American jazz trombonist...
uses Giles Corey
Giles Corey
Giles Corey was a prosperous farmer and full member of the church in early colonial America who died under judicial torture during the Salem witch trials. Corey refused to enter a plea, and was crushed to death by stone weights in an attempt to force him to do so...
as an artist name for his self-titled LP called Giles Corey
Giles Corey
Giles Corey was a prosperous farmer and full member of the church in early colonial America who died under judicial torture during the Salem witch trials. Corey refused to enter a plea, and was crushed to death by stone weights in an attempt to force him to do so...
.