Salem Witch Judge: The Life and Repentance of Samuel Sewall
Winner of the 2008 Massachusetts Book Award for Nonfiction.
Winner of the 2008 Winslow House Book Award “for the best book published in 2007 concerning the interaction of early New England (1620-1852) with the wider Atlantic world.”
In 1692 Samuel Sewall, a forty-year-old father of five, sat on the colonial court that tried hundreds of people accused of witchcraft. Believing the girls who claimed their neighbors bewitched them, Sewall convicted and condemned to death more than thirty women and men, including two of his friends. He and the court executed twenty people before public opinion turned and the governor halted the proceedings. Sewall struggled internally for years before publicly assuming “blame and shame” for the wrongful convictions and deaths. He went on to compose America’s first antislavery tract and a revolutionary essay portraying Native Americans as virtuous inheritors of God’s grace. In a period when women were considered inferior to men, Sewall publicly affirmed the genders’ fundamental equality. In his repentance Sewall became America’s most surprising moral hero.
ORDER NOW at: Amazon Barnes & Noble IndieBound
Boston Globe Bestseller.
“Salem Witch Judge upends popular stereotypes about Puritans ... LaPlante’s touching biography of Samuel Sewall...seems hauntingly familiar. Beneath the sensational title is a figure more familiar than we realize.”
— New York Times Book Review
Featured on NPR’s “Here and Now,” in The Boston Globe (profile by David Mehegan), and on Comcast CN8’s “Your Morning.”
“A Highly Recommended Book of 2008.”
— Boston Authors Club Book Awards
“Compelling ... Fascinating ... Salem Witch Judge offers an intriguing journey into a world as far away as colonial America — and yet at the same time as close as the human heart.”
— Christian Science Monitor
“LaPlante’s splendid biography brings a personal touch to Sewall’s story.”
— Publishers Weekly
“Affectionate and affecting ... LaPlante’s portrait of a man whose second act became one of atonement as well as contrition is finely drawn.”
— Philadelphia Inquirer
“The toughest thing in politics is to admit you were wrong and to do something about it. That, remarkably, is what Samuel Sewall did, and in so doing, he fundamentally changed the debate over witchcraft forever. At a time when at least some Americans are arguing that we have to cut back on our civil liberties in the interest of national security, LaPlante’s biography of Sewall profiles an early American politician whose example stands out for its courage and its wisdom.”
— Michael Dukakis, former governor of Massachusetts
“Well researched, readable, and engaging ... Fascinating ... Recommended.”
— Library Journal
“Insightful ... Vivid ... A reformative, assenting spin on Salem’s hellfire and brimstone history.”
— Kirkus Reviews
“Sympathetic and richly detailed.”
— Boston Globe
“Eve LaPlante recounts the life of her ancestor lovingly, but meticulously. In the process, she expertly guides us through the religious life of colonial New England, from well before the 1692 Salem witchcraft episode to long after Samuel Sewall’s somber reflections on — and his apology for — his role in that hysteria. LaPlante also reveals the ever enlarging magnanimity of Sewall’s spirit, specifically with respect to slaves, Native Americans, and women. His life — and her book — deserve our total and grateful attention.”
— Edwin S. Gaustad, Professor Emeritus, U. Cal., Riverside, author of The Religious History of America
“An incredible look at a man who was a pioneer in the forming of the American consciousness. Eve’s view of Samuel’s morality is a reminder to modern day America of how this great nation was formed.”
— Jeremy Sewell, chef/owner of Lineage Restaurant
“Judge Sewall is one of the great public figures of pre-revolutionary America, and his ‘confession’ for his part in the Salem witch trials remains a high and all-too-rare example of public contrition. His example is pertinent to our times.”
— Peter J. Gomes, author of The Good Book
Winner of the 2008 Massachusetts Book Award for Nonfiction.
Winner of the 2008 Winslow House Book Award “for the best book published in 2007 concerning the interaction of early New England (1620-1852) with the wider Atlantic world.”
In 1692 Samuel Sewall, a forty-year-old father of five, sat on the colonial court that tried hundreds of people accused of witchcraft. Believing the girls who claimed their neighbors bewitched them, Sewall convicted and condemned to death more than thirty women and men, including two of his friends. He and the court executed twenty people before public opinion turned and the governor halted the proceedings. Sewall struggled internally for years before publicly assuming “blame and shame” for the wrongful convictions and deaths. He went on to compose America’s first antislavery tract and a revolutionary essay portraying Native Americans as virtuous inheritors of God’s grace. In a period when women were considered inferior to men, Sewall publicly affirmed the genders’ fundamental equality. In his repentance Sewall became America’s most surprising moral hero.
ORDER NOW at: Amazon Barnes & Noble IndieBound
Boston Globe Bestseller.
“Salem Witch Judge upends popular stereotypes about Puritans ... LaPlante’s touching biography of Samuel Sewall...seems hauntingly familiar. Beneath the sensational title is a figure more familiar than we realize.”
— New York Times Book Review
Featured on NPR’s “Here and Now,” in The Boston Globe (profile by David Mehegan), and on Comcast CN8’s “Your Morning.”
“A Highly Recommended Book of 2008.”
— Boston Authors Club Book Awards
“Compelling ... Fascinating ... Salem Witch Judge offers an intriguing journey into a world as far away as colonial America — and yet at the same time as close as the human heart.”
— Christian Science Monitor
“LaPlante’s splendid biography brings a personal touch to Sewall’s story.”
— Publishers Weekly
“Affectionate and affecting ... LaPlante’s portrait of a man whose second act became one of atonement as well as contrition is finely drawn.”
— Philadelphia Inquirer
“The toughest thing in politics is to admit you were wrong and to do something about it. That, remarkably, is what Samuel Sewall did, and in so doing, he fundamentally changed the debate over witchcraft forever. At a time when at least some Americans are arguing that we have to cut back on our civil liberties in the interest of national security, LaPlante’s biography of Sewall profiles an early American politician whose example stands out for its courage and its wisdom.”
— Michael Dukakis, former governor of Massachusetts
“Well researched, readable, and engaging ... Fascinating ... Recommended.”
— Library Journal
“Insightful ... Vivid ... A reformative, assenting spin on Salem’s hellfire and brimstone history.”
— Kirkus Reviews
“Sympathetic and richly detailed.”
— Boston Globe
“Eve LaPlante recounts the life of her ancestor lovingly, but meticulously. In the process, she expertly guides us through the religious life of colonial New England, from well before the 1692 Salem witchcraft episode to long after Samuel Sewall’s somber reflections on — and his apology for — his role in that hysteria. LaPlante also reveals the ever enlarging magnanimity of Sewall’s spirit, specifically with respect to slaves, Native Americans, and women. His life — and her book — deserve our total and grateful attention.”
— Edwin S. Gaustad, Professor Emeritus, U. Cal., Riverside, author of The Religious History of America
“An incredible look at a man who was a pioneer in the forming of the American consciousness. Eve’s view of Samuel’s morality is a reminder to modern day America of how this great nation was formed.”
— Jeremy Sewell, chef/owner of Lineage Restaurant
“Judge Sewall is one of the great public figures of pre-revolutionary America, and his ‘confession’ for his part in the Salem witch trials remains a high and all-too-rare example of public contrition. His example is pertinent to our times.”
— Peter J. Gomes, author of The Good Book