George Jacobs Sr. was a colonist who lived in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during the Salem Witch Trials. He was accused of witchcraft and executed by his accusers in 1692. He died alongside other victims of the witch trials.
His son, George Jacobs Jr., was also accused of witchcraft but evaded arrest.
Sadly, among his accusers was his daughter-in-law and granddaughter.
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Life and Trial
George Jacobs migrated to Massachusetts Bay Colony from England. It is believed he was baptized while still in England on February 13, 1609.
He was the son of George Jacob and his wife Priscilla. His father was a barber-surgeon in England.
He married twice, and despite having three children with his first wife, her name is lost to history. The three children were:
- George Jacobs Jr.
- Ann Jacobs
- Mary Jacobs
All of the children were born in Salem.
In 1673, George married his second wife, Mary Fecher.
George Jacobs was an easy target during the Salem Witch Trials. He had previous run-ins with local law enforcement, and he was 83 years old.
He was accused by Sarah Churchill and was then examined. During the examination, he maintained his innocence. The exchange he had with the Magistrate and his accuser is as follows:
Magistrate: Here are them that accuse you of acts of witchcraft. Well, let us hear who they are and what they are.
Abigail Williams: Jacobs laughed
George Jacobs: Because I am falsely accused. Your worships all of you. Do you think this is true?
Magistrate: Nay, what do you think?
Jacobs: I never did it.
Magistrate: who did it?
Jacobs: Don't ask me.
Magistrate: Why should we not ask you? Sarah Churchwell accuseth you, there she is.
Jacobs: I am as innocent as the Child born tonight. I have lived 33 years here in Salem.
Magistrate: What then?
Jacobs: If you can prove that I am guilty, I will lie under it, Sarah
Sarah Churchill: Last night, I was afflicted at Deacon Ingersolls, and Mary Walcot said it was a man with 2 staff. It was my master.
Jacobs: Pray, do not accuse me. I am as clear as your worship; you must make the right judgments.
Magistrate: What book did he bring you, Sarah?
Churchill: The same that the other woman brought.
Jacobs: The Devil can go in any shape.
Magistrate: Did he not [be] appear on the other side of the river and hurt you? Did not you see him?
Churchill: Yes, he did.
Magistrate: Look there, she accuseth you to your face, she chargeth you that you hurt her twice. Is it not true?
Jacobs: What would you have me say? I never wronged no man in word nor deed.
Magistrate: Here are 3 evidences.
Jacobs: You tax me for a wizard. You may as well tax me for a buzzard; I have done no harm.
Magistrate: Is it no harm to afflict these?
Jacobs: I never did it.
Magistrate: But how comes it to be in your appearance?
Jacobs: The Devil can take any likeness.
Magistrate: Not without their consent.
Jacobs: Please, your worship, it is untrue, I never showed the book, I am as silly about these things as the child born last night.
Magistrate: That is your Saying. You argue you have lived so long, but what then? Cain might live long before he killed Abel, and you might live long before the Devil had so prevailed on you.
Jacobs: Christ hath suffered 3 times for me.
Magistrate: What three times?
Jacobs: He suffered the Crosse & gall.
Churchill: You had as good confess if you are guilty.
Jacobs: Have you heard that I have any witchcraft?
Churchill: I know you lived a wicked life.
Magistrate: Let her make it out. Doth, he ever pray in his family?
Churchill: Not unless by himself.
Magistrate: Why do you not pray in your family?
Jacobs: I cannot read.
Magistrate: Well, but you may pray for all that. Can you say the Lord's prayer? Let us hear you. He missed several parts of it and could not repeat it right after many trials
Magistrate: Sarah Churchwell, when you wrote in the book, you were shown your master's name, you said.
Churchill: Yes Sir.
Magistrate: If she says so, if you do not know it, what will you say? But she saw you or your likeness tempt her to write.
Jacobs: one in my likeness, the Devil may present my likeness.
Magistrate: Were you not frightened, Sarah Churchwell, when the representation of your master came to you?
Churchill: Yes.
Jacobs: Well, burn me, or hang me, I will stand in the truth of Christ. I know nothing of it.
He was then brought in for a second examination, and during this examination, Ann Putnam threw herself into fits and claimed that he had confessed to her through a vision. In her vision, George Jacobs admitted to being a witch for over 40 years.
Ann was using what is known as spectral evidence, which is evidence in the form of visions. Spectral Evidence was allowed during the trials, and based on this evidence, many were accused and executed. Spectral evidence did not have a hard standard of proof to meet, and the accused was subject to the whims of the accusers.
To make matters worse, George's granddaughter was interrogated and confessed to being a witch. While confessing to witchcraft, she indicted her grandfather as a witch. While her questioning and testimony are lost, it is believed that she probably did not mean to incriminate her grandfather and was just trying to save herself.
According to the History of Massachusetts Blog:
On May 12, Jacobs, Sr, and nine other people: William Hobbs, Edward Bishop, Bridget Bishop, Sarah Wildes, Mary Black, Mary English, Alice Parker and Ann Pudeator, were named in a mittimus, a court order directing the local officer to escort the prisoners to jail, which stated that they had been accused of afflicting Abigail Williams, Mary Walcott, Mercy Lewis, Ann Putnam, Elizabeth Hubbard, Susannah Sheldon and others.
Execution
George Jacobs Sr. endured a short trial in which he was found guilty. (The damage had already been done to him during the examinations)
He was sentenced to death and was hanged on August 19, 1692. He died alongside John Proctor, George Burroughs, Martha Carrier, and John Willard.
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