Governor Sir William Phips was born in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and rose from a fatherless shepherd boy to become the first native colonist from the New England Colonies to be knighted.
He was famous in his lifetime for recovering a large treasure from a sunken Spanish galleon but is perhaps best remembered today for establishing the court associated with the infamous Salem Witch Trials, which he grew unhappy with and forced to disband after five months prematurely.
William Phips was one of the more accomplished men of his day. To learn more about his life, visit the Library of Virginia website.
Jump to:
Salem Witch Trials
William Phips and Increase Mather arrived back in Boston from England at the time of the Salem Witch Trials.
More than 125 people had been arrested on charges of witchcraft and were being held in Boston and Salem prisons. On May 27, a special Court of Oyer and Terminer was created to hear the accumulated cases. This may have been Increase Mather's idea, as such courts were specifically mentioned in the new Charter, and no one had spent more time working on the details of the Charter than Increase Mather. Nonetheless, Phips signed the Order and may have composed it.
The language of the Order itself is curious, as it speaks of concern for the welfare of those "imprisoned during this hot time of the year." Increase Mather's pick for Lieutenant Governor William Stoughton was chosen as Chief Judge of this new court. There was little than to indicate that Stoughton would proceed with such ruthless conviction.
Phips later claimed to have chosen nominations for the Court from "persons of the best prudence and figure that could then be pitched upon," and most were well-known and respected merchants from the Boston area.
On June 8, William Stoughton ordered Bridget Bishop to be executed. This would be the first execution of the Salem Witch Trials.
At the end of June, five more women were condemned to die. Phips granted a reprieve to one of these but took it back due to politics.
At this point, Phips seemed to wash his hands of the proceedings, not relishing the idea of gaining the enmity of his own Lieutenant Governor and powerful clergymen, including the fully committed Cotton Mather and the somewhat more waffling Increase Mather.
There is no record of Phips ever having traveled north to meet any of the "afflicted" or attend a single Oyer and Terminer trial or execution. Instead, Phips continued to work on recruiting troops and gathering supplies to build a fort in Maine, and he left the province around August 1 and was gone the entire month and much of September.
William Stoughton seems to have officially taken over executive powers in this period of Phips' absence.
By the time Phips returned from Maine on September 29, 1692, twenty persons had been executed, and the accusations and arrests continued, including charges against many high-profile individuals, allegedly including Phips' own wife. At this point, Phips finally let it be known that the Court of Oyer and Terminer "must fall."
A new court was formed with instructions to entirely disregard spectral evidence. But Stoughton was once again selected by his peers to be Chief Justice. In late January 1693, Stoughton ordered eight graves dug in advance of the next round of his executive orders, not realizing that Phips would no longer appease him.
All eight were cleared by Phips' proclamations, leading Stoughton to storm from the Court. His replacement on the Court was more inclined to mercy for the accused.
Beginning in February 1693, no more of the accused were condemned to die, and almost all had been released from prison by May.
Conclusion
At the time, William Phips was one of the most well-known men in the 13 original colonies, and when he finally had enough of the crazy allegations and hangings, he took a firm stand against the trials.
This stand would cost him his political career and possibly his life since he was recalled from Massachusetts to England, having lost the support of the powerful Mathers.
However, his contributions caused the end of the witch hunts.
The use of spectral evidence made the accusers too powerful in the eyes of those who made the decisions. When spectral evidence was disregarded, and those who had been accused had to be proven to be a witch, it became very difficult to convict.
Phips had also had enough of the senseless killings by Stroughton. His pardoning of the eight who were condemned to die by Stoughton ended the reign of terror as Stoughton stepped down, and those who replaced him did not continue in his footsteps. It was clear that Phips would no longer back these trials and that too much had gone on.
He will not be studied much in American History, but William Phips was one of the great men of the late 17th century.