BASSETT FAMILY LINE

Three of William & Sarah's 12 children were touched by the Salem Witch Hysteria prosecution. Their oldest daughter, Elizabeth, who married John Proctor, lost her husband and everything they had built together. Thomas Lecheford's letter describing how nasty the Sheriff was when he took everything from the home is heart-rending. Two of her children were arrested, tortured and tried and she, herself, was convicted and sentenced to death. Only her pregnancy prevented her execution. By the time she had given birth, the Hysteria was over and she was not hung. William, Jr.'s wife, Sarah [Hood], was also arrested, tortured and tried for witchcraft. Finally, William Sr. & Sarah's daughter Mary, wife of Michael De Rich, was also arrested, tortured and tried for witchcraft. Why this family was so plagued by this hysteria would make for an interesting investigation. The only clue I have is William Bassett, Sr.'s signature on a petition against John Hathorne for serving strong drink. I believe that either this John Hathorne or a near relative was the same John Hathorne who was one of the Salem Hysteria judges.

Heinous as the Salem Witch Hysteria was, it was also a pivotal moment in Colonial history which changed American Jurisprudence to this day. Read, especially, the case of Elizabeth [Bassett] & John Proctor. Sheriff George Corwin of Essex County, MA was especially sadistic in his attempts to extract "confessions" from the accused. In his letter to the Boston clergy, John Proctor describes the hog-tying of his teenage son in an attempt by Corwin to extract a confession of witchcraft from him. This was apparently not out of the ordinary for Corwin. (Legend has it that a curse was laid by Giles Corey upon anyone who holds the office of Essex County Sheriff...and enough odd events have befallen those who have done so to keep the legend alive into the 21st century) Regardless, changes to the way juries were chosen, confessions were obtained and -- most importantly -- that one was innocent until proven guilty (instead of the traditional other way around) were implemented after this judicial monstrosity. In addition, the use of "spectral evidence" and humiliating "physical examinations" in search of marks of the devil fell out of favor in American courts after this time.

It is also worth nothing that after 1692, several of the Bassetts became Quakers: marrying into known Quaker families; burial in the Friends' Burying Ground & either a lack of birth dates for their children or the birth dates are in Old Style well into the 1700s. Not surprising.

Name variations include: Baset, Basset, Bassett and Bassit.

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