Rev hale biography

Rev hale biography: Reverend John Hale lived here until

As a respected minister, he believed in the reality of witchcraft and the need to eradicate it from the community to maintain spiritual purity. He participated in the examinations and trials, convinced that the accusations and confessions were genuine evidence of witchcraft. The turning point for Hale came with the arrest and execution of Rebecca Nurse, a pious and respected member of the community.

Hale began to see the flaws and injustices in the proceedings, particularly the reliance on spectral evidence and the confessions extracted under duress. In this work, Hale sought to understand the nature of witchcraft and the reasons behind the hysteria that had gripped Salem. He argued that while witchcraft was real, the trials had been mishandled, leading to wrongful convictions and executions.

Hale proposed that the Devil had exploited the fears and superstitions of the community to sow discord and destruction. The oldest child of Robert Hale, a blacksmith, he was educated at Harvard College in Cambridgegraduating in He began preaching in Bass-river-side, later called Beverlyaboutand was ordained as the first minister of the parish church there on September 20,when the congregation formally separated from Salem.

He married his first wife, Rebecca Byly, on December 15,and she died April 13,at the age of As a child, Hale had witnessed the execution of Margaret Jones, the first of 15 people to be executed for witchcraft in New Englandbetween and He was present at the examinations and trials of various people who were accused of witchcraft in the Salem witch trials ofand supported the work of the court.

However, on November 14,year-old Mary Herrick accused his second wife, Sarah Noyes Hale, and the ghost of executed Mary Eastey of afflicting her, but his wife was never formally charged or arrested.

Rev hale biography: John Hale (June 3, – May

A later commentator on the trials, Charles Upham suggests that this accusation was one that helped turn public opinion to end the prosecutions, and spurred Hale's willingness to reconsider his support of the trials. After the trials, Sarah died and Hale began writing his book "A Modest Inquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft", in which he suggested the fear of witchcraft was so great that it impaired the judgment of everyone involved in the trials, possibly resulting in the death of innocent people.

Hale died at the age of 63 inand the book was published two years later. Hale's quick visit to examine Betty causes him to become one of the main characters in the play.

Rev hale biography: Reverend John Hale was.

Ten years later on September 20th, he was ordained as the first minister of the First Parish Church in Beverly. Hale is best known for his involvement with the Salem witchcraft trials in After being at the forefront of the prosecutions he was stricken by a dramatic change of heart when his second wife Sarah was accused of witchcraft.

She was never convicted as much of what is now Beverly Ma. Shortly thereafter the trials were concluded. After Sarah's death in Rev. Comments: 2 [hide] [show]. Login to post a comment. Henry Chadwick. I think that John Hale is the father of Samuel Hale. Samuel's mother was Sarah Noyes Hale. John Akard III. John Hale has a Find a Grave.

There are three wives and 3 children listed with Memorials there. Sorry, no parents, yet. One of the children is a Dr.