WILMINGTON – Between February of 1692 and May of 1693, Salem Massachusetts was fully swept up in the hysteria that is infamously known as the Salem Witch Trials.
In just over the course of one year, more than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft, 19 of whom were found guilty and executed by hanging.
Mr. Giles Corey, however, met his end in quite a different, and much more gruesome way.
Giles was a prominent land owner in Salem at the time of the Trials and much like his fellow townsfolk, he vehemently supported the finding out and removal of the so-called “witches” that plagued his village.
Mr. Corey was so supportive, in fact, that he initially believed the accusations when his own wife, Martha, was named and arrested on charges of witchcraft.
That is, until a month later when the authorities returned to his home and arrested Giles on the same charges as his wife.
At his trial, Giles denied the accusations but unlike his fellow accused neighbors who all pleaded “not guilty,” Giles refused to plead at all.
Understanding the law at the time, Giles knew that if one refused to plead, they could not be tried.
However, to avoid this practice from happening all the time, the legal ramification for failing to enter a plea and thus cheating justice by refusing to plead was known as
“peine forte et dure” or “hard and forceful punishment.”
That is, torture the person until they entered a plea or died.
In the case of Giles Corey, he was stripped naked and laid down onto the bare ground.
A heavy board was then placed on top of his body and was forced to endure as rocks and boulders were added, one by one.
This was known as a “pressing.”
On September 17th, 1692, Mr. Giles Corey began his torture.
Rocks began to be placed upon the board laying across Mr. Corey’s body.
After each placement, Giles was asked to enter his plea.
He refused each request with a steady response of “more weight.”
And the authorities obliged.
They continued to add weight atop Mr. Giles Corey, even standing upon the stones themselves to encourage him to relent and enter a plea.
But Giles simply refused to do so.
And after two full days of “pressing,” Giles could no longer withstand the immense weight that had been heaped upon him and he was able to finally put a stop to the inhumane torture.
He died.
His last words are said to have been another request for “more weight,” even as his tongue would no longer stay inside of his mouth due to the pressure of the stones above him.
Because Giles Corey refused to enter a plea, and thus acknowledge the charges of witchcraft that had been brought against him, he was able to die in full possession of his estate, which otherwise would have been confiscated by the government.
The horrific (and very much public) nature of Corey’s death was a catalyst of sorts and seemed to snap the village out of the hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials, as they officially ended within months of Corey’s execution.
Giles Corey was officially absolved of all crimes and accusations in 1712 (although his wife Martha was not) with his story serving as a cautionary tale as to what can happen when accusations, without evidence, are leveled against one’s fellow man.
