Case file · Witch trials
Judge Sewall's public apology
On a colony-wide fast day in January 1697, Samuel Sewall, one of the Salem judges, stood in Boston's Old South Meeting House while his statement of guilt and shame was read.
1697 CE · 42.36, -71.06 · status: official
The account
He was the only judge to apologize publicly. Several of the 'afflicted' accusers later recanted too.