Salem Witch Museum 1692 Tour

Wenham

28. Old Wenham Burying Ground (located on Main Street (Route 1A) in Wenham, a short distance north of Wenham Lake).

Here are buried several men of Wenham who playedparts in the witchcraft hysteria. a. Joseph Gerrish, minister of the First Church of Wenham in 1692, is buried here beneath a red sandstone table stone (Plate 32). The inscription on his tomb reads: "Rev. Joseph Gerrish Born at Newbury Mar. 23, 165o Graduatedat Harvard College 1669 Ordained at Wenham Jan I2, 1674 Died in the Pastoral Office Jan 6, I720." In 1692, four of Gerrish's parishioners were members of the jury which sat in judgment in Salem. In November 1692, Mary Herrick came to Gerrish complaining that Reverend John Hale's wife afflicted her. Her accusation caused Hale to oppose finally the witchcraft proceedings. b. "Here Lyes Buried the Body of Capt. Thomas Fisk WhoDecd Februry ye 5th 1723 in ye 70th Year of His Age. The Righteous shall be had in Everlasting Remembrance" (Plate 33). Fisk served as a member of the jury which convicted many of those condemned and executed for witchcraft in 1692. He was the son of the jury foreman, Thomas Fisk, Sr. Both men signed a public confession in 1697 stating that they "were sadly deluded and mistaken" in 1692. c. "Here Lyeth ye body of Decn [Deacon] William Fisk who died Febry ye 5th 1727/8 Aged 85 years." William Fisk also served as a juror at the Salem trials in 1692 and later signed the 1697 confession of error.

29.Solart-Woodward House (Plate 6; 106 Main Street in Wenham, a short distance north of the Wenham Burying Ground).

This house was built around 1670 and was the home of John Solart, Sr. who kept an inn here. His daughter Sarah, who was born 14 July 1653, later married William Good and moved away to Salem Village. Sarah Good was one of the first three persons accused of witchcraft in 1692 and was hanged on July 19. The house is privately owned.

30. Claflin-Gerrish-Richards House (Plate 31; 132 Main Street, opposite its intersection with Monument Street).

Reverend Joseph Gerrish lived here in 1692. It was here that MaryHerrick met with John Hale, and Joseph Gerrish and toldthem that the specter of Hale's wife afflicted her. The housedates from the time period 1662-73 and is the office of the Wenham Historical Association. It is open to the public.