Technically, it wasn’t an execution. Giles Corey had refused to plead when accused of witchcraft, and so, according to the laws of the time, he could not be tried. What could be done, however, was to subject him to a procedure known as peine forte et dure, “punishment strong and forceful.”
The hysteria had begun when two girls, Betty Parrish, daughter of the Reverend Samuel Parrish, and her cousin Abigail Williams began having “fits.” The girls were nine and 11 years old, respectively, and began by throwing things around the room, screaming, and contorting themselves into strange positions. The diagnosis, naturally, was witchcraft, and the hunt was on.
Before it was over, more than 150 people had been tried for witchcraft, with even more accused but never formally arrested. 26 were tried for the crime. 19 were hanged. And one man, Giles Corey, was crushed to death with rocks.
Giles Corey was an elderly man, some 80 years old, according to local lore. He was married to his third wife, Martha, and had two daughters by his first wife. He was thought to be a prosperous farmer — at least, he owned a lot of land. It was expected that his holdings would go to his sons-in-law when he died.
Neither Giles nor Martha was very popular in the town of Salem Village, now known as Danvers. Years ago, Martha had given birth to an illegitimate child, a fact that did not sit well in the Puritan community. Giles, although a full member of the church, was thought to not always have the community’s interests at heart. He had had some run-ins with the law, too — once when he killed a farm worker named Jacob Goodale. He had been tried then, and found guilty and forced to pay a fine.
The Coreys were also known to have close ties to the Porter faction of the community, one side of a long-going rivalry between the Porters and the Putnams, which is thought to have contributed considerably to the climate producing the witch trials. The Putnam family had been active in attempts to achieve more autonomy for Salem Village, while the Porters were aligned with the political and financial interests of Salem Town. Ann Putnam, a 13-year-old girl, was one of the most active of the accusers.
Martha Corey had also taken an early, active voice in opposition to the witchcraft trials, urging reason on the community. She had expressed some skepticism about the girls’ sincerity in their accusations. As might be expected, she became one of the next victims of their claims.
Giles Corey was not as skeptical, and actually testified against his wife. Later, he realized his error, and attempted to recant his testimony. He only succeeded in bringing suspicion on himself, and before long, he was accused, too.
Giles had seen enough of the trials to know that if he plead innocent, he was certain to be found guilty. He might be allowed to live if he plead guilty, but, like many of that time, he had a horror of perjury and subsequent damnation. It may seem strange to us, but under the laws of the time, in New England a man could not be tried for a crime without his consent. It was necessary for him to “put himself to the country” before a trial could commence. Otherwise, the matter was considered outside of the jurisdiction of the court.
Naturally, with such a criminal justice system, there needed to be a way to force someone to submit to a trial. The means of enforcement was called peine forte et dure, and derived from French Law. Giles Corey was stripped naked and laid in a pit with a heavy board on top of him. Heavy stones were then laid upon the board, “as many as he could bear.” As time went by, he was given more opportunities to submit, and when he refused, more stones were stacked on him. On the first day he was allotted three morsels of “the worst bread.” On the second day he was given three draughts of water. On the third day he died. Corey’s last words were, “More weight.”
If Corey had been tried and found guilty, his estate would have been forfeit. Since he died without a trial, his son-in-laws were able to inherit. His desire to see his daughters provided for may have been a large part of his motivation to resist trial. On the other hand, maybe he was just ornery.
Martha Corey was hanged three days later. Since she had been excommunicated, her body was not permitted to be buried in holy ground.
There is a legend that, before he died, Giles Corey cursed the sheriff that arrested him, and the entire town as well. It has been reported that before any major outbreak of death and destruction in the area, an odd old man has been seen lurking around the site of Giles Corey’s death. The sheriff that arrested Corey, George Corwin, died of a heart attack, and supposedly since then, every Sheriff of Essex County has either died in office, or been forced to retire prematurely due to health considerations.
Sources: Chase’s Calendar of Events, 2011 Edition: The Ultimate Go-To Guide for Special Days, Weeks, and Months, Editors of Chase’s Calendar of Events; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September 19; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giles_Corey; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salem_witch_trials; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crushing_(execution); http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/35913/cold-spots-the-curse-giles-corey; http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/SAL_BCOR.HTM; http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/salem/people/gilescorey.html; http://www.witchway.net/times/giles.html; http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/bnreview.html; http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/bnreview.htmlhttp://coryfamsoc.com/resources/articles/witch.htm; http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/gilescoreypage.htm.