March 1st, 1692, interrogations began for the Salem Witch Trials.
The stories of madness and heartbreak are many from just this one dark incident of history.
Nineteen people were executed for witchcraft. Two died in prison. And one man was pressed to death.
We love our heroes. The plucky young men and women triumphing over the odds to accomplish great things. But there is a special place in my heart for what I call history's "Tough old bastards".
In September of 1692, Giles Corey was pressed to death.
Accusations were flying, several people were executed, several more being held for trial, and several more stood accused.
Giles' wife Martha, having been arrested on March 19th, was already being held pending trial.
Then Giles, already facing the unavoidable prospect of losing his wife, was also accused and arrested on April 18th.
On September 17th, he was bid to enter a plea against the accusations. Giles already knew that no matter how he pled, he would be found guilty and likely executed. But what troubled him more was that in being found guilty, his estate would be seized, and his family left with nothing.
He also knew that by law, the trial could NOT proceed until he entered a plea, so he refused to do so.
They took Giles ... 81 years old at the time ... Laid him down in the cold September Massachusetts mud, put a plank of wood over him and began laying on stones to 'encourage' him to enter a plea.
Giles knew what was at stake, and in sheer defiance for the sake of his family, endured days laying in that mud as he was repeatedly entreated to plea and each time more stones added.
Finally, at around noon on Sept 19th, 1692, he expired. But without entering a plea. 81 years old, two days in the mud, enduring literally chest crushing weight for the sake of his family's well-being. How ever that last sentence may have struck you, reading the accounts of his pressing are far more visceral than I am comfortable with repeating.
It is reported that his last words, perhaps in defiance, or perhaps in order to hasten the end, were "More weight!"
Tough old bastard.
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