Elizabeth Proctor

Elizabeth Proctor (née Bassett; 1652 – unknown) was convicted of witchcraft in the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. She was the wife of John Proctor, who was also convicted; he was executed.

Her execution sentence was postponed because she was pregnant. In 1693 the new governor, Sir William Phips, freed 153 prisoners, including Elizabeth. The widow Proctor remarried in 1699, to Daniel Richard. In 1703 she and her late husband John Proctor were granted a reversal of attainder by the Massachusetts legislature, overturning their convictions.

Elizabeth was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, and was the daughter of William Bassett and Sarah Burt. As an adult she weighed 155 pounds. She married John Proctor in 1674 in Salem, Massachusetts.

Elizabeth's grandmother was Ann (Holland) Bassett Burt, a Quaker and a midwife. The Puritans felt there was something "witchlike" about Quakers. Since Ann was not a doctor, but was successful at caring for those who were ill, some felt she could only have these skills if she were a witch. She was charged with witchcraft in 1669. One of those who testified against Ann was Phillip Read, a doctor. These accusations left a taint in the memories of residents and may have contributed to Elizabeth's persecution nearly 30 years later.

In early March 1692, the Proctors' servant, Mary Warren, began to have fits, saying she saw the spectre (ghost) of Giles Corey. John Proctor was dismissive of her claims (as he was of all the accusations) and made her work harder; he felt that witchcraft should be suspected of the bewitched girls themselves and not of the respectable women of the village. His negative reactions to the girls' accusations may have caused Elizabeth to become one of the next to be accused of practicing witchcraft.

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