Giles Corey

Giles Corey
The pressing of Giles Corey
Born	September 11, 1611 Northampton, England
Died	September 19, 1692 (aged 81) Salem, Massachusetts, U.S.
Occupation	Farmer
Criminal charge	Witchcraft (rehabilitated)
Criminal penalty	None ^ de jure
Criminal status	Executed
Spouse(s)	Margaret (1664–1664; her death) Mary Bright (1664–1684; her death) Martha Corey (1690–1692; his death)
Children	Deliverance (born on August 5, 1658) only child
Parent(s)	Giles and Elizabeth Corey

Giles Corey (September 11, 1611 – September 19, 1692) was accused of witchcraft along with his wife Martha Corey during the Salem Witch Trials. After being arrested, Corey refused to enter a plea of guilty or not guilty. He was subjected to execution by pressing in an effort to force him to plead — the only example of such a sanction in American history — but instead died after two days of torture.

Corey is believed to have died in the field adjacent to the prison that had held him, in what later became the Howard Street Cemetery in Salem. His exact grave location in the cemetery is unmarked and unknown. There is a memorial plaque to him in the nearby Charter Street Cemetery.

Giles Corey was born in Northampton, England, before 16 August 1611, the date on which he was baptized in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Giles was the son of Giles and Elizabeth Corey. His birth is recorded in the parish records of St. Sepulchre. His name is quite often spelled Corey, but the baptismal record is Cory. It is not certain when exactly he arrived in the Americas, but there is evidence he was in Salem in 1640. There are quite a few entries in the court documents as to his behavior, which was not completely good, but in those times any accusation was an offense against the state.

Giles Corey was a prosperous land-owning farmer in Salem, and married three times. He is believed to have married his first wife, Margaret, in England. Margaret was the mother of his daughter, Deliverance. His second wife was Mary Bright; they were married on April 11, 1664, when Corey was 43.

In 1676, at the age of 65, Corey was brought to trial in Essex and accused of beating to death one of his indentured farm workers, Jacob Goodale, son of Robert Goodale and Catherine Kilham Goodale originally from Dennington, Suffolk, England. Jacob's brother was Isaac Goodale. Corey had severely beaten Goodale with a stick after Jacob was allegedly caught stealing apples from Corey's brother-in-law, and though Corey eventually sent him to receive medical attention 10 days later, Goodale died shortly thereafter. "Jacob was employed by Giles Corey, and in a quarrel with the latter was so badly beaten that he died, according to a coroner's jury, of blood clots about the heart caused by the blows. Corey was fined for the offense. Longfellow, in New England Tragedies, takes advantage of poetic license to substitute Robert' in his account." (Bowen: "Goodell Memorial Tablets"). Since corporal punishment was permitted against indentured servants, Corey was exempt from the charge of murder, and instead charged with using "unreasonable" force. Numerous witnesses and eyewitnesses testified against Corey, as well as the local coroner, and he was found guilty and fined.