The Curse of the Salem Massachussetts Sheriffs

Probably the best documented curse in the USA that I've read about ...
** not sure if curses are metaphysical or paranormal ..
I tossed a coin and put it in the metaphysical forum

The Curse of Giles Corey

Giles Corey was a successful farmer from Salem village who was accused of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials in 1692. Corey was a reportedly violent and troublesome man who had allegedly beaten his farmhand to death years before the witch trials began and narrowly avoided prosecution over the matter.

Corey’s witchcraft accusation came shortly after his wife was arrested and put on trial for witchcraft in March of that year. The 80-year-old farmer’s own trial never moved forward and he was never convicted because he died while being tortured by Sheriff Corwin that September.

Brave Giles Corey knew he was being 'legally' murdered and that it was a massive land grab scheme. He refused to address the court during his 'trial'. The court attempted to torture a statement from him by 'pressing' .. piling heavy rocks on, more and more, pressing the person until they either confess or die. It is reported that Giles Corey's final words during this torture were a curse at the sheriff of Salem, who was murdering him and trying to steal his property. The sheriff died within a few years of a heart/blood ailment. MANY of the sheriffs of Salem subsequently died early of heart/blood ailments. There is no longer a sheriff in Salem. The Salem sheriff now works out of Middleton and this has spared the recent (since 1991) sheriff's the effects of the curse.

Haunted Salem

Local Salem historian and former High Sheriff of Essex County Robert Ellis Cahill discovered some years ago that the curse of Giles Corey may have come to bear. He notes that each and every Sheriff down from George Corwin to himself, each headquartered at the Salem Jail overlooking the the place where Corey was killed, had died while in office or had been forced out of his post as the result of a heart or blood ailment. Corwin himself died in 1696, not long after the trials, of a heart attack. Thankfully, Cahill’s heart attack and subsequent blood ailment forced him into retirement and not into an early grave, for he later went on to chronicle many strange stories of New England’s past.

More on the curse - From 'Real Haunts'

Indepth Giles Corey
Yes, he was an innocent victim of a murderous land grab attempt. But he wasn't all that innocent ... he had recently falsely accused his wife of witchcraft and then recanted. So he did his own false accusation.

Was it really EVERY sheriff from the 1600s until 1991 that died early of a heart and/or blood ailment? Supposedly yes. I have looked for a list of the names of sheriffs who have died early and can't find one on the internet. I don't know if they kept records like that from hundreds of years ago. The MODERN sheriffs have all had heart/blood problems and died early (until 1991). But I don't know if that's a curse, or if it's Americans in this day and age eating poorly or if the old sheriffs office had a toxic environment of some kind.

Many folks don't believe in curses. But I do think there is something to it. I think they can happen. Not always. But in extreme emotional situations and when there is great evil happening and when the intent of the person uttering the curse is solid. The murder of Giles Corey fits those qualifications. (and yes, they are my own qualifications ... my own thoughts on the matter).

So Giles was a witch!

Interesting post, I've lived in Mass my whole life, and never heard of the curse.

Psychonautics
So Giles was a witch!

He was an 80 year old land owner. Married to his third wife. He outsmarted the 'authorities' who were trying to murder him and take his land. He deeded his land over to his kids before he was put in jail and he refused to enter a plea. I'd say 'poor Giles' .. but the man did falsely accuse his wife of witchcraft. He ended up in jail at the same time she was there.

I'm sure he wasn't a witch .. but nowadays he sure seems to be a ghost.

reply to post by FlyersFan


Wow,

Really fascinating, FlyersFan, thanks for posting this. I am looking forward to getting down to reading Cahill's stuff.

The land grab detail is interesting. The back story to what was going on in Salem previous to and during the witch trials has everything to do with local church politics, jealously, factionalism, and people stealing other people's land. The witch craze was 25 years late landing in America, and when it got to Salem it found a whole community that hated one another and it took no push at all to get the accusations of witchery going full-steam.

You might find it interesting that the wife of Giles Corey, known as Goody Corey is mentioned in both Nathaniel Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown as well as Arthur Miller's The Crucible.

reply to post by FlyersFan


A similar thing happened years earlier in Hartford, CT. Alice Young was a widow (about 40) and because she had no male heirs was an easy target. They chained her in the jail for two years before hanging her. Years later someone tried accusing her daughter, too, but her son fought off/countersued and stopped the vicious land grab.

Isn't it awful what some people will do to other people. There's always a choice.

Bybyots
The land grab detail is interesting.

The first bunch of victims of the Salem witch trials were women who didn't have much money. They didn't have enough resources to buy a defense. They were put to death and their property confiscated by TPTB in town. Legalized murder and land grab while wearing a religious mask.

Giles outsmarted the (legalized) murderers. He made sure they couldn't get his land.

And then he nailed them from the afterlife. He's one ticked off dude ....

cfnyaami
A similar thing happened years earlier in Hartford, CT. Alice Young ...

I am a direct descendant of Mary Barnes - executed for witchcraft in Hartford, CT in 1664.
Mary Barnes

I believe curses and hexes can be very real. Belief gives anything power, internally or externally. Can science explain why? No. But it also cannot explain the power of prayer/positive thinking to aid in healing and recovery yet it has been documented as an occurring phenomenon. Curses could be seen as the opposite.

reply to post by FlyersFan


Interesting, I'm one town over and I have never heard this story...thanks.

FlyersFan

cfnyaami
A similar thing happened years earlier in Hartford, CT. Alice Young ...

I am a direct descendant of Mary Barnes - executed for witchcraft in Hartford, CT in 1664.
Mary Barnes

And worse than that you're a flyers fan...

I have visited Salem a few times and I have never heard of this curse either, unless I just don't remember. Are there other sources with this information?

reply to post by FlyersFan

I am a direct descendant of Mary Barnes - executed for witchcraft in Hartford, CT in 1664. Mary Barnes

Thank you for your family's service to our country.



Sincerely,

Psychonautics
So Giles was a witch!

Interesting post, I've lived in Mass my whole life, and never heard of the curse.

That's not entirely true, you don't have to be a witch or practice any type of "magic" or what have you. This is the normal misconception. Intent and as FF stated emotional state can bear any individual with the ability to curse. Well accordingly to metaphysics I should say