Colonial figure. He was the High Sheriff of Essex County in the Massachusetts Bay colony during the Salem Witchcraft Hysteria and carried out the arrests of the accused and the executions of the condemned. He also presided at the fatal interrogation, under torture, of accused Giles Cory, who was crushed to death with stones over a period of three days. Only in his mid twenties when he held the post, anecdotal history portrays the sheriff as particularly sadistic and corrupt. But official documents that survive indicate he carried out his duties according to the accepted practices and mores of the time. Reviled after the hysteria, when he died a man who was among the accused successfully put a lien on Corwin's corpse delaying its burial until his executors recompensed him for property seized by the sheriff. Later, Corwin's family buried him in the cellar of his house fearing his body might be seized by others seeking revenge or reimbursement. Years later, his remains were exhumed and quietly re-interred in the Corwin family tomb. Surviving evidence shows property seized by Corwin was used to maintain prisoners. Corwin was awarded the High Sheriff's post by Gov. William Phips after he distinguished himself in Phips' expedition against French Quebec in 1690.
Colonial figure. He was the High Sheriff of Essex County in the Massachusetts Bay colony during the Salem Witchcraft Hysteria and carried out the arrests of the accused and the executions of the condemned. He also presided at the fatal interrogation, under torture, of accused Giles Cory, who was crushed to death with stones over a period of three days. Only in his mid twenties when he held the post, anecdotal history portrays the sheriff as particularly sadistic and corrupt. But official documents that survive indicate he carried out his duties according to the accepted practices and mores of the time. Reviled after the hysteria, when he died a man who was among the accused successfully put a lien on Corwin's corpse delaying its burial until his executors recompensed him for property seized by the sheriff. Later, Corwin's family buried him in the cellar of his house fearing his body might be seized by others seeking revenge or reimbursement. Years later, his remains were exhumed and quietly re-interred in the Corwin family tomb. Surviving evidence shows property seized by Corwin was used to maintain prisoners. Corwin was awarded the High Sheriff's post by Gov. William Phips after he distinguished himself in Phips' expedition against French Quebec in 1690.
Bio by: Bob on Gallows Hill
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