Samuel Sewall Diary
19 September 1692
Samuel Sewall kept this diary from 1673 until his death in 1730. As one of the Massachusetts Bay Colony's prominent citizens, he knew all the notables of his place and time and documented them and his daily life in detail. Sewall served as one of the judges at the infamous Salem witch trials in 1692 and mentioned them in his diary. Unlike the other judges involved in the trials, Sewall later regretted his part in the controversy. He proclaimed a fast day in the colony in December 1696 for all to do penance for the sins of the witchcraft tragedy. He also publicly confessed his guilt in church and asked for God's pardon. Sewall continued to observe a personal fast day for each of his remaining years.
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