From Witch Hunting to Witchcraft Allegations: Who Was Giles Corey? Ofek Hagag

From Witch Hunting to Witchcraft Allegations: From Witch Hunting to Witchcraft Allegations: Who Was Giles Corey Who Was Giles Corey?

Ofek Hagag

Looking into the Salem witch trials will send you spiraling down a rabbit hole of unbelievable cases, Looking into the Salem witch trials will send you spiraling down a rabbit hole of unbelievable cases, testimonies, and medieval practices. Most of those trials dealt with women who testimonies, and medieval practices. Most of those trials dealt with women who were accused of witchcraft, but there were a few men who have also suffered the consequences of the deadly accusation. One of those but there were a few men who have also suffered the consequences of the deadly accusation. One of those men was Giles Corey. This is his story. men was Giles Corey. This is his story. A different life Corey was born and baptized in England in 1611. He was raised Christian and stayed that way even Corey was born and baptized in England in 1611. He was raised Christian and stayed that way even when he moved to Salem, Massachusetts, and got married. He became a wealthy farmer, was married when he moved to Salem, Massachusetts, and got married. He became a wealthy farmer, was married three times, and widowed twice. For the most part, he’s lived a three times, and widowed twice. For the most part, he’s lived a quiet farmer’s life. In 1676, at 65 years old, however, things took a turn for the worst. Back then, it was legal for landowners to use corporal old, however, things took a turn for the worst. Back then, it was legal for landowners to use corporal punishment on their workers. When Corey used force to punish one of his workers for picking apples punishment on their workers. When Corey used force to punish one of his workers for picking apples from someone else’s property, the worker didn’t survive. He was badly injured, only sent to a doctor e else’s property, the worker didn’t survive. He was badly injured, only sent to a doctor after 10 days, and died shortly after his arrival. Today, Corey would have faced trial for manslaughter, after 10 days, and died shortly after his arrival. Today, Corey would have faced trial for manslaughter, but back then the court gave him no more than a slap on the w but back then the court gave him no more than a slap on the wrist for using accessive force. Karma, however, caught up with him in the end. however, caught up with him in the end. were accused of witchcraft, quiet farmer’s life. In 1676, at 65 years rist for using accessive force. Karma,

At 80 years old, Corey and his third wife, Martha, were among the first people to attend the Salem Meetinghouse at the time of the pre-trial examinations of the Salem witch trials. Martha was the first to lose faith in the whole process and Corey soon followed her. Once they’ve stopped attending the proceedings, they were an easy target for witchcraft allegations. Martha was targeted first, and in March 1692, she was arrested for suspicion of practicing witchcraft. At first, Corey fell for the allegations and even testified against her, citing that he’s seen her silently praying by the fireplace. A month later, Corey had to face similar allegations that were made against him. During the preliminary proceedings, he refused to plead innocent or guilty. His trial was scheduled for September, and he spent his time waiting for it in prison. The trial

Corey’s September trial was attended by an unnamed witness who claimed to have been tormented by Corey’s appearance while the latter was still in jail. Since Corey wouldn’t enter a plea, the court resorted to extracting one from him by means of torture (again — legal yet brutal). He was stripped of his clothes, laid on the ground, and had a wooden plank placed on top of him. Then, heavy rocks were placed on top of the wood, slowly crushing the man underneath. Instead of letting the rocks press a plea or a confession out of him, Corey is said to have handled the torture bravely.

The only words he reportedly let escape from his lips were “more weight”. After two days of enduring the crushing weight, Corey passed away. Legend has it that his final words were a curse to both the sheriff and the village of Salem and that the place is still cursed because of it.

Devil’s Rope: The Story of Barbed Wire

Barbed wire has a uniquely American history.

Simon Winchester

Central to the concept of owning land is the right to tell others to get off it. One who acquires land gets to enjoy the right of possession, the right of control, the right of enjoyment, the right of disposition — and, most relevant here, the right of exclusion. A landowner may exclude others, may forbid others to stray onto his property, and has a right in law to demand that enforcement officers compel the person who does so — who trespasses — to leave.

Warning signs themselves do not keep people off another’s land. The American invention that is most traditionally placed to deter intruders from trespassing — and one which has spread worldwide since its invention in the mid-19th century — is barbed wire, the devil’s rope.

The idea behind the invention that has at least half a dozen claimants to being its originator is simple: “two wires, twisted together, with a short transverse wire, coiled or bent at its central portion about one of the wire strands of the twist, with its free ends projecting in opposite directions, the other wire strand serving to bind the spur-wire firmly to its place, and in position, with its spur ends perpendicular to the direction of the fence-wire, lateral movement, as well as vibration, being prevented.”

The man who, with this elegantly incomprehensible description, lays the principal credible claim to the first patent for it in late 1874 was the son of English immigrants to the United States and named Joseph Glidden. His early demonstration of the usefulness of his creation had one unanticipated consequence: It helped in no small measure to bring about a signal change to the American diet, almost overnight.

The first purpose of the wire was to keep animals in, not to keep people out.

The change derives from the simple fact that the first purpose of the wire was to keep animals in, not to keep people out. And to display how easy this was, Glidden built himself an enormous ranch on the near grassless plains of the west Texas panhandle and housed there the near unimaginable number of 20,000 head of cattle. He was able to corral these animals in such numbers and at such relatively low cost by ringing the entire ranch with his newly made wire — some 120 miles of it, at a cost of some $39,000, far less than a conventional wooden fence, and far less cumbersome.

Having so many cattle pinioned in one place, conveniently close to a railway line that led ultimately to the stockyards in Chicago, played into the great “beef bonanza” that was just then gripping the nation. Beef became all of a sudden both cheap and available, with the result that almost overnight it would replace pork as the preferred national dinnertime dish. Corralling cattle in such numbers became, from the producers’ standpoint, economically most advantageous — leading to the invention of that current abomination of the Midwestern agricultural scene, the feedlot. Given the known cardiac health disbenefits of today’s massive beef consumption — leaving to the side the effects of so unnecessarily large a cattle population on climate change — one might fairly say that Glidden’s invention of barbed wire led, in time, to the currently high American incidence of heart attack.

Once Glidden’s famous patent, number 157124, had been approved, and with the appeal of his well-publicized panhandle demonstration, so it seemed that every farmer west of the Mississippi was determined to string this newfangled barbed wire along his property lines. The railroads followed suit: Not wanting to have livestock, or more especially heavy and locomotive-disrupting bison, wandering dangerously onto their tracks, they also purchased thousands of tons of the wire to spool out alongside their rights-of-way.

After that, for the barbed-wire industry, it was off to the races — with the result that the devil’s rope, which over the decades would come in many weights and strengths, with many different designs of barb, leading to today’s viciously displeasing sibling razor wire, became the world’s default barrier to unwanted movement. It kept prisoners in; it kept rabbits (in Australia) out. It helped keep North Koreans from venturing southward, or Pakistanis from attempting sojourns eastward. Coils of it kept Great War soldiers safe in their trenches. And all types of it are on display in museums and at conventions of the various state wire collectors’ associations — most notably in California, Kansas, Colorado, and Nebraska — where it is seen as powerfully emblematic of American pioneering and expansion — also being a vivid and potentially painful reminder that to trespass is a most foolhardy endeavor.

Once Glidden’s famous patent, number 157124, had been approved, and with the appeal of his well-publicized panhandle demonstration, so it seemed that every farmer west of the Mississippi was determined to string this newfangled barbed wire along his property lines. The railroads followed suit: Not wanting to have livestock, or more especially heavy and locomotive-disrupting bison, wandering dangerously onto their tracks, they also purchased thousands of tons of the wire to spool out alongside their rights-of-way.

After that, for the barbed-wire industry, it was off to the races — with the result that the devil’s rope, which over the decades would come in many weights and strengths, with many different designs of barb, leading to today’s viciously displeasing sibling razor wire, became the world’s default barrier to unwanted movement. It kept prisoners in; it kept rabbits (in Australia) out. It helped keep North Koreans from venturing southward, or Pakistanis from attempting sojourns eastward. Coils of it kept Great War soldiers safe in their trenches. And all types of it are on display in museums and at conventions of the various state wire collectors’ associations — most notably in California, Kansas, Colorado, and Nebraska — where it is seen as powerfully emblematic of American pioneering and expansion — also being a vivid and potentially painful reminder that to trespass is a most foolhardy endeavor.

KEEP OUT!

The rules to protect private property against trespass vary state by state

In all American states, trespass is seen as a serious violation of personal space, and the trespasser’s failure to leave when asked or told to is an offense. It is a law most robustly enforced, and in some particular states — Florida, Louisiana, and Texas — most demonstrably so. It is from states like these that one hears lurid tales of landowners opening fire on uninvited sojourners, even though the law specifically forbids the shooting of a trespasser unless he is brandishing a weapon and threatening the life of the owner. Warning signs declaring “Trespassers Will Be Shot” are to be seen on all sides in states like these, and though the signs are permissible as a deterrent, they are not to be regarded as a warning of any impending fusillade.

Where I live in Massachusetts, there is a great deal of seasonal hunting — for deer, mainly, though black bear on occasion, and with a variety of weapons, including crossbows, black-powder muskets, and rifles, each of which is assigned a specific week in every autumn. Signs at the town limits note that hunters must have, and must carry at all times, written permission from the landowner to pursue their bloodthirsty calling, and during the affected weeks nonhunters are advised to stay indoors and to suit up their larger pets in reflective orange coats, so that they are not mistaken for deer. In addition, though, the owner must festoon his land’s perimeter with orange signs, stapled to a tree every hundred feet or so, with a wordy insistence under the warning word “POSTED,” that there be “No Trespassing,” followed by a list of specific activities — hunting most obviously — that shall not be pursued.

In Texas, studded as it is with ranches, especially in the western ranges, regulations for the landowner who is concerned with trespassers are strict, detailed, and much enforced. For instance, under Title 7, Chapter 30, of the state’s penal code, which defines criminal trespass as “a person entering or remaining on or in property … without effective consent,” there are special rules for how such a warning might be presented in unfenced properties. The caution can be indicated by signs or paint marks at specified heights and intervals so that they can be clearly seen.

In Massachusetts, it is common for ancient boundary trees to have grown so much since signs were placed on them by former owners that they have folded themselves around the old metal plaques that once read NO TRESPASSING but which now are wizened, their lettering conflated to read NOG or NOSING — which a good lawyer would probably argue renders the boundary invalid, letting any poacher off scot-free.

From the book Land: How the Hunger for Ownership Shaped the Modern World by Simon Winchester. Copyright ©2021 by Simon Winchester. Reprinted by permission of Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

This article is featured in the May/June 2021 issue of The Saturday Evening Post. Subscribe to the magazine for more art, inspiring stories, fiction, humor, and features from our archives.