William Hobbs (abt. 1642 - 1706)

Born about 1642 in New Hampshire

Ancestors

Husband of Avis (Unknown) Hobbs — married 1671 in Topsfield, Essex, MA

Descendants

Died 1706 at about age 64 in Massachusetts Bay

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William Hobbs was involved in the Salem Witch Trials

Biography

William Hobbs was born in New Hampshire around 1642. He is the son of Morris Hobbs and Sarah Eastow. He died in approx. 1706. ^[1][2]

Father of Abigail Hobbs, witchcraft accuser.

Massachusetts Remediation

1. 17 October 1710, Convictions Reversed, The General Court of Massachusetts Bay, An act, the several convictions, judgments, and attainders be, and hereby are, reversed, and declared to be null and void.^[3]
2. 17 Dec 1711, Compensation to Survivors, Governor Dudley, GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY, approved compensation to such persons as are living, and to those that legally represent them that are dead
3. 28 Aug 1957, No Disgrace to Descendants, General Court of Massachusetts, ...such proceedings, were and are shocking, and the result of a wave of popular hysterical fear of the Devil in the community, and further declares that, as all the laws under which said proceedings...have been long since abandoned and superseded by our more civilized laws, no disgrace or cause for distress attaches to the said descendants or any of them by reason of said proceedings.^[4]
4. 31 Oct 2001, Additional Victims Included, Massachusetts Senate and House of Representatives in General Court, AN ACT RELATIVE TO THE WITCHCRAFT TRIAL OF 1692, chapter 145 is hereby further amended by adding Bridget Bishop, Susannah Martin, Alice Parker, Margaret Scott and Wilmot Redd.^[5]

Sources

1. ↑ https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/37813062/person/19150489044/facts/citation/140040543856/edit/record
2. ↑ Source Citation Genealogical Publishing Co.; Baltimore, MD, USA; Volume Title: New England Marriages Prior to 1700 Description Volume Title: New England Marriages Prior to 1700 Source Information Ancestry.com. U.S., New England Marriages Prior to 1700 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2012. Original data: Torry, Clarence A. New England Marriages Prior to 1700. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2004.
3. ↑ “Salem Witchcraft : with an Account of Salem Village, and a History of Opinions on Witchcraft and Kindred Subjects : Upham, Charles Wentworth, 1802-1875, Author : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming.” Internet Archive, January 1, 1970. http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/17845
4. ↑ https://www.mass.gov/doc/resolves-of-1957-chapter-145/download
5. ↑ https://malegislature.gov/Laws/SessionLaws/Acts/2001/Chapter122