Giles Corey was a successful farmer from Salem village who was accused of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692.
Born in Northampton, England, in 1621, Corey immigrated to the Massachusetts Bay Colony sometime after he married his first wife, Margaret.
Giles Corey's Early Life:
Corey first lived in Salem town but then moved to Salem Village in 1659 and became a farmer. His wife died shortly after and he married a London immigrant, Mary Brite, on April 11, 1664. After Mary died in 1684, Corey married a widow named Martha Panon in 1690.
Corey was considered by many to be a violent man after he was charged with beating his farmhand, Jacob Goodale, to death with a stick in 1676. He stood trial, during which John Proctor testified that he heard Corey admit he had beaten Goodale, but in the end Corey was only fined for his actions.
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