George Corwin

Who was George Corwin?

George Corwin was the High Sheriff of Essex County, Massachusetts, during the Salem witch trials. He signed warrants for the arrest and execution of those condemned of witchcraft. On September 16, 1692, he was ordered by the Court of Oyer and Terminer to preside over the interrogation under torture of Giles Corey, who was pressed to death for refusing to stand trial for witchcraft. Corwin died of a heart attack, in 1696, at the age of 30, after which his burial was delayed by a Salem resident named Phillip English, who was accused during the Witch Trials, and had his property seized by Corwin. English put a lien on Corwin's corpse, and delayed its burial until he had been reimbursed for the property he lost to Corwin.

George Corwin was the grandson of John Winthrop the Younger, the Governor of Connecticut. His wife, Lydia Gedney, was the daughter of Bartholomew Gedney, one of the magistrates involved in the witch trials.