-[Henry] Jeff, you're looking at two court records from the year 1692, from Essex County, Massachusetts.

They were recorded in September 1962.

-"The examination and confession of Samuel Wardwell.

Samuel Wardwell sayeth that at that time when the Devil appeared and told him he was a prince of the heir, that then he signed his book by making a mark like a square with a black pen, and that the Devil brought him the pen and ink.

The testimony of Thomas Chandler, aged about 65, who sayeth that I have often heard Samuel Wardwell of Andover tell young persons their fortune, and he was much addicted to that."

-Your ancestor's testifying about a man named Samuel Wardwell and saying, "I've heard him say these things."

You know why he would be testifying at this particular time?

-Salem witch trials?

[chuckling] No.

Oh, God, okay.

-[laughs] -Now the Salem witch trials are my fault.

-[laughs] -All right, sure, bring it, bring it.

I can handle it.

I can persevere through that.

-[Henry VO] Jeff's ancestor testified against a man named Samuel Wardwell, one of the roughly 150 people who were accused in what became known as the Salem witch trials.

Wardwell was a self-professed fortune teller, and he fell victim to the hysteria that had gripped his fellow colonists.

-[Henry] Now, according to scholars with whom we spoke, your ancestor's testimony in this trial is fairly mild.

But this was not his only involvement... -[chuckling] No, no!

-[Henry] In the affair.

Would you please turn the page?

-[sighs] -[Henry] This is an indictment handed down around the 16th of September, 1692.

Will you please read the transcribed section?

-"That Mary Parker of Andover, in the year aforesaid and diverse other days and times as well as before as after certain detestable arts called 'witchcraft' and 'sorceries,' wickedly, maliciously, and feloniously hath used, practiced, and exercised aforesaid in, upon, and against one Sarah Phelps of Andover and against one Hannah Bigsby of Andover in the county aforesaid inquired of Captain Thomas Chandler."

-Mary Parker was a well-off 50-year-old widowed mother of 10 children.

So unlike Samuel Wardwell, who was something of a social outcast 'cause he was a self-described fortune teller... -In the street with a pack of cards, okay.

-Here, Thomas is accusing a neighbor and a peer.

What do you guess what driving this?

-I have no idea.

No idea.

-[Henry] Can you read again the names of the persons Mary Parker ostensibly afflicted?

-[Jeff] Sarah Phelps of Andover and Hannah Bigsby of Andover.

-Hannah Bigsby was born Hannah Chandler.

-So...daughter?

-Hannah Chandler was Thomas' daughter.

-Daughter, married a Bigsby... -[Henry] Mm-hm.

So he was defending his daughter.

-Defending his daughter.

-And Sarah Phelps was Thomas' granddaughter.

-[Jeff] So Mary Parker is practicing witchcraft and sorcery on his daughter and granddaughter?

-That's right, against two generations of his family.

-And we're gonna put a stop to that.

-[Henry] That's right.

We're gonna put her lights out.

-[sighs] -[Henry VO] On September 22nd, 1692, just weeks after their trials, Mary Parker and Samuel Wardwell, along with six others, were hanged.

Both went to their deaths professing their innocence.

-Ah, man.

Great.

-How do you think your eight great-grandfather felt about his involvement in this?

-Well, I would guess thrilled.

Happy as a clam.

-Mm-hm.

-[Jeff] "Look what I did."

-"Got rid of the evil people."

-"Got rid of the evil people."

-[Henry] Mm-hm.

-Which he believed to his soul, I guess.

I would like to think that it wasn't just something he did to enjoy, that it was something that he actually believed in, but that doesn't make it a bit better.

-[Henry VO] There's a twist to this story.

In the waning days of the trials, a minister named Francis Dane began to argue against the validity of the evidence being used by the prosecutors.

In response, accusations started to swirl around Dane and his children.

Ironically, Dane was the brother-in-law of Jeff's ancestor, and perhaps convinced that the situation was getting out of hand, Thomas risked his own safety to sign a petition in support of the accused.

-[Henry] Isn't that wild?

-Yeah, and he's-- "Maybe Francis has a point."

-Yeah.

-[Jeff] "Before you hang him from a tree..." -Right.

"Maybe these other people really were witches, but I know Francis is not..." -[sighs] -[Henry] "'Cause he is my family."

-Yup, yup, yup, yup, yup, yup.

-And get this: your eighth great-grandfather was one of the only people who signed this petition -- this is good for him -- who didn't have a direct family member accused of witchcraft.

-All the other ones, it was inside the family.

"It's gonna stop here and we're gonna stop killing people for witchcraft."

-But it wasn't a daughter or, you know, a granddaughter.

-Okay.

-[Henry] What do you make of this?

Do you think it shows remorse, or fear, or courage?

-[Jeff] I'm gonna guess fear.

I'm gonna guess he's probably thinking that if they're coming after him, "Well, that means they're one step removed from me, and maybe they're gonna come after me next," 'cause it is a mob.

-[Henry] Mm-hm.

-It's a mob, as Aaron Sorkin and Harper Lee write in 'Mockingbird,' you know?

-[Henry] Yeah.

-"A mob's a place where people go to take a break from their conscience."

-Yeah.

-"And, uh... we're gonna stop them from coming after me."

Or maybe Francis made a good point and he was having second thoughts, but remorse?

Maybe.

But, you know, a little late, Thomas.

-But he did stand up for Francis Dane, and that was good, you have to say... -He did that, he did that.

-[Henry] Yup.

-He did that.

I think Melvin and Abram would have done something different, but okay, all right, but they weren't in... [sighs] his shoes, I guess.

-What do you think your dad would've made of all this?

-[chuckles] Hm.

It would've blown his mind.

-[Henry] [chuckles] -It would've blown his mind.

Um...

He'd have been proud of the things to be proud of, and he would've been ashamed of the things that happened that he wished he could've changed.