George Herrick
Encyclopedia
George Herrick was the "Marshal" for the Court of Oyer and Terminer
Oyer and terminer
In English law, Oyer and terminer was the Law French name, meaning "to hear and determine", for one of the commissions by which a judge of assize sat...

 during the Salem Witch Trials
Salem witch trials
The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings before county court trials to prosecute people accused of witchcraft in the counties of Essex, Suffolk, and Middlesex in colonial Massachusetts, between February 1692 and May 1693...

. There is no firm evidence that George Herrick was connected with constable Joseph Herrick
Joseph Herrick
Joseph Herrick was the principal law enforcement officer in Salem, Massachusetts during the Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692. Joseph, it was believed, was the son of Henry Herrick, who was the fifth son of Sir William Herrick of Beaumanor Park, in the parish of Loughborough, in the county of...

 although George and Henry were referred to as "kinsmen" by Sidney Perley in the History of Salem. Apparently, their personalities were quite different. Whereas Joseph ended as a skeptic and in opposition to the trials, Marshal Herrick was one of the most vigorous of the prosecutors. Whereas Joseph was born and raised in Salem, George Herrick had not been in New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...

 for many years as of 1692. He then lived for many years. He now has a "Facebook." The last status update was "They don't pay me enough to do this..."

He described himself as "bred a gentleman, and not much used to work." He was described by those who knew him as a "very tall, handsome man, very regular and devout in his attendance at church, religious without bigotry, and having every man's good word." In several of the witch cases, George Herrick is listed as a plaintiff. Marshall Herrick presented the court with his own petition on December 8, 1692; begging the magistrates to pay him "overtime" wages for the hard work he had done during the trials.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK