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<h1>
HOUSE
<br />
<br />
<span class="size40">OF</span>
<br />
<br />
JOHN PROCTER,
<br />
<br />
<span class="size60"><span class="smcap">Witchcraft Martyr, 1692.</span></span>
<br />
<br />
</h1>

<div class="center">
<hr class="hr2" />
<br />
<br />
<span class="smcap">By Wm. P. Upham.</span>
<br />
<br />
<hr class="hr2" />
<br />
<br />
<span class="size70">PEABODY:<br />
PRESS OF C. H. SHEPARD,<br />
1904.</span>
</div>

<p><br /><br /><br /></p>

<div class="figcenter" style="width: 625px;">
<img src="https://brian.carnell.com/wiki/_media/etext:w:william-upton-house-of-john-procter-procter_map.jpg" width="625" height="322" alt="House of John Procter: Map" title="House of John Procter: Map" />
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<p><br /><br /><br /></p>

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<p><!-- Page 3 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p>

<h2>HOUSE OF JOHN PROCTER
<br /><br />
<span class="size70">WITCHCRAFT MARTYR, 1692.</span>
</h2>

<hr class="hr2" />

<div class="blockquote"><p>[A paper read by William P. Upham at a meeting of the
Peabody Historical Society at the Needham house, West
Peabody, September 2nd., 1903.]</p></div>

<p>It is now nearly forty years since I assisted my father, the
late Charles W. Upham, in the preparation of his work on Salem
Village and the Witchcraft tragedy of 1692, by collecting what
information could be obtained from the records as to the people
and their homes in that locality. In doing this I was enabled to
construct a map showing the bounds of the grants and farms at
that time. On that map is represented quite accurately the
Downing Farm, so called, owned, in 1638, by Emanuel Downing,
father of Sir George Downing, and occupied as tenant, in 1692, by
John Procter, the victim of the witchcraft delusion. When I made
the map I knew that John Procter at his death owned, as appears
by the inventory of his estate, fifteen acres of land in Salem,
but I was not able then to locate it with exactness. Lately, in
making a more complete study of the records relating to the
Downing farm and the surrounding lands I have learned the exact
situation of the fifteen acre lot owned by him, and also that he
had a house upon it as early as 1682 and until his death in 1692.
It appears that this lot is the place where he was buried,
according to the family tradition, although the knowledge as to
its being once owned by him seems to have passed out of the
neighborhood for more than a century.</p>

<p><!-- Page 4 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span>This lot is indicated, on the accompanying map of the locality
which I have drawn for the purpose, by heavy dark lines. It was
on the north side of Lowell Street in West Peabody, just west of
the westernmost line of the Downing Farm and about one hundred
and fifty rods east from the place of this meeting, which is the
Needham homestead on the Newburyport Turnpike, or Newbury Street
as it is now called, marked on the map as then, in 1692, the home
of Anthony Needham, Junior.</p>

<p>The discovery that this was John Procter's land called to mind a
conversation I had with Mrs. Jacobs, an aged lady who lived in
the old Jacobs house, now the Wyman place, and of which I made
the following memorandum about thirty years ago:&mdash;</p>

<p>"Mrs. Jacobs (Munroe) says that it was always said that Procters
were buried near the bars as you go into the Philip H. Saunders
place. Mr. James Marsh says he always heard that John Procter, of
witch time, was buried there."</p>

<p>Upon inquiring lately of Mrs. Osborn, the librarian of the
Peabody Historical Society, as to what was the family tradition,
I learned that it was said by Mrs. Hannah B. Mansfield, of
Danvers, that John Procter was buried "opposite to the Colcord"
(now the Wyman) "pasture, amongst the rocks." In answer to
an inquiry by Mrs. Osborn, Mrs. Mansfield wrote to her as
follows:&mdash;"A great aunt took me, when a little girl, with her to
a spot in a rocky hill where she picked blackberries, and said
there was the place 'among birch trees and rocks where our
ancestor of witchcraft notoriety was buried.' It was on the north
side of Lowell Street in what was then called the Marsh pasture
nearly opposite the Jacobs farm which is on the south side of
Lowell Street."</p>

<p>The Marsh pasture from which Mrs. Mansfield's aunt pointed out
the "birch trees and rocks" near by where<!-- Page 5 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> John Procter was
buried was, no doubt, the pasture conveyed by James Marsh to
Philip H. Saunders, 11 June, 1863, and then described as
"thirteen acres known by the name of Bates Pasture." I do not
know of any other place near there that would be called the Marsh
pasture at the time Mrs. Mansfield mentions. This thirteen acre
pasture was conveyed by Ezekiel Marsh to John Marsh, 15 Oct.,
1819, having been devised to him by his father Ezekiel Marsh. It
had a way leading to it from Lowell Street over the eastern end
of the John Procter lot as shown on my map. This way is still
used as well as the bars opening into it on Lowell Street a few
rods east of the westerly way leading southerly to the Jacobs, or
Wyman, place. These are the "bars as you go into the Philip H.
Saunders place" mentioned by Mrs. Jacobs as stated above, unless
we suppose the expression to mean bars leading from the John
Procter lot where the way enters the Philip H. Saunders place, or
Marsh pasture, as Mrs. Mansfield calls it. Perhaps the latter
locality is the most probable since it is high rocky ground; but
which bars were meant is uncertain.</p>

<p>Mr. Daniel H. Felton, who has an intimate knowledge of the
history of all the lands about Felton's Hill, and is himself a
descendant of John Procter, informs me that Mrs. Hannah B.
Mansfield some years since related to him "that she went berrying
at the Jacobs farm when she was a child and that older persons
said that John Procter was buried on the opposite side of the way
(among the rocks) from where they turned off from Lowell Street
to go to the Jacobs farm." Mrs. Mansfield lived when a child on
the Newburyport Turnpike opposite the Needham homestead. It was,
I understand, her "aunt Betsey Gardner" who, when picking
blackberries "on a rocky hill" pointed out to her the place
"among birch trees and rocks" where John Procter was buried.</p>

<p>To reconcile these traditions with the known facts, we<!-- Page 6 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> may
suppose, as related by Mrs. Jacobs and Mrs. Mansfield, that the
place of burial was pointed out to them from the high land on
the Jacobs place south of Lowell Street, where the "rocky hill"
and the bars leading into the Marsh pasture on the north side
of Lowell Street could be plainly seen. Subsequently Mrs.
Mansfield's aunt took her to the rocky hill itself and pointed
out the exact spot, probably close to where the bars lead into
the Marsh pasture, now the Saunders place. In going home from the
Jacobs farm they would turn into Lowell Street at the old way
near the house marked "White" on my map, and some ten rods
westerly from the way above mentioned leading from the opposite
side of Lowell Street to the Saunders place. This way from the
Jacobs place is a very old way. Mr. Felton tells me: "I recollect
that my father said over forty years ago that the gate posts of
locust were nearly one hundred years old then."</p>

<p>Two hundred years ago the Saunders place, formerly the Marsh
pasture, was part of the large tract of homestead land owned by
Anthony Needham. This Needham land included eight acres of land
conveyed by Anthony Needham to his son-in-law, Thomas Gould, 26
Sept., 1705, and conveyed to Thomas Gardner 27 Jan., 1743, by
George Gould, the son of Thomas Gould. The eight acre lot
descended to John Gardner and from him to John Gardner Walcott,
and is where John G. Walcott, Jun., now lives.</p>

<p>The land which I find to be identical with the fifteen acre lot
owned by John Procter is on the north side of Lowell Street
between the above mentioned eight acre lot, now the home of John
G. Walcott, Jun., and the lot marked "Flint Pasture" on my map,
the Procter lot being enclosed by heavy black lines. The westerly
part of the Flint Pasture was conveyed, 17 Sept., 1898, to John
D. Dennis, who lives there now.</p>

<p>The uniform family tradition that John Procter was<!-- Page 7 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> buried in the
locality I have thus described, is confirmed in my mind from a
consideration of certain facts, bearing with more or less
definiteness upon the question, which I will endeavor briefly to
recite.</p>

<p>It is well known that the victims executed as witches on Gallows
Hill in Salem, in 1692, were thrown into mere shallow graves or
crevices in the ledge under the gallows, where the nature of the
ground did not allow complete burial, so that it was stated at
the time that portions of the bodies were hardly covered at all.
It was natural that the relatives of those thus cruelly put to
death and left practically without burial, should, where they
were able and courageous enough for the dangerous undertaking,
remove the bodies to their homes for interment. It is the
tradition that this was done in several cases, secretly and
during the night, that it might not incur the opposition of the
frenzied and deluded people. This removal was made by the
children of Rebecca Nourse, and a beautiful monument now marks
the spot to which her body was removed. There is a similar
tradition in the Procter family, and there is good reason to
believe that his body was removed in a similar manner. But if so,
the necessary secrecy with which the sad duty was performed has
caused the place where he was buried to be known only by the
slender thread of tradition which I have mentioned.</p>

<p>The boulder inscribed to the memory of John Procter, which was
dedicated this past year at the junction of Lowell and Summit
Streets in Peabody, must be considered to have been placed there
not as indicating the locality of his burial, but because
that was the most suitable and available ground in the near
neighborhood of the house where for so many years and at the time
of his death he lived as the tenant of the great Downing Farm.
There was the entrance to the Farm from Salem, and from that spot
one obtains a full view of the farm house where he lived,<!-- Page 8 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span>
believed to be in part still standing on the same site, and of
the fine and far extending tillage land which probably first
attracted the admiration of Emanuel Downing two hundred and
seventy years ago, and is now found so attractive and admirably
suited to the purposes of a golf ground by the Salem Country
Club.</p>

<p>What is now known as the Procter Tomb on the north side of Lowell
Street at the southeastern corner of the Downing Farm is of
modern origin. We cannot believe that John Procter's family would
have deposited his body in ground to which they then had no title
except as tenants. At the time of the imprisonment of John
Procter and his wife Elizabeth the family was no doubt broken up
and the house stripped of everything that could be taken away to
pay the fees of arrest and imprisonment. The great farm was no
longer their home and they were not again in a position to return
to and occupy it as their own until nearly a decade had passed,
when, through the efforts of Thorndike, one of the sons of John
Procter, the Downing Farm in its entirety was purchased from
Charles, the grandson of Emanuel Downing and son of Sir George
Downing, then deceased.</p>

<p>At the time of his death in 1692 John Procter owned, except what
land in Ipswich he may have inherited from his father, only the
fifteen acres with a house upon it, which, as I have said, was
just west of the Downing Farm on the north side of Lowell Street.
This fact alone would render it entirely probable that when the
body was removed, in 1692, it would be carried to this place. In
fact, in view of the peculiar circumstances of the necessity of
secrecy and the otherwise homeless condition of the family, no
other place would have been chosen.</p>

<p>And now that direct tradition of the descendants, independently
of any knowledge that John Procter owned this land, confirms this
view by so remarkably agreeing with<!-- Page 9 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> long forgotten records as to
the locality, it may be said confidently that we know with
reasonable certainty the spot where these revered and honored
relics were laid so long ago. The "bars as you go into the Philip
H. Saunders place" are still there, and the way through is still
used and marks the place where in 1708 John Higginson 3d and
Hannah wife, in conveying to Daniel and Lawrence Southwick the
nine acre lot next east of Procter's lot, reserved the liberty of
a "highway of one pole wide at the western end of said land to be
for ye use of Anthony Needham Sen," "they to maintain a pair of
sufficient bars next ye common highway so long as they use the
same."</p>

<p>Anthony Needham, Sen., at that time owned what has recently been
known as the Philip H. Saunders place, and this right of way was
for the benefit of that place. Mr. Dennis now lives at the
westerly end of the nine acre lot conveyed by Higginson, as above
mentioned, which was long known as the "Flint Pasture." The bars
and the way are now on the west side of the wall dividing the
Dennis land from the Procter lot instead of being on the east
side; indicating that the dividing line was at some time changed.
This change may have been made without any evidence of it
appearing on record, by Zachariah King, who owned both lots from
1811 till 1818; and this would account for the apparent change in
size of the two lots as described in the deeds, the westerly (or
Procter) lot increasing while the easterly lot decreased.</p>

<p>On the north side of Lowell Street, about half way between these
bars and the John G. Walcott, Jun., house, is a well on the edge
of the road against a steep rocky hill rising back of it. This, I
understand, has sometimes been called the "Procter well." There
seems to be no room for a house close by it on that side of the
road, but it is possible that the road may anciently have turned
more to the south at this point, though I have not found any
evidence in the records to that effect.</p>

<p><!-- Page 10 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span>The history of the John Procter house and fifteen acres of land,
as derived from the records, may be briefly stated as follows:&mdash;</p>

<p>Before we can understand the meaning of the deeds of the Procter
lot we must know something of the history of the Downing Farm and
particularly of the nine acre lot known formerly as the Flint
Pasture, which is the large area of cleared land on the north
side of Lowell Street, on the west end of which is at present the
house of Mr. Dennis. That this may be better understood at a
glance I have marked on my sketch, by a broken line, the bounds
of the Downing Farm, which included the "Flint Pasture."</p>

<p>It seems that about two hundred and seventy years ago Roger
Morey, a companion and it is thought a relative or connection of
Roger Williams, had a grant of forty or fifty acres, which was
located to the west or southwest of a large tract granted to
Robert Cole and sold to Emanuel Downing before 1638. The Roger
Morey grant was on both sides of what is now Lowell Street, that
part on the northerly side being the same nine or ten acres above
mentioned as afterwards known by the name of the Flint Pasture.</p>

<p>In a deposition by Nathaniel Felton Sept. 18, 1700, he being then
85 years of age, he says: "Soon after Roger Morrey removed from
Salem, which was before 1644, I, this deponent, heard that said
Morrey had sold his land in the woods to Emanuel Downing and I do
further testify [as to?] a parcel of swamp or upland &amp; meadow
being a part and belonging to ye said Morrey, and [it] lyeth at
the westerly end of Mr. Downing's farm"&mdash;deponent "has lived
about 55 years a near neighbor to said farm and never heard that
said Morrey's land was claimed by anybody but the tenants living
on Mr. Downing's farm." [Reg'y of Deeds, Salem, B. 15, Fol. 5.]
Fortunately for the identification of this land, a most
remarkable bound often referred to in the ancient deeds is still
to be seen marking the exact northeasterly<!-- Page 11 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> corner of the Morey
grant. It is a high and precipitous rock about twenty rods
northerly from Lowell street just opposite the house on the south
side which was formerly the house of Nathaniel Flint, and a few
rods westerly from the easterly way leading southerly to the
Wyman Farm. It forms the northeasterly corner bound of the
"Flint Pasture," and is marked on my sketch "Morey's Bound,"
that being the name given to it in the numerous ancient deeds
and depositions.</p>

<p>The return of the settlement of the northwesterly bounds of the
Downing Farm in 1681, recorded in Salem town records, gives the
line from the extreme northwestern corner by Putnam's land as
running "strait on to a white oak called Morey's Bound."</p>

<p>In a controversy which seems to have existed in 1685 and in 1690
between Anthony Needham and the owners of land adjoining his,
presumably the owners of the Downing Farm, Nathaniel Felton
testifies that "about 30 years since" (that is about 1660) "Mr.
Thomas Gardner and Jeffry Massey (who by virtue of a grant of 200
acres due unto Mr. Bacon<a name="FNanchor_A_1" id="FNanchor_A_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_1" class="fnanchor">[A]</a>) when they went to lay out the said
200 acres I this deponent went with them, where cominge upon the
land neere adjoyning to the farm called Mr. Downings farme, the
first bound they made of the said two hundred acres was upon a
hill being as I conceive about 20 rods on the north side of the
highway<a name="FNanchor_B_2" id="FNanchor_B_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_2" class="fnanchor">[B]</a> leading up to Joseph Pope's farme, and was a white oak
sufficiently marked, ye which white oak the surveyors affirmed
was the northeast corner bounds of [Moreys]<a name="FNanchor_C_3" id="FNanchor_C_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_C_3" class="fnanchor">[C]</a> farm, from thence
they went upon a<!-- Page 12 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> straight line westward to another white oak
which was marked also upon four sides, and stood neer about 20
rods to the northward of ye said highway which the said surveyors
affirmed to be the northwest corner bounds of the said [Morey's]
farme, and it also was the northeast corner bounds of John Marsh
his farme, which did joyne to ye [Morey] farme; and I doe further
testifie that John Marsh shewed me the said white oake and
affirmed it to be the northeast corner bound of his land and the
northwest corner bound of [Morey's] land."</p>

<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_1" id="Footnote_A_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_1"><span class="label">[A]</span></a> There are depositions recorded in Essex Reg'y, B.
11, Fol. 186-9, by which it appears that Rebecca, wife of William
Bacon, was a daughter of Thomas Potter, Esq., and that her
brother, Humphrey Potter, was the father of Ann Potter,
afterwards the wife of Anthony Needham.</p></div>

<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_2" id="Footnote_B_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_B_2"><span class="label">[B]</span></a> Now Lowell Street.</p></div>

<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_C_3" id="Footnote_C_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_C_3"><span class="label">[C]</span></a> In the record it is Massey, evidently a mistake, as
shown by Marsh's deposition, next given.</p></div>

<p>In 1685 Zachariah Marsh testifies that "about 25 years since my
father John Marsh, desirous I should know the bounds of his farme
took me along with him, and he then shewed me all the four corner
bounds belonging to his farme, and this I doe testifie that he
shewed me a white oake sufficiently marked standing about 20 rods
northward of the highway leading up to Joseph Pope's by a little
swamp the which oake my father affirmed was the northeast corner
bounds of his farme, and that it was also the northwest corner
bounds of Roger More's farme; and further I doe testifie that
when we run the line Anthony Needham being present owned the said
white oake to be the corner bounds of my father's farme, and this
is the bounds in controversy and ye same that Nath. Felton
attested unto, and hath ever been reputed so to be, no man that
ever I know having questioned it, till of late Anthony Needham."
This deposition was again sworn to in 1690. See Reg'y of Deeds at
Salem, Book 8, F. 181.</p>

<p>This controversy was probably between Anthony Needham and John
Procter as tenant of the Downing Farm, as appears by an action at
the Salem Court, Nov., 1685, for damage done to John Procter in
claiming "land belonging to the plaintiff as being in possession
of, and hiring the said land of the Worshipful Symon Bradstreet
Esq.," said land being part of a farm "formerly belonging to Mr.<!-- Page 13 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span>
Emanuel Downing"&mdash;Bradstreet married the daughter of Downing.</p>

<p>The bounds described in these depositions are those of the "Flint
pasture" and have remained substantially unchanged to the present
day, as is evident to the eye, for, in passing along Lowell Street
one can see plainly the old and venerable looking stone wall
beginning at "Morey's Bound" on the top of the high rock and
running along in a westerly direction at about twenty rods
distance northerly from the street. In the deed of the Downing
Farm to Thorndike Procter 13 Sept., 1700, the two bounds testified
to by Felton and by Marsh are mentioned as follows:&mdash;the line
of the Downing Farm running from the northwest corner bound
"southwestward unto a white oak tree standing on the Rocks, and
from thence northwestward unto a swamp white oak stump standing
about 20 poles on the northerly side of the way leading to Anthony
Needhams" etc. In the deed by Thorndike Procter to his brother
Benjamin, in 1701, of that portion of the Downing Farm now owned
by Daniel Brown, the Morey bound is described as "a dead white
oak Bound Tree standing on the Rocks."</p>

<p>The portion of the Downing Farm marked on my sketch as the Flint
Pasture, being about nine or ten acres, was conveyed with other
portions by Thorndike Procter to Samuel Marble, in 1701, the two
bounds above mentioned being described in the same words. Samuel
Marble the next year conveyed the same to Samuel Gardner. Hannah,
the wife of John Higginson 3d, mentioned above as conveying this
lot to the Southwicks in 1708, was a daughter of Samuel Gardner.
Daniel Southwick, Jr., conveyed the same to Jonathan Flint in
1729 and he conveyed it to John Jacobs in 1738. John Jacobs left
it by will to his son Daniel, who conveyed it to Zachariah King
in 1775. By him it was divided between his daughters Desire
Procter<!-- Page 14 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> and Mary Upton, in 1818, and its history is thus brought
within the knowledge of those now living.</p>

<p>West of this Flint Pasture was the Procter fifteen acre lot, the
description of which in the deeds and depositions we can now
understand. How John Procter became owner of this fifteen acre
lot does not appear upon record, but as John Marsh appears, by
the depositions of Nathaniel Felton and Zachariah Marsh given
above, to have been the owner there originally, we may conjecture
that the title came from him by some unrecorded deed or
otherwise.</p>

<p>The following deed, dated 5 Nov., 1681, and recorded Book 6, Fol.
48, may throw some light on this question, as it apparently
conveys the eight acre lot which, as above mentioned, was
conveyed by Anthony Needham to his son-in-law Thomas Gould, in
1705, where John G. Walcott, Jun., now lives.</p>

<p>Joseph Procter of Ipswich conveys to Anthony Needham of Salem "a
certain tract of land being the third part of twenty three acres
of land (formerly the land of John Herod) lying and being in ye
towne of Salem aforesaid, the said twenty three acres of land
being bounded on ye northerly side with ye land of ye said
Needham, on ye south with ye highway, on ye west with ye land of
ye said Anthony Needham, and on ye east with ye land now in ye
occupation of John Procter."</p>

<p>Supposing this third part of the twenty-three acres to have
been the eight acre lot referred to above, being the only
locality that would agree with the description, the land in the
"occupation of John Procter" on the east side of the whole
"twenty three acres" would be the "Flint Pasture," part of the
Downing Farm, which was then, in 1681, in the occupation of John
Procter, as tenant. It is therefore quite probable that the
"fifteen acre" lot which John Procter owned was the other two
thirds part of the "twenty three acres," and that he became
possessed of it<!-- Page 15 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> in the same way that his brother, Joseph
Procter, became possessed of the third part, perhaps in the
division of an estate. What the estate was may be ascertained by
future investigation.</p>

<p>The first we know positively of the lot in question as being John
Procter's is through the record of an action which he brought at
the County Court, in 1685, against Steven Fish for nine pounds
ten shillings due for rent. Procter was nonsuited. Fish at the
same time sued Procter for non delivery of land hired of him by
lease March 1st, 1681, (1681-2). The jury found for a delivery of
the land according to the lease.</p>

<p>In 1689 John Procter "for my love and parental affection unto my
beloved wife Elizabeth Procter and all her children" conveys to
certain trustees for their benefit "all my estate for their
supply and maintenance and make over and give to them my house
and land lying in Salem bounds containing fifteen acres, more or
less, bounded with ye land of Anthony Needham northwest and east
southerly<a name="FNanchor_D_4" id="FNanchor_D_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_D_4" class="fnanchor">[D]</a> and south and west with ye common road or highway in
part and partly alsoe with land of John Marsh and some land of
Thomas Gardner Sen. that comes within the highway." The last
words in this description are puzzling and perhaps indicate that
the road at the westerly end of the lot ran further to the south
than it does to-day.</p>

<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_D_4" id="Footnote_D_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_D_4"><span class="label">[D]</span></a> This probably refers to the way which Needham had to
his land over the western end of the lot lying next east of the
Procter lot.</p></div>

<p>The next information is obtained from a deposition by Anthony
Needham, Thomas Gould and Isaac Needham, in 1730, taken "<i>in
perpetuam rei memoriam</i>" and recorded in the Registry, Book 54,
Leaf 246, as follows:&mdash;They testify that "they very well knew
that Mr. John Procter late of Salem, deceased, possessed in his
own right for several years before and untill ninety two<a name="FNanchor_E_5" id="FNanchor_E_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_E_5" class="fnanchor">[E]</a> a
certain tract of land<!-- Page 16 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> situate in Salem aforesaid containing
about 15 acres, butting easterly on land now in ye possession of
Jonathan Flint, southerly and southwesterly on the highway
leading to Joseph Popes,<a name="FNanchor_F_6" id="FNanchor_F_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_F_6" class="fnanchor">[F]</a> northwesterly and northerly on land
of the deponent Thomas Gould and northeasterly on land of Thomas
Needham. That the said John Procter had a house upon the
abovesaid land which he leased to one Stephen Fish<a name="FNanchor_G_7" id="FNanchor_G_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_G_7" class="fnanchor">[G]</a> since let
to one Lincoln and to one Bates, who improved it under and in
right of the said John Procter. That Benjamin Procter son of the
said John Procter possessed and improved ye above described
parcel of land from the year 1692 untill his decease which
happened about fourteen years since. That Mary the widow of said
Benjamin Procter and her son John Procter have possessed and
improved the same right from the time of his decease untill this
day." The deposition is dated Jan. 7, 1730. The name of "Bates
pasture" applied to the Philip H. Saunders place in the deed from
Marsh, in 1863, suggests the thought that it may have been
derived from the Bates mentioned in the deposition as one of the
tenants of the John Procter house.</p>

<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_E_5" id="Footnote_E_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_E_5"><span class="label">[E]</span></a> 1692.</p></div>

<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_F_6" id="Footnote_F_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_F_6"><span class="label">[F]</span></a> Now Lowell Street.</p></div>

<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_G_7" id="Footnote_G_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_G_7"><span class="label">[G]</span></a> See above, the suit against Fish for rent.</p></div>

<p>It only remains to trace the title of the John Procter lot to the
present time. It appears from various deeds and other records
that the title descended from John Procter to his son Benjamin,
and then to his son John, the grandson of the first named John
Procter. From him it passed to his son Benjamin, and then to this
Benjamin's sons, James and Francis Procter. Francis gave a deed
of it to James April 19, 1802. Desire Procter, widow and
administratrix of James Procter, conveyed it to Zachariah King
Aug. 9, 1811, describing it as "a certain piece of land called
the upper pasture situate in said Danvers containing sixteen
acres, be the same more or less, and is bounded as follows,<!-- Page 17 --><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>
viz.&mdash;southerly on the highway, northwesterly and northerly on
land of John Gardner, Jr., northeasterly on land of Ezekiel
Marsh, and southeasterly on land of the said Zachariah King to
the bound first mentioned." Zachariah King conveyed the same to
his daughter, Desire Procter of Danvers, widow, Feb. 18, 1818.</p>

<p>From Desire Procter the title descended to Rebecca P. Osborne,
her granddaughter, and others who, in 1889, conveyed the lot to
Harriet A. Walcott, wife of John G. Walcott, the description
being as follows:&mdash;"a parcel of land in that part of Peabody
called West Peabody, containing about seventeen acres and
two fourths and formerly called the Upper Pasture, bounded
southwesterly by Lowell Street about ninety two rods and eleven
links, northwesterly by land of Walcott, formerly of John
Gardner, about thirty eight rods, northeasterly by land of
Walcott, formerly of Gardner, and by land of Philip Marsh,
formerly of Ezekiel Marsh, about seventy six rods and nineteen
links, southeasterly by other land of the grantors, formerly of
Zachariah King, about seventeen rods and fourteen links."</p>

<p>John G. Walcott and Harriet A. Walcott, wife, conveyed the same
to Mary E. Collins, wife of William F. M. Collins, by deed dated
June 27, 1898.</p>

<hr />

<h2><span class="size70"><a name="INDEX" id="INDEX"></a>INDEX.</span></h2>

<p>Bacon, Rebecca, <a href="#Page_12">12</a><br />
<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"&nbsp; &nbsp; William, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></span></p>

<p>Bates, &mdash;&mdash;, <a href="#Page_16">16</a></p>

<p>Bates pasture, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a></p>

<p>Bradstreet, Symon, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></p>

<p>Brown, Daniel, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></p>

<p>Burial in shallow graves, <a href="#Page_7">7</a><br />
<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"&nbsp; &nbsp; removal of bodies for, <a href="#Page_7">7</a></span></p>

<p>Colcord place (now Wyman), <a href="#Page_4">4</a></p>

<p>Cole, Robert, <a href="#Page_10">10</a></p>

<p>Collins, Mary E., <a href="#Page_17">17</a><br />
<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"&nbsp; &nbsp; William F. M., <a href="#Page_17">17</a></span></p>

<p>Danvers, Mrs. H. B. Mansfield of, <a href="#Page_4">4</a><br />
<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"&nbsp; &nbsp;  land in, <a href="#Page_16">16</a></span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"&nbsp; &nbsp;  Desire Procter of, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></span></p>

<p>Dennis, John D., <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a></p>

<p>Downing, Charles, <a href="#Page_8">8</a><br />
<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"&nbsp; &nbsp; Emanuel, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"&nbsp; &nbsp; George, Sir, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_8">8</a></span></p>

<p>Downing Farm, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a></p>


<p>Felton, Daniel H., <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a><br />
<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"&nbsp; &nbsp;  Nathaniel, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a></span></p>

<p>Felton's Hill, <a href="#Page_5">5</a></p>

<p>Fish, Steven or Stephen, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a></p>

<p>Flint, Jonathan, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a><br />
<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"&nbsp; &nbsp;  Nathaniel,&nbsp; <a href="#Page_11">11</a></span></p>

<p>Flint pasture, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a></p>


<p>Gallows Hill, Salem, <a href="#Page_7">7</a></p>

<p>Gardner, Betsey, <a href="#Page_5">5</a><br />
<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"&nbsp; &nbsp;  Hannah (married Higginson), <a href="#Page_13">13</a></span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"&nbsp; &nbsp;  John, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"&nbsp; &nbsp;  John, Jr., <a href="#Page_17">17</a></span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"&nbsp; &nbsp;  Samuel, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"&nbsp; &nbsp;  Thomas, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></span></p>

<p>Gould, George, <a href="#Page_6">6</a><br />
<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"&nbsp; &nbsp; Thomas, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a></span></p>

<p>Herod, John, <a href="#Page_14">14</a></p>

<p>Higginson, Hannah (daughter of Samuel Gardner), <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a><br />
<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"&nbsp; &nbsp; John, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>d., <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></span></p>

<p>Ipswich, land in, owned by John Procter, <a href="#Page_8">8</a></p>

<p>Jacobs, &mdash;&mdash;, Mrs., account of the Procter tradition, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a><br />
<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"&nbsp; &nbsp; Daniel, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"&nbsp; &nbsp; John, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></span></p>

<p>Jacobs house and farm (now Wyman), <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a></p>

<p>King, Zachariah, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></p>

<p>Lincoln, &mdash;&mdash;, <a href="#Page_16">16</a></p>

<p>Lowell Street, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></p>

<p>Mansfield, Hannah B., account of the Procter tradition, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a></p>

<p>Marble, Samuel, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></p>

<p>Marsh, Ezekiel, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a><br />
<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"&nbsp; &nbsp; James, account of the Procter tradition, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a></span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"&nbsp; &nbsp; James, to Philip H. Saunders, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a></span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"&nbsp; &nbsp; John, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"&nbsp; &nbsp; Philip, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"&nbsp; &nbsp; Zachariah, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a></span></p>

<p>Marsh pasture, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a></p>

<p>Massey, Jeffry, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></p>

<p>Morey (or Morrey, More), Roger, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></p>

<p>Morey's Bound, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></p>

<p>Munroe, &mdash;&mdash;, Mrs. Jacobs (Munroe) mentioned, <a href="#Page_4">4</a></p>

<p>Needham, Ann, wife of Anthony (formerly Potter), <a href="#Page_11">11</a><br />
<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"&nbsp; &nbsp;  Anthony, Sen., <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"&nbsp; &nbsp;  Anthony, Jun., <a href="#Page_4">4</a></span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"&nbsp; &nbsp;  Isaac, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"&nbsp; &nbsp;  Thomas, <a href="#Page_16">16</a></span></p>

<p>Needham Homestead, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a></p>

<p>Newburyport Turnpike (or Newbury Street), <a href="#Page_5">5</a></p>

<p>Nourse, Rebecca, monument to, <a href="#Page_7">7</a></p>

<p>Osborn, Elizabeth C., Mrs., Librarian of Peabody Hist. Soc., <a href="#Page_4">4</a></p>

<p>Osborne, Rebecca P., <a href="#Page_17">17</a></p>

<p>Peabody, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></p>

<p>Peabody Historical Society, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_4">4</a></p>

<p>Pope, Joseph, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a></p>

<p>Potter, Ann, <a href="#Page_11">11</a><br />
<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"&nbsp; &nbsp; Humphrey, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"&nbsp; &nbsp; Thomas, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></span></p>

<p>Procter, Benjamin, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a><br />
<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"&nbsp; &nbsp; Desire, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"&nbsp; &nbsp; Elizabeth, imprisonment of, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"&nbsp; &nbsp; Francis, <a href="#Page_16">16</a></span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"&nbsp; &nbsp; James, <a href="#Page_16">16</a></span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"&nbsp; &nbsp; John, tenant of Downing Farm, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a></span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; "&nbsp; &nbsp; house and land of, in Salem, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a></span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; "&nbsp; &nbsp; land of, in Ipswich and Salem, <a href="#Page_8">8</a></span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; "&nbsp; &nbsp; place of burial of, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_8">8</a></span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; "&nbsp; &nbsp; monument in memory of, <a href="#Page_7">7</a></span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; "&nbsp; &nbsp; imprisonment of, <a href="#Page_8">8</a></span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; "&nbsp; &nbsp; Thorndike Procter, son of, <a href="#Page_8">8</a></span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; "&nbsp; &nbsp; Daniel H. Felton, descendant of, <a href="#Page_5">5</a></span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"&nbsp; &nbsp; John, grandson of John, <a href="#Page_16">16</a></span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"&nbsp; &nbsp; Joseph, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"&nbsp; &nbsp; Mary, widow of Benjamin, <a href="#Page_16">16</a></span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"&nbsp; &nbsp; Thorndike, son of John, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></span></p>

<p>Procter Tomb, <a href="#Page_8">8</a></p>

<p>Procter Well, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></p>

<p>Putnam, &mdash;&mdash;, land of, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></p>

<p>Salem, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a></p>

<p>Salem Country Club, <a href="#Page_8">8</a></p>

<p>Salem Court, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></p>

<p>Salem Village, <a href="#Page_3">3</a></p>

<p>Saunders, Philip H., <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a></p>

<p>Southwick, Daniel, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a><br />
<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"&nbsp; &nbsp;  Lawrence, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></span></p>

<p>Summit Street, in Peabody, <a href="#Page_7">7</a></p>

<p>Upham, Charles W., <a href="#Page_3">3</a></p>

<p>Upton, Mary, <a href="#Page_14">14</a></p>

<p>Walcott, Harriet A., <a href="#Page_17">17</a><br />
<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"&nbsp; &nbsp; John Gardner, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></span><br />
<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; "&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; "&nbsp; &nbsp; Jun., <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a></span></p>

<p>West Peabody, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></p>

<p>White, &mdash;&mdash;, house of, <a href="#Page_6">6</a></p>

<p>Williams, Roger, <a href="#Page_10">10</a></p>

<p>Witchcraft tragedy, <a href="#Page_3">3</a></p>

<p>Wyman, &mdash;&mdash;, house and farm of, (formerly of Jacobs), <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></p>
</html>