The Reverend Samuel Parris 

The Reverend Samuel Parris 

One of the early ministers in Dunstable was The Reverend Samuel Parris, the man who instigated the infamous Salem Witch trials in 1692.  The results of the hysteria were 19 deaths and the imprisonment of 125 completely innocent victims. 

 Samuel Parris’s father had insisted that his son attend Harvard College.   Part way through his studies, the elder Mr. Parris died, and Samuel withdrew from college, took his inheritance, and left the country.  He managed a sugar plantation in Barbados, but when it failed, he decided to change careers and become a Minister, without the benefit of credentials.  

He returned to Boston in 1680, bringing two of his slaves with him, Tituba and her husband, John Indian.  Around the fireplace in the kitchen, Tituba often entertained the children of the family with stories from her homeland which, unfortunately, included folklore tales of giants and witches. It was Rev. Parris’s daughter, Betty (age 9), who accused Tituba of casting a spell over her cousin Abigail (age 11) and herself.   Thus, on the testimony of Parris children, the Salem area witch hysteria and trials ensued.  When sanity was eventually restored to the community, Rev. Parris was dismissed from the Salem church (1697) and subsequently moved on to Stow and then Concord, MA. 

Reverend Parris eventually found his way here and as early as October 1, 1708, he was preaching in the Dunstable Meeting House, where he continued his duties until the Winter 1711 or Spring of 1712.  On February 27th 1720 he died at age 58 in Sudbury, MA, thus closing a particularly dark period in our colonial history.

There are a lot of interesting stories about the men and women who lived, studied, and worked here and we look forward to sharing them with you. In the meantime, please be cautious if you read stories to your children such as “Jack in the Beanstalk”, “Hansel and Gretel” or “The Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow”. Halloween is not far away!