Excerpt from Henry S. Nourse’s “History of the Town of Harvard Massachusetts 1732–1893,” written in 1894.
Harvard, which has drawn to it transcendentalists, Shakers and forward-thinkers, did not escape the madness of the 17th-century Salem witch trials.
Henry Nourse reports that John Willard, who may have been related to the 17th-century garrison commandant, Henry Willard, owned a 30-acre parcel in Harvard and also held some land interests in Salem, where he lived in 1692. The authorities in Salem employed Willard in arresting “several persons accused of witchcraft.” Soon they began to order him to arrest people he knew and respected, people he could not believe would be involved in “wrongful practices,” so he “refused the ungracious office.” However, the authorities could not suffer him to resign, and finally accused him of the same crime. He fled, and made it as far as Nashaway, about 40 miles from Salem, when he was apprehended. He was delivered to the court May 18, 1692, and like the other victims of the witch hunts, was tried and convicted. Willard met his fate on the gallows with several other accused witches on Aug. 19, 1692, “the date of that wholesale hanging.”
275 Years of a Town: In June 1732, the town of Harvard incorporated within the colony, after nearly 100 years of settlement in the area and several years of petitions, objections, and re-petitions to the legislature. To celebrate this milestone, the Press is running extracts from Henry S. Nourse’s History of the Town of Harvard Massachusetts 1732–1893.
