The Committee of Five
Committee 1685 | Petition | Social | Committee 1686 | Petition | Social |
Putnam, Lt. John [Senr] |
Pro-P |
Church |
Putnam, Lt. John |
Pro-P |
Church |
Walcott, Jonathan |
Pro-P |
Householder |
Sibley, William |
NoS |
Householder |
Buxton, John |
Anti-P |
Householder |
Flint, Thomas |
Pro-P |
Church |
Sibley, William |
NoS |
Householder |
Tarbill, John |
Anti-P |
Church |
Putnam, Thomas Junr |
Pro-P |
Church |
Putnam, Thomas Junr |
Pro-P |
Church |
The Committee Yearly Data Set contains information about Salem Village's committees from 1685 to 1698, a period that covers the last years Deodat Lawson's ministry and the entire tenure of Samuel Parris. The data set contains three columns of information for each committee:
- "Committee" lists the names of committeemen for a particular year (in 1688, only four men were elected).
- "Petition" indicates whether the committeeman signed either the pro- or anti-Parris petition in 1695. "NoS" (no signature) means that this committeeman did not sign either petition. Signing a petition strongly suggests but does not conclusively establish a petitioner's earlier position regarding Parris or the witchcraft outbreak.
- "Social" indicates whether the committeeman was a church member or a householder. Three committeemen (William Sibley, James Smith, and Jacob Fuller) have been listed as householders in the absence of information linking them to a church.)
To explore the committee's factional identification, click Next.