William Stoughton, Acting Governor of Massachusetts

1631 - 1701  (69 years)

• Name	William Stoughton
  Suffix	Acting Governor of Massachusetts
  Birth	30 Sep 1631	Dorchester, Suffolk, Massachusetts   [1, 2, 3]
  Gender	Male
  Death	7 Jul 1701	Dorchester, Suffolk, Massachusetts   [4, 5, 6]
  Person ID	I10108	Ancestry of PNH, TNH, and others
  Last Modified	8 Mar 2020

  
  

  Father	Israel Stoughton,   b. Bef 18 Feb 1603   d. 1644, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England (Age > 40 years)
  Mother	Elizabeth Knight   d. 6 Aug 1681, Dorchester, Suffolk, Massachusetts
  Marriage	27 Mar 1627	Rotherhite, Surrey, England   [7, 8, 9]
  Family ID	F5650	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  Oversaw the Salem witch trials, first as Chief Justice of the Special Court of Oyer and Terminer in 1692, and then as Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Judicature in 1693. Wikipedia: "In these trials he controversially accepted spectral evidence (based on supposed demonic visions). Unlike some of the other magistrates, he never admitted to the possibility that his acceptance of such evidence was in error." He was later acting Governor of Massachusetts (1694-1699). He never married. Stoughton Hall on Harvard Yard is named after him; the first building of that name was made possible by a £1,000 donation from him. The town of Stoughton, Massachusetts is also named after him.

  
  

• Sources

  [S1617] Abandoning America: Life-Stories from Early New England by Susan Hardman Moore. Woodbridge, Sussex: The Boydell Press, 2013. [S3785] Handwritten account of Elder [George] Minott's family, mss A 3421, R. Stanton Avery Special Collections, New England Historic Genealogical Society, online at digitalcollections.americanancestors.org. Taken from "the most ancient book of the church records in Dorchester.", date only. [S376] Janet and Robert Wolfe Genealogy., year only. [S1617] Abandoning America: Life-Stories from Early New England by Susan Hardman Moore. Woodbridge, Sussex: The Boydell Press, 2013., place only. [S3785] Handwritten account of Elder [George] Minott's family, mss A 3421, R. Stanton Avery Special Collections, New England Historic Genealogical Society, online at digitalcollections.americanancestors.org. Taken from "the most ancient book of the church records in Dorchester.". [S376] Janet and Robert Wolfe Genealogy., date only. [S101] The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633, Volumes 1-3 and The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volumes 1-7, by Robert Charles Anderson. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1996-2011. [S376] Janet and Robert Wolfe Genealogy. [S2906] Puritans and Pedigrees: The Deep Roots of the Great Migration to New England by Robert Charles Anderson. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2018.