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Thomas Danforth
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{{short description|17th-century Massachusetts Bay Colony magistrate and politician}} {{good article}} {{Infobox officeholder |name = Thomas Danforth |image = |order = |office = [[List of colonial governors of Massachusetts|Deputy Governor]] of the [[Massachusetts Bay Colony]] |term_start = 1679 |term_end = 1686 |predecessor = [[Simon Bradstreet]] |successor = [[William Stoughton (Massachusetts)|William Stoughton]] (as deputy president of the [[Dominion of New England]]) |term_start2 = 1689 |term_end2 = 1692 |predecessor2 = [[Francis Nicholson]] (as lieutenant governor of the Dominion of New England) |successor2 = William Stoughton (as lieutenant governor of the [[Province of Massachusetts Bay]]) |signature = ThomasDanforthSignature.png |birth_date = bapt. November 20, 1623 |birth_place = [[Framlingham]], [[Suffolk]], [[Kingdom of England|England]] |death_date = November 5, 1699 (aged 76) |death_place = [[Province of Massachusetts Bay]] |profession = Magistrate }} '''Thomas Danforth ''' (baptized November 20, 1623 β November 5, 1699) was a politician, magistrate, and landowner in the [[Massachusetts Bay Colony]]. A conservative [[Puritan]], he served for many years as one of the colony's councilors and magistrates, generally leading opposition to attempts by the English kings to assert control over the colony. He accumulated land in the central part of the colony that eventually became a portion of [[Framingham, Massachusetts]]. His government roles included administration of territory in present-day [[Maine]] that was purchased by the colony. Danforth was a magistrate and leading figure in the colony at the time of the [[Salem witch trials]], but did not sit on the [[Court of Oyer and Terminer]]. Despite this, he is inaccurately depicted in [[Arthur Miller]]'s 1953 play ''[[The Crucible]]'' and its movie adaptations as doing so. In reality, Danforth is recorded as being critical of the conduct of the trials, and played a role in bringing them to an end.<ref>Burr, George Lincoln {{Google books|Rm2VLpGmhqQC|Narratives of the Witchcraft Cases, 1648-1706|page=184}}</ref>
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