Editing Giles Corey (section)

==Pre-trial history==
Giles Corey was born in [[Northampton]], [[Northamptonshire]]. He was [[baptized]] in [[the Holy Sepulchre, Northampton]] on 16 August 1611.{{failed verification|date=November 2023}} Giles was the son of Giles and Elizabeth Corey. His birth is recorded in the parish records.<ref name="coryfamsoc.com">{{cite web|url=http://coryfamsoc.com/genealogies/harpole/giles/giles/b70.htm |title=First Generation |access-date=22 August 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140826115238/http://coryfamsoc.com/genealogies/harpole/giles/giles/b70.htm |archive-date=26 August 2014 }}</ref> His name is quite often spelled "Corey," but the baptismal record is "Cory." It is not certain when he arrived in North America, but there is evidence he was living in Salem Town as early as 1640.<ref>{{cite web|title=Corey Family Genealogy|url=http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~corey/|website=freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com|access-date=28 December 2014|url-status=dead|archive-date=2 April 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080402063839/http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~corey/}}</ref> He originally lived in Salem Town but later moved to nearby Salem Village (now [[Danvers, Massachusetts|Danvers]]) to work as a farmer. There are quite a few entries in the court documents for which he was charged and confessed, mainly petty theft.<ref name="coryfamsoc.com"/> Charges ranged from sleeping on the watch (and once having his weapon stolen from him while doing so), collecting a canoe load of firewood while on watch, and stealing food, tobacco, knives, and several other small items.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://donnagawell.com/the-redemption-of-mehitabel-braybrooke/abcs-of-crime-and-punishment-in-puritan-new-england/g-is-for-giles-corey/ | title=G is for Giles Corey | date=10 November 2016 }}</ref>

Despite these charges, Corey was a prosperous land-owning farmer in Salem and married three times.<ref>{{cite web|title=Giles Corey, Salem Witch|url=http://www.geni.com/people/Giles-Corey/6000000013172703092|website=geni.com|access-date=4 May 2017}}</ref> He is believed to have married his first wife, Margaret, in [[Kingdom of England|England]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Marriage of Giles and Margaret Corey|url=http://www.geni.com/profile/6000000013172703092/events/6000000010667560147|website=geni.com|access-date=4 May 2017}}</ref> Margaret was the mother of his eldest four children: Martha, Margaret, Deliverance, and Elizabeth.<ref name="coryfamsoc.com"/> His second wife was Mary Bright; they were married on 11 April 1664, when Corey was 53 years old,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Pope|first1=Charles Henry|title=The pioneers of Massachusetts : a descriptive list, drawn from records of the colonies, towns, and churches, and other contemporaneous documents|publisher=Baltimore : Genealogical Pub. Co., 1991.|isbn=978-0806307749|page=118|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k___uh7sQAkC&q=giles+corey&pg=PA118|access-date=28 December 2014|date=May 2009}}</ref> and had a son named John.<ref name="coryfamsoc.com"/>

In 1676, Corey was brought to trial and charged with murder in [[Essex County, Massachusetts]], for beating to death one of his [[indentured servitude|indentured]] farm workers, Jacob Goodale (also spelled "Goodell" or "Goodall"), son of Robert and Catherine Goodale and brother to [[Isaac Goodale House|Isaac Goodale]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=The ancestry of Lydia Harmon, 1755–1836, wife of Joseph Waterhouse of Standish, Maine |last=Davis |first=Walter Goodwin |publisher=Stanhope Press |year=1924 |location=Boston |pages=33–36|hdl = 2027/wu.89066181652}}</ref> According to witnesses, Corey had severely beaten Goodale with a stick after he was allegedly caught stealing apples from Corey's brother-in-law. Though Corey eventually sent him to receive medical attention ten days later, Goodale died shortly thereafter. The local coroner, as well as numerous witnesses and eyewitnesses, testified against Corey, including neighbor [[John Proctor (Salem witch trials)|John Proctor]], who testified that he heard Corey admit he had beaten Goodale.<ref>[https://historyofmassachusetts.org/the-curse-of-giles-corey/ The curse of Giles Corey] historyofmassachusetts.org {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230926174914/https://historyofmassachusetts.org/the-curse-of-giles-corey/ |date=26 September 2023 }}</ref> Since [[corporal punishment]] was permitted against indentured servants, Corey was exempt from the charge of murder and instead was charged with using "unreasonable" force for which he was found guilty and fined.<ref>{{cite book|title=Records of the Essex Quarterly Courts|volume= 6 |pages=190–191|url=https://archive.org/stream/recordsfilesofqu06esse#page/190 |publisher=[[Essex Institute]] |year=1917}}</ref>

Corey's neighbor, John Proctor, also accused Corey of the [[arson]] of his home.<ref>{{Cite web |date=10 November 2016 |title=G is for Giles Corey |url=https://donnagawell.com/the-redemption-of-mehitabel-braybrooke/abcs-of-crime-and-punishment-in-puritan-new-england/g-is-for-giles-corey/ |access-date=1 March 2024 |website=Donna Gawell |language=en}}</ref> Later, one of Proctor's sons confessed. Corey's second wife, Mary Bright, died in 1684.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FEdbDwAAQBAJ&dq=Mary+Bright+corey+1684&pg=PA130|title=Haunted Cemeteries: Creepy Crypts, Spine-Tingling Spirits, And Midnight Mayhem|first=Tom|last=Ogden|date=1 September 2018|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=9781493036639|via=Google Books}}</ref> Corey later married his third wife, Martha Rich. Martha was admitted to the church at Salem Village, where Giles had lived.<ref name="Goss2008">{{cite book|last=Goss|first=K. David|title=The Salem Witch Trials: A Reference Guide|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cwg178oYyU4C&pg=PA90|access-date=17 September 2018|year=2008|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0313320958|page=90}}</ref> At the time of the witch trials, Corey was 80 years old and living with Martha in the southwest corner of Salem Village, in what is now [[Peabody, Massachusetts|Peabody]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/SAL_BCOR.HTM|title=Biography of Giles Corey|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100219184551/http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/SAL_BCOR.HTM|archive-date=19 February 2010}}</ref>