Today in Salem: The cantankerous Giles Corey is yelling at his ox to get up, get up. Its back legs have given way, and now the barrel-chested animal is starting to keel over. Giles isn’t foolish enough to put his shoulder to the ox and push. No man is that strong, and at age 81 Giles would be crushed in an instant. Suddenly, though, the animal scrabbles hard and gets control of himself, then lumbers off as if nothing has happened.
How does an animal suddenly lose all of its strength, to the point of collapsing and even dying, then suddenly recover? At noon Giles goes inside for a midday meal and is telling his wife about it when suddenly the cat freezes in a seizure and rolls over, nearly dead. Then she suddenly recovers and minces off, like only a cat can.
Tonight his wife, the gospel woman Martha Corey, is saying her evening prayers. But instead of sitting in a chair, she’s kneeling at the hearth, as if she’s praying to … fire? Giles narrows his eyes. He’s old enough to know suspicious behavior when he sees it. He’s heard the accusations against Martha, and with her temperament it wouldn’t surprise him at all if she’s somehow involved in something sinister.
WHO was Giles Corey?
A well-to-do farmer in Salem Village. Martha Corey was his third wife. Both were accused of witchcraft. Giles and two of his sons-in-law spoke against Martha in her trial.
As for his own trial, Giles’ history of violence and contentious behavior set public opinion against him. He had stolen from several people, including goods from Justice Corwin’s father, and twelve bushels of apples from a neighbor. After another conflict, the same neighbor’s saw-mill mysteriously stopped working. Giles’ reputation was such that when John Proctor’s house caught on fire, Proctor accused Corey setting the blaze. The matter reached the courts until one of Proctor’s sons confessed to an accident with a lamp.
Worst of all, about 15 years before the trials, he was tried for brutally beating an indentured servant who was caught stealing apples from Corey’s brother-in-law. Ten days later, Corey sent the servant to get medical attention, but he died soon after. Case files: Giles Corey