William Phips - Governor of Massachusetts Bay & The Salem Witch Trials

Governor of Massachusetts Bay & The Salem Witch Trials

Phips found no further support for another expedition against New France, and instead joined with Increase Mather and other agents to gain a new charter for Massachusetts. A number of Mather's requests concerning the charter were rejected, but William and Mary placated Mather by allowing him to nominate the colony's next governor. The monarchs appointed Phips the first royal governor, at Mather's suggestion, under a newly issued colonial charter for the Province of Massachusetts Bay. The charter greatly expanded the colony's bounds, including not just the territories of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, but also those of the Plymouth Colony, islands south of Cape Cod including Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, and the present-day territories of Maine, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia.

On reaching Boston on May 14, 1692, Phips found the colony gripped by witchcraft hysteria. Beginning in February 1692, more than 125 people were arrested on charges of witchcraft, and were held in prison pending the inauguration of the new government. Phips established a special Court of Oyer and Terminer to hear the accumulated cases on May 27, appointing Lieutenant Governor William Stoughton as the chief judge. The court notoriously admitted spectral evidence (alleged demonic visions) and denied the accused access to legal counsel, and a number of people were convicted and executed based on such evidence. Although the court was terminated in September 1692, accusations and arrests continued, including charges against some fairly high profile individuals including Phips wife. Phips finally put an end to the proceedings by first suspending the trials, and then in May 1693 releasing prisoners (numbering about 150) charged with witchcraft.

French and Indian raids had resumed in the years following Phips' 1690 expeditions, so he sought to improve the province's defenses. Pursuant to his instructions from London, in 1692 he oversaw the construction of a stone fort, which was dubbed Fort William Henry, at Pemaquid (present-day Bristol, Maine), where a wooden fort had been destroyed in 1689. The expense involved in this effort made it unpopular in the province. Attempts by Phips to coordinate defenses with neighboring provinces were marred by difficulties often emanating from his rough personality and temper (relations with the neighbors improved after his departure.) He recruited Major Benjamin Church to lead a 450-man expedition against the Indians in Maine. In August 1693 Phips reached a tenuous peace agreement with the Abenaki people; it was eventually subverted by French intrigues to bring the Abenaki back on the warpath, and had no lasting impact.

Phips' governorship was marked by political factionalism, and his lack of connections to existing local powers hurt him. Furthermore, Joseph Dudley, a Massachusetts native (and former dominion official) was in London, scheming to replace him. He frequently quarreled with friends, foes, and other government officials. His biographers describe his behavior as "blustering aggressiveness", and his contemporaries complained of his "lowness of education". He quarreled with neighboring governors over military issues, and aggravated a border dispute with neighboring Rhode Island. He twice got into physical altercations with other government officials, situations that Dudley and his other opponents highlighted to the Lords of Trade. He was also accused of violating the Navigation Acts (which he was, as governor, supposed to enforce) in what his opponents described as "illegal and self-serving commercial activities". Phips' attempts to justify his actions included attacks on his enemies, many of whom were on good terms with the colonial secretary, William Blathwayt. Blathwayt continued to support him, as did Increase Mather, but this was not enough to overcome the many complaints lodged against him.

On July 4, 1694 Phips received an official summons to appear before the Lords of Trade in London. He spent much of the summer at Pemaquid, overseeing the frontier defenses, while Lieutenant Governor Stoughton oversaw the gathering of evidence for the hearing. He sailed for England on November 17, and arrived in London on January 1, 1694/5. Upon his arrival, he was arrested on exaggerated charges, levied by Dudley, that he had conspired to withhold customs monies. Dudley had hoped that the £20,000 bail would prevent Phips' return to Massachusetts, but Phips was bailed by Sir Henry Ashurst. However, Phips fell ill with a fever while preparing his defense, and died on February 18, 1694/5, before his charges were heard. He was buried in London in the yard of the Church of St. Mary Woolnoth. His grave was originally marked, but the marker was removed (and his coffin possibly moved within the church grounds) during renovations in the 18th century.