From what we can see in the records, he appears to have been a practical and forward-thinking man, successful in business and hard-working. When the first witchcraft accusations began in the winter of 1692, Proctor’s reaction was skeptical. While Proctor and his sons manned the farm, the women in the household looked after the house and tavern. Its prime location on the Ipswich Road made it a perfect place for a tavern, which Proctor had received a license to run in 1668. John Proctor, his wife Elizabeth, and their children, plus a 20-year-old servant, Mary Warren, lived on this spot in 1692. You can absolutely call that the Proctor house because generations of Proctors lived and died in that house.”

According to a Salem News article in January of 2019, quoting Kelly Daniell, curator of the Peabody Historical Society, “There were four to five Proctor homes, all in that area that is called Proctors Crossing. John Proctor descendants purchased the property and remained living there for close to 200 years after his execution. There is a possibility that some of the original structure also remains inside.

Dendrochronology tests reveal some of the wood inside dates to the 1720s. Rather, today it is believed that Proctor’s son Thorndike built the house one sees today on the same footprint where his father’s house originally stood.

The structure located at 348 Lowell Street has long been called the “John Proctor House,” even though it is likely not the actual house where John and Elizabeth Proctor and their children lived in 1692.

John proctor the crucible download free