Hathorne, John

John Hathorne (1641-1717) was son of Major William Hathorne and author Nathaniel Hawthorne's (born Hathorne) great-great-great paternal grandfather. Justice John Hathorne was the third son of Major William and Anna Hathorne. He became a prosperous merchant in Salem and a judge on the Superior Court. He was also commander-in-chief against the Indians in 1696. He is best known, however as the "witch judge" or the "hanging judge" as he was a magistrate of the Court of Oyer and Terminer and the chief interrogator of the accused witches in the Salem witchcraft hysteria of 1692. John Hathorne is interred at the Charter Street Burying Point in Salem.