View source for Thomas Danforth

{{short description|17th-century Massachusetts Bay Colony magistrate and politician}}
{{good article}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name = Thomas Danforth
|image = 
|order = 
|office = [[List of colonial governors of Massachusetts|Deputy Governor]] of the [[Massachusetts Bay Colony]]
|term_start = 1679
|term_end = 1686
|predecessor = [[Simon Bradstreet]]
|successor = [[William Stoughton (Massachusetts)|William Stoughton]] (as deputy president of the [[Dominion of New England]])
|term_start2 = 1689
|term_end2 = 1692
|predecessor2 = [[Francis Nicholson]] (as lieutenant governor of the Dominion of New England)
|successor2 = William Stoughton (as lieutenant governor of the [[Province of Massachusetts Bay]])
|signature = ThomasDanforthSignature.png

|birth_date = bapt. November 20, 1623
|birth_place = [[Framlingham]], [[Suffolk]], [[Kingdom of England|England]]
|death_date = November 5, 1699 (aged 76)
|death_place = [[Province of Massachusetts Bay]]
|profession = Magistrate
}}

'''Thomas Danforth ''' (baptized November 20, 1623 – November 5, 1699) was a politician, magistrate, and landowner in the [[Massachusetts Bay Colony]].  A conservative [[Puritan]], he served for many years as one of the colony's councilors and magistrates, generally leading opposition to attempts by the English kings to assert control over the colony.

He accumulated land in the central part of the colony that eventually became a portion of [[Framingham, Massachusetts]].  His government roles included administration of territory in present-day [[Maine]] that was purchased by the colony.

Danforth was a magistrate and leading figure in the colony at the time of the [[Salem witch trials]], but did not sit on the [[Court of Oyer and Terminer]].  Despite this, he is inaccurately depicted in [[Arthur Miller]]'s 1953 play ''[[The Crucible]]'' and its movie adaptations as doing so. In reality, Danforth is recorded as being critical of the conduct of the trials, and played a role in bringing them to an end.<ref>Burr, George Lincoln {{Google books|Rm2VLpGmhqQC|Narratives of the Witchcraft Cases, 1648-1706|page=184}}</ref>

==Early life==
Thomas Danforth was born in [[Framlingham]], [[Suffolk]], England, and baptized on November 20, 1623.<ref name=May18>May, p. 18</ref>  He was the eldest son of Nicholas Danforth (1589–1638) and Elizabeth Symmes (1596–1629).<ref name=PS30>Parr and Swope, p. 30</ref> Danforth immigrated with his father, brothers [[Samuel Danforth|Samuel]] and Jonathan, and sisters Anna, Elizabeth, and Lydia to [[New England]] in 1634, probably aboard the ''[[Griffin (ship)|Griffin]]''.<ref>May, p. vii</ref> 

The family, along with the 200 or so other passengers aboard, left England to escape persecution for their [[Puritan]] beliefs. [[William Laud]] had become archbishop of the [[Church of England]] in 1633 and begun a crackdown on [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|Nonconformist]] religious practices (such as those practiced by the more [[Calvinist]] Puritans) that prompted a [[Puritan migration to New England (1620–1640)|wave of migration]] to the New World.<ref>Labaree, pp. 17–19</ref><ref>May, pp. x–xi</ref>

==Public service==
[[Image:HarvardCollegeCharter.jpeg|thumb|left|The original charter of [[Harvard College]]]]
Soon after his arrival in the [[Massachusetts Bay Colony]] Nicholas Danforth acquired property in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge]], becoming one of the town's leading citizens and a member of the colony's general court (as its assembly was known). He died in 1638, leaving his lands and the care of his younger children to Thomas.  In 1643 Danforth was admitted a [[freeman (Colonial)|freeman]] of the colony, which conferred on him the right to vote and to participate in the colony's political affairs.<ref name=PS30/>

He was appointed [[Treasurer]] of [[Harvard College]] in its charter of 1650, and served as a steward of the college from 1669 to 1682.<ref name=May18/> From 1659 he sat on the colony's council of assistants, and was elected deputy governor in 1679.<ref name=PS30/>  In 1665 Danforth was member of a commission that oversaw the extension of Massachusetts colonial authority over the territories of what is now southern [[Maine]],<ref>Martin, p. 16</ref> which colonial surveyors had determined to fall within its borders.<ref>Mayo, pp. 225–226</ref>

Danforth's politics and religion were relatively conservative, with one historian describing him as "the [[John Pym|Pym]] of Massachusetts politics".<ref name=Doyle134>Doyle, p. 134</ref>  In 1661 the colony was rebuked by [[Charles II of England|King Charles II]] for its mistreatment of [[Quakers]]; the colonial government had banned Quakers from its territory under threat of death, and [[Boston martyrs|four of them]] had recently been hanged after repeatedly violating the ban.  The king in his letter demanded that the colony allow Quakers and others freedom of religious expression.<ref>Doyle, pp. 108–109, 134</ref> 

Danforth was one member of a committee that was established to formulate a response.  The document the committee drafted was a conservative declaration that the colonial government was essentially sovereign except where its laws conflicted with English law.  (By the time the king's letter arrived the colonial government had already lessened the harsh punishments for violating bans.)<ref>Doyle, pp. 134–135</ref>  Two committee members, magistrate [[Simon Bradstreet]] and minister [[John Norton (Puritan divine)|John Norton]], were sent to England to argue the colony's case.<ref>Doyle, p. 136</ref>

When [[King Philip's War]] broke out in 1675 (pitting many Native American tribes of southern New England against English colonists), Danforth was involved in some of the events of the war.  Many colonists distrusted the [[Praying Indian]]s (Christianized Indians living peacefully in communities on the outskirts of English towns), some of whom were attacked by mobs of English settlers seeking revenge for attacks on their communities.  Danforth, along with [[Daniel Gookin]] and the Indian missionary Reverend [[John Eliot (missionary)|John Eliot]], was a vocal supporter of the Praying Indians, and worked to prevent some of these excesses, at some personal risk.<ref>Pulsipher, pp. 147–149</ref>  In one notable instance Danforth was aboard a small boat with other colonial officials in [[Boston Harbor]] en route to [[Long Island (Massachusetts)|Long Island]] to inspect facilities for Praying Indians who had been relocated there "for their own safety" when a nearby ship apparently intentionally rammed the smaller vessel.  No one was injured in the incident, but all of the older officials were dunked in the cold waters of the harbor.<ref>Pulsipher, pp. 147, 154–155</ref>

In 1680 Danforth was chosen president in the District of Maine by the Massachusetts assembly. The colony had previously governed this territory (roughly the land between the [[Piscataqua River|Piscataqua]] and [[Kennebec River|Kennebec]] Rivers in what is now southwestern Maine), but its right to do so had been stripped by King Charles after protests by the heirs of Sir [[Ferdinando Gorges]], who had long-standing claims to the area.  Agents for Massachusetts then purchased the territory from the Gorges heirs, and Danforth was appointed to administer it.<ref>''York Deeds'', p. 9</ref>  The territory had been devastated and many properties abandoned during King Philip's War, and Danforth acted in effect as a [[Lord Proprietor]], making land grants and reestablishing towns such as [[Falmouth, Maine|Falmouth]] and [[North Yarmouth, Maine|North Yarmouth]].  Danforth was rewarded by the colony with a grant of an island in [[Casco Bay]] for this work, which he oversaw until 1686.<ref>Martin, p. 17</ref>

Throughout the 1670s, the Massachusetts leadership steadfastly refused to make changes to its administration that were demanded by King Charles.<ref>Adams (2001), pp. 377–386</ref>  At the instigation of agent [[Edward Randolph (colonial administrator)|Edward Randolph]], Charles made increasingly specific demands concerning freedom of religion and adherence to colonial trade regulations known as the [[Navigation Acts]], and prepared to issue a ''[[quo warranto]]'' writ to demand the return of the colonial charter. Danforth was one of the leading opponents to making any accommodation to the king's demands.<ref>Adams (2001), pp. 391–394</ref>  

The issue reached a peak in the 1684 election, in which Danforth stood for election as governor representing the hardline party.  He was narrowly defeated by the more conciliatory Simon Bradstreet, but retained the post of deputy governor.<ref>Doyle, p. 222</ref><ref name=Harris316/>  The colony's attempts at moderation were in vain&mdash;the charter was formally annulled on June 18, 1684.<ref>Adams (1886), p. 212</ref>

In 1686 King [[James II of England|James II]] established the [[Dominion of New England]] as a new colonial entity to govern all of [[New England]].  He appointed Massachusetts native [[Joseph Dudley]] as its first governor; he was replaced later that year by Sir [[Edmund Andros]]. Both Dudley and Andros excluded Danforth from their councils, given his opposition to crown authority. The dominion reign, which did not include an elected assembly, was extremely unpopular in Massachusetts for a variety of reasons. When the [[Glorious Revolution]] deposed James, Massachusetts Puritan leaders orchestrated [[1689 Boston revolt|an uprising]] and arrested Andros, Dudley, and other dominion officials. In the period between the dominion's collapse and the establishment of the [[Province of Massachusetts Bay]] in 1692, the old colonial government was temporarily reestablished, and Danforth resumed his offices.<ref name=Harris316>Harris, p. 316</ref>

===Salem trials===
{{main|Salem witch trials}}
In 1692, Danforth was acting governor during the early months of the witch hysteria in [[Salem, Massachusetts|Salem]] and his name appears once in the Salem court records as part of a council which observed the proceedings on April 11.<ref>Woodward, ''Records of Salem Witchcraft'', Copied from the Original Documents, 1864</ref>{{page needed|date=July 2014}}<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 25, 1864 |title=Records of Salem Witchcraft: Copied from the Original Documents ... |url=https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=Rn0PAAAAYAAJ |publisher=Priv. print. for W.E. Woodward |page=101 |via=Google Books}}</ref> but his involvement ended in May upon the arrival of Sir [[William Phips]], the first royal governor under the new charter of the [[Province of Massachusetts Bay]].<ref>Burr, George Lincoln {{Google books|Rm2VLpGmhqQC|Narratives of the Witchcraft Cases, 1648-1706}}<!-- Introduction to Phips Letters --></ref>{{page needed|date=July 2014}} Danforth was not assigned to the special [[Court of Oyer and Terminer]] that Phips established shortly thereafter, and he was opposed to the manner in which magistrate [[William Stoughton (Massachusetts)|William Stoughton]] conducted the witch trials, which unconditionally accepted [[spectral evidence]] in its proceedings and vigorously presumed the guilt of the accused. In a letter by Thomas Brattle on October 8, 1692, Danforth is described as among a select group of "several about the Bay, men for understanding, judgement and piety... that do utterly condemn the said proceedings, and do freely deliver their judgment..."<ref>Burr, George Lincoln {{Google books|Rm2VLpGmhqQC|Narratives of the Witchcraft Cases, 1648-1706|page=184}}</ref>

After the Court of Oyer and Terminer stopped sitting, a new [[Massachusetts Superior Court of Judicature|Superior Court]] was created, and, in December 1692, Stoughton was elected by the governor's council to head the court, defeating Danforth by three votes. 

In the beginning of 1693, Danforth participated in Superior Court sessions overseen by Stoughton, which heard witchcraft cases. However, these sessions no longer considered spectral evidence as valid. When Stoughton temporarily removed himself to protest Governor Phips' ban on spectral evidence and other related reforms, Danforth sometimes presided over the court.

Danforth was known to be sympathetic to the plight of individuals accused, relocating some of them to his lands west of Boston in Framingham.<ref>Parr and Swope, p. 38</ref>

[[Sarah Cloyce]], a woman accused during the Salem witch trials, relocated with her husband to a property owned by Danforth and settled into a house on Salem End Road constructed in 1693.<ref>{{cite news |title=House tied to Salem witch trials rises from near-ruin |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/352290532/ |access-date=18 March 2024 |work=Lancaster Eagle-Gazette |date=31 Oct 2017}}</ref> In 1992, The [[Boston Globe]] published a historian's suggestion that Danforth might have facilitated Cloyce's escape from Ipswich jail and subsequently concealed her family on his property.<ref>{{cite news |title=Family retraces Salem connection |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/440124002/ |access-date=18 March 2024 |work=The Boston Globe |date=13 December 1992}}</ref>

==Family and property==
Danforth married Mary Withington in 1644.<ref name=PS30/> The couple had 12 children, but half of these died before the age of three. Danforth was survived by only three of the others.<ref>May, pp. 19–23</ref>  Danforth died in Cambridge on November 5, 1699.<ref name=Appletons>{{Cite Appletons'|title=Danforth, Thomas|year=1888|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P68LAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA73}}</ref> During his lifetime, Danforth owned an [[Slavery in the colonial history of the United States|enslaved man]] named Philip Ffeild.<ref>https://radcliffe-harvard-edu-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/3d37f30c-a266-4be8-bd4b-234dca08497f/AppendixI-ListofHumanBeingsEnslavedbyProminentHarvardAffiliates.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220509144334/https://radcliffe-harvard-edu-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/3d37f30c-a266-4be8-bd4b-234dca08497f/AppendixI-ListofHumanBeingsEnslavedbyProminentHarvardAffiliates.pdf |date=2022-05-09 }} {{Bare URL PDF|date=September 2022}}</ref>

[[Image:Seal of Town of Framingham, Massachusetts.png|thumb|right|upright|The seal of [[Framingham, Massachusetts]]; the words "Danforth's Farms" are visible near the top of the shield.]]
In 1662 Danforth began to acquire land to the west of Boston by way of land grants by the [[Massachusetts General Court|Great and General Court]] after general surveys conducted by [[Edmund Rice (1638)|Edmund Rice]] at the behest of the Court.<ref>p.92 In: Temple, J.H. (1887). ''History of Framingham, Massachusetts, Early Known as Danforth's Farms 1640-1880''. Town of Framingham. 794pp. [https://archive.org/details/historyofframinged00temp pdf]</ref> Originally known as "Danforth's Farm", he began to refer to the estate as "Framingham" in the 1670s in honor of his birthplace.<ref name=PS30/> Although Danforth continued to reside in Cambridge, he developed these lands, which came to number {{convert|15000|acre|km2}}, by issuing 999 year leases rather than selling parcels.<ref>Parr and Swope, p. 39</ref> By the 1690s a number of somewhat discontiguous communities existed on the land, which petitioned the state for incorporation.  Objections were made to the earliest petition (of 1692) by Danforth, since it did not include all of his lands, and a number of subsequent petitions were objected to by neighboring communities.<ref>Hurd, p. 614</ref>  It was not until 1700, after Danforth had died, that the town of [[Framingham, Massachusetts|Framingham]] was granted a charter.<ref>Parr and Swope, p. 40</ref>  The town's seal contains the words "Danforth's Farms" in commemoration of this heritage.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.framingham.com/history/300th/300th003.htm|title=Student Walks Away With Grand Prize|publisher=framingham.com|access-date=2012-07-16|date=1997-06-15}}</ref>

[[Danforth, Maine]] is named in his honor.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.danforthmaine.org/history.html|title=History of Danforth, Maine|access-date=2012-07-14|publisher=Town of Danforth, Maine|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120723220619/http://www.danforthmaine.org/history.html|archive-date=2012-07-23}}</ref>  The [[Danforth Art|Danforth Art Museum]], founded in 1975, is located in Framingham.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.danforthmuseum.org/about.html|title=About the Danforth Museum|access-date=2012-07-16|publisher=Danforth Museum}}</ref>

== Legacy ==
Danforth Street, in [[Portland, Maine]], is now named for him.<ref>[https://digitalcommons.portlandlibrary.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=books_documents ''The Origins of the Street Names of the City of Portland, Maine as of 1995''] – Norm and Althea Green, Portland Public Library (1995)</ref>

==Fictional character in ''The Crucible''==
In [[Arthur Miller]]'s 1953 play ''[[The Crucible]],'' Thomas Danforth is depicted as the leading judicial figure overseeing the Salem trials.  William Stoughton is not a character in the play, and Miller portrays Danforth as an honest but domineering and selfish judge, under whose authority many are imprisoned and sentenced to hang.<ref>Bloom, p. 72</ref><ref>Abbotson, p. 119</ref> When [[John Proctor (convicted witch)|John Proctor]], an accused, defies his authority at the end of the play by refusing to lie and sign a public confession saying that he is a wizard and accusing others, he is mercilessly sentenced to hang.<ref>Bloom, p. 60</ref>

In an introduction to the play, Miller wrote that he had combined several persons and made other changes to the historical characters for dramatic purposes.<ref>{{cite web|last=Miller|first=Arthur|title=The Crucible|url=http://asbamericanlit.edublogs.org/files/2011/10/21078735-The-Crucible-Arthur-Miller-2hmdzot.pdf|work=Cynthia Sinsap's American Literature blog}}</ref>

Miller also wrote the screenplay for the [[The Crucible (1996 film)|1996 film version]] of the play, in which the name Danforth was retained (portrayed by actor [[Paul Scofield]]) as the principal judicial antagonist.<ref>Abbotson, pp. 127–128</ref> In the [[The Crucible (1957 film)|1957 film adaptation of the play]], whose screenplay was written by [[Jean-Paul Sartre]], Danforth (portrayed by [[Raymond Rouleau]], who also directed the picture) is portrayed the same way.<ref>Bloom, pp. 65, 191–93</ref>

==Citations==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book |last=Abbotson |first=Susa n|title=Critical Companion to Arthur Miller |url=https://archive.org/details/criticalcompanio0000abbo|url-access=registration|publisher=Facts on File|year=2007|location=New York|isbn=9781438108384|oclc=234190813}}
*{{cite book |last=Adams| first=Brooks |title=The Emancipation of Massachusetts |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qm4qNtNNCMAC&pg=PA182|location=Boston|publisher=Houghton, Mifflin|year=1886|oclc=1015603}}
*{{cite book |last=Adams |first=James Truslow |title=The Founding of New England|publisher=Simon Publications|year=2001|orig-year=1921|isbn=9781931313506|location=Safety Harbor, FL|oclc=51579404}}
*{{cite book |last=Bloom| first=Harold |author-link=Harold Bloom |title=Arthur Miller's The Crucible |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-7910-9828-8}}
*{{Cite Appletons' |title=Danforth, Thomas |year=1888|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P68LAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA73}}
*{{cite book| last=Doyle |first=John Andrew |title=English Colonies in America|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ao0ZAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA134|publisher=Henry Holt|location=New York|oclc=2453886|year=1889}}
* {{cite book |last=Drake |first=Samuel Gardner  |title=The history & antiquities of Boston : from its settlement in 1630, to the year 1770 |volume= |authorlink=Samuel Gardner Drake |publisher=Boston : Luther Stevens |year=1856 |url=https://archive.org/details/historyantiquiti00indrak/page/n9/mode/2up?q=gazette |ref=drake1856 }}
*{{cite journal |last=Harris |first=William Thaddeus |title=Notes on the Danforth Family|journal=New England Historical and Genealogical Register|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YQcQAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA315|year=1853}}
*{{cite book |last=Hill |first=Frances |title=The Salem Witch Trials Reader|publisher=Da Capo Press |year=2000 |location=Cambridge, MA|isbn=9780306809460|oclc=247412768|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/salemwitchtr_hill_2000_000_6563943}}
*{{cite book |last=Hurd |first=Duane |title=History of Middlesex County, Volume 2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mZU6AQAAIAAJ&pg=PA614|publisher=J. W. Lewis & Co.|location=Philadelphia, PA|year=1890|oclc=2155461}}
*{{cite book |last=Labaree |first=Benjamin|title=Colonial Massachusetts: a History |url=https://archive.org/details/colonialmassachu0000laba |url-access=registration |year=1979 |publisher=KTO Press |location=Millwood, NY|isbn=978-0-527-18714-9|oclc=248194957}}
*{{cite book |last=Martin| first=John Frederick |title=Profits in the Wilderness: Entrepreneurship and the Founding of New England Towns in the Seventeenth Century |year=1991 |publisher=University of North Carolina Press|location=Chapel Hill, NC |isbn=9780807820018 |oclc=231347624|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/profitsinwildern00mart}}
*{{cite book |last=May| first=John Joseph |title=Danforth Genealogy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=baxGAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA18 |publisher=Charles Pope|location=Boston, MA|year=1902 |oclc=1668736}}
*{{cite book |last=Mayo |first=Lawrence Shaw |title=John Endecott|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=1936|location=Cambridge, MA|oclc=1601746}}
*{{cite book |last=Parr| first=James |author2=Swope, Kevin |title=Framingham Legends & Lore|publisher=History Press|location=Charleston, SC|year=2009|isbn=978-1-59629-565-0|oclc=259754352}}
*{{cite book| last=Pulsipher |first=Jenny Hale|title=Subjects Unto The Same King: Indians, English, and the Contest for Authority in Colonial New England|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|year=2007|location=Philadelphia, PA|isbn=9780812219081|oclc=123500885}}
*{{cite book |title=York Deeds, Volume 3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t3UUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PP23|publisher=Maine Historical Society|year=1888|location=Portland, ME|oclc=17914452}}

==External links==
*[http://hul.harvard.edu/huarc/charter.html Original Harvard Charter of 1650 listing Thomas Danforth as Treasurer] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110111170739/http://hul.harvard.edu/huarc/charter.html |date=2011-01-11 }}
*[http://www.framingham.com/history/histtime.htm Framingham, Massachusetts History website]
*[http://www.framlingham.co.uk/Danforth.htm Framlingham UK website] with a large section on the Danforths and Framingham Massachusetts
*{{cite DNB|wstitle= Danforth, Thomas|volume= 14|author = Thompson Cooper}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Simon Bradstreet]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of colonial governors of Massachusetts|Deputy Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony]]|years=1679–1686}}
{{s-aft|after=[[William Stoughton (Massachusetts)|William Stoughton]]|as=Deputy President of the [[Dominion of New England]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Francis Nicholson]]|as=Lieutenant Governor of the [[Dominion of New England]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of colonial governors of Massachusetts|Deputy Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony]]|years=1689–1692}}
{{s-aft|after=[[William Stoughton (Massachusetts)|William Stoughton]]|as=Lieutenant Governor of the [[Province of Massachusetts Bay]]}}
{{s-legal}}
{{s-new|seat}}
{{s-ttl|title=Associate Justice of the [[Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court|Massachusetts Superior Court of Judicature]]|years=1692–1699}}
{{s-aft|after=[[John Walley]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Lieutenant Governors of Massachusetts}}
{{Justices of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court}}
{{salem}}
{{Framingham, Massachusetts}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Danforth, Thomas}}
[[Category:1623 births]]
[[Category:1699 deaths]]
[[Category:American Puritans]]
[[Category:English slave owners]]
[[Category:Critics of witch hunting]]
[[Category:Harvard University staff]]
[[Category:Justices of the Massachusetts Superior Court of Judicature]]
[[Category:17th-century American judges]]
[[Category:English emigrants to Massachusetts Bay Colony]]
[[Category:Lieutenant governors of colonial Massachusetts]]
[[Category:People from Framlingham]]
[[Category:Government officials in the Salem witch trials]]
[[Category:17th-century American landowners]]
[[Category:17th-century judges]]