Salem pressed Giles Corey to death under stones for refusing a jury trial, and his land went to his sons-in-law under a will he had already signed

Giles Corey was a farmer in Salem Village, now Danvers. In 1676 he had been fined for beating a servant to death. In 1692 his wife Martha was accused of witchcraft. Giles first testified against her, then tried to take it back, and Abigail Hobbs named him as a wizard. He pleaded not guilty but refused to "put himself on the country," that is, to accept a jury. A man who would not submit could not be tried. The court ordered peine forte et dure. Corey lay under a board while Sheriff George Corwin added rocks. After two days he died, on 19 September 1692. Judge Samuel Sewall wrote that he "was pressed to death for standing mute." Martha was hanged three days later. Before his arrest Corey had made a will giving his land to his sons-in-law, William Cleeves and John Moulton. Local tradition says he stood mute to keep his estate from being forfeited. Corwin later took money from the family by claiming he could still seize it; in 1710 Elizabeth Moulton sued over £11 6s. On 17 October 1711 Massachusetts declared the convictions of 22 people, including Giles and Martha Cory, "null and void." The colony paid £578 12s in compensation; the line for "Giles Cory & wife" was £21. In 1723 Martha's son Thomas received £50. The act and the payment list are printed in Woodward's Records of Salem Witchcraft.