Deodat Lawson wrote and collected A Brief and True Narrative about the 1692 Salem events.
Lawson had served as minister of Salem Village from 1684 to 1688, before the outbreak reached its height. After hearing of the accusations, he returned to the village in March 1692 and observed or recorded episodes involving the alleged afflictions and examinations. His ten-page pamphlet was printed in Boston later that year by Benjamin Harris.
The full title was A Brief and True Narrative of Some Remarkable Passages Relating to Sundry Persons Afflicted by Witchcraft, at Salem Village, covering events from March 19 to April 5, 1692. It is one of the earliest contemporary printed accounts of the crisis and helped circulate the accusations beyond the village.
Lawson’s account is not a neutral modern history. It presents claims of witchcraft as contemporary observers understood them, and some details differ from surviving court records. Readers also sometimes confuse Lawson with John Hale, whose later A Modest Inquiry discussed the controversy more broadly.