Who was the governor of Massachusetts during the trials?

Who was the governor of Massachusetts during the Salem witch trials? Sir William Phips was governor. He became the first royal governor of the newly established Province of Massachusetts Bay and took office in May 1692, as the witchcraft accusations were rapidly expanding beyond Salem Village.

Phips played a major institutional role in the crisis. On May 27, 1692, he authorized a special Court of Oyer and Terminer to hear the large number of witchcraft cases already filling local jails. He appointed William Stoughton as the court’s chief magistrate, and the court soon began issuing convictions based partly on spectral evidence.

As the proceedings continued, Phips became increasingly troubled by the court’s methods and by the growing number of accusations. After returning from military business in Maine in September 1692, he moved to end the original court. A replacement court was instructed to treat spectral evidence with greater caution, and it stopped sending condemned prisoners to execution.

Phips was not the chief judge of the trials—that was William Stoughton—and he did not personally conduct the examinations. His importance was executive: as governor, he created the special court, later limited its authority, and helped bring the executions to an end. He remained governor until 1694.