Gershom Bulkeley

Gershom Bulkeley was a Christian minister and physician who was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1635[1] to Reverend Peter Bulkeley and Grace Chetwoode Bulkeley.[2] His father, a graduate of St. John's College, Cambridge was a founder of Concord, Massachusetts as well as the first minister in the community.[2]

Gershom Bulkeley was an early graduate of Harvard University, receiving his bachelor's degree in 1655 and possibly his master's degree in 1658. After receiving his master's degree he might have married Sarah Chauncy, daughter of then Harvard President, Charles Chauncy. In 1661 became the minister of the Congregational church in New London, CT, where he served for roughly 5 years.[3][2] He then became minister of the Congregational church in the town of Wethersfield, Connecticut where he served until 1677.[4][2] He left the ministry and practiced as a physician in Glastonbury, CT.[3]

When the Salem Witch Trials spread from Massachusetts to Connecticut in the autumn of 1692, he expressed considerable scepticism about the evidence, saying that he had heard nothing of any weight to convince him that anyone was guilty of witchcraft. In particular he argued that Marcy Disborough, one of the only two women accused in Connecticut who actually stood trial for witchcraft, was the victim of the malice of her neighbours. Mercy was founded guilty and sentenced to death, but received a reprieve. She was set free and died some time after 1709.

He has been mentioned in the work of historical fiction, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, as a tutor of a student named John Holbrook, who is learning to be a minister.[5]

References
  1. "The History of the Bulkeley Family | Colchester Historical Society". colchesterhistory.org. Retrieved 2017-07-31.
  2. Jodziewicz, Thomas W. (2000). "Bulkeley, Gershom : American National Biography Online - oi". doi:10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.0101167. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. "The Bulkeleys in Connecticut" (PDF). The History of the Bulkeley Family - Colchester Historical Society. Retrieved July 31, 2017.
  4. Steiner, WR (1904). "The Reverend Gershom Bulkeley of Connecticut, an Eminent Clerical Physician". Med Library Hist J. 2 (2): 91–103. PMC 1692197. PMID 18340841.
  5. Speare, Elizabeth George (2011). The Witch of Blackbird Pond. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 978-0547550299.


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