John Bradstreet (Salem witch trials)


John Bradstreet was an accused "witch" during the Salem Witch Trials.

Salem Witch Trials

Bradstreet encountered some of the "afflicted girls" in the street, after which a dog barked at him and ran away. The girls accused him of witchcraft, and Bradstreet immediately fled to New York. He returned to Massachusetts after the hysteria died down. The dog was hanged as a witch.

Family

Bradstreet was the son of Governor Simon Bradstreet and his wife Anne Dudley Bradstreet. Anne's father was Thomas Dudley, another governor of Massachusetts Bay. John's brother, Dudley, was Justice of the Peace in Andover and another accused "witch".
He married Sarah Perkins and had the following known children:
  1. Simon, married Elizabeth Capen.
  2. Mercy, married John Hazen.
  3. Samuel, married first Sarah Clarke, second Elizabeth Champman.
Bradstreet is an ancestor of actor J. K. Simmons.