Voting Station

William Stoughton

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Judge

The Resume

    (September 30, 1631-July 7, 1701)
    Born in England, United Kingdom
    Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Bay Colony (1692-1701)
    Acting governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony (1694-99,1700-01)
    Presided over the Salem Witch Trials

Why he might be annoying:

    He would betray allies for political advantage.
    He was appointed as a judge despite having no legal background.
    In the witch trials, he allowed the admission of 'spectral evidence,' refused to allow legal counsel for the accused, and acted as both judge and prosecutor.
    When the jury at the trial of Rebecca Nurse returned a 'not guilty' verdict, he demanded that they reconsider their decision. The second time, the jury ruled her guilty, and Nurse was executed two weeks later.
    Unlike fellow judge Samuel Sewall, he never apologized for his role in the Salem Witch Trials.
    One historian wrote, 'There can be no doubt, that, if Stoughton had been as zealous to procure the acquittal as he was to bring about the conviction of the accused, this black page in the history of New England and of humanity could nave never been written.'

Why he might not be annoying:

    Because he was a Puritan, he lost a fellowship at Oxford upon the restoration of the English monarchy.
    At his death, he split his considerable estate between his church in Dorchester and Harvard University.
    The town of Stoughton, Massachusetts, was named after him (1726).

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 10 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 7 Votes: 85.71% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 4 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 15 Votes: 46.67% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 10 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 32 Votes: 31.25% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 11 Votes: 63.64% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 18 Votes: 72.22% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 36 Votes: 58.33% Annoying