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Stricker Family Tree - John Blackleach, Merchant, Accused of Witchcraft

 John Blackleach - Accused of Witchcraft, but NOT in Salem!

Family Connection - 9th great-grandfather of Roy Ellsworth Stricker


John Blackleach was born in about 1605 in Stepney Parish, London, England. In 1623, He married Elizabeth Bacon. While in London, their first three children, Elizabeth, John, and Marie were born. 

In 1634, John and his family moved to Plymouth Colony, settling in Winnisimmet, what is now known as Chelsea, Massachusetts. The family moved frequently - to Salem by 1635, Boston by 1645, New Haven by 1658, Hartford by 1660, and Weathersfield by 1665. 

Historical Map of Weathersfield

John and Elizabeth had nine more children - Desire, Exercise, Joseph, Elizabeth (after death of first Elizabeth), Benoni, Elizabeth (after death of second Elizabeth), Solomon, Solomon (after death of first Solomon), and Mary. 

John was apparently a good businessman, and accumulated significant wealth. He travelled to London and the West Indies for business, sometimes with his son John. 

John was also a Puritan reformist, author of several pamphlets, and even took a missionary voyage to Jamaica in 1671. He was apparently friends with both John Winthrop Sr. and Jr., and the religious leaders Cotton and Increase Mather. In 1636, he was a Deputy for Salem to Massachusetts Bay General Court . 

Here's where it gets interesting. About fifty years before the witch hysteria in Salem, there was witch hysteria in Weathersfield. Weathersfield had nine documented accusations of witchcraft and three executions between 1648 and 1668. In 1662, John Blackleach and his wife were accused of witchcraft. They were never formally charged or tried, and in 1663 they brought slander suits against their accusers. Their status and wealth was likely the reason they were never charged. Six years later, John and Elizabeth were part of a group that accused Katherine Harrison of witchcraft. She was tried, found guilty, and avoided execution by being exiled to the Colony of New York. 

Elizabeth Bacon Blackleach died in Weathersfield on July 20, 1683. John Blackleach died in Weathersfield on August 23, 1683. The burial location for both is unknown. 

John Blackleach > John Blackleach > Richard Blackleach > Joseph Blackleach > Mabel Blackleach > Joanna Ames > John Henry Warner > Mariah Warner > Eugene Aaron Grover > Lillian May Grover > Gertrude Myra Newland > Roy Ellsworth Stricker


John Blackleach is in the orange section of the top chart, in the outer ring at the top of the section. The top tree is centered on John Henry Warner, who is in the orange section of the bottom tree, in the second-from-outside ring. 




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