John Proctor spoke out against the witch hysteria from the beginning. It was rumored that he attempted to beat his servant, Mary Warren, to stop her "afflictions." Many people in John's family were also accused including his wife, Elizabeth, sister-in-law, and children.
Before his trial, John wrote to ministers in Boston, describing the horrible torture going on in Salem. Though he was convicted and executed before there was any result, his letter helped convince the ministers to reconsider the nature of spectral evidence, the primary evidence used against witches in the Salem Trials. They decided that it was possible that the devil could take on the shape of an innocent person; previously, a victim's claim that they saw a "specter" of the accused attacking them could lead to conviction. John's letter, and this resulting claim, were contributing factors to the end of the trials.
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