The Real Reverend Samuel Parris

Samuel Parris was originally from Barbados where his father was a wealthy plantation owner. Samuel Parris was attending Harvard College when his father died. He returned to Barbados and was a fairly successful businessman before moving to Boston with two South American slaves: Tituba and John. In Boston, Parris married and had three children. He continued life as a businessman for a while but gradually began preaching and eventually negotiated a post as minister in Salem Village 1689. He was the fourth minister to hold this position since the parish was formed only eighteen years before in 1672. In the winter of 1962, his daughter, Betty (9), and niece, Abigail Williams(11), became afflicted with symptoms the local doctor could not explain.