#saltonstall

Wonderful chance to preach in Chestnut Hill yesterday.

This year Reuben Hernandez was selected as a Saltonstall Artist Residency alternate finalist. Read the full press release here.

#verygrinchychristmas, #saltonstall (at Saltonstall School) https://www.instagram.com/p/BrY5oEjAiTo/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=15txjaxdjxkmd

The most impressive monument belongs to the family of Nathaniel Saltonstall, who was one of the judges at the Salem witchcraft trials in the 1690s. Saltonstall was born in Ipswich in 1639, attended Harvard, and eventually became Haverhill’s town clerk. He married Elizabeth Ward, who was the daughter of John Ward, the minister who founded Haverhill. In short, he was kind of a bigwig. When the 1692 witch craze broke out in Salem Village, Saltonstall was appointed to the Court Oyer and Terminer, a group of seven judges who would oversee the witchcraft trials. Saltonstall only heard one witchcraft case, that of Bridget Bishop, who was found guilty and hanged on Gallows Hill. After this, he removed himself from the Court Oyer and Terminer. Salem was far from his home in Haverhill, but more importantly he didn’t believe the afflicted girls were really possessed, and found the spectral evidence admitted in court unconvincing. It wasn’t so easy for him to escape the Salem madness unscathed, though. When he returned to Haverhill he started to drink heavily, and was reprimanded for it by Samuel Sewall, one of the judges who remained on the court. Even worse, the afflicted Salem Village girls claimed they saw Nathaniel Saltonstall’s spectre with the other witches, and that he was a witch himself. Because he was well-connected Saltonstall was never brought to trial. He weathered the witch craze, and eventually died in 1707. 

Robert Feke (American, 1705-1750) Portrait of Judge Richard Saltonstall, about 1750 Boston, Massachusetts, United States

“Judging by the posters found around Columbia, he is running for councilman of Ward 6. He wears a blue sport coat and red and white vertically striped pants, similar in style to that of Uncle Sam[2]. He sports a friendly mutton chop[3] mustache and carries a small badge with the colors of the American flag. He appears to be insane as he is found speaking to a crowd of empty chairs about the "importance of preserving the purity of Columbia." However, when the protagonist grabs a weapon, it's clear that Saltonstall is more than he appears, as his eyes, face, and voice undergo an inhuman change while his promotional button shifts into a symbol emblazoned with the Soviet hammer and sickle (an anachronism, as this symbol did not exist before the Russian revolutions of 1917); this dramatic shift may have been an early example (or proto-form) of a Tear. A moment afterward, he calls Charles to attack Booker and use Murder of Crows upon him. After DeWitt kills Charles, Saltonstall utilizes a Sky-Hook on the Sky-Lineto escape from him. The player sees Saltonstall enter a cannon across the city, where he opens fire upon DeWitt. DeWitt then ziplines down to the cannon, momentarily hiding in a bar before coming back out and destroying the cannon that Saltonstall had entered.”

Only a few weeks to go! The application deadline for the 2015 Saltonstall Foundation residencies is Friday, January 2. If you keep thinking, "should I do this?" the answer is, "YES." Go for it.