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Stolen witch trial papers sold on Internet

By Associated Press, 7/26/2000 04:44

BOSTON (AP) Stolen documents signed by the chief judge in the Salem witch trials were sold over the Internet three years ago, a probate official says.

Suffolk County Register of Probate Richard Iannella discovered the sale last week while researching Isaac Addington, who was a lawyer, a judge and the first Secretary of the Colony. Addington also served on the grand jury that charged the defendants in the Salem witch trials.

Iannella found a description of an auctioned 1697 will on the Internet that was signed by Addington and William Stoughton, another colonial judge. He subsequently checked the files at the state archives, and found the documents missing.

''With these colonial documents gone, there's a hole in colonial history,'' Iannella told the Boston Herald. ''It's a travesty to think that someone would want to profit on the past.''

The papers were sold by History Makers auction house in Indianapolis. Steve Nowlin, owner of History Makers, said he bought the documents from New York's Swann Galleries Auctioneers and Appraisers in 1992.

He declined to say at what price he sold the documents.

Secretary of State William Galvin, who has recovered many stolen documents including a letter from George Washington, said official Massachusetts records always belong to the state, and that Massachusetts Probate Court records can't be auctioned off to private parties.

Papers have been stolen from the courthouse in the past and sold as memorabilia. Last year, a Suffolk County probation officer admitted stealing nearly two dozen old-time baseball players' wills and other documents from around the country.