Samuel Wardwell is my fifth great uncle. He did not get along with the local minister. A humble farmer who kept to himself, he was executed by Puritans who resented his being a Quaker and a man who rarely attended their church, which their laws required him to do and for which he had been fined before. There is a lot more to his tragic story, including restitution being paid to his family years later. Too late for him and so many others, but separating church and state was and remains a very good idea.

My ancestor's crime was poverty and begging for food after she was widowed. She was unjustly hanged as a witch when she allegedly verbally lashed out. Her name was Margaret Stephenson Scott. She is far removed from me, yet my heart hurts for her sorrow, fear and anguish. News like this is difficult to ignore.

We are not responsible for the sins of our fathers unless we repeat them.

Nathaniel Hawthorne, who wrote The Scarlet Letter, was the great, great grandson of John Hathorne the lead judge in the witch trials of 1692. He is the only judge not to publicly apologize for his behavior. Nathaniel was burdened with guilt from his family’s legacy which lead him to write the Scarlet Letter; he also change the spelling of his name to disassociate himself from his great, great grandfather.

If there's a dark page in the book of your family's past, don't just tear it out. Read it, learn it, turn the page and write a better story.

“A mob is a place where people go to take a break from their conscience” - YES!!!!!

It sort of shows that even the most messed up families can produce a kind and decent person like Jeff.

I love how authentic Jeff’s response is. This is heavy news, but he responds with his full mind and heart.

Am I the only one impressed that Jeff can read that crazy writing so fluidly?

A lot of these accusations were land grabs so it's possible that Thomas Chandler wanted Samuel Wardwell's property. Thomas didn't want his brother-in-law's property and probably thought his own life might be in danger when he signed that petition.

History whether it's good or bad still needs to be learned, understood and embraced no matter what. Amazing to be able to find out all this information

When I was in graduate school in Boston one of the books we had to read was Witches, Midwives, and Nurses. Many nurses were part of the Salem Trials. They were killed because they were taking care of the poor, but deemed as witches. We never caught a break!

I descended from Mary Bradbury. She was among the last to be accused and condemned. She escaped from jail at the age of 70. She must have had help. Everyone believed it was the sheriff.

You can see how touched Jeff is by the fate of those poor people. What a decent, emphatic man.

It really shows the complexities humans have when they are put under stress, times when either the ugly or good, or both, are revealed. Yet it’s those moments that end up defining us. Appreciate that Jeff was willing to share such a reveal to the rest of us, not every person has ancestry that relate to the glories of history, but stories like this are just as important to know about.

Bro, I don't accept responsibility for my own living relatives for their opinions, let alone something my family did 340 years ago.

My wife is descended from the brother of the three accused Towne sisters, two of whom were hanged that summer. Another direct descendant, Henry Kinne, was an accuser. The families reconciled 2 generations afterward, explaining how she is descended from each. I am descended from the Fiske's, jurors and jury foreman of the Townsend's trial. About ten years afterwards, the entire jury (those remaining) signed a letter of remorse for their actions in first returning an innocent verdict, then under pressure of the mob, reconsidering.

I’ve always really liked Jeff. He’s a good actor and for what little I know of him as a real person, he seems to be a stand up, regular, grounded guy……which is probably what makes him a good actor! I enjoy his story - thank you.

My 10th great grandmother was hung at Salem 09/22/1692. RIP Mary Parker (Ayers) along with a few more that were accused and some testified. I still like you Jeff even though your 8th great grandfather accused my 10th great grandmother ❤.

So interesting to see such a comedic person be so somber. Very sobering, and I have deep respect for him for the level of remorse he showed for something that isn't even his fault. Bless him.

3 of my relatives, that I know of, were hanged in the two months prior to the hangings discussed in this video. 3 sisters of one of my 8th maternal Great Grandfathers (my distant aunts) were accused of being witches. 71-year-old Rebecca Nurse was hung July 19, 1692. Her younger sister Mary Easty--the mother of 11 children, was released after two months imprisonment, but re-arrested and hung August 22, 1692 after 19-year-old Mercy Lewis said Mary tormented her in a dream--which was enough to have her re-tried as a witch and hung. My Aunt Sarah Cloyce was also accused and tried. Bray Wilkins was one of my maternal 9th Great Grandfathers. He didn't like who his granddaughter Margaret married due to the young man's earlier employment with one of his business enemies. He accused his granddaughter's husband of looking at him strangely at a family dinner and giving him kidney stones. John Willard was hung in Salem 3-days prior to my aunt Mary. "Religious" people have been accusing others of sh*t like this for centuries. In most of these cases in Salem, they were accusing other religious people for purposes of power, revenge, control, and greed--property of the deceased was up for grabs. Reverend Parris was as corrupt and power-hungry as they get. Accusers had much to gain from the deaths and guilty verdicts of people they accused.

Jeff Danielle's is a true human being. He is no coward to right an wrong.

Poor Jeff, he’s such a great and decent man and one amazing actor !

Let's just all agree that we all come from messed up families.

Thank you for your great work Mr. Gates. You help us realize that no family is without some questionable behavior, but it is how we acknowledge it that matters. We lose nothing of who we are now by owning the mistakes of the past. I understand and sympathize with Jeff, his disappointment was obvious, but he demonstrated how to gracefully and bravely acknowledge what could have been his ancestors motivations while still condemning the wrongness of their acts.

Well thought through responses from Mr. Daniels.

My wife has recently found out that my great grandmother was one of the one persecuted during the Salem witch trials her name was Margaret Kinsey Stephenson she was hung for being a witch

We all wish we could change things we could've changed. I admire Jeff Daniel's humility.

Does anyone ever go on this show and are told," your ancestors were janitors"?

Well, somebody cast Jeff Daniels in a production of The Crucible immediately! I love how he's being asked what he thinks was in the mind of his ancestor. 😆

These discoveries, I think, are endlessly fascinating!!!!!

I love Jeff Daniels. Level headed.

My mom always said not to look at ancestry because you never know what you will find. I have never feel guilty for anything someone else has done - only my actions.

What a great response and sense of humble humor but on a real note so true it's not his fault what happened in the past. It's incredible what people can learn about family history. 🙏

Salem Massachusetts in 1692 was on a giant bad trip.

We love you, Jeff! Thanks for sharing!

My relative (name Brigett Bishop) was the first to be hanged in the witch trials. My (I think 8th great grandfather and grandmother) were also hanged. We have copies of the arrest records. Bishop was also my grandmother's name. When we found all this out, it was a big 'wow!'

I have a pen pal whose maiden name is Gedney. She's a descendant of Bartholomew Gedney, who was one of Salem's prosecutors. She's 70-years-old now and, unbelievably, she's in prison. In 2005, she did her husband in.

One of my ancestors was Mary ( Perkins) Bradbury who was accused in the trials but managed to get away until things later died down

This blew my mind knowing this bit of history.

I love this program and watch it regularly.

Hats off! The only reason we do not have witches flying around everywhere today is the hard work of his ancestors. Now to get that Potter boy!

I had remembered hearing the name Samuel Wardwell before. Turns out he was featured as part of Scott Foley's lineage on Who Do You Think You Are?

“Now the Salem witch trials are my fault,great!..I can handle that.” 🤣🤣🤣

Jeff Daniels is an amazing man, talent, comedian, human being.

My 8th great grandfather Jarvis Ring and his brother Joseph testified against Susannah Martin during the Witch Trials. Jarvis went on to a successful life. His brother Joseph met a horrific end as part of the Massachusetts militia, fighting Native Americans.

My 8th great uncle was John Willard. He was a counstable in Salem and involved in arresting the accused withces. He was particularly disturbed about having to arrest Rebecca Nurse( Towne) and was very vocal about it. He was, of course, then accused by his inlaws of witchcraft for speaking out. He fled to the home of my 8th grandfather, Henry Willard, where he was later arrested, and brought back to Salem and hanged in August, 1692. John's widow married Robert Towne two years after his death and from what I read, never spoke to her family again.

Mary Parker was my 9th great grandmother. It is heart breaking to hear her name accused of such nonsense. 💔😭 I hold no grudge on the descendants.

Richie "Valenz" Valenzuela is my cousin. My grandfather is Joe Valenzuela and also related to Fernando Valenzuela. I would love to have these people study our family and find out what other greats are of my blood

Thank you for that amazing moment in Gettysburg when you shout 'Boyonets'. You were Chamberlain at thar moment, love it❤

My great ancestor Hendrick Coleman was a Co-conspirator in the Long Finn Rebellion of 1665. It's crazy the connections we have. Jeff is great! Saw him on Broadway. Fantastic actor.

I think it’s horrific to have someone account for what their relatives 10 generations ago did.

"Put her lights out." 😆😆😆 I really enjoy this - the funny statements as well as the direct connections that are made to historical events. It's such an interesting way to get perspective on history.

Such a dramatic clip! I love this show so much.

This is so interesting. great channel and quite unique.

I love that he owned how bad the deeds of his ancestor was, unlike most. He took the good and didn't gloss over the bad.

I do feel for Jeff knowing that his forefathers had a hand in many deaths. Crazy to think what's hiding in our forefathers closets 😬

Jeff is always a treat

This was very fascinating.

It’s very interesting that every single person who discovers details of their ancestry will experience the feeling of both pride and shame.

Love the show dude keep up the solid work

Love Jeff Daniels. Both he and Henry Louis Gates Jr. are treasures.

I have so much affection for this great, great actor.

It should be easier to understand how so many could do such a thing as the "Salem Witch Trials" after what happened 2019 globaly. Human nature DOES NOT CHANGE. Love your personalized history.

I just found out that one of my ancestors was convicted in the Salem Witch Trials. Thankfully because Old Pharaoh was in his late 70s he only served 5 months.

Very Humbling this soul is,love and blessing and strength in truth AMEN 🙏

That is absolutely insane! Super cool you can trace all this.

It was so sad to discover that my husband's aunt was Margaret Scott, she was hung in this trial at the age of 77

I’m a direct descendant of Rebecca Towne as she is my 10th great-grandmother on my fathers side. I’m also a direct descendant of Ann Foster through my mothers side. It’s weird to think that several of my ancestors were accused of witchcraft and hanged for crimes they didn’t commit.

Amazing history lesson.

FOR JEFF AND HENRY: Thomas Chandler is my 9th Great grandfather and Sarah Phelps is my 7th Great Grandmother. Somehow I stumbled onto this video. Also, Sarah Phelps' G Granddaughter Levicy "Fields" Sands (my 5th G Grandmother) has an incredible story! If she would not have survived, I would not be here to write to you. --> Levisa sole survivor of her family at 5 years old Francis Willa (Jackson) Sands’ first husband James “Jim” Sands’ great grandmother Levisa "Levicy" Fields also knew the fear and violence of the Indian Wars. "When Levisa was about five years old, her family lived in a log cabin about three miles from a fort, established at or near the present site of Charleston, West Virginia. Mr. Fields and his wife had seven children, including Levisa. One day some little distance from the cabin, Levisa was up in an apple tree breaking apple blossoms. The family dog saw Indians approaching the cabin and barked, thus attracting the attention of both Levisa and her father to the Indians. Levisa sat still up in the tree and her father hid under a log. The Indians ran into the cabin, killed and scalped Mrs. Fields and six of the children, and then went to the clearing and killed and scalped Mr. Fields. They set fire to the cabin, and ran away. They did not discover Levisa, and when she saw them leave, she climbed down from the tree and went to the fort."-- Chapman, Berlin B., Chapman Family: A Study in the Social Development of Central West Virginia, [The] (Tulsa, OK: Mid-West Printing Co., 1942), p.8. [Located at University of Nebraska Library, Lincoln, Nebraska 68588-4100.]

Love Jeff ❤ I’m sure he was shocked about his family history

My ancestor's sister was the oldest person executed for witchcraft in Salem.

Jeff Daniels is awesome!

thanks for sharing that awesome story with us mr daniels and mr henry louis gates jr

The Putnams, accusers in the Salem Witch Trials, were my 9x great-grandparents. It is horrifying to find out your ancestors took part in such heinous crimes.

I'm also related to someone heavily involved in the trails. Ann Putnam Jr. She was one of the primary accusers in the trail who's testimony help convict and hand 20 people, then much was the only accusers to recant and apologize for her role. Can't pick you family. It a example of mass hysteria and a excellent example why you should always reserve judgment and never just follow the crowd. I sure later generation will examine these times and wonder how could they do that?

Susannah Roote was my seventh great grandmother. Tried and found guilty, she was released for unknown reasons. She was frail and elderly and died soon afterward. She had not attended church regularly, evidently suffered from insomnia (burned candles at night), talked to someone when alone, and flew around her room. We seven seventh generation sisters are proud of our witch DNA.

Thomas Chandler was one of my great grandfathers, too. So weird to hear his name at random. Don’t worry, Jeff! You are not alone in your ancestor guilt. I’m also related to the Nurses, AND the Danes. If you’re related to one person in the Witch Trials, you’re very likely related to others involved in the trial. There are millions of us who are descended from these people.

I am related to Capt. William Bassett Sr, Elizabeth Proctor’s father. Distant, but I found it so interesting because we are related from my mom’s side. That side of my family is Canadian. My dads side is American.

It's hard to not respect Jeff Daniels.

Wow! What a story!! Wild and dark history! Poor people!

Cool response Jeff

I grew up in a religious family who believed the "devil" was in many things. When I asked why we weren't allowed to go to movie theaters, they just told me the devil was there. What my grandmother was actually referring to by the "devil" is from her belief that ppl still smoked and drank at movie theaters like they did when she was young. I imagine these Puritans saw the devil in a lot more mundane things at that time.

Direct descendant of Anne Alcock Foster, mother of Mary Foster Lacy. My great ancestor was in the Salem prison, lying about riding a broom to take blame and save her daughter and granddaughter from hanging. She was a widow running her own homestead. Her neighbor lady got sick, doctor couldnt explain the sickness, the womans husband blamed my ancestor. Perhaps he didn't want a neighbor that was a female head of the home. We will never know. They chained her to a wall so that she wouldn't fly away. That's where she died after 21 weeks in prison . God love her for doing what she had to do to protect her family. I believe she was 73. Her daughters and granddaughters' execution was lifted once it all came to an end.

Secrets Of The Dead, another PBS series, did a program on the Salem witch trials. I forget the title of that program but a modern forensic detective study was done to figure out what really happened to those girls that started the mess and it was facinating! That program was several years ago.

What a story.

I have a copy of testimony my ancestor gave as well! Fascinating 🤓

More I see of Jeff Daniels I like😊

Great to be apart of history

I'm impressed at how fluently Jeff Daniels read 17th century cursive script. I wonder how many takes it required.

WOW! This has to be one of the first time I have heard of someone we all know being related to the witch trials!

My ancestors were here but definitely not participants because they were Quakers. Although those lovely puritans hung two of us for traveling through their utopian colony because being a Quaker was right up there with being a witch. Lovely people those puritans

A man named Robert Moulton testified in favor of Rebecca Nurse. He was an ancestor of my husband.

I don’t know this man as a celebrity:) but his reaction here makes me think he has a good heart 😢 he’s genuinely upset that he is tied to such a terrible injustice.

i looked up my geneology and found i have both ancestors who were accused of and ancestors who testified against witchcraft. it was pretty prevalent back in the day, not just in salem, but in all of england, wales, scotland... it was very common.

When I was a late teen my dad took me on a car ride late at night which was uncharacteristic of him because he always followed his personal rules but he parked by a lake, we had a long talk, he eventually ended the conversation with “Son, I love you very much, and I don’t want you to ever want to be me like you try to be, be yourself, but continue doing what is right. Do what is right”. He began weeping on my shoulder sobbing like a child would on their father’s shoulder. I have never seen my father do that and I have never seen him do that ever since. He buried his mom and was present when they burnt my grandpa cuz he died of Covid. I knew he lived his life alone so later in life after I carried my friend’s casket and sent it to the hearse for him to be burnt. There was no grave, just a small plaque memorial with a little dying balloon by a small little tree. I went there with my parents and when I went out my mom tried to open the door but my dad just held onto her shoulder shaking his head no and they both let me weep as I spent 30 minutes talking to my friend talking about my feelings. I put a quarter in his casket and on his tree “just in case” the ferryman didn’t let him get his his way “through”. I don’t know what I believe in, cuz I lost so many people. Overdose, decapitation, simple suicide, etc. but he wasn’t supposed to go. I miss you man.

Salem Witch trials and the Witch Trials in England were a very dark period of history in both the American Colonies and in England too. My family is descended from several victims in both England and the Colonies. However since none of us alive today had any say in what went on back then, no one alive today can be held responsible for the actions of those who came before us. We can only say a prayer for the victims as well as the persecutors. Learning from the past is important so that it never happens again.

I too recently learned that Cotton Mathers is my 10 times great grandfather who was involved with the Salem Witch Trials, among other things.

Makes TOTAL sense.