Peter Sergeant Home, Site of

Although named as a magistrate by Governor William Phips to the Court of Oyer and Terminer in 1692, we have not found any written record of Peter Sergeant’s actual involvement or thoughts on the Salem witch trials. He was a Boston constable in 1674, was a town councilor, and attended the Third Church. A wealthy Boston merchant, Sergeant owned a Washington Street mansion with beautiful gardens, and is buried in the Granary Burying Ground, opposite Bosworth Street which was once the site of his grounds. After his death in 1714, his home, built in 1679, was purchased by the Province of Massachusetts and named “Province House.” It became the official residence of Massachusetts’s royal governors, from 1716 until 1776 when the British evacuated Boston. The building fell into disrepair in the nineteenth century, was damaged by fire in 1864, and was demolished in 1922.

Historian Ken Bresler points out just how connected to the elite and powerful Sergeant was: his third wife was Mary Phips, widow of the deceased Governor William Phips, and his fourth wife was a niece of Lieutenant Governor William Stoughton (who was also the chief justice during the witch trials). Two of Sergeant’s pallbearers were Samuel Sewall and Wait Still Winthrop – two more judges on the Court of Oyer and Terminer.

Bosworth and Province Streets