The third son of early Salem politician William Hathorne, magistrate John Hathorne’s early career was based more around business than politics, likely anticipating that his older brothers would fill the political role. When he did venture into local politics, it was largely with a bookkeeping focus: he was quartermaster of the local militia in 1661, in 1678 he was appointed to keep the town’s books. It would be during this period that Hathorne was appointed, along with Philip Cromwell, to assist the newly widowed Bridget Oliver in settling her deceased husband’s debts, the sort of local government business someone in his position would be expected to participate in.
Hathorne’s older brothers would die fairly young and when his father died in 1681, Hathorne assumed considerably more political responsibility. In 1683 he served as Salem Deputy to the General Court, a post his father originated. He would serve as a member of the Governor’s Court of Assistants until 1686 when the Charter of the Massachusetts Bay was revoked by the King, and a new Royal Governor was appointed. The Hathornes had been frequent agitators for colonial rights, with William Hathorne being reprimanded for ‘seditious words’ against the King’s government, and this reputation excluded John from Royal Government, although he would return to political office once the King’s governor was overthrown in 1689. A new Court of Assistants was elected in 1691, with Hathorne being elected to it with 657 votes (squarely in the middle as far as votes go, but still 50 less than fellow Salem magistrate, Jonathon Corwin)
. As the Salem Witch Trials began in 1692, Hathorne and Corwin would lead many of the preliminary hearings, including that of Bridget Bishop (previously Oliver). While Hathorne has developed a modern reputation as ‘the hanging judge’ (more thanks to his literary descendant, Nathaniel Hawthorne, than any contemporary opinion), he actually had no authority to issue death warrants himself and was outranked on the court by more politically moderate Salem judge, Bartholomew Gedney (buried nearby). His opinions on the Trials are opaque, his aggressive questioning during examinations is too consistent with interrogation practice of the time to show us much in the way of personal investment; he leaves behind no diaries and makes no surviving public comment for or against the dissolution of the court in late 1692. Whatever his feelings, Hathorne seems to have avoided much fallout (in his lifetime at least) from his participation in the Witch Trials, being elected to the Superior Court in 1702 and made Lieutenant-Colonel during his military command in 1696. He would resign from the Superior Court in 1712 due to hearing loss and passed away on May 10, 1717 at the age of 76.
His small stone, the early work of carver John Holliman, is encased within a granite frame, having fallen over a few decades ago.