Dorcas Hoar (née Galley; c.1634 – July 12, 1711) was a widow accused of witchcraft during the Salem witch trials of 1692.
She was found guilty and condemned to hang, but then confessed and with the support of several ministers, was given a temporary reprieve, after which the trials had already ended.
She was ordered arrested on April 30, 1692, by magistrates John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin, after Jonathan Walcott and Thomas Putnam of Salem Village had made complaints that Hoar, Phillip English of Salem, and Sarah Murrell, also of Beverly, had afflicted Mary Walcott, Mercy Lewis, Abigail Williams, Ann Putnam, Jr., Elizabeth Hubbard, and Susannah Sheldon.
Four Foot and Seven Inches long, by measure, this Lock was of a different colour from all the rest, (which was short and grey) it grew on the hinder part of her Head, and was matted together like an Elf-Lock; the Court ordered it to be cut off, to which she was very unwilling, and said, she was told if it were cut off, she should Dye, or be Sick, yet the Court ordered it so to be.
"[2] Actress Jean Smart was revealed to be a direct descendant of Dorcas Hoar on the sixth episode of the ninth season of the American genealogy documentary series Who Do You Think You Are?