George Jacobs (Salem witch trials)

On the left of the painting is Chief Magistrate William Stoughton, who would later serve three terms as Governor of Massachusetts.

John Hathorne, the judge hearing the accusation, is thought to be an ancestor of Nathaniel Hawthorne.

He holds a book and points at Jacobs' granddaughter as if challenging her to substantiate her earlier written statements.

The boy is unknown but the girl may be either Jacobs' servant or accuser Ann Putnam Jr. Jacobs appears as a minor character in the 1996 film The Crucible, based on Arthur Miller's 1953 play about the Salem witch trials.

“Skeletons in the Closet: How the Actions of the Salem Witch Trials Victims’ Families in 1692 Affected Later Memorialization.” The New England Journal of History 75/76, no.