When I was younger, I used to have snow ball fights in the back of Rev. John Hale's yard.  I had no idea about the history of Rev. John Hale and his involvement in the Salem Witch Trials. Rev. Hale witnessed, as a child, the very first victim of the trials, Margarete Jones.  With the craze of witch hunting being a social norm, he probably thought the woman deserved it.  He joined the militia in 1690 and when he returned he got himself involved in the Which Trials.  Supposedly many girls were being tormented by witches. Historyofmassachusetts.org says that, "Reverend Hale was among the foremost ministers intent upon seeking out and and eliminating the witches responsible." He like, many others, believed that the girls were being tormented  by witches. However as more and more people were being accused of being a witch, he became less involved.  When his wife Sarah was accused of being a witch, he stopped all involvement.  He also wrote the book, “A Modest Inquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft”. 

I was at first angry that he only stopped getting involved because someone personal to him got accused.  Its kinda a big, "I don't care about you", to everyone else accused. His back yard was fun to play in.

http://historyofmassachusetts.org/reverend-john-hale-of-beverly/