Lot 2011
1691 Topsfield, Massachusetts, Stampless Folded Letter, Written by John Gould, Accuser at the Salem Witch Trials
Written Three Months Before the Salem Witch Trials Began
Ausruf: $150
Estimate: $300 - $500
Stampless letter datelined December 29, 1691, written and signed by John Gould of Topsfield, Massachusetts. This letter is written just three months before the Salem witch trials began in February 1692.
The writer is John Gould of Topsfield, aged 56 in 1692, brother of Priscilla Gould, the first wife of John Wildes of Topsfield. After Priscilla's death in 1663, John Wildes remarried Sarah Averill within seven months, a remarriage the Gould family resented and which produced a multi-decade feud. By 1692, John Gould and his sister Mary Gould Reddington had been spreading allegations of witchcraft against Sarah Wildes for more than twenty years. When the Salem accusations erupted in the spring of 1692, John Gould was a sworn deponent against Sarah Wildes, recounting incidents his deceased sister had attributed to her and describing supernatural occurrences with a hay cart that he believed were the work of witchcraft. The Goulds were related by marriage to the Putnam family of Salem Village, the principal accusers in the trials. Sarah Wildes was tried, convicted, and executed by hanging at Gallows Hill on July 19, 1692.
Wann wird dieses Los versteigert?
The Philatelic Icons Sale 2026 | June 26-28
Sale 28: U.S. & Worldwide Stampless Postal History, and 18th Century American Historical Documents — Friday, June 26, 2026 | 3pm EST, 12pm PST
We are honored to present The Philatelic Icons Sale, the largest and most significant auction Americana Stamps has ever offered.
America's history lives in the letters that crossed goldfields and battle lines, in express covers that linked frontier towns to the outside world, and in the stamps that mark how a young country built its postal system from scratch. This sale brings together more than 1,500 lots that trace that story, including philatelic icons seldom offered to the public.
This auction is a natural fit for 2026, the 250th year of the United States, and for the Boston 2026 World Expo (May 23 to 30, Booth 141), the once-per-decade international exhibition where we are proud to open the sale. More than 750 lots are accompanied by Philatelic Foundation certifications, the largest concentration of certified material we have ever offered in a single sale.
As always, the sale is designed to serve both the collector and the researcher. Whenever available, you can expect:
✔ High-resolution imagery of all aspects of the item
✔ Links to reference articles and supporting research
✔ Links to philatelic certifications
✔ Census data and population insights
✔ Provenance details to trace notable histories
Whether you are pursuing a long-sought rarity or simply enjoy the chance to study material of this caliber, we invite you to explore the Philatelic Icons Sale and join us in Boston for our largest in-person preview to date.