Chronology from Salem Possessed

Salem Village in the Seventeenth Century: A Chronology
1626	Founding of the town of Salem
1630’s	Settlement begins in the “Salem Farms” region of the town.
1653	Thomas Putnam, Jr., born to Lieutenant Thomas and Ann Holyoke Putnam
1669	Joseph Putnam born to Lieutenant Thomas and Mary Veren Putnam
1672	“Salem Farms” becomes the separate parish of Salem Village; James Bayley hired as its first preacher.
1679	Bayley resigns amidst criticism by some Salem Villagers
1680	George Burroughs hired as the new Village preacher
1683	Burroughs leaves Salem Village
1684	Deodat Lawson hired to succeed Burroughs as preacher
1686	Death of Thomas Putnam; a challenge to his will fails
1686-87	Futile effort to ordain Lawson and form a Village church
1688	Deodat Lawson leaves the Village; Samuel Parris arrives
1689	April: Governor Edmund Andros overthrown in a coup at Boston
	November: Formation of the Salem Village church and ordination of Samuel Parris as its minister
1690	Marriage of Joseph Putnam to Elizabeth Porter
1691	October: Opponents of Parris win control of the Salem Village parish Committee
1692	January to May: Witchcraft afflictions, accusations, arrests June to September: Witchcraft trials and executions
1693	Parris’s supporters and his opponents jockey for positions
1694	March: The pro-Parris group regains control of the parish Committee
1695	April: An ecclesiastical council, meeting at Salem Village under the leadership of the Reverend Increase Mather, hints that Parris should resign; eighty-four of Parris’s Village opponents petition the council members to take a stronger stand; death of Mary Veren Putnam
	May: The council members recommend more forcibly that Parris resign; 105 of Parris’s Village backers sign a petition in his behalf
	June: The Salem Village church endorses Parris, who agrees to stay on; Thomas Putnam, Jr., unsuccessfully challenges Mary Veren Putnam’s will
1696	July: Resignation of Samuel Parris
1697	Parris leaves the Village; Joseph Green replaces him
1699	Deaths of Thomas Putnam, Jr., and his wife
1752	Salem Village becomes the independent town of Danvers
Boyer, Paul and Stephen Nissenbaum. A Study of Witchcraft Hysteria Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft. MJF Books: New York, 1974.