John Hathorne
CEO, Hathorne Industries
John Hathorne is CEO of Hathorne Industries and patriarch of the Hathorne family. He has a reputation for being something of a hard-ass. When Sedge Hathorne, his grandson, came to him with a proposal for a greener business model, John rejected it. In response, Sedge used his own money to open Hathorne Recycling. The two have been cold to each other ever since. John and Sedge's wife, Calliope Hathorne very much don't get along and have had more than one public dispute.
John is technically still married to Hypatia Hathorne, AKA Old Lady Hathorne, but the two have been separated for years. John largely ignores his great-granddaughter Katy Hathorne except on her birthday and Christmas, when he gives her extravagant gifts. Katy for her part, wants desperately to impress him, but is too shy and timid to ever really do so.
John has become involved with The Twins and The Smiling Man, whom he believes will help him purge the town of sinners and witches. He seeks to convert his granddaughter Katy Hathorne to his cause.
Social
Family Ties
John Hathorne shares a name with his ancestor, John Hathorne the 1st (1641 – 1717) served as the famous "Hanging Judge" over the Salem Witch Trials. He was a merchant and magistrate of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and Salem, Massachusetts. He is best known for his early and vocal role as one of the leading judges in the Salem witch trials.
Hathorne expanded on the successes of his father in building a small empire based on land and merchant trade to England and the West Indies. In addition to lands in the Salem area he also had interests in the lands of what is now Maine. He assumed positions of authority in the town, and was appointed a justice of the peace of Essex County, and served as a member of the colony's council of assistants (a combination of legislative upper house and high court). In this role he was called on to mediate disputes in the county's towns, including Salem Village (present-day Danvers).
When in early 1692 accusations of witchcraft began to circulate in Salem Village, Hathorne and magistrate Jonathan Corwin were called upon to question both accusers and accused to determine if there was cause for a trial; they were eventually joined in this task by officials from Boston, including Deputy Governor Thomas Danforth. Hathorne's methods were considered harsh. Historical and fictional accounts of the trials often depict him as convinced that the accused were guilty.
Over 300 years after his death, Hathorne is still remembered in Massachusetts as a cruel zealot unable to show mercy. His reputation is such that he has been nicknamed "the Hanging Judge," as oral tradition reputes him as a man from whose clutches it was rare to escape and holds him as a symbol of using the bench to commit murder.
Later in the 1690s Hathorne followed in his father's military footsteps and became more involved in the colonial military activities of King William's War, leading forces in the 1696 Siege of Fort Nashwaak (present-day Fredericton, New Brunswick). He continued to be active in the colonial militia, and was promoted to colonel in 1711. He was also finally appointed to the Superior Court by Governor Joseph Dudley, a seat he held until 1711. He died in Salem in 1717, and is interred in the Burying Point Cemetery along with a number of his descendants.
John was the great-great-grandfather of Nathaniel Hawthorne (born "Hathorne"), author of many works, including The Scarlet Letter and The House of the Seven Gables. The latter work, set in Salem, contains allusions to the witch trials in its history of the house. Hawthorne was somewhat distressed and deeply ashamed at his ancestor's lack of remorse over the trials. Nathaniel may have adopted the "Hawthorne" spelling in an effort to dissociate himself from the judge.
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Current Location
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Ethnicity
Church/Cult
Spouses
Old Lady Hathorne
(Spouse)
Siblings
Children
Gender
Male
Eyes
Gray
Hair
Salt and pepper
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Pale
Aligned Organization
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