He retired to Roxbury, where he was a selectman. In 1707 he was chosen an assessor, and in 1710 a tithingman, which he declined. From 1702-04, Calef was an overseer of the poor. Calef's name does not come up in the records of the witchcraft trials of 1692-3 and, according to his book, his interactions with the Mathers began in Boston in September 1693, with most of the writing of the book and compilation of trial records complete by 1697. His children born in Boston were baptized in Boston's South Church, pastored by Samuel Willard. Ĭalef emigrated to New England sometime before 1688. (In contrast to Oxford and Cambridge, the English language was generally preferred for instruction in dissenting academies, as Latin was viewed as having ties to Rome.) According to the tradition of Calef's descendants, he matriculated from "one of the English colleges" and showed sympathy for Quakers and sought asylum in New England. R.C") and Calef's pride in having no proficiency in Latin. His writing displays broad education and it is possible that following grammar school he attended one of England's clandestine dissenting academies as evidenced by Cotton Mather's use of the title "Mr." ("Mr. The Calef family of Stanstead was "one of substantial yeoman and clothiers." The majority of what is known about the character of Robert Calef is what can be gleaned from his single book, and it contains almost no details about his own life. Robert Calef, son of Joseph Calef, was baptized in Stanstead, Suffolk, England on 2 November 1648.
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