“The burial of Roger Malvin” and the storyD. D. Leavis states that Hawthorne had among his ancestors a “judge who hung witches and the major who whipped Quakers” (30). This is a reference to an example of historical allusion in Hawthorne's tales. This essay will explore a variety of historical episodes referenced in his short story, "The Burial of Roger Malvin." Clarice Swisher in "Nathaniel Hawthorne: a Biography" states the author's deep historical connections: William Hathorne was a colonial magistrate involved in the persecution of Quakers, another Protestant religious group. Hawthorne later described him as "grave, bearded, cloaked in sable and crowned with a steeple", a hard, dark man. His son John Hathorne was well known as a Puritan judge who condemned women as witches in 1692 during the Salem witchcraft trials and who later expressed no remorse for his actions. . . . Of his ancestors, especially Judge John, Hawthorne later said: “I . . . I am hereby ashamed of myself for their sake, and pray that any curse suffered by them. . . could be now and henceforth removed (14). Is it any wonder then that Hawthorne in “Roger Malvin's Burial” uses the story as a source for this tale. Wagenknecht notes in Nathaniel Hawthorne a reliance on history (60). Some other critics comment on Hawthorne's incorporation of history into his literary works. Stanley T. Williams in “Hawthorne's Puritan Mind” states: What he wrote of New England was not simply “local color”; rather it was the subconscious mind of New England. It was this memorable art that distinguished him from Emerson and Thoreau, an art that included his distillation of historical episodes into moods. (43) Sculley Bradley, Richmond Croom Beatty, and E. Hudson Long i...... middle of paper ......edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=HawRoge.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts /english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=allFuller, Edmund, and B. Jo Kinnick in “Stories Derivatives of Life in New England.” In Readings on Nathaniel Hawthorne, edited by Clarice Swisher. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1996.Leavis, Q. D. “Hawthorne as Poet.” In Hawthorne – A Collection of Critical Essays, edited by AN Kaul. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1966. Swisher, Clarice. "Nathaniel Hawthorne: A Biography." In Readings on Nathaniel Hawthorne, edited by Clarice Swisher. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Wagenknecht, Edward. Nathaniel Hawthorne - The man, his stories and his love stories. New York: Continuum Publishing Co., 1989.Williams, Stanley T. “The Puritan Mind of Hawthorne.” In Readings on Nathaniel Hawthorne, edited by Clarice Swisher. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1996.