Talk:William Phips

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[edit] Search for treasure ship

The article says Phips "searched vainly" for a treasure ship, then states he found it and gathered a large sum of money from it. If he found it, how could the search be in vain? Or is the statement about finding the treasure false? There is no citation. ++Arx Fortis 03:47, 2 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] May need to double-check the dates for return from England....

I will check this further, but my understanding was that Phips and Mather did not return from England until September of 1692. I have always thought that their absence was part of what allowed the trials to get as far as they did. If they were present in May, it would have been more likely that Increase and not his son Cotton would have been called upon for the amicus relationship he had to the court in the Danvers/Salem accusations; although Cotton's experiences and writings about the 1688 Glover trial made him a likely candidate for such a brief, I should think that his father's position would have pre-empted his.

Having researched the stones for all participants in the trials during the Tercentenary 1992 in Salem, I did this work a bit ago, but I think I'm correct in this; can check further for sources.168.122.12.202 (talk) 16:24, 25 May 2008 (UTC)