John Hathorne was born in Salem on August 5, 1641 to William Hathorne and Anne Smith. John Hathorne was a judge during the Salem Witch Trials.John Hathorne was a judge during the Salem Witch Trials. He was the fifth of nine children. His father, William, was a local judge who came to the New World on the “Arabella,” one of John Winthrop’s eleven ships that brought over 800 puritans to the colony in the summer of 1630.