Squire Brewster was a Boston man described by Jervas Dudley as rich and celebrated, and a maker of local history (though this is not elaborated upon). According to Jervas, the undertaker Goodman Simpson had robbed the recently dead body of the Squire, stealing various articles of clothing before burying him in 1711. Jervas acquired this information from spirits with whom he conversed during one of his nightly visits to a local cemetery.
Jervas also stated that Squire Brewster had not been fully deceased at the time of his presumed death, for he had "turned twice" in his coffin on the day after burial.