According to tradition, Appleton hid at his son's home in Saugus (then part of Lynn) and delivered an address from a rocky cliff near the Iron Works in which he denounced the tyranny of Andros. The place where he is said to have delivered the speech became known as Appleton's Pulpit. Appleton was arrested on September 20 and brought before the Council on October 5. He remained in prison until March 7, 1688, when he was released by the Superior Court in exchange for a £1,000 bond for his future appearance. Appleton was a member of the council that governed Massachusetts between the 1689 Boston revolt and the Charter of Province of Massachusetts Bay taking effect in 1692. He served as justice of the Quarterly and General Sessions Court. He was also a member of the Governor's Council in Salem on April 11, 1692, which interrogated Elizabeth Proctor and Sarah Cloyce on charges of witchcraft brought against them. Both, plus Elizabeth's husband, John Proctor, were bound over for trial once a Superior Court could be convened to hear the cases. Appleton died on May 15, 1696. Appleton's descendants include President Calvin Coolidge, First Lady Jane Pierce, the President of Bowdoin College: Jesse Appleton, entomologist Alpheus Spring Packard, professor William Alfred Packard, Maine Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice John Appleton, Union Army Colonel John F. Appleton, Congressman William Appleton, merchant and philanthropist Samuel Appleton, Congressman Nathan Appleton, author Thomas Gold Appleton, publisher Daniel Appleton, publisher William Henry Appleton, publisher George Swett Appleton, Major General Francis Henry Appleton, Frances Appleton, the wife of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, artist Ernest Wadsworth Longfellow, and philanthropist and preservationist Alice Mary Longfellow.