Salem Witch Trials

1876 illustration of the courtroom; the central figure is usually identified as Mary Walcott

The Salem witch trials (also known as the Salem witch hunt and the Salem witchcraft episode) began in 1692 as a result of the bizarre and inexplicable behavior of two young girls, the daughter and niece of Reverend Samuel Parris of Salem Village. In looking for a reason to explain the behavior a doctor concluded that the girls were bewitched. This diagnosis resulted in several convictions and executions of innocent people who were accused of practicing witchcraft. Fourteen women and six men were killed, and between 175-200 were imprisoned during the trials. The convictions and executions reached not only Salem Village (Danvers), but Salem Town and other surrounding areas in Massachusetts. The modern town of Salem is dedicated to remembering the witch hysteria of 1692, as well as educating the population on the practices of modern witchcraft.

Background

To understand how the Salem witch trials could have occurred it is necessary to understand the beliefs and customs practiced by the Puritan people at the time. The belief system of Salem in 1692 centered around Heaven and Hell, with a strong belief in the power of the devil. The devil, the Puritans believed, was a fallen angel and a being capable of tempting and influencing the weak and fallible. The lessons taught in church, at school, and around the home centered on the need to be good and to avoid the evil temptations of the devil. If anything unfavorable happened to a person or a family, it was considered evidence of the wrath of God. Things such as loss of crops, livestock, and even children were considered a direct result of God's punishment for some evil act. Far-reaching events such as earthquakes, floods, and droughts were revelations from God that He was displeased with a town, or a person in the town. The belief in witches and the power of witchcraft became the explanation. If a child got sick it was common to blame a spell cast by a witch. Often towns would narrow the blame down to one person and either run them out of town, imprison them, or execute them.

Other beliefs about gender also played a key role in the condemning of so many innocent women and children. The Puritan community held strong to the fact that a woman was not as important as a man and should be ruled and governed by a man. They also believed the the nature of a woman was different than that of her male counterpart; a woman was more likely to enlist in the Devil's service, and women were naturally more lustful than men. Thus, an unmarried woman, living alone, without the guidance of a man, became the main target for the persecution. It was believed that if a woman didn't have a man in her life to tell her what to do, then she had most likely turned to the devil for instruction.

Finally, the rumors and gossip spread in such small communities made it virtually impossible for anyone to keep secrets, and opinions about certain people were soon turned into facts. Children represented the lowest part of society, and female children the very lowest. There were very few toys or games ever allowed, and any type of play was seen as troublesome and was discouraged. However, while boys were able to go hunting, fishing, exploring the forest, and often became apprentices, girls were allowed to only spin yarn, cook, sew, weave, and to generally be servants.

Origin of trials

Map of Salem Village, 1692

During the year is 1692, Samuel Parris was the upstanding Reverend of the close-knit society of Salem, Massachusetts. The event that would cause the witch hysteria was started by two small girls. Betty Parris (age 9), the Reverend's daughter, along with her cousin, Abigail Williams (age 11) began displaying very bizarre behavior. It was recorded as fits "beyond the power of Epileptic Fits or natural disease to effect," as recorded by John Hale, minister in Beverly, in his book A Modest Enquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft (Boston, 1702). The girls fell victim to convulsive fits, blasphemous screaming, and other uncontrollable behavior. The two threw things about the room and then crawled about on and under the furniture. Oft times they were found in trance-like states, proclaiming that someone was pricking their skin with pins, or cutting it with knives. In sermons delivered by Reverend Parris, the girls would scream and shout and cover their ears like they couldn't hear the religious speakings. A doctor, assumed to be William Griggs, was unable to explain the behavior, he found no natural cause for what they were suffering from, and therefore assumed that the girls were being bewitched. Soon, the hysteria grew when other people in the village began to fall victim to the same symptoms.

In February of 1692, the inhabitants of Salem were frightened. They held regular fasts and prayed often for the afflicted. The townspeople wanted the influence of the devil to be removed from their community and thus pressured the girls into naming an accuser. The first three people arrested for allegedly afflicting a girl by the name of Ann Putnam (age 12) were Sarah Good, a beggar, Sarah Osburne, a bedridden old woman, and Tituba, a slave. Tituba was an easy and obvious target as she was a slave and a different ethnicity than that of her Puritan neighbors. Many accounts of the history of the hysteria claim that Tituba often told witch stories and spells to the girls while she was working, however, this idea doesn't have much historical merit. Sarah Good was often seen begging for food. She was quick to anger, and often muttered under her breath, many people believed these mutterings to be curses that she was placing upon them. Sarah Osburne had already been marked as an outcast when she married her indentured servant. These women easily fit the mold of being different in their society, and thus were vulnerable targets. The fact that none of the three attended church also made them more susceptible to the accusations of witchcraft.

On March 1, 1692, the three accused were held in prison and then brought before the magistrates. The women were accused of witchcraft, and soon many other women and children joined the ranks of the accused. In March, Martha Corey, Rebecca Nurse, Dorothy Good , and Rachel Clinton were condemned. The most outspoken of the group of women would have been Martha Corey. She was outraged at the unjust accusations and argued that the girls who were accusing her were not to be believed. She scoffed at the trials and only brought unfavorable attention to herself in the process. Dorothy Good, Sarah Good's daughter, was only four years old when she was accused. Being so young and malleable, she was coerced into saying untrue things about her mother's behavior, and then confessed that she, too was a witch, so that she could be placed in prison with her mother.

When faithful members of the Church like Martha Corey and Rebecca Nurse were accused, the community became distraught and worried. How could upstanding people that had long been in association with other be witches in disguise? If they were possible of witchcraft, then anyone could be guilty of being a witch, thus no one was safe from the accusation. This proved true when the arrests continued during the month of April. Many more were arrested: Sarah Cloyce (Nurse's sister), Elizabeth (Bassett) Proctor and her husband John Proctor, Giles Corey (Martha's husband, and a covenanted church member in Salem Town), Abigail Hobbs, Bridget Bishop, Mary Warren (a servant in the Proctor household and sometime accuser herself), Deliverance Hobbs (step-mother of Abigail Hobbs), Sarah Wilds, William Hobbs (husband of Deliverance and father of Abigail), Nehemiah Abbott Jr., Mary Esty (sister of Cloyce and Nurse), Edward Bishop Jr. and his wife Sarah Bishop, and Mary English, and finally on April 30, Rev. George Burroughs, Lydia Dustin, Susannah Martin, Dorcas Hoar, Sarah Morey and Philip English (Mary's husband). The outcome of the many prisoners was varied. One of the men, Neihemiah Abbott Jr. was eventually released when his accusers agreed that it had not been Abbott that had caused their affliction. Mary Esty only served a few days of prison time because the accusers never confirmed her identity. However, they eventually came forward and she was rearrested for crimes.

The trials rested purely on testimony of those who were afflicted, or "spectral evidence". This means that the afflicted claimed to see various apparitions or shapes of the person who was causing their pain. A theological dispute arose about the use of this kind of evidence, because there was a debate on whether or not the Devil could take the shape of a person only with that person's permission to do so. One side obviously argued that the Devil had the power to take anyone's shape with or without their permission, and the Devil could use that person's "shape" to cause havoc and affliction. The court finally concluded that the Devil needed the permission of the specific person. Thus, when the accusers claimed that they had seen the person, then that person could be charged with consorting with the Devil himself. Increase Mather and other ministers sent a letter to the Court, "The Return of Several Ministers Consulted," urging the magistrates not to convict on spectral evidence alone. A copy of this letter was printed in Increase Mather's ["Cases of Conscience"] published in 1693. See facsimiles of [page 73] and [page 74] of this rare book.

In May, the hysteria continued when warrants were issued for 36 more people: Sarah Dustin (daughter of Lydia Dustin), Ann Sears, Bethiah Carter Sr. and her daughter Bethiah Carter Jr., George Jacobs Sr. and his granddaughter Margaret Jacobs, John Willard, Alice Parker, Ann Pudeator, Abigail Soames, George Jacobs Jr. (son of George Jacobs Sr. and father of Margaret Jacobs), Daniel Andrew, Rebecca Jacobs (wife of George Jacobs Jr. and sister of Daniel Andrew), Sarah Buckley and her daughter Mary Witheridge, Elizabeth Colson, Elizabeth Hart, Thomas Farrar Sr., Roger Toothaker, Sarah Proctor (daughter of John and Elilzabeth Proctor), Sarah Bassett (sister-in-law of Elizabeth Proctor), Susannah Roots, Mary DeRich (another sister-in-law of Elizabeth Proctor), Sarah Pease, Elizabeth Cary, Martha Carrier, Elizabeth Fosdick, Wilmot Redd, Sarah Rice, Elizabeth How, John Alden (son of John Alden and Pricilla Mullins of Plymouth Colony), William Proctor (son of John and Elizabeth Proctor), John Flood, Mary Toothaker (wife of Roger Toothaker and sister of Martha Carrier) and her daughter Margaret Toothaker, and Arthur Abbott. When the Court of Oyer and Terminer convened at the end of May, 1692, this brought the total number of accused and arrested to 62.

Various towns, such as Salem, Ipswich, Charlestown, Cambridge, and Boston all had jail houses filled to capacity. Scholars have attributed the lack of trials for the accused to the fact that there was no legitimate form of government at the time available to try the cases. However, through various research, it has been found that other capital cases were tried during this time period. The fact remains that none of the witchcraft cases were tried until late May with the arrival of Governor Sir William Phips. Upon his arrival, Phips instituted a Court of Oyer and Terminer (to "hear and determine") and simultaneously appointed William Stoughton as the Chief Justice of the court. Stoughton was a man with several years of theological training but no legal training(Boyer 7). By then, tragedies were already occurring, Sarah Osborne had died of natural causes in jail on May 10 without a trial (Boyer 3), as well as the death of Sarah Good's infant.

Legal Procedures

The process of arresting and trying an individual began with the accusation that some loss, illness, or even death had been caused by the practice of witchcraft. The accuser entered an official complaint with the town magistrates.

The magistrates would decide if the complaint had any merit, and if they found that it did, the would issue the arrest of the accused. The arrested person would be brought before the magistrates in a type of interrogations/public examination. It was at this time that many of the accused met with great force to confess their practice of witchcraft.

If no confession could be met with, then the accused was turned over to the superior court. In 1692, this meant several months of imprisonment before the new governor arrived and establish a Court of Oyer and Terminer to handle these cases.

With the case appearing before the superior court, it was necessary to summon various witnesses to testify before the grand jury. There were basically two indictments: that of afflicting witchcraft,or making an unlawful covenant with the Devil. Once the accused was indicted, the case went to trial, sometimes on the same day. An example is the case of Bridget Bishop, the first person indicted and tried on June 2. She was executed on June 10, 1692.

The trials resulted in four execution dates, with one person executed on June 10, 1692, five were executed on July 19, 1692, another five executed on August 19, 1692 (Susannah Martin, John Willard, George Burroughs, George Jacobs Sr., and John Proctor), and eight on September 22, 1692 (Mary Esty, Martha Cory, Ann Pudeator, Samuel Wardwell, Mary Parker, Alice Parker, Wilmot Redd, and Margaret Scott). Several others, including Elizabeth (Bassett) Proctor and Abigail Faulkner were convicted and sentenced to death, however, the sentence could not be carried out immediately because the women were pregnant. The women would still be hanged, but not until they had given birth.(Chronology). Five other women were convicted in 1692, but sentence was never carried out: Ann Foster (who later died in prison), her daughter Mary Lacy Sr., Abigail Hobbs, Dorcas Hoar, and Mary Bradbury.

One of the men, Giles Corey, was an 80-year-old farmer from Salem Farms, endured a form of torture called peine fort et dure because he refused to enter a plea. The torture was also called "pressing" and was carried out by resting a board on the man's chest and then piling stones on the board slowly until the man was slowly crushed to death. It took Giles Corey two days to die(Boyer 8). It was thought that perhaps Giles Corey didn't enter a plea to keep his possessions from being taken by the state. Many possessions of those convicted during the trials were confiscated by the state. Sadly, many of the dead were not given proper burials, often being placed in shallow graves after the hangings.

Closure

• The final trials during the witch hysteria took place in May of 1693, after this time, all those still in jail were set free.

• Many of the relatives and descendants of those wrongfully accused sought closure of some magnitude. There were petitions filed that demanded monetary restitution to those were convicted. These petitions were filed up until 1711. Eventually, the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed a bill disallowing spectral evidence. However, only those who had initially filed petitions were given reversal of attainder. This applied to only three people, who had been convicted but not executed: Abigail Faulkner Sr., Elizabeth Proctor, and Sarah Wardwell.

• In 1704 and 1709 another petition was filed in hopes of a monetary settlement. In 1711, a compensation of 578 pounds and 12 shillings was divided among the survivors and relatives of those accused. 150 pounds was given to the Proctor family for John and Elizabeth, by far the most amount of money awarded.

• In 1706, Ann Putnam, one of the girls responsible for accusing various people of witchcraft issued a written apology. In this apology, Ann stated that she had been deluded by Satan into the denouncing of several innocent people, in particular, Rebecca Nurse.

• In 1712 Rebecca Nurse's excommunication was canceled by the very pastor who had cast her out.

• By 1957 descendants of the accused were still demanding that the names of their ancestors be cleared. Finally an act was passed that pronounced all the accused as being exonerated, however, the statement only listed Ann Pudeator by name and all others were referred to as "certain other persons".

• In 1992, The Danvers Tercentenial Committee persuaded the Massachusetts House of Representatives to issue a resolution honoring those who had died. The resolution was finally signed on October 31, 2001 by Governor Jane Swift, more than 300 years later, all were finally proclaimed innocent.

Possible Explanations of the "Possessed"

The idea that the girls were truly afflicted by the Devil is no longer accepted as a reasoning behind the odd behavior. There are several ideas as to the cause of the hysteria, but none have been proven true.

• A few academics believe that the behavior of the girls was all an act that was motivated by jealousy or spite.
• The hysteria was just a form of some type of mental illness.
• In 1976, graduate student Linnda Caporael published an article in Science magazine, making the claim that the hallucinations of the afflicted girls could possibly have been the result of ingesting rye bread that had been made with moldy grain. "Ergot of Rye" is a plant disease that is caused by the fungus Claviceps purpurea. It is the ergot stage of the fungus that contains a similar chemical compounds to the illegal drug, LSD.
• In the bookA Fever in Salem, author Laurie Winn Carlson believes that the girls who claimed to be bewitched, were, in fact, suffering from encephalitis lethargica, a disease whose symptoms match some of what was reported in Salem and could have been spread by birds and other animals (Aronson).
• It has also been suggested that the girls could have had Huntington's Chorea, carriers of which have been traced to be among the colonists that settled in that area [1].
• It should be noted that no serious historian believes these medical explanations because of the sporadic placement of the victims across the village with no other family members suffering from the illness

Salem Today

"With one of the highest concentrations of historic sites, museums, cultural activities, fine dining and shopping in Massachusetts, Salem is America's Bewitching Seaport with a little history in every step" (Destination Salem). The modern-day Salem seems to exist for the sole purpose of making money. A tourist can visit Salem and see many historical museums, dramatic reenactments of the trials, and even modern witches trying to explain the basis of Wicca. There is a wax museum for a quick historic look at the trial, the well-preserved cemetery, and a part of the real dungeon the accused were housed in. It is easy to connect to Boston by train and bus.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Aronson, Marc. "Witch-Hunt: Mysteries of the Salem Witch Trials." Atheneum: New York. 2003.
• Boyer, Paul & Nissenbaum, Stephen. "Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft." Harvard University Press: Cambridge, MA. 1974.
• Boyer, Paul & Nissenbaum, Stephen, eds.. "Salem-Village Witchcraft: A Documentary Record of Local Conflict in Colonial New England" Northeastern University Press: Boston, MA. 1972.
• Breslaw, Elaine G.. "Tituba, Reluctant Witch of Salem: Devilish Indians and Puritan Fantasies." NYU: New York. 1996.
• Brown, David C.. "A Guide to the Salem Witchcraft Hysteria of 1692." David C. Brown: Washington Crossing, PA. 1984.
• Godbeer, Richard. "The Devil's Dominion: Magic and Religion in Early New England." Camridge University Press: New York. 1992.
• Hansen, Chadwick. "Witchcraft at Salem." Brazillier: New York. 1969.
• Hoffer, Peter Charles. "The Salem Witchcraft Trials: A Legal History." University of Kansas: Lawrence, KS. 1997.
• Karlsen, Carol F. The Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England. New York: Vintage, 1987. [This work provides essential background on other witchcraft accusations in 17th century New England.]
• Miller, Arthur. "The Crucible — a play which implicitly compares McCarthyism to a witch-hunt".
• Norton, Mary Beth. In the Devil's Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692. New York: Random House, 2002.
• Reis, Elizabeth. "Damned Women: Sinners and Witches in Puritan New England." Cornell University Press: Ithaca, NY. 1997.
• Roach, Marilynne K. The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-To-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege. Cooper Square Press, 2002.
• Robinson, Enders A.. "Salem Witchcraft and Hawthorne's House of the Seven Gables." Heritage Books: Bowie, MD. 1992.
• Rosenthal, Bernard. "Salem Story: Reading the Witch Trials of 1692." Cambridge University Press: New York. 1993.
• Sologuk, Sally. "Diseases Can Bewitch Durum Millers". Milling Journal. Second quarter 2005.
• Starkey, Marion L. The Devil in Massachusetts. Alfred A. Knopf: 1949.
• Trask, Richard B.. "`The Devil hath been raised`: A Documentary History of the Salem Village Witchcraft Outbreak of March 1692." Revised edition. Yeoman Press: Danvers, MA. 1997.
• Upham, Charles W.. "Salem Witchcraft." Reprint from the 1867 edition, in two volumes. Dover Publications: Mineola, NY. 2000.
• Wilson, Lori Lee. "The Salem Witch Trials." How History Is Invented series. Lerner: Minneapolis. 1997.
• Woolf, Alex. "Investigating History Mysteries". Heinemann Library: 2004.

See also

• The Crucible
• A Break with Charity
• Jury Nullification
• McCarthyism
• Red Scare
• Spectral evidence
• Supernatural
• Torsåker witch trials
• Pendle witches

External links

• Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692
• A documentary archive including original court papers on the trials, maps, interactive maps, biographies, and internal and external links to more resources.
• University of Virginia: Salem Witch Trials (includes former "Massachusetts Historical Society" link)
• "Diseases Can Bewitch Durum Millers" article about ergot-infected grains, ergotism and how it is prevented today.
• PBS Secrets of the Dead: "The Witches Curse" (concerning the Salem trials and ergot)
• Salem Witchcraft, Volumes I and II, by Charles Upham, 1867, fron Project Gutenberg
• Salem Witch Trials:The World Behind the Hysteria
• SalemWitchTrials.com essays, biographies of the accused and afflicted

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