Roach, Marilynne K. Taylor Trade Publishing, Tantor Media Inc, Upham, Charles W. II, Wiggin and Lunt, Nevins, Winfield S.
Witchcraft in Salem Village in Salem Press Company, Edited by Benjamin F. Arrington, vol. Edited by Wilbur R. Sage, Upham, William P. House of John Proctor: Witchcraft Martyr, Press of C. Shepard, Salem, Essex Institute, Very, very fascinating. I am a direct descendant of Mary Towne Esty and always find the more I read about the trials and people involved, the more I learn.
Thank you for an excellent article. Thanks, Stephen! I am a direct descendant of Susannah Martin, descending thru her daughter, Jane who married Samuel Hadley. I have often questioned, as surely many others have, what could cause educated persons such as judges and ministers to buy into such rot.
Susannah North, an ancestor on my fathers side of the family. Mary Foster Lacey Sr. I got conflicting information until someone helping me told me that is her full name to get her true hints on ancestry.
I will give details birth and date later. Her father is Richard North born died same as her mother born and died as her father.. Her grandparents -John North born died and Anna Hadell born died I will give much details soon as possible the dates of birth and death and the city where they were born and where they are buried.
I have been told that I am related to the oldest woman in the witch trials. I do genealogy and would love to research her.
Do you know her name? Also, did they mean the oldest victim in the witch trials or just the oldest person accused? Hundreds of people were accused and arrested so that would be tough to figure out.
My ancestor, Mehitabel Braybrooke Downing was one of the accused. Her name in the letter is Mehitabel Downing. I wrote a historical novel about her and just received a contract from a publisher. The book will be out in early The story that they went to New York is unverified as yet, but from researching Essex County deeds and tax lists, I can verify that they returned to Salem Village and lived there until Some of their children remained in Essex County, while some moved with them to Bristol County and elsewhere.
You have Ms. Sarah Wildes is a fore mother of mine and it disheartens me into rage that she is one of the witches that were killed. May the gods bless her soul for Eternal peace and harmony. Hi Nora. My 10 great grandmother was Sarah Wilde.
I would love any information or stories you have about this side of the family. Thank you!! Juleless yahoo. Judy Skidmore Cottrell, I just today read your comment on this post. I do apologize for not keeping up with the comments here. I began a blog about my family tree called bridges2yesteryear. I had found some very helpful sources: some on-line documents, some printed sources books and magazine articles , and microfilms of original records. I used on-line documents from the Salem Witch Trials, tax records, deeds, and a scholarly article by Dr.
David L. Enjoyable reading! My ancestral grandmother, Mary Prince of Gloucester along with her daughter and granddaughter were accused and arrested for witchcraft, then jailed in Ipswich. There were many women from Gloucester, MA arrested. None of my ancestors went to trial; but jail must have been cruel. Looking forward to more of your stories. Hi, Francis Hutchins is my 10th great Aunt. She was accused but not tried and her name is listed. I would love any other info anyone might have about her.
Hi every1, Ive recently found out im a descendent of Hannah Bromage of Haverhill! My name is Scott Bromage. Ive only found she was arrested or accused! Sarah died proclaiming her innocence as others had done as her husband and son watched helplessly. Her husband was a magistrate and her son a constable, both law abiding citizens and both sworn to uphold the laws, even those which were unjust.
Imagine how you might feel if you had to witness the execution of one of your loved ones …. Did they eat certain foods? Basically said, at first The very first accused were smart. Their life as pioused citizens consisted of work and church only. Drs examined them could find nothing wrong so religion came to play.
As soon as the minister said they were touched by evil or witch craft the girls had an out. They began flailing and acting like fools and accused their maid of witch craft. She was where the smart came in. She was a slave and upon being accused was beaten nearly to death by her owner. She finally confessed thinking it would save her, her owner said tell us who your coven is or die so she named 2 others and lived.
In early , during the depths of winter in Massachusetts Bay Colony, a group of young girls in the village of Salem began acting strangely. The daughter and niece of the local minister, Samuel Parris, claimed to be afflicted by invisible forces who bit and pinched them, In late March , John and Bethia Kelly grieved over the body of their 8-year-old daughter inside their Hartford, Connecticut, home. Little Elizabeth had been fine just days before when she returned home with a neighbor, Goodwife Ayres.
The distraught parents, grasping at any Witches were perceived as evil beings by early Christians in Europe, inspiring the iconic Halloween figure. Images of witches have appeared in various forms throughout history—from evil, wart-nosed women huddling over a cauldron of boiling liquid to hag-faced, cackling beings In early , several girls in the colonial Massachusetts village of Salem began exhibiting strange symptoms, including twitching, barking, and complaining of being pinched or pricked by invisible pins.
The afflicted girls soon accused several local women of bewitching them, A doctor diagnosed the children as being victims of black magic, and over the next several months, John Proctor sat in the courtroom, watching his pregnant wife, Elizabeth on the stand.
Paranoia was sweeping Salem, and Elizabeth was being examined by a local judge on suspicion of witchcraft. It seems like an easier thing to do than just sit there and be accused. Also i seems like a smarter thing to do at the moment if you had a rival with one of the families in town. Not many people fled Salem, only a handful did, because Salem was their home and had been for a long time. Where can I get a copy of the Salem map that you posted? I could use this for classroom use….
I think they where viewed in an horrible way, because the people who where accused where not really witches. Brooks, Rebecca Beatrice. Smithsonia, 8 Sept. Hi Sarah, I am the author and publisher of this blog. This site is not a part of the Smithsonian website.
Hope that helps with your bibliography. I love this site! Did you know they executed 2 dogs?! How inhumane! It disgusts me but at the same time interests me, and makes me want to learn more.
When was this site last edited? Do you have a version number for this site? Also, when was his last updated? Thank you, using this as a source! This article was last updated on Nov 22, It is sad where the mind-set was back then. The preacher sad they could not kill the devil by shooting the dog but did anyway.
Then after said the dog died so it must have been innocent. A child pointed to a dog and said it bewitched me and shot the dog immediately. Then say they were wrong. Then they even do a greater injustice by not only torturing folks in prison but hanging 19 of them and then putting rocks on a 71 year old man until he died because he would not state he was guilty or innocent some old English law if accused refused to make a plea.
Thank you so much for this! Do you know if their are any reports from some of the people in the villiage? Most of the eyewitness accounts can be found in the court records and the books written by the ministers involved in the trials.
I find the history interesting and would like to find more information on this matter. I think in some forms that witches still exist in hidden arenas. If there is anyone has found anymore supporting theories please share. I am looking forward to the challenge of uncovering a multitude of analysis on this matter. Hi Rebecca…I saw that you have a lot of knowledge about Mary Easty…I was told this year at a funeral that I am a direct decendent of hers…I live in Salem and My Grandfather was name William Estey…do you by any chance have any history of the family tree?
Unfortunately, I do not have any information on her family tree but you might want to check out a genealogy site like ancestry. Ancestry is the easiest way. Just pay for a month and go nuts adding records to a tree. Lines going back to Salem and Colonial New England in general are usually well documented.
It will be very easy. I have countless ancestors out of Massachusetts Bay Colony and one of my grandmothers was Martha Carrier.
Her son Richard is one of my 8th great grandfathers and I keep waiting for a DNA match to pop up with one of his other descendants. I need a bibliography for my class report. Native Americans and other religions represented threats by the Devil.
And this was for a people who saw themselves as ordered by God to build their shining City on a Hill. Massachusetts was like the early state of Israel. In , New England revolted and deposed the government of the Dominion of New England, and sent a representative back to London to report it, only to find that Parliament had deposed James II, and replaced him with William and Mary. William was happily a Calvinist, but not even that changed the fact New England theocracy was at an end.
No more restricting property ownership and voting rights to only church members. The devil had won. Salem witch trial started as feud between Porters n putnums cuz putnums felt Porters gave too much freedom to their black servants. After my greaty great uncle Israel Porter formed political group to gather support against putnums, putnums responded by accusing supporters n friends of Porter Family of witchcraft esp their daughters.
Hysteria was from little girls facin threat of death by torture. They basically played the trump card of the times. Church was all powerful in those days. No way to fight its power.
Luckily ann putnum jr lived to apologize. The team of scholars, which included historians and archeologists, used high tech aerial photography and ground penetrating radar to analyze the topography of Gallows Hill. Through comparison of the viewpoints from different historical buildings and the eyewitnesses record, the exact spot was determined. The city of Salem planned to construct a respectful memorial at the spot, remembering the victims of mass hysteria at the Salem witch trials.
Baker, Emerson W. Oxford University Press, New York. The Salem News, Salem. You must be logged in to post a comment. Protected by Akismet Blog with WordPress. A map of Salem Village, Log in to Reply.
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