As the weeks passed, other young girls claimed to have been infected by witchcraft too. They accused other townspeople of torturing them, and a few of the so-called witches on trial even named others as witches. Women were not the only ones believed to be witches—men and children were accused too. By the end of the trials in , 24 people had died, some in jail but most by hanging. Eventually, after seeming to realize how unfair the trials were to the accused, the court refused to hear any more charges of witchcraft.
All of the accused were finally pardoned in The Salem Village hangings were the last executions of accused witches in the United States. Roach Jul 22, Salem Witch Museum.
The Witch House. Witch Dungeon Museum. Witch History Museum. Witch Trials Memorial. Salem Witch Trials of This website uses cookies to improve your experience.
Told that they would be shown mercy if they confessed, 54 of the accused witches admitted guilt. Families and friends often urged their loved ones to confess to save their lives. Families sometimes turned on one another.
When Margaret Jacobs confessed to witchcraft, she implicated several others, including her grandfather, Reverend George Burroughs. From February to May, events escalated until residents had been accused of witchcraft.
Formal action was taken against individuals, who were often chained and thrown in jail for months under harsh conditions. At least 55 of the accused were tortured or terrified into admitting guilt. Neither the young nor the old were spared. Four-year-old accused witch Dorcas Good went insane after spending months in prison and watching her baby sister die while in jail with their mother, who was later hanged. Three women and two infants died while imprisoned.
Ultimately, 19 individuals who had refused to admit guilt were hanged and another was pressed to death. For centuries, scholars have attempted to identify similarities among the accused. Most agree that those accused of witchcraft tended to be eccentric individuals who stood out from their Puritan neighbors in some way.
Quakers , for example, were easy targets. Most of the accused were Godfearing individuals and respected townspeople. 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.
Forget a word in the lords prayer? Have land someone wanted? Get accused. It snow balled from little girls avoiding getting into trouble to panic and finally to greed. Poor little Dorcus hoar is the saddest.
0コメント