The Inevitable End

All of these deaths have one thing in common: serious accusations made my young Puritan girls. These girls had started something that was tragic. They pinned neighbor against neighbor, child against mother, and friend against friend. Nobody was worth trusting. As the great Shakespeare has taught, every great tragedy comes to an end where the aftermath is devastating.

The ending began when the foolish girls took the accusations too far. They began to accuse Increase Mather’s and Governor William Phip’s wives of being witches. These accusations were hard to believe, and were much too outrageous. Increase Mather decided, to have his wife's best bet, he must send this case to a much superior court.

When he did, he was able to win the case because spectral evidence was not allowed. Spectral evidence was what had convicted all of the “witches” during the trials. Since it was no longer allowed in court, there was no substantial evidence that could be used.

His wife now being one of the accused, Increase Mather saw the detrimental effects of the trials first hand. He wrote the Case of Conscience in October 1962, which stated that “It was better to let ten witches escape than it is to lose one innocent life” (). This allowed all but nine of the alive accused to be set free.

Five years later, on January 16^th, 1697, a public fasting was held in order to ask God for forgiveness. Samuel Sewall, one of the judges who had condemned many of the witches, had signed a petition that would apologize for the tragedy, and would reverse the verdicts. John Hale wrote the Witchcraft Act for apologies to the families who had someone thrown in jail or lost due to the accusations. Each family was given 600 British pounds to reimburse for time and lives lost. In 1857 the remaining nine people’s verdicts were also reversed.

As for the young Puritan girls, only one of them had apologized: Anne Putnam. She apologized in 1706, the age twenty-six. She blamed the devil in deluding her.

Even though it has been centuries since the Salem Witch Trials have occurred, there is a question that still remains: Why did those girls instigate this tragedy? There are two theories. The first theory is that the girls honestly believed that there were witches. The girls would have been at a young enough age where if their parents had said something about a neighbor, and they overheard them, that they could have made the wrong assumptions. The brain is a very powerful thing, and if one truly believed something, their mind could have had them feels though they were being pricked or tempted to commit suicide.

The second theory is that to it started out as a game, and once they saw how much attention that they were getting they did not want to stop. At this time, the girls would have been like rock stars; people from all over the country and London knowing who they were.

Unfortunately, we will never know what went on in the masterminds behind this misfortunate event. What we do know, is that it has changed our history forever. Since the trials, we have considered people innocent until proven guilty. However, it would not be the last time that America or any other country would discriminate and annihilate.

Hangings on Gallows Hill: 18 different stories

The very first death of the Salem Witch Hunt Trials in 1692 occurred on June 10^th to Bridget Bishop. A month and nine days later five more deaths would occur: Rebecca Nurse
Sarah Good, Susannah Martin, Elizabeth Howe, and Sarah Wildes. We are already familiar with the stories of Nurse and Good; Nurse, an old woman who was unlikely to be accused (McFarland,Salem Bewitched, 5), and Good, a woman who was the town beggar, who just like Bridget Bishop, no one particularly liked. However, Martin’s, Wildes’s, and Howes’s stories are less likely to be told.

Martin was a sixty-seven year old widow. She was married to George Martin and had eight children. She had been accused of witchcraft before in1688, along with a battle over Martin’s inheritance. When her father died, he left the majority of his estate to his second wife. This angered Martin, and is what to be believed, was a huge reason as to why she was accused of witchcraft.

There was a rumor that Wildes had participated in illicit sex. The accusations made against her began years before the Trials when she had married John Wildes. She was his second wife, and his first wife’s sister had accused Wildes of putting a spell on her. Also, Jonathon Wildes, Sarah’s stepson, began having fits shortly after she and his father were married. Many thought that this was her demonic doing.



Elizabeth Howe's Tombstone

Howe was a kind woman who was accused of witchcraft. The only real reason she was accused was because she had argued with some neighbors. They accused her of killing their young daughter, along with two of their cows. Her brother-in-law testified against her saying that she killed his sow and inflicted numbness in his hand. One of the girls claimed that her specter had drug her to the Salem pond and tried to drown her.



Sarah Good's Tombstone

All five women were executed on July 19, 1692. They were hanged at Gallows Hill. Something interesting, which may have been a reason as to why another five people were executed on August 19, 1692, was Sarah Good’s last words. Before she was hanged, Sarah good had cursed Judge Nicholas Noise. She said, “I am no more a witch than you are a wizard and if you take away my life God will give you blood to drink.” When Noise was to die, he died choking on his own blood.

The next to be hanged at Gallows hill were George Burroughs, Martha Carrier, John Willard, George Jacobs, Sr., and John Proctor.

 

George Burroughs was minister for three years (1680-1683). He was seen as the “Leader of Witches²³.” This accusation was made for many reasons: he survived many brutal attacks from Wabnaki Indians, he was supposedly jealous of Deodat Lawson for having the job Burroughs desired, and his first two wives had died. It was said by the Putnam family that Burroughs was cruel to his wives. One of these wives were also related to Judge Harthorn, the judge who had questioned and sentenced all of the previous accused to death.

Martha Carrier was known as the “Queen of Hell.²⁴” She was like many of the first women accused, for she had a low status and was very poor. The interesting thing about Carrier’s story was that her whole family was thought to be witches.   Her sons Richard and Andrew were tied neck to heels until blood was ready to come out of their noses, so that they would confess. This caused her younger children, Sarah and Thomas Jr., to testify against her in court. They also claimed themselves to be witches.

Although there is little known about John Willard, one thing we do know, is that he was also betrayed by family. The first person to accuse him was Ann Putnam. She not only blamed him for supposedly tormenting her, but for the death of her baby sister. In distress, Willard sought for help through his wife’s grandfather. However, they were unable to meet up at the time. Later, his wife’s grandfather had seen Willard at a dinner party in Boston, where he claimed that Willard “looked after such a sort upon me as I never before discerned in any²⁵.” After this encounter he began to feel ill, and was in suffering when it came to urinating. He blamed this on Willard, claiming him, as a witch. This was more apparent to Willard’s wife’s grandfather when Daniel, his grandson, had become deathly ill, after wishing that Willard would be hanged. Unfortunately, Daniel had died, and the court had deemed it as an unnatural death due to evidence, bringing Willard to his inevitable fate on August 19^th, 1962.

George Jacobs Sr. was about 72 when he was arrested on May 10^th, 1692. He was arrested with his granddaughter Margaret Jacobs. Their primary accuser was Sarah Churchill, who had accused them during her testimony as she was being tried for witchcraft. Margaret Jacobs had also become her grandfather’s accusers, in hopes that she would save herself. Jacobs also had many other accusers. Many of which were women, who accused him of beating them with his walking stick and by other physical means. Men who had accused Jacobs claimed that his specter was what caused many women to suffer in May 11. Jacobs, being a feisty old man, laughed in court as he was accused. He said many things such as, “You tax me for a wizard, you may as well tax me for a buzzard I have done no harm,” and “Well: burn me, or hang me, I will stand in the truth of Christ, I know nothing of it²⁶.”

John Proctor was a man that was sixty years of age. He was unlike many, for he was a well-established man. His story plays into Carol Karlsen’s theory that those with property were victims of the Salem Witch Hunt Trials. This was only because their land would become government property, thus making others rich and prosperous.

 The last set of hangings at Gallows Hill occurred on September 22^nd, 1962. In this hanging eight lives were taken: Martha Corey, Mary Eastey, Ann Pudeator, Alice Parker, Mary Parker, Wilmott Redd, Margaret Scott, and Samuel Wardwell.

            Martha Corey was an accepted member of the Salem Church, and was the first to break the mold of those typically accused. It was Corey’s impure history that made her a target. When Corey was in her youth she had given birth to an illegitimate son.²⁹ Martha tried to cease the theory that she was a witch by reciting scriptures. Another major reason as to why Corey was accused was that she was skeptical to the notion that witches even existed. Her questioning the authenticity of the girls fits and the existence of witches made her an easy target.

            Mary Eastery was the sister of Rebecca Nurse. It is said that she was “condemned for her unwavering appeal of innocence³⁰.” She was not a member of Salem, for she resided in Topsfield. Harthorn the major contributor to the sentencing of the accused harshly questioned Eastery:

Harthorn: How can you say you know nothing when you see these tormented [girls], and accuse you that you know nothing?

Eastery: Would you have me accuse myself?

Harthorn: Yes if you be guilty.

Eastery: Sir, I never complied but prayed against [the devil] all my days... I will say it, if it was my last time, I am clear of this sin.

            She was convicted due to her claims of her innocence, and was hanged at Gallows Hill.

            Ann Pudeator was a twice-widowed woman who had property. She had five children with her first husband. She was said to be in a paid profession of a mid-wife or nurse after the death of her first husband. What made Pudeator a target, was that later became the wife of Jacob Pudeator, a man whose wife Ann had tended too during her illness. Ann and Jacob married less than a year after Jacob’s first wife had passed.

            Alice Parker accused by the same person as John Proctor. She was arrested in September, and hanged shortly after.

            Mary Parker was from Andover, and she came to trial in Salem. The whole time that she was in trial she was sure that they had the wrong person. There is no significant documentation as to why Parker had become a part of the Salem Witch Hunt Trials in 1692, who were accused. The little that is actually known about Parker is that she was from a wealthy family and Nathan Parker’s second wife.

            Wilmott Redd was the only person from Marblehead to be accused. She had a volatile temper and was notorious for fighting with her neighbors. It is said that she sent her specter to Salem to torment one of the six Puritan girls.

            Margaret Scott was the only person to be accused from the town of Rowley.  There were many reasons as to why the people in her community thought of her as a witch: her low stature, number of child fatalities, widowhood, and begging. Scott had a total of seven children; only three survived. She was seventy-seven when she was tried for witchcraft.

            Samuel Wardwell was born to a Quaker family. His profession was carpentry. When he moved to Andover to find work, he ended up marrying his second wife. She was a wealthy woman, and her wealth was a big contributor as to why he was accused. Many thought that Wardwell was unfit to marry such a wealthy woman. During his examination he had originally plead guilty, but his conscience and pride had gotten the best of him. He recanted his original story, and was hanged at Gallows Hill.


The last two picture citations:
George Jacob Sr. Trial: (O'Linder 2009)
The hangin witch: (Pea Body Essexd Muesuem)

The First Innocent Life Lost: Bridget Bishop

That summer, after Rebecca Nurse’s trial on June 30^th, there were over a hundred people arrested for the accusations of witchcraft. They ranged from the ages 4 to 77. The four-year-old was Dorcas Good, daughter of Sarah Good. It was said that Dorcas had pleaded guilty, only so that she could be imprisoned with her mother. However, the typical trend seemed, that anyone who spoke out against the trials’ proceedings were the next to be accused; thus, leading to the accusations of several of the prisoners.

            Being one accused of witchcraft was a losing battle. The only way to save one’s life was to confess to the impossible crime. However, if one was to confess to witchcraft he or she would be condemned in society. They would not be allowed in church, and would be continuously and inevitably judged by their neighbors. On the other hand, if one did not confess, he or she would most likely have lost in court due to spectral evidence (those six Puritan girls’ fits during every denial made).

Sixty-five out of the approximate total of two hundred accused had confessed to witchcraft, allowing the assumption to be made that nearly 32.5% of those accused believed that being alive, but condemned was better than being dead. Regardless, there were still twenty-four people that had lost their lives due to the Salem Witch Trials, and each with their own stories.



Bridget Bishop (O'Linder 2009)

The first to lose her life in due to the accusations of the Salem Witch Trials was Bridget Bishop. Bishop was a woman who had been married three times. That was two too many for Puritans in 1692. With each husband, Bishop had no children. She was also a member of Mr. Hale’s Church congregation in Beverly. Despite the fact that she attended church, Bishop had probably the most accusers than any other of the accused. She was any easy target because she acted and dressed in an exotic manner. Bishop had numerous public fights with her husbands, entertained guests into late hours of the night, drank, played the “forbidden game of shovel board²¹,” and was the mistress of two thriving taverns in town. The lifestyle of Bridget Bishop broke the social norms of the Puritans.  

It was April 18, 1692 when a warrant was issued for Bishop’s arrest. Bishop was anything but a stranger to the court. In 1680 was charged again with witchcraft, and on many other occasions was sent there due to her very public and violent quarrels with her husband. However, this day in April 1692, was the first day that Bishop had actually seen and met her accusers. Just like Good’s, Osborne’s, and Nurse’s trials, Bishop was questioned by Mr. Harthorn and proven guilty due to the girls fits when she tried to deny the accusations.

Bishop was unfortunate enough to have the whole Salem village against her. Her very own brother-in-law claimed that “she sat up all night conversing with the Devil²²” and that “the Devil came bodily into her²².” With the claims, and a town of which she was considered an outsider, it was easy to predict Bishop’s fate: death at Gallows Hill. She was executed on June 10, eight days after her trial, acknowledging her innocence, exhibiting no signs of guilt. It is said that Bishop’s death was not unnoticed, which makes sense since she was the first to die. After her death, the court took a “short recess,” and a month would pass by before any more executions would occur.

Bishop was the first to die in this tragedy at Gallows Hill, but there would be eighteen more that would also have a death by hanging. All of the deaths are important, because it is important to remember what happen in these times of tragedy. All the innocent lives that were lost to a crime that they could not have possibly committed. There would be 23 more significant deaths that were recorded during this time, before the Puritans of Salem would see the errors of their ways.

Questions of True Witch Craft: Starring Rebecca Nurse

After Tituba’s confession to being a witch and that there were nine other names in the Devil’s book, paranoia and fear had struck the Puritans. To the Puritan’s Tituba’s confession was proof that there were others that had betrayed the godly community. Everyone was wondering who else could be a witch. It turned neighbor against neighbor, and nobody was safe from being accused. If Tituba, slave that had resided in a minister’s household, could be a malicious witch, then anybody could.

At first the accusations were made to those who were strange and poor to the Salem village, but soon the six girls who threw the fits during Good’s and Osborne’s trials, began accusing people that seemed unlikely to be witches. One of those accusations was made against Rebecca Nurse. This accusation was made by Abigail Williams.

Rebecca Nurse was an unlikely suspect to be a witch. She was baptized in February on the twenty-first in 1620, when she had still been a part of England. At the time that she was accused, she was at the old age of seventy-one. It was written that "This venerable lady, whose conversation and bearing were so truly saint-like, was an invalid of extremely delicate condition and appearance, the mother of a large family, embracing sons, daughters, grandchildren, and one or more great grandchildren. She was a woman of piety, and simplicity of heart." Knowing the life that Nurse had led, thirty-nine of the Puritans had actually signed a petition for Nurse’s innocence. On June 30^th, 1692, Nurse had a trial where she had to answer many questions asked by Mr. Harthorn, like the trials of Tituba, Good, and Osborne, in which case she denied the accusations:

Nurse: I never afflicted no child never in my life.¹⁵

            During Nurse’s trial, as she denied every accusation made against her, a person that had sided with the young Puritan girls would holler about her guilt, and one of the girls would begin to have fits. All Nurse could find to say was that God knew what was in her heart:

Harthorn: Here are these two grown persons now accuse you, w't say you? Do not you see these afflicted persons and hear them accuse you.

Nurse: The Lord knows I have not hurt them: I am an innocent person.¹⁶

Rebecca Nurse's Trial (O'Linder 2009)

 Her trial had originally come back with the verdict of not guilty. When this announcement took place, many were furious, and the girls began to once again, fall into fits. This hysterical reaction had caused the court to call for reconsideration. During, the second part of this trial Hobbs, a fellow prisoner was also brought in. As Hobbs accused Nurse for the afflictions on the young girls, Nurse asked the court, “What do you bring her? She is one of us.” Nurse was asked to explain what she meant by saying that Hobbs was “one of us,” but since she was in her old age, Nurse was hard of hearing. She missed the question, and the jury had taken her silence as indication that she was guilty. They then sentenced Nurse to death. She would later be hanged at Gallows Hill with four others on July 19, 1692.

            Nurse was only one of approximately 200 of the accused in the Salem Witch Trials. Out of the 200 accused, Nurse was one of the 24 that would actually be put to death. Out of those 24, Nurse would be one of 19 that were hanged at Gallows Hill. She was one of the first accusations that would raise questions of whether the witchcraft experienced by the six young Puritan women was true, and she would not be the last.