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Apr 12: SENT TO JAIL: John Proctor

Today in Salem: Rev Parris’s dog is under the table, resting his head on his front paws and lying on Parris’s feet. The dog is the only spot of calm in the room, though, as Parris tries to transcribe the court’s proceedings.

tired dog

It’s impossible, though. Parris’s own niece, Abigail Williams, is shrieking and convulsing and crying so dramatically that Parris can’t concentrate. She’s 11 years old, and yet somehow she’s louder than the teenage girls. The only person who’s even louder is the slave John Indian. Yesterday the schoolmaster had threatened him fiercely, and John had promised that his fits wouldn’t happen again. But now he’s back, more forcefully than before, and it takes 4 men to control him.

The harsh John Proctor was arrested yesterday during his wife’s examination, and less than 24 hours later the magistrates have brought him here for his own. But he’s hardly spoken when John Indian shouts that Proctor’s specter is on the dog’s back. The girls contort and gasp, pointing as the specter moves from the dog to the magistrate’s lap.

The judges have barely questioned Proctor, but they don’t need to. His specter is obviously tormenting people, right here and now. They send him back to jail to wait for a trial.

By now the Salem jail is so crowded that several prisoners are sent to Boston. Among them: the gospel woman Martha Corey. Her husband, the cantankerous Giles Corey, promises to visit her next week. And he will, but not in the way he thinks.

LEARN MORE: Why did Rev Parris have a dog with him in court? Did people in early colonial America have pets?

The Pilgrims on the Mayflower brought with them two dogs: a mastiff and an English spaniel, who not only survived the journey, but feasted during the first Thanksgiving. But they probably weren’t coddled the way pets are today. Still, Massachusetts published the first laws in America preventing cruelty toward animals, saying that “No man shall exercise any Tirranny or Crueltie towards any bruite Creature which are usuallie kept for man’s use.”

The mastiff continued to be the most popular dog during colonial times. Often, the family dog was tied up outside a front door and used as a guard dog. But many family dogs were treated more companionably and went everywhere with their owners, even to church.

Cats also arrived on the Mayflower (and every ship thereafter), and were expected to earn their keep by hunting pests and vermin. They came and went as they liked and were treated more like working animals than pets. Today, cats are the second most popular pet in the United States … behind dogs, with mastiffs being the 33rd most popular breed.

Tomorrow in Salem: This WEEK in Salem

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Apr 11: INDICTED: Sarah Cloyce & Elizabeth Proctor. ARRESTED: John Proctor.

Today in Salem: The slave John Indian is literally hanging on by his teeth, riding on the back of a horse and biting the man in front of him to keep from falling off. John’s hands are tied together, though no one knows who did it or why. And now, with the horse nearly trotting, John’s balance is precarious.

hands tied with rope

His bite is sudden, though, and hard, and when the horse’s rider shouts and elbows him, another horse pulls up. It’s the schoolmaster, who bellows and hits John Indian over and over with a stick until John, a slave, rights himself and promises it won’t happen again.

The horses and men are part of a larger group that has just left the meeting house, where the nervous Sarah Cloyce and the quarrelsome Elizabeth Proctor have been examined. In fact, John Indian had testified extensively against both women. His testimony, in addition to the afflicted girls’ usual fits and accusations, had sent both women to jail. And when Elizabeth’s husband John Proctor muttered that he’d beat the Devil out of John Indian if he could, Proctor was immediately arrested, too.

The schoolmaster is a friend of the Proctors, and between John Indian’s testimony, the arrests, and now the biting and thrashing, he’s none too patient. He’d beat the Devil out of the girls, too, if he could.

Tomorrow in Salem: SENT TO JAIL: John Proctor

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Apr 8: ARRESTED: the quarrelsome Elizabeth Proctor & the nervous Sarah Cloyce

sad women hugging

Today in Salem: Elizabeth Proctor is a large woman, and the small pillion saddle is hardly comfortable. But she is a suspected witch after all, and her comfort isn’t of great importance to the Marshall, who has arrested her and is now transporting her to jail.

He’s already arrested and delivered Sarah Cloyce, who cried when she saw her sister, the beloved Rebecca Nurse. They’re now sharing a cell with the officious gospel woman Martha Corey, and will soon be joined by Elizabeth.

The men’s cell is empty, but not for long. For the last two nights a 23-year-old farmer has been tormented by the specters of the harsh John Proctor and his wife, along with the cantankerous Giles Corey and his wife. Neither man has heard about it yet, but their specters have hurt the farmer’s foot so badly that he can’t even put his shoe on.

Tomorrow in Salem: INDICTED: Sarah Cloyce & Elizabeth Proctor. ARRESTED: John Proctor.

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Apr 7: TOGETHER: John & Elizabeth Proctor

knotted rope like a heart

Tonight in Salem: Elizabeth Proctor buries her nose into her husband’s neck and inhales deeply. He smells like sweat, and dirt, and the weight of him pulls her against him. John is harsh during the day, and Elizabeth can be quarrelsome, but at night they’ve always moved together in an easy rhythm.

John and Elizabeth have heard the rumors, and they know what’s about to happen. If not tomorrow, then the next day, she will be arrested for witchcraft, then examined before the magistrates. It doesn’t matter that John says the afflicted girls are lying, or that his own servant, Mary Warren, has said the same. If anything, that could make the afflicted girls even more strident in their accusations.

Elizabeth will almost certainly be sent to jail. How long will she languish there? When will they be together again? What about the littlest children, only 3 and 6? So many questions, and so few answers. All they can do is cling together and hope.

LEARN MORE: What did the Puritans think about sex? Did they think it was a sin?

The Bible was the source of Puritan beliefs about sex. It gave them a long list of sexual activities to avoid, including self-pleasure, adultery, homosexuality, and fornication. The Puritans were not without compassion, though, and when offenses did occur, they often looked the other way. After all, men who came to America had often left their wives behind in England; but they hadn’t left their urges. Likewise indentured servants, who were frequently young men with no attachments. Women were also treated less severely, especially if they were widows or young servants with few prospects.

The Puritans fully embraced the passions of marital sex, though. The Bible says a couple owes it to one another, that they must cherish one another intimately, and solace each other with the ”signs and tokens of love and kindness” – which was often inferred to mean kissing. In fact, it’s been said that the Puritans were the founders of romance in marriage. In a time when marriage often began as a civic partnership, joyful sex helped couples bond together in an affectionate and loving relationship.

Tomorrow in Salem: ARRESTED: the quarrelsome Elizabeth Proctor and the nervous Sarah Cloyce

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Apr 6: Cold and hungry: the beggar Sarah Good’s baby

baby's hands

Today in Salem: The beggar Sarah Good is snarling at the jail keeper and hugging her baby girl tightly, trying to soothe her crying. Until yesterday Sarah’s had nothing but her own thin shift to wrap around the baby for warmth.

Last night, after a month of Sarah’s demands, the jail keeper had finally pushed two small blankets through the iron bars.

“You should be grateful,” he says, jabbing his finger at her.

Grateful? She’s chained to the wall, she’s been cold and hungry for a month, and her once chubby baby is now thin. Now, finally, the jail keeper has given her two tiny, threadbare blankets, and what’s more, is charging her 10 shillings for them.

He’s the one who should be grateful.

Tomorrow in Salem: TOGETHER: John & Elizabeth Proctor

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Apr 5: This WEEK in Salem

Need to catch up? Here’s a snapshot of where we are in the story of Salem.

WHAT HAPPENED THIS WEEK

We met two new people: a man and his servant. The extremely tall and somewhat violent George Jacobs Sr. causes a disturbance and claims the girls are lying. His servant, Sarah Churchill, is another refugee from the wars in Maine and is afraid of him. She’s sitting with the afflicted girls.

The servant Mary Warren also says the girls are lying. She was part of the group, but after the Proctors (her masters) threatened her, she’s been cured.

Two women have been formally accused: Sarah Cloyce (Rebecca Nurse’s sister, who slammed the church door) and Elizabeth Proctor (the quarrelsome tavern owner and wife of John Proctor). The magistrates are holding off on arresting them until they can enlist help from Boston officials.

The Reverend Samuel Parris again hasn’t been paid, and hasn’t been since July. He’s being passive aggressive in his sermons to call out those who are evil.

The royally appointed governor William Phips is on his way home from London and has no idea what’s waiting for him.

WHO’S WHERE

ACCUSED
• Sarah Cloyce (angry) – Rebecca Nurse’s younger sister. She’d stormed out of church, and people began to question whether innocent people were being accused
• Elizabeth Proctor (quarrelsome) – an opinionated tavern owner, married to the respected but harsh John Proctor

ARRESTED
• (No one new)

IN JAIL
• Martha Corey (gospel woman) – a slightly arrogant church member
• Dorcas Good (4 years old) – the daughter of the beggar Sarah Good
• Sarah Good (beggar) with her baby – a vagrant who smokes a pipe and has a terrible temper
• Rebecca Nurse (beloved) – a 70-year-old grandmother who is well-loved throughout the community
• Sarah Osborne (sickly) – a scandal-ridden woman who married her servant and is trying to take her sons’ inheritance
• Tituba (slave) – the minister’s slave who was the first to be accused and the first to confess

TRIED & SENTENCED
• (No one … yet)

EXECUTED
• (No one … yet)

Tomorrow in Salem: Cold and hungry: the beggar Sarah Good’s baby

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Apr 4: ACCUSED: Sarah Cloyce & Elizabeth Proctor

paper scrolls

Today in Salem: The cruel magistrate Hathorne raises his quill and drops it on the table in frustration. He and the other magistrate have just finished writing two arrest warrants: one for the quarrelsome Elizabeth Proctor, and one for the angry Sarah Cloyce, who’d slammed the church door last week. He’s writing subpoenas for witnesses when it’s suddenly clear that the witchcraft problem is larger than the Village can manage locally.

Five women and one child are already in jail in Salem, at least one woman has been accused in another town, and the afflictions have spread from three young girls to several young women, three married women, and at least one man. And now two more women are to be arrested. It’s too much.

The magistrates set the papers aside and decide to consult with officials in Boston before proceeding. The arrests will have to wait.

Tomorrow in Salem: This WEEK in Salem

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Apr 3: The servant Mary Warren says the afflicted girls are lying

Today in Salem: It’s the Sabbath, and Rev Parris is reading Mary Warren’s note to the confused congregation. Thanking God for deliverance is one thing. But from affliction? Why would God deliver her from being able to see and point out evil?

From the corner of her eye, Mary can see Mercy Lewis and Elizabeth Hubbard touching each other’s hands, hissing as they whisper and look at her sideways. They are fellow servants, also afflicted, and Mary spends the rest of the interminable sermon looking down and clutching her Bible.

When it’s finally over, she tries to hurry away, but the parsonage neighbors stop her.

“How is this possible?” they ask. “Why?”

Mary looks to the side, but there’s no escaping it. “The girls are acting in deception,” she says, but the neighbors just stare at her in silence. Does that mean the girls are deceiving people? Or are they themselves being deceived by the Devil?

The other afflicted girls are standing to the side with their arms crossed, watching Mary in silence. The specters have told them many times to touch the Devil’s book and they’ll be free of torment. And here’s Mary Warren, touching God’s book, claiming she’s free – and that they are lying.

Tomorrow in Salem: ACCUSED: Sarah Cloyce & Elizabeth Proctor

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Apr 2: RELEASED: The maid Mary Warren is free of affliction

Today in Salem: The maid Mary Warren winces as her master, the harsh John Proctor, waves hot fire tongs at her. Mary has been half-dazed all day, tormented by unseen specters.

“Go ahead!” he shouts. “Run into that fire, throw yourself into water, and I won’t stop you! You say you’re afflicted – I wish you were even more so.”

“Why would you say that?” Mary asks, still cringing.

“Because you’re lying. All of you,” he says. “You’re accusing innocent people, and I won’t stand for it.”

John’s quarrelsome wife Elizabeth refills the wool basket and puts Mary hard to work at the spinning wheel. It isn’t long before Mary says she’s feeling much better, that the specters have left her entirely alone. Finally, she can breathe.

After supper Mary rides a mile and a half to the Meeting House and tacks a note on the door, thanking God for deliverance from afflictions. It’s a common practice, and tomorrow Rev Parris will read the note to the congregation. But when Mary returns, it’s Elizabeth who’s angry this time.

“How can you thank God for delivering you from something that never existed?” she asks. “You are telling lie upon lie!”

Tomorrow in Salem: The servant Mary Warren says the afflicted girls are lying

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Apr 1: the Darkness of Light

Today in Salem: Thomas Putnam watches silently as his servant, the war refugee Mercy Lewis, is spitting, over and over, refusing to eat or drink anything from the Devil’s Supper, now in its second day. Thomas’s daughter Ann is quiet for once, and now they are both listening, waiting for Mercy to say the name of her spectral tormenter. Thomas has signed three of the six complaints against the accused witches, and he’s ready to do it again if need be.

Suddenly Mercy relaxes. Later she will tell her master that she’d seen Christ, surrounded by brilliant white light, with multitudes singing and praising his name. She is calmer than she’s been in a long time.

At the parsonage, Rev Parris is not calm, not at all. Once again his payday has come and gone, and once again nothing is offered. It’s now been nine months since he was paid. His supporters, led by Thomas Putnam, have provided food and firewood when they can. But the committee that oversees taxes has consistently refused to collect those taxes from the other people in the Village.

Most Puritans would ask God how they had sinned that God would allow them to be abused this way. Rev Parris is not most Puritans, though. He knows he’s right, and he will root out his enemies one at a time until they are vanquished.

Tomorrow in Salem: RELEASED: the maid Mary Warren is free of affliction