{"id":2530,"date":"2021-02-19T17:03:00","date_gmt":"2021-02-20T01:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.todayinsalem.com\/?page_id=2530"},"modified":"2021-02-19T17:03:00","modified_gmt":"2021-02-20T01:03:00","slug":"whos-who-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/todayinsalem.com\/staging\/4743\/whos-who-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Who’s Who"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Who\u2019s who in the Salem Witchcraft Trials. You can browse and search for all case files here: http:\/\/salem.lib.virginia.edu\/tags.html<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

John Alden<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bridget Bishop<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elizabeth Booth<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mary Bradbury<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

George Burroughs<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Martha Carrier<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sarah Churchill<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sarah Cloyce<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Giles Corey<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Martha Corey<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sheriff George Corwin<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jonathan Corwin<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Philip English<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mary Esty<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dorcas Good<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sarah Good<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. William Griggs<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

John Hathorne<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dorcas Hoar<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abigail Hobbs<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elizabeth How<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elizabeth Hubbard<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nathaniel Ingersoll<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

George Jacobs Sr.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Margaret Jacobs<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mercy Lewis<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Susannah Martin<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cotton Mather<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Increase Mather<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nicholas Noyes<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rebecca Nurse<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sarah Osborne<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oyer and Terminer Judges & Officials<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alice Parker<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mary Parker<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Betty Parris<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Samuel Parris<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

William Phips<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elizabeth Proctor<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

John Proctor<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ann Pudeator<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ann Putnam<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas Putnam<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wilmot Redd<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Doubting Judge Nathaniel Saltonstall<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Samuel Sewall<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Susannah Sheldon<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Timothy Swan<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chief Justice William Stoughton<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tituba<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mary Walcott<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Samuel Wardwell<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mary Warren<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sarah Wilds<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

John Willard<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abigail Williams<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wait Winthrop<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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JOHN ALDEN<\/strong> \u2013 Age about 65. The oldest son of John and Priscilla (Mullins) Alden, who\u2019d settled in Plymouth Colony in 1620, arriving on the Mayflower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

John was in his mid-sixties when he was accused of witchcraft, and was a member of the Boston elite. He was a merchant, military commander, and sea captain, making several government-sponsored trips up and down the New England coast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alden was no stranger to scandal and gossip. At that time, northern New England, including Maine, was in a three-way tug-of-war between the English, the French, and the Native Americans. Raids and attacks were common, and when English settlers were taken captive they were frequently sent to Quebec. Alden participated in many prisoner ransoms and exchanges in French Canada; in fact, he spent so much time there that he was rumored to be selling guns to the French and their allied natives (not to mention sleeping with native women and siring several illegitimate children). It didn\u2019t help that his interactions with the English prisoners were sometimes harsh, with some claiming he\u2019d even left them behind for no good reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few months before the witchcraft hysteria began, Alden\u2019s ship was intercepted by a French frigate who captured the entire crew – including his son. Alden was released and sent to Boston to raise a ransom and arrange for a prisoner exchange, leaving his son behind in Quebec. His efforts were almost spectacularly unsuccessful (he managed to secure only six prisoners instead of 60). It was in the midst of this situation that Alden received a summons to appear in Salem Village, having been accused of witchcraft, then was sent to jail for several months. The French, losing patience with the delay, sent Alden\u2019s son to the Bastille in France. It would be years before he returned home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alden spent four months in jail before escaping. Later he contributed his first-hand account of his experience to Robert Calef’s More Wonders of the Invisible World<\/a>.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alden died at age 75, ten years after the Trials began. Nearly 170 years later, an excavation in Boston revealed old bones and gravestones, including the stone that had marked John Alden\u2019s grave. The location of his remains is unknown, but his gravestone can be seen at the Old South Church in Boston. Case files: John Alden<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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BRIDGET BISHOP<\/strong> \u2013 Age 55-65. Bridget was an unruly woman who, 20 years earlier, had been brought to court with her husband for fighting. Both of them were fined and ordered to be whipped if they didn\u2019t pay the fine on time. Eight years later they were still fighting, and Bridget was brought to court for calling her husband names like \u201cold rogue\u201d and \u201cold devil\u201d on the Sabbath Day (never mind that he deserved it). This time they were ordered to stand back-to-back in the public marketplace, gagged, with pieces of paper labeled with their offense and fastened to each of their foreheads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bridget\u2019s husband died a short time after that, and she inherited his sizable estate, worth about \u00a370. But her daughter and two stepsons received only twenty shillings each. Immediately her stepsons accused her of bewitching their father to death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her notoriety continued when repairmen knocked down a cellar wall and found \u201cseveral poppets made up of rags with hogs\u2019 bristles with headless pins in them with the points outward.\u201d The repairmen never actually produced the poppets – something like today\u2019s voodoo dolls – but their testimony alone was evidence of black magic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Five years later she was accused by the afflicted girls of the Salem Witchcraft Trials, but history doesn\u2019t tell us what brought her to their attention. The important thing is that no one was surprised, and she quickly became the person the court was most focused on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bridget Bishop was the first victim of the Salem Witchcraft Trials. She was hanged on the hot and windy day of June 10, 1692. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

NOTE – Bridget is often described as a tavern owner who let loud, young people drink and play \u201cshovel board\u201d until the wee hours. This actually refers to another woman, Sarah Bishop. She and Bridget were each married to a man named Edward Bishop, and they were all accused of witchcraft *though Bridget was the only one executed). Over the years, people began to confuse the two women. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Case files: Bridget Bishop<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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ELIZABETH BOOTH<\/strong> \u2013 Age 18. Two years before the trials, she was herself accused of being a witch. During the trials, she accused 10 people, 5 of whom were executed. Case files: Elizabeth Booth<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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MARY BRADBURY<\/strong> (n\u00e9e Perkins) \u2013 Age 77. Mary was an upper-class woman who was highly regarded as devoutly religious, loving to her family, and a pious and generous neighbor. her family was distinguished; her husband’s great-uncle had been the Archbishop of Canterbury under Queen Elizabeth I. Despite a petition signed by 115 supporters, Mary was tried, convicted, and sentenced to hang. With the help of her loved ones, though, she escaped from jail and lived in hiding until the Trials were over. She died eight years after the Trials, at age 85. Case files: Mary Bradbury<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mary Bradbury’s descendants include Ralph Waldo Emerson and Ray Bradbury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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GEORGE BURROUGHS <\/strong>\u2013 Age about 42. George Burroughs was the minister of Salem Village until 9 years before the Trials began. He lived in Maine when he was accused of witchcraft, but the people of the Village remembered him well. They’d been dissatisfied with him as the minister, and refused to pay him. So when his wife died suddenly, he had to borrow money to pay for her funeral. With no salary, Burroughs couldn\u2019t repay the debt, so he resigned and left, which would come back to haunt him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The court ordered them to settle their differences, and the Village agreed to pay him everything it owed, minus the amount of his debt. But when Burroughs arrived with the paperwork, he was arrested instead. Eventually the case was dropped, and the Village paid Burroughs some of what they owed. But it left bitterness for everyone involved. So when he was accused of witchcraft, there was already animosity on both sides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Burroughs landed in Falmouth, Maine (now Portland), where he lived when an Indian attack destroyed the settlement. It was here that Burroughs met the families of Mercy Lewis and Abigail Hobbs. The attack drove the Hobbs family to Salem. But the Lewis family was killed, so he took Mercy in as a servant for a time, before sending her to another unknown family, and then eventually to Salem. He himself then moved further south to Wells, Maine, where he lived at the time of the accusation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Burroughs\u2019 history with Salem Village was troublesome enough. But people also suspected his physical traits. He was dark-skinned, very short, and muscular. He was also much stronger than he looked, even preternaturally so. His trial included testimony from people who\u2019d heard that he could lift a 7-foot musket by inserting one finger into the barrel, then raising it to arm\u2019s length. It was also said that he could \u201ctake up a full barrll of molasses wth butt two fingers of one of his hands in the bung and carry itt from ye stage head to the door att the end of the stage wth out letting itt downe.\u201d Case files: George Burroughs<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

George Burroughs’ descendants include Walt Disney.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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MARTHA CARRIER<\/strong> \u2013 Age 39. Martha was born in Andover, Massachusetts. Before her marriage, she moved to the nearby town of Billerica, where she lived with her sister and brother-in-law. There she met Thomas Carrier, a 7\u20194\u201d Welshman who was twenty years her senior. They married when she was 21, and had their first child two months later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her husband was rumored to be one of the \u201cheadsmen\u201d who executed King Charles I. Were people afraid of him, an extraordinarily tall executioner? Did their obvious premarital relations make them the subject of gossip? Was Martha\u2019s obnoxious behavior toward her neighbors overly aggressive? It\u2019s impossible to know why, but they were asked to leave Billerica, and soon moved back to Andover to live with Martha\u2019s parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back then, the smallpox virus broke out regularly and, highly contagious, swept through entire communities. In 1690 \u2014 two years before the witchcraft trials \u2014 a smallpox outbreak began in Martha\u2019s family, which included five children. Surprisingly, none of the Carriers died. But seven members of Martha\u2019s extended family did, including her father, both of her brothers, two nephews, one sister-in-law, and one brother-in-law. Not just that, but six other people from Andover died, too. From that point on, the Carriers were outcasts, believed to be the cause of the epidemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Martha Carrier\u2019s name was cleared of all charges nearly twenty years after her death. In 1999, Billerica\u2019s Board of Selectmen unanimously voted to rescind the 1676 banishment of the Carrier family, 323 years earlier. Case files: Martha Carrier<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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SARAH CHURCHILL<\/strong> \u2013 Age 20-25. Sarah and her family were refugees from the Indian wars in Maine, and had ultimately settled in Salem Village. There she’d hired herself out to the prosperous farmer George Jacobs Sr. When she began feeling torments, it interfered with her work, and Jacobs lost his temper (even calling her a \u201cbitch witch\u201d).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps because of abuse from Jacobs, her symptoms went away. But then the other girls accused her of witchcraft (what else could explain her cure?). In a panic, Sarah confessed and accused others, but quickly realized she\u2019d cornered herself with lies and false accusations. Throughout the Trials she saved herself with the delicate balance of a confessed witch who was also afflicted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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15 years after the Trials, Sarah married a weaver in Maine, after being fined for premarital fornication. She lived at least until age 59. Case files: Sarah Churchill<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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SARAH CLOYCE<\/strong> (n\u00e9e Towne) \u2013 Age 50-55. With Rebecca Nurse and Mary Esty, Sarah was one of three sisters to be arrested for witchcraft. Her dramatic exit from church – complete with a slammed door – can be thought of as the first public protest against the trials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Popular myth says that Sarah\u2019s husband helped her escape from prison; that they spent the winter living in a cave while they built a house. This myth probably grew out of people misinterpreting the phrase \u201cescaped execution.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The truth is that Sarah stayed in jail and was released after the trials ended, thereby escaping execution. Once released, she and her husband moved first to Boston and then to Framingham, where they built a house on Salem End Road. Case files: Sarah Cloyce<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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GILES COREY<\/strong> – Age 81. A well-to-do farmer in Salem Village. Martha Corey was his third wife. Both were accused of witchcraft. Giles and two of his sons-in-law spoke against Martha in her trial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for his own trial, Giles\u2019 history of violence and contentious behavior set public opinion against him. He had stolen from several people, including goods from Justice Corwin\u2019s father, and twelve bushels of apples from a neighbor. After another conflict, the same neighbor\u2019s saw-mill mysteriously stopped working. Giles\u2019 reputation was such that when John Proctor\u2019s house caught on fire, Proctor accused Corey setting the blaze. The matter reached the courts until one of Proctor\u2019s sons confessed to an accident with a lamp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Worst of all, about 15 years before the trials, he was tried for brutally beating an indentured servant who was caught stealing apples from Corey’s brother-in-law. Ten days later, Corey sent the servant to get medical attention, but he died soon after. Case files: Giles Corey<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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MARTHA COREY<\/strong> – Age Unknown. As a young woman, Martha had an illegitimate son who was of mixed race. She named him Benoni, meaning \u201cson of my sorrow,\u201d a name usually reserved for babies whose mothers had died in childbirth. Martha lived with \u201cBen\u201d in a boarding house for several years before she was married for the first time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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From a deposition against Martha Corey, filed during her examination<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

When her first husband died, Martha married Giles Corey, 80. Her mixed-race son, now 22, was living with them at the time of the trials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Martha had joined the church two years before the trials began, and had referred to herself as a Gospel Woman ever since. She could be condescending, and was quick to state her opinions. She was respected but disliked, and her scandalous past counted against her. Case files: Martha Corey<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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SHERIFF GEORGE CORWIN<\/strong> – Age 25. Related to the three of the judges: nephew of both Judge Jonathan Corwin and Judge Wait Winthrop, Judge Bartholomew Gedney’s son-in-law. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was Sheriff Corwin’s job to bring the condemned person by cart from prison to the execution site. He was also required by law to confiscate the property — excluding land — of condemned prisoners. That property included farming objects such as livestock, hay, apples, and corn, and household goods such as kettles, pewter, furniture, and jewelry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When a married woman was executed, all of her property was owned legally by her surviving husband. So there was nothing to confiscate. But married men and widows did own their own property, which was therefore required to be confiscated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These goods were supposed to be inventoried and stored, to help pay the felon\u2019s jail costs and support their family. That said, it’s known that Sheriff Corwin sold some of John Proctor\u2019s livestock, and slaughtered and salted the rest for shipping to the West Indies. Case files: George Corwin<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

JONATHAN CORWIN<\/strong> – Age 51. A quietly effective magistrate. Corwin was a wealthy merchant who was elected to the colonial assembly twice, and was an active magistrate of the local courts, hearing cases dealing with petty crimes and minor charges such as drunkenness and burglary. With his friend and fellow judge John Hathorne, he presided over many of the initial hearings for the witchcraft trials and was relentless in seeking confessions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Corwin\u2019s personal life was hardly peaceful. Four of his children had recently died when he called the first witchcraft hearing into order, and another had nearly drowned. One of his other children was said to have been afflicted by one of the accused women. Later his mother-in-law would be accused of witchcraft, though she was never arrested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Corwin never expressed regret or remorse for his role in the trials, and died 26 years later a wealthy and respected man. His house is the only structure in Salem that\u2019s still standing from the time of the witchcraft trials, and is known today as the Witch House<\/a>. Case files: Jonathan Corwin<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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PHILIP ENGLISH<\/strong> – Age 41 \u2014 Philip English was everything that most people disliked. He was French, having changed his last name from \u201cL\u2019Anglois\u201d to \u201cEnglish.\u201d He was also Anglican, a member of the very church that the Puritans wanted to reform. He was extremely wealthy, even ostentatious. And he was arrogant; quick to sue people over property disputes, refusing to accept even the smallest loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That a French, Anglican immigrant could become the wealthiest man in Salem – run by English Puritans – rankled more than a few. So it may not have been a surprise when one of the most impoverished girls accused the wealthy Philip and his wife of witchcraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mary was arrested right away, but Philip managed to evade the authorities for several weeks. Once captured, though, he and Mary were sent to jail in Boston, where, due to their wealth, they were free to roam Boston daily as long as they promised to return at night. On the day before their trial, though, they escaped to New York, aided by the Governor himself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Philip English’s house, from a drawing by Miss E. W. Dalrymple and J. R. Penniman, 1823, courtesy The Essex Institute<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

After the Witchcraft Trials ended, Philip English returned to Salem to discover that the Sheriff had confiscated most of his belongings, with his neighbors pilfering more than a few. English sued the Sheriff for years to regain his property, but the Sheriff died before the dispute was settled. Ultimately, of the \u00a31,200 of lost property, only \u00a3200 was given as recompense to Philip and his heirs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A popular myth says that English wouldn\u2019t give up his lawsuits, and when the Sheriff died, threatened to steal his corpse and hold it for ransom. Some say he did steal the body, while others say the Sheriff was buried in his own basement for years to avoid it. Neither of these stories holds up to scholarly scrutiny. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mary died in childbirth, a year after the Trials ended. Philip outlived her by 43 years, dying at age 85. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Case files: Philip English<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Case files: Mary English<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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MARY ESTY<\/strong> – (n\u00e9e Towne) Age 58. Sister of Rebecca Nurse and Sarah Cloyce. Married to Isaac Esty, with whom she had 11 children. Mary’s mother had long ago been suspected of witchcraft. Despite her piety, with the arrest and indictment of 2 of her sisters, it was no surprise that she was also caught up in it. Case files: Mary Esty<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mary Esty’s descendants include baseball great Ty Cobb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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DOROTHY “DORCAS” GOOD<\/strong> – Age 4. Dorcas (also known as Dorothy) was the daughter of the beggar Sarah Good. Dorcas was accused of witchcraft, like her mother, and confessed that her mother had given her a little snake that sucked on her finger. The magistrates took this to mean she had a “familiar” and was, therefore, guilty. Dorcas stayed in prison for eight months and was emotionally damaged for the rest of her life. Case files: Dorothy Good<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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SARAH GOOD<\/strong> (n\u00e9e Solart) – Age 39. A near vagrant who smoked a pipe and had a terrible temper. Sarah was one of the first to be accused. Eventually her four-year-old daughter would also be accused and put in prison. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sarah was born to a well-to-do innkeeper who drowned himself when Sarah was 17. He\u2019d left a sizeable estate of 500 pounds to be shared among his 3 daughters, but when her mother remarried, Sarah\u2019s stepfather kept the money to himself and left her with virtually nothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sarah first married an indentured servant who died and left her with massive debts. When she married again, she and her new husband, William Good, inherited that debt. The government seized some of their land to pay it, leaving only a small portion, with William doing odd jobs around the Village. A recent smallpox epidemic had made that nearly impossible, though, and he and Sarah \u2013 with their children \u2013 fell into poverty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over time Sarah became impoverished and bitter, friendless, a near vagrant who was almost universally disliked. She was quarrelsome and loud, smoked a pipe, refused to go to church “for want of clothes.” It was true that she had only two dresses, ten years old, and her children had even less. Still, she showed no interest in leading a virtuous life, which made her suspect. Case files: Sarah Good<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dr. WILLIAM GRIGS<\/strong> \u2013 Age about 78. Case files: William Grigs<\/a>  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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JOHN HATHORNE<\/strong> – Age 51. A magistrate who was more like a prosecutor than a judge. Hathorne began his business career as a bookkeeper, but quickly moved to land speculation. Eventually he acquired a ship, a wharf, and a liquor license, and made enough money to build a mansion in Salem Town, and a warehouse near the wharf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hathorne had served the Salem community as a judge for about five years when the trials began. He was aggressive and even cruel in his questioning, always assuming the accused person was guilty, and the afflicted girls were truthful and genuinely tormented. It was a perfect example of \u201cguilty until proven innocent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hathorne was one of only three judges who showed no introspection or remorse after the trials ended. Because his reputation was one of dogged cruelty, some of his descendants were ashamed of their connection to him, including his great-great-grandson Nathaniel Hawthorne, who distanced himself by adding a W to his name before writing \u201cHouse of the Seven Gables.\u201d Case files: John Hathorne<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A late-1890s photo of <\/em>
Dorcas Hoar’s house. It was torn down in the early 1900s.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

DORCAS HOAR<\/strong> \u2013 Age 58. A widow who led a burglary ring, which included six of her children and numerous servants in households around town. Among her victims was a local minister whose servant stole an abundance of money, jewelry, clothing, and food, funneling all of it to Dorcas Hoar. Once captured, the burglars’ only sentences were to pay the costs of what they stole. They were light sentences indeed, but still resented by the Hoar family, who beat two of the minister’s cows (one to death) in revenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dorcas Hoar’s hair was four feet, seven inches long and matted, a so-called “elf-lock” where evil spirits could hide. During her trial, the suspicious court ordered that her hair be cut off, a devastating blow. Her execution was delayed when she confessed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the trials, she moved in with her son-in-law, later dying of poverty. Case files: Dorcas Hoar<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Abigail Hobbs’s mark<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

ABIGAIL HOBBS<\/strong> \u2013 Age 15. Abigail and her family were from Maine, where Indian attacks had decimated the English settlements. It was here that she began wandering the woods at night. When her family, neighbors, and friends asked why she wasn\u2019t afraid of being attacked, she said she \u201csold her selfe boddy & Soull to the old boy\u201d and has \u201cseen the divell and . . . made a covenant or bargin with him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When life in Maine became too dangerous, the Hobbs family moved to Topsfield, Massachusetts, which is next to Salem. Abigail continued roaming the woods at night, and developed a reputation of being rude and disrespectful to her parents. She even sprinkled water in her stepmother\u2019s face in a mock baptism, and openly defied her parents in public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even though she was a teenager, no one was surprised when Abigail was finally accused of witchcraft. But, like some of the other accused, she soon realized that the best way to avoid being hanged was to confess and accuse others of witchcraft. It was only a delay, though, and eventually her execution was scheduled. She got lucky again, though, when the governor paused the trials and signed a reprieve for her and others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later, when Abigail was 32, she married Andrew Senter and had at least two sons, Andrew and Thomas. We don\u2019t know how long she lived after that. Case files: Abigail Hobbs<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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ELIZABETH HOW<\/strong> (n\u00e9e Jackson) \u2013 Age 55. Married to James How, who was fully blind, and had six known children. Compared to many people, Elizabeth was thought to be friendly and a good neighbor. During her trial, at least twelve people testified on her behalf. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elizabeth’s accusers fell into two camps: first, a family whose ten-year-old daughter was very sick, and claimed that Elizabeth’s specter was to blame. She took back her accusation, but after two or three years of illness, the girl died, and her parents continued to hold Elizabeth accountable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, church members who then suspected her of witchcraft and wouldn’t let her join the church. Their gossip increased the number and fervency of accusations. Case files: Elizabeth How<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elizabeth How’s descendants include British fashion designer Alexander McQueen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Elizabeth
Elizabeth Hubbard’s mark<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

ELIZABETH HUBBARD<\/strong> – Age 17. She lived as a servant with her great-uncle, Dr. William Griggs. She had a reputation for lying, having a strong imagination, and sometimes denied the Sabbath day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like many of the other young women who were servants, Elizabeth\u2019s prospects were uncertain at best, even dismal. She was probably an orphan, with no physical or emotional support from direct family members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the end of the trial Elizabeth had testified against 32 people, 17 of whom were arrested, 13 of them hanged, and 2 who died in jail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

History isn\u2019t clear on what happened to Elizabeth after the trials. Records exists for a woman named Elizabeth Hibbert, who married John Bennett and had four children. But it isn\u2019t known whether this was the same Elizabeth Hubbard. Case files: Elizabeth Hubbard<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"old
The Ingersoll Ordinary is still standing, The original part of this building was constructed in 1670.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

NATHANIEL INGERSOLL<\/strong> \u2013 Age about 60. One of two deacons in the church, and a Lieutenant in the militia. Nathaniel was known to be unfailingly honest, fair, and generous. He donated land for the Meeting House. After his father\u2019s death, Nathaniel, 11, went to live with his father\u2019s friend Governor Endecott on a 300-acre country estate, where he apprenticed for several years. There he learned to run his own farm and home, and when he was only 19 he married a young woman and moved on to his own land. The Ingersolls had one daughter, who died young. But their neighbor had several sons, and offered to let the Ingersolls adopt one of them and raise him as their own. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Nathaniel<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"Endecott
The Endecott Pear Tree is America’s oldest cultivated tree, planted between 1632-1649.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Ingersoll Ordinary is still standing, though much of the building has been renovated or added to since. The original part of the building was built around 1670. Case files: Nathaniel Ingersoll<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Side note: <\/strong>Governor John Endecott was the longest-serving Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony: he was the 1st, 10th, 13th, 15th, and 17th governor. He planted a pear tree sometime between 1632 and 1649, which is still standing. It\u2019s America\u2019s oldest cultivated tree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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GEORGE JACOBS SR.<\/strong> \u2013 Age 80. Toothless, with long white hair, and so tall that he walked with 2 canes (or “sticks”). He was opinionated and abusive, and known for his violent temper. The gossip among the servants was that he used his walking stick to beat his servant, Sarah Churchill (who became one of his accusers). Soon the other servant girls claimed that Jacobs’ specter was beating them, too, sometimes with his sticks. During his trial, others reported that his specter had committed evil. Case files: George Jacobs Sr.<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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MARGARET JACOBS <\/strong>\u2013 Age 16. Margaret was one of the afflicted girls, but when her symptoms went away, the other girls suspected she\u2019d used witchcraft to recover. She and her grandfather, George Jacobs Sr., were arrested on the same day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now accused and terrified of hanging, Margaret confessed to being a witch. Since her grandfather had already been accused by others, she named him as well. Later, stricken by her conscience, she recanted her confession, but the judges refused to accept her change of heart and confined her to a solitary cell with no permission to go out into the yard or socialize with other prisoners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Margaret\u2019s trial was temporarily postponed because of a boil on her head. She was fortunate: Before she recovered, the court was abolished and executions ceased. Seven years later, Margaret married and had seven known children. She died at age 41 in Billerica, Massachusetts. Case files: Margaret Jacobs<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

MERCY LEWIS<\/strong> – Age 18, a traumatized orphan and refugee of the Indian Wars in Maine. She was a servant in the powerful Putnam family. Mercy accused 9 people of witchcraft, testified in 16, and appeared with the other afflicted girls in several more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mercy was born and raised in Falmouth, Maine, where her village was decimated by Indian attacks that, early in her childhood, took her grandparents and cousins. Then, when she was 15 or 16, another brutal attack burned her village to the ground and killed most of its people, including Mercy\u2019s parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mercy and the few other survivors took refuge on an island, where the minister George Burroughs took her in as a servant. He was known to be verbally abusive to his wives, both of whom had died years earlier, and he may have been a harsh taskmaster. Perhaps that explains why Mercy would later accuse him of witchcraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the next few years Mercy served the Burroughs family, then an unknown home in Beverly, Massachusetts, and then finally the Putnam family in Salem Village. It was here that she befriended the 12-year-old Ann Putnam, and began suffering with fits and seizures. Today we might say Mercy had PTSD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once the trials were over, Mercy moved 50 miles north to Greenland, New Hampshire to live with her aunt. There she gave birth to an illegitimate child, married a man with the last name Allen, and moved away, probably to Boston. History loses track of her after that. Case files: Mercy Lewis<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Susannah
Susannah Martin’s memorial bench in Salem<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

SUSANNAH MARTIN<\/strong> (n\u00e9e North) \u2013 Age 71. Depending on who you asked, she was either “one of the most \u201cimpudent, scurrilous, wicked creatures in the world\u201d (Cotton Mather), or an “honest, hard-working Christian woman and a “Martyr of Superstition\u201d (her historical house marker).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We do know that her past included six unsuccessful lawsuits to inherit her father\u2019s estate. She had also been in court numerous times when her neighbors accused her of a variety of offenses, including calling one of them a liar and a thief. She was accused twice of witchcraft before the Salem hysteria, but the charges were eventually dropped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During Martin’s examination, she laughed at her accusers. When asked if she had any <\/em>compassion for the afflicted, she replied, \u201cNo. I have none.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At her later trial, somewhere between nine and 24 people traveled by horse for nearly three days to Boston just to testify against her. Among their grievances: she’d caused one man\u2019s oxen to drown themselves, her specter had stalked a farm hand, she’d bitten another man\u2019s hand, she’d driven a neighbor mad, and she’d been seen at witch meetings. Case files: Susannah Martin<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Susannah Martin’s descendants include U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney, Burl Ives, Mickey Rourke, and U.S. President Chester A. Arthur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Cotton<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

REVEREND<\/strong> COTTON MATHER<\/strong> \u2013 Age 29. One of the most conservative and influential Puritan ministers in colonial America. He\u2019s remembered today for setting the extreme moral tone of Puritan New England, for his prolific writing (more than 450 books and pamphlets), and for his scholarship in science. He\u2019s also known for his involvement in the events surrounding the Salem Witchcraft Trials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Little is written about Cotton Mather’s severe stutter as a child and young man, and although he claimed to have been cured, it’s more likely that he learned to mask it. In public he was a careful and deliberative speaker. When not in the pulpit, he was quiet, which only added to his reputation of arrogance. Regardless, his speech defect might be one reason he was such a prolific writer. It could also explain his deep interest in science as an alternative career to the ministry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three years before the Trials, when he was 26, Mather published a book about several afflicted children who were bewitched by a local washerwoman. Mather himself had been deeply involved with the families, observing and recording the children\u2019s activities, and played a role in the washerwoman\u2019s ultimate hanging. Some say the book helped lay the groundwork for the Salem Witchcraft Trials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Cotton
Cotton Mather circa 1700<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Mather was highly influential in the ministry, offered conflicting and calamitous advice about using specters as evidence, and publicized (and even celebrated) the trials as they were happening. He witnessed at least 5 hangings, calling one accused woman a \u201drampant hag,\u201d and an accused minister a \u201cpuny man.\u201c Later he congratulated the Chief Justice for \u201cextinguishing as wonderful a piece of devilism as has been seen in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cotton Mather never expressed remorse or regret for his role in the witchcraft hysteria. In fact, for several years after the trials, he continued to defend them and seemed to hold out a hope for their return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a more scholarly vein, he went on to make legitimate contributions to the sciences of plant hybridization and disease inoculation, and became a fellow of the Royal Society of London. He promoted Newtonian science in America, and wrote extensively to unify the fields of science, philosophy, and religion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cotton Mather died 36 years after the trials. He was twice widowed, and only two of his 15 children outlived him. His grave can be found in the Copp\u2019s Hill Burying Ground in Boston. Case files: Cotton Mather<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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REVEREND INCREASE MATHER<\/strong> \u2013 Age 53. Puritan minister & President of Harvard College. Urged the court to disregard “spectral” evidence. Case files: Increase Mather<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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REVEREND NICHOLAS NOYES<\/strong> \u2013 Age ##. The minister of the Trials. Case files: Nicholas Noyes<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Rebecca
Rebecca Nurse’s mark<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

REBECCA NURSE<\/strong> (n\u00e9e Towne) \u2013 Age 70. A weak grandmother and much beloved member of the church. The accusations against her planted the first seeds of doubt in the trials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some historians speculate that a handful of women in the Village were suspicious of Rebecca because all eight of her children had survived to adulthood. This was unusual in a time of high infant mortality and diseases like smallpox.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s more likely that the animosity stemmed from years of land disputes between Rebecca\u2019s father and then husband against other families, including the Putnams, who were the most powerful family in the Village. Most recently, the Nurse family had been part of a long and loud boundary dispute with a neighbor who claimed that some of the Nurses\u2019 300 acres were his. The dispute ended up in the General Court, where the neighbor lost, bitterly. The truth was more complicated, though. The Nurses didn\u2019t own their farm; they mortgaged it. So it wasn\u2019t the Nurses who\u2019d won in court and insulted the neighbor: it was the farm\u2019s owner. Still, many people believed it was the Nurse family who\u2019d been so stubborn and argumentative. Case files: Rebecca Nurse<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rebecca Nurse’s descendants include Vincent Price and Mitt Romney.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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SARAH OSBORNE<\/strong> \u2013 Age 49. Osborne was a social outcast who\u2019d married her own servant, and was rumored to have committed fornication with him. She was also sickly, of a nervous temperament, and hadn\u2019t been to church in more than three years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Osborne was also disliked by the Putnams. When her first husband died, he left his land to Sarah to be held in trust until their two sons were of age. Two of his Putnam brothers-in-law were the executors of the estate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several years later, Sarah purchased her own servant\u2019s indenture, then married him. They then went to court to try to break the trust and gain control of the property. The Putnams were deeply offended; in fact, of the four people who\u2019d signed the complaint resulting in her arrest, two of them were Putnams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sarah Osborne was the first victim of the witchcraft hysteria, dying in jail after nine weeks of being chained. Case files: Sarah Osborne<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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OYER and TERMINER Judges and Officials:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n