The Salem Village Witch Hunts of 1692

Old Burying Point on Charter Street in Salem, Massachusetts is the cemetery that contains the graves of Mayflower pilgrims as well as some of the participants in the witch hunts of 1692. This is also the site of a granite memorial dedicated to the victims of that reign of terror and intolerance, the so-called 'Witches of Salem'.

The Accused

In February 1692, Judges Jonathan Corwin and John Hathorne (great-grandfather to author Nathaniel Hawthorne) traveled to the nearby Salem Village (now the town of Danvers) to examine three women accused by locals of being witches. These women were the homeless beggar, Sarah Good, the elderly recluse Sarah Osborne and a slave named Tituba.

Tituba, born in South America, then kidnapped and sold into slavery, was purchased by the Puritan preacher Reverend Samuel Parris while visiting the island of Barbados. The Rev. Parris, his daughter Betty, his orphaned niece Abigail Williams and the slave Tituba all lived in a remote dwelling on the outskirts of Salem Village. The young girls were not allowed to play games since the Puritan ethic, as interpreted by Rev. Parris, made that the sin of idleness, so Tituba would entertain the young girls throughout the long winter with tales of witchcraft, black magic and demons that she had picked up in her travels through the islands.

The slave would even perform a little 'white magic' for Betty and Abigail, dropping an egg white into a glass of water and reading their fortunes in the shapes that formed in the glass. That winter both Abigail and Betty began to behave in a very peculiar manner and the Rev. Parris decided they needed medical attention. The doctor could find no physical problems with the girls so he came to the obvious conclusion that they were bewitched.

To test the diagnosis, Tituba was ordered to bake 'witch cakes' made from rye meal and urine from the two girls. These cakes were fed to a dog and when the dog started to behave in a peculiar manner similar to that of the girls then the diagnosis was confirmed. The young girls were declared 'bewitched' after the test and questioned as to who it was that had cursed them. Betty and Abigail claimed that Tituba, the unpopular Sarah Good and the reclusive 71 year old Sarah Osborne were the culprits.

The Tale of Tituba

The two old women proclaimed their innocence but the slave Tituba confessed and confessed and confessed. For three days she told Judge Hathorne and Judge Corwin tales of red-eyed rats, a tall man in black and talking cats. She stated she had signed the tall mans book in blood where she had also seen the signatures of both the other accused 'witches', along with many names she could not make out that were already listed there.

The 'afflicted', Betty Parris, Abigail Williams and six other young girls that had started to exhibit the same bizarre symptoms, were allowed to attend the 'examinations' and would scream, cry and roll about on the floor of the Meeting House during the trials. All three of the accused women were sent to jail in Boston where Sarah Osborne was the first to die during the witch hunt, passing away two months later of natural causes.

"Make Devils of Us All"

In the middle of March this same year another 'afflicted' girl named Ann Putnam accused a regular church-going woman of bewitching her. Although Martha Corey attended church on a regular basis she was quite unpopular in the village, for having given birth to an illegitimate mulatto child, so she was a prime victim for an accusation. Other accusations and arrests followed until a local farmer and tavern owner publicly stated that these girls would, "make devils of us all". Both he and his wife soon found themselves in jail, charged with being in league with the devil.

The enthusiastic Ann Putnam now made her most prominent accusation when she proclaimed the Rev. George Burroughs as the 'Black Minister', leader of the coven and master of all witches. By the end of May, 1692 more than 200 people had been accused, 'examined' and jailed in Salem Village for being witches. June was the month when convictions and executions began with Bridgette Bishop being the first to be hanged on June 10th.

Spectral Evidence

When Sarah Good, Elizabeth How, Susannah Martin, Rebecca Nurse and Sarah Wilds came forward for the juries verdict all but Rebecca Nurse were found guilty. Upon hearing the innocent verdict for Rebecca the 'bewitched' young girls set about the Meeting House courtroom, howling, screaming, crying and rolling about on the floor until the judges asked the jury to reconsider their verdict. They came back with a guilty verdict this time and Nurse along with How, Martin, Wilds and Good were all hanged on July 19th, 1692.

At Gallows Hill the Rev. Nicholas Noyes demanded a confession from Sarah Good who replied, "I am no more a witch than you are a wizard and if you take my life God will give you blood to drink." Noyes died of a hemorrhage twenty five years later, choking to death on his own blood.

By October of this same year of madness and terror twenty two people had been hanged, one tortured to death and one infant had died in jail. The public was beginning to object to the wholesale slaughter and conviction by 'spectral evidence'. Increase Mather (the father of Cotton Mather) stated a bit belatedly, "It were better that ten suspected witches should escape than that one innocent person be condemned". The Governor then stepped in and stopped any further witch trials.

Aftermath

Ann Putnam, one of the most prolific accusers, repented fourteen years later with a statement in August of 1706. "I desire to be humbled before God. It was a great delusion of Satan that deceived me in that sad time. I did it not out of anger, malice or ill will. I desire to lie in the dust and earnestly beg forgiveness of all those I have given just cause of sorrow and offense and whose relations were taken away and accused." She died unmarried and was buried in an unmarked grave.

300 years later the town of Danvers (formerly Salem Village) memorialized the executed witches on May 9, 1992 by dedicating the Salem Village Witchcraft Victims Memorial of Danvers. It is located directly across Hobart Street from the original Meeting Hall where the witch 'examinations' took place. The granite memorial was placed "To serve as a reminder that each generation must confront religious intolerance and 'witch-hunts' with integrity, clear vision and courage."