Spooky Saturday #1: The Salem Witch Trials

This is what I’ve been thinking….I’m sort of, kind of, a super large true crime/paranormal junkie. (what do you know, another fact about me, maybe I should add it to my first post lol) I’ve been trying for months to find my “niche” when it comes to writing blogs and then it occurred to me, I should write one blog a week on the one thing I love…the spooky, creepy, and murderousness of this world. So, In honor of this week and Salem, Mass (where I am currently) I decided the first week would be on none other than….The Salem Witch Trials. So, welcome to the first week of Spooky Saturday and I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I loved writing it!

So, the infamous Salem Witch Trials were from June 1692-May 1693 and they claimed nineteen victims, and imprisoned one hundred and eighty-one more. They took place in Massachusetts Bay Colony, which is now Danvers, Massachusetts, after a group of young girls claimed to be possessed by the devil and accused SEVERAL local women of witchcraft.
In January 1692, nine year old Elizabeth Parris and eleven year old Abigail Williams (the daughter and niece of Samuel Parris, minister of Salem Village) started having what they called “fits.” These “fits” consisted of violent contortions and uncontrollable outbursts of screaming to the point where a doctor had to be called on both of them. A doctor by the name of William Griggs diagnosed both girls with “bewitchment” (I mean what else could it have been in the 1600s right?). Conveniently, soon after another five girls were starting to have similar symptoms. Their names (In case you’re like me and prefer to put a name to the madness) were Ann Putnam Jr, Mercy Lewis, Elizabeth Hubbard, Mary Walcott, and Mary Warren.
Jump ahead one month and in February and an arrest warrant was issued for Parris’ “Indian” slave Tituba, along with two other women named Sarah Good and Sarah Osborn. Sarah Good was accused strictly because she was homeless, weak, and a beggar woman, apparently that’s enough for you to be accused of witchcraft? Sarah Osborn was sassy, stood her ground and elderly. All of these things INSTANTLY made her an easier target. If you think about it, all the witches we grew up seeing were old and “haggard” right? I’m assuming this is how they want us to see poor Sarah Osborn. Sarah O. was also the poor unfortunate soul that got blamed for “bewitching” the girls. (stinks to be old and sassy I guess.) Tituba was a victim strictly because she was a little odd and because she was an Caribbean woman…(think Tia Dalma from Pirates of the Caribbean)…poor woman had the stigma against her. All three accused women were brought before Magistrates Johnathan Corwin and John Hawthorne and questioned profusely by men and other people who thought they were guilty before the “trial” had even started, I guess “innocent until proven guilty” didn’t count in the 1600s. During this whole ordeal, being questioned wasn’t enough, all of their accusers came into the building in a “grand display” of spasms, contortions, screaming, and writhing *insert eye roll*. During the trial, both Good and Osborn denied their guilt and involvement in witchcraft, while Tituba confessed. She claimed that there were other witches with her “acting in service of the devil against the Puritans.” She told vivid stories of how Satan revealed himself to her and that she had signed the devils book with her own blood and saw the “marks of Good and Osborn” there beside her. (Essentially she was going down and wanted to take the other two women with her…what a peach lol). The thought process behind this is, they think Tituba was trying to save herself from getting the greatest punishment (hanging) handed down to her by “cooperating” unfortunately she decided to take the other two women down with her.

                                                                              *insert hysteria*

Over the next few months, many other women were accused including Martha Corey and Rebecca Nurse, both of who were known as UPSTANDING members of the church. Sarah’s four year old daughter, Dorothy, was also accused and arrested of witchcraft. Dorothy who literally was four at the time told the magistrates that she practiced witchcraft (does one even know what that is at four?) and that she saw her mother practicing it as well (again….four years old). Both Martha Corey and Rebecca Nurse told the magistrates that Dorothy was in fact, “not well” and has behavioral problems such as biting people and acted like a “wild animal” on a daily basis. But, they didn’t believe them…I mean, why on EARTH would you trust two grown woman over a four year old? Regardless all three were arrested, including Dorothy. Literal weeks go by and several other accused “witches” confessed and named others (why? Literally, just stop it already), and in May 1692, the Governor of Massachusetts, William Phips, ordered the establishment of a special “Court of Oyer” (to hear) and a “Terminer” (to decide) on cases for Suffolk, Essex, and, Middlesex Counties.
All cases were presided over by Hathorne, Samuel Sewall, and William Stoughton and on June 2nd the courts gave their very first conviction to a woman named Bridget Bishop. Bishop had been accused of witchcraft more than a decade earlier but there was literally zero evidence to support it and so the charges and accusations were dropped. Unfortunately for Bishop, she met the witch “criteria” very well which again, made her an easy target (old, poor, and argumentative.) She would be hanged 8 days later on June 10th at what would be later know as “Gallows Hill” in Salem Town. During the month of July five more people would follow Bridget to their deaths…Sarah Good (39), Elizabeth Howe (57), Susannah Martin (71), Rebecca Nurse (71), and Sarah Wildes (65.) Five more followed them in August; Reverend George Burroughs (40s), Martha Carrier (33), John Willard (about 30), George Jacobs Sr. (72), and John Proctor (61). Then there were eight more in September; Alice Parker (age: unknown), Mary Parker (40), Ann Pudeater (70s), Wilmont Redd (age:unknown), Margaret Scott (77), Samuel Wardwell (49), Martha Corey (72), Mary Easty (58), and Giles Corey (71). Out of all those victims, Giles Corey was the only one that wasn’t hung, he had the unfortunate fate of being tortured to death by being “pressed” because of his refusal to enter a plea deal. For those of you that don’t know being “pressed to death.” Is when a victim is stripped of all of their clothes, a board is laid across them and heavy rocks are added one by one and overtime they essentially crush you. If that isn’t bad enough, it took the poor man three whole days to die, and he passed away on September 19th 1692. In addition to all these deaths, seven more of the “accused” died in jail before they could be hanged, one of which was Sarah Osborn.
It was only after all these people lost their lives that someone finally decided to step in. Two men by the names of Increase and Cotten Mathers (father and son) urged that the standards of witchcraft must be equal to those for any other crime concluding that “it would be better that ten suspected witches may escape than one innocent person be condemned.” Feeling suddenly moved by this, in October, Governor Phips then decided to dissolve the Court of Oyer and Terminer and mandated that its successor disregard spectral evidence, or testimony of dreams and visions. (remember Tituba?). Thankfully, trials dwindled down quickly until early 1693, and by May, Phips had pardoned all men and women in prison on witchcraft charges.
It wasn’t until January of 1697 until anything else was done about it though. When the Massachusetts General Court declared a day of “fasting” for the victims of the Salem Witch Trials. The court then also deemed the trials unlawful (ummmm….obviously?) and Justice Samuel Sewall publicly apologized for his role in the Salem Witch Trials. Unfortunately for Salem though, the damage continued to linger even after the Massachusetts Colony passed a legislation restoring all the “good names” of the condemned and provided financial restitution to all the victims families in 1711.

                                                                            *Extra Facts*
~ Belief in the Supernatural (specifically witchcraft) or the power to harm others in return for the devils loyalty, emerged as early as the 14th century and was wide spread in colonial New England.
~Science has suspicious on what caused the victims of the “witches” to act like that. They don’t think that it was all a game that these people were putting on, but rather something called “Fungus Ergot.” It is found in rye, wheat, and even some cereals, and enough of it can cause symptoms such as delusions, vomiting, and muscle spasms.
~ Martha Corey attracted suspicion after she tried to stop her husband, Giles, from attending early examinations. She once even went as far as to hide his saddle to keep him home. Shortly after this though, one of the girls accused Martha of “bewitching” her and making her go blind.
~ Martha’s defiant attitude turned officials against her from the beginning and her husband refused to corroborate her testimony and even testified AGAINST her, at least until he himself was accused. (men...lol)
~ Less than two weeks later, Martha was found guilty and on September 22nd, Martha and seven other people went to the Gallows in what would be the last of the hangings.

I really hope that you guys enjoyed reading up on this as much as I enjoyed writing it! I’ve always been intrigued by the SWT and didn’t know much about it except the watered down version that I learned in school from reading “The Crucible.” So as sad as this story is, it’s just as interesting I feel. Let me know what you think, leave your comments down below, and give me your ideas for next weeks “Spooky Saturday,”

Xx,
Autumn