Salem Witch Trials a brief history. (LINK)
September 6th 2007 14:23
Between June and September 1692, nineteen men and women were convicted of witchcraft and hung on Gallows Hill in Salem. One other man of over 80 years old, was killed by having heavy stones pressed onto him for refusing to submit to a trial on witchcraft charges. Hundreds of other people were jailed and faced accusations of witchcraft without trial until the hysteria subsided.
At the time of the Salem Witch Trials, many people believed that the devil recruited witches and wizards to do his bidding. It was widely believed that anything that happened within "the invisible world", such as diseases and storms, were the work of satan and witches.
It all began in 1688 when, following an agrument with laundress Goody Glover, a 13 year old girl named Martha Goodwin began to exhibit some strange behavior. Just a few days leter her younger brother and two sisters began to exhibit similar behaviour. It is possible that this was a case of the other children copying Martha, as at the time children had very little in the way of entertainment, other than bible reading, and they saw it as a harmless game.
Regardless, Glover was arrested and tried for bewitching the Goodwin children.
Reverend Cotton Mather met with Glover twice following her arrest and attempted to persuade her to repent her witchcraft, but shortly after her arrest, she was hanged.
Mather took Martha Goodwin to his house in an attempt to renew her soul, but her bizarre behaviour continued and worsened.
In this same year, Mather published Memorable Providences, Relating to Witchcrafts and Possessions.
In November of 1689, Samuel Parris was named the new minister of Salem and moved there from Boston. Parris wasn't liked by the people of Salem and was seen as a greedy and selfish man, who demanded that he be paid more, in way of compensation. This caused friction with the villagers, and in 1691 some of them stopped contributing to his salary.
The events that lead to the Salem witch trials began when his daughter, Betty Parris, and her cousin Abigail Williams accused the family's slave Tituba of witchcraft. In February of 1692, Betty Parris began having "fits" that the doctor could not explain. Parris beat Tituba and compelled her to confess that she was a witch. The hysteria lasted sixteen months, concluding with the Salem witch trials.
His church brought charges against him for his part in the trials, leading him to apologize for his error. However, despite the intense dislike of the villagers, Parris stayed on for another four years after the panic had run its course. In 1697, he accepted another preaching position in Stow, and eventually moved on to Concord and Dunstable before his death in the town of Wayland on February 27, 1720.
The accused witches that were hung on Gallows Hill throughout the trial will never be forgotten and neither will the others who were killed or affected in another way during the trials.
The people that were put to death were:
By hanging
June 10th
Bridget Bishop
July 19th
Rebecca Nurse
Sarah Good
Susannah Martin
Elizabeth Howe
Sarah Wildes
August 19
George Burroughs
Martha Carrier
John Willard
George Jacobs, Sr.
John Proctor
September 22
Martha Corey
Mary Eastey
Ann Pudeator
Alice Parker
Mary Parker
Wilmott Redd
Margaret Scott
Samuel Wardwell
Pressed to death
Giles Corey
Other accused witches died in prison:
Sarah Osborn
Roger Toothaker
Lyndia Dustin
Ann Foster
(As many as thirteen** others may have died in prison.)
**sources conflict as to the exact number of prison deaths
At the time of the Salem Witch Trials, many people believed that the devil recruited witches and wizards to do his bidding. It was widely believed that anything that happened within "the invisible world", such as diseases and storms, were the work of satan and witches.
It all began in 1688 when, following an agrument with laundress Goody Glover, a 13 year old girl named Martha Goodwin began to exhibit some strange behavior. Just a few days leter her younger brother and two sisters began to exhibit similar behaviour. It is possible that this was a case of the other children copying Martha, as at the time children had very little in the way of entertainment, other than bible reading, and they saw it as a harmless game.
Regardless, Glover was arrested and tried for bewitching the Goodwin children.
Reverend Cotton Mather met with Glover twice following her arrest and attempted to persuade her to repent her witchcraft, but shortly after her arrest, she was hanged.
Mather took Martha Goodwin to his house in an attempt to renew her soul, but her bizarre behaviour continued and worsened.
In this same year, Mather published Memorable Providences, Relating to Witchcrafts and Possessions.
In November of 1689, Samuel Parris was named the new minister of Salem and moved there from Boston. Parris wasn't liked by the people of Salem and was seen as a greedy and selfish man, who demanded that he be paid more, in way of compensation. This caused friction with the villagers, and in 1691 some of them stopped contributing to his salary.
The events that lead to the Salem witch trials began when his daughter, Betty Parris, and her cousin Abigail Williams accused the family's slave Tituba of witchcraft. In February of 1692, Betty Parris began having "fits" that the doctor could not explain. Parris beat Tituba and compelled her to confess that she was a witch. The hysteria lasted sixteen months, concluding with the Salem witch trials.
His church brought charges against him for his part in the trials, leading him to apologize for his error. However, despite the intense dislike of the villagers, Parris stayed on for another four years after the panic had run its course. In 1697, he accepted another preaching position in Stow, and eventually moved on to Concord and Dunstable before his death in the town of Wayland on February 27, 1720.
The accused witches that were hung on Gallows Hill throughout the trial will never be forgotten and neither will the others who were killed or affected in another way during the trials.
The people that were put to death were:
By hanging
June 10th
Bridget Bishop
July 19th
Rebecca Nurse
Sarah Good
Susannah Martin
Elizabeth Howe
Sarah Wildes
August 19
George Burroughs
Martha Carrier
John Willard
George Jacobs, Sr.
John Proctor
September 22
Martha Corey
Mary Eastey
Ann Pudeator
Alice Parker
Mary Parker
Wilmott Redd
Margaret Scott
Samuel Wardwell
Pressed to death
Giles Corey
Other accused witches died in prison:
Sarah Osborn
Roger Toothaker
Lyndia Dustin
Ann Foster
(As many as thirteen** others may have died in prison.)
**sources conflict as to the exact number of prison deaths
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