Guest Author - Cindy Kessler
From the chick-flick “Practical Magic” to the classic play “The Crucible,” the witch hunts for, and subsequent trials of dozens of men and women in 1692 for Witchcraft have shaped how our country deals with trials and tribulations.
Even to this day, when dealing with something that may not even exist, we consider it “A Witch Hunt.”
So what really happened in the sleepy town of Salem? It all started with a simple story…
The new minister in town was stirring things up – and not only religiously. He had some very strange requests, including a personal deed to the village parsonage. The villagers of Salem were outraged and threatened to run Rev. Parris out of town. That is, until his daughter took sick…
It seems that the minister wasn’t the only Parris bringing new ideas to the town. His daughter, Elizabeth, or Betty, had come under the spell of a slave from Barbados – literally the girl would later claim. Elizabeth would invite her cousin, Abigail Williams, and other friends from the village to come and hear stories that were strictly forbidden; stories about witchcraft, divining the future and ghostly specters brought from Tituba’s home isle far away.
In January 1692, Elizabeth and Abigail become “afflicted” by something the Doctor can only label as “Witchcraft” and “Possession.” Soon after, the friends of the girls begin suffering similarly.
When pressed, the girls “confess” – they have been being tortured by the devil’s consorts: Sarah Good, a local beggar; Sarah Osburn, an elderly, but upstanding member of the community; and Tituba, the slave from Barbados whose stories sparked the girls’ imaginations.
Sarah Good and Sarah Osburn both deny the fact, but Tituba – after being “convinced” by a sound whipping – confesses to “…signing the devil’s book.” And says others in the village are guilty of the same.
From there, hysteria reigns. The girls continue naming those who are “tormenting” them throughout the summer. Magistrates are called in to examine the accused, and to preside over their trials.
In the end, 25 lost their lives: 19 hanged for witchcraft. 1, the cantankerous Giles Corey, refused to enter a plea and was pressed to death with a mound of stones in an attempt to elicit a confession. 5 others, including an infant died in prison.
The rest of New England watched in horror. Some taking up the mantle of hunting witches, but far more denouncing the unproven, poorly evidenced trials and subsequent hangings.
In 1706, Ann Putnam – one of the “afflicted” girls, and lead accuser – offered a public apology: “I desire to be humbled before God…that I…be made an instrument for the accusing of several persons of a grievous crime, whereby their lives were taken away from them, whom now I have just grounds and good reason to believe they were innocent persons; and that it was a great delusion of Satan that deceived me in that sad time… to bring [on] myself and this land the guilt of innocent blood… I did not do it out of anger, malice, or ill-will to any person, for I had no such thing against one of them... And particularly, as I was a chief instrument of accusing Goodwife [Rebecca] Nurse, and her two sisters [Elizabeth Proctor and Sarah Cloyce], I desire to lie in the dust… and earnestly beg forgiveness of God, and from all those unto whom I have given just cause of sorrow and offense, whose relations were taken away or accused.”
Hunting for more information? Try these great websites!
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/SALEM.HTM
http://www.salemwitchmuseum.com/
http://www.salemweb.com/guide/witches.shtml
http://etext.virginia.edu/salem/witchcraft/
And, the best I’ve seen:
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/salem/
