In 1692, in Salem, Massachusetts, young girls suddenly developed odd symptoms. The Salem Witchcraft Papers: Verbatim Transcripts of the Legal Documents of the Salem Witchcraft Outbreak of 1692. The daughter and niece of the local minister, Samuel Parris, claimed to be afflicted by invisible forces who bit and pinched them, read more, In late March 1662, John and Bethia Kelly grieved over the body of their 8-year-old daughter inside their Hartford, Connecticut, home. The Salem Witch Trials: The History of Women as Witches. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Getty Images It's hard to imagine that the sleepy . Researchers describe the Salem witch trials as a series of court trials that were aimed at prosecuting persons who had been accused of witchcraft. And then there is the 1692 Witch Trials. He identified these tormentors as Sarah Wildes, Dorcas Hoar, and an un-named witch from Marblehead, most likely Wilmott Redd. The Superior Court of Judicature, formed to replace the witchcraft court, did not allow spectral evidence. The Archive also contains educational information, such as biographical profiles, a collection of images containing portraits of notable people involved in the trials, pictures of important historic sites, historical paintings and published illustrations taken from 19th and early 20th century literary and historical works. Roger Toothaker - died before trial (June 16, 1692) probably due to torture or maltreatment. The Salem witch trials marked a seven-month period of mass hysteria in 1692 Colonial America. He outlined accusations from a neighbor of the Bishops that she "did entertain people in her house at unseasonable hours in the night to keep drinking and playing at shovel-board whereby discord did arise in other families and young people were in danger to be corrupted." Burns examines the witch trials through original-source documents in The Capital Crime of Witchcraft: What the Primary Sources Tell Us, a presentation sponsored by the New Hampshire Humanities Council. The Regional Accusations Map displays the chronology of the accusations from February through November 1692. and shows the spread of the accusations across the towns of Massachusetts Bay. Over the next year, more than 150 women, men, and children from Salem Village (present-day Danvers) and neighboring communities were formally accused of practicing witchcraft. EXTRA 10% OFF 3+ ITEMS See all eligible items and terms. She was hanged on July 19, with Sarah Good and three others. Salem Village had a very colorful history before the famous witch trials. The afflicted girls were asked to name names, and they did. Miller used historical records and texts to help construct his play. When the trial for Sarah Bishop came along Elizabeth Balch testified against her. Though she began showing signs of affliction early in the crisis, she apparently recovered after John Proctor, an outspoken critic of the witch trials, threatened to beat her. After Conants death, the colony suffered through the witch trials of 1692. The law of the Salem Witch Trials is a fascinating mix of biblical passages and colonial statutes. The Salem Witch Trials occurred just as Europe's "witchcraft craze'' from the 14th to 17th centuries was winding down, where an estimated tens of thousands of European witches, mostly women, were executed. Petition for bail from accused witches (American Memory) Just the usual suspects. 164 F vi. 1Derby, Perley, John Woodbury and Some of His Descendants (Salem, Massachusetts: s.n., 1900. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Hundreds of court documents from the 1692 Salem Witch Trials are being transferred from the Salem museum where they have been stored for more than four decades to the newly expanded. Title page of A Modest Enquiry Into the Nature of Witchcraft, pub. Though adult womenand a few menaccused their neighbors of witchcraft in 1692, the core group of accusers were girls. She had six children, and died in 1752, at the age of 77. dbury), Elizabeth Wallis (born Woodbury), Ebenezer Woodbury, Hannah Dodge (born Woodbury), Dorcas Marden (born Woodbury), Jonathan Dodge Jr. Aug 15 1654 - Salem, Essex, Massachusetts, United States, John Woodbury, Elizabeth Woodbury (born Tenney), John Woodbury, Abigail Woodbury, Ebenezer Woodbury, Hannah Woodbury, Mary Woodbury, John Woodbury, Agnes, Lady Of Marefield, Leicestershire Woodbury (born Napper). The Salem witch trials have gripped American imaginations ever since they occurred in 1692. A witness testifies against an accused witch during one of the many witchcraft trials of the 1690s. 2023 Copyright Chronology via the Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive. The trials claimed at least 367 victims (the actual toll may be higher), with just read more. Edward is sometimes identified as Edward Bishop Jr. Sarah Wildes Bishop was the stepdaughter of Sarah Averill Wildes who was named as a witch by Deliverance Hobbs and executed on July 19, 1692. Though Good and Osborn denied their guilt, Tituba confessed. 2023 A&E Television Networks, LLC. Ruth, d. Benjamin and Elizabeth (Woodbury), b. Aug. 29, 1691. The museum is open year-round, every day except Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years Day and in January for several weeks as we close to paint, and prepare the museum for the upcoming season. Witch hunts The Archive's historical maps of Salem Village, Salem, and Andover show the locations of the houses of many of the people involved in the trials. READ MORE: Before America Had Witch Trials, Europe Had Werewolf Trials. InJanuary of 1692, the daughter and niece of Reverend Samuel Parris of Salem Village became ill.William Griggs, the village doctor, was called in when they failed to improve. + 159 F i. Anna (4) Balch was born about 1675 in Beverly, Essex, MA and died on 23 Aug 1726 in Beverly, Essex, MA. In 1706, while seeking to join the Salem Village church, Ann offered the only known apology of any of the Salem accusers, stating that she had been deluded by the devil, and that she desired to lie in the dust, and earnestly beg forgiveness from God and from all those unto whom I have given just cause of sorrow and offence. She was allowed to join the congregation, but died from unknown causes just nine years later. He and his wife Hannah signed a petition protesting the accusations against Rebecca Nurse . (The Dorchester Company went into bankruptcy in 1627 and became the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1629 under charter from England). 5Rasmussen, James A., "Edward Raynsford of Boston," NEHGR 139:4 (Oct 1985) (New England Historic, Genealogical Society. There, a lot who confessed were children as young as six. In 1693, the new Superior Court of Judicature tried the remaining cases and eventually cleared the jails. George Burroughs, a former minister of Salem Village who had relocated to Casco Bay, where Lewis had briefly worked for him as a servant. Matteson (1853), inspired by the Salem Witch Trials. They accused several women in their town of being witches. Salem Witch Trials (407) 6.0 3 h 4 min 2003 16+ A masterful work accurately details the current consensus of what exactly occurred to prompt the colonial witch-trials. After the trials, Mary Walcott married a local man, Isaac Farrar; Rev. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Far more women than men were among the accused, convicted and executed. It was not exactly known as a bastion of tranquillity in New England. She was daughter of John Woodbury (d 1673) & his wife Elizabeth. Eighteen years later, in the midst of the Salem Witch Trials (1692), Elizabeth would be instrumental in the conviction of Sarah Bishop. After their trial their son, Samuel Bishop recovered their property. State and Jurisdictional Humanities Councils, HUMANITIES: The Magazine of the National Endowment for the Humanities, SUBSCRIBE FOR HUMANITIES MAGAZINE PRINT EDITION, Sign up for HUMANITIES Magazine newsletter. As years passes, apologies were offered and restitution was made to victims' families. In an effort to explain by scientific means the strange afflictions suffered by those "bewitched" Salem residents in 1692, a study published in Science magazine in 1976 cited the fungus ergot (found in rye, wheat and other cereals), which toxicologists say can cause symptoms such as delusions, vomiting and muscle spasms. In his petition he wrote: To The Honourable Committee The humble representation Willm. Elizabeth joined Betty, Abigail and Ann Jr. among the first four accusers, and went on to testify against 29 people in the Salem witch trials, 13 of whom were executed. A land grant of 1,000 acres was given to five men in 1627 in the northernmost, waterfront area of Salem, or the "Bass River Side." A dense forest separated Bass River Side from the rest of Salem. ), pp. And its in your house! Words About the Word 'Witch', via Digital History. Based on twenty-seven years of original archival research, including the discovery of previously unknown documents, this day-by-day narrative of the hysteria that swept through Salem Village in 1692 and 1693 reveals new connections behind the events, and shows how rapidly a community can descend into bloodthirsty madness. Trouble in the tiny Puritan village started in February 1692, when eleven-year-old Abigail Williams and nine-year-old Elizabeth Parris, daughter of Reverend Samuel Parris, began acting strangely. READ MORE: Women Weren't the Only Victims of the Salem Witch Trials. In a 1710 affidavit attempting to gain recompense for the damages they'd suffered and to clear their names, Edward Bishop said they were "prisnors for thirtiey seven wekes" and required to pay "ten shillings pur weeake for our bord" plus five pounds. A girl points to an accused woman during the Salem witch trials in this engraving from 1900. Credit: Bettmann Archive/Getty Images. SUBSCRIBE FOR HUMANITIES MAGAZINE PRINT EDITION Browse all issuesSign up for HUMANITIES Magazine newsletter. Paranoia was sweeping Salem, and Elizabeth wasbeing examined by a local judge on suspicion of witchcraft. The "Salem Witch Trials" is still remembered as one of the most notorious cases of mass hysteria. The Salem Witch Trials accusers were a group of people who accused the Salem Witch Trials victims of witchcraft in 1692.. Roger Conant was baptized in All Saints Church in the parish of East Budleigh, Devonshire, England on April 9, 1592. In 1975 David Greene suggested that the Edward Bishop accused with his wife Sarah was not related to Bridget Bishop and her husband, Edward Bishop "the sawyer," but was the son of another Edward Bishop in town. Phips pardoned all those sentenced to be executed by Stoughton in January 1693. . Wife of Benjamin Balch, Jr. All would await trial for a crime punishable by death in17th-century New England the practice of witchcraft. ), p. 308, Los Angeles Public Library. Abigail (4) Balch was born on 17 May 1682 in Beverly, Essex, MA and died on 12 May 1763 in Canterbury, Windham, CT. 163 F v. Elizabeth (4) Balch was born on 6 Jul 1688 in Beverly, Essex, MA. Half sister of Jonathan Dodge, Sr. Elizabeth Woodbury was born 15 August 1654 in Salem. Have one to sell? People were hanged for false beliefs and actions based on human nature and society. John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin, the local magistrates, coerced a false confession out of Tituba. After the trials, Hubbard disappears from the historical record. 32, 450, Family History Library. Tituba confessed and identified more witches from Salem. Boyer, Paul, Stephen Nissenbaum, and United States. If it had been another time, it might just have stopped there. After a years residence, Conant became convinced of the need for a more permanent settlement and found an ideal site at the mouth of the Naumkeag River (now the City of Salem). Over 150 people were arrested for allegedly using witchcraft to inflict harm on their fellow townspeople, resulting in the executions of 20 people and the prison deaths of five more. The Salem witch trials testify to the importance of due process in protecting individuals against false accusations. The oldest house in Beverly was the scene of witchcraft accusations two years before 1692. Greetings Phillip and all Balch family members! Ann Foster (ne Alcock) (Important in Salem) Mercy, infant daughter of Sarah Good. Between 1692 and May 1693, a series of investigations and persecutions caused 19 convicted "witches" to be hanged" and several others to be imprisoned. The court didnt convene until June 2, 1692, so over half those accused, around 70, were just piling up in the jail, says Burns. The museum consists of two presentations. 19 1/2 Washington Square North More than 200 accused witched occupied the local jail. One of the most fascinating and frightening episodes in American history, the Salem Witch Trials have inspired innumerable books, movies, and televisions shows, and continue to live large in our . Thirty were found guilty, nineteen of whom were executed by hanging (fourteen women and five men). By early 1692, the 19-year-old was living in Salem Village and working as a servant in the household of Thomas and Ann Putnam Sr. From June 1692 to March 1693, hysteria swept through the Massachusetts Bay Colony, leading to the execution of twenty-five men, women, and children. Five more people were hanged that July; five in August and eight more in September. These people often displayed symptoms or signs then thought to be the results of witchcraft they claimed were brought on by the people they accused. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. The tradition was English superstition: crack an egg into a glass of water, then wait for it to settle into shape. (Note: this deposition was previously published in the Newsletter of the Balch House Associates in October 1979 incorrectly indicating that it referred to Bridget Bishop, the first 'witch' hanged at Salem Village. Belief in the supernaturaland specifically in the devils practice of giving certain humans (witches) the power to harm others in return for their loyaltyhad emerged in Europe as early as the 14th century, and was widespread in colonial New England. Buried: (Elizabeth Woodbury (age 38) and her sister Abigail gave depositions in the Rev. The chilling mayhem unfolded during the winter of 1692 in Salem Village, now the town of Danvers, Massachusetts, when three girls . No, you didnt see her, because we know this person. Because of the statues proximity to the museum and because of his cloak and hat and generally impressive appearance, Roger Conant is often mistaken for a participant in the Salem witch trials. Five more were hanged in August and eight in September. Native History & Indigenous Acknowledgement, The Journey from 1692 to Salems Modern Witch Community. Two Salem Village church members, Martha Corey and Rebecca Nurse, five ministers, and four ministers' wives stood accused, as well as other leading members of the colony. October 19, 2021. The dark tourism that surrounds The Salem Witch Trials has been an intriguing topic of conversation for more than three centuries, due to the intense wave of hysteria they caused . Visit The Salem Witch Museum | Salem, MA Visit About the Museum The Salem Witch Museum examines one of the most enduring and emotional events in American History, the Salem witch trials of 1692. I, myself, have come across the Salem Witch Trail mentions of our Balch family. Because of the Salem Witch trials, the idea that stress, fear, and panic were to blame for mental illness was widely accepted. Betty never attended the subsequent trials; her parents sent her away to live with family to avoid the uproar. Beverly V.R. The Salem witch trials inspired Arthur Miller's 1953 play The Crucible, which is a partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials. Mercy Lewis survived a bloody raid in 1689 by Wabanaki Native Americans in Casco Bay (present-day Portland, Maine), during which both of her parents were killed. The first to be tried wasBridget Bishopof Salem who was found guilty and was hanged on June 10. The museum consists of two presentations. The damage to the community lingered, however, even after Massachusetts Colony passed legislation restoring the good names of the condemned and providing financial restitution to their heirs in 1711. About. ), 1:83, Los Angeles Public Library, Gen 974.42 S16Pe. And I leave it unto the Honourable Court to Judge what damage I have sustained by such a destruction of my poor family. According to Mark Podvia (see Timeline, PDF), the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony adopted the following statute in 1641: "If any man or woman be a WITCH, that is, hath or consulteth with a familiar spirit, they shall be put to death. The Scottish Ballet performs Helen Picketts ballet version of The Crucible, Arthur Millers play based on the Salem witch trials of 1692. Roger Conant died on November 19, 1679 considering himself "an instrument, though a weak one, of foundering and furthering this colony". The cases continued to be tried until mid May, but no one else was convicted. During the spring of 1692, the infamous Salem witch trials had begun where many innocent lives were ruined due to false accusation. Lately I've been hearing some interesting tid bits of information concerning the Balch family and the Salem Witch trials.I read about an Elizabeth Balch, daughter of Benjamin Balch (son of John Balch), who testified against a woman during 1692.I have also . And so rest Your Honours humble servant Arthur Miller's famous play "The Crucible," published and first performed in 1953, describes the events in Salem, inspired by the eerily similar mass hysteria that at the time was manifesting in the Red Scare, when innocent people were accused and prosecuted for communist beliefs and activities. A masterful work accurately details the current consensus of what exactly occurred to prompt the colonial witch trials. We have modified our mask policy. READ MORE: Before America Had Witch Trials, Europe Had Werewolf Trials. He and his wife Hannah signed a petition protesting the accusations against Rebecca Nurse. Indeed, the vivid and painful legacy of the Salem witch trials endured well into the 20th century, when Arthur Miller dramatized the events of 1692 in his play The Crucible (1953), using them as an allegory for the anti-Communist witch hunts led by Senator Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s. READ MORE: Salem Witch Trials: Who Were the Accusers? Salem's early history was clouded by religious intolerance that led to the witchcraft trials of 1692. We will continue to monitor city, state and CDC guidelines and may make changes to this policy as needed. But when they got to Andover, the magistrates were really good at interrogating people in private. ), p. 34, Los Angeles Public Library, Gen 974 T694. at a time when America was convulsed by a new epidemic of witchhunting, The Crucible brilliantly explores the threshold between individual guilt and mass hysteria, personal spite and collective evil." This Edward Bishop seems to have been the father of the Edward Bishop married to Bridget Bishop, and thus the grandfather of the Edward Bishop married to Sarah Wildes Bishop. *William Good Salem. In October, Increase Mather, a prominent minister in Boston, denounced the use of spectral evidence: It were better that ten suspected witches should escape than one innocent person be condemned. That same month, Governor Phips terminated the special court. Goodof the Damage Sarah and her husband Edward Bishop, Jr are listed on Wikipedia as having escaped the Boston prison where they were being held before trial. Salem-Village Witchcraft: A Documentary Record of Local Conflict in Colonial New England. The witch trials in Salem in the year 1692 was a scowling time in American history. In response, the afflicted in the courtroom went into severe fits, and Warren responded with similar behavior. Title/Occupation: Granddaughter of "Old Planter" of Massachusetts Bay John Woodbury/Woodbery. For everyone who remains intrigued by Salem, here are a few lesser-known facts about the witchcraft trials. Laura Wolff Scanlan is a writer in Wheaton, Illinois. The silhouette of the egg could predict the profession of your future husband. Summary. Historians and sociologists have examined this most complex episode in our history so that we may understand the issues of that era and view subsequent events with heightened awareness. But that wasnt the end. Sarah Osborne ( ne Warren) - died in prison (May 10, 1692) before she could be tried. Click to enlarge. The records of the trials contain only two documents involving the Balchs. Later Conant and his young family came to New England probably arriving in Plymouth in 1622. . Sarah and Edward Bishop were theparents of twelve children. Perhaps predictably, Mary Walcott joined the core group of accusers by March 1692, and went on to see numerous visions and suffer apparent afflictions at the hands of accused witches. The girls were having a type of epileptic fit and would scream out . of the sufferings of his family upon the account of supposed Witchcraft. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. Over the course of a year and a half, nineteen people were hanged and one man was brutally tortured to death. Edward Bishop and Sarah Bishop were arrested on April 21 of 1692 with Sarah's stepmother Sarah Wildes, William and Deliverance Hobbs, Nehemiah Abbott Jr., Mary Easty, Mary Black and Mary English. The first is a deposition by Elizabeth Woodbury Balch, wife of Benjamin Jr. and her sister Abigail regarding Sarah Bishop, wife of Edward. Samuel Skelton was the first pastor of the First Church of Salem, which is the original Puritan church in North America. The judges of the Salem Witch Trials appointed by the governor were well-educated. The initial accusers were Betty Parris (age 9) and . This belief in the power of the accused to use their invisible shapes or spectres to torture their victims had sealed the fates of those tried by the Court of Oyer and Terminer. The three women were thrown in jail to await trial for practicing witchcraft. 2Perley, Sidney, The History of Salem, Massachusetts (Salem, Massachusetts: S. Perley, 1924-1928. 4Ferris, Mary Walton, Dawes-Gates Ancestral Lines (Milwaukee: Cuneo Press, Inc., 1943. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You know a witch was arrested in Chelmsford and another up in Ipswich. Peabody Essex Museum . They accused the majority of the victims in the . The Salem Witch Trials (Graphic History) - Paperback By Martin, Michael J - GOOD . This page was last modified on 26 February 2015, at 13:35. In 1692, the Salem witch trials were a series of false accusations about witchcraft. The Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive and Transcription Project consists of an electronic collection of primary source materials relating to the Salem witch trials of 1692 and a new transcription of the court records. Inscribed in the stone threshold entering the memorial are the victims' protests of innocence. Elizabeth (Woodbury) Balch (August 15, 1654 - c. 1698) was born in Salem, Essex County, Massachusetts to John and Elizabeth Woodbury. Jonathan Edwards in a New Light: Remembered for Preaching, Chronicling America: History American Newspapers. ), p. 6, Los Angeles Public Library, 929.2 W881-2. The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. The girls complained of bites, contorted their bodies, threw things, and fell into trances. Amid waning public support for the trials, Governor Phips dissolved the Court of Oyer and Terminer in October and mandated that its successor disregard spectral evidence. Little is known about Elizabeth's life prior to her marriage to Benjamin Balch on October 11, 1674. As hysteria spread through the community and beyond into the rest of Massachusetts, a number of others were accused, including Martha Corey and Rebecca Nurseboth regarded as upstanding members of church and communityand the four-year-old daughter of Sarah Good. (2020, August 26). The witch trials were held in Salem, Massachusetts, between February 1692 and May 1693. The Balch House is not only the oldest house standing in Beverly, but the oldest part of it is among the oldest standing structures in Massachusetts. It is hosted by the University of Virginia, but the Project Staff is international. A real-life horror story that has captured our imagination for ages is the Salem Witch . By the 20th- century Salem had grown from a colony struggling with crisis to a cosmopolitan city. The Salem Witchcraft TrialsHistorical records show that the Balch family, although living in the midst of the families accused of witchcraft, remained almost totally removed from the 'witchcraft delusions' of 1692 in Salem Village (now Danvers, Massachusetts). The accused were interrogated in public. Website designed and developed by Sperling Interactive. Our second exhibit, Witches: Evolving Perceptions, explores the meaning behind the word witch and evolution of the image of the witch over time. Soon, others were accused and the courtrooms filled with people believed to be witches. Geni requires JavaScript! Lewis experiences, along with her uncertain future as an orphaned servant and her connection with the Putnam family, could have played a role in her actions. 19 1/2 Washington Square North Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. Edward and Sarah Bishop were examined on April 22 by magistrates Jonathan Corwin and John Hathorne, on the same day as Sarah Wildes, Mary Easty, Nehemiah Abbott Jr., William and Deliverance Hobbs, Mary Black, and Mary English. Aug 15 1654 - Salem, Essex, Massachusetts Bay, British Colonial America, 1698 - Beverly, Essex, Massachusetts, United States, Anna Balch, Joseph Balch, Ebenezer Balch, Abigail Rainsford (born Balch), Elizabeth Balch, Ruth Wood (born Balch). The main reason was its 600 plus residents were divided into two main parts: those who wanted to separate from Salem Town, and those who did not. A third of those arrested confessed but were not necessarily given lighter sentences. Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth Pub. Lewis, Jone Johnson. The Salem Village Accusations Map shows the day-by-day accusations the month of March, 1692. The basic gist of her testimony is that Elizabeth and her sister came across Edward Bishop and his wife Sarah as they were riding on horseback. Family tradition says that as a boy young Roger met Sir Walter Raleigh. At the center of the Salem witch trials were a core group of accusers, all girls and young women ranging in age from nine to 20, who screamed, writhed, barked and displayed other horrifying symptoms they claimed were signs of Satanic possession. The big discussion was whether the devil could impersonate somebody with or without their permission. In February 1692, the Massachusetts Bay Colony town of Salem Village found itself at the center of a notorious case of mass hysteria: eight young women accused their neighbors of witchcraft. So that was tantamount to saying Rebecca Nurse gave the devil permission to go out and afflict these girls in her image.. The first provides an immersive look into the events of 1692. #33). Salem, Massachusetts 01970. By September, they could coerce people like clockwork. The Salem witchcraft trials, which began in May of 1692 after months of rumors of Satanic influence, still grip the American imagination more than 300 years later. [E]benezer, s. Benjamin and Elizabeth (Woodbury), b. June 4, 1680.
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