Some of the villagers were also at odds with their spiritual leader, the Reverend Parris, who was demanding a raise. Attacks by Native Americans had become common among the towns of Massachusetts in the preceding years, and this danger also played upon the villagers' minds. Finally, and perhaps most foreboding of all, this was not the first time the specter of witchcraft had raised its head in Salem Village. Four years before a woman named Goody Glover had been accused of witchcraft and hanged.
Over the following weeks, whatever was happening to Betty and Abigail seemed to spread to other girls in the community. To most observers their fits seemed beyond anything the girls could have created themselves. The Reverend John Hale from a nearby village wrote, " These children were bitten and pinched by invisible agents; their arms, necks, and back turned this way and that way, and returned back again, so as it was impossible for them to do of themselves, and beyond the power of any epileptick fits, or natural disease to effect.
Soon the "afflicted" in the village numbered seven, ranging in age from nine to twenty. Betty, the youngest, was sent away and spared what was to follow. The others continued to act strangely and fears that they all were under a witch's evil spell grew. Finally, one of the afflicted girl's aunt, Mary Stibley, induced the Parris' family slave, Tituba, to bake a "witch cake" to reveal the source of the evil. The cake, made of rye and the girls' urine, was fed to the Parris's family dog, who Stibley believed to be an evil messenger.
The cake and the dog revealed nothing, however, and earned Stibley a public rebuke from Rev. Parris, who thought that using "white magic" to combat "black magic" was unwise as he found all magic to be the tools of the devil. The Accusations Begin. A woman is hanged for witchcraft in Salem. As the end of February approached, pressured mounted on the girls to reveal the name of the witch or witches that tormented them or somehow explain their bizarre behavior.
Finally, seventeen-year-old Elizabeth Hubbard named the Parris' slave, Tituba, as the witch. Not much is known about Tituba other than she grew up on the island of Barbados. She was likely of Native American background, but nobody knows for sure. What is known is that during the preceding winter months she kept some of the girls entertained with stories of her native land with its strange traditions, games and magic. In quick succession two other women were also named as witches by the girls: Sarah Good and Sarah Osborn.
The girls claimed that the women "or specters in their shapes did grievously torment them. Osborn did not attend church and was entangled in a land dispute over her first husband's will. To be accused of witchcraft in those days was no minor matter. In the English law had made the practice a capital crime. It was thought that witches, who could be either male or female, had made a pact with Satan agreeing to serve him in return for certain powers which included the ability to curse other people.
Tituba, Good and Osborn were arrested on February 29th. The next day after questioning, which surely included a beating, Tituba confessed "the devil came to me and bid me to serve him.
Her confession also made mention of a mysterious man in black perhaps the devil and tales of flying through the air on a broomstick. On April 11, John Proctor, husband of Elizabeth, became the first man arrested for witchcraft after he protested the arrest of his wife. Mary Warren, a maidservant of the Proctors and one of the "afflicted" girls, recanted her accusations after her employers were jailed saying that she and the other girls were lying.
The other girls immediately turned against Mary and accused her of witchcraft. She quickly changed sides again saying that she was lying about lying. On May 27th the newly-elected governor, William Phipps, commissioned the Court of Oyer and Terminer to try these cases. The "afflicted girls" were star witnesses for the prosecution. The court also allowed the use of "spectral evidence" which meant that the girls could testify to seeing invisible entities that nobody else could.
The result of this was that no matter how wild a story the girls made up, even though there was no way to corroborate it with independent witnesses or evidence, it was still believed. This would even play itself out in the middle of the courtroom. Please visit the websites or call ahead to historic sites you plan to visit for admissions information.
Many locations included here are private residences and are marked accordingly. They are included here to help provide a complete map of the affected area. Please treat these locations with respect and note they are not open to the public. Even years later, the Salem witch trials continue to be trapped in the popular imagination.
Among the documents of the trial are testimonies in defense of John and Elizabeth Proctor, a local landowner and his wife, both of whom were put to death on charges of witchcraft. One letter in defense of the Proctors was signed by 32 of their neighbors — a bold gesture considering that many people, including John Proctor, were indicted after acting as defenders of the Proctors, but the letter did not affect the fate of the family in any way. Ten years after the trials, the courts found them unfair, and by the descendants of the hanged began to receive compensation payments.
One fascinating section of the exhibition is dedicated to Elizabeth Howe, one of the first women to be hanged for witchcraft in July As it turns out, she was also the ancestor of the late fashion designer Alexander McQueen. Scroll to continue reading. In the museum you can see a wooden belt loom belonging to Rebecca Putnam, a relative of Ann.
Although the Putnam family were among the most active accusers, the loom itself contains folk carvings associated with magic and the occult. The exhibition includes a contemporary work by photographer Francis F. This is a series of 13 portraits of women who today identify as witches. The complex women that Denny represents are described in the accompanying essays describing their magical practices.
Denny herself is a descendant of both the victim of lawsuits and Samuel Sewell, the judge who incited public mania.
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