Author: witchesmassbay

Salem witchcraft trials scrapbook at the Superior Court in Salem, Massachusetts, 1973 (AP photo)

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by Margo Burns, associate editor, Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt

On January 11, 2023, the Peabody Essex Museum turned over 527 original documents from the 1692 Salem witchcraft trials to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Archives in Boston. Owned by the Commonwealth, these documents had been on deposit with the Phillips Library since 1980.

In 1980, the entire collection of the records in the colonial Essex County Court Archive, from 1636 to 1800, moved from the basement of the Salem Superior Court building into the care of the renowned Essex Institute in Salem, Massachusetts. Ellen Mark, manuscript librarian at the Essex Institute, described the courthouse in an AP news story in December 1980 as “a typical old building basement, complete with dripping heating pipes. It was a very poor place to store old documents.”

Fortunately, the Salem witchcraft trials records were still in their scrapbooks, on display upstairs. Upon being deposited at the Essex Institute, the two scrapbooks were disassembled, de-acidified in alkaline baths, and earlier hinges used to mount them in the albums were carefully removed. A minimal amount of conservation work was done to support their physical integrity, aside from being ironed flat. In January 1982, the records went to the Northeast Document Conservation Center in Andover to be microfilmed.

Afterwards, the Essex Institute—whose collection concentrated its focus on local history, genealogy, and art—hosted the exhibit Salem Witchcraft: Documents of an Early Colonial Drama (June 1 to Oct. 31, 1982). In addition to a selection of original documents, the exhibit included George Jacobs Sr.’s cane and John Procter’s brass sundial, which were owned by the Institute. Admission was $1.50. The first item listed in all newspaper promotions was that “original documents of the Salem witch trials” could be seen at the Essex Institute by the public.

At the tercentenary of the Salem witchcraft trials in 1992, the Essex Institute opened the Days of Judgment exhibit in Plummer Hall, which included 33 documents and some of the objects in its collections related to people involved in the 1692 trials. That same year, the Essex Institute and the Peabody Museum merged to become the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM).

Direct access to the Phillips Library collections was in a reading room in Daland House, where I first started my own research, in what I recall as a tiny, dim room with only a few tables. In 1997, the library closed for nine months for a “massive restoration project, including climate control and modern archival storage” (PEM press release). In May 1998, the reading room reopened next door on the second floor of Plummer Hall: “Lined with columns and illuminated by chandeliers, it manages to be both formal and comfortable. The room is right out of the 19th century, complete with antique globe, oil paintings of Saltonstalls on the walls, and busts of Peabodys framing the door,” according to a January 14, 1999, article in the Boston Globe. On the first floor, the Essex Institute also featured a small display, The Real Witchcraft Papers “permanent exhibit,” with the canes, sundial, and a few original documents, including the warrant to arrest my ancestor Rebecca Nurse.

Transcriptions in process

In the 2000s, our team for Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt visited these documents frequently, working on making the most accurate transcriptions of them that we could, correcting a variety of previous errors in Boyer and Nissenbaum’s Salem Witchcraft Papers (1977), and including 71 more documents previously uncollected. Published in 2009, Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt was part of a National Endowment for the Humanities grant that also supported a website at the University of Virginia, where a hypertext version of Salem Witchcraft Papers and digitized images from the 1982 microfilm could be accessed by anyone online. The website reduced the demand for access to the original documents, which was better in general for the integrity documents—but if one wanted to consult them, it was still possible.

From left: Marilynne K. Roach, Bernard Rosenthal, Margo Burns, Richard Trask, and Benjamin Ray, editors of Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt, working at the Phillips Library in Plummer Hall, June 2005.

On November 24, 2011, the Phillips Library again closed for “preservation and renovation work on Plummer Hall and Daland House (expected completion 2013).” That meant the entire collection—42,000 linear feet of historical documents—was moving off-site to a temporary location, where PEM announced there would still be access to the records until the work was completed. At this time, Elizabeth Bouvier, from the Supreme Judicial Court Archives, collected the 150-shelf-feet of the colonial court documents—still folded in docketed bundles, tied with string—but again, not the witchcraft trials documents. The word—whether true or not—was that out of deference to Salem, the witchcraft trials documents belonged in Salem and so they would stay.

Time wore on, and the off-site location remained a mystery, concerning a lot of us. More than 20 months later, the temporary location opened August 1, 2013, in an industrial building in the next town of Peabody. Although access was once again possible, the stark white walls and absence of windows had none of the charm of the resplendent reading room in Plummer Hall.

In 2015, Peabody Essex Museum announced a “$20 million renovation and improvement of PEM’s Phillips Library … housed in two noted 1850s architectural treasures, the John Tucker Daland House and Plummer Hall, both of which are being renovated by Schwartz/Silver Architects.”

What wasn’t clear to the public, of course, is the hard work that was happening behind the scenes: The entire collection of the Phillips Library was now physically on a single level, and the re-organization of the materials—which had at least four different cataloging systems—was under way, to produce what a 2017 press release would call “a consistent catalog of the entire Library collection and to make the catalog of the collection accessible online.” PEM’s website announced that the temporary location was going to be closed another six months (Sept. 1, 2017 through March 31, 2018), to move to the “new location,” which was assumed to be back in Salem.

Rumors bring people together

At a public meeting of the Salem Historical Commission on December 6, 2017, the architectural firm of Schwartz/Silver, with Bob Monk and Phillip Johns of the Peabody Essex Museum, submitted an application for renovations to Plummer Hall and Daland House. They revealed that the Museum had “no current plans to move the library collections back into this building.” The size of the growing collection was already twice as large as the capacity of the Stacks, but also that it was “not code compliant for staff use.” The cost would be enormous.

This was news. Everything that the public had heard before was that the two buildings were going to be renovated and the collection would be returning there. What was going on? It turned out that the plan was to move the Phillips Library holdings to PEM’s new Collection Center in Rowley, a building that had once been a toy factory and was now being re-fitted to store items from PEM’s vast collections in a climate-controlled space. The plan to move the library holdings away from Salem upset a lot of people, and the witchcraft documents were the prime example held up of why people felt the library needed to be IN SALEM. 

Frankly, it was a public relations fiasco that did not have to happen. CEO Dan Monroe did little to help the situation at a hastily called public forum in the atrium of the Peabody Essex Museum on January 11, 2018, which attracted “hundreds of people” working in the tourist industry, local academics, historians, and lovers of Salem, according to the Boston Globe coverage of the event. Monroe told the Globe, “There was an expectation by a number of people that we had a responsibility to consult with them about what would be done with the Phillips collection. That’s an expectation that we didn’t particularly share or understand.” Clearly. Donald Friary, Salem resident and President of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, summed up the biggest issue: “No one in Salem knew this was happening. No one knew that they were looking for other sites… There is a very high level of mistrust.”

It seemed like Monroe was there to just show up and just get through the evening and keep doing what he had already planned anyway. There were heated exchanges. Monroe explained that it was going to be impossible to redo the buildings, and that the existing archival storage addition was deemed unsound and really was “condemned.” The audience offered many suggestions and questioned why different options had not been considered. Monroe just stood there and took it, looking impatient and petulant as he did, rebuffing it all. There was a claim that the witchcraft documents had “all been digitized” and were at the website. This was not entirely accurate: At that time only the 30 documents owned by the Phillips Library had been digitized.

Monroe was quoted in the Boston Globe stating, “History doesn’t reside in a specific state or a specific set of documents.” Except that when it comes to the Salem witchcraft trials, history is all about that place and those original documents.

Bottom line: Had Monroe been transparent ahead of time and let the public know that there turned out to be a severe structural problem with the building and PEM was very concerned about how to best preserve and protect such an important historical collection, things could have gone smoother. Yes, there still would have been lots of public discussions and sundry opinions, but with a shared goal of figuring out what was best for the collection—even though the final decision would always be PEM’s.

The newly formed group, “Save the Phillips Library,” collected over 5,000 signatures on a petition at change.org, appealing to Monroe not to move the collection out of Salem, but in vain. In July 2018, four months longer than originally announced, the Collection Center (recently renamed the James B. and Mary Lou Hawkes Collection Center) opened with great fanfare, with PEM-hired buses taking people on the 15-miles-plus drive from Salem to Rowley that weekend. Finally, the new Reading Room was available to researchers again. The collection was in an excellent state of organization and preservation. Although the room had windows, it had all the atmosphere of an open-plan industrial office, despite being designed by Schwartz/Silver. Access was restored.

All disputes about the move were resolved by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on October 20, 2020, when it ruled in the case of Peabody Essex Museum v. Maura Healey, Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, that the relocation was “consistent with equitable deviation from the terms of the founding statutes establishing the Essex Institute, an organizational forebearer of PEM,” but, even now, as a recent article in The Salem News observed, “there’s still lingering feelings back home from local historians over the Phillips Library’s distance from Salem.”

Reparations

Dan Lipcan, PEM’s Head Librarian since 2019, gets it, telling the Boston Globe in 2020, “The move to Rowley was very hurtful to people. One of the charges when I arrived was, ‘You need to repair relations with the community.’”

After years of ignoring its local history archival and artifacts collections, PEM opened its rotating Salem Stories and Highlights from the Phillips Library exhibits. In PEM’s main gallery, the Salem Witchcraft Trials 1692 exhibit opened, featuring the original documents in exquisite public displays, along with associated historical objects. Even with COVID rules keeping people six feet apart, the witchcraft exhibit drew thousands of visitors during its six-month run (Sept. 26, 2020–April 4, 2021).

In 2021, the Salem Witchcraft Trials: Reckoning and Reclaiming exhibit cross-curated original documents with a gown by fashion designer Alexander McQueen from his 2007 collection inspired by his ancestor, “Memory of Elizabeth How, 1692,” plus selections from photographer Frances F. Denny’s series Major Arcana: Portraits of Witches in America (Sept. 18, 2021–March 20, 2022). There was something for everyone, including a board for visitors to post their own thoughts and responses to what had happened in 1692.

Then in 2022, there was the surprise pop-up exhibit, The Salem Witchcraft trials: The Towne Sisters with more original documents about the cases of sisters Rebecca Nurse, Mary Esty, and Sarah Cloyse (Sept. 10, 2022–Nov. 28, 2022). This small exhibit was featured in the Phillips Library rotating exhibits space at PEM.

Meanwhile, the entire collection of the Salem witchcraft trials documents on deposit at Phillips Library has been professionally scanned and indexed on its website, paired with references to the transcriptions in Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt. Plus, if you missed any of the witchcraft trials exhibitions at PEM, you can select the exhibitions at the website—including the 1992 one—to see what was in each, along with photos of all these installations.

With the recent expansion and modernization of the Massachusetts Archives facility in Boston, the Supreme Judicial Court called for the return of the Salem witchcraft trials documents to the Judicial Archives. This was done in January 2023 at a ceremony at the Massachusetts State Archives with Peabody Essex Museum CEO Lynda Roscoe Hartigan, Director of the Phillips Library Dan Lipcan, Judicial Court Chief Justice Kimberly Budd, and Essex County Clerk-Magistrate Thomas Driscoll. PEM also presented another 30 Salem witchcraft records from the Phillips Library’s own collection to the Archives, from donations it had received over the years.

In an article in the Salem News, Hartigan said, “PEM is committed to telling the story of these events through exhibitions, lectures, and public programs as well as by making reproductions of the Salem Witch Trial documents available to the public on our website.” Driscoll summed it up about the documents, “These things belong to the people. I think it’s the right place for them to go.”

These 1692 witchcraft trials documents are now at the Massachusetts Judicial Archives located in the Massachusetts Archives building at Columbia Point in Boston. They are not the only original records from the witchcraft trials. More are in the Massachusetts Archives, as well as the Massachusetts Historical Society, the Boston Public Library, and a few at various historical societies and libraries.

This post is a part of a more detailed presentation on the history of all the witchcraft manuscripts, to be presented at History Camp Boston 2023, on August 12, 2023, at the Suffolk Law School in Boston.

Many thanks to the numerous people who kindly answered my questions and made connections for me during my research: Dan Lipcan and Jennifer Hornsby (Phillips Library, Peabody Essex Museum), Michael Comeau (Massachusetts State Archives), Donna Segar and Emerson Baker (Salem State University), Marilynne K. Roach, and Robin Mason, who sent me down this path.

See also:

Salem witch trials documents return to SJC

Why go to Rowley? Salem’s PEM research library of course

A tribute to the Essex Institute—and Mary English’s chair

Teaching the everyday & the extraordinary: Salem in 1692

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On 25 May 2023, the Connecticut General Assembly approved the Resolution Exonerating the Women and Men Convicted for Witchcraft in Colonial Connecticut. The resolution reads:

“WHEREAS, the courts in the early British colonies of Connecticut and New Haven indicted at least thirty-four women and men for the alleged crimes of witchcraft and familiarities with the devil and convicted twelve of them, executing eleven, and it is now accepted by the historical profession and society as a whole that all the accused were innocent of such charges, and

“WHEREAS, legal procedures differed at the time and many practices of the Colonial courts would not meet modern American standards of proof, so that the miscarriage of justice was facilitated by such procedures, and

“WHEREAS, the status of women was radically different than it is today, and misogyny played a large part in the trials and in denying defendants their rights and dignity, and

“WHEREAS, community strife and panic combined with overwhelming fear and superstition led to these accusations of alleged witchcraft and the subsequent suffering of those accused.

“NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that all of the formally convicted and executed are absolved of all crimes of witchcraft and familiarities with the devil. The legislature specifically absolves the following people believed to have been convicted and executed for the crimes of witchcraft and familiarities with the devil: Alice Young in 1647, Mary Johnson in 1648, Joan Carrington in 1651, John Carrington in 1651, Goodwife Bassett in 1651, Goodwife Knapp in 1653, Lydia Gilbert in 1654, Mary Sanford in 1662, Nathaniel Greensmith in 1663, Rebecca Greensmith in 1663, and Mary Barnes in 1663; and one Elizabeth Seager convicted and reprieved in 1665.

“BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that those who were indicted for the crimes of witchcraft and familiarities with the devil, forced to flee, banished or even acquitted continued to live with their reputations destroyed and their family names tarnished, will have their reputations restored and no longer have disgrace attached to their names, now, being in good standing in the state of Connecticut. The following indicted for the crimes of witchcraft and familiarities with the devil who were not convicted but still suffered greatly after indictments were: Goodwife Bailey in 1655, Nicholas Bailey in 1655, Elizabeth Godman in 1655, Elizabeth Garlick in 1658, Margaret Jennings in 1661, Nicholas Jennings in 1661, Judith Varlet in 1662, Andrew Sanford in 1662, William Ayers in 1662, Judith Ayers in 1662, James Wakely in 1662, Katherine Harrison in 1668 and 1669, William Graves in 1667, Elizabeth Clawson in 1692, Hugh Crosia in 1692, Mercy Disborough in 1692, Mary Harvey in 1692, Hannah Harvey in 1692, Mary Staples in 1692, Winifred Benham in 1697, and Winifred Benham Jr. in 1697.

“BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the State of Connecticut apologizes to the descendants of all those who were indicted for the crimes of witchcraft and familiarities with the devil, convicted and executed and for the harm done to the accused persons’ posterity to the present day, and acknowledges the trauma and shame that wrongfully continued to affect the families of the accused.”

Thanks to the Connecticut Witch Trial Exoneration Project and others who supported and voted for this long-overdue resolution.

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A few of my short reviews of witch trial-related books, both fiction and nonfiction.

Nonfiction

Death in Salem: The Private Lives behind the 1692 Witch Hunt by Diane E. Foulds. Victims, accusers, clergy, judges, the elite all receive a 1-to-3-page biography. Author used a lot of secondary sources, some of which have been updated by other witch-hunt experts and genealogists, and she didn’t track that. The bios read like stories. No source citations for facts or conclusions, so not useful as a resource book.

Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt by Bernard Rosenthal, et al. Painstakingly transcribed by experts in their field, RSWH includes all 977 Salem witch trial records known to exist in all known repositories. It easily surpasses the Boyer and Nissenbaum Salem-Village Witchcraft transcriptions. If you’re serious about the Salem witch trials, this book is a must-have. Plus, the first 100 pages with the general introduction, legal procedures, and principles (linguistical, editorial, and chronological) behind the project are not to be skipped. My much-used copy is always within reach.

A Salem Witch: The Trial, Execution, and Exoneration of Rebecca Nurse by Daniel A. Gagnon. Best biography of one of the victims of the Salem witch trials. Gagnon is really good at debunking myths too.

A Season with the Witch: The Magic and Mayhem of Halloween in Salem, Massachusetts by J.W. Ocker. I love Salem and I enjoyed reading this travelogue, history, and personalities book. Ocker and his family spent the month of October in Salem, Massachusetts, to write this book.

Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience by Emerson W. Baker. My top choice for reading about the Salem witch trials.

Witch-Hunt: Mysteries of the Salem Witch Trials by Marc Aronson. Young Adult (YA) title that succinctly explains the events of 1692 and reviews the various theories and books written on the subject. I often recommend this book to people who are learning about the Salem witch trials.

Fiction

Conversion by Katherine Howe. The high-pressure, competitive life of senior girls at a posh private school manifests itself into physical illnesses, much like the 1692 outbreak in Salem Village. I really enjoyed this book.

Deliverance from Evil by Frances Hill. Deliverance from Evil is an interesting yet frustrating novel centered on accused witch George Burroughs and his third wife Mary. Author Frances Hill admits she “invented [Mary’s] story, personality, and appearance. The part of the novel concerning her journey from Salem to Albany is pure fiction, as is the relationship between her and Peter White.” (And Peter White is a totally made up character.) Having written several nonfiction books on the Salem witch trials, I’d expect Hill to have done better research. Years before she wrote this book, well-respected genealogist David L. Greene discovered George Burroughs and wife Mary had a daughter Mary (b. 1690-1692) and after his death, his widow married (second) Boston, 13 July 1693, Michael Homer, and married (third) Cambridge, 5 February 1699/1700, Christopher Hall Jr. (The American Genealogist, January 1980). So much for the fictional Peter White and their happy ending!

The Heretic’s Daughter by Kathleen Kent. My top recommendation for fiction is this richly detailed, historical novel on the life of accused witch Martha Carrier. Well written and researched. In the end, you’ll wish that little red book was real.

The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry. Set in Salem, this is one of those books where I reached the end and I wanted to read it again, immediately.

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe. This book answers the question: What if some of the accused were witches during the Salem Witch Trials? (BTW, they weren’t!) I really enjoyed this book. But I was disappointed that the author decided to change history and have Deliverance hanged with the other witches. In real life, she was released from prison and survived.

Tituba: The Intentional Witch of Salem by Dave Tamanini. Since Rev. Parris’ servant, Tituba, was Native American—not Black as portrayed in this book—I couldn’t get past that fact, especially for a book published in 2020. Curiously, this novel won an award from the Afro American Historical and Genealogical Society.

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare. Reading this Newbery Award-winning novel again, I was struck by the stark differences between Kit Tyler’s life in Barbados compared to hers in Connecticut: The colors, the beautiful and stylish clothing, the sunny attitude and freedom of island life compared to the austere, forboding disapproval of the countryfolk. It made me think: How did Samuel Parris adjust as he moved from Barbados to Boston and Salem? This story is vibrant with 17th-century details, memorable characters, and swirling accusations.

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Curious what plants were well-known by the 17th-century Massachusetts Bay colonists, I delved into Michael Brown’s new book, Medieval Plants and Their Uses. Planting and harvesting were essential to the survival of communities. Besides food and medicinal purposes, though, could plants have been involved in the Salem witch trials? After all, one widely debunked hypothesis claimed ergot poisoning could have caused the witch hunt.

According to Brown, during wet weather a parasite caused fungus to grow on rye. Since grains were processed at the local mill, ergot poisoning could spread far and wide. Ergot-related mass casualties occurred in continental Europe but notably not in England, where wheat was the popular grain.

Also known as St. Anthony’s Fire, ergot poisoning could cause “hallucinations, convulsions, erratic behavior, or gangrene; death was common.” While some of these symptoms were apparent in the Salem courthouse in 1692, their underlying causes could be many different health issues. Plus, not every local household or family member displayed symptoms—which would happen if they shared bread—so it’s unlikely that ergot poisoning was a cause of the witch-hunt.

Planting the colony

From the start of the Great Migration, ships came from England with plant cuttings and seeds to grow crops and herbs for food, flavorings, and medicines. Recipes were passed down and shared, like making tansy tea for worms; using vinegar, salt, and honey for cleaning and sterilizing a wound; and eating dandelions to encourage urine flow.

Living on Will’s Hill, the tightknit Wilkins clan may not have been privy to the diuretic dandelion remedy. Patriarch Bray Wilkins reported “my water was sodainly stopt, & I had no benefit of nature, but was like a man on a rack” and accused his grandson-in-law John Willard—an outsider—of causing his bladder issue and his grandson Daniel Wilkins’ death. When a “skillful” woman’s remedies didn’t work, she asked Bray if any “evil persons” did him damage. He said he was “sore afraid they had.” Afflicted accuser Mercy Lewis even said she saw John Willard on his grandfather Bray’s belly. Bray later claimed it was not him “but the testimony of the afflicted persons and the jury … that would take away [John Willard’s] life if any thing did, & within about 1/4 hour after this I was taken in the sorest distress & misery my water being turned into real blood, or of a bloody colour & the old pain returned excessively as before which continued for about 24 hours together” (RSWH 528). It’s clear Bray’s urine retention was a real illness, such as an enlarged prostate, and not a witch’s curse. Yet John Willard was executed for witchcraft on 19 August 1692.

Brown also covers plants with religious associations and magical powers. For instance, Rev. John Hale could have put calendula under his pillow to reveal in dreams that Dorcas Hoar was stealing from him. Saint John’s wort could have expelled the demons from Rev. Samuel Parris’ home while mugwort could have kept ghosts and evil spirits away.

Besides offering insight into historic diets and medical remedies, this book covers common, everyday usage of plants for housekeeping, laundry, animal health care, beauty treatments, and even aphrodisiacs. Well illustrated with photos, Medieval Plants and Their Uses concludes with a few original medieval recipes, a list of plants (their medical and/or practical uses, name variants), and suggested reading.

Brown provides an accessible and fascinating insight into the uses of medieval plants.

Prerelease book provided by NetGalley and Pen & Sword Books Ltd. for review consideration.

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When you visit Salem, Massachusetts, you discover the city has many modern witchcraft shops, especially in the tourist areas of Essex Street and the wharf. It’s odd because the 20 people executed in 1692 for the capital crime of witchcraft were not, in fact, witches.

In Teaching Witchcraft: A Guide for Students and Teachers of Wicca, Miles Batty says witchcraft is not Devil worship or Satanism. Yet that’s what they were convicted of in 1692, even the stoutest of Puritans. The convicted witches were accused of harming people and animals, signing the devil’s book, or even trying to overthrow the Puritan church.

In contrast, present-day witches follow a rule to harm none. They celebrate seasonal changes, nature, the moon and stars, the god and goddess, and/or pre-Christian deities. Despite the blend of pagan ideology, Batty explains, their practices were not passed down through the centuries. Modern witchcraft began in the late 19th century, was influenced in the 1920s by the (largely discredited) works of Margaret Murray, expanded through the teachings of Gerald Gardner, and captured the imagination of the 1960s. Today’s witch has nothing in common with the accused witches of 1692.

Batty provides an interesting overview of the development from pre-historic to monotheistic religions, followed by intentional acts to wipe out Pagans, Druids, heretics, magicians, wisewomen, and witches. What the conquerors couldn’t destroy, they converted for the own use (altars, relics) or absorbed (festivals and celebrations).

A collection of folkways, a lifestyle & philosophy

The second half of Teaching Witchcraft is more like a manual, providing the basics for incorporating different elements into a personal practice, either as part of a group or as an individual. Although designed for classroom or personal study, the book works well for curious readers like me who want to understand Wiccan beliefs, the cornerstones of magick, the meaning of rituals. Interspersed with charts and drawings, the book serves as a guide to the Wheel of the Year, the sabbats and esbats, moon cycles, signs and symbols, stones and crystals, amulets and talismans, auras and chakras.

Teaching Witchcraft is set up as lessons, each one ending with a series of questions and recommended reading. It closes with final exams and teacher resources.

The book is a solid introduction to modern witchcraft, whether you’re on that path or wondering what all those witches do in Salem.

Prerelease book provided by NetGalley and Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd. for review consideration.

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In January 2023, the Peabody Essex Museum’s Phillips Library returned 527 Salem witch trials (SWT) documents to the Judicial Archives at the Massachusetts State Archives facility in Boston.

Established in 1692 after the dismissal of the Court of Oyer and Terminer, the Massachusetts Superior Court of Judicature heard the final witch trials in Salem. However, the court papers apparently did not depart with the judges. Over the years, some SWT documents ended up at other repositories or in private collections, though the majority stayed in Salem. Due to lack of storage space in the old Superior Court building on Federal Street, in December 1980 the SWT documents were temporarily reposited with the Essex Institute (EI) at Plummer Hall. The SWT papers remained in the custody of EI’s Phillips Library after the Essex Institute merged with the Peabody Museum of Salem in 1992 to form the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM). In 2018, the Phillips Library collections moved to Rowley.

Once in its new location, the Phillips Library team digitized all of the SWT documents in its possession before the transfer. In addition to the 527 SWT documents owned by the Commonwealth, PEM digitized 31 SWT papers that had been donated to the Essex Institute.

Access to the original documents from the Judicial Archives is limited. Years ago, I was able to get access to my ancestor’s 1721 probate only because the microfilm was missing a few pages. With the digital scans online, few valid reasons exist for being able to touch the fragile originals. And it’s not likely that being a descendant will give you access, since millions of people can say the same!

Related links

Salem Witch Trials Collection, Phillips Library Digital Collection, Peabody Essex Museum (images of SJC/PEM documents)

Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt by Bernard Rosenthal, et al. (book, transcription of all known documents, totaling 977)

Judicial Archives at the Massachusetts State Archives, 220 Morrissey Blvd., Boston, Massachusetts

The Phillips Library reading room, 306 Newburyport Turnpike, Rowley, Massachusetts

SWT holdings from various archives (2002)

Treasures of the Salem court house

Why go to Rowley? Salem’s PEM research library of course

press release: Peabody Essex Museum and Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Announce Return of Historic Salem Witch Trial Documents, 12 January 2023

By Posted on Posted in Genealogy, History Tagged with , , , , , , , , , ,

For almost 10 years, Thomas Carrier lived unobtrusively in Billerica, Massachusetts. And then he met Martha—and his life dramatically changed.

In May 1674, 47-year-old “Thomas Carrier, vulgarly called Thomas Morgan, of Billerikey” confessed to fornication with Martha Allen, daughter of Andrew Allen of Andover, in the Middlesex Court. Old Mrs. Johnson, midwife of Woburn, admitted she examined Martha, while Elizabeth Chamberlain, George Chamberlain, and John Drinker served as witnesses. The couple married and their first child Richard was born two months later.

Settling into married life was a struggle though. Before Richard’s second birthday, “the [Billerica] selectman ordered the constable to give notice to Thomas Carrier, alias Morgan, Welchman, that the town was not willing he should abide here, as an inhabitant, and that he forthwith depart with his family, or give such security as shall be to the content of the selectmen on peril of 20 shillings per week, while he abide without leave, first had and obtained, which is according to the ancient town order amongst us.” The Carriers remained in town.

In the fall of 1677, their prospects improved. Thomas and his man were assigned to cut brush in the southeast part of Billerica. The following February, he took the oath of fidelity to the government of Massachusetts Bay Colony. In 1679, Thomas paid the third highest taxes (9 shillings) in Billerica after Captain Jonathan Danforth (9 s. 10 d.) and Job Lane (13 s.).

Their family grew. With two teenage boys (Richard, b. 1674; Andrew, b. 1677), three children under 9 (Thomas, b. 1682; Sarah, b. 1684; Hannah, b. 1689), and one infant buried (Jane, b. 1680), life was hard. Thomas didn’t have any relatives in Massachusetts Bay. Martha’s sister Mary, who also lived in Billerica, had “many things amiss in [her] family,” according to the selectmen, and her husband, Dr. Roger Toothaker, had a habit of wandering off and forgetting about his family. Plus Martha’s parents, Andrew and Faith (Ingalls) Allen of Andover, were getting older.

The Carriers moved to Andover in the summer or early fall of 1690. Although Martha grew up in the town, the Andover selectmen “took care when [the Carriers] first came to town to warn them out again and have attended the law therein.” (A “warning out” gave notice that the town would not be held liable for their support, even if the family remained in town.)

By mid-October Martha “and some of her children [were] smitten with that contagious disease, the smallpox.” In a notice dated 14 October 1690 and sent to Samuel Holt, Andrew Allen, and John Allen, the selectmen wanted to make sure the Carriers “do not spread the distemper with wicked carelessness, which we are afraid they have already done: You had best take what care you can about them, nature and religion requiring it.”

On 4 November 1690, the selectmen wrote to Walter Wright, constable: “Whereas it has pleased God to visit those of the widow Allen’s family which she hath taken into her house with that contagious disease the smallpox, it being as we think part of our duty to prevent the spreading of said distemper we therefore require you in their Majesties’ names to warn said family not to go near any house so as to endanger them by said infection nor to come to the public meeting till they may come with safety to others: but what they want let them acquaint you with: which provide for them out of their own estates.”

The Carriers survived smallpox. Unfortunately, Martha’s Allen-Ingalls family was not so lucky. All 10 people who died of the disease in Andover* were related to Martha:

  • 24 Oct. 1690: Andrew Allen Sr., Martha’s father
  • 26 Nov. 1690: Andrew Allen Jr., Martha’s brother
  • 26 Nov. 1690: John Allen, Martha’s brother
  • 9 Dec. 1690: Francis Ingalls, Martha’s cousin
  • 13 Dec. 1690: James Holt, Martha’s sister Hannah’s son
  • 14 Dec. 1690: James Holt, Martha’s sister Hannah’s husband
  • 18 Dec. 1690: Thomas Allen, Martha’s brother Andrew’s son
  • 22 Dec. 1690: Sarah (Holt) Marks, sister of Martha’s two Holt brothers-in-law
  • 25 Dec. 1690: Mercy (Peters) Allen, Martha’s brother John’s widow
  • 15 Jan. 1690/1: Stephen Osgood, Martha’s uncle Henry Ingalls’ brother-in-law

The townspeople may have wondered how Martha could survive smallpox when it killed her father, two brothers, two nephews, and five close relations. They may not have known the virus spread through coughing or sneezing as well as touching clothing or bedding that comes in contact with the sores. Nursing the sick—as “nature and religion” required—put the entire household at risk. But that’s what families do.

Fortunately, by isolating the Carriers and their kin, the selectmen kept smallpox from spreading throughout Andover. Yet it’s clear they blamed Martha Carrier for bringing the deadly disease to Andover. Records, however, show the three smallpox deaths in Billerica happened late in December 1690, months after the Carriers left. Two of those deaths were the brother and niece of John Rogers’ first wife, Mary Shedd (1647-1688).

Not surprisingly, when rumors of witchcraft swirled in Andover, people looked suspiciously at Martha Carrier.

In 1692, John Rogers of Billerica deposed against Martha Carrier, claiming seven years prior his three cows went missing or stopped providing milk. Why? He said, “Martha Carrier was the occasion of those ill accidents by means of witchcraft, [she] being a very malicious woman.” He didn’t mention smallpox.

On 19 August 1692, Martha (Allen) Carrier was executed for witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts. She was not a witch.

*A few other deaths may be attributed to smallpox but are not labeled as such in the Andover vital records. No data exists for how many Andover residents had smallpox and survived.

For more about Martha (Allen) Carrier, I highly recommend the historical novel The Heretic’s Daughter by Kathleen Kent.

Notes:

See also: Smallpox in Massachusetts Bay 1689-1692 (my blog at Genealogy Ink)

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On 28 July 2022, Elizabeth Johnson Jr. was officially exonerated by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for the crime of witchcraft.

During the Salem witch trials, Andover neighbors and afflicted accusers claimed 22-year-old Elizabeth Johnson Jr. was a witch. At her examinations on August 10-11, 1692, Elizabeth confessed to signing the Devil’s book, participating in a mock sacrament, and afflicting numerous people. On 5 January 1693, the grand jury indicted her for afflicting Ann Putnam Jr. Elizabeth was convicted of witchcraft less than a week later. Fortunately, Governor William Phips gave a temporary reprieve to several condemned witches, including Elizabeth, shortly before their execution date (RSWH, pp. 541, 543-544, 771-772, 811).

However, those convicted of a capital crime lost their civil rights and liberties. On 13 September 1710, Francis Johnson petitioned for restitution for his sister Elizabeth Johnson Jr. He also submitted a claim for 3 pounds for providing Elizabeth with provisions during her six-month imprisonment. His request was noted but ignored.

In 1711, a Reversal of Attainder nullified all witch trial judgments against George Burroughs, John Proctor, George Jacobs, John Willard, Giles Corey, Martha Corey, Rebecca Nurse, Sarah Good, Elizabeth How, Mary Easty, Sarah Wildes, Abigail Hobbs,* Samuel Wardwell, Mary Parker, Martha Carrier, Abigail Faulkner,* Ann Foster,* Rebecca Eames,* Mary Post,* Mary Lacy,* Mary Bradbury,* and Dorcas Hoar.*

Omitted from the 1711 act, on 19 February 1711/2, Elizabeth petitioned on her own behalf for a reversal of attainder and for restitution. No action was taken. When Elizabeth Johnson Jr. died on 3 January 1746/7, the weight of her conviction remained (RSWH, pp. 875-876, 887-888, 901).

In the 20th century, six more victims of the Salem witch trials were vindicated. Finally, in the 21st century, students from the North Andover Middle School took on Elizabeth Johnson Jr.’s case and she finally was acquitted of witchcraft.

Resolve relative to the indictment, trial, conviction, and execution† of Ann Pudeator, Bridget Bishop, Susannah Martin, Alice Parker, Margaret Scott, Wilmot Redd, and Elizabeth Johnson Jr. for “Witchcraft” in the Year Sixteen Hundred and Ninety-Two.

Whereas, Ann Pudeator, Bridget Bishop, Susannah Martin, Alice Parker, Margaret Scott, Wilmot Redd, and Elizabeth Johnson Jr. were indicted, tried, found guilty, sentenced to death, and executed† in the year sixteen hundred and ninety-two for “Witchcraft”; and

Whereas, The above named may have been illegally tried, convicted, and sentenced by a possibly illegal court of Oyer and Terminer created by the then governor of the Province without authority under the Province Charter of Massachusetts Bay; and

Whereas, Although there was a public repentance by Judge Sewall, one of the judges of the so-called “Witchcraft Court,” and by all the members of the “Witchcraft” jury, and a public Fast Day proclaimed and observed in repentance for the proceedings, but no other action taken in regard to them; and

Whereas, The General Court of Massachusetts is informed that certain descendants‡ of Ann Pudeator, Bridget Bishop, Susannah Martin, Alice Parker, Margaret Scott, Wilmot Redd, and Elizabeth Johnson Jr. are still distressed by the record of said proceedings; therefore be it

Resolved, That in order to alleviate such distress and although the facts of such proceedings cannot be obliterated, the General Court of Massachusetts declares its belief that such proceedings, even if lawful under the Province Charter and the law of Massachusetts as it then was, were, and are shocking, and the result of a wave of popular hysterical fear of the Devil in the community, and further declares that, as all the laws under which said proceedings, even if then legally conducted, have been long since abandoned and superseded by our more civilized laws no disgrace or cause for distress attaches to the said descendants or any of them by reason of said proceedings; and be it further

Resolved, That the passage of this resolve shall not bestow on the Commonwealth or any of its subdivisions, or on any person any right which did not exist prior to said passage, shall not authorize any suit or other proceeding nor deprive any party to a suit or other proceeding of any defense which he hitherto had, shall not affect in any way whatever the title to or rights in any real or personal property, nor shall it require or permit the remission of any penalty, fine, or forfeiture hitherto imposed or incurred.

Resolve of 1957, chapter 146 (approved 28 August 1957) as rewritten after amendments on 31 October 2001 and 28 July 2022 incorporated.

For related stories on Elizabeth Johnson Jr., see:

Footnotes:
RSWH: Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt by Bernard Rosenthal et al.
* not executed
† Elizabeth Johnson Jr. was found guilty but not executed for the crime of witchcraft.
‡ Elizabeth Johnson Jr. had no descendants and remained unmarried during her long life.

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Want to learn more about Charter Street Cemetery? Pick up If These Stones Could Speak: The History and People of the Old Salem Burying Point by Daniel Fury. Learn about the people who lived and died in Salem. Black-and-white grave photographs accompany profiles of some of the dead, along with their gravestone inscriptions.

Compiled from many sources and checked against extant gravestones and vital records, the burial index is the most comprehensive list yet. To help you find your way around the burying ground, the book is divided into family groups and sections, with maps included. And if you’re unfamiliar with the symbols, terminology, and funeral practices of early Salem inhabitants, Daniel added helpful information on those topics too.

While none of the victims executed during the Salem witch trials are buried at Old Salem Burying Point, their memory lingers there. Behind the Samuel Pickman House, now the Charter Street Cemetery Welcome Center, the 1992 Salem Witch Trials Memorial features stone benches engraved with each victim’s name and death date. Every time I visit, I whisper their names as I follow the path. Near Bridget Bishop’s stone, you’ll find an entrance into the cemetery.

Besides an overview of the witch trials and the memorial, the book provides biographies of the 20 witch-hunt victims executed and those who perished in jail as well.

A resident of Salem, author Daniel Fury is a proprietor of Black Cat Tours and a founding member of Friends of the Downtown Salem Historic Cemeteries.

Read more: Salem’s Old Burying Point: Old photos by Frank Cousins

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While researching Thomas Danforth (1623-1699), I discovered Paige’s History of Cambridge and Hutchinson’s Witchcraft Delusion of 1692 quoted from Samuel Sewall’s Diary on Danforth’s illness, death, and burial. Sewall visited Danforth on 28 October 1699 and recorded in his diary that Elizabeth (Danforth) Foxcroft informed Sewall that her father “was much indisposed the 22 inst., which was the beginning of his sickness.” Danforth was “much troubled with the Palsie”—which caused paralysis and involuntary tremors. Two entries later in his diary, Sewall wrote:

“Lord’s Day, Novr. 5, Tho. Danforth Esq. dies about 3 post merid. [p.m.] of a fever. Has been a magistrate 40 years. Was a very good husbandman, and a very good Christian, and a good Councilor: was about 76 years old.”

“…Sixth day, Nov. 10, 1699. Mr. Danforth is entombed about 1/4 of an hour before 4 p.m. Very fair and pleasant day; much company. Bearers on the right side Lt. Governor, Mr. Russell, Sewall; left side, Mr. W. Winthrop, Mr. Cook, Col. Phillips. I helped lift the corpse into the tomb, carrying the feet. Had cake and cheese at the house. Col. Hathorne, Mr. Corwin, Bro. Sewall were there from Salem. Councilors had rings, ministers gloves, Mr. Mather and Brattle scarfs and rings: so had the bearers.”

Both books ended their quotes with the list of mourning gifts the family gave to honored guests and casket bearers. But wait. Where was Danforth buried? Even though Danforth lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts, I searched Boston’s Historic Burying Grounds Initiative database first. Ten Danforths were listed, but not the Thomas who died in 1699. So I tried the Find a Grave database, narrowing down the search to Cambridge. Still nothing.

But what if Sewall said something more in his diary? And he did!

The entry continued: “Cambridge Burying Place is handsomely fenced in with boards, which has not been done above a month or six weeks.”

Thanks to Samuel Sewall’s diary, we know where Hon. Thomas Danforth’s mortal remains lie. While it doesn’t explicitly say which tomb Danforth is in, and none are labeled with his name, he’s definitely buried in an unmarked tomb at Old Burying Ground in Cambridge. His wife and possibly other family members may be buried there too. I added a memorial for Danforth at Find a Grave, not knowing one already existed with an “unknown location.” The duplicate listings were merged into Memorial 240442382.

Danforth and the Salem witch trials

As deputy governor, Thomas Danforth observed the examinations of accused witches Elizabeth Proctor and Sarah Cloyce at a meeting of the Court of Assistants in Salem in April 1692. Local magistrates, John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin, handled the questioning, while Rev. Samuel Parris transcribed the session.* This experience no doubt led to Danforth’s disapproval of the judicial proceedings.

In a letter dated 8 October 1692, Thomas Brattle, an outspoken opponent of the witch trials, wrote: “But although the chief judge, and some of the other judges, be very zealous in these proceedings, yet this you may take for a truth, that there are several about the Bay, men for understanding, judgment, and piety, inferior to few, if any, in [New England], that do utterly condemn the said proceedings, and do freely deliver their judgment in the case to be this, viz., that these methods will utterly ruin and undo poor N. E. I shall nominate some of these to you, viz., the Hon. Simon Bradstreet Esq.; the Hon. Thomas Danforth Esq.; the Rev. Mr. Increase Mather, and the Rev. Mr. Samuel Willard….”

With the Court of Oyer and Terminer disbanded, Tuesday, 6 December 1692—“a very dark cold day,” Sewall reports—was “the day appointed for choosing of Judges.” William Stoughton was unanimously chosen Chief Justice of the new Superior Court of Judicature with 15 votes, while Thomas Danforth received 12 votes, and John Richards, Waitstill Winthrop, and Sewall received 7 votes each. Only 15 Assistants were present. Apparently, Danforth didn’t want anything to do with the witch trials, which would be a significant focus of the new court with so many accused witches still in jail. Two days later, Sewall’s diary says, “Mr. Danforth is invited to dinner, and after pressed to accept his place.” After Lecture on Thursday, December 22, Stoughton, Richards, Winthrop, and Sewall received their commissions as Judges and took their oaths. Danforth, having been “pressed,” later joined them on the bench.

The Salem witch trials started again in January 1693. Of the 56 indictments for witchcraft, true bills were found against 26 but only three were found guilty—Elizabeth Johnson Jr., Sarah Wardwell, and Mary Post. Without the use of spectral evidence in court and possibly because of Danforth’s influence, the court quickly brought the trials to an end. Then, Governor Phips issued pardons for the three convicted women as well as others convicted from the previous court.

Thomas Danforth remained on the supreme court until his death in 1699. On November 7 of that year, Sewall wrote, “Mr. Stoughton, in his speech to the Grand Jury, takes great notice of Judge Danforth’s death. Saith he was a lover of religion and religious men; the oldest servant the country ever had; zealous against vice; and if had any detractors; yet was so much on the other as to erect him a monument among this people.” Then there was a sharp reminder from the Puritan minister, Mr. Willard, who “in his prayer mentioned God’s displeasure in his removal; and desired the Judges might act on the bench as those who must shortly go to give their account.”

Salem’s End

Thomas Danforth is also known for giving 800 acres of land to families who wanted to escape Salem and memories of the witch trials. Previously known as Danforth’s Farms, the town was incorporated in 1700 as Framingham, Massachusetts, named after Framlingham, Suffolk, England, where Danforth was baptized in 1623. The section where the Salem refugees lived is still known as Salem End.

*This line has been edited from the original post. Based on several 19th-century authors, I had written: “Rev. Samuel Parris was in charge of the interrogations that day, and Danforth recorded the session.” After Marilynne K. Roach commented, and I replied back, I went back to the books and revised my thinking. See Comments, below, for more details.