In 1686, William Good is listed as a weaver when he sold his wife Sarah’s inherited land to Freeborn Balch. By 1692, he’s called a laborer, but William didn’t make enough money to secure his small family with food, shelter, …
On 30 March 1672, William Good of Chelmsford was “warned for living from family government” (Middlesex Co.: Abstracts of Court Records 1643-1674, 2:144). Besides married people who deserted their spouses, this charge was given to single men and women of …
After her father John died in June 1672, several events happened that affected Sarah Solarte’s life and her future. In December 1672, her mother Elizabeth became Ezekiel Woodward’s second wife. Her brother John, who had been in England, died by …
The birth family of Sarah Good, hanged as a witch in 1692 in Salem, Massachusetts.
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 …
Documenting the past, preserving its future: Salem witchcraft papers Read more »
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 …
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 …
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 …
A review of the book, Teaching Witchcraft: A Guide for Students and Teachers of Wicca, by Miles Batty.
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 …