My Heritage has recently notified me that I am a descendant of Thomas and Mary (Perkins) Bradbury. Have learned fascinating details about the accusation, trial, & conviction of Mary. I’d appreciate any other details you may have discovered.
Right on, Margo! The ergot explanation first proposed by a graduate student in California was debunked in less than a month by physicians and scientists. The “afflicted” were not all girls and were not eating rye grown in the same fields. If their fits were the result of ergot disease, how is it that they could turn these manifestations of illness on and off during court examinations? Unfortunately, the television program “Secrets of the Dead” popularized this simplistic and misguided explanation.
I am a descendant of Elizabeth Jackson How, and have read extensively on the subject. In the book, The Devil in the Shape of a Woman, there was a tiny footnote that I followed up on, and it was the dissertation of Linda Corporeal of UMASS Amherst, where she gives compelling research on the idea of ergot poisoning.
The animals were suffering from bizarre symptoms as well, so she deduced that the people and the live stock were consuming either food or water that was contaminated. Upon checking with a friend who was an alchemist, he concurred that the nerve toxin in ergot, transmutes into a similar chemical as LSD. She furthered her hunch, and research European farmers almanacs and diaries, and found that it followed that each and every rainy planting season, was followed by the hysteria, symptoms, accusations of witchcraft, and executions.
I have the 11 pages from the Salem Witch Papers that were written verbatim in non-standardized English, about my great grandmother, Elizabeth Jackson How.
Hers is the third marble bench on the left if you ever visit the memorial park of the 30 victims.
It sounds to me as if the ergot theory hasn’t been proven; neither has it been disproven. Perhaps more study is needed before dismissing it out of hand, especially because incidents waxed and waned with the seasons and animals also suffered. Couldn’t symptomatic behavior have been a combination of several causes -both physical and manufactured?
A minor correction: Linnda Caporael wrote her paper in an undergraduate class at UC Santa Barbara, and received her Ph.D. From there, as well. Her article was published in Science Magazine, April 2, 1976.
I actually do know where the stones are, definitively for Thomas, and our assumption is that Mary is the stone next to him. We rediscovered them back in 1995. His still had clear lettering at the time, but hers could no longer be read. They are both on the ground, behind the upright stone for the grandson Thomas, pictured above. Sadly, the last time I looked, both stones were virtually blank due to the ravages of weather, and now are nearly disintegrated. But I do know where they are and can point them out, if anyone has an interest. I also have a photo taken of Thomas’ stone back when we found it, which shows the lettering a little more clearly.
Is there good documentation to show that Bridget Bishop lived at what is now 43 Church? I have spoken with a few historians (Baker, Hill, McAllister) and there seems to be little agreement.
Rory,
Thanks to your question I wrote a new blog post, Where did accused witch Bridget Bishop live?, which adds much more detail about Bridget’s house than my previous reply to your comment did.
-Robin
Once again, great work.
Our family tree, and the Essex Institute verified that Elizabeth Jackson Howe, is my great grandmother. She was hanged on July 19th, 1692, and was one of the first 5 women to be hanged. Do we know where they buried, obviously in unconsecrated ground.
Elsie, although graves were dug near the site of the hangings, no burials were found at Proctor’s Ledge. A few families, most notably Rebecca Nurse’s, have stories of taking their loved ones’ bodies and burying them near their homes, sometimes in the family cemetery. I believe all the bodies were removed by family or friends. We have anecdotal stories of seeing parts of Rev. George Burrough’s body sticking out of the shallow grave. However, his family may not have arrived from Maine in time for his execution and burial. Afterward, his former father-in-law John Ruck (who took in his grandchildren), his third wife Mary, or supporters of the minister would have found a decent place to bury him. For some, the fear of others desecrating convicted witches’ graves probably meant that families used rocks or other natural materials to mark the spot. In a few 19th century histories, people mentioned knowing burial locations of convicted witches. When George Jacobs’ house was razed in the 1940s, an old skeleton was found buried near the home. Those bones, believed to be George Jacobs’ skeleton, were buried in the Nurse cemetery in Danvers in 1992. (We wouldn’t know for sure without DNA testing.)
As for “unconsecrated ground,” I think of that as a Catholic (and Church of England) concept, not a Puritan one. However, it is highly unlikely that any convicted witches would have been buried at, for instance, the Old Burying Ground on Charter Street in Salem—because it was such a public and visible place. After all, families wanted their loved ones to rest in peace, undisturbed.
Thank you Robin. It is so sad to not be able to visit Elizabeth’s grave!! It is almost unbelievable to me that we’ve lost that important part of history, and can no longer say where any of them were buried. I wonder if Elizabeth’s children would have found a way to exhume and rebury their mother? Or were family members allowed to take their hanged loved ones home for burial?
Thank you for this fair-minded review of my book!
Tony,
You are so welcome. I was glad that someone else shared some of my opinions on the “classics” of witch trial history! I hadn’t read historiography before discovering your book, but I had read all the books you covered. As a west coast professor, you took a risk and ruffled some academic feathers, but your arguments are still valid. And, despite thousands of books and senior theses written, there’s still much to learn from the witch hunts—as historians, researchers, descendants, tourists, and as a society. Thanks for your contribution to the field.
-Robin
Thank you, Robin.
Have you ever reviewed Frances Hill’s guidebook, “Hunting Witches.”?
David,
I’ve read Frances Hills’ book, but I haven’t reviewed it, since “Hunting Witches” was published in 2002, long before I started my WitchesMassBay website and Genealogy Ink blog. I used some of the material in my research though.
Your book, Damnable Heresy, is on my books-to-read list, especially since I’ve used Pynchon records and my ancestors were in Springfield, Massachusetts, for a spell.
Thanks for checking out my website!
-Robin
Thanks for this post, Robin. From my examination of the relevant primary texts, I believe that Giles Corey’s execution did take only hours, not two days, as you suggest. The phrase “two days” in Sewall’s Diary seems to refer to the time spent to try to persuade Corey to relent before the day of his torture, not the length of time his death took. See my Switching Sides: How a Generation of Historians Lost Sympathy for the Victims of the Salem Witch Hunt, p. 215n42, for more on this. Also, while it’s true that ministers urged the condemned to confess so as only to position their souls rightly before God, in at least one case, that of Dorcas Hoar in September 1692, a convicted person was given a reprieve when she confessed.
Thanks, Tony Fels! I updated my post to reflect how long it took Giles Corey to die by pressing. Reading that footnote in your book helped to explain why others made the same mistake I did, and how to interpret Sewall’s words. I always thought two days was unbelievably long to survive that horrible punishment, and I am relieved that Corey only suffered two hours, not 48.
I did a follow-up post to this one, “Creating a spectacle at Proctor’s Ledge,” about the location of Giles Corey’s death. I hope you read it! Thanks so much for helping me “right the wrongs.”
Watching Science channel and Forbidden History about the Salem Witch Trials. Good program. I am definitely not a witch though. Just love the history of Salem.
There was such a great discussion between Tony Fels and Margo Burns in the Comments section here that I wanted more people to read them. That’s why I turned their conversation into separate posts. The series is called “Confessions of accused witches.”
I absolutely love the debate going on here and am glad to read it.
My great grandmother was Elizabeth Jackson How. We had it verfied by the Essex Institute in 1992, from our well researched family tree. I wish there was some way of knowing where she was finally laid to rest!! She was one of the first 5 women hanged on July 19th, 1692. I copied 11 pages of her court transcripts from the Salem Witch papers, when I was there. Where was she and the other 4 women hanged?
Elsie,
Convicted witches were hanged at Proctor’s Ledge, an area bounded by Proctor and Pope streets in Salem. The Gallows Hill Team spent five years researching data and analyzing topography to pinpoint the site where 19 victims of the 1692 witch hunt were executed. In 2017, a memorial was dedicated at the location at Proctor’s Ledge.
Although they had private burials and unmarked graves, the victims’ bodies were taken from Proctor’s Ledge and buried by family and friends. We know this from numerous family stories. Also, from records we know the gravediggers only dug shallow graves (probably in anticipation that families would take their dead) and that no bones were found at Proctor’s Ledge. Rest assured that these victims were buried—during such a tumultuous time—so that they could rest in peace, undisturbed by those who believed they were witches. They may have been buried on family property or at relatives and friends’ private burial places. And while you cannot visit (or find) those secret burial places, Salem, Danvers, and other towns have created memorials so you can show your respects to and mourn the victims of the 1692 Salem witch trials.
For the 300th anniversary of the witch-hunt, Topsfield Historical Society placed a stone on the town common commemorating its three victims.
In memory of three women of Topsfield Parish
Mary Esty
Elizabeth How
Sarah Wildes
Victims of the Witchcraft Delusion of 1692.
Benjamin Hutchinson filed complaints accusing the following people of afflicting the girls of Salem Village: Elizabeth Cary, Mary Easty, George Burroughs, Sarah Buckley and Mary Witheridge. Joseph Hutchinson was a 59-year-old yeoman who lived in Salem Village.
Nice post, Robin.
Thank you, Bernie. The Higginson letters made me realize how much King William’s war affected the Salem area, even though it’s not talked about as much as King Philip’s War. I’m surprised Rev. John and Col. John Higginson didn’t mention Ann (Higginson) Dolliver being arrested for witchcraft. Since so many Salem witch trial documents have been lost, it’s not clear whether she was released soon after her examination or not.
Hi Robin,
Interesting piece on Danforth (so unfairly presented in The Crucible). Interesting too, that he had to be persuaded to accept the Superior Court judgeship later that year.
The statement that “Rev. Samuel Parris was in charge of the interrogations that day, and Danforth recorded the session” when Sarah Cloyce and Elizabeth Procter were questioned made me wonder a bit.
I checked the Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt (Bernard Rosenthal, editor in chief) and find that Danforth was the senior magistrate, and Samuel Parris was “desired and appointed to wright ye Examination,” but the questioner or questioners remain unidentified. So, Parris was busy taking notes of what people were saying (RSWH, Document 49), information for later use at their trials. The shorter official report for the Council summarizing events surrounding April 11 (Document 47) is in the handwriting of John Hathorne. This doesn’t say who asked the questions either.
I suspect any of the Council could have posed questions and maybe the Salem members (Hathorne and Corwin) took the lead as being most familiar with the situation. That’s my guess and my two cents.
Marilynne,
Excellent point! Yes, I did rely on secondary sources for that line. And I have since changed it in my post (and updated this comment). Thank you!
Lucius R. Paige makes a strong argument that Gov. Thomas Hutchinson (who at one time had the original Salem witch trials papers in his possession—only to lose some due to fire and theft) had insight that other writers lacked.
In his History of Cambridge, Massachusetts (pp. 115-117), Paige writes: “It is due to the reputation of Danforth, to state emphatically, that he was not a member of the court which tried and condemned the unhappy persons accused of witchcraft. That special Court of Oyer and Terminer … completed its bloody work before the next December, when the Superior Court was organized, of which Danforth was a member….
“Even Savage, familiarly acquainted as he was with the history of that period, was so forgetful as to say that [Danforth] was appointed ‘in 1692, judge of Superior Court for the horrible proceedings against witches.’ The only connection he had with those proceedings, so far as I have ascertained, is mentioned by Hutchinson. Before the arrival of Governor Phips, he presided as Deputy-Governor, over a Court of Assistants at Salem, April 11, 1692, for the examination of accused persons—not for their trial. There is no evidence that [Danforth] was satisfied with the result of that examination, which, according to Hutchinson’s account, seems to have been conducted chiefly if not entirely by Rev. Samuel Parris. On the contrary, perhaps partly in consequence of this examination, he declared his dissatisfaction, and dislike of the judicial proceedings.”
Hutchinson wrote: “The accusers and accused were brought before the court. Mr. Parris, who had been over-officious from the beginning, was employed to examine these,* and most of the rest of the accused.” The editor of the 1870 edition said “examine” was a mistake; Parris was the “penman and stenographer…. Danforth put the questions.”
But Hutchinson didn’t explicitly say who handled the examinations.
As deputy governor, Danforth observed; he was not there as a judge. After the examination, Parris read what he had written, and as Assistants, Hathorne and Corwin signed off on the document. The other five members of the council—including Danforth—did not sign. This strongly suggests that only Hathorne and Corwin did the interrogations. (Hutchinson, The Witchcraft Delusion of 1692, pp. 20-23, especially top of p. 23.)
Updated 2 July 2022.
I couldn’t get my head around the idea of writing notes as people are speaking and asking questions at the same time especially in what must have been a chaotic situation, that and the fact that Hathorne (among others) was so skilled at leading questions. Oh, to be a fly on the wall and hear and see for myself!
I wish I could find out where Elizabeth Jackson How was buried.
She was hanged on July 19th, 1692.
The Essex Institute has certified our family tree which shows that I am her great grand daughter (however many generations by now), through her bloodline and her daughter Deborah.The How family descended to the Littlefields, which is my paternal grandmother.
Do we know where the victims were buried?
Elsie Collins
Elsie,
No, we don’t know where the Salem witch trials victims were buried, but they were not buried in one allocated spot for accused witches. Although they had private burials and unmarked graves, their bodies were taken from Proctor’s Ledge and buried by family and friends. We know this from numerous family stories. From records we know the gravediggers only dug shallow graves (probably in anticipation that families would take their dead) and that no bones were found at Proctor’s Ledge.
Rest assured that these victims were buried so that they could rest in peace, undisturbed by those who believed they were witches. They may have been buried on family property or at relatives and friends’ private burial places. And while you cannot visit (or find) those secret burial places, Salem, Danvers, and other towns have created memorials so you can show your respects to and mourn the victims of the 1692 Salem witch trials.
Very interesting, Robin. Thank you for taking the time to research and write this article.
I am the great granddaughter of Elizabeth Jackson How. How do I go about having her exonerated from the charge of witchcraft? I am not seeing that very many were.
Thank you,
ELSIE COLLINS
Almost all those convicted of witchcraft during the Salem witch trials were exonerated by 1711, including Elizabeth (Jackson) How. The Resolve of 1957, amended in 2001 and 2022, covered seven people whose names were not cleared previously.
Below the title and date of this post, you’ll see a list of tags (alphabetical by first name): ABIGAIL FAULKNER, ABIGAIL HOBBS, ALICE PARKER, ANN FOSTER, ANN PUDEATOR, BRIDGET BISHOP, DORCAS HOAR, ELIZABETH HOW, ELIZABETH JOHNSON JR., GEORGE BURROUGHS, GEORGE JACOBS SR., GILES COREY, JOHN PROCTOR, JOHN WILLARD, MARGARET SCOTT, MARTHA CARRIER, MARTHA COREY, MARY BRADBURY, MARY ESTEY, MARY LACEY, MARY PARKER, MARY POST, REBECCA EAMES, REBECCA NURSE, SAMUEL WARDWELL, SARAH GOOD, SARAH WILDES, SUSANNAH MARTIN, and WILMOTT REDD. These people were brought to trial and found guilty of witchcraft in 1692 and 1693; 20 were executed, the rest were reprieved. All of them had their attainders reversed. Some of the convicted (or their families) received compensation for prison charges and/or possessions confiscated, IF they petitioned for it.
After the trials, Elizabeth (Jackson) How’s name appeared in several documents showing that she was exonerated (numbers coincide with the 2009 edition of Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt by Bernard Rosenthal, et al.): 2 March 1703, No. 876: Petition of Francis Faulkner et al. to Clear the Records of Rebecca Nurse, Mary Esty, Abigail Faulkner Sr., Mary Parker, John Procter, Elizabeth Procter, Elizabeth How, Samuel Wardwell, & Sarah Wardwell. 9 September 1710, No. 885: Petition of Mary How & Abigail How for Restitution for Elizabeth How 17 October 1711, No. 931: An Act to Reverse the Attainders of George Burroughs et al. for Witchcraft 22 January 1712, No. 948: Order of Mary How & Abigail How for Payment, Case of Elizabeth How
Elizabeth How has been cleared of the witchcraft charges for more than 300 years.
I entirely disagree with your statement that ergot poisoning has been widely debunked!! When Linda Corporeals thesis was published in Omni Magazine and other medical journals,
she was both praised, and nearly ridiculed by other so called medical experts. She did extensive research on the subject with an alchemist, and had access to farmers almanacs in the colonies and in Europe!! The resulting information gathered clearly illustrated that every long rainy growing season in all locations, resulted in poisonings, accusations, trials, and executions!!
That some did not contract the infection may also have constitutional reasons, but the fact remains , many did in a time coordinated manner. The same symptoms were being presented in their live stock too. So, to Ms.Corporeals’ credit, she hit the nails square on the head. We have here a case of “experts” wishing they had figured it out first!!!
My great grandmother was one of the first 5 woman hanged for witchcraft!! Elizabeth Jackson How, was executed on July 19th, 1692!! We have had our family tree authenticated by the Essex Institute in Salem.
Elsie,
Thank you for your passionate defense of Linnda Caporael’s ergot hypothesis.
Yes, some of the afflicted accusers and others involved in the Salem witch trials had symptoms similar to ergot poisoning, such as hallucinations, convulsions, and erratic behavior.
Medieval accounts mention numerous major outbreaks of ergot poisoning, some involving thousands of deaths, especially in French, Germanic, and Scandinavian regions. Ergot fungus mostly affects rye, and rye was a staple on the European continent. The British preferred wheat for bread, which made it more likely that the Massachusetts Bay colonists relied on wheat more than rye.
By the 17th century, Europeans knew the disease came from fungus on their crops. Like folk remedies and agricultural advances, this knowledge would have spread overseas. Even with a small population but limited number of mills, ergot poisoning would have spread like wildfire in Mass Bay, just like it did in Europe. There’s no contemporary evidence of that happening though.
There’s a reason why behavioral psychologist Linnda Caporael’s hypothesis on ergot poisoning and the Salem witch trials is popular. It provides us with an easy excuse: An LSD-like fungus made them do it. With ergotism as the culprit, the accusers, judges, jury, and neighbors are not responsible for accusing, jailing, and even executing innocent people for witchcraft. But even Caporael admits that mass hysteria and/or fakery were involved.
That’s why, in all the accounts I’ve read of the Salem witch trials, I don’t see a strong correlation with medieval outbreaks of ergotism.
Her thesis and theory does explain hemorrhagic cases related to ergot poisoning. Ergot poisoning is hardly an easy out as you put it!! There were instances of the live stock behaving erratically as well!! Reports of horses and cows hemorrhaging from the mouth!! Some charging into the water and drowning!! My great grandmother Elizabeth was accused of bewitching a horse that she had to borrow from her neighbor to plow her field and move some logs. When she returned the horse who mouth was ulcerated and bleeding, they accused her of taking the horse for a galloping witch ride!!!
So, how would you explain the coordinating events of human symptoms and livestock symptoms? Both were consuming the same grain. I did a lot of reading on the subject for 2 years after learning of my relationship to Elizabeth.
The Devil in the Shape of a Woman was particularly enlightening, as well as the 11 pages of verbatim transcripts that I Xeroxed at the archive that holds the four volumes of The Salem Witch Papers, of Elizabeth’s trial!!!
.
My Heritage has recently notified me that I am a descendant of Thomas and Mary (Perkins) Bradbury. Have learned fascinating details about the accusation, trial, & conviction of Mary. I’d appreciate any other details you may have discovered.
Right on, Margo! The ergot explanation first proposed by a graduate student in California was debunked in less than a month by physicians and scientists. The “afflicted” were not all girls and were not eating rye grown in the same fields. If their fits were the result of ergot disease, how is it that they could turn these manifestations of illness on and off during court examinations? Unfortunately, the television program “Secrets of the Dead” popularized this simplistic and misguided explanation.
I am a descendant of Elizabeth Jackson How, and have read extensively on the subject. In the book, The Devil in the Shape of a Woman, there was a tiny footnote that I followed up on, and it was the dissertation of Linda Corporeal of UMASS Amherst, where she gives compelling research on the idea of ergot poisoning.
The animals were suffering from bizarre symptoms as well, so she deduced that the people and the live stock were consuming either food or water that was contaminated. Upon checking with a friend who was an alchemist, he concurred that the nerve toxin in ergot, transmutes into a similar chemical as LSD. She furthered her hunch, and research European farmers almanacs and diaries, and found that it followed that each and every rainy planting season, was followed by the hysteria, symptoms, accusations of witchcraft, and executions.
I have the 11 pages from the Salem Witch Papers that were written verbatim in non-standardized English, about my great grandmother, Elizabeth Jackson How.
Hers is the third marble bench on the left if you ever visit the memorial park of the 30 victims.
It sounds to me as if the ergot theory hasn’t been proven; neither has it been disproven. Perhaps more study is needed before dismissing it out of hand, especially because incidents waxed and waned with the seasons and animals also suffered. Couldn’t symptomatic behavior have been a combination of several causes -both physical and manufactured?
A minor correction: Linnda Caporael wrote her paper in an undergraduate class at UC Santa Barbara, and received her Ph.D. From there, as well. Her article was published in Science Magazine, April 2, 1976.
I actually do know where the stones are, definitively for Thomas, and our assumption is that Mary is the stone next to him. We rediscovered them back in 1995. His still had clear lettering at the time, but hers could no longer be read. They are both on the ground, behind the upright stone for the grandson Thomas, pictured above. Sadly, the last time I looked, both stones were virtually blank due to the ravages of weather, and now are nearly disintegrated. But I do know where they are and can point them out, if anyone has an interest. I also have a photo taken of Thomas’ stone back when we found it, which shows the lettering a little more clearly.
Is there good documentation to show that Bridget Bishop lived at what is now 43 Church? I have spoken with a few historians (Baker, Hill, McAllister) and there seems to be little agreement.
Rory,
Thanks to your question I wrote a new blog post, Where did accused witch Bridget Bishop live?, which adds much more detail about Bridget’s house than my previous reply to your comment did.
-Robin
Once again, great work.
Our family tree, and the Essex Institute verified that Elizabeth Jackson Howe, is my great grandmother. She was hanged on July 19th, 1692, and was one of the first 5 women to be hanged. Do we know where they buried, obviously in unconsecrated ground.
Elsie, although graves were dug near the site of the hangings, no burials were found at Proctor’s Ledge. A few families, most notably Rebecca Nurse’s, have stories of taking their loved ones’ bodies and burying them near their homes, sometimes in the family cemetery. I believe all the bodies were removed by family or friends. We have anecdotal stories of seeing parts of Rev. George Burrough’s body sticking out of the shallow grave. However, his family may not have arrived from Maine in time for his execution and burial. Afterward, his former father-in-law John Ruck (who took in his grandchildren), his third wife Mary, or supporters of the minister would have found a decent place to bury him. For some, the fear of others desecrating convicted witches’ graves probably meant that families used rocks or other natural materials to mark the spot. In a few 19th century histories, people mentioned knowing burial locations of convicted witches. When George Jacobs’ house was razed in the 1940s, an old skeleton was found buried near the home. Those bones, believed to be George Jacobs’ skeleton, were buried in the Nurse cemetery in Danvers in 1992. (We wouldn’t know for sure without DNA testing.)
As for “unconsecrated ground,” I think of that as a Catholic (and Church of England) concept, not a Puritan one. However, it is highly unlikely that any convicted witches would have been buried at, for instance, the Old Burying Ground on Charter Street in Salem—because it was such a public and visible place. After all, families wanted their loved ones to rest in peace, undisturbed.
Thank you Robin. It is so sad to not be able to visit Elizabeth’s grave!! It is almost unbelievable to me that we’ve lost that important part of history, and can no longer say where any of them were buried. I wonder if Elizabeth’s children would have found a way to exhume and rebury their mother? Or were family members allowed to take their hanged loved ones home for burial?
Thank you for this fair-minded review of my book!
Tony,
You are so welcome. I was glad that someone else shared some of my opinions on the “classics” of witch trial history! I hadn’t read historiography before discovering your book, but I had read all the books you covered. As a west coast professor, you took a risk and ruffled some academic feathers, but your arguments are still valid. And, despite thousands of books and senior theses written, there’s still much to learn from the witch hunts—as historians, researchers, descendants, tourists, and as a society. Thanks for your contribution to the field.
-Robin
Thank you, Robin.
Have you ever reviewed Frances Hill’s guidebook, “Hunting Witches.”?
David,
I’ve read Frances Hills’ book, but I haven’t reviewed it, since “Hunting Witches” was published in 2002, long before I started my WitchesMassBay website and Genealogy Ink blog. I used some of the material in my research though.
Your book, Damnable Heresy, is on my books-to-read list, especially since I’ve used Pynchon records and my ancestors were in Springfield, Massachusetts, for a spell.
Thanks for checking out my website!
-Robin
Thanks for this post, Robin. From my examination of the relevant primary texts, I believe that Giles Corey’s execution did take only hours, not two days, as you suggest. The phrase “two days” in Sewall’s Diary seems to refer to the time spent to try to persuade Corey to relent before the day of his torture, not the length of time his death took. See my Switching Sides: How a Generation of Historians Lost Sympathy for the Victims of the Salem Witch Hunt, p. 215n42, for more on this. Also, while it’s true that ministers urged the condemned to confess so as only to position their souls rightly before God, in at least one case, that of Dorcas Hoar in September 1692, a convicted person was given a reprieve when she confessed.
Thanks, Tony Fels! I updated my post to reflect how long it took Giles Corey to die by pressing. Reading that footnote in your book helped to explain why others made the same mistake I did, and how to interpret Sewall’s words. I always thought two days was unbelievably long to survive that horrible punishment, and I am relieved that Corey only suffered two hours, not 48.
I did a follow-up post to this one, “Creating a spectacle at Proctor’s Ledge,” about the location of Giles Corey’s death. I hope you read it! Thanks so much for helping me “right the wrongs.”
Watching Science channel and Forbidden History about the Salem Witch Trials. Good program. I am definitely not a witch though. Just love the history of Salem.
There was such a great discussion between Tony Fels and Margo Burns in the Comments section here that I wanted more people to read them. That’s why I turned their conversation into separate posts. The series is called “Confessions of accused witches.”
I absolutely love the debate going on here and am glad to read it.
My great grandmother was Elizabeth Jackson How. We had it verfied by the Essex Institute in 1992, from our well researched family tree. I wish there was some way of knowing where she was finally laid to rest!! She was one of the first 5 women hanged on July 19th, 1692. I copied 11 pages of her court transcripts from the Salem Witch papers, when I was there. Where was she and the other 4 women hanged?
Elsie,
Convicted witches were hanged at Proctor’s Ledge, an area bounded by Proctor and Pope streets in Salem. The Gallows Hill Team spent five years researching data and analyzing topography to pinpoint the site where 19 victims of the 1692 witch hunt were executed. In 2017, a memorial was dedicated at the location at Proctor’s Ledge.
Although they had private burials and unmarked graves, the victims’ bodies were taken from Proctor’s Ledge and buried by family and friends. We know this from numerous family stories. Also, from records we know the gravediggers only dug shallow graves (probably in anticipation that families would take their dead) and that no bones were found at Proctor’s Ledge. Rest assured that these victims were buried—during such a tumultuous time—so that they could rest in peace, undisturbed by those who believed they were witches. They may have been buried on family property or at relatives and friends’ private burial places. And while you cannot visit (or find) those secret burial places, Salem, Danvers, and other towns have created memorials so you can show your respects to and mourn the victims of the 1692 Salem witch trials.
For the 300th anniversary of the witch-hunt, Topsfield Historical Society placed a stone on the town common commemorating its three victims.
In memory of three women of Topsfield Parish
Mary Esty
Elizabeth How
Sarah Wildes
Victims of the Witchcraft Delusion of 1692.
See image here:
http://topsfieldtimes.pbworks.com/w/page/71492917/Witchcraft%20Hysteria%20Commemorative%20Stone
Benjamin Hutchinson filed complaints accusing the following people of afflicting the girls of Salem Village: Elizabeth Cary, Mary Easty, George Burroughs, Sarah Buckley and Mary Witheridge. Joseph Hutchinson was a 59-year-old yeoman who lived in Salem Village.
Nice post, Robin.
Thank you, Bernie. The Higginson letters made me realize how much King William’s war affected the Salem area, even though it’s not talked about as much as King Philip’s War. I’m surprised Rev. John and Col. John Higginson didn’t mention Ann (Higginson) Dolliver being arrested for witchcraft. Since so many Salem witch trial documents have been lost, it’s not clear whether she was released soon after her examination or not.
Hi Robin,
Interesting piece on Danforth (so unfairly presented in The Crucible). Interesting too, that he had to be persuaded to accept the Superior Court judgeship later that year.
The statement that “Rev. Samuel Parris was in charge of the interrogations that day, and Danforth recorded the session” when Sarah Cloyce and Elizabeth Procter were questioned made me wonder a bit.
I checked the Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt (Bernard Rosenthal, editor in chief) and find that Danforth was the senior magistrate, and Samuel Parris was “desired and appointed to wright ye Examination,” but the questioner or questioners remain unidentified. So, Parris was busy taking notes of what people were saying (RSWH, Document 49), information for later use at their trials. The shorter official report for the Council summarizing events surrounding April 11 (Document 47) is in the handwriting of John Hathorne. This doesn’t say who asked the questions either.
I suspect any of the Council could have posed questions and maybe the Salem members (Hathorne and Corwin) took the lead as being most familiar with the situation. That’s my guess and my two cents.
Marilynne,
Excellent point! Yes, I did rely on secondary sources for that line. And I have since changed it in my post (and updated this comment). Thank you!
Lucius R. Paige makes a strong argument that Gov. Thomas Hutchinson (who at one time had the original Salem witch trials papers in his possession—only to lose some due to fire and theft) had insight that other writers lacked.
In his History of Cambridge, Massachusetts (pp. 115-117), Paige writes: “It is due to the reputation of Danforth, to state emphatically, that he was not a member of the court which tried and condemned the unhappy persons accused of witchcraft. That special Court of Oyer and Terminer … completed its bloody work before the next December, when the Superior Court was organized, of which Danforth was a member….
“Even Savage, familiarly acquainted as he was with the history of that period, was so forgetful as to say that [Danforth] was appointed ‘in 1692, judge of Superior Court for the horrible proceedings against witches.’ The only connection he had with those proceedings, so far as I have ascertained, is mentioned by Hutchinson. Before the arrival of Governor Phips, he presided as Deputy-Governor, over a Court of Assistants at Salem, April 11, 1692, for the examination of accused persons—not for their trial. There is no evidence that [Danforth] was satisfied with the result of that examination, which, according to Hutchinson’s account, seems to have been conducted chiefly if not entirely by Rev. Samuel Parris. On the contrary, perhaps partly in consequence of this examination, he declared his dissatisfaction, and dislike of the judicial proceedings.”
Hutchinson wrote: “The accusers and accused were brought before the court. Mr. Parris, who had been over-officious from the beginning, was employed to examine these,* and most of the rest of the accused.” The editor of the 1870 edition said “examine” was a mistake; Parris was the “penman and stenographer…. Danforth put the questions.”
But Hutchinson didn’t explicitly say who handled the examinations.
As deputy governor, Danforth observed; he was not there as a judge. After the examination, Parris read what he had written, and as Assistants, Hathorne and Corwin signed off on the document. The other five members of the council—including Danforth—did not sign. This strongly suggests that only Hathorne and Corwin did the interrogations. (Hutchinson, The Witchcraft Delusion of 1692, pp. 20-23, especially top of p. 23.)
Updated 2 July 2022.
I couldn’t get my head around the idea of writing notes as people are speaking and asking questions at the same time especially in what must have been a chaotic situation, that and the fact that Hathorne (among others) was so skilled at leading questions. Oh, to be a fly on the wall and hear and see for myself!
I wish I could find out where Elizabeth Jackson How was buried.
She was hanged on July 19th, 1692.
The Essex Institute has certified our family tree which shows that I am her great grand daughter (however many generations by now), through her bloodline and her daughter Deborah.The How family descended to the Littlefields, which is my paternal grandmother.
Do we know where the victims were buried?
Elsie Collins
Elsie,
No, we don’t know where the Salem witch trials victims were buried, but they were not buried in one allocated spot for accused witches. Although they had private burials and unmarked graves, their bodies were taken from Proctor’s Ledge and buried by family and friends. We know this from numerous family stories. From records we know the gravediggers only dug shallow graves (probably in anticipation that families would take their dead) and that no bones were found at Proctor’s Ledge.
Rest assured that these victims were buried so that they could rest in peace, undisturbed by those who believed they were witches. They may have been buried on family property or at relatives and friends’ private burial places. And while you cannot visit (or find) those secret burial places, Salem, Danvers, and other towns have created memorials so you can show your respects to and mourn the victims of the 1692 Salem witch trials.
Very interesting, Robin. Thank you for taking the time to research and write this article.
I am the great granddaughter of Elizabeth Jackson How. How do I go about having her exonerated from the charge of witchcraft? I am not seeing that very many were.
Thank you,
ELSIE COLLINS
Almost all those convicted of witchcraft during the Salem witch trials were exonerated by 1711, including Elizabeth (Jackson) How. The Resolve of 1957, amended in 2001 and 2022, covered seven people whose names were not cleared previously.
Below the title and date of this post, you’ll see a list of tags (alphabetical by first name): ABIGAIL FAULKNER, ABIGAIL HOBBS, ALICE PARKER, ANN FOSTER, ANN PUDEATOR, BRIDGET BISHOP, DORCAS HOAR, ELIZABETH HOW, ELIZABETH JOHNSON JR., GEORGE BURROUGHS, GEORGE JACOBS SR., GILES COREY, JOHN PROCTOR, JOHN WILLARD, MARGARET SCOTT, MARTHA CARRIER, MARTHA COREY, MARY BRADBURY, MARY ESTEY, MARY LACEY, MARY PARKER, MARY POST, REBECCA EAMES, REBECCA NURSE, SAMUEL WARDWELL, SARAH GOOD, SARAH WILDES, SUSANNAH MARTIN, and WILMOTT REDD. These people were brought to trial and found guilty of witchcraft in 1692 and 1693; 20 were executed, the rest were reprieved. All of them had their attainders reversed. Some of the convicted (or their families) received compensation for prison charges and/or possessions confiscated, IF they petitioned for it.
After the trials, Elizabeth (Jackson) How’s name appeared in several documents showing that she was exonerated (numbers coincide with the 2009 edition of Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt by Bernard Rosenthal, et al.):
2 March 1703, No. 876: Petition of Francis Faulkner et al. to Clear the Records of Rebecca Nurse, Mary Esty, Abigail Faulkner Sr., Mary Parker, John Procter, Elizabeth Procter, Elizabeth How, Samuel Wardwell, & Sarah Wardwell.
9 September 1710, No. 885: Petition of Mary How & Abigail How for Restitution for Elizabeth How
17 October 1711, No. 931: An Act to Reverse the Attainders of George Burroughs et al. for Witchcraft
22 January 1712, No. 948: Order of Mary How & Abigail How for Payment, Case of Elizabeth How
Elizabeth How has been cleared of the witchcraft charges for more than 300 years.
I entirely disagree with your statement that ergot poisoning has been widely debunked!! When Linda Corporeals thesis was published in Omni Magazine and other medical journals,
she was both praised, and nearly ridiculed by other so called medical experts. She did extensive research on the subject with an alchemist, and had access to farmers almanacs in the colonies and in Europe!! The resulting information gathered clearly illustrated that every long rainy growing season in all locations, resulted in poisonings, accusations, trials, and executions!!
That some did not contract the infection may also have constitutional reasons, but the fact remains , many did in a time coordinated manner. The same symptoms were being presented in their live stock too. So, to Ms.Corporeals’ credit, she hit the nails square on the head. We have here a case of “experts” wishing they had figured it out first!!!
My great grandmother was one of the first 5 woman hanged for witchcraft!! Elizabeth Jackson How, was executed on July 19th, 1692!! We have had our family tree authenticated by the Essex Institute in Salem.
Elsie,
Thank you for your passionate defense of Linnda Caporael’s ergot hypothesis.
Yes, some of the afflicted accusers and others involved in the Salem witch trials had symptoms similar to ergot poisoning, such as hallucinations, convulsions, and erratic behavior.
Medieval accounts mention numerous major outbreaks of ergot poisoning, some involving thousands of deaths, especially in French, Germanic, and Scandinavian regions. Ergot fungus mostly affects rye, and rye was a staple on the European continent. The British preferred wheat for bread, which made it more likely that the Massachusetts Bay colonists relied on wheat more than rye.
By the 17th century, Europeans knew the disease came from fungus on their crops. Like folk remedies and agricultural advances, this knowledge would have spread overseas. Even with a small population but limited number of mills, ergot poisoning would have spread like wildfire in Mass Bay, just like it did in Europe. There’s no contemporary evidence of that happening though.
There’s a reason why behavioral psychologist Linnda Caporael’s hypothesis on ergot poisoning and the Salem witch trials is popular. It provides us with an easy excuse: An LSD-like fungus made them do it. With ergotism as the culprit, the accusers, judges, jury, and neighbors are not responsible for accusing, jailing, and even executing innocent people for witchcraft. But even Caporael admits that mass hysteria and/or fakery were involved.
That’s why, in all the accounts I’ve read of the Salem witch trials, I don’t see a strong correlation with medieval outbreaks of ergotism.
See also:
https://www.witchesmassbay.com/2018/04/23/ergot/
Her thesis and theory does explain hemorrhagic cases related to ergot poisoning. Ergot poisoning is hardly an easy out as you put it!! There were instances of the live stock behaving erratically as well!! Reports of horses and cows hemorrhaging from the mouth!! Some charging into the water and drowning!! My great grandmother Elizabeth was accused of bewitching a horse that she had to borrow from her neighbor to plow her field and move some logs. When she returned the horse who mouth was ulcerated and bleeding, they accused her of taking the horse for a galloping witch ride!!!
So, how would you explain the coordinating events of human symptoms and livestock symptoms? Both were consuming the same grain. I did a lot of reading on the subject for 2 years after learning of my relationship to Elizabeth.
The Devil in the Shape of a Woman was particularly enlightening, as well as the 11 pages of verbatim transcripts that I Xeroxed at the archive that holds the four volumes of The Salem Witch Papers, of Elizabeth’s trial!!!
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