The “Witches” of Salem, Massachusetts – Legends of America (original) (raw)
The Magistrates, Ministers, Jewries, and all the People in general, being so much enraged and incensed against us by the Delusion of the Devil, which we can term no other, by reason we know in our own Consciences, we are all Innocent Persons.
— John Proctor, written on July 23, 1692, while he was imprisoned. He was hanged in Salem Towne on August 19, 1692.
The Witch by Joseph E. Baker, 1892.
Witch hunts occurred worldwide, particularly in the 15th–18th centuries. Though it is impossible to know how many people were executed for witchcraft in Europe and the American colonies, it has been estimated to have been from 40,000-50,000.
Until about 1420, witchcraft-related prosecutions in Europe centered around the concept of using supernatural powers specifically to harm others. It was not until the early 15th century that witchcraft began to be associated with Satan. It was at this time that organized witch-hunts increased, as well as individual accusations of sorcery. At the same time, several papers were published that helped to establish a stereotype of the witch and their Satanic connection.
In the 17th Century, witch hunts began in the American colonies, particularly in Massachusetts and Connecticut. About 80 people were accused of practicing witchcraft in a witch-hunt that lasted throughout New England from 1648-1663. Thirteen women and two men were executed. Some twenty years later, the Salem witch trials occurred in 1692–93, culminating in about 72 trials and 20 executions. Trials occurred between February 1692 and May 1693. Though generally known as the Salem witch trials, the preliminary hearings in 1692 were conducted in various towns across the province, including Salem Village, Ipswich, Andover, and Salem Towne, where the Court of Oyer and Terminer conducted the most infamous trials.
A Boston merchant named Robert Calef, who denounced the Salem witch trials of 1692, would write:
“And now Nineteen persons having been hang’d, and one prest to death, and Eight more condemned, in all Twenty and Eight, of which above a third part were Members of some of the Churches of New England, and more than half of them of a good Conversation in general, and not one clear’d; about Fifty having confest themselves to be Witches, of which not one Executed; above an Hundred and Fifty in Prison, and Two Hundred more accused; the Special Commission of Oyer and Terminer comes to a period…”
The Witch Hunt went on far too long. Only when Governor William Phips’ wife was accused did he finally take a stand against any further imprisonments and forbade any more executions for witchcraft in Salem. Because of the governor’s actions, the nearly 150 men and women who were still chained to prison walls were set free, and many who had been convicted of witchcraft were pardoned.
In 1711, the Massachusetts Legislature passed a general amnesty that exonerated all but six of the accused witches. Centuries later, in 1957, the Massachusetts state legislature passed a resolution exonerating Ann Greenslit Pudeator, who had been hanged. Finally, on November 1, 2001, acting Massachusetts Governor Jane Swift approved a bill that cleared all the accused witches hanged in Salem in 1692 and acquitted the final five who had not been cleared by the previous amnesty resolutions — Susannah North Martin, Bridget Playfer Bishop, Alice Parker, Margaret Stevenson Scott, and Wilmot Redd.
The Salem “Witches”
Witches of Salem: Index A B C D E F-G H I-J K-N O-P Q-S T U-Z
Found Guilty and Executed:
Bridget Playfer Bishop (Hanged, June 10, 1692)
George Burroughs, Salem Village (Hanged, August 19, 1692)
Martha Carrier, Andover (Hanged, August 19, 1692)
Martha Corey, Peabody (Hanged, September 22, 1692)
Mary Towne Easty, Topsfield (Hanged, September 22, 1692)
Dana Michael Foley (Hanged, September 22, 1692)
Sarah Solart Poole Good, Salem Village (Hanged, July 19, 1692)
Elizabeth Jackson Howe, Topsfield (Hanged, July 19, 1692)
George Jacobs, Sr., Salem Village (Hanged, August 19, 1692)
Susannah North Martin, Amesbury (Hanged, July 19, 1692)
Rebecca Towne Nurse, Salem Village (Hanged, July 19, 1692)
Alice Parker, Salem Towne (Hanged, September 22, 1692)
Mary Ayer Parker, Andover (Hanged, September 22, 1692)
John Proctor, Peabody (Hanged, August 19, 1692)
Ann Greenslit Pudeator, Salem Towne (Hanged, September 22, 1692)
Wilmot Redd, Marblehead (Hanged, September 22, 1692)
Margaret Stevenson Scott, Rowley (Hanged, September 22, 1692)
Samuel Wardwell, Sr., Andover (Hanged, September 22, 1692)
Zarah Wildes, Topsfield (Hanged, July 19, 1692)
John Willard, Salem Village (Hanged, August 19, 1692)
Refused to Plea and Executed:
Giles Corey, Peabody (Pressed to Death, September 19, 1692)
Died in Prison:
Rebecca Addington Chamberlain, Billerica
John Durrant, Billerica
Ann Alcock Foster, Andover
Good Infant, Salem Village
Sarah Warren Prince Osborne, Salem Village
Roger Toothaker, Billerica
(As many as 13 others may have also died in prison.)
Found Guilty and Escaped:
Mary Perkins Bradbury, Salisbury
Indicted, Imprisoned, and Escaped:
Captain John Alden, Jr., Boston
William Barker, Sr., Andover
Edward Bishop Jr., Salem Village
Sarah Wildes Bishop, Salem Village
Elizabeth Walker Cary, Charlestown
Mary Hollingsworth English, Salem Towne
Philip English, Salem Towne
Accused, Imprisoned, & Later Released:
Arthur C. Abbot, Topsfield
Mary Black, Salem Towne
Hannah Varnum Tyler Brumidge, Haverhill
Andrew Carrier, Andover
Richard Carrier, Andover
Sarah Carrier, Andover
Thomas Carrier, Jr., Andover
Hannah Carroll, Salem Towne
Rachel Haffield Clinton, Ipswich
Dane Male, Slave, Andover
Deliverance Haseltine Dane, Andover
Mary Bassett DeRich, Salem Village
Ann Higginson Dolliver, Gloucester
Sarah Dustin, Reading
Thomas Dyer, Ipswich
Edward Farrington, Andover
Captain John Floyd, Revere
Elizabeth Betts Fosdick, Malden
John Howard, Rowley
Elizabeth Hutchinson Hart, Lynn
Abigail Hobbs, Topsfield
Deliverance Hobbs, Topsfield
William Hobbs, Topsfield
John Jackson, Jr., Rowley
John Jackson, Sr., Rowley
Abigail Johnson, Andover
Stephen Johnson, Andover
Jane Lilly, Reading
Sarah Murrell, Beverly
Mary Clements Osgood, Andover
Elizabeth Carrington Paine, Malden
Mary Prince Rowe, Gloucester
Benjamin Proctor, Peabody
Sarah Proctor, Peabody
Sarah Davis Rice, Reading
Susanna Rootes, Beverly
Elizabeth Scargen, Beverly
Mercy Short, Boston
Accused and Fled Before Being Arrested:
Daniel Andrew, Salem Village
Ann Wood Bradstreet, Andover
Colonel Dudley Bradstreet, Andover
John Bradstreet, Rowley
Elizabeth Colson, Reading
George Jacobs, Jr., Salem Village
Ephraim Stevens, Andover
Released on Bond, Never Tried:
Bethiah Pearson Carter, Woburn
Dorothy Faulkner, Andover
Abigail Faulkner Jr., Andover
Eunice Potter Frye, Andover
Dorcas Good, Salem Village
Frances Alcock Hutchins, Haverhill
Margaret Skillings Prince, Gloucester
Rachel Varney Cook Langton Vinson, Gloucester
Sarah Lord Wilson, Andover
Sarah Wilson, Jr., Andover
Found Guilty and Pardoned:
Abigail Dane Faulkner, Sr., Andover
Dorcas Hoar, Beverly
Elizabeth Johnson Jr., Andover
Mary Post, Rowley
Elizabeth Bassett Proctor, Peabody
Sarah Hooper Hawkes Wardwell, Andover
Pled Guilty and Pardoned:
Mary Foster Lacey, Sr., Andover
Accused, Not Indicted, and Released:
Nehemiah Abbot, Jr., Topsfield
Bethiah Carter, Jr., Woburn
Sarah Towne Cloyce, Topsfield
Mary Dustin Colson, Reading
Rebecca Dike, Gloucester
Esther Elwell, Gloucester
Thomas Farrar, Sr., Lynn
Tituba Indian, Salem Village
Mary Leach Ireson, Lynn
Sarah Parker, Andover
William Proctor, Peabody
Abigail Rowe, Gloucester
Margaret Toothaker, Billerica
Tried, Found Not Guilty, and Released:
Abigail Wheeler Barker, Andover
Mary Barker, Andover
William Barker, Jr., Andover
Mary Bridges, Jr., Andover
Mary Tyler Post Bridges, Sr., Andover
Sarah Bridges, Andover
Sarah Smith Buckley, Salem Village
Candy – Slave of Margaret Hawkes, Salem Village
Sarah Aslett Cole, Lynn
Sarah Davis Cole, Salem Towne
Sarah Hawkes, Jr., Andover
Margaret Jacobs, Salem Village
Rebecca Andrews Jacobs, Salem Village
Elizabeth Dane Johnson, Sr., Andover
Julie Kildunne
Mary Lacey, Jr., Andover
Mary Osgood Marston, Andover
Hannah Post, Boxford
Susannah Post, Andover
Job Tookey, Beverly
Mary Allen Toothaker, Billerica
Hannah Tyler, Andover
Mary Lovett Tyler, Andover
Mercy Wardwell, Andover
Mary Buckley Witheridge, Salem Village
Accused, but Never Arrested:
John Busse, Wells, Maine – Minister in Wells
Reverend Frances Dane, Andover – Minister
Sarah Noyes Hale, Beverly – Wife of Reverend John Hale
James Howe, Topsfield – Husband of Elizabeth Jackson Howe
Hezekiah Usher
Mary Spencer Phips, Boston – Wife of Governor William Phips
Sarah Clapp Swift
Margaret Thacher, Boston – Mother-in-law of magistrate Jonathan Corwin
A witch trial by Joseph E. Baker in 1892.
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Dunking was often used to determine if someone was a witch. If the accused sank, he or she was considered innocent while floating, indicating witchcraft.
©Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated May 2024.
Also See:
The Salem Witchcraft Hysteria (Main article)
Procedures, Courts & Aftermath