Salem witches: 400 years after bogus trials, advocates seek justice
In 1648, Margaret Jones, a midwife, became the first person in Massachusetts – the second in New England – to be executed for witchcraft, decades before the infamous Salem witch trials.
Nearly four centuries later, the state and the region are still trying to come to grips with the extent of the legacy of the witch trial.
The latest effort comes from a group dedicated to clearing the names of all suspects, arrested or charged of witchcraft in Massachusetts, regardless of whether or not the charges ended in hanging.
The Massachusetts Witch-Hunt Justice Project, made up of history buffs and descendants, hopes to convince the state to make a fuller assessment of its early history, said Josh Hutchinson, the group’s leader.
Hundreds of individuals were accused of witchcraft in what would become the Commonwealth of Massachusetts between 1638 and 1693. Most escaped execution.
Although much attention has been paid to clearing the names of those put to death in Salem, most of those involved in witch trials in the 17th century have been largely ignored, including five women executed in Boston between 1648 and 1688 for witchcraft were hanged.
“It is important that we correct the injustices of the past,” said Mr. Hutchinson, noting that he counts both accusers and victims among his ancestors. “We would like an apology for all those suspected, charged or arrested.”
For now, the group is collecting signatures for a petition, but hopes to take their case to the Statehouse.
Among those accused of witchcraft in Boston was Ann Hibbins, sister-in-law of Massachusetts Governor Richard Bellingham, who was executed in 1656. A character based on Mrs. Hibbins would later appear in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet Letter,” published in 1850.
Another accused Boston witch, known as Goodwife Ann Glover or Goody Glover, was hanged in the city in 1688. A plaque dedicated to her sits on the facade of a Catholic church in the city’s North End neighborhood and describes her as “the first Catholic witch. martyr in Massachusetts.” It is one of the few physical reminders of the city’s history of witch trials.
The Witches’ Justice Group helped successfully lead a similar initiative in Connecticut, home of the first person executed for witchcraft in the American colonies in 1647: Alse Young. The last witchcraft trial in Connecticut took place in 1697 and ended with the charges being dismissed.
Connecticut state senators voted 34-1 in May to acquit 12 women and men convicted of witchcraft – 11 of whom were executed – more than 370 years ago, apologizing for the “miscarriage of justice” that occurred occurred during a dark period of fifteen years. of the state’s colonial history.
The resolution, which lists the nine women and two men who have been executed and the only woman convicted and reprieved, passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 121 to 30. Because it is a resolution, it does not require the governor’s signature.
For many, the far-flung events in Boston, Salem and beyond are both fascinating and personal. That includes David Allen Lambert, chief genealogist of the New England Historic Genealogical Society.
Mr. Lambert counts his tenth great-grandmother – Mary Perkins Bradbury – among the suspects who were to be hanged in Salem in 1692 but escaped execution.
“We can’t change history, but maybe we can send an apology to the accused,” he said. “It closes the chapter in a way.”
Massachusetts has already made efforts to come to terms with its history of witch trials — procedures that allowed for “spectral evidence” in which victims could testify that the accused had harmed them in a dream or vision.
That effort began almost immediately when Samuel Sewall, a judge in the Salem witch trials of 1692-1693, made a public confession five years later in a Boston church, taking “the guilt and shame of” the trials and asked for forgiveness.
In 1711, colonial leaders passed a law clearing the names of some Salem convicts.
In 1957, the state legislature issued an apology of sorts for Ann Pudeator and others who were “indicted, tried, convicted, sentenced to death and executed” for witchcraft in 1692. The resolution called the Salem trials “shocking and the result of a wave of popular hysterical fear of the devil in the community.”
In 2001, Acting Governor Jane Swift signed a bill acquitting five women executed during the Salem witch trials.
In 2017, Salem unveiled a memorial to the victims. The ceremony came 325 years to the day when Sarah Good, Elizabeth Howe, Susannah Martin, Rebecca Nurse and Sarah Wildes were hanged at a spot in Salem known as Proctor’s Ledge. Nineteen were hanged during the Salem witch trials, while a twentieth victim was pressed to death.
In 2022, lawmakers appointed Elizabeth Johnson Jr. acquitted and her name cleared, 329 years after she was convicted of witchcraft in 1693 and sentenced to death at the height of the Salem witch trials. Johnson is believed to be the latest accused Salem witch to have his conviction overturned.
Other states have made efforts to confront similar histories.
In Pownal, Vermont, a town bordering Massachusetts and New York, a dedication ceremony was held last month for a historic monument recognizing the survivor of Vermont’s only recorded witch trial. According to the Legends and Lore marker, the Widow Krieger is said to have escaped drowning in the Hoosic River when she was tried as a witch in 1785.
Prosecutors believed witches floated, but Krieger sank and was rescued, the marker said.
The Sept. 16 dedication ceremony included a witches’ walk, where people dressed as witches walked across a bridge to the marker location along the Hoosic River.
“I am sure that Widow Krieger would have been very happy to participate in our witch walk today, in spite of those who feel they have the right to accuse someone who they think looks different, feels different behaves or has a personality that they may find strange. being a witch,” said Joyce Held, a member of the Pownal Historical Society, which worked with the Bennington Museum to obtain the marker.
This story was reported by The Associated Press. AP reporter Lisa Rathke from Marshfield, Vermont contributed.