#september

Out-of-Salem witch accusations are beginning to pick up speed, as more witches from nearby Gloucester and Marblehead, as well as Reading, are being sought out. Nicholas Frost and Joseph Emons are targeted. 

Jane Lily, when examined, vehemently denies any knowledge of witchcraft, nor of any of the specific crimes she is accused of, including killing a local man in a fire. In a voice choked with emotion, she cries that she will only speak the truth, “for God is a god of truth”, but her accusers merely shriek that the Devil has her throat. Not only does Lily have several afflicted accusers, but also confessed witch Samuel Wardwell, to argue against, and it is futile.

Mary Coulson, daughter of accused witch Lydia Dustin, is likewise hauled in; her accusers claim that she has been tormenting them ever since her mother was put in prison. Coulson’s daughter Elizabeth escapes arrest.

Margaret Prince is accused of bewitching Mary Sargent; Sargent’s husband says that he has heard that she also afflicts his sister, but knows nothing of her personally. Other accusers are unable to speak when she is near, then say that they see the Black Man gesturing to a coffin on the table before her.

The final examinant of the day, Mary Taylor, is likewise accused of being part of the same fire that Jane Lily supposedly set. She is told that her neighbor Mary Marshall accuses her, to which she replies, “There is a hot pot now, and a hotter pot prepared for her”.

Meanwhile, the court begins to summon witnesses for the coming trials, which are set to start first thing the next morning.

Two more witches, now in Gloucester, are apprehended before the week is out - Elizabeth Dicer and Margaret Prince.

When Mary Parker is questioned by the magistrates, she tries to deflect blame from herself, claiming that another woman in Andover has the same name. Her accusers protest that she is the culprit, however, including Mary Lacey and Mary Warren, who is brought before her with a pin sticking out of her hand and blood dripping from her mouth. William Barker Jr., the 14-year-old confessed witch, points to Parker and confirms that she is one of his kind.

Suspected witches from Andover continue to be dragged into the meeting house, whole families having been arrested together.

William Barker Jr., aged 14, has joined his father and sister in confessing to witchcraft. When first apprehended, he fails to give a straight answer; he cannot say if he bewitched anyone as he has no memory of it. After several days in prison, however, he agrees that he is a witch, although he “hath not been in the snare of the devil above six days”. A black dog and a black man (both clothing and skin) had accosted him and had him sign a book giving his life to them. He tries to deny being baptized by the devil, but his accusers fall into fits, forcing him to change.

Stephen Johnson, also 14, tells a similar story.

Samuel Wardwell is brought in with his daughter and daughter-in-law, all of whom eventually confess. Wardwell claims that he had been discontented with his work and the difficulty of life, and had been lured into the devil’s snare by cursing animals in his field and fortune telling. When the local constable interjects that his notoriety goes much further back, Wardwell admits that the devil had come to him years earlier in the form of several cats in the shape of a man, luring him in the midst of sexual temptation. Mercy, his daughter, was likewise tempted in a moment of weakness - having been bullied by the other girls, who claimed she would never be loved, she had attempted to drown herself, and thus fell into temptation. Daughter-in-law Sarah Hawkes is also questioned. Like the others, she confesses when her accusers confront her directly, admitting to attending witch’s sabbaths with Goody Carrier, but stating that she had never afflicted anyone before the previous night.

As the death toll reaches its peak, locals are finally beginning to consider the consequences of the witch trials, and how to mend their shattered communities.

The Andover town selectmen have met to discuss what should be done with the Wardwell children, who have been left on their own, alone and “in a suffering condition” since their father has been hanged and their mother is still in jail. They decide that the most logical option would be to find local families to adopt the children or hire them as servants, but do not know who has the authority to make such a decision. The group sends a letter to the court asking “what is our duty in this case, and to give order so to dispose of them that their necessities may be relieved, and to grant liberty to improve so much of their father’s estate as is necessary for their present supply.”

Eight condemned prisoners, the heaviest load yet, are loaded into the cart to make the slow and painful ride to Gallows Hill. 

Mary Esty, Mary Parker, Alice Parker, Martha Corey, Ann Pudeator, Margaret Scott, Wilmot Redd, and Samuel Wardwell each climb the ladder to the hanging tree to be executed, as the inhabitants of several towns watch. When Wardwell is asked for last words, he recants his confession and tries to proclaim his innocence. As he cries out to the crowd, smoke from the hangman’s pipe blows into his face, causing him to choke. His accusers cry out that the devil had stopped his speech. Mary Esty, in contrast, tearfully says goodbye to her husband, children, and remaining friends with such emotion that the hangings end with a note of regret among the crowd.

Reverend Noyes, preaching to the spectators, points to the eight corpses and shakes his head, saying, “What a sad thing it is to see eight firebrands of hell hanging there”. The people are still visibly moved, however, and several begin to mutter about what will become of the witches’ families now that they are gone.

Four ministers working with the accused witches, John Hale, Nicholas Noyes, Daniel Epps, and John Emerson, are trying desperately to save the souls of those thought lost to Satan. Finally, they have success. Dorcas Hoar, convicted and scheduled to hang, confesses to them that she is indeed guilty of witchcraft and wishes to atone for her sins.

The men submit a petition begging the governor to grant a stay of execution so that Hoar can have time to “realize and perfect her repentance for the salvation of her soul”. Governor Phips agrees to their terms of a one month postponement. 

Hoar is not the only confessor to be granted leniency. Abigail Hobbs, despite being the most outspoken and confident witch, has not been sentenced to death despite being found guilty of witchcraft. Her testimony against her fellow witches is still needed by the court. The rest of the witches are scheduled to hang the next day.

One new warrant gets issued today: having finally had the time to read Zebulon Hill’s complaint against Joan Penny, the magistrates order the sheriff to round her up.

The Salem Town congregation voted to excommunicate yet another member, Giles Corey, even as he lay in a field nearby being slowly crushed to death.

At some point during the day sheriff Corwin goes back to examine the defendant and ask him if he wishes to cooperate with the court. Corey, having lain outside for over twenty-four hours at this point, has enough breath left in his lungs to answer only two words. “More weight”, he whispers, glaring at the men surrounding him. They place more stones on top of him and leave again.

That night, Ann Putnam Jr., who has been mostly silent recently as all of her tormentors have supposedly been apprehended, has a terrible vision that her father writes down for judge Sewell to read. Her old torments come back, as she writhes on her bed, shrieking that witches are threatening to press her to death. Ann then says that she can see a ghost floating in the room, a man she does not recognize, who claims that Giley Corey had killed him years before Ann was born. Thomas Putnam notes that Corey did indeed have a lodger nearly two decades before who had died a mysterious death, but Corey was not convicted of the crime.

One of the two trials set for the day goes as smoothly as could be expected: the usual bevy of witnesses come forward against Abigail Faulkner to explain how she had pricked and pinched them up until the time of her arrest, and presumably other neighbors testify as well, though their words are lost. 

The other trial never has the chance to start.

Giles Corey, upon being indicted by the grand jury, is required by law to supply two pieces of information: a plea and a statement of consent to be tried by a jury. Corey flatly informs the authorities that he will not consent to a trial. Everyone who had been brought before the jury had been found guilty, he says, so the jury is clearly biased. Besides, the sheriff had been systematically appropriating the property of convicted witches, which would leave his family with nothing. He brandishes his will at the court, granting all of his property to his sons-in-law, states that he is not guilty of witchcraft, and refuses to speak further. As the judges command him to cooperate, he stands mute at the bar, staring his accusers in the eyes, unmoving.

By law, Corey’s trial cannot continue until the court has jurisdiction over him by his consent, and there are ways of making this happen more quickly. The court orders that the traditional method of eliciting a plea should be used, a medieval form of torture called “peine forte et dure”, or “hard and forceful punishment”.

Sheriff Corwin leads Corey to a field outside of the courthouse, strips him of his clothing, forces him to lie on the ground, and places a wide board across his chest. With the help of volunteers, Corwin begins to place heavy stones onto the board. Once he is satisfied that Corey is in a sufficient amount of pain, he places a guard at the spot and then continues his business, telling his men to keep watch and increase the weight if they think it is necessary. He will return the next day to see if the torture has made Corey more cooperative.

Two more trials of out-of-town witches take place today: Mary Parker of Andover and Margaret Scott of Rowley stand trial.

Scott’s testimony shows long-standing resentment with her neighbors; one swears that a local man had complained of her attacking him for years before he died, and she has had several run-ins with others who have had their cattle enchanted and mysteriously killed after crossing her. Parker’s documents have been lost to history. 

Both, however, are found guilty.

Tomorrow’s trials include Abigail Faulkner, Sr., whose family has been uncooperative up to this point. Hoping to add to their case, the magistrates manage to pry a confession from Faulkner’s daughter, also named Abigail, who admits that her mother had made her a witch. Several others involved with the case decide to agree to this confession. One of the confessed, Joanna Tyler, tells the magistrates that Faulkner had been working directly with the Black Man to bring witch’s books to the people.

The judges hope that Faulkner’s case will be a simple one. The other accused, Giles Corey, will be a much harder ordeal for them, and they prepare themselves for anything the obstinate old man can throw at them.

As the number of death sentences continues to rise, two petitions from convicted witches are brought before the court. Desperate for last-minute intervention, they decry the court system and beg for mercy for those yet to be tried.

Ann Pudeator notes angrily that one of her accusers, John Best, had been “formerly whipped and likewise is recorded for a liar”. Still trying to sway the court with niceties, she writes, “I humbly beg of your honours to take it into your judicious and pious consideration that my life may not be taken away by such false evidences and witnesses.”

Mary Esty not only defends herself but, having seen so much bloodshed and the destruction of her family, also takes her fellow prisoners into consideration when making her case. “I petition not your honours for my own life”, she says,  “for I know I must die and my appointed time it set, but the Lord he knows it is that if it be possible no more innocent blood may be shed…by my own innocency I know you are in the wrong.”

Two more trials are set for the next day.

Two new trials are held today, including the latest wizard in town: Samuel Wardwell is being tried along with Marblehead local Wilmot Redd.

The usual courtroom antics once more ensue: as evidence from chief accusers is sworn in before the court, the girls begin to twitch and scream, punctuating their written documents, and neighbors step up to air past grievances. 

Redd is rumored to have cursed her enemies with disease, including one graphic description of a neighbor sent to confront Redd’s servant over some stolen linen; Redd threw him from the house, wishing him never to urinate or defecate again, and so it was. She had also, at her initial interrogation, admitted that she believed the bewitched girls to be under an evil hand, although she would not admit to being part of it herself.

Wardwell’s knowledge of the town rumor mill is his downfall, as he had confronted one of his accusers angrily, asking why he was accused of bewitching the man’s wife. The neighbor, Joseph Ballard, emotionally swears that before that point he had no notion of his wife being in such a condition, but from that time, she was afflicted. Wardwell has a knack for making predictions and telling fortunes; even though his quips are hardly more than educated guesses, they are usually right, further proving that he possesses diabolical powers.

Both are pronounced guilty.

The grand jury continues their work for future trials while yet more complaints continue to pile up. The fantastically named Zebulon Hill of Gloucester sends a notice to the town against Joan Penny, who does “afflict, torture, and torment your honour’s complainter’s daughter Mary, by that of diabolical witchcraft, by which the said Mary is in great pain and torture, as will be made appear”.

Reverend Parris preaches a sermon from Revelations 17:14: “These shall make War with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is the Lord of Lords, and King of Kings; and they that are with  him, are called, and chosen, and faithful.”

He explains to his parishioners the prophesy of a holy war of the Antichrist, the spiritual whore of Satan, and the witches and wizards (including, Parris adds, all Papists and especially “bloody” King Louis XIV) that serve her who seek to destroy the church. The Puritans, as the chosen people, are foretold to win the war, which will soon be over.

Parris has chosen his sermon wisely, for the covenanted church members have a terrible decision to make this day: one of their own, one of the saved, Martha Corey, has been convicted of witchcraft. Her fellow church members, in Puritan tradition, must vote whether or not to excommunicate her from the church. Parris quotes scripture to ease any troubled consciences in the congregation. “It may serve to reprove such as seem to be amazed at the war the devil has raised among us”, he says. “If there ever were witches, men and women in covenant with the devil, here are multitudes in New England.” It is not strange that church members should be accused of witchery; in fact, there is biblical precedence, as the Jews also turned to sorcery in the old testament (Mal. 3:5). 

No one is neutral in this holy war, Parris warns the congregation. To go against it or disobey god in any way is “the highway to utter ruin”. The trials and executions must continue, and expressing discontent at this point will only lead to your own doom.

The response is unanimous: Martha Corey has fallen from grace and her covenant with God, and is expelled from church membership.

Another arrest warrant goes out for Mary Coulson’s daughter Elizabeth, who has still managed to escape capture. One of the local men sent by the constable to initially arrest her makes a statement to the court describing the event and the need to search further; when Elizabeth had run away from him, a black cat had suddenly appeared and attacked him.

Two other Salem women, Hannah Carroll and Sarah Cole, are also ordered to be arrested.

Meanwhile, the grand jury throws out a second case: that of Rebecca Jacobs for “covenanting” with the devil. Her mother has petitioned the court, saying that her daughter is “distracted in the mind”, rendering her confession invalid. The jury agrees, but as Jacobs is also charged with afflicting Elizabeth Hubbard, her witchcraft trial is set to continue on those grounds.

Abigail Hobbs is also indicted with covenanting, and in this case the jury has no qualms about sending the case forward to trial. Hobbs has been known to brag about having “sold herself body and soul to the old boy” several times, and is a confessed witch before the court already. 

This marks an abrupt turn in the trials - up to this point, there is an implicit plea bargain being offered to the accused by the magistrates: if you confess to witchcraft, we will keep you alive and use you to find and accuse other witches. If you refuse to confess, we will throw you into the dungeon and you will be hanged. According to John Proctor, the accused have also been tortured in various ways to elicit confessions, resulting in dozens of confessions and accusations. Now that bargain is being broken and a confessed witch is set for trial, her elaborate, attention-seeking confession being used against her.  

The system is starting to crack. 

Mary Bradbury and Mary Esty (of the cursed Towne sisters) now stand on trial.

The afflicted girls offer up their testimonies as usual, describing the pinching, choking, and stabbing that they felt in the presence of the women’s specters. Bradbury’s outsider status gives the accusers more credibility: none of them have ever met her, being from Andover, but they all agree that upon seeing her enter the meeting house for the first time for her examination in July, they recognized her as the witch who had been torturing them all spring. She is also known to be rude to neighbors, cause butter to spoil, and demonic animals like black cats and blue boars seem to follow her.

Several witnesses describe the terrible sights saw that spring when Mercy Lewis, the Putnam family servant, nearly died from fits she claims were caused by Mary Esty. For several days she was in a “dreadful condition”, so choked that several times bystanders legitimately feared for her life. While Esty has no previous history of wrongdoing, her relationship with other accused and executed witches seals her fate. 

Bradbury writes her plea before speaking to the court: “I am wholly innocent of any such wickedness…I am the servant of Jesus Christ and have given myself up to him as my only Lord and Savior, and to the diligent attendance upon him in all his holy ordinances, in utter contempt and defiance of the Devil.”

Esty and her living sister, Sarah Cloyce, submit a petition to the court with three requests: that, as the defendants have no right to legal counsel and cannot plead their own cases effectively to a hung jury, that the judges would act as counselors, that witnesses of their choosing might be called forward to speak on their behalf, and that their cases not be tried solely based on the testimony of the bewitched and the accused witches, but that other legal evidence be required for a verdict. 

All petitions are denied; the jury pronounces both women guilty.