However, defendants won only four of fifteen such cases filed. Those convicted of defamation or slander were forced to pay fines and apologize publicly, but the more typical scenario was for courts to charge the accused with lying and add fines or additional punishment. Bearing false witness and committing perjury were considered felonies in Salem; under normal conditions, those convicted of such charges were prosecuted in public forums.
During the witch trials, however, individuals convicted of perjury could save themselves from public humiliation by accusing their neighbors.
Most defendants lacked benefit of counsel and were assumed guilty. Those who publicly questioned the guilt of a defendant were likely to be accused of witchcraft themselves. Mostly populated by Puritans, Salem Village was experiencing economic hardship in , and residents were only too willing to blame someone else for their troubles. The accusers were generally young females between the ages of 11 and The mischief began when a group of girls accused Tituba, a slave from South America who had told their fortunes, of witchcraft after they became mysteriously ill.
Responding to increased attention, the girls expanded their credibility by producing a plethora of new evidence against accused witches and spreading the hysteria to neighboring towns. Encouraged by their elders and joined by some peers, the girls began accusing anyone they disliked or feared of being witches.
In court, the girls submitted anecdotal evidence and exhibited strange behavior, including weeping, joking, jerking, barking, writhing, and screeching, to suggest that their accusers were using magic to attack them. Told that they would be shown mercy if they confessed, 54 of the accused witches admitted guilt. Families and friends often urged their loved ones to confess to save their lives.
Families sometimes turned on one another. On February 29, under pressure from magistrates Jonathan Corwin and John Hathorne, the girls blamed three women for afflicting them: Tituba, the Parris' Caribbean slave; Sarah Good, a homeless beggar; and Sarah Osborne, an elderly impoverished woman.
All three women were brought before the local magistrates and interrogated for several days, starting on March 1, Osborne claimed innocence, as did Good.
But Tituba confessed, "The Devil came to me and bid me serve him. She admitted that she signed the book and said there were several other witches looking to destroy the Puritans. All three women were put in jail. With the seed of paranoia planted, a stream of accusations followed for the next few months. Charges against Martha Corey, a loyal member of the Church in Salem Village, greatly concerned the community; if she could be a witch, then anyone could.
Magistrates even questioned Sarah Good's 4-year-old daughter, Dorothy, and her timid answers were construed as a confession. The questioning got more serious in April when Deputy Governor Thomas Danforth and his assistants attended the hearings. Dozens of people from Salem and other Massachusetts villages were brought in for questioning. The first case brought to the special court was Bridget Bishop, an older woman known for her gossipy habits and promiscuity.
When asked if she committed witchcraft, Bishop responded, "I am as innocent as the child unborn. Between and people were arrested for witchcraft during the witch hunt.
Some of the court records have been lost over the years, but the following is an almost complete list of the victims arrested for witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials:.
Mary Witheridge. Bishop had a bad reputation around town because she had been accused of witchcraft years before and had frequent run-ins with the law. She was brought to trial on June 2, found guilty and became the first person executed during the witch trials when she was hanged on June 10, At the time of the witch trials she was poor and pregnant and would often go door to door in Salem Village begging for handouts while her husband worked as a day laborer.
Good was one of the first people accused of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials, along with Sarah Osbourn and Tituba. When the afflicted girls first began showing symptoms that they were bewitched, the girls accused the three women of the bewitching them.
Sarah Good was brought to trial June 29 and executed on July 19, Much like Bridget Bishop, Howe had also been accused of witchcraft before. In her previous case she was accused of bewitching a local girl. No charges were ever brought up against Howe but she was later refused admittance to an Ipswich church due to the incident.
In May of , she was accused of witchcraft by the afflicted girls in Salem Village. She was arrested, brought to trial on June 29 and executed on July 19, Much like Bridget Bishop, Susannah Martin had also been accused of witchcraft before. In her previous cases she was accused of infanticide and tormenting people with her specter.
The charges were eventually dropped or dismissed. Martin was accused of witchcraft by the afflicted girls in the spring of Susannah Martin was taken to Salem Village, brought to trial on June 29 and executed on July 19, She was a pious and popular woman who had a longstanding feud with the Putnam family over border boundaries between their adjoining land. She also disapproved of the controversial appointment of Samuel Parris, whom was a close friend of the Putnams, as the new Salem Village minister.
Rebecca Nurse was originally found not guilty at the end of her trial in late June but when the verdict was read out loud in the court the afflicted girls protested and the jury was asked to reconsider its decision.
The jury reconsidered and came back with a guilty verdict. Rebecca Nurse was executed on July 19, Sarah Wildes had somewhat of a bad reputation due to previous brushes with law.
In , she was accused of fornicating out of wedlock with Thomas Wardwell and in she was accused of wearing a silk scarf. The Gould family were close friends with the Putnam family of Salem Village. Shortly after the Salem witch hunt began in March of , the Putnam family accused Sarah Wildes of witchcraft in April of and she was arrested. Sarah Wildes was brought to trial on June 29 and executed on July 19, Burroughs was a minister in Casco, Maine during the s but left the settlement after it was attacked by Native Americans.
He later settled in Salisbury, Mass for a while before being asked to serve as the new minister in Salem Village in The residents of Salem disagreed over his appointment as minister and he was not always paid his salary. He often borrowed money from the Putnam family to support his family. When he stopped being paid all together, he left Salem and returned to Maine. At some point the Putnam family sued Burroughs for failure to repay his debt and shortly after accused him of witchcraft. Burroughs was arrested, brought to trial on August 5 and executed on August 19, Carrier was the first person in Andover accused during the Salem Witch Trials.
She was accused by her neighbor Benjamin Abbot after the two had a dispute over land and Abbot immediately fell ill. Her children were also accused and were coerced into testifying against her. Carrier was brought to trial on August 5 and executed on August 19, He was one of the first people in Salem to speak out against the witch trials. Willard was responsible for helping to arrest the accused witches but soon began to doubt so many people could be guilty of witchcraft and quit his job in protest.
Shortly after, Willard himself was accused of witchcraft by Ann Putnam, Jr. Willard was not immediately arrested but his in-laws, the Wilkins family, began to grow suspicious of him. An arrest warrant was issued for John Willard but he had already fled Salem Village. A second arrest warrant was issued and Willard was hunted down and arrested in Nashua, NH.
Several confessed witches testified against Willard as well as afflicted girl Ann Putnam, Jr. John Willard was brought to trial on August 5 and executed on August 19, He was a reluctant church go-er and was an outspoken critic of the Salem Witch Trials. He was first accused by his servant, Sarah Churchill, who also accused his granddaughter Margaret Jacobs. His son, George Jacobs, Jr, was accused as well but he evaded arrest. Many people testified against George Jacobs, Sr, including almost all the members of the Putnam family.
He was found guilty on August 5 and executed on August 19, He was an outspoken critic of the Salem Witch Trials and often threatened to beat or whip the afflicted girls for their role in the witch trials.
Proctor knew Salem was in the midst of a mass hysteria and wrote a letter to the Boston clergy in July asking that they intervene or move the trials to Boston.
The clergy responded but it was too late to save Proctor, who was brought to trial on August 5 and executed on August 19, His remaining family members were either never charged or found guilty and pardoned. The couple lived in Salem town where Alice was known as a pious, honest woman. Alice Parker was brought to trial on September 9 and executed on September 22, It is not known why Parker was accused but she stated during her examination that there was another woman in Andover named Mary Parker and suggested it was a case of mistaken identity.
Martha Sprague then stated that the woman in front of her was the woman who afflicted her. Mary Parker was brought to trial on September 17 and executed on September 22, Ann Pudeator Age: 70s Ann Pudeator was a widow who lived in Salem town where she also worked as a nurse and midwife.
She had a reputation for being sharp-tongued and often quarreled with locals. Pudeator was accused of witchcraft in May of by Sarah Churchill and several other afflicted girls of Salem Village. Some of her medical supplies, such as foot ointments, were confiscated and introduced to the court as objects of the occult. During her trial, Pudeator accused many of her accusers of lying. Pudeator was brought to trial on September 9 and executed on September 22, Like Bridget Bishop and many other witch trial victims, Wilmot Redd had also been accused of witchcraft before in She was an unpopular person around town because she often quarreled with others and had an abrasive personality.
Redd was accused of witchcraft in May of by the Salem Village afflicted girls and brought to Ingersoll Tavern in Salem Village for her examination. Redd was brought to trial in September and executed on September 22, Scott had seven children but only three survived childhood.
After her husband died in , Scott was left destitute and forced to beg from her neighbors. This made her unpopular with her neighbors. A member of the Nelson family also sat on the grand jury that convicted her. Scott was brought to trial on September 17 and executed on September 22, Dozens suffered under inhumane conditions as they waited in jail for months without trials; many of the imprisoned were also tortured, and at least one died in jail before the hysteria abated in So much of the tragedy of the Salem Witch Trials comes down to the failure of the court and the laws during that time: Laws that made such things as visions, dreams, and even the testimony of spirits permissible evidence.
Sheer vindictiveness is now considered a plausible explanation as well. The girls blamed their odd behavior on three women considered social outcasts, including Tituba, a slave, whose confession may have been coerced. Soon a wave of witchcraft allegations throughout the year swept up more than accused witches, including at least one child.
Local magistrates questioned the accused and determined whether any charges were to be brought against them. As paranoia spread, residents of Salem soon found themselves facing accusations from friends, neighbors, and families.
The Puritans believed physical realities had spiritual causes. For example, if the crops failed, the Devil may have played a role. With this worldview, it was not a stretch for them to accept 'spectral evidence' of spirits and visions—which was the primary evidence used as proof of guilt during the Salem Witch Trials.
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