The Salem witch trials began on March 1, 1692. Authorities charged three women, Sarah Goode, Sarah Osborne, and a slave woman named Tituba, with witchcraft.
The Salem witch trials—a brief outline
The mass hysteria began when two young girls began having strange fits. The doctors could not explain what was happening. It was a time when witchcraft was feared.
The girls pointed the finger at the three women above. And so started a catastrophic chain of events. Over 150 men and women filled the prisons in Salem and the surrounding towns as the hysteria spread.
All in all, 30 people were found guilty and 19 were executed by hanging; this included 14 women and five men. Giles Corey refused to enter a plea and was pressed to death. At least five others died in prison. I will do a deep dive into this at a later date.
But let’s remember all those who were wronged.
Those who were executed
- Bridget Bishop
- Sarah Good
- Rebecca Nurse (née Towne; July 19, 1692)
- Elizabeth Howe
- Susannah Martin
- Sarah Wildes
- Rev. George Burroughs (August 19, 1692)
- George Jacobs Sr. (August 19, 1692)
- Martha Carrier (August 19, 1692)
- John Proctor (August 19, 1692)
- John Willard (August 19, 1692)
- Martha Corey (September 22, 1692; wife of Giles Corey)
- Mary Eastey (née Towne; September 22, 1692)
- Mary Parker (née Ayer; September 22, 1692)
- Alice Parker (September 22, 1692)
- Ann Pudeator (September 22, 1692)
- Wilmot Redd (September 22, 1692)
- Margaret Scott (September 22, 1692)
- Samuel Wardwell Sr. (September 22, 1692)
- Giles Corey was pressed to death.
Those who Died in prison
- Ann Foster (née Alcock) (important in Salem)
- Mercy, the infant daughter of Sarah Good
- Sarah Osborne (née Warren) died in prison (May 10, 1692, before she could be tried
- Roger Toothaker died before trial (June 16, 1692), probably due to torture.
- Lydia Dustin
Read the story of mother Shipton here
A history of magic witchcraft and the occult by Suzannah Lipscomb