During the winter of 1691, Abigail Williams and Elizabeth Parris sat in Reverend Samuel Parris' kitchen listening to stories of magick and island lore. Tituba, their slave from the Barbados, told the girls' these stories. Soon four other girls heard about the storytelling and joined Tituba and the girls. The four other girls were Elizabeth Hubbard, Ann Putnam, Mary Walcott and Mercy Lewis. Tituba had known ways of divination, so the girls started asking about their future husbands. Tituba made a crude crystal ball out of the white of an egg dropped into a glass of water.
On January 20th Abigail and Elizabeth started to exhibit weird behavior like: blasphemous screaming, convulsive seizures, trance-like states and mysterious spells. Within a short time the other girls started to act the same way. (The Salem Witch Trials 1692, default.htm) Shortly after the strange behavior started, the behavior spread beyond the Parris' house to about 7 or 8 other girls ranging in the age of 8 to 20. The other girls that started acting strange were: Elizabeth Booth, Phoebe Chandler, Sarah Churchill, Margaret Reddington, Susan Sheldon, Martha Sprague, Sarah Trask, and Mary Warren.
Samuel Parris called upon Dr. William Griggs to examine the girls for any medical problems, but none were found. In mid-January, Dr. Griggs examined the girls again and by the lack of any medical explanation he concluded that the "hand of evil" was upon the girls. By late-February, Reverend Samuel Parris conducted prayer services and community fasting in hopes of relieving the evil spirits that plagued them. To expose the "witches" to the girls, John Indian, with counter magick, baked a witch cake made of rye-meal and the afflicted girls' urine.
Under intense adult questioning, the girls named three women: Tituba, Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne as their tormentors. On February 29th warrants were issued for the arrests of these three women.
At their public examinations, on March 1st in the Village meeting house by judges Jonathan Corwin and John Hathorne, Osborne and Good tried to remain innocent. Tituba confessed loudly and in great detail to seeing the devil, she said it appeared to her "sometimes like a hog and sometimes like a great dog". Tituba also described the devil as "a thing all over hairy, all the face hairy and a long nose." (Boyer, 3) Tituba also offered "evidence" that Good and Osborne were fellow witches too.
All three women were placed in jail, but Tituba was only in there until her jail bill was paid. (Prisoners had to pay for their food, lights, drink and blankets.) (Witch Wisdom, first.html) An unknown person paid Tituba's jail bill, she was release and disappeared never to be seen or heard from again, it is believed she was sold back into slavery.
Even with the three women in jail, the girls' strange behavior still continued. Sarah Good had been pregnant at her accusations and trials, she had her child in jail, but because of lack of medical assistance and the unsanitary conditions, the baby died being only known as Infant Good.
