Salem Witchcraft
Puritans held the belief that witches were out to harm others. Their definition of witchcraft: entering into a compact with the devil in exchange for certain powers to do evil. They believed that witchcraft denied the superior powers of God. Wherever there was suspicion of witchcraft, a thorough investigation would occur identifying and judging the tormentors. In one case, Mary Sibley ordered Tituba and her husband to bake a "witch cake" to aid in the discovery of the girls tormentors. A witch cake consists of rye meal mixed with urine from the accused. They then feed it to a dog. If the dog possesses the same effects as the accused, then the person(s) are bewitched. At first the girls were hesitant to confess, but eventually Betty spoke up, naming Tituba. The other girls soon followed, naming Sarah Osborne and Sarah Good.
Sarah Osborne: elderly lady, non-churchgoer for over a year
Sarah Good: homeless, begged door to door and if rejected mumbled words under her breath.
Tituba: slave from Barbados.
Martha Corey: attended church regularly, not popular in the community, outspoken and opinionated, mothered an illegitimate mulatto.
Rebecca Nurse: seventy-one year old woman, kind and generous, well liked by the community, accused of floating into rooms at night pinching and torturing girls.
Mary Warren: Maidservant of John Proctor, displayed uncanny behavior.
George Burroughs: Salem village minister accused of being the master of all witches, left Salem as its minister due to a dispute over his salary, widowed three times, said to mistreat his wifes and bragged about having powers.
Now the investigation of the charges began. John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwan, traveled to Salem to head the investigations. The investigations of Sarah Osborne, Sarah Good, and Tituba were held in the Meetinghouse. Betty, Abby, and six other girls attended the investigations, ofter screaming and tumbling on the floor during the questioning. Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne maintained innocence, but Tituba confessed for three days.
In her confession, Tituba spoke of red rats, talking cats and a tall man dressed in black. She claimed that the man in black forced her to sign a book and that Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, and others, also signed this book. When she finished her confession, she was taken along with Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne, to a Boston jail. Osborne died two months later of natural causes.
As May came to an end, the jail held over 200 prisoners under the charges of witchcraft, most of them due to spectral evidence. Cotton Mather spoke out against this type of evidence saying that is it possible that the Devil took the form of an innocent person's body and carried out his evil deeds.
Rebecca Nurse was one of the few accused who escaped a guilty verdict, however, upon the announcement of her verdict, the afflicted girls began rolling around on the ground howling. Upon these actions, the judge requested that the jury reconsider their decision, and Nurse was found guilty and hung on July 19, 1692, with 4 other convicted women. At the hanging, Rev. Nicholas made one last attempt to make Sarah Good confess and she replied saying, " I am no more a witch than you are a wizard, and if you take away my life God will give you blood to drink". 25 years later, the Rev. died of hemorrhage, choking on his own blood.
On August 5, 1962, the court held the trials of rev. George Burroughs, John and Elizabeth Proctor, George Jacobs, John Williard, and Martha Carrier. All six were found guilty, but Elizabeth escaped the death penalty due to her pregnancy. At the hanging, Burroughs flawlessly recited the Lord's Prayer. This was of great significance because it was believed that a wizard could not recite this prayer without making a mistake. This was not enough to save his life.
Giles Corey refused to answer any questions he was asked by the court. As a result, the court ordered the sheriff to place rocks on Corey's chest until he began to cooperate. The only word uttered by Corey when he was questioned were, "More weight". He was eventually crushed to death.
Following the death of Corey were several more hangings. His wife Martha Corey, Mary Easty, Alice Parker, Ann Pudeater, Margaret Scott, Wilmott Reed, and Samuel Wardwell were hanged on September 22, 1692.
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