In the solemn days of old,
Two men met in Boston town,
One a tradesman frank and bold,
One a preacher of renown.
...
In the ancient burying-ground,
Side by side the twain now lie;
One with humble grassy mound,
One with marbles pale and high.
But the Lord has blessed the seed
Which that tradesman scattered then,
And the preacher's spectral creed
Chills no more the blood of men.
By the end of 1692, doubts were begining to surface and demand notice. People were wondering how so many respectable people could be guilty. Reverend John Hale said, " It cannot be imagined that in a place of so much knowledge, so many in so small compass of land should abominably leap into the Devil's lap at once." The educated elite trying to end the witch-hunting hysteria. Increase Mather, the father of Cotton, published a work entitled Cases of Conscience, which argued that it "were better that ten suspected witches should escape than one innocent person should be condemned." Increase Mather urged the court to exclude spectral evidence. Samuel Willard, a highly regarded Boston minister, circulated Some Miscellany Observations, which suggested that the Devil might create the specter of an innocent person. Mather's and Willard's works were given to Governor Phips. The writings most likely influenced the decision of Phips to order the court to exclude spectral evidence and touching tests and to require proof of guilt by clear and convincing evidence. With spectral evidence not admitted, twenty-eight of the last thirty-three witchcraft trials ended in acquittals. My ancestor, Sarah Wardwell was among those not aquitted. Stoughton signed her death warrant and those of four others, but Governor Phips ordered the executions stopped, which enraged Stoughton. In May of 1693, Phips released from prison all remaining accused or convicted witches.
People began to apologize for their parts in the hysteria. Samuel Sewall, one of the judges, issued a public confession of guilt and an apology. Several jurors came forward to say that they were "sadly deluded and mistaken" in their judgments. Reverend Samuel Parris conceded errors of judgment, but mostly shifted blame to others. Parris was replaced as minister of Salem village by Thomas Green, who devoted his career to putting his torn congregation back together. Governor Phips blamed the entire affair on William Stoughton. Stoughton, clearly more to blame than anyone for the tragic episode, refused to apologize or explain himself. He criticized Phips for interfering just when he was about to "clear the land" of witches. Stoughton became the next governor of Massachusetts. [That shows how dumb people can be!]
Elizabeth Parris married, as did Mary Wolcott. Both girls left Salem Village. No one knows what became of Abigail Williams, but it was said that she never regained her sanity and was "followed with diabolical molestation to her death." Ann Putnam remained unmarried, and at the age of 26 made a public confession for her part in the spilling of "innocent blood," although still claiming that she had been under the "delusion of Satan." John Harthorne, never expressing any regret, received his due when he became the inspiration for the greedy and arrogant Judge Pyncheon in The House of Seven Gables. The novel was written by Harthorne's descendant, Nathaniel Hawthorne, a hundred years after his death.
If you were lucky enough to escape the gallows, your problems were not over once you were released. My ancestor Sarah Wardwell was released in May 1693 and returned home to find her Andover farm devastated and children scattered about the town. Her husband was dead, her baby Rebecca had spent nearly nine months in a dark prison. Everything was gone, the cows, horses, hogs, hay even the crops and her husband's carpenter tools. Luckily the land in Andover was still there, but her inheritance from her first marriage to Adam Hawkes, a piece of valuable land in Lynn, was gone. The condemned were still under their attainders - they were dead to the law. In 1703, 21 people petitioned the court for a reversal of the attainders. Sarah Wardwell was among them - it was the last known act before her death. She was trying to recover her property in Lynn. It failed - in the 1711 act that reversed some of the attainders, her name was not included even though her husband Samuel's was. Her son Samuel petitioned the court in 1712 - his also failed. Families tried for years to recover their lands to no avail. In 1957 the General Court passed a resolve that cleared them of blame but did NOT lift any of the remaining attainders and it confirmed the property rights as being none. This year, on October 31 Massachusetts Acting Governor Jane Swift signed into law a bill exonerating five of the people hanged as witches in Salem in 1692. Sarah Wardwell is not among them.
What ever happened to those who participated in the events of 1692? Some disappeared quietly, others stayed in the spotlight for years to come but no one could forget.
Roger and Mary Toothaker: Roger died in prison, his wife Mary was killed by Indians in 1695. Her daughter Margaret was taken captive and never heard from again. The last of the family - two brothers - fought at Bunker Hill in 1775 and were killed, one while trying to save the other. The government gave every family of a Bunker Hill soldier a coat and blanket - no one came forward to claim theirs. The Toothaker family was gone.
Dorcas Good: Little Dorcas Good never recovered from the eight months in prison. At four years old, the experience had been too much for her. With her mother gone, her father had to take care of her for the rest of her life because she was unable to do so for herself.
Rev. Noyes: Twenty-five years later he died from an internal hemmorage, bleeding from the mouth and choking on his own blood, just as Sarah Good said he would.
Sarah Wardwell: She tried in vain to recover her property in Lynn, died without remarrying. Her son Samuel Jr. tried to help her but he was unsuccessful as well. Her son Eliakim married and moved to Maine.
The Ha(w)thornes: John Hathorne was unrepentant for his participation in the witch hunts of 1692, but his family seemed to be "cursed". Many of his decendants met with odd or sudden deaths, but his decendant Nathaniel Hawthorne became famous for works such as The House of Seven Gables which dealt with his famous ancestor and the family curse.