In this gripping episode of Salem Witch Hunt 101, we delve into the pivotal period of March 8-24, 1692, when the Salem witch trials reached a fever pitch. We explore the dramatic escalation of accusations and arrests that rocked Salem Village, including the unexpected cases of respected community members Martha Cory and Rebecca Nurse, as well as the shocking arrest of 4-year-old Dorothy Good. The episode begins with the election of new selectmen and constables in Salem, setting the stage for the tumultuous events to come. We then chronicle the return of former Salem Village minister Deodat Lawson and his influential sermon that further inflamed tensions. Listeners will hear detailed accounts of the examinations of Martha Cory and Rebecca Nurse, providing chilling insight into the judicial proceedings of the time. Throughout the episode, we discuss the growing role of spectral evidence in the trials and how it shaped the accusations and outcomes. Key moments include Martha Cory’s passionate declaration of innocence, Rebecca Nurse’s heartbreaking plea, and the community’s reaction to the arrest of young Dorothy Good. The episode concludes with an update on End Witch Hunts’ recent activities and a preview of upcoming content. This episode offers a comprehensive look at a crucial turning point in the Salem witch trials, demonstrating how quickly suspicion and fear can escalate into a full-blown crisis. Whether you’re a history buff, a legal scholar, or simply curious about this dark chapter in American history, this episode provides valuable insights and compelling storytelling.
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Follow these helpful links to learn more
Emerson W. Baker, A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience
Mary Beth Norton, In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692
Bernard Rosenthal, editor, Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt
Marilynne K. Roach, The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-By-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege
Marilynne K. Roach, Six Women of Salem: The Untold Story of the Accused and Their Accusers in the Salem Witch Trials
Stacy Schiff, The Witches: Suspicion, Betrayal, and Hysteria in 1692 Salem
Connecticut Witch Trial Exoneration Project
Massachusetts Witch-Hunt Justice Project
Maryland Witches Exoneration Project
Salem Witch-Hunt Education Project
The Salem Witch-Hunt Saga: Beginnings
The Ultimate Introduction to the Salem Witch Trials: Salem Witch-Hunt 101 Part 1
Transcript
[00:00:00]
Josh Hutchinson: Welcome to Witch Hunt, the podcast bringing you a detailed, turn-by-turn account of the Salem Witch Hunt. I'm Josh Hutchinson.
Sarah Jack: I'm Sarah Jack. We're back with the fourth installment of our Salem Witch Hunt 101 series, covering the pivotal events of from March 8th through March 24th, 1692.
Josh Hutchinson: In today's episode, we'll explore the dramatic escalation of accusations and arrests that rocked Salem Village during this crucial period.
Sarah Jack: We'll examine the unexpected cases of Martha Cory, Dorothy Good, and Rebecca Nurse, three unusual witchcraft suspects.
Josh Hutchinson: We'll also discuss the return of former Salem Village minister to Salem Village and analyze his influential sermon and eyewitness account of the unfolding events.
Sarah Jack: As we walk you through these events, you'll gain insight into how quickly suspicions spread and how the legal machinery of the witch trials began to gather momentum.
Josh Hutchinson: We'll break down the examinations, the testimonies, and the growing atmosphere of fear and [00:01:00] paranoia that gripped the community.
Sarah Jack: So join us as we continue our in depth exploration of one of history's most infamous witch hunts, piecing together the complex tapestry of events that led to the Salem Witch Trials. Let's dive in and uncover the stories behind the accusations, the hidden tensions within the community, and the fateful decisions that set the stage for the tragedy to come.
Josh Hutchinson: Previously in our Salem Witch Hunt 101 series, we've introduced the witch hunt and discussed events up to March 7th, 1692.
Sarah Jack: In the first episode in the series, we presented a broad overview of the Salem Witch Hunt, addressing many of the key events
Josh Hutchinson: and people involved, as well as the reasons behind the crisis. In part two, we focused on the events of February, 1692 as residents of Salem Village began to consider that there was witchcraft in their midst.
Sarah Jack: In the third episode, we covered February 29th through March 7th, 1692,from the arrest of Tituba , Sarah Good, and Sarah Osburn,through their [00:02:00] interrogations and jailings.
Josh Hutchinson: Today, in part four, we follow the cases against church member Martha Cory, baby girl Dorothy Good, and pious grandmother Rebecca Nurse.
Sarah Jack: These cases are captivating, so let's join the action on March 8th, 1692.
Josh Hutchinson: On March 8th, at Salem's town meeting, new selectmen and constables were elected.
Sarah Jack: The new selectmen included future witchcraft suspect Philip English and John Higginson Jr., the son of Salem's senior minister. Along with Salem Village's Israel Porter and Daniel Andrew.
Josh Hutchinson: The newly elected constables included John Putnam Jr. and Jonathan Putnam of Salem Village, two cousins of Sergeant Thomas Putnam.
Sarah Jack: The next day, in Boston, jailer John Arnold bought chains for Sarah Osborn and Sarah Good for 14 shillings.
Josh Hutchinson: Chains were believed to have the power to stop a witch's specter from roaming. And the cost of the chains was added to each accused individual's jail bill, which they would have to pay to [00:03:00] be released if they were acquitted or the charges were dropped.
Sarah Jack: The two Sarahs would be locked in these chains until their deaths months later.
Josh Hutchinson: On March 11th, John Hale and other local ministers attended a fast at the Salem Village Parsonage.
Sarah Jack: Robert Calef later wrote that the afflicted persons were, for the most part, silent, but after any one prayer was ended, they would act and speak strangely and ridiculously, yet were such as had been well educated and of good behavior, the one, a girl of eleven or twelve years old, would sometimes seem to be in a convulsive fit, her limbs being twisted several ways and very stiff, but presently her fit would be over.
Josh Hutchinson: On an unknown date in March, perhaps shortly after this fast, Samuel Parris sent his daughter Betty to stay with his kinsman, Stephen Sewell, the brother of future Salem Witch Trials Judge Samuel Sewell.
Sarah Jack: While staying in Salem Town, separated from the other afflicted persons, Betty's condition appears to improve, and after March, she never [00:04:00] takes part in any further courtroom proceedings or is named as an afflicted person in any arrest warrant or testimony.
Josh Hutchinson: On March 12th, Ann Putnam Jr. was purportedly attacked by Martha Cory's specter.
Sarah Jack: Martha was the wife of Giles Cory. Her maiden name is unknown, but her first husband was Henry Rich, and the two had a son named Thomas. While married to Henry, Martha had a second son, Ben, with another man.
Josh Hutchinson: Martha was accepted as a full member of the Salem Village Church on April 27th, 1690.
Sarah Jack: Which was coincidentally the same day that a certain Mary Sibley was accepted into the church.
Josh Hutchinson: Ezekiel Cheever and Edward Putnam asked Ann Jr. what clothes Martha Cory's specter wore. She told them she was blind and could not see what the supposed witch had on.
Sarah Jack: Cheever and Putnam went to Martha Cory's house, where Martha told them she knew people were talking about her and denied being a witch. She then asked if Ann Jr. had described her clothes.
Josh Hutchinson: [00:05:00] The two men took this question to have come from diabolical knowledge. How else could Martha know what they had asked Ann?
Sarah Jack: Elsewhere in Salem, Martha Cory's specter supposedly attacked Mary Warren at the home of Elizabeth and John Procter.
Josh Hutchinson: On May 12th, Mary Warren would testify that when she was first afflicted by Martha Cory, she reached out for Martha's specter but instead pulled John Procter into her lap.
Sarah Jack: When this happened, John Procter said, "it is nobody, but it is my shadow that you see."
Josh Hutchinson: Mary again reached for the spectral Cory, but instead pulled the shadow figure back into her lap.
Sarah Jack: John Procter said, "I see there is no heed to any of your talkings, for you are all possessed with the devil, for it is nothing but my shape."
Josh Hutchinson: Mary also said she had seen Martha Cory at the Procter house in person, and Martha told Mary that "she would be condemned for a witch as well as she herself. And she said that the children would cry out and bring out all."
Sarah Jack: [00:06:00] On Sunday, March 13th, during worship service in Salem village, Bethshua Pope, an aunt of Benjamin Franklin was allegedly afflicted by specters and was temporarily unable to see.
Josh Hutchinson: Later, Ann Putnam Jr. was visited by an unknown specter at home. She thought she sort of knew the person from seeing her at worship services, and she could just about picture where this woman sat in the meeting house, but she didn't know her name until either her mother or her maid, Mercy Lewis, suggested it was Rebecca Nurse.
Sarah Jack: Like Martha Cory, Rebecca Towne Nurse was a church member. However, she kept her membership in the Salem Town church and never joined the village, though she usually worshipped there. She was noted for her devotion.
Josh Hutchinson: On March 14th, Martha Cory and Elizabeth Procter's shapes supposedly attacked Abigail Williams, niece of village minister Samuel Parris.
Sarah Jack: In the visible world, Thomas Putnam invited Martha Cory to visit Ann Jr. in person. When Martha entered the Putnam house, Ann Jr. had a [00:07:00] fit, contorted into strange positions, and collapsed.
Josh Hutchinson: Ann Jr. cried out against Martha for causing her affliction, but then "her tongue thrust forward, her teeth clamped down, and she was unable to speak."
Sarah Jack: When she regained control of her mouth, Ann Jr. told Martha she saw a yellow bird sucking between her forefinger and her middle finger.
Josh Hutchinson: Ann Jr. claimed Martha was the specter that had covered Bethshua Pope's eyes during the meeting the day before.
Sarah Jack: Ann Jr. 's hands then got stuck in her own eyes and could not be removed for some time.
Josh Hutchinson: Then Ann Jr. had a twisted vision of the invisible world, where she saw a man being roasted in her parents' hearth, with Martha Cory turning the spit.
Sarah Jack: Mercy Lewis, the Putnam's maid, grabbed a stick and struck where Ann said the specter was. The vision went away for a moment.
Josh Hutchinson: Mercy had been orphaned in King William's War and had previously witnessed the killings of most of her extended family as a very young girl during King Philip's War.
Sarah Jack: Her family lived on the [00:08:00] frontier in the vulnerable settlement of Falmouth located in Maine on Casco Bay, where the city of Portland now stands.
Josh Hutchinson: Following each of these wars, Mercy relocated to Essex County, Massachusetts. After her parents were killed, she spent some time in Beverly before taking a position as maid for Thomas and Ann Putnam in Salem Village.
Sarah Jack: Mercy's sister Priscilla had married a Putnam neighbor, Henry Kinney, Jr.
Sarah Jack: When Ann's vision came back, Mercy struck at the specter again. Ann cried out, "do not if you love yourself! "And Mercy shrieked, as Ann said Martha's specter clubbed her with an iron rod. Mercy claimed to see shadowy female figures in the room and said they were trying to get her to write in the devil's book.
Josh Hutchinson: As the real Martha Cory left the Putnam house, Mercy Lewis succumbed to fits so violent it took three men to restrain her.
Sarah Jack: Around 11 o'clock that night, while Mercy sat in a chair before the hearth, the chair creeped forward toward the fire.[00:09:00]
Josh Hutchinson: Two men had to grab the chair to prevent Mercy, who couldn't get up, from being burned.
Sarah Jack: But they couldn't stop the chair until Edward Putnam jumped in front and lifted Mercy's feet.
Josh Hutchinson: Elsewhere in Salem, Giles Cory's ox and cat were strangely afflicted but later recovered.
Sarah Jack: On March 15th, Martha Cory's shape allegedly afflicted Elizabeth Hubbard.
Josh Hutchinson: And Rebecca Nurse allegedly attacked Abigail Williams spectrally.
Sarah Jack: Ipswich's Mary Fuller and Marjorie Thorne were afflicted, allegedly by Rachel Clinton, who turned up at the James Fuller Jr. house at this moment.
Josh Hutchinson: Rachel was a child-free divorcee who had been rumored to be a witch for years.
Sarah Jack: At the Fuller house, she told them she was there to hear their lies about her.
Josh Hutchinson: Suddenly, Joseph Fuller ran in, exclaiming that his sister Betty was dead. Rachel Clinton ran out, and James Fuller Sr. was unable to see her when he tried to follow.
Sarah Jack: As it turned out, Betty Fuller had passed out and would recover [00:10:00] after three to four hours of unconsciousness.
Josh Hutchinson: When she came around, Betty said she'd seen something so frightening that it had made her turn on the spot and run, but she wasn't quick enough and whatever she saw knocked her down.
Sarah Jack: On March 18th, Ann Putnam Sr. reportedly wrestled with Rebecca Nurse's specter for two hours.
Josh Hutchinson: The next day, Ann Putnam Sr. was allegedly assailed by the specters of Martha Cory and Rebecca Nurse because she refused to join their ranks.
Sarah Jack: Henry Kinney and Edward Putnam filed a witchcraft complaint against Martha Cory and magistrates issued a warrant for her arrest. It is unclear which Henry Kinney was involved, father or son.
Josh Hutchinson: The complaint alleged that Martha had afflicted Ann Putnam Sr., Ann Putnam Jr., Abigail Williams, Elizabeth Hubbard, and Mercy Lewis, sister-in-law of Henry Kinney Jr.
Sarah Jack: The warrant issued by John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin instructed Marshal George Herrick to arrest Martha and take her to Ingersoll's Tavern in Salem Village on Monday, March 21st.
Josh Hutchinson: Also on March 19th, [00:11:00] former Salem Village minister Deodat Lawson returned to the village. Tituba had claimed that his wife and his child were killed by maleficium.
Sarah Jack: After Deodat Lawson checked into a room at Ingersoll's, Mary Walcott, the daughter of near neighbor Captain Jonathan Walcott, called upon him and claimed to be bitten on the wrist.
Josh Hutchinson: In the candlelight, Lawson observed a set of teeth marks.
Sarah Jack: In the beginning of the evening, Lawson visited the parsonage nearby Ingersolls.
Josh Hutchinson: Abigail Williams ran back and forth across the room with her arms held high and flapping like a bird. She said, "whish, whish, whish," as she virtually flew about the home.
Sarah Jack: She stopped suddenly and declared that she saw the specter of Rebecca Nurse before her. Nobody else could see the specter, which proffered the devil's book.
Josh Hutchinson: Abigail said, "I won't, I won't, I won't take it. I do not know what book it is. I'm sure it's none of God's book. It is the devil's book for ought I know."
Sarah Jack: Across town, when Giles Cory went to prayer before bed, he was hindered by some [00:12:00] unseen force. As his wife approached, his lips loosened and he was able to say his prayers.
Josh Hutchinson: On March 20th, Deodat Lawson stood in for Samuel Parris to lead Sunday services, which were interrupted by the afflicted persons.
Sarah Jack: As Lawson prepared to read the text introducing his sermon, Abigail Williams said, "now stand up and name your text." Lawson read the text, and Abigail asserted, "it is a long text."
Josh Hutchinson: Lawson began his sermon. Soon, Bethshua Pope said, "now there is enough of that."
Sarah Jack: Abigail Williams claimed Martha Cory's specter left her body and sat on a beam with her yellow bird. The bird alighted on Lawson's hat, which hung on a peg, but Abigail was silenced by neighbors.
Josh Hutchinson: In the afternoon, when Lawson referred to his doctrine, Abigail said, "I know no doctrine you had. If you did name one, I have forgot it."
Sarah Jack: On March 21st, Joseph Herrick arrested Martha Cory. During the arrest, Herrick spotted a strange ointment in Martha's [00:13:00] house.
Josh Hutchinson: Herrick asked Martha about it, and she told him she got the recipe from future witch judge Major Bartholomew Gedney of Salem.
Sarah Jack: Constable Herrick took Martha to Ingersoll's Tavern, where magistrates were preparing for her interrogation.
Josh Hutchinson: Reverend Nicholas Noyes opened the hearing with prayer, and the very biased Samuel Parris was appointed to record the interrogation.
Sarah Jack: Hathorne began questioning Martha.
Josh Hutchinson: You are now in the hands of authority. Tell me now why you have hurt these persons.
Sarah Jack: I do not.
Josh Hutchinson: Who doth?
Sarah Jack: Pray give me leave to go to prayer.
Josh Hutchinson: We do not sin for you to go to prayer, but tell me why you hurt these.
Sarah Jack: I am an innocent person. I never had to do with witchcraft since I was born. I am a gospel woman.
Josh Hutchinson: Do not you see these complain of you?
Sarah Jack: The Lord open the eyes of the magistrates and ministers. The Lord show his power to discover the guilty.
Josh Hutchinson: Tell us who hurts these children.
Sarah Jack: I do not know. [00:14:00]
Josh Hutchinson: If you be guilty of this fact, do you think you can hide it?
Sarah Jack: The Lord knows.
Josh Hutchinson: Well, tell us what you know of this matter.
Sarah Jack: Why, I am a gospel woman, and do you think I can have to do with witchcraft too?
Josh Hutchinson: How could you tell then that the child was bid to observe what clothes you wore when some came to speak with you?
Sarah Jack: Cheevers interrupted her and bid her not begin with a lie. And so Edward Putnam declared the matter.
Josh Hutchinson: Who told you that?
Sarah Jack: He said, the child said.
Josh Hutchinson: Ezekiel Cheever said, "you speak falsely."
Sarah Jack: Then Edward Putnam read again.
Josh Hutchinson: And Hathorne asked, "why did you ask if the children told what clothes you wore?"
Sarah Jack: My husband told me the others told.
Josh Hutchinson: Who told you about the clothes? Why did you ask that question?
Sarah Jack: Because I heard the children told what clothes the other wore.
Josh Hutchinson: Goodman Cory, did you tell her?
Sarah Jack: The old man denied that he told her so.
Josh Hutchinson: Did you not say your husband told you so?
Sarah Jack: She sighed. [00:15:00]
Josh Hutchinson: Who hurts these children? Now look upon them.
Sarah Jack: I cannot help it.
Josh Hutchinson: Did you not say you would tell the truth why you asked that question? How came you to the knowledge?
Sarah Jack: I did but ask.
Josh Hutchinson: You dare thus to lie in all this assembly? You are now before authority. I expect the truth. You promised it. Speak now and tell who told you what clothes.
Sarah Jack: Nobody.
Josh Hutchinson: How came you to know that the children would be examined on what clothes you wore?
Sarah Jack: Because I thought the child was wiser than anybody if she knew.
Josh Hutchinson: Give an answer. You said your husband told you.
Sarah Jack: He told me the children said I afflicted them.
Josh Hutchinson: How do you know what they came for? Answer me this truly. Will you say how you came to know what they came for?
Sarah Jack: I had heard speech that the children said I troubled them and I thought that they might come to examine.
Josh Hutchinson: But how did you know it?
Sarah Jack: I thought they did.
Josh Hutchinson: Did not you say you would tell the truth? Who told you what they came for?
Sarah Jack: Nobody.
Josh Hutchinson: How did [00:16:00] you know?
Sarah Jack: I did think so.
Josh Hutchinson: But you said you knew so.
Sarah Jack: A child says, there is a man whispering in her ear.
Josh Hutchinson: What did he say to you?
Sarah Jack: We must not believe all that these distracted children say.
Josh Hutchinson: Cannot you tell what that man whispered?
Sarah Jack: I saw nobody.
Josh Hutchinson: But did not you hear?
Sarah Jack: No.
Josh Hutchinson: If you expect mercy of God, you must look for it in God's way by confession. Do you think to find mercy by aggravating your sins?
Sarah Jack: A true thing.
Josh Hutchinson: Look for it then in God's way.
Sarah Jack: So I do.
Josh Hutchinson: Give glory to God and confess then.
Sarah Jack: But I cannot confess.
Josh Hutchinson: Do not you see how these afflicted do charge you?
Sarah Jack: We must not believe distracted persons.
Josh Hutchinson: Who do you improve to hurt them?
Sarah Jack: I improved none.
Josh Hutchinson: Did not you say our eyes were blinded, you would open them?
Sarah Jack: Yes, to accuse the innocent.
Josh Hutchinson: Why cannot the girl stand before you?
Sarah Jack: I do not know.
Josh Hutchinson: What did you mean by that? [00:17:00]
Sarah Jack: I saw them fall down.
Josh Hutchinson: It seems to be an insulting speech as if they could not stand before you.
Sarah Jack: They cannot stand before others.
Josh Hutchinson: You said they cannot stand before you. Tell me what was that turning upon the spit by you?
Sarah Jack: You believe the children that are distracted. I saw no spit.
Josh Hutchinson: Here are more than two that accuse you for witchcraft. What do you say?
Sarah Jack: I am innocent.
Sarah Jack: Then Mr. Hathorne read further of Crossley's evidence.
Josh Hutchinson: What did you mean by that the devil could not stand before you?
Sarah Jack: She denied it.
Josh Hutchinson: Three or four sober witnesses confirmed it.
Sarah Jack: What could I do? Many rise up against me.
Josh Hutchinson: Why confess?
Sarah Jack: So I would, if I were guilty.
Josh Hutchinson: Here are sober persons? What do you say to them? You are a gospel woman. Will you lie?
Josh Hutchinson: Abigail cried out, "next Sabbath is sacrament day, but she shall not come there."
Sarah Jack: I do not care.
Josh Hutchinson: You charge these children with distraction. It [00:18:00] is a note of distraction when persons vary in a minute, but these fix upon you. This is not the matter of distraction.
Sarah Jack: When all are against me, what can I help it?
Josh Hutchinson: Now tell me the truth, will you? Why did you say the magistrates' and ministers' eyes are blinded and you would open them?
Sarah Jack: She laughed and denied it.
Josh Hutchinson: Now tell us how we shall know who doth hurt these if you do not.
Sarah Jack: Can an innocent person be guilty?
Josh Hutchinson: Do you deny these words?
Sarah Jack: Yes.
Josh Hutchinson: Tell us who hurts these. We came to be a terror to evildoers. You say you would open our eyes, we are blind.
Sarah Jack: If you say I am a witch.
Josh Hutchinson: You said you would show us.
Sarah Jack: She denied it.
Josh Hutchinson: Why do you not now show us?
Sarah Jack: I cannot tell. I do not know.
Josh Hutchinson: What did you strike the maid at Mr. Thomas Putnam's with?
Sarah Jack: I never struck her in my life.
Josh Hutchinson: Who are two that see you strike her with an iron rod?
Sarah Jack: I had no hand in it.
Josh Hutchinson: Who had? Do you believe [00:19:00] these children are bewitched?
Sarah Jack: They may, for aught I know. I have no hand in it.
Josh Hutchinson: You say you are no witch. Maybe you mean you never covenanted with the devil. Did you never deal with any familiar?
Sarah Jack: No, never.
Josh Hutchinson: What bird was that the children spoke of?
Sarah Jack: Then witnesses spoke.
Josh Hutchinson: What bird was it?
Sarah Jack: I know no bird.
Josh Hutchinson: It may be you have engaged. You will not confess, but God knows.
Sarah Jack: So he doth.
Josh Hutchinson: Do you believe you shall go unpunished?
Sarah Jack: I have nothing to do with witchcraft.
Josh Hutchinson: Why was you not willing your husband should come to the former session here?
Sarah Jack: But he came for all.
Josh Hutchinson: Did not you take the saddle off?
Sarah Jack: I did not know what it was for.
Josh Hutchinson: Did you not know what it was for?
Sarah Jack: I did not know that it would be to any benefit.
Josh Hutchinson: Did you not say you would open our eyes? Why do you not?
Sarah Jack: I never thought of a witch.
Josh Hutchinson: Is it a laughing matter to see these afflicted persons?
Sarah Jack: She denied it.
Josh Hutchinson: Several prove it. [00:20:00]
Sarah Jack: Ye are all against me, and I cannot help it.
Josh Hutchinson: Do not you believe there are witches in the country?
Sarah Jack: I do not know that there is any.
Josh Hutchinson: Do not you know that Tituba confessed it?
Sarah Jack: I did not hear her speak.
Josh Hutchinson: I find you will own nothing without several witnesses, and yet you will deny for all.
Sarah Jack: It was noted when she bit her lip, several of the afflicted were bitten. When she was urged upon it, that she bit her lip, saith she, "what harm is there in it?"
Josh Hutchinson: What do you say to all these things that are apparent?
Sarah Jack: If you will all go hang me, how can I help it?
Josh Hutchinson: Were you to serve the devil ten years? Tell how many?
Sarah Jack: She laughed.
Josh Hutchinson: The children cried there was a yellow bird with her.
Sarah Jack: When Mr. Hathorne asked her about it, she laughed. When her hands were at liberty, the afflicted persons were pinched.
Josh Hutchinson: Why do not you tell how the devil comes in your shape and hurts these? You said you would.
Sarah Jack: How can I know how?
Josh Hutchinson: Why did you say you would show us?
Sarah Jack: [00:21:00] She laughed again.
Josh Hutchinson: What book is that you would have these children write in?
Sarah Jack: What book? Where should I have a book? I showed them none, nor have none, nor brought none.
Sarah Jack: The afflicted cried out there was a man whispering in her ears.
Josh Hutchinson: What book did you carry to Mary Walcott?
Sarah Jack: I carried none. If the devil appears in my shape.
Sarah Jack: Then Needham said that Parker some time ago thought this woman was a witch.
Josh Hutchinson: Who is your god?
Sarah Jack: The god that made me.
Josh Hutchinson: Who
Sarah Jack: is that God?
Sarah Jack: The God that made me.
Josh Hutchinson: What is his name?
Sarah Jack: Jehovah.
Josh Hutchinson: Do you know any other name?
Sarah Jack: God Almighty.
Josh Hutchinson: Doth he tell you that you pray to that he is God Almighty?
Sarah Jack: Who do I worship but the God that made me?
Josh Hutchinson: How many gods are there?
Sarah Jack: One.
Josh Hutchinson: How many persons?
Sarah Jack: Three.
Josh Hutchinson: Cannot you say so, there is one god in three blessed persons?
Sarah Jack: Then she was troubled.
Josh Hutchinson: Do not you see these children and women [00:22:00] are rational and sober as their neighbors when your hands are fastened?
Sarah Jack: Immediately they were seized with fits, and the standers by said she was squeezing her fingers, her hands being eased by them that held them on purpose for trial. Quickly after, the marshal said, she hath bit her lip, and immediately the afflicted were in an uproar.
Sarah Jack: Why do you hurt these, or who doth? She denied any hand in it.
Josh Hutchinson: Why did you say, if you were a witch, you should have no pardon?
Sarah Jack: Because I am a woman.
Josh Hutchinson: After Martha's initial interrogation, Ezekiel Cheever, Edward Putnam, Elizabeth Hubbard, Samuel Parris, Thomas Putnam, and Nathaniel Ingersoll were deposed against her.
Sarah Jack: Ezekiel Cheever and Edward Putnam described the events of March 12th, when they had confronted Martha Cory at her home.
Josh Hutchinson: Edward Putnam testified about Martha's March 14th visit to the Thomas Putnam family.
Sarah Jack: Elizabeth Hubbard said Martha had afflicted her many times since March 15th. She said, "I believe in my heart that Martha Cory [00:23:00] is a dreadful witch and that she hath very often afflicted and tormented me."
Josh Hutchinson: Samuel Parris, Nathaniel Ingersoll, and Thomas Putnam described how the afflicted were tormented during Martha's examination.
Sarah Jack: After the examination, Marshal Herrick and the magistrates dined and fed their horses at Ingersoll's, racking up a bill of four shillings and sixpence. Then they took Martha Cory to Salem, where Marshal Herrick secured her in jail.
Josh Hutchinson: On March 22nd, Rebecca Nurse's Shape allegedly assaulted Ann Putnam Sr. while wearing nothing but her shift and nightcap.
Sarah Jack: The Nurse specter offered Ann a little red book, but Ann refused to sign and quoted scripture at the specter.
Josh Hutchinson: The specter threatened to tear Ann's soul from her body, but yielded after another two hour battle and left .
Sarah Jack: Around this time in March, Peter Cloyce, Daniel Andrew, and Elizabeth and Israel Porter, visited Rebecca Nurse, who had been in bed for around a week.
Josh Hutchinson: After Rebecca expressed concern for the afflicted, whom she regretted not [00:24:00] visiting but couldn't, the visitors informed her that she too was being accused.
Sarah Jack: Once Rebecca recovered from the shock, she said, "well, as to this thing, I am as innocent as the child unborn. But surely, what sin hath God found out in me unrepentant of, that he should lay such an affliction upon me in my old age?"
Josh Hutchinson: On March 23rd, Martha Cory and Rebecca Nurse's specters reportedly afflicted Ann Putnam Sr. again.
Sarah Jack: Deodat Lawson visited and found Ann in bed, where she was getting over a fit.
Josh Hutchinson: Lawson prayed over Ann.
Sarah Jack: At some point in the prayer, Ann seemed to fall asleep. Thomas Putnam took her in his arms and found her to be stiff as a board.
Josh Hutchinson: He tried to sit her up on his lap, and she eventually had another fit. Her arms and legs jerked about as she argued with the specter of Rebecca Nurse again.
Sarah Jack: That day, Jonathan and Edward Putnam filed complaints against young Dorothy Good and aged Rebecca Nurse.
Josh Hutchinson: The magistrates issued [00:25:00] arrest warrants for Dorothy and Rebecca.
Sarah Jack: Rebecca's warrant stated that she was wanted for allegedly bewitching Ann Carr Putnam and her daughter, Ann Putnam Jr.
Josh Hutchinson: Dorothy's warrant did not specifically list any victims or even what form of witchcraft she'd been accused of, but it was likely given to Marshal George Herrick at the same time as Rebecca's warrant.
Sarah Jack: To the northeast, Captain John Alden traveled to St. John, Canada to ransom captives, including his own son. His attempt failed, and his son and others were moved to Quebec.
Josh Hutchinson: On March 24th, constables arrested Dorothy Good and Rebecca Nurse. They took the girl and the older woman to Ingersoll's Tavern in Salem Village.
Sarah Jack: There, magistrates John Hathorn and Jonathan Corwin interrogated Rebecca Nurse and Dorothy Good.
Josh Hutchinson: Reverend John Hale of Beverly gave the invocation and Samuel Parris again recorded the proceedings through his biased lens.
Sarah Jack: Hathorne began with a question to an afflicted person.
Josh Hutchinson: What do you [00:26:00] say? Have you seen this woman hurt you?
Sarah Jack: Yes, she beat me this morning.
Josh Hutchinson: Abigail, have you been hurt by this woman?
Sarah Jack: Yes,
Sarah Jack: Ann Putnam,in a grievous fit, cried out that she hurt her.
Josh Hutchinson: Goody Nurse, here are two, Ann Putnam, the child, and Abigail Williams, complain of your hurting them. What do you say to it?
Sarah Jack: I can say, before my eternal father, I am innocent, and God will clear my innocency.
Josh Hutchinson: Here is never a one in the assembly but desires it. But if you be guilty, pray God discover you.
Sarah Jack: Then Henry Kenny rose up to speak.
Josh Hutchinson: Goodman Kenny, what do you say?
Sarah Jack: Then he entered his complaint and further said that since this Nurse came into the house, he was seized twice with an amazed condition.
Josh Hutchinson: Here are not only these, but here is the wife of Mr. Thomas Putnam, who accuseth you by credible information, and that both of tempting her to iniquity and of greatly hurting her.
Sarah Jack: I am innocent and clear, and have not been able to get out of doors [00:27:00] these eight or nine days.
Josh Hutchinson: Mr. Putnam, give in what you have to say.
Sarah Jack: Then Mr. Edward Putnam gave in his relation.
Josh Hutchinson: Is this true, Goody Nurse?
Sarah Jack: I never afflicted no child, never in my life.
Josh Hutchinson: You see these accuse you. Is it true?
Sarah Jack: No.
Josh Hutchinson: Are you an innocent person relating to this witchcraft?
Sarah Jack: Here, Thomas Putnam's wife cried out, "did you not bring the black man with you? Did you not bid me tempt God and die? How oft have you eat and drunk your own damnation?"
Josh Hutchinson: What do you say to them?
Sarah Jack: Oh Lord, help me. And she spread out her hands, and the afflicted were grievously vexed.
Josh Hutchinson: Do not see what a solemn condition these are in? When your hands are loose, the persons are afflicted.
Sarah Jack: Then Mary Walcott, who often heretofore said she had seen her, but never could say or did say that she either bit or pinched her or hurt her, and also Elizabeth Hubbard under the like circumstances both openly accused her of hurting them. [00:28:00]
Josh Hutchinson: Here are these two grown persons now accuse you. What say you? Do not you see these afflicted persons and hear them accuse you?
Sarah Jack: The Lord knows I have not hurt them. I am an innocent person.
Josh Hutchinson: It is very awful to all to see these agonies,and you an old professor thus charged with contracting with the devil by the effects of it, and yet to see you stand with dry eyes when there are so many wet.
Sarah Jack: You do not know my heart.
Josh Hutchinson: You would do well if you are guilty to confess and give glory to God.
Sarah Jack: I am as clear as the child unborn.
Josh Hutchinson: What uncertainty there may be in apparitions I know not. Yet this with me strikes hard upon you, that you are at this very present charged with familiar spirits.
Josh Hutchinson: This is your bodily person they speak to. They say now they see these familiar spirits come to your bodily person. Now what do you say to that?
Sarah Jack: I have none, sir.
Josh Hutchinson: If you have, confess and give glory to God. I pray God clear you if you be innocent, and if you are guilty, discover you, [00:29:00] and therefore give me an upright answer. Have you any familiarity with these spirits?
Sarah Jack: No, I have none but with God alone.
Josh Hutchinson: How came you sick? For there is an odd discourse of that in the mouths of many.
Sarah Jack: I am sick at my stomach.
Josh Hutchinson: Have you no wounds?
Sarah Jack: I have none but old age.
Josh Hutchinson: You do know whether you are guilty and have familiarity with the devil, and now when you are here present to see such a thing as these testify a black man whispering in your ear and birds about you. What do you say to it?
Sarah Jack: It is all false. I am clear.
Josh Hutchinson: Possibly you may apprehend you are no witch, but have you not been led aside by temptations that way?
Sarah Jack: I have not.
Josh Hutchinson: What a sad thing it is that a church member here, and now another of Salem, should be thus accused and charged.
Sarah Jack: Mrs. Pope fell into a grievous fit and cried out, "a sad thing, sure enough!"
Sarah Jack: And then many more fell into lamentable fits.
Josh Hutchinson: Tell us, have [00:30:00] not you had visible appearances more than what is common in nature?
Sarah Jack: I have none, nor ever had, in my life.
Josh Hutchinson: Do you think these suffered voluntary or involuntary?
Sarah Jack: I cannot tell.
Josh Hutchinson: That is strange. Everyone can judge.
Sarah Jack: I must be silent.
Josh Hutchinson: They accuse you of hurting them, and if you think it is not unwillingly but by design, you must look upon them as murderers.
Sarah Jack: I cannot tell what to think of it.
Sarah Jack: Afterwards, when this was somewhat insisted on, she said, "I do not think so." She did not understand aright what was said.
Josh Hutchinson: Well, then give an answer now. Do you think these suffer against their wills or not?
Sarah Jack: I do not think these suffer against their wills.
Josh Hutchinson: Why did you never visit these afflicted persons?
Sarah Jack: Because I was afraid I should have fits too.
Sarah Jack: Upon the motion of her body, fits followed upon the complainants abundantly and very frequently. [00:31:00]
Josh Hutchinson: Is it not an unaccountable case that when you are examined, these persons are afflicted?
Sarah Jack: I have got nobody to look to but God.,
Sarah Jack: Again upon stirring her hands, the afflicted persons were seized with violent fits of torture.
Josh Hutchinson: Do you believe these afflicted persons are bewitched?
Sarah Jack: I do think they are.
Josh Hutchinson: When this witchcraft came upon the stage, there was no suspicion of Tituba. She professed much love to that child Betty Parris, but it was her apparition did the mischief. Why should not you also be guilty, for your apparition doth hurt also?
Sarah Jack: Would you have me belie myself?
Josh Hutchinson: She held her neck on one side, and accordingly so were the afflicted taken.
Sarah Jack: Then authority requiring it, Samuel Parris read what he had in characters
Sarah Jack: taken from Mr. Thomas Putnam's wife in her fits.
Josh Hutchinson: What do you think of this?
Sarah Jack: I cannot help it. The devil may appear in my shape.
Josh Hutchinson: When the hearing was over, the magistrates [00:32:00] committed Rebecca Nurse to the jail in Salem.
Sarah Jack: Next, the magistrates questioned little Dorothy Good, daughter of a witchcraft suspect, Sarah Good. Deodat Lawson wrote an account.
Josh Hutchinson: "The magistrates and ministers also did inform me that they apprehended a child of Sarah Good and examined it, being between four and five years of age. And as to matter of fact, they did unanimously affirm that when this child did but cast its eye upon the afflicted persons, they were tormented, and they held her head and yet so many as her eye could fix upon were afflicted, which they did several times make careful observation of. The afflicted complained they had often been bitten by this child and produced the marks of a small set of teeth. Accordingly, this was also committed to Salem prison. The child looked hale and well as other children. I saw it at Lieutenant Ingersoll's."
Sarah Jack: Giles Cory made a statement against his wife Martha.
Josh Hutchinson: He recounted the time when he was stopped from praying and the incidents which [00:33:00] befell his ox and cat.
Sarah Jack: He also described a time when Martha knelt at the hearth, as if in prayer, but he did not hear her pray.
Josh Hutchinson: Ann Putnam Jr. and Mary Walcott were deposed against Dorothy Good.
Sarah Jack: Ann said that she was tortured by the apparition of Dorothy Good many times from March 3rd through the child's examination on March 24th.
Josh Hutchinson: Mary Walcott claimed that she was afflicted by Dorothy's apparition from March 21st through 24th.
Sarah Jack: Ann Putnam Sr. was deposed against Martha Cory and Rebecca Nurse.
Josh Hutchinson: She gave a day by day account of her torments at the hands of the specters of Martha Cory and Rebecca Nurse for March 18th through 24th.
Sarah Jack: Daniel Andrew, Peter Cloyce, Israel Porter, and Elizabeth Porter made a statement for Rebecca Nurse on the 24th.
Sarah Jack: Later on the 24th, Deodat Lawson delivered the Thursday lecture, which he soon published as Christ's Fidelity the Only Shield Against Satan's Malignity.
Josh Hutchinson: In published form, the book was endorsed by [00:34:00] ministers Increase Mather, Cotton Mather, Charles Morton, James Allen, Samuel Willard, and John Bailey.
Sarah Jack: The key verse Lawson used was Zechariah 3:2. "And the Lord said unto Satan, ' The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan, even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem, rebuke thee. Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?
Josh Hutchinson: Lawson stated that his doctrine was "that the Lord Jesus Christ is the only prevalent intercessor with God the Father for the relief of those that are in covenant with him and are made partakers of his special mercy, when they are under the most threatening and amazing distresses that by the rage and malice of Satan they can be exposed unto."
Sarah Jack: Then he put forth six propositions and expounded upon six uses for this verse.
Josh Hutchinson: 1. Satan is the adversary and enemy. He is the original, the fountain of malice, the instigator of all contrariety, malignity, and enmity.
Sarah Jack: 2. [00:35:00] Satan makes it his business to improve all opportunities and advantages, to exercise his malice upon the children of men.
Sarah Jack: He is an indefatigable as well as an implacable enemy.
Josh Hutchinson: Three, the covenant people of God and those that would devote themselves entirely to his service are the special objects of Satan's rage and fury.
Sarah Jack: Four, that in all Satan's malicious designs and operations, he is absolutely bounded and limited by the power and pleasure of the great and everlasting God, the Lord Jehovah.
Josh Hutchinson: Five, that whensoever God hath declared a person or people to be in covenant with him as the objects of his special mercy and favor, he will assuredly and shortly suppress the malice of Satan, however violently engaged against them.
Sarah Jack: 6. The great God doth manage all his designs of mercy to his people under the gospel dispensation in and through the mediator. The very tenure of the gospel covenant is such, and the terms thereof are so methodized as to introduce a [00:36:00] necessity of depending on a mediator. The whole transaction of the gospel covenant betwixt the Great God and fallen Man Is by the Mediator, hence it is on better terms than the Covenant of Works, Hebrews 8:6. Under the new covenant, all addresses to God are by the Mediator, Hebrews 4: 15 and 16, and all communications of grace from God are by the Mediator, John 1:16.
Josh Hutchinson: After stating these six prepositions, Lawson then listed his six uses for the chosen verse.
Sarah Jack: One, let it be for solemn warning and awakening to all of us that are before the Lord at this time and to all other of this whole people who shall come to the knowledge of these direful operations of Satan which the Holy God hath permitted in the midst of us.
Josh Hutchinson: 2. Let it be for deep humiliation to the people of this place, which is in special under the influence of this fearful judgment of God. The Lord doth at this day manage a great controversy with you, to the [00:37:00] astonishment of yourselves and others. You are, therefore, to be deeply humbled, and fit in the dust considering.
Sarah Jack: Three, it is matter of terror, amazement, and astonishment to all such wretched souls, if there be any here in the congregation, and God of His infinite mercy grant that none of you may ever be found such, as have given up their names and souls to the devil, who by covenant, explicit or implicit, have bound themselves to be his slaves and dredges, consenting to be instruments, in whose shapes he may torment and afflict their fellow creatures, even of their own kind, to the amazing and astonishing of the standers by.
Josh Hutchinson: 4. Let it be for caution to all of us that are before the Lord, as ever we would prevail with God, to prevent the spreading of this sore affliction, and to rebuke Satan for us. Let us take heed of siding with, or giving place unto, the Devil.
Sarah Jack: 5. Let it be for exhortation and direction to this whole assembly, and to all [00:38:00] others that shall come to the knowledge of these amazing dispensations, here then give me leave to press those special duties which all persons are concerned to put in practice at such a time as this."
Josh Hutchinson: Six. The sixth and last use is in two words of comfort, to bear up the fainting souls of those that are personally under, or relatively concerned in, these direful operations of the grand enemy of mankind.
Sarah Jack: Lawson wrapped up his sermon with a conclusion.
Josh Hutchinson: He said, "to conclude, the Lord is known by the judgments which he executes in the midst of us. The dispensations of his providence appear to be unsearchable, and his doing pass finding out. He seems to have allowed Satan to afflict many of our people, and that thereupon he has come down in great wrath, threatening the destruction of the bodies,and if the infinite mercy of God prevent not, of the souls of many in this place, yet may we say in the midst of the terrible things which He doth in righteousness. He alone is the [00:39:00] God of our salvation, who represents himself as the savior of all that are in a low and distressed condition, because he is good and his mercy endures forever.
Sarah Jack: Let us then return and repent, rent our hearts and not our garments. Who can tell if the Lord will return in mercy unto us, and by his Spirit lift up a standard against the grand enemy who threatens to come in like a flood among us and overthrow all that is holy and just and good? It is no small comfort to consider that Job's exerciseof patience had its beginning from the Devil, but we have seen the end to be from the Lord, James 5:11, that we also may find by experience the same blessed issue of our present distresses by Satan's malice.
Sarah Jack: Let us repent of every sin that hath been committed, and labor to practice every duty which hath been neglected. And when we are humbled and proved for our good in the latter end, then we shall assuredly and speedily find that the kingly power of our Lord and Savior shall [00:40:00] be magnified in delivering his poor sheep and lambs out of the jaws and paws of the roaring lion.
Josh Hutchinson: Then will Jesus, the blessed anti-type of Joshua, the redeemer and chooser, quell, suppress, and utterly vanquish this adversary of ours with irresistible power and authority, according to our text. And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan, even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee. Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?"
Sarah Jack: Once Rebecca Nurse and Dorothy Good were jailed, there were a total of six people behind bars for allegedly participating in the Salem Witch Conspiracy.
Josh Hutchinson: Also imprisoned were Martha Cory, Sarah Good, Sarah Osburn, and Tituba.
Sarah Jack: In the next episode in our Salem Witch Hunt 101 series, we will cover the remainder of March and the beginning of April, getting into accusations against Rachel Clinton, Sarah Cloyce, and Elizabeth Procter.
Josh Hutchinson: And now Sarah has End Witch Hunts [00:41:00] News.
Sarah Jack: As we wrap up this episode, we're excited to share some recent developments. End Witch Hunts just completed its first international trip, attending and presenting at two academic conferences outside the United States. This journey was more than just a professional milestone; it was a testament to the global community we've built through this podcast. We had the incredible opportunity to meet 10 of our past podcast guests in person for the first time, plus a rare encounter with Leo Igwe, Director of Advocacy for Alleged Witches. The experience of connecting face to face with these experts, along with several of our dedicated listeners, reinforced the impact of our work.
Sarah Jack: This podcast is unique in delivering firsthand experiences and research from organizations and individuals working directly in communities affected by witch hunts.Our guests bring context and perspective from around the world, offering insights you won't find anywhere else. Our time in England, filled with enriching conversations, has inspired [00:42:00] a wealth of important updates and fascinating content that we can't wait to share with you this fall.
Sarah Jack: We'll be bringing you snippets from our conference presentations on our projects, World Without Witch Hunts, End SARA, and the Connecticut Witch Trial Exoneration Project. If you'd like to support our work and help cover the costs of attending these conferences, please consider making a donation. You'll find the link in our show notes.
Sarah Jack: To those who have already contributed, we extend our heartfelt thanks. Your support is crucial in our ongoing efforts to end harmful practicesand witch accusations. Thank you for being part of this critical mission. We'll be back next week with more insights and stories from the front lines of ending witch hunts. Until then, stay informed and stay engaged.
Josh Hutchinson: Thank you, Sarah.
Sarah Jack: You're welcome.
Josh Hutchinson: And thank you for joining us for this episode.
Sarah Jack: Be sure to join us again next week.
Josh Hutchinson: And if you haven't already done so, check out our extensive back catalog of episodes.
Sarah Jack: We have now done 28 episodes on the Salem Witch Trials. A link to these episodes is [00:43:00] included in the show notes.
Josh Hutchinson: And we will continue to bring you the best witch trial content.
Sarah Jack: Subscribe to our newsletter and always know what's coming up. The link is in the show notes.
Josh Hutchinson: Thank you. Have a great today and a beautiful tomorrow.
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