Typical of the Witchcraft Trials

Greater Salem, the province of Governors Conant and Endicott, is visited by thousands of sojourners yearly. They come to study the Quakers and the witches, to picture the manses of the latter and the stately mansions of Salem’s commercial kings, and breathe the salubrious air of “old gray ocean.”

The witchcraft “delusion” is generally the first topic of inquiry, and the earnest desire of those people with notebook in hand to aid the memory in chronicling answers, suggested this monograph and urged its publication. There is another cogent reason: the popular knowledge is circumscribed and even that needs correcting.

This short history meets that earnest desire; it gives the origin, growth, and death of the hideous monster; it gives dates, courts, and names of places, jurors, witnesses, and those hanged; it names and explains certain “men and things” that are concomitant to the trials, with which the reader may not be conversant and which are necessary to the proper setting of the trials in one’s mind; it compasses the salient features of witchcraft history, so that the story of the 1692 “delusion” may be garnered and entertainingly rehearsed.

The trials were all spread upon the records, word for word. Rev. Samuel Parris, stenographer to the court, says they were “taken down in my characters written at the time,” barring, of course, 4the evidence by affidavits, which were written, signed, and attested, and filed in the Clerk of Court’s office, where they may now be seen.

Great research has hitherto been made, keen, sagacious acumen employed, and much written; but the true criterion of judgment, a trial,—a word for word trial,—has not before this been published. Here, then, is the first opportunity of readers to judge for themselves.

The trials were unique. The court was without authority; none of the judges, it is said, was bred to the law; evidence was arbitrarily admitted or excluded; the accused were not allowed counsel in law or the consolation of the clergy in religion.

The careful reader may discover, between the lines, in questions, in answers, and in the strange exhibitions, the real state of mind pervading all, which has been mildly characterized as a “delusion”; also he may be able to compare the Mosaic, the 1692, and the modern spirit manifestations, and advantageously determine for himself what is worth while in modern spiritualism, mind-reading, clairvoyance, mesmerism, and the rest.

Though men of education, religion, titled dignity, and official station, of the professions and the élite, were responsible for the horrible catastrophy, and in one instance or more forced the yeoman jurors to convict (who at the end signed recantations and expressed their grief),—religion and education must not be undervalued; a religious education will yield the highest type of manhood.

The proceedings in witchcraft in 1692 to us who are two hundred and twenty years removed from the scene, seem, at first, impossible, then mortifying, and persuasive of disowning our fathers and forgetting the period of their folly. At best, the occurrence furnishes the wildest and saddest chapter in our New England history.

Antiquity of the Witch
and Her Legal Status

The doctrine of familiar spirits was current in most ancient times. It is possible that immediately after the fall in Adam the imprisoned spirit of man began to assert its former freedom and ability. The old Scriptures depicted the witch’s character, gave warning of her blighting influence, and enacted heavy penalties against employing her agency. In Exodus, xxii. 18: “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” In Leviticus, xx. 27: “A man also or a woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.” In Deuteronomy, xviii. 9-12: “When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, 10or any observer of times, or any enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer; for all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord.”

The Colonial Laws and
Their Biblical Origin

The colonial laws to which New England witches were amenable, codified by Rev. Samuel Ward, of Ipswich, who had had extensive legal training and practice before entering the ministry, were published in 1641. Mr. Ward^[2] followed Moses, the great Hebrew lawgiver, in great measure, but he distanced England in mildness and was far ahead of his time in scope. With him, however, the witch found no favor. Death was the punishment for witchcraft, first and last, and the Puritan, whose sure palladium of civil and religious freedom was the Bible, obeyed the precept to the letter, his highest knowledge and authority.

The Modern Witch and
Her Terrible Persecution

The modern witch, it is said, had her birth near the beginning of the Christian era. Her persecution began about two hundred years later. 11From that time hundreds of thousands of victims were immolated to appease the inconsiderate and insatiate demands of her persecutors.

In the earliest years witches were generally burned, and in the first one hundred and fifty years it is estimated thirty thousand thus perished. Later, in France, in one century, an almost incredible number suffered—one thousand in a single diocese. In the century, 1600 to 1700, two hundred were hanged in England, one thousand were burned in Scotland, and a much greater number on the Continent.

The American Witch and
Views of the Educated

In America there were witch trials—in Connecticut, New York, and Pennsylvania,^[3]—some years before 1692. In Boston, 1648, Margaret Jones, of malignant touch, was hanged, and Mrs. Ann (Wm.) Hebbins, in 1655. In Springfield, 1651, Mrs. Mary (Hugh) Parsons was hanged. In Ipswich quarter court, 1652, a man was sentenced to pay a fine of twenty shillings, or to be whipped for “having familiarity with the Devil.”

The doctrine of witches was embraced not only by the common people, but also by the learned; Tycho Brahe, the prince of astronomers, and 12Kepler, his student, Martin Luther, the bold theologian, and Melancthon, the gentle; the silver-tongued Dr. Watts and the pious Baxter, who styled a disbeliever in witchcraft “an obdurate Sadducee,” and others whom time fails me to mention.

Old Crone Lore and
Three Notable Dissenters

Witch stories were a social entertainment, to the mingled fear and merriment of guests and the positive foreboding of children. Who even now among the older people has forgotten the crone lore of our grandmothers—how witches would seize a red-hot iron, glide into a heated oven, ride through the air on enchanted broomsticks, and how stalwart men would stalk through keyholes, supported and directed by Satanic power! It was believed that witches made an actual, deliberate, and formal compact with Satan.

There were, however, two or three persons of learning and influence in the Province who (to their great credit, be it said) dared to oppose the doctrine of witches—the celebrated Rev. Samuel Willard, of the Old South Church, Boston,—Maj. Nathaniel Saltonstall, who declined a seat upon the bench rather than participate in the witch trials,—and Rev. John Higginson (son of Rev. Francis, the first minister of Salem), who was cautious and held himself aloof; for his conscience whispered he had gone too far against the Quakers.

The New England witch was supposed to be an old woman of attenuated form, somewhat bent; clothed in lively colors and ample skirts; having a darting and piercing eye, a head sporting disheveled hair and crowned with a sugar-loaf hat, a carlin’s cheek, a falcated chin bent to meet an aquiline nose, by both of which was formed a Neapolitan bay, her mouth in the background resembling Vesuvius in eruption; and riding an enchanted broomstick with a black cat as guide.

Salem Village, the location of the hideous catastrophe, was the northern precinct of Salem; and when it was incorporated Danvers, its name became Danvers Center. Quite recently (1910) the trolley car company changed the name to Danvers Highlands, but in the steam car nomenclature it is Collins Street. From Town House Square in Salem to the Highlands a trolley ride costs a nickel; the distance is five miles, and every mile a pleasure.

Ingersoll and His Tavern
Revs. Bailey, Burroughs, Lawson

Nathaniel Ingersoll occupied the central location in the village; a man of industry and thrift; a licensed innkeeper, who sold liquor by the quart on Sunday; a kind of chief of police; managed the defenses against the Indians; a benevolent man, and was chosen deacon. His name does not figure in the witch trials, and the witches have left no records of the influence of his tavern in the results. The open plat of ground in front of his tavern was called Ingersoll’s Common. Farther up the street, at No. 5, is a plat of ground he gave for “a training field forever.” Capt. Dea. Jonathan Walcott was a neighbor, as was also Sergt. Thomas Putnam, parish clerk.

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• 1. Locates the church there at present.
• 2. Locates the church of 1692.
• 3. Locates the Ingersoll Tavern and the present parsonage.
• 4. Locates the Parris house where the mischief began.
• 5. Locates the entrance to the Ingersoll Training Field.
• The narrow lane leading to No. 4 is a right of way for all.

15

The New England Witch

16Rev. James Bailey, near his majority, a recent graduate of Harvard, began to preach (not as pastor) there in 1671, and created a division. Rev. George Burroughs succeeded him in 1680, but matters grew worse. In 1683 Rev. Deodat Lawson began and gave no better results.

Mr. Burroughs was a short, stout man, very muscular and of very dark complexion. He was a Harvard graduate of 1670. Most of the witches knew him; and his complexion and extraordinary strength argued his connection with the black art and the muscular devil.

Rev. Deodat Lawson (Deo-dat-um), a “God-given” cataplasm for the tumor of unrest, social discords, and animosities that had their rise in Bailey’s ministry! With Lawson, the suppuration began; for the deviltry had gone from seance to families and the church, where the unwhipped girls cried out from time to time, “enough of that”; “see the yellow bird on the minister’s hat”; “now name your text”; “look how she sits”; to all which Mr. Lawson’s simplicity testifies: 17these things “did something interrupt me in my first prayer, being so unusual.”

Rev. Samuel Parris, Student
West Indian Trader, First Pastor

The wound was treated and cleansed during the ministry of Rev. Samuel Parris. He was born in London, about 1653, had been a merchant in Boston and the Spanish Main, and had studied at Harvard. He succeeded Mr. Lawson and was ordained and installed their first pastor, Tuesday, Nov. 19, 1689. He left in 1696. The unanimity of the church since he left has been as marked as the schism was before he left.

The Parris Meeting House, 1692

Mr. Parris’s home was at No. 4 on the map. His house probably did not survive the year 181717. His meetinghouse stood a little to the east of the Ingersoll Tavern, probably the flat spot now marked by rose bushes and weeds, and maybe by a large, flat stone in the wall, which stone may have served as a doorstep. A beautiful modern church edifice now graces the corner opposite Ingersoll’s old corner, while the parsonage occupies the Ingersoll site.

John and His Tituba
Rev. S. Parris’s Slaves

Mr. Parris brought with him from the Spanish Main, as his slaves, a couple called John Indian and his wife, Tituba. The ignorance of the Spanish population found its summit of pleasure in dancing, singing, sleight of hand, palmistry, fortune-telling, magic, and necromancy (or spirit communication with the dead); and John and his Tituba in all those things were fully up to date.

Parris’s Witch School, Apt
Pupils, Their Personnel

To the pastor’s house (as he wrote, “When these calamities first began, which was at my house”) the village maidens, by surreption, went under the tuition of Tituba. Those of us who have some remembrance of the rise of spiritualism, the phenomenon of table-tipping, and the slightly more refined practice of the élite with scribbling planchet, can picture in some degree Tituba’s pupils and how they got there.

First Church Edifice and Parsonage
Danvers Highlands

19Of those pupils (“children,” as the court called them) two were of the pastor’s family—Ann Williams, aged eleven, and his daughter, whom he quickly sent away; Ann Putnam, daughter of Ann and Sergeant Thomas, a precocious miss of only twelve, who easily became a leader; Mary Warren, domestic in John Proctor’s family, aged twenty; Susannah Sheldon and Elizabeth Booth, neighbors and eighteen; Sarah Churchill, helper to George Jacobs, senior; Elizabeth Hubbard, Mercy Lewis, former domestic for Mrs. Burroughs, and Mary Walcott, daughter of Deacon Jonathan, each of them eighteen.

Had those “children,” the pioneers of the awfully fatal mischief, been scourged at the whipping post,

if needful, and John and his Tituba been returned to their native soil, no doubt the horrible tragedy would have been averted. The Shafflin girl in Peabody was cured “when a timely whipping brought her to her senses.” So was Dinah Sylvester, of Mansfield, when given her choice of a whipping or owning and abandoning her error.

Casting out Devils
“Still the Wonder Grew”

But, instead, Mr. Parris, in fashion of the vaunted prowess of Cotton Mather and other pedantic, astute, aspiring ministers, to show their 20efficiency in “casting out devils,” called in the clergy, the deacons, and the elders, and held, February 11th, a day of fasting and prayer. “And still the wonder grew.”

A Portentous Leap Day
“The Greatest Show on Earth”

It was high time, and some leading citizens took the initiative. A complaint was lodged against Tituba Feb. 25, 1692. The first warrants were issued the 29th, the leap day of the year, and Sarah Good, Sarah Osbun, and Tituba Indian were apprehended. They were examined March 1st and ordered to jail in Boston, to await the action of the higher court.

The examinations were to be held in Ingersoll’s Tavern, but the crowd was so great on Ingersoll’s Common, that the court adjourned to the meeting house. The magistrates were John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin, assistants. They went over from Salem, attended by the marshal, constables, and their aids, and all of them arrayed in the garb of court authority and the attractive insignia of official station. Their advent into the village was marked by an ostentation of whatever grandeur and splendor they had at command. To the gaping multitude it was “the greatest show on earth,” while the trials proved a “Wild West.”

Sarah Good, a broken-down outcast, deserted by her husband, begging food from house to 21house, was first examined; the last examined was Tituba, the chief offender.

Gov. Simon Bradstreet, 1603-1697

Unwarrantable Usurpation
Names of the Court and Jury

The Province took formal charge in re April 11, 1692. Simon Bradstreet was governor. He had been honored with thirteen annual elections by 22the people to that office. He was then eighty-six years of age, the “Grand Old Man” of his time. He struck the keynote at first in an opinion that the witch evidence was insufficient. With honor crowned he passed into history as “The Old Charter Governor.”

The high action of Deputy-Governor Danforth and his Counsel, who were the court, gave éclat to the proceedings and consternation filled the county. In October, 1691, a new charter was signed, and Sir Wm. Phipps was appointed governor. He arrived in Boston with the new charter, Saturday, May 14, 1692. William Stoughton was made deputy-governor, in place of Thomas Danforth.

In this change from popular government Increase Mather, an early president of Harvard College, was a “power behind the throne.” The new charter had his approval and Sir Wm. Phipps, its first governor, was his nominee. Phipps was “a well-meaning man, inclined to superstition,” and Mather admired his “incompetency.” Stoughton was a man “of cold affections, proud, self willed, and covetous of distinction, and universally hated by the people.” He was appointed deputy-governor to please Cotton Mather, son of Increase. Cotton in his race for glory ran amuck. He was a man of “overweening vanity,” panting for fame, and the strenuous mover in the trials. He harangued the populace and sermonized on witchcraft; he wrote a book: “The Trials of Witches,” and even on horseback, at the hanging of Rev. George Burroughs, he harangued the people gathered there, lest they interfere and rob the gallows.

23By the new charter courts of justice were to be established by the General Court. The witch trials were, therefore, stranded and must remain in statu quo, apparently, for several months, while awaiting the action of the General Court. The Governor, however, by “an unwarrantable usurpation of authority,” organized a court of final hearing, called Oyer and Terminer, to act in the pending cases.

Deputy-Governor Stoughton was appointed chief justice, and Nathaniel Saltonstall, of Haverhill, who declined to serve, and was succeeded by Jonathan Corwin, of Salem; Major John Richards, of Boston; Major Bartholomew Gedney, of Salem; Mr. Wait Winthrop, Mr. Peter Sargent, and Capt. Samuel Sewell, of Boston, Associate Justices.

The panel of the Jury of Inquest was Thomas Fisk, foreman; William Fisk, John Bachelor, Thomas Fisk, Jr., John Dane, Joseph Eveleth, Thomas Perley, Sr., John Peabody, Thomas Perkins, Samuel Sayer, Andrew Eliot, and Henry Herrick, Sr.

The commissions of the court were dated Friday, May 27th; the court convened Thursday, June 2d; Bridget Bishop, of Salem, was convicted Wednesday, the 8th, and hanged Friday, the 10th. The court, by adjournment, next sat Wednesday, the 29th of June; then by several 24adjournments, it was to sit the 1st of November.

The day on which Bridget Bishop was hanged, June 10th, the General Court enacted a law of the old charter for capital cases, and under it presumably the subsequent witch trials were held, while the personnel of the court remained the same.

Trials Arrested, Court Suspended
List of Those Hanged

The General Court in October established the Superior Court of Judicature and gave it jurisdiction in witch cases. Governor Phipps immediately arrested the witch trials, and suspended the court. Oyer and Terminer was dissolved. These were hanged:

Friday, June 10th

• 1. Bishop, Bridget, wife of Edward, of Salem.

Tuesday, July 19th

• 1. Good, Sarah, of the village.
• 2. Wildes, Sarah, daughter of Wm., of Topsfield.
• 3. Howe, Elizabeth, wife of James, Jr., of Ipswich Farms.
• 4. Nourse, Rebecca, wife of Francis, of the village.
• 5. Martin, Susannah, of Amesbury.

• 1. Burroughs, Rev. George, of Casco. See above.
• 2. Proctor, John, of Peabody.
• 3. Jacobs, George, of the Village, eighty years old.
• 4. Willard, John, apprehended at Groton.
• 5. Carryer, Martha, wife of Thomas, of Andover.

Thursday, September 22d

• 1. Cory, Martha, wife of Giles, of Peabody.
• 2. Æstey, Mary, wife of Isaac, of Topsfield.
• 3. Parker, Alice, wife of John, of Salem.
• 4. Pudeator, Ann, widow of Jacob.
• 5. Scott, Margaret, widow of Benj., of Rowley.
• 6. Read, Wilmot, wife of Samuel, of Marblehead.
• 7. Wardwell, Samuel, of Andover.
• 8. Parker, Mary, of Salem.

Monday, September 19th

Giles Cory would not plead to the indictment, and was pressed to death. In modern law one thus mute is understood to plead not guilty, but at that period one must plead before he could be put on trial, and might be tortured till he pleaded 26or died. Mr. Cory would not countenance any phase or feature of witchcraft.

Tuesday, May 10th

Died in prison Sarah Osbun, condemned, wife of Alexander.

Saturday, December 3d

Died in prison, Ann Foster, widow of Andrew, of Andover, who died, 1685, aged 106.

Elizabeth Proctor, widow of John (above), was reprieved on account of her condition, then pardoned.

Mrs. Thomas Bradbury, of Salisbury, daughter of John Perkins, of Ipswich, eighty years old, condemned, then acquitted.

Rebecca Eames, wife of Robert, of Boxford, condemned, reprieved.

Elizabeth Morse, of Newbury, reprieved.

Abigail Falkner and Elizabeth Johnson, both of Andover, daughters of Rev. Francis Dane, were respectively thirteen and five months in jail.

Mary Lacey, wife of Lawrence, daughter of Andrew and Ann Foster (above), confessed, accused her mother of bewitching her, and escaped punishment.

As above there were twenty-eight convictions, nineteen persons were hanged, and one was pressed to death, “fifty-five were pardoned, one hundred and fifty more were imprisoned, and two 27hundred others or more were accused.” Several dogs were accused, and one of Danvers and another of Andover were executed.

Let it now be noted and remembered, that no witch or wizard was ever burned to death in Salem town or Essex county.

The Beginning of the End
Rev. John Hale’s Change of Heart

Early in October, 1692, the wild and extravagant methods of the court had penetrated every community, and by relation or friendship, almost every family, and too, accusations rested upon families of the wealthy and the learned, of clergymen and laymen, and even it was whispered upon one of the judges of the court and the wife of the governor; and it was only when the ruthless authority of the law invaded those homes that the fury of the storm abated. When Rev. John Hale, of Beverly, who had been conspicuously active in the convictions, found his wife in the diabolical toils, he experienced a sudden change of heart, and prayed for peace. The time was ripe; Mr. Hale’s sentiments echoed from every home. The establishment of the new court (Wm. Stoughton, Chief Justice, Thomas Danforth, Wait Winthrop, John Richards, and Samuel Sewell, Associate Justices) and the abolition of the old court, helped the cause.

In the January next following fifty persons were indicted. All who were tried were acquitted 28except three, who were pardoned. All who were not tried were discharged on the payment of thirty shillings each. In the following May, when a jail delivery had been decreed, one hundred and fifty went forth.

Lofty Character of the Condemned
Judge Joseph Story’s Tribute

Those who suffered were a remarkable company of men and women. They came from the humble walks in life, but most of them were old in experience and solidified in character and sentiments. Though they were posted as criminals, taunted with aspersions, forbidden counsel in law and religion, and had every word of defense twisted into a semblance of condemnation, yet they exhibited the true nobility of life in truth and righteousness; they counted their lives not dear to them, could they only reach the goal of their hope in God their Saviour.

But after all we must not judge the actors in this frenzied delusion harshly or rashly. Hon. Joseph Story, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, writes: “Surely our ancestors had no special reason for shame in a belief which had the universal sanction of their own and all former ages, which counted in its train philosophers as well as enthusiasts, which was graced by the learning of prelates as well as by the countenance of kings, which the law supported by its mandates, and the purest judges felt no compulsions in enforcing.”

The Witch Plat and the Crevice

The Witch Plat

Or the place where “The Witches” were hanged is on Proctor Street, Salem, marked off on this map by the dotted lines. The cross locates “The Crevice,” where the corpses were thrown. To touch a witch corpse was malignant; yet some bodies were taken away for burial at home.

Giles Cory was pressed to death in the field corner of St. Peters and Brown Streets, opposite the jail then on Church Street, corner of St. Peters Street, Salem.

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Photograph of the Warrant for Mrs. Howe’s Arrest

Sunday, May 29, 1692, Ephraim Wildes, constable of Topsfield, with a capias signed by John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin, Assistants, went to the home of James Howe, Jr., in Ipswich Farms, and took into custody the wife and mother as a witch.

She was charged with sundry acts of witchcraft upon the bodies of Mary Walcott and Abigail Williams, and others of Salem Village. She was examined the next Wednesday at the house of Nathaniel Ingersoll of that place. She pleaded not guilty, denied all knowledge of the matter and testified that she had never heard of the girls, Mary and Abigail, till their names were read in the warrant. But in court they fell down, they cried out, they were pinched and pricked, and they accused Mrs. Howe. She was remanded to prison to await the action of the Jury of Inquest. Her case was called Wednesday and Thursday, June 29 and 30, 1692.

The Sunday Warrant
And its Sunday Service

To the Constable of Topsfield:

You are in theyr Magestyes Names hereby Requested to Apprehend & bring before us Elizabeth How ye wife of James How of Topsfield Husbandman on tuesday next being the thirty-first day of May about ten of ye Clock in ye forenoon. 32at ye house of Leut Nathaniel Ingersolls of Salem Village Whoe Stand Charged with Sundry Acts of Witchcraft done or committed on ye bodyes of Mary Wolcott Abigail Williams & others of Salem Village, to theyr great hurt, in order to her examination Relating to ye abovesd premises & hereof you are nott to fayle.

Dat’ Salem May 28th, 1692.

p us

In obedience to this warrant I have apprehended Elizabeth How the wife of Jems how on the 29th of May 1692 and have brought har unto the house of leftnant nathaniell englosons according too ye warrant as atested by me Ephraim Willdes constabell for the town of Topsfield.

Dated may 31st 1692.

The Preliminary Examination
She Never Heard of Her Accusers Before

Mercy Lewis & Mary Walcott fell in a fit quickly after the examinant came in. Mary Walcott said that this woman the examinant had pincht her & Choakt this month. Ann Putnam said she had hurt her three times

Question.

What say you to this charge? Here are them that charge you with witchcraft

Answer.

If it was the last moment I was to live God knows I am innocent of anything of this nature

Q.33

Did not you take notice that now when you lookt upon Mercy Lewis she was struck down?

A.

I cannot help it.

Q.

You are charged here what doe you say?

A.

I am innocent of anything of this nature

Q.

Is this the first time that ever you were accused

A.

Yes Sr

Q.

Do not you know that one at Ipswich hath accused you?

A.

This is the first time that ever I heard of it.

Q.

You say that you never heard of these folks before.

Mercy Lewis at length spake & charged this woman with hurting & pinching her. And then Abigail Williams cryed she hath hurt me a great many times, a great while and she hath brought me the book. Ann Putnam had a pin stuck in her hand.

Q.

What do you say to this?

A.

I cannot help it.

Q.

What consent have you given?

Abig Williams cryed out that she was pincht & great prints were seen in her arm. Mary Warren cryed out she was prickt

Q.

Have you not seen some apparition?

A.

No never in all my life.

34

Q.

Those that have confessed they tell us they used images and pins now tell us what have you used

A.

You would not have me confess that which I know not

She looked upon Mary Warren & said Warren violently fell down. Look upon this maid, viz.: Mary Walcott her back being towards the examinant. Mary Warren & Ann Putnam said they saw this woman upon her. Susan Sheldon saith this was the woman that carryd her yesterday to the Pond. Sus. Sheldon carried to the examinant in a fit & was well upon grasping her arm.

Q.

You said you never heard before of these people.

A.

Not before the warrant was served me last Sabbath day.

John Indian cryed out Oh she bites & fell into a grevious fit & so carried to her in his fit & was well upon her grasping him.

Q.

What do you say to these things—they cannot come to you.

A.

Sr I am unable to give account of it.

Q.

Cannot you tell what keeps them off from your body?

A.

I cannot tell I know not what it is.

35This a true account of the examination of Eliz: How taken from my characters written at the time thereof.

Witness my hand

The Indictment. The Case
Heard June 29th and 30th and July 1st

The jurors of our Sovereign Lord and Lady the King and Queen represent That Elizabeth How wife of James of Ips. the 31st day of May the fourth year of our Sovereigne Lord and Lady Wm. and Mary by the Grace of God of England Scotland ffrance and Ireland King and Queen defenders of the ffaith &c. and Divers other days and times as well before as after Certaine Detestable Acts called Witchcraft and sorceries wickedly and ffelloniously hath used Practiced and Exercised at and within the Township of Salem in the county of Essex aforesaid in upon and against one Mary Walcott of Salem Village singlewoman by which said wicked arts the said Mary Walcott the 31th day of May in the 4th year aforesaid and Divers other Days and times as well before as after was and is Tortured, Afflicted Pined Consumed wasted and Tormented and also for sundry other Acts of witchcraft by said Elizabeth How Committed and Done before and since that time agt the Peace of our Soverigne Lord and Lady the King and Queen and against the form of the statute in that case made and Provided.

the first of iune 1692 the deposition of timothi Perley and deborah Perley his wife timoth Perley aged about 39 and his wife about 33 there being som diference between goode how that is now seized namely Elizabeth How wife of James How Junr and timothi Perli abovesaid about som bords the night following our cous lay out and finding of them the next morning we went to milk them and one of them did not give but two or thre spoone fuls of milk and one of the other cous did not give above halfe a Pinte and the other gave aboute a quart and these cous used to give three or four quarts at a meale two of these cous continued to give litle or nothing four or five meals and yet thes went to a good inglish pasture and within four dais the cous gave ther full Proportion that thir used to give.

furder deborah Perley testifieth and as conserning hanah Perley Samuel Perleys daughter that was so sore afflicted her mother and she coming to our house hanah Perley being suddinli scared & so thers that woman she goes into the oven and out againe and then fell into a dredful fit and when I have asked her when she said that woman what woman she ment she tould me ieams hows wife sometimes hanah Perley went along with me to ieams hows an sone fell into a fitt goode how was ueri louing to her and when the garl and I came away i asked whi she talked so of goode how being 37she was so louing to her she tould me that if i were aflicted as she was that I would talk as bad of her as she did at anothr tim i saw goode how and hanah Perley together and thai were ueri louing together and after goode How was gone i asked whi she was so louing to good how when thai were together she tould me that she was afraide to doe otherwise for then goode how would kil her.

Testified to June 30th before the Jury of Inquest

Samuel and Ruth Perley

the first of iune 1692 the deposition of Samuel Perley and his wife aged about 52 and his wife 46 years of age we hauing a dafter about ten years of age being in a sorrowful condition this being sone after a faling out thai had bene betwen ieams how and his wife and miself our daughter told us that it was ieams hows wife that afflicted her both night and day sometimes complaining of being Pricked with Pins and sometimes faling down into dredful fits and often sai i could neuer aflict a dog as goode how aflicts me mi wife and i did often chide her for naming goode how being loth her name shold be defamed but our daughter would tel us that though we would not beleue her now yet you wil know it one day we went to several docters and thai tould us that she was under an evil hand our daughter tould us that when she came nere the fire or water this witch Puls me in and was often soreli burnt and she 38would tel us what cloaths she wore and would sai there she goes and there she goes and now she is gone into the oven and at these sights faling down into dredful fits and thus our daughter continuing about two or three years constantli afirming to the last that this goode how that is now seised was the cause of her sorrows and pined awai to Skin and bone and ended her sorrowful life and this we can atest upon oath ruth Perley’s mark.

Sam’l Pearly & his wife declare ye above written to be the truth upon oath. After this the aboue said goode how had a mind to ioin ipswich church thai being unsatisfied sent to us to bring in what we had against her and when we had declared to them what we knew thei see cause to Put a stop to her coming into the Church within a few dais after I had a cow wel in the morning as far as we knew this cow was taken straingli running about like a mad thing a litle while and then run into a great Pon and drowned herself and as sone as she was dead mi sons and miself towed her to the shore and she stunk so that we had much a doe to flea her.

As for the time daughters being taken ill it was in the yere of our Lord 1682.

Testified to before the Jury of Inquest

Rev. Samuel Phillips

The testimony of Samuel Phillips aged about 67 minister of the word of God in Rowley who sayth that mr payson (minister of Gods word alsoe 39in Rowley) and myself went, being desired to Sameul pearly of ipswich to se thiere young daughter who was viseted with strang fitts and in her fitts (as her father and mother affermed) did mention good wife How the wife of James How Junior of Ipswich as if she was in the house and afflict her; when we were in the house the child had one of her fitts but made no mention of good wife how; & and when the fitt was over and she came to herself, goodwife how went to the child and took her by the hand & askt her whether she had ever done her any hurt And she answered noe never and if I did complain of you in my fitts I knew not that I did soe: I further can affirm upon oath that young Samuel Pearly, Brother to the afflicted girle looking out of a chamber (I and the afflicted child being with outdores together) and sayd to his sister Say goodwife How is a witch say she is a witch & the child spake not a word that way, but I lookt up to the window where the youth stood & rebuked him for his boldness to stir up his sister to accuse the said goodw: How when as she had cleared her from doing any hurt to his sister in both our hearing & I added no wonder that the child in her fitts did mention Goodwife How when her nearest relatives were soe frequent in expressing theire suspicions in the childs hearing when she was out of her fitts that she sayed Goodwife How was an Instrument of mischeif to the child

Rowley 3 June 1692

I Edward Paison of ye Town abouesd Thoh present at ye place & time aforesd yet cannot evidence in all the particulars mentioned: Thus much is yet in my remembrance viz: being in ye abouesd Pearley’s house some considerable time before ye sd Goodw: How came in: their afflicted Daughter upon something that her mother spake to her with tartness presently fell into on of her usual strange fitts, during which she made no mention (as I observed) of ye above sd How her name or any thing relating to her, sometime after the sd How came in when sd Girl had recovered her capacity, her fitt being over sd How took sd Girl by ye hand, asked her whether she had ever done her any hurt: ye child answered no never; with several expressions to yt purpose which I am not able particularly to recount &c.

Rowley June 3 1692.

Deborah Hadley

The Deposition of Debory Hadley aged about 70 years; this Deponant testifieth & sth that I have lived near to Elizabeth How (ye wife of James How Junior of Ipswich) 24 year & have found a neighborly woman Consciencious in her dealings faithful to her pmises & Christianlike in her Conversation so far as I have observed & further saith nt.

June 24 1692

from Ipswich Ju ye 25 1692 this may sertify houe it may conserne we being desired to wright some thing in ye behalfe of Ye Wife of Jeams how Junior of Ipswich hoe is aprehended upon suspition of being gilty of ye Sin of witchcraft & now in Salem prisson upon ye same acount for ouer oun partes we haue bin well aquainted wt hur for aboue twenty yeers we neuer see but yt she cared it very wel & yt both hur wordes & actions wer always such as well become a good Cristian: we ofte spake to hur of somethings yt wer reported of hur yt gaue some suspition of yt she is now charged wt & she always profesing hur Inosency yr in offen desiring our prayers to god for hur yt god would keep hur in his fear & yt god would support hur under hur burdin we haue offen herd hur Speaking of those persons yt raised thos reports of hur and we neuer heered hur Speake badly of y for ye same but in ouer hering hath offen said yt she desired god that he would santify yt afflicttion as well as others for hur spiritual good.

Simon and Mary Chapman

Ipswich June the 25th 1692 The testimony of Simon Chapman About 48 years testifieth and 42sayth that he hath ben Aquainted with the wiufe of James how iunr as a naybar for this 9 or 10 yers and he neuer saw any harm by hur but that That hath bin good for I found hur Joust In hur delling fayth fooll too hur promicises I haue had acation to be in the compiny of goodwief howe by the fortnight togather at Thayer hous: and at other tims and I found at all Tims by hur discors shee was a woman of afliktion and mourning for sin in her selues and others and when she met with eny Afliktion she semid to iostifi god and say that Itt was all better than she dessufid that it was By falls aqusations from men and she yust to bles god that she got good by afliktions for it med hur examin hur oun hart I neuer herd hur refil any person that hath akusid hur with witchcraft but pittied them and sayid i pray god forgiue then for thay harm them selues more then me. Thof i am a gret sinar yit i am cler of that sayed she and such kind of afliktions doth but set me a exsamining my oun hart and I find god wondarfolly seportining me and comfarting me by his word and promisis she semid to be a woman thron in that grat work of conuiktion an conuertion which I pray god mak us all

My wief Mary Chapman cane Testifi to the most of this abou retan as witness my hand

June 27 1692 disposition of Isaac commins syner aget about sixty years or thare abouts who testyfyeth and saith that about aight yers agou James how iunr of ipswich came to my hous to borow a hors I not being at home my son isaac told him as my son told me whan I cam home i hade no hoes to ride on but my son isaac did tell the said how that he hade no hors to ride on but he hade a mare the whiah he though his father would not be wiling to lend this being upon a thursday the next day being fryday I took the mare and myself and my wife did ride on this maer abute half a mile to an naighbours hous and home again and when we came home I turned the maer out the maer being as well to my thinking as ever she was next morning it being Saturday about sun rising this said maer stood neer my doore and the said maer as i did aperehend did show as if she had bin much abused by riding and here flesh as I thovg mvch wasted and her movth mvch semenly to my aperehantion mvch abused and hurt with ye bridel bits I seing ye maer in svch a sad condition I toke up the said maer and put her into my barn and she wold eate no maner of thing as for provender or any thing we i give her then I sent for my brother Thomas Andros which was living in boxford the said anderos came to my hous I not being at home when I came home a litle afore night my brother anderos told me he head giving the said mear southing for the bots but as 44he could perseve it did do her no good but said he I cannot tell but she may have the baly ach and said he I wel try one thing more my brother anderos said he would take pipe of tobaco and lite it and put itt into the fondement of the mare I told him that I thought it was not lawfull he said it was lawfull for man or beast then I toke a clen pipe and filled it with tobaco and did lite it and went with the pipe lite to the barn then the said anderos used the pipe as he said before he wold and the pipe of tobaco did blaze and burn blew then I said to my brother Anderos you shall try no more it is not lawful he said I will try again once mor which he did and thar arose a blaze from the pipe of tobaco which seemed to me to cover the butocks of the said mear the blaze went upward towards the roof of the barn and in roof of the barn thar was a grate crackling as if the barn wovld haue falen or bin burnt which semed so to us which ware within and some that ware without and we hade no other fier in the barn bvt only a candil and a pipe of tobaco and then I said I thought my barn or my mear must goe the next being Lord’s day I spoke to my brother anderos at noone to come to see the said mear and said anderos came and what h did I say not the same Lords day at night my naighbours John Haukins came to my hovs and he and I went into my barn to see this mear said houkins said and if I ware as you i wolvd of a pece of this mear and burn it I said no not to-day but if she lived til to morrow morning he might cut of a 45pece off of her and burn if he wovld presentely as we hade spoken these words we stept out of the barn and imedeiately this said mear fell down dade and never stvred as we covld purseve after she fell down but lay dead

Isac Comings Senr declared to ye Jury of Inquest that ye aboue written evidence is the truth upon oath June 30 1692

Joseph and Mary Knowlton

from Ipswich June 27 1692 Joseph Knowlton being aquainte with the wife of James How Junr as a neighbour & somtims bording in the house, and at my first coming to live in those parts which was about ten years ago I hard a bad Report of her about Samull perleys garle which caused me to take speshall noates of her life & conuersation euer sence and I haue asked her if she could freely forgive them that Raised such Reports of her she tould me Yes with all her heart desiering that god would give her a heart to be more humble vnder such a prouidences and further she sayed she was willing to doe any good she could to them as had done vnneighbourly by her also This I haue taken notes of that she would deny herself to doe a neighbour a good turn and also I haue known her to be faithfull in the word and honest in her dealings as far as ever I saw.

information for Elizabeth How the wife of Jams How Junr.

Jams How senr aged about 94 sayth he liueing by her for about thirty years hath taken notes that she hath caried it well becoming her place as a daughter as a wife in all Relations setting side humain infurmitys as becometh a Christian with Respect to myself as a father very dutyfully & a wifife to my son carefull loueing obedient and kind considering his want of eye sight tenderly leading him about by the hand Now desiering god may guide your honours to se a differans between predigous and Consents I Rest yours to Sarve

Isaac Cummings, Jr.

June 28th 1692 the testimony of Isaac Comings Juner aged about 27 years Testifieth & saeth yt James Hough came to my fathers house when he was not at home he asked me if my father had euer a hors & I told him no he asked me if he had Euer a maer & I told him yesh he asked me if I thought my father would lend him his maer & I told him I did not Think would upon wch in a short Tyme after my father & Mother Ridd their maer to Their neighbours house ye same maer wch sd Hough would haue Borowed wch semingly was well when my fathr & mothr came home I seeing 47ye same sd maer ye nex morning could Judge noe other butt yt she had bin Rid ye other part of yt night or othr ways horibly abused vpon wch my fathr seeing wt a condition his maer was in sent for his brothr Thomas Andros wch when he came he give her severall Things wch he Thought to be good for her butt did her not any good vpon wch he said he would try one thing more wch was a pipe & some Tobaco wch he applid to her Thinking itt might doe her good against ye Belly ake Thinking yt might be her diseese wch when they vsed ye pipe wth Tobaco in itt abought ye sd maer ye pipe being Litt itt blazed so much yt itt was as much as two persons could putt itt ought wth both of Their hands upon wch my father said we will Trye no more his brother my uncle sd he would trye once more ye wch he did the pipe being Litt ye fyer Blazed out of ye same sd pipe more vehemently than before vpon wch my father answered he had Rather Loose his maer yn his barn ye uery next night following ye sd maer following my father in his barn from one side to ye other side fell down imediately Dead against ye sell of ye Barn before my fathr had well cleered him selfe from her furthr saith not.

Mary Cummings, Sr.

June 27 1692 The disposition of mary commings ye wif of isaac commins senr aged about sixty yers or thare abouts teseifieth and saith my husband 48not being at home I was sent to by som parsons of ipsweg sent to me for to have me to write what I cold say of James how iunr his wife elisebeth conscarning her life or conversation and that I would say what I cold say for or against her when the said hows wife sought to aiojn with the church at ipsweg and I spoke to my son Isaac to write that we hade vsed no brimston nor oyl nor no combustables to give to our maer becavs thare was a report that the said hows wife had said that we had given the maer brimston and oyl and the like and a short time after I hade written my testemony consarning this hows wife my son Isaac his maer was missing that he covld not find her in to or thrre days and in a short time after my son isaacs maer came in sight not fare from the hovs and my son isaac praid me to go ovt and look on his maer when I came to her asked me what I thought on her her and I said if he wold have my thoughts I covld not complain it nothing elce but that she wriden with a hot bridil for she hade divirses brvses as if she had bin runing over rocks and mvch wronged and where the bridil went was as if it had bin burnt with a hot bridil then I bide Isaac take ye mare and have her vp amongst the naghbors that peopl might see her for I hered that James how iunr or his wife or both had said that we kept vp ovr maer that people might not see her and isaac did show his maer to saviril and then the said how as i hered did report that isac had riden to Lin spring and caryed his gairl 49and so sorfited th maer the which was not so.

Mary Comins owned this her testimony to be truth before the Juryes for Inques this 29th of June 1692.

Mary Cummings, Sr.

Jvn 27 1692 I mary comins ageed abovt sixty yers thar abovts the wife of isaac comins syner I being at my neighbour Samuel parlys hovs samuel parlys davgter hannah being in a straing condition asked me if J did see goodee how in the hovs going rovnd vpon the wall as gvrl dricted her finger along rovnd in won place and another of the hovs J teled her no J looked as dilegently as i cold and i covld see nothing of her the gvrls mother then did chek her and told her she was alwas foll of such kind of notions and bid her hold her toong then she told her mother she wovld believe it one day and som thing mor which shold hay bin mantioned as the garl poynted to show me whare goode how was she asked me if I did not se her go ovt at that crak which she poynted at.

Mary Comins owned this har testimony one her oath to be the truth before the Juriars of Inquest this 29 of June 92. Jurat in Curia.

Mary Cummings

Jvn 27 1692 The disposition of Mary commins aged abuvt sixty yers or there abovts ho testefieth and saieth that above too yeres agou J went to 50viset my neighbovr sherins wife and she told me that James how ivnr had bin thare to give her a siset and he did sharply talk to her asking her what hopes she hade of her salvation her answer was to him that she did bild her hopes upon that sver rock Jesvs christ this the said serius vife did tell me and she told me also that she had never talked of the said how or his wife bvt she was wors for it afterwords and she said also when she lay sick of the same sickness whereof she dyed that the said how would come som time into the roome to see but she covld not tell how to bare to see him nor that he shovld be in the hovs Mary Comins ownid that this har testemony on har oath before the Juryars for Inques this 29 of June 1692 Jurat in Curia

Francis Lane

Francis Lane aged 27 yeares testifyeth & saith that about seauen yeares agoe James How the husband of Elizabeth How of Ipswich farmes hired sd Lane to get him a parcell of posts & railes & sd Lane hired John Pearly the son of samuel Pearly of Ipswich to help him in getting of them And after they had got said Posts & rails the said Lane went to the said James How that he might goe with him & take delivery of said Posts & rails & Elizabeth How the wife of sd James how told said Lane that she did not beleive that sd Posts & rails would doe because that said John Pearly helped him & she said that if he had got them alone & had not got John Pearly to help him she beleived that they would haue done but seeing that said Pearly had helped about them she beleiued that they would not doe so sd James How went with said Lane for to take deliuery of sd Posts & rails & the said James How toke severed of the said rails as they lay in heaps up by the end & they broke of so many of them broke that said Lane was forced to get thirty or forty more & when said how came home he told his wife thereof & she said to him that she had told him before that they would not doe because said Pearly helped about them which rails said Lane testifyeth that in his aprehention were sound railes ffrancis Lane declared to ye Jury of inques to ye truth of ye above written evidence upon oath June 30 1692 Jurat in Curia

51

Ipswich Farms

The testimony of John How aged about 50 yers saith that on that day that my brother James his wife was Caried to Salem farmes upon examination she was at my house and would a have had me to go with her to Salem farmes I tould hur that if she had ben sent for upon allmost any a Count but witchcraft I would a have gone with hur bvt one that a Count I would not for ten pounds but said I If you are a witch tell me how long you have ben a witch and what mischeue you have done and then J will go with you for said J to hur you have ben acusied by Samuel 53pearlys Child and suspacted by Daken Cumins for witchcraft; she semed to be aingry with me, stell asked me to come on the morrow I told hur I did not know but I might com to morrow but my ocashons caled me to go to Ipswich one the morrow and came whome a bout suns set and standing nere my door talking with one of my Naibours I had a sow with six small pigs in the yard the sow was as well so fare as I knew as euer one a suding she leaped up about three or fouer foot hie and turned about and gave one squeake and fell downe daed I told my naibour that was with me I thought my sow was bewitched for said I I think she is dead he lafed at me but It proved true for she fell downe daed he bed me cut of hur eare the which I did and my hand I had my knife in was so numb and full of paine that night and sauerall days after that I could not doe any work and is not wholy wall now and I sospected no other person but my sd sister Elizabeth How Capt. John How declared ye above written evidence to be the truth before ye Jury of inquest.

June 30th 1692

Jacob Foster

The deposion of Jacob Foster aged about 29 yeares the deponant saith that some years agoe good wife How the wife of James how was about to Joyne with the church of Ipswich my father was an instrumentall means of her being denyed admision quickly after my mare turned out to 54grass on the tusday and on thursday I went to seek my mare to go to lecture I sought my mare and could not find her I sought all friday and found her not on Saturday I sought till noon & I found my mare standing leaning with her butock against a tree I hit her with a small whip she gave a heaue from a tree and fell back to the tree again then I took of her fetters and struck her again she did the same again then I set my shoulder to her side and thrust her of from the tree and moved her feet then she went home and leapt into the pausture and my mare lookt as if she had been miserably beaten and abused

Jacob ffoster declared ye evidence to be ye truth before ye Jury of inquest on oath June 30 92

Joseph Safford

The deposition of Joseph Safford aged about 60 he testefyeth and saith that my wife was much afraid of Elizabeth how the wife of James how upon the Reports that were of her about Samuell perlleys child but upon a tim after thes Reports James how and his wife coming to my house nether myselfe nor my wife were at home and good wife how asked my children wher ther mother was and they said at the next nayboaers hovs she desired them to Coll ther mother which they did when my wife cam whom my wife told me that she was much startled to se goode how but she took her by the hand and said goode Safford I beleue that you are not ignorant of 55the grete scandall that I Ly under upon the euill Report that is Raised upon me about Samuell perlleys child and other things Joseph Safford saith that after this his wife was taken beyond Rason and all parswasion to tek the part of this woman after this the wife of this James how propounded herselfe to com into the church of Ipswich wher upon sum objection a Rose by sum unsatisfied bretheren wher upon ther was a meeting apinted by our elders of the church to consider of things brought in against her my wife was more than ordenery ernest to goe to lectur the church meeting being on that day notwithstanding the many arguments I used to perswed her to the Contrery yet I obtained a promis of her that she would not goe to the church meeting but meeting with som of the naybourhood they perswaded her to go with them to the church meeting at elder pains and told her that shee need say nothing ther, but good wife how then being Rether Rendred guilty than cleered my wife took her by the hand. after meeting and told her though she wer condemned before men she was Justefyed before god. the next Sabath after this my son that caried my wife to Lectur was taken aftar a strange manar the Saturday after that my wife was taken after a Rauing frenzy manar expressing in a Raging manar that goode how must com into the church and that shee was a precious saint and though shee wer condemned befor men shee was justefyed befor god and continued in this fram for the space of thre or four hours after that 56my wife fell into a kind of trance for the space of two or thre minits shee then coming to herselfe opened her eye and said ha J was mistaken, no answer was med by the standars by, and again shee said ha J was mistaken Majar appleton’s wife standing by said wherein art mistaken I was mistaken said she for J thought goode how had bene a precious saint of god but now I see she is a witch fer shee hath bewitched me and my child and we shall neuer be well till ther is testemony for her that she may be taken into the church after after this there was A meeting of the eldars at my hous and thay desired that goode how might be at the meeting insign wallis went with myselfe to invite goode how to this meeting she coming in discours at that time she said two or thre times shee was sory to se my wife at the church meeting at eldar pains after this shee said she was aflicted by the aparishtion of goode how a few dayes aftar she was taken shee said the caus of her changing her opinion consarning goode how was becaus shee apeared to her throg a creuis of the clambouerds which she knew no good person could do and at thre seuerall times after was aflicted by the aperishtion of goode how and goode olleuer and furder this deponit saith that Rising erlly in the morning and kindling a fir in the other Room in wife shrieked out I presently Ran into the room wher my wife was and as soon as euer I opened the dore my said ther be the euill one take them whereupon I Replyed wher are they I will take them if I can shee said you 57will not tek them and then sprang out of the bed herselffe and went to the window and said thar they went out thar wer both biger than she and they went out ther but she could not then J Replyed who be they she said goode how and goode olleuer goode olleuer said J you never saw the woman in your Life no said she I never saw her in my Life but so she is Represented to me goode olleuer of Sallam the millar

Joseph Safford declared to ye Jury of inquest that ye evidence above written & on the other side of this paper is ye truth upon oath

June 30 1692

Thomas Andrews

July 1st 1692

The testimony of Thomas Andrews of Boxford aged about 50 yars this deponant Testifieth & saith yt Jsiah Comings senior of Topsfield sent for me to help help a mare yt was not well & when I came thare ye mare was in such a condition yt I could not tell wt she ailed for J neuer sawe yt like her lips ware exceedingly swelled yt ye Jnsides of Them Turned outward & Look Black & blue & gelled, her Tung was in ye same Condition J told ye said Comings I could not tell wt to doe for her J perceiued she had not ye Botts wch J did att first think she had but J said she might haue some great heat in her Body & I would applie a pipe of Tobaco to her & yt that was concented & I lit a pipe of Tobaco & putt 58itt under her fundiment & there came a Blew flame out of ye Bowle & Run along ye stem of sd pipe & took hold of ye haer of sd Maer & Burnt itt & we tryed itt 2 or 3 times together & itt did ye same itt semed to Burn blew butt Run Like fyer yt is sett on the grass to Burn itt in ye spring Tyme & we struck itt outt wth our hands & ye sd Comings sd yt he would trye no more for sd he J had rather loose my mare yn my barn & J this deponant doe testifi yt to ye Best of my understanding was ye same mare yt James Hough Junior Belonging to Jpswich farmes husband to Elizabeth Hough would have borowed of ye sd Comings

Removal of Attainder
and Reimbursement

“Whereas ye honored General Court has appointed a committee to consider what damage persons have sustained in their names and estates in the year 1692 by their sufferings in that as was called witch craft, ye odium whereof was as if they are one of ye worst of mankind, we Mary How and Abigail How: ye only survivers in this family also do groundedly believe that our honored mother Elizabeth How suffered as innocent of the crime charged with as any person in the world, and as to the damage done to our estate we can not give a particular account but this we know that 59our honored father went twice a week ye whole time of her imprisonment to carry her maintenance which was provided with much difficulty and one of us went with him because he could not go alone for want of sight also one journey to Boston for a replevey and for maintenance 5s. money left with her the first coming down 20s. the second time and 40s. so that sometimes more some less yt never under 5s. per week which we know for charge for her and necessary charge for ourselves and horses cannot be less than £20 money yet notwithstanding so that ye name may be repaired we are content if your honors shall allow £12.

Yours to serve

“This petition was presented to said Court by Capt. John How and Abraham How uncles of said Mary and Abigail for relief in the premises and pray that the petition may be allowed the same.”

The petition was referred to the committee referred to therein.

“The committee met at Salem, 13th, Sept. 1710, and the 14th reported allowing the Misses How the £12 asked for.”

60“23 Oct., 1711. Read and accepted in House of Representatives, and sent up for concurrence.

“In Council, 28 Oct., 1711.

“Read and concurred.

State Archives, Room 434, Vol. 135: 131, 169.

Home of Mrs. Howe
Located. The Conclusion

This map delineates a part of the homestead of Mrs. Eliza Howe Perley, now in her ninety-third year (May 15) whose residence is at “6.” The ascent of the estate is: Mrs. Perley’s father, Aaron Howe; his second cousin, Joseph Howe; Joseph’s father, Abraham Howe; his father, Abraham Howe, Jr.; his cousins, Abigail and Mary Howe; their father, James Howe, Jr.; his father, James Howe, Sr.,—a continuous Howe ownership of two hundred sixty years.

61The house pictured on the opposite page stood at “2,” and was built, probably, in 1711, since Abraham Howe, Jr., bought the land in February of that year, “to set a house upon.”

James Howe, Jr., owned “a small house in the orchard,” “3,” and a third of other “housing,” which may have included “the old house,” that stood in 1711, “near” “5” south of “2,” “the southwest corner of the orchard.”

While searching the records of deeds, the writer noted a course in a description: “Thence to the gate opposite James Howe, Junior’s.” The locality was well known to him, and that knowledge located the gate. He had often seen a gate there, between 1840 and 1850. It swung at the entrance of the avenue leading to the residence of James Howe, Senior, marked “gate” on the map. That fact was tangible; Mrs. Howe’s home was at “2” on the map or near it.

Thus far and no farther, till one day looking over the ground back of the present residence of Mrs. Eliza Howe Perley, “6” on the map, the writer noticed a peculiar hollow in the otherwise level surface, and to his question, What made it? she replied, “I don’t know; I have always heard it called Mary’s hole.” He immediately exclaimed, “Mary Howe, daughter of the witch.”

His conclusion: There the surviving daughters, Mary and Abigail, lived, secluded and alone, beneath the shadow of the cruel attainder. After the death of Mary, their home became Mary’s cellar; and when all appearance of a cellar was gone, it became “Mary’s hole.” To-day there is not the slightest vestige of “Mary’s hole”; the old home, known only to the saddest pages of New England history, is arable ground.

62

The Aaron Howe House, Linebrook Parish
Built in 1711, the birthplace of Rev. Nathaniel Howe (1764-1837), of Hopkinton, Mass., and of Rev. Benjamin Howe (1807-1883) of that parish; taken down about 1853.

64

DESCENDANTS OF JAMES HOWE

James Howe, Jr., was son of James, Sen., of Ipswich, County Essex, Mass., and grandson of Robert, “who lived in Hatfield, Broad-Oak, county Essex, England, where Sir Francis Barrington lived in Woodrow-Green; James, son of said Robert, lived in a place called Hackerill, or Bockerill, in Bishop-Stortford—in the happy and gracious reign of King James I.”

The mention of Sir Francis’s name in this connection suggests some particular attachment, of which Mr. Howe had, no doubt, informed his children, and which he wished them to remember and cherish. Sir Francis’s family name went into England with the Conqueror, 1066, as Du Barentin. The old feudal burg and barony which cradled the name, near Rouen, is now Barentin. The Conqueror gave Baron Odo Du Barentin a grant of land in county Essex and the descendant office of ranger or keeper of the forest of Hatfield. Early in the seventeenth century the name was anglicized Barrington.

The special mention of Sir Francis’s name, noted above, could hardly indicate a family relation; it may have been a correlation, as ranger and subranger, or assistant, a lucrative station of Sir Francis’s gift. The charge, a wolf’s 66head, which has characterized the Howe arms for centuries, suggests forests and an encounter.

The Coat of Arms
James, Jr., and Elizabeth

Of the arms “Gules (red) a chevron argent (silver) between three cros-cros-lets or (gold) three wolves’ heads of the same,” said to have “adorned the walls of the ‘Wayside Inn’ or Howe Tavern, in Sudbury, for over a hundred and fifty years,” “Ye wolfs are ye fams. Arms, ye cross, for gt accts don by ye 1st El.,” who lived around A.D. 1500, or the time of Henry VII or VIII.

The seat of the family bearing the above arms was in county Warwick; the seat of Robert Howe and the place of the original Howe arms: “Argent (silver) a chevron between three wolves’ heads couped sable (black)” was in county Essex.

67If the query is now suggested, why did not our James Howe claim a coat of arms if he were entitled to one, this answer is persuasive if not conclusive; so early created and so long unused, it was forgotten; or maybe, in New England practical home life its value was considered zero, or negative.

It may be said, further, that the Howe coat armor, the Howe family, the Barrington family, and the King’s forest—each and all—belonged to Hatfield, county Essex, and it may be thought strange that the ancient Howe arms should not include our James, the immigrant, in its descent. On the whole, there is a preponderating impression that the wolf’s head on the Howe arms was captured in the Hatfield forest by a Howe.

James Howe, Sr., was of Roxbury, and made freeman May 17, 1637, and removed to Ipswich before 1648. He was granted June 11, 1650, on motion of Mr. Norton, one of the farms of a hundred acres formerly reserved for Mr. Norton’s friends. He bought, July 3, 1651, about twenty-one acres adjoining to Mr. Winthrop’s and Mr. Symonds’s farms. He was a commoner, 1641; a tithing man, 1671. His wife, Elizabeth Dane, only daughter of John Dane, of Roxbury, died Jan. 21, 1693-4. Both joined the church at Topsfield in 1684.

He was eminently an all round man. He was a weaver by trade, but he could butcher a swine or write a will or deed; he could practice in probate or dig a grave; he could make a coffin or 68build a house; he could cultivate a farm or survey it; he could shoe a horse or an ox or make his own or others’ shoes; he was a ready helper in every department of country life. He died May 17, 1701-2,^[4] at the age of one hundred and four years, a man of three centuries.

James Howe, Jr., was born in Roxbury, in 1635 or 1636, since he was “about 30” in 1666 and “about 34,” Sept. 28, 1669. He married, April 13, 1658, Elizabeth Jackson, a neighbor, daughter of William and Joanna, of Rowley, and sister to Mary, who married Wm. Foster, of Boxford, and to Deborah, who married Lieut. John Trumble, of Newbury, official men in their respective towns.

He had a share in Plum Island, 1664; was a voter, 1679; at about fifty years of age was blind, so he had to be led. His will is dated Nov. 19, 1701. He confirms to his daughter Elizabeth Jackson’s children, what he had given her; mentions his daughter Deborah and grandson James “when 21” and granddaughters Martha How and Sarah How “when 18 or married.” He gave his other two daughters, Mary and Abigail, “for their pains and care that they have taken of me for several years and their labor for my maintenance,” my house, barn, orchard, lands, and movables, and appointed them executrices. He signed his 69will “James How,” but it was proved, March 11, 1701-2, as the will of James Howe, Jr. He died Feb. 15, 1701. Their children were:

• James, who died in July, 1664.
• Elizabeth, born June 1, 1661, married Caleb Jackson, son of Nicholas, a neighbor.
• Mary, born Feb. 25, 1664, petitioner, p. 73.
• Deborah, who married Isaac Howe, of Roxbury, son and grandson of Abrahams.
• John, born April 17, 1671, married Hannah Browne, and had Martha, 1691; Sarah, 1692-3; who married Thomas Wood; James, 1695, ancestor of the Methuen family of Howes. His widow married Ephraim Roberts, of Methuen, and had Patience, 1703, and Mary, 1705.
• Abigail, born Dec. 3, 1673, petitioner, p. 73.

All the family connections of the alleged witch were well-to-do people and stable and standard in church and civic life.

THE PERLEY FAMILY HISTORY AND GENEALOGY

839 pages; printed page, 4¼ × 7½ inches; 5 dozen full page portraits; 280 illustrations; all handwork binding; index to every proper name; biography covers two thirds of the book; weight, 4¾ lbs.

Favorable Comment

The N. E. Historical-Genealogical Register says, “So copious are the details respecting nearly every member of the family that the work may be described as a Biographical Genealogy.”

Maj. E. T. Bouvé, Mass., compiler of war records, writes: “Your very fine genealogy.... The information is of great importance to me.”

The Sutton Reference Library, Mass., ordered a copy for approval or return. It was not returned; a check was sent in payment.

The Essex Antiquarian says: “A more interesting family history has not been published.”

Family Pride

Family pride is a commendable trait, like national pride or patriotism. The book is the story of the family, male and female, and cannot fail to awaken the just pride of all loyal members. They can write in it their own families as years 72make them, and leave priceless heirlooms to their posterities.

A History

Don’t be deceived. The book is not the ordinary genealogy of dates and names. It is a history; it reads like a history. There are more than five dozen portraits with their biographies; numerous examples of unsurpassed bravery, as witness there doubt of Bunker Hill, the Pigwacket of Captain Lovewell and the War of 1812; and of patriotism, as witness the wars for the mother country; as colonists; against her, as revolutionists, and as defenders of our home government in the Civil War.

It has its Wandering Jew, its Country’s Wonder, its escapades in courtship, its triumphs in politics, and its stories of pioneering and of country-wide travel. It shows how the family’s money built churches and schools; how ministers, doctors, lawyers, and teachers were ornaments to their professions; how statesmen, by efficiency and integrity, enjoyed repeated elections; and how men “with the hoe,” the trowel, the saw, and other implements of their craft, by diligence, enterprise, and sobriety, reared happy homes and garnered wealth.

An Inspiration

The book is an inspiration. Squire H—— wrote, “I read a chapter in the Perley History every 73day,” meaning to say that every chapter has its peculiar interest, pleasure, and uplifting sentiment. Mrs. W—— bought six copies, Mrs. H—— four, both saying, “I want each of my children to have a copy.” Other buyers have done relatively the same.

A Splendid Gift

Take a copy with you to “the old folks at home” at Thanksgiving; it would gratify them. Give one to your daughter at “sweet sixteen,” and to your son at twenty-one. It would be a magnificent present for a dear friend. Your Public Library would write you a letter of cordial thanks for a copy. As a New Year’s, a Birthday, a Wedding, or a Christmas gift, it would crown the occasion with proud delight.

The books are in patent corrugated wrappers, and can be ready for the mail in five minutes after receiving your order.

For Libraries

The numerous intermarriages with old New England families, and its fulness of biography, make it a valuable addition to libraries, and Genealogical and Historical Societies.

Carriage on each prepaid, but if at destination, send only $5.10 and $6.10 respectively.

(1) Gen. Geo. Washington was born on Friday, Feb. 11, 1731-2.

(2) A transit of Venus occurred, in 1639, on Sunday, Dec. 6 (almanac); Dec. 4 (astronomy); Nov. 24 (another astronomy).

(3) Bryan, the 175th monarch of Ireland died Good Friday, 1714. Durham Cathedral, England, was struck by lightning, “The night before the day of Corpus Christi, 1429.” Thomas Ryhale dated his will, “Vigil of Easter, 1427.”

The Chart is adapted to the styles: Julian, Russian, Dionysian, Gregorian, Old and New.

With a little primary arithmetic it furnishes the date of Easter for any year.

It gives the day of the week corresponding to any possible date in 4,000 years, beginning, Saturday, Jan. 1, A.D. 1.

One can easily determine the Friday occurrences of great men and events, and so determine the proportion of unlucky Fridays.

Lawyers, historians, genealogists, teachers, and all students and readers of history would find the Chart eminently serviceable. For a number of weeks in 1892 the Boston Transcript discussed the four elements of dates; this Chart would have 75given the result in ten minutes. See the Transcript, Oct. 1, 1892.

FAMILY GENEALOGIES

These are gleaned from the various records of Essex County. If your name does not appear in the list, we can furnish your genealogy. Correspondence solicited.

Abbot, Aborn, Abraham, Abram, Acie, Acres, Adams, Ager, Akerman, Alexander, Alford, Alger, Allen, Alley, Ambrose, Ames, Anderson, Anderton, Andrews, Annable, Annis, Antrum, Appleton, Archer, Arnold, Ash, Ashby, Ashton, Aslebee, Atkins, Atkinson, Atwell, Atwood, Aubin, Austin, Averill, Ayer, Babidge, Babson, Bacon, Babcock, Badger, Bagley, Bailey, Baker, Balch, Ball, Ballard, Bancroft, Barber, Barker, Barnard, Barnes, Barney, Barr, Barrett, Bartholomew, Bartlett, Bartoll, Barton, Bassett, Batchelder, Bates, Batter, Battin, Beadle, Beal, Bean, Bear, Beck, Becket, Beckford, Belcher, Belknap, Bell, Bennett, Barry, Bessom, Best, Bickford, Biles, Birch, Bishop, Bisson, Bixby, Black, Blackly, Blake, Blanchard, Blaney, Blasdell, Blashfield, Blunt, Blyth, Boardman, Bodwell, Bolles, Bolton, Bond, Booth, Bourn, Bowden, Bowditch, Bowen, Bowles, Bowiman, Boyce, Boyd, Boynton, Bradbury, Bradford, Bradley, Bradstreet, Bragg, Bray, Breed, Brewer, Brickett, Bridgeo, Bridges, Briggs, Brimblecome, Britton, Brock, Brocklebank, Brooks, Broughton, Browne.

The work begins with the earliest records of Essex County—parish, town, and court; births, marriages, and deaths; probate and deeds registry, etc. The search is thorough and reliable. It is put up in thirteen volumes, in strong and attractive binding, and fully indexed.

The price for the set complete is $35.

ESSEX COUNTY VITAL RECORDS

The publication of these records is progressing. They are derived from gravestone, parish, church, town, old Bible, and private records, and end with the year 1849. The following list gives the towns now ready, the number of pages in each, and the price of each:

Andover, pp. 966, $10.10; Beverly, pp. 1,027, $10.75; Boxford, pp. 274, $2.90; Bradford, pp. 373, $3.90; Danvers, pp. 915, $9.75; Essex, pp. 86, $ .95; Hamilton, pp. 112, $1.20; Haverhill, pp. 827, $8.65; Ipswich, pp. 1,125, $12.75; Lynn, pp. 1,050, $10.95; Lynnfield, pp. 98, $1.10; Manchester, pp. 296, $3.15; Marblehead, pp. 1315, $13.70; Methuen, pp. 345, $3.63; Middleton, pp. 143, $1.55; Newbury, pp. 1,323, $13.75; Newburyport, in press; Saugus, pp. 81, $ .90; Topsfield, pp. 258, $2.75; Wenham, pp. 227, $2.40.