The Thing About the Salem Witch Trials

On April 19, 1692, Salem witch trials magistrates conducted their busiest day of examinations yet. Four accused witches appeared before the court in colonial Massachusetts. Two confessions were recorded. And the Puritan legal proceedings that would lead to nineteen executions shifted into a dangerous new phase. In this episode of The Thing About the Salem Witch Trials, Josh Hutchinson and Sarah Jack break down the examinations of Giles Cory, Abigail Hobbs, Mary Warren, and Bridget Bishop using the firsthand courtroom notes of Samuel Parris and Ezekiel Cheever. If you love American history, colonial history, or the true story behind one of the most dramatic legal crises in Puritan New England, this episode is for you. In this episode you'll learn: What Giles Cory said under examination, why his answers about a cow house drew the magistrates' suspicion, and how the afflicted responded to Giles Cory's every movement in the courtroom How Abigail Hobbs became the first confessor since Tituba, what her confession revealed about life on the colonial Maine frontier, and why Abigail Hobbs' testimony produced the first legal accusation against Sarah Wildes of Topsfield What Mary Warren claimed about the afflicted accusers that the Salem witch trial court chose to ignore, and why Mary Warren's examination collapsed across four separate appearances before the magistrates How Bridget Bishop defended herself against charges of witchcraft in 1692, what the cuts in Bridget Bishop's coat had to do with spectral evidence, and why her answer about not knowing what a witch was became a trap that led to her hanging The Thing About the Salem Witch Trials is hosted by Josh Hutchinson and Sarah Jack of End Witch Hunts nonprofit and The Thing About Witch Hunts podcast. For day-by-day coverage of the 1692 Salem witch trials, follow Salem Witch Trials Daily podcast. Salem Witch Trials Daily Videos & Course The Thing About Salem Website ⁠The Thing About Witch Hunts YouTube⁠ ⁠The Thing About Witch Hunts Website Sign the Petition: MA Witch Hunt Justice Project Massachusetts Witch-Hunt Justice Project Support the nonprofit End Witch Hunts Podcasts and Projects

What does the American Red Cross have to do with the Salem Witch Trials? The answer runs through one of the most defiant women of 1692. Sarah Cloyce was the youngest of the three Towne sisters, the sibling who survived when Rebecca Nurse and Mary Easty did not. Born in Salem in 1642, Sarah lived a relatively ordinary Puritan life until March 1692, when her sister Rebecca was arrested for witchcraft and Reverend Samuel Parris delivered a sermon that changed everything. Sarah's response, walking out of the meetinghouse and reportedly slamming the door behind her, put a target on her back. Eight days later, she was formally accused. Josh Hutchinson and Sarah Jack tell the full story of Sarah Cloyce's accusation, her examination at the Salem Town meetinghouse on April 11, 1692, and her nine months of imprisonment in chains before the charges against her were finally dismissed in January 1693. They also cover the joint petition Sarah authored with her sister Mary Easty while both were imprisoned, Peter Cloyce's remarkable devotion to his wife throughout her ordeal, and the family's journey west to what would become Framingham, Massachusetts, where Salem End Road still marks the path the witch trial refugees traveled. And that famous descendant? Sarah Cloyce's daughter Hannah married Samuel Barton, and five generations later, Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross, was born in Oxford, Massachusetts on Christmas Day 1821. What You Will Learn: What one act in a church doorway made Sarah Cloyce a target of the accusations What role the afflicted claimed she played at the devil's sacrament Why one of the most active accusers of 1692 held back when it came to Sarah What her husband did during her nine months of imprisonment that set him apart Why Sarah survived when her sisters did not Where Sarah and the other Salem refugees went, and what they left behind How Sarah Cloyce's bloodline connects directly to one of the most celebrated women in American history The Thing About the Salem Witch Trials is hosted by Josh Hutchinson and Sarah Jack, descendants of Salem Witch Trial victims. New episodes every week. Also mentioned: the PBS miniseries Three Sovereigns for Sarah (1985) starring Vanessa Redgrave, authors Antonio Stuckey and Janice C. Thompson, and Salem Witch Trials Daily, the companion daily podcast. Visit aboutsalem.com for more Visit youtube.com/@aboutwitchhunts for The Salem Witch Trials Daily Podcast

She accused 16 people, was named a victim in 13 indictments, and may have been the most powerful force driving the Salem witch trials of 1692. So why does history overlook Mercy Lewis? What You'll Learn Why some historians consider Mercy Lewis the ringleader among the afflicted girls How surviving the Wabanaki wars shaped her role in the Salem witch trials The full content of her April 1st visions, including the biblical passages a glittering multitude sang What she claimed George Burroughs offered her on top of a high mountain How her near-death episode sent the Marshal of Essex County riding through the night to re-arrest Mary Esty Why former employers testified she was a pathological liar At 19, Mercy Lewis was a maidservant in the Thomas Putnam household, carrying the trauma of war, probable orphanhood, and displacement from Maine. Her visions were among the most vivid and theologically detailed of the entire crisis. Her accusations helped send people to the gallows. Were those visions vivid dreams, trauma responses, or deliberate fabrications? Josh Hutchinson and Sarah Jack dig into the evidence. Follow 1692 day by day on Salem Witch Trials Daily Podcast. Resources and episodes at www.aboutsalem.com. Links Buy the Books Mentioned in this Episode Salem Witch Trials Daily Videos & Course The Thing About Salem Website ⁠The Thing on YouTube ⁠The Thing About Witch Hunts Website Sign the Petition: MA Witch Hunt Justice Project www.massachusettswitchtrials.org Support the nonprofit End Witch Hunts Podcasts and Projects

Follow the events of April 4, 1692, as new testimony and complaints target recent suspects. We cover a reported spectral attack involving the shape of John Proctor afflicting Abigail Williams, then dig into multiple depositions against Rachel Clinton, including claims of meetinghouse disturbances, strange animal apparitions, a mysterious loss of beer, and a tense late-night confrontation followed by an apparent affliction and near-death of Betty Fuller. We also examine Mercy Lewis’s statements about being bitten, pinched, choked, and urged to “write in a book,” attributed to the shape of four-year-old Dorothy Good and to Sarah Osburn. Finally, we follow new complaints filed against Sarah Cloyce and Elizabeth Proctor, including an early mention of John Indian among the afflicted. 00:00 April 4 Overview 00:23 Proctor Spectral Attack 00:38 Boarman vs Clinton 01:49 Beer Barrel Curse 02:56 Edwards Livestock Losses 04:38 Fuller Night Visit 06:10 Dorothy Good Accusation 06:34 Osburn Book Pressure 06:54 New Complaint Filed 07:19 Afflicted List Update A Brief and True Narrative by Deodat Lawson Sign the petition to exonerate Massachusetts witch trial victims Find My Massachusetts Legislators The Thing About Witch Hunts / About Salem YouTube channel ⁠Salem Witch Trials Daily Hub ⁠The Thing About Salem⁠ ⁠The Thing About Witch Hunts ⁠Mary Beth Norton, In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692 Bernard Rosenthal, ed., Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt ⁠Emerson W. Baker, A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience ⁠Marilynne K. Roach, The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege High Quality Scans of the Original Court Documents -Peabody Essex Museum Salem Witch Trials Collection

We explore a striking claim from within the crisis itself: that the afflicted may have been “dissembling.” We revisit Sunday, April 3, 1692, when Samuel Parris read aloud a note Mary Warren had posted at the Salem Village meetinghouse, inviting the congregation to offer prayers of gratitude for her deliverance—yet the note’s contents are unknown because Parris never copied it into his church record book. We also examine the puzzling gaps in Parris’s records during the most active months of the trials, raising questions about what was happening in the meetinghouse. Finally, we tease an April 19 court record showing Elizabeth Hubbard accusing Mary Warren of making the “dissemble” remark, which we’ll dig into next. Note: We will soon publish Salem Witch Trials Daily only to its own podcast feed 00:00 Afflicted Dissembling 00:10 Daily Show Intro 00:17 Mary Warren Note 00:42 Parris Missing Records 01:22 Silence Raises Questions 01:38 Hubbard Accusation Tease A Brief and True Narrative by Deodat Lawson Sign the petition to exonerate Massachusetts witch trial victims Find My Massachusetts Legislators The Thing About Witch Hunts / About Salem YouTube channel ⁠Salem Witch Trials Daily Hub ⁠The Thing About Salem ⁠The Thing About Witch Hunts ⁠Mary Beth Norton, In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692 Bernard Rosenthal, ed., Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt ⁠Emerson W. Baker, A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience ⁠Marilynne K. Roach, The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege High Quality Scans of the Original Court Documents -Peabody Essex Museum Salem Witch Trials Collection

In today’s Salem Witch Trials Daily, we walk through Saturday, April 2, 1692, focusing on Abigail Williams’ claims that the specters of Elizabeth Procter and Rebecca Nurse repeatedly afflicted her in March and April, including being “grievously pinched” and tempted with fine things to sign the book. We also explore how accusers often listed dates of spectral attacks and why our day-by-day approach helps reveal what life was like during the witch-hunt. Elsewhere in Salem Village, we cover Mary Warren’s recovery and her meetinghouse note requesting prayers of gratitude—then hint at the serious drama that follows when, in Mary’s later testimony, Elizabeth Procter reportedly appeared to her that night in “her bodily person” and confessed to witchcraft. 00:00 Daily Introduction 00:14 Abigail's Spectral Attacks 00:26 Why Track Day by Day 00:59 Temptation to Sign the Book 01:06 Mary Warren's Note 01:27 Elizabeth Appears Bodily 01:46 Spectral vs Physical Assaults A Brief and True Narrative by Deodat Lawson Sign the petition to exonerate Massachusetts witch trial victims Find My Massachusetts Legislators The Thing About Witch Hunts / About Salem YouTube channel ⁠Salem Witch Trials Daily Hub ⁠The Thing About Salem ⁠The Thing About Witch Hunts ⁠Mary Beth Norton, In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692 Bernard Rosenthal, ed., Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt ⁠Emerson W. Baker, A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience ⁠Marilynne K. Roach, The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege Peabody Essex Museum Salem Witch Trials Collection

In our April 1, 1692 episode of Salem Witch Trials Daily, we explore how the afflictions continue to mislead people in Salem and nearby communities through the reported testimony of Mercy Lewis. We recount her vivid description of being taken to a “glorious place” filled with light, where she saw a multitude in white robes singing from Revelation 5:9, Psalm 110, and Psalm 149—passages we connect to the religious climate of the moment, including Samuel Parris’s recent focus on Psalm 110. We also follow Mercy’s reluctance to leave the vision and discuss Deodat Lawson’s report that a recurring “white man” foretold the timing of future fits, which he claimed happened as predicted. 00:00 April Fools Intro 00:30 Mercy Lewis Vision 01:02 Revelation New Song 01:20 Psalm 110 Footstool 02:09 Parris Sermon Context 02:28 Psalm 149 Vengeance 03:19 Lawson Closing Note Sign the petition to exonerate Massachusetts witch trial victims: https://change.org/witchtrials Find My Massachusetts Legislators: https://malegislature.gov/Search/FindMyLegislator The Thing About Witch Hunts / About Salem YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCliis4vjMIUgg3wcA0pXeYQ/ ⁠Salem Witch Trials Daily Hub: https://aboutsalem.com/salem-witch-trials-daily/⁠ ⁠The Thing About Salem: https://aboutsalem.com⁠ ⁠The Thing About Witch Hunts: https://aboutwitchhunts.com⁠ ⁠Mary Beth Norton, In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692: https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9780375706905⁠ Bernard Rosenthal, ed., Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt: https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9781107689619⁠ ⁠Emerson W. Baker, A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience: https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9780190627805⁠ ⁠Marilynne K. Roach, The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege: https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9781589791329⁠ Peabody Essex Museum Salem Witch Trials Collection: https://pem.quartexcollections.com/collections/salem-witch-trials-collection Links

Fast Day in Salem: Prayer, Fasting, and Abigail Williams’ Witch Feast Vision In this episode, we follow Thursday, March 31, 1692, as Salem observes a Puritan fast day while Abigail Williams reports seeing about 40 witches feasting near the Salem Village parsonage of minister Samuel Parris and claims the specter of Rebecca Nurse attacks her. We explore how Puritans in New England viewed prayer and fasting—grounded in the Gospel of Mark—as powerful defenses against demonic possession and witchcraft, from private household fasts like those held for the Goodwin children in 1688 and the Parris family earlier in 1692, to government-ordered public fasts during crises, including the 1697 fast when Judge Samuel Sewall’s apology was read aloud. We also preview Abigail’s testimony pattern, listing multiple March and April dates when she says Nurse afflicted her. 00:00 Fast Day in Salem 00:33 Why Puritans Fasted 00:54 Private Fasts and Afflictions 01:31 Public Fast Days 02:15 Witches Sabbath Allegation 03:05 Rebecca Nurse Specter Claims 03:18 Testimony Timeline Wrap Up Sign the petition to exonerate Massachusetts witch trial victims Find My Massachusetts Legislators The Thing About Witch Hunts / About Salem YouTube channel ⁠Salem Witch Trials Daily Hub ⁠The Thing About Salem ⁠The Thing About Witch Hunts ⁠Mary Beth Norton, In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692 Bernard Rosenthal, ed., Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt ⁠Emerson W. Baker, A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience ⁠Marilynne K. Roach, The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege Peabody Essex Museum Salem Witch Trials Collection

In this episode of Salem Witch Trials Daily, we cover Wednesday, March 30, 1692, when Rachel Clinton—arrested the day before—was slated for examination, though no record of that hearing survives. We focus on three depositions made against her that day: Thomas Burnam Jr. describes watching for a cow-milker he associates with Clinton and claims the figure vanished and later turned into a gray cat; Mary Fuller Sr. recounts Clinton confronting her at home amid a crisis involving her niece Betty Fuller, who later indicated Clinton was responsible; and Thomas Knowlton Jr. reports an incident at the John Rogers household involving demands for food, insults, a thrown stone followed by severe toe pain, and earlier claims about his daughter being harmed by Clinton’s specter. We also discuss how wartime language and imagery appear in these records. 00:00 Welcome and Date 00:15 Rachel Clinton Arrested 00:43 Burnam Cow Milking Tale 01:36 Fuller Family Accusation 02:42 Knowlton Confrontation 03:40 Specter Pricking Threats 04:03 Warfare Imagery Context 04:30 Closing Reflections Sign the petition to exonerate Massachusetts witch trial victims Find My Massachusetts Legislators The Thing About Witch Hunts / About Salem YouTube channel ⁠Salem Witch Trials Daily Hub ⁠The Thing About Salem ⁠The Thing About Witch Hunts ⁠Mary Beth Norton, In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692 Bernard Rosenthal, ed., Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt ⁠Emerson W. Baker, A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience ⁠Marilynne K. Roach, The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege Peabody Essex Museum Salem Witch Trials Collection

We are so happy to introduce Salem Witch Trials Daily, our new podcast that follows the 1692 Salem Witch Trials in real time, day by day, court date by court date, through the documented record. In Salem, Massachusetts, 19 people were executed, one man was pressed to death for refusing trial, and more than a hundred others were accused and imprisoned, leaving a lasting mark on American history. Building on the extraordinary listener response to this series when it launched within The Thing About Salem, the show now has its own dedicated feed, available wherever you get podcasts. Each micro-episode is tied to the actual calendar of 1692 and draws directly from primary sources like court documents, examination transcripts, petitions, letters, and contemporary accounts, alongside established scholarship and our own research. We also provide weekly companion blog posts and downloadable worksheets on aboutsalem.com for deeper, self-paced learning. ⁠Salem Witch Trials Daily – The Thing About Salem Podcast

The Salem witch trials of 1692 were not driven by local grudges alone. Behind the arrests, examinations, and executions was a centuries-old theological framework that convinced educated elites, magistrates, and Puritan clergy that they were fighting a coordinated demonic war against the Christian church itself. Josh Hutchinson and Sarah Jack trace the elaborated theory of witchcraft from its origins at the Council of Basel in the 1430s through the circulation of the Errores Gazariorum, the standardization of the witches' Sabbath concept, and the mass distribution of the Malleus Maleficarum following the invention of the printing press. By the late 17th century, this framework had transformed witchcraft from a personal crime of harmful magic into an existential conspiracy — witches organized under the devil, sworn to pull down the kingdom of Christ and replace it with a kingdom of Satan. In Salem, that theory played out in real time. Tituba's confession named nine witches in the devil's book. That number grew to forty, then a hundred, then three hundred alleged conspirators gathering in Samuel Parris's own pasture to consume red bread and blood wine in mockery of the Christian sacraments. Reverend George Burroughs was accused of leading the diabolical assembly. Coerced confessions described a formal pact to destroy the churches. Cotton Mather, in Wonders of the Invisible World, traced the conspiracy back more than forty years — to executions in Connecticut and Massachusetts that included Alice Young, Margaret Jones, and the Carringtons. This episode examines how fear of an anti-church conspiracy — not panic, but deliberate legal prosecution rooted in genuine theological terror — drove the witchcraft crisis and what that pattern of fear-driven scapegoating reveals about witchcraft accusation violence today. Josh Hutchinson and Sarah Jack are co-hosts of The Thing About Salem, The Thing About Witch Hunts, and Salem Witch Trials Daily. Both are descendants of families who experienced the Salem witch trials. 📚 Full course and resources at aboutsalem.com 🌍 End Witch Hunts: endwitchhunts.org Links Salem Witch Trials Daily Videos & Course The Thing About Salem Website ⁠The Thing on YouTube⁠! ⁠The Thing About Witch Hunts Website Sign the Petition: MA Witch Hunt Justice Project www.massachusettswitchtrials.org Support the nonprofit End Witch Hunts Podcasts and Projects

On Sunday, March 27, 1692, Reverend Samuel Parris led Salem Village through two Sabbath services shaped by the recent “dreadful witchcraft” crisis and the public suspicion of alleged witches. We cover how his sermon warned that Christ knows how many devils are in the church, prompting Sarah Cloyce—sister of Rebecca Nurse—to flee the meetinghouse, and we note later claims about what witnesses said happened after she left. We also discuss how, after dismissing non-members on sacrament Sunday, Parris addressed the congregation about Mary Sibley’s role in the witch cake incident, calling it seeking the devil’s help against the devil, while still allowing her to remain in fellowship if she humbled herself and promised greater caution. 00:00 Welcome and Hosts 00:11 Sabbath in Salem 00:41 Parris Targets Cloyce 01:13 Seven Sins Listed 01:48 Sacrament Sunday Dismissal 02:03 Condemning the Witch Cake 03:12 Mary Sibley Rebuked 03:54 Church Response and Closing Sign the petition to exonerate Massachusetts witch trial victims Find My Massachusetts Legislators The Thing About Witch Hunts / About Salem YouTube channel ⁠Salem Witch Trials Daily Hub ⁠The Thing About Salem ⁠The Thing About Witch Hunts ⁠Mary Beth Norton, In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692 Bernard Rosenthal, ed., Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt ⁠Emerson W. Baker, A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience ⁠Marilynne K. Roach, The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege Peabody Essex Museum Salem Witch Trials Collection

We revisit Mercy Lewis’s reported afflictions and connect them to later depositions involving Elizabeth Proctor and Martha Cory. We also discuss a pivotal event recorded by former Salem Village minister Deodat Lawson in A Brief and True Narrative, describing how magistrates John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin, along with minister John Higginson, examined the youngest witchcraft suspect at the prison keeper’s house. We explore Lawson’s account of what the child said about a “little snake” and what investigators claimed to observe, as well as the allegation that the familiar came from the child’s mother, Sarah Good, who was already jailed.00:00 Welcome and Date00:15 Mercy Lewis Afflictions00:36 Lawson’s Jail Visit00:54 Dorothy Good Examined01:24 Snake Familiar Accusation01:32 Wrap Up and Meaning

Note: We are moving these daily episodes to a new Salem Witch Trials Daily podcast. In this episode, we dig into Friday, March 25, 1692, as tensions surge in Salem Village and beyond. We discuss John Procter’s furious confrontation with Samuel Sibley at Walter Phillips’ Tavern over Mary Warren’s fits and his harsh skepticism toward the afflicted girls. Back in the village, we cover Ann Putnam Jr.’s reported violent spectral assault—attributed to Rebecca Nurse—with witnesses claiming visible bite marks and chain impressions, alongside Edward Putnam’s deposition against Nurse. In Salem Town, we examine Betty Parris’s severe seizures at Captain Stephen Sewall’s home and her account of a dark figure offering temptation, as well as the advice that seemed to end her fits. We also explore Rev. Samuel Parris’s discovery of Mary Sibley’s role in the witch cake and the church repentance he orchestrated. 00:00 Welcome and Date 00:23 Procter Confronts Sibley 01:34 Skepticism Turns Violent 02:08 Ann Putnam Chain Attack 02:49 Betty Parris in Salem Town 03:44 Temptation and Recovery 05:13 Parris Learns Witch Cake 06:20 Mary Sibley Public Rebuke Deposition of Edward Putnam v. Rebecca Nurse Deodat Lawson, Christ’s Fidelity the Only Shield Deodat Lawson, A Brief and True Narrative Sign the petition to exonerate Massachusetts witch trial victims Find My Massachusetts Legislators The Thing About Witch Hunts / About Salem YouTube channel ⁠Salem Witch Trials Daily Hub ⁠The Thing About Salem ⁠The Thing About Witch Hunts ⁠Mary Beth Norton, In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692 Bernard Rosenthal, ed., Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt ⁠Emerson W. Baker, A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience ⁠Marilynne K. Roach, The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege Peabody Essex Museum Salem Witch Trials Collection

In this episode, we revisit Thursday, March 24, 1692, when Salem Village’s packed meetinghouse witnessed chaotic examinations that sent Rebecca Nurse and the very young Dorothy Good toward jail. We follow how accusations and courtroom theatrics escalated under Magistrates Hathorne and Corwin, with Reverend Parris recording the proceedings and the afflicted reacting violently to the accused’s movements. We also discuss the troubling scrutiny of Dorothy Good, including claims about bite marks and a “snake” on her finger, and the decision to imprison her. After the examinations, we cover Reverend Deodat Lawson’s lecture, “Christ’s Fidelity the Only Shield Against Satan’s Malignity,” his warnings about Satan and spectral affliction, and his rejection of countermagic in favor of prayer. We end with how depositions and suspicions—reaching even Giles and Martha Corey—deepened the village’s panic. 00:00 Welcome and Setup 00:27 Rebecca Nurse Arrives 01:22 Accusations Erupt 02:51 Spectral Chaos in Court 04:37 Nurse Jailed and Defended 04:55 Dorothy Good Examined 06:04 Lawson Thursday Lecture 06:58 No Countermagic Warning 08:17 Evening Fallout and New Targets 08:49 Day Ends in Dread Examination of Rebecca Nurse Statement of Giles Cory Regarding Martha Cory Deodat Lawson, Christ’s Fidelity the Only Shield Deodat Lawson, A Brief and True Narrative Sign the petition to exonerate Massachusetts witch trial victims Find My Massachusetts Legislators The Thing About Witch Hunts / About Salem YouTube channel ⁠Salem Witch Trials Daily Hub ⁠The Thing About Salem ⁠The Thing About Witch Hunts ⁠Mary Beth Norton, In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692 Bernard Rosenthal, ed., Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt ⁠Emerson W. Baker, A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience ⁠Marilynne K. Roach, The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege Peabody Essex Museum Salem Witch Trials Collection

In this March 22, 1692 episode of Salem Witch Trials Daily, we cover a Salem town meeting that resolves long-running tension between Salem and Salem Village by keeping the Village part of Salem while easing obligations on both sides: villagers no longer support the town’s ministers or maintain the town meetinghouse, and townspeople are no longer required to fund Village roads. We also discuss Ann Putnam, Sr.’s account of being tormented by the apparition of Rebecca Nurse, who urges her to sign a red book. Finally, we follow a committee visit to the real Rebecca Nurse, who is recovering from illness and praying for the afflicted, but is unaware of rumors accusing her until friends inform her she is a suspect, leaving her stunned as she insists on her innocence. 00:00 Daily Introduction 00:14 Town Meeting Compromise 01:02 Ann Putnam Specter Attack 01:58 Friends Visit Rebecca Nurse 02:42 Accusation Revealed 03:08 Nurse Proclaims Innocence Deposition of Ann Putnam Sr. v. Martha Corey and Rebecca Nurse, and testimony of Ann Putnam Jr. v. Rebecca Nurse, Martha Cory, and Sarah Cloyce Deodat Lawson, A Brief and True Narrative Sign the petition to exonerate Massachusetts witch trial victims Find My Massachusetts Legislators The Thing About Witch Hunts / About Salem YouTube channel ⁠Salem Witch Trials Daily Hub ⁠The Thing About Salem ⁠The Thing About Witch Hunts ⁠Mary Beth Norton, In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692 Bernard Rosenthal, ed., Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt ⁠Emerson W. Baker, A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience ⁠Marilynne K. Roach, The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege Peabody Essex Museum Salem Witch Trials Collection

Episode Summary The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 didn't emerge from nowhere. They emerged from a library. This episode traces the centuries of theological and legal texts that shaped how Salem's magistrates understood witchcraft, the demonic pact, and the infamous Devil's book. From a 15th-century inquisitor's manual to a Scottish king's royal obsession to a Boston minister's bestseller, Josh and Sarah open the books that made Salem possible. Books and Sources Covered Malleus Maleficarum (1486) — Heinrich Kramer's foundational witch-hunting manual codified the idea of a vast anti-Christian conspiracy sealed by a formal pact with the devil. It provided the theological and legal framework for prosecuting witchcraft across Europe for centuries. Daemonologie (1597) — Written by King James VI of Scotland (later King James I of England), this royal text argued that witches entered the devil's service through a pact alone. The king's authority gave the work enormous cultural weight, and his framework for the devil's covenant shaped New England Puritan thought directly. A Discourse of the Damned Art of Witchcraft (1608) — William Perkins detailed the diabolical compact in legal terms, distinguishing between explicit verbal pacts and implicit ones inferred through action. He also established seven grounds for suspicion of witchcraft. During the Salem crisis, Cotton Mather specifically recommended judges follow the guidelines of Perkins and his successor Richard Bernard. A Guide to Grand Jury-men (1627) — Richard Bernard's practical manual for witch trial proceedings was among the texts Cotton Mather recommended to the Salem court. The Discovery of Witches (1647) — Matthew Hopkins, the self-styled Witch Finder General, ran one of the most lethal witch-hunting campaigns in English history across East Anglia. His methods, his obsession with the witch's mark, and the confessions he extracted helped cement the Devil's book as a recognizable cultural image decades before Salem. Hudibras (Samuel Butler, 17th century) — Butler's satirical poem mocked Hopkins by portraying him as a secret witch himself, hanged for possessing the very Devil's book he hunted. The satire is significant: it confirms the Devil's book was already deeply embedded in the popular imagination. Memorable Providences Relating to Witchcrafts and Possessions (1689) — Cotton Mather's account of the Goodwin children's afflictions, attributed to an Irish woman named Goody Glover, circulated widely through New England. When Salem's afflictions began in 1692, the symptoms closely mirrored the Goodwin case. The Devil's Book at Salem: First Appearances February 27, 1692 — Ann Putnam Jr. claimed Sarah Good's specter tormented her and pressured her to sign the Devil's book. This is the first accusation involving the Devil's book in the Salem crisis. Elizabeth Hubbard named Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne as tormenters, alleging Osborne's specter urged her to write in the book. March 2, 1692 — Tituba confessed to making her mark in the Devil's book with blood and stated the book was already signed by nine witches, including Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne. Seven signers remained unidentified, located in Roxbury, Salem, and Boston. March 14, 1692 — Abigail Williams claimed she was tempted to put her hand to the Devil's book and saw Martha Corey at a Devil's Sacrament. Mercy Lewis reported similar pressure to sign. Links Buy Book: The Hammer of Witches, ed. Christopher S MacKay Daemonologie by King James VI/I The Discovery of Witches by Matthew Hopkins Hudibras A Discourse of the Damned Art of Witchcraft by William Perkins Memorable Providences Relating to Witchcrafts and Possessions by Cotton Mather Salem Witch Trials Daily Videos & Course The Thing About Salem Website ⁠The Thing About Witch Hunts YouTube⁠ ⁠The Thing About Witch Hunts Website Sign the Petition: MA Witch Hunt Justice Project Massachusetts Witch-Hunt Justice Project Support the nonprofit End Witch...

We cover March 21, 1692, when Joseph Herrick arrests Martha Cory and notices an unusual ointment in her home that she says came from a recipe given by magistrate Major Bartholomew Gedney. We follow Cory to the packed Salem Village meetinghouse, where Nicholas Noyes opens with prayer and magistrates John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin question her while Samuel Parris records the interrogation and Deodat Lawson documents events. We describe how multiple afflicted accusers—including Mrs. Pope, identified as Benjamin Franklin’s aunt—claim Cory torments them, and how physical gestures by Cory are said to correspond with their injuries and fits. We also discuss how, after the examination and Cory’s commitment to Salem prison, witnesses submit depositions that will later serve as legal evidence. 00:00 Aunt’s Shoe Throw 00:25 Arrest and Ointment 00:44 Meetinghouse Begins 02:06 Accusers and Spectral Claims 04:03 Fits and Physical Signs 05:15 Drumbeats and Devil Talk 06:10 Catechism and Commitment 06:40 Depositions as Evidence The Examination of Martha Cory, as Recorded by Samuel Parris Deodat Lawson, A Brief and True Narrative Sign the petition to exonerate Massachusetts witch trial victims Find My Massachusetts Legislators The Thing About Witch Hunts / About Salem YouTube channel ⁠Salem Witch Trials Daily Hub ⁠The Thing About Salem ⁠The Thing About Witch Hunts ⁠Mary Beth Norton, In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692 Bernard Rosenthal, ed., Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt ⁠Emerson W. Baker, A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience ⁠Marilynne K. Roach, The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege Peabody Essex Museum Salem Witch Trials Collection

In this episode of Salem Witch Trials Daily, we revisit March 20, 1692, when guest preacher Deodat Lawson delivered a sermon in Salem Village and later described the day in A Brief and True Narrative. We share who Lawson observed attending the meeting, including several of the “afflicted persons,” and how their fits and interruptions disrupted public worship. We recount some of the remarks attributed to Abigail Williams and Mrs. Pope during the prayers and sermon, and we touch on the moment when Goodwife Cory was singled out with a vivid accusation involving a “yellow bird.” We also note Ann Putnam’s claim about a yellow bird and how those nearby tried to keep her from speaking out loudly. 00:00 Welcome to the Show 00:11 Setting the Date and Scene 00:29 Afflicted at Worship 00:46 Disruptions During Prayer 00:56 Abigail Challenges the Sermon 01:06 More Interruptions and Critiques 01:27 Goodwife Cory and the Yellow Bird 01:40 Ann Putnam Spots a Bird Deodat Lawson, A Brief and True Narrative Sign the petition to exonerate Massachusetts witch trial victims Find My Massachusetts Legislators The Thing About Witch Hunts / About Salem YouTube channel ⁠Salem Witch Trials Daily Hub ⁠The Thing About Salem ⁠The Thing About Witch Hunts ⁠Mary Beth Norton, In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692 Bernard Rosenthal, ed., Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt ⁠Emerson W. Baker, A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience ⁠Marilynne K. Roach, The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege Peabody Essex Museum Salem Witch Trials Collection

We cover March 19, 1692, when Henry Kinney and Edward Putnam file a witchcraft complaint against Martha Corey for allegedly afflicting several Salem Village residents, leading magistrates to issue a warrant for her arrest and examination at Nathaniel Ingersoll’s tavern. We also follow reports from Ann Putnam Sr. of intense spectral torment attributed to Martha Corey and Rebecca Nurse. Our story then turns to the arrival of former minister Deodat Lawson, who lodges at Ingersoll’s and records striking observations of the afflictions, including Mary Walcott’s apparent bite marks and Abigail Williams’ severe fit and accusations, notes he later publishes in his narrative of events. 00:00 Welcome to Salem 00:14 Complaint Against Corey 00:53 Spectral Torment Reports 01:13 Lawson Arrives 01:43 Mary Walcott Bitten 02:19 Abigail's Violent Fit 02:47 Devil's Book Refusal 03:13 Firebrand Frenzy Deodat Lawson, A Brief and True Narrative Sign the petition to exonerate Massachusetts witch trial victims Find My Massachusetts Legislators The Thing About Witch Hunts / About Salem YouTube channel ⁠Salem Witch Trials Daily Hub ⁠The Thing About Salem ⁠The Thing About Witch Hunts ⁠Mary Beth Norton, In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692 Bernard Rosenthal, ed., Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt ⁠Emerson W. Baker, A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience ⁠Marilynne K. Roach, The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege Peabody Essex Museum Salem Witch Trials Collection