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The Salem Witch Trials (Go directly to Susanna Martin Information)
The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 resulted in nearly 200 people imprisoned, 20 executed and a further 8 dying in prison. Most of the participants knew each other. Some were tied together by either blood or marriage..
The trials came about because of the action of a small group of teenage girls who had spent the winter of 1691-92 at the home of their friends, Elizabeth and Abigail Paris. There the girls became fascinated with the tales of the slave Tituba who told of black magic and of spells being placed on people. The 9 girls were Elizabeth Paris, Abigail Paris, Ann Putnam, Elizabeth Hubbard, Mary Warren, Mercy Lewis, Mary Wolcott, Elizabeth Booth and Susan Sheldon.
At first only Ann Putnam, Abigail Williams and Betty Parris started to act strangely. "They contorted themselves into odd postures and made strange gestures. They uttered foolish and ridiculous speech of which neither they nor anyone else could make sense. At first it seemed like a game, but soon it became clear it was something more. The three girls were sometimes dumb as if choked. They complained of pains, like those from pins being thrust into their bodies."
Their parents became concerned and their doctor was called in who declared that the girls were bewitched. The girls and their story were brought to the attention of Magistrate John Hawthorne. Because witchcraft was a crime Magistrate Hawthorne organized an inquiry and grand jury to investigate these "witches". During the course of the investigation Mary Lewis and Mary Walcott also became afflicted thus leading to the trials and executions.
When the accused were brought into the courtroom during the examinations the following is typical of what occurred;
"The circle of afflicted girls were brought into the room. When the accused person glanced at them, they instantly succumbed to their afflictions, fits in which they writhed on the floor in strange agonies and grievous torments. Captain Alden, a sea captain who was accused, described the girls as 'those wenches who played their juggling tricks, falling down, crying out, and staring in other people's faces." However when the accused person touched an arm or another part of their bodies, they immediately revived and came to themselves.
The afflicted girls swore that their fits were caused by the accused person. They swore that they had seen a specter come out of the accused person's body and physically attack them, causing them great pain and torment. This testimony became the decisive evidence used by the court to establish that the accused person was not a rich."
One of the accused was Susannah North Martin, a direct ancestor of mine, 12 generations ago. Susannah was born in 1625 in England. She was the widow of George Martin, a blacksmith. At the time of her trial, Susannah was 67 years old and a widow for 6 years. This was the second time she had been formally investigated on charges of being a witch. The first time, the charges had been dropped. This time the charges would be more serious. A complaint was filed against her on April 30, 1692. On May 2 she was arrested. She was tried in June and on June 30 she was sentenced to death.
During her trial Susannah was pointed out as a witch by a number of the afflicted girls. Abigail Williams said that it was Goody Martin who "hath hurt me often" and that she "had been afflicted by the apparition of Susannah Martin", Mary Lewis pointed towards her and fell into a little fit.
Besides the testimony of these afflicted girls, a number of Susannah Martin's own neighbors testified against her. William Brown, a 70 year old resident of Salisbury, stated that 30 years ago Susannah Martin had put a spell on his wife Elizabeth causing her much mental and physical anguish. Other neighbors that testified against her were John and Mary Preffrey of Salisbury, Joseph Ring of Salisbury, John Kimball of Amesbury, John Alley of Salisbury, Joseph Knight, Elizabeth Clark, Robert Downer of Salisbury, Mary Andras, Moses Pike, Thomas Putnam, Nathaniel Ingersoll, Sam Paris, Elizabeth Hubbard, Mercy Lewis, Sarah Viber, Ann Putnam, and John and Ann Atkinson. Most of them described various pains, aliments and troubles as coming from Susannah. One of them mentioned that when Susannah had walked to her house (a distance of at least a mile) for a visit, her feet were dry and not muddy even though it had rained and the ground was soaked.
Susannah Martin did not help her cause with her independence and sharp tongue. She insisted that she was not guilty and at the trial stated that she had "no hand in witchcraft." She also stated that she felt that the afflicted were not bewitched and added that she had no compassion for the afflicted girls. Her attitude and actions probably contributed much towards her final fate. It certainly made the famous and influential, Reverend Cotton Mather upset. He declared that Susannah Martin "was one of the most impudent, scurrilous, wicked creatures in the whole world."
On July 19, 1692, Susannah Martin was taken to Gallows Hill. Accompanying her were 4 other condemned 'witches', Sarah Good, Elizabeth Howe, Rebecca Nurse, and Sarah Wilder. While at the gallows awaiting her fate, Susannah was asked by Rev. Noyes to confess. He told her that he knew she was a witch and that she should repent. "She replied that he lied, and that she was no more a witch then he was a wizard, and if he took away her life, God would give him blood to drink." (Tradition has it that Rev. Noyes later died of internal bleeding, some blood observed coming from his mouth.)
The sentence was then carried out. Their bodies were later taken down and flung into a nearby ravine, because they could not be buried in consecrated ground. It is unknown as to the eventual fate of Susannah's body but it is likely that family members secretly removed it for burial in an unknown gravesite.
These trials and accusations were spurred on by more then just the actions of the afflicted and a general belief in witches. A number of the accused confessed to being a witch. An example is the case of Mary Lacy who gave the following answers to questions at her examination;
Q:"Do you acknowledge now you are a witch?"
A: "Yes."
Q: Did the devil appear to you?"
A:" Yes."
Q: "In what shape?"
A: "In the shape of a horse."
Q: Did he bid you worship him?"
A: Yes, he bid me also to affect persons."
Q: "Did you use at any time to ride upon, a stick or a pole?"
A: "Yes."
Q:" How high."
A: "Sometimes above the trees."
These confessions served to inflame the people and strengthen their beliefs that there were witches and that a number of them were in their community. They encouraged even more accusation, trials and executions.
Sources; "The Devil Discovered" by
Enders Robinson, Hippocrene Books,NY 1991
"The Witchcraft Delusion of 1692" by Gov. Hutchinson, NEHG Register
Vol. 24, Oct 1870
"The Witches at Salem 1692" by Dick Eastman