S1 – 11: Floundering

It was a baptism, two actually, from two different local families, and they all gathered in the Salem Village meeting house to partake in that essential tradition that put their children on the path toward membership. It was a ceremony that was meant to feel special and encouraging. It was a sign of health and growth, and honestly it was normal, and maybe everyone in the village needed a bit of

normalcy for a change. But there was a darkness surrounding this baptism because both families had recently experienced death and the pain was still fresh worse yet, each of those families blamed the other for their loss. So while the baptisms were meant to signify a new beginning, each of them was more likely to be consumed with the past. The first of these families was Thomas and and Putnam. We know them as the parents of Annie Putnam, one

of the most vocal afflicted girls. Over the course of the trials, Annie and her mother Anne had both provided mountains of spectral evidence for the courts, while Thomas had been working with the court to bring as many witches to justice as he could. But through all of that, And had been pregnant with their newborn daughter, Abigail, through all of the fits and seizures, through the chaos inside her own household, through countless days in court giving testimonies

against the accused. Maybe it was religious piety that drove them all to do it, or maybe it was something much more personal, because three years prior, Thomas and Anne had to endure the death of their daughter, Sarah, who was barely six weeks old at the time. It was a tragedy that no parent should have to go through,

and it happened without reason or obvious cause. That is until their daughter Annie gave testimony in court one day in claiming to see the ghost of John Willard, the escaped constable who was captured, brought back, and later executed. Annie told the court that he confessed to her that he was the one who had killed little Sarah. He whipped her to death with a spectral lash. So, as you can imagine, Thomas and and Putnam were upset, even

if they were a bitness guy did. And while it might not make sense right now, it's important to know that they blamed the other family for Sarah's death, a family that you've never heard of before, the Tarbells, who were present at the baptism with their own son, Jonathan. Little Jonathan Tarbell was older than the Putnam's newborn. He had been born in the spring, just as the witchcraft panic had begun to pick up speed. But his parents, John and Mary Tarbell had experienced their own portion of

loss over the months between his birth and baptism. Mary, you see, was the daughter of Rebecca Nurse, and the Putnam's had been instrumental in her arrest and conviction. And yet despite those intents and passionate differences, they were standing together in the Salem Village meeting house. Reverend Paris had to have known how awkward things were between the two families, and yet there was nothing he could do about it.

This innocent event was a small dem straation of a much larger truth life was never going to be the same in Salem. This is unobscured. I'm aaron Manky. Passionate people are capable of enormous amounts of work. If you believe in something deeply enough, that belief can act like a fuel that drives the car forward. But how that power is used is entirely up to the person, and Thomas and Ann Putnam spent months focusing theirs into the

destruction of the lives around them. In the first few weeks of the witchcraft trials, Thomas Putnam filed eight complaints with the magistrates against a total of twenty one people. He saw it as his duty to put a stop to the activity of the witches before the village was overwhelmed by the devil's forces, and I drove him to action.

By the time the baptism of his daughter Abigail rolled around in October, Thomas and his family were responsible in some way or another for the prosecution of at least fifty eight individuals. That's more than one third of the entire collection of accused and arrested. Throughout the trials, Thomas Putnam was a busy man. One of the most significant moments for the Putnam family was when Thomas's daughter Annie testified that George Burrows Specter had bragged to her about

his efforts to advance the Devil's kingdom in Maine. She claimed he told her he had recruited a great many witches into his army and they were coming for them all. But Thomas and Annie weren't alone in their efforts to fight the witchcraft epidemic. Despite being pregnant and willingly threw herself into the fray. In fact, she was one of the very few adults who joined the afflicted girls in

the courtroom displays of spiritual warfare and spectral visions. And that was a bold claim from such a well respected member of the Salem village community. So when Rebecca Nurse had stood trial, it was Ann Putnam's testimony that rose above all the others. Remember, Rebecca had been a full member in good standing in the church. She was loved and respected by many, and lived a generous and humble life. The word of a few young teenagers wasn't going to

be enough to convict her. That's why, and Putnam added her own voice. Today, some historians believe that Thomas and and Annie, along with their households, servant girl Mercy Lewis were responsible for more than one hundred sixty witchcraft accusations. They were waging a war against an entire coven of witches, and that somehow made John Willard, Rebecca Nurse and all the others responsible for the death of their daughter Sarah

three years before. The Tarbells begged to differ. Yes, they might have been related to Rebecca Nurse by blood, but they had done an admirable job of staying out of the spotlight all year long, and honestly, who could blame them? They watched as Mary's mother and aunts were rounded up and arrested, and by late October two of them had been executed. John Tarbell only appears in the court documents once. In March of that year, when accusations were pointed at

his mother in law, Rebecca Nurse. John actually went to the home of Thomas Putnam and demanded to know who had been the first to accuse her. Mercy Lewis said it was Anne, and of course said it was Mercy. None of them would admit to who slipped young Annie Putnam Rebecca's name, though, and the matter en did there, allowing her arrest and conviction. To move forward, Mary and John Tarbell would have been front row witnesses to the

destruction caused by the witchcraft trials. They rented farmland from Mary's parents and were close to her family, including her aunt's Sarah Klois and Mary Esty. As the accusations flew like bullets and struck member after member of their family, it would have been easy for them to see who was firing the shots, the Putnam's. But despite this, Mary's

family wasn't the only one hit so hard. Sure, the high profile hangings of Rebecca Nurse and Mary Esty, alongside other families like the Proctors and the Corries, are the ones we tend to remember. But as the witchcraft trials wore on through the summer and fall, bigger numbers began to add up in nearby and Over, and they told a frightening story. Through August and September, the number of accused witches in Andover had exploded to more than forty

six individuals. That's more than Salem Town and Salem Village combined, and it highlighted a dark fact. However much the Putnam's attacked and harmed the Nurse family, there was another clan in town that suffered the most. According to historians, this single family represented eleven percent of all suspects across the trials. We don't know when Edmund and Ann Ingalls moved into

the area. They were part of a larger migration of settlers who moved into the colony decades before the witchcraft trials, putting down their roots in the town of Lynn. Those roots grew into a mighty tree over the years, and I'm going to try my best to give you a quick tour of all the branches hold on tight. Edmund and Anne had at least three children that we know of, Henry, Elizabeth, and Faith, all of whom seemed to have moved north to and Over. Henry had three sons, Henry Jr. Samuel,

and John. Elizabeth married the Andover minister Francis Dane, and Faith married into the Allen family. Simple so far right, Families grow, the kids get married, and they have kids, and on and on it goes. But the Ingles family had a long road ahead of them. You see, two of Faith's daughters were familiar to us already, Martha Carrier and Mary Toothicker. Martha, of course, was known as the Queen of Hell, and by the time the October baptisms arrived,

she had already been executed. Mary, on the other hand, still sat in a jail awaiting her own trial and possible conviction, having already lost her husband, Roger, who died in jail months before. The Carriers weren't doing much better. Martha was hanged on August nine, and we've already covered that in an earlier episode. What I haven't mentioned is that her two children, seven year old Sarah and ten year old Thomas, were also arrested and examined in August.

The accusations of Thomas Putnam had cut straight through the Carrier family, and the pain was powerful. Elizabeth Ingalls, as I said before, married the Andover minister Francis Dane, but despite being a solid and respected minister's family, two of their daughters, five of their grandchildren, and one daughter in law were all accused of witchcraft. In fact, historians think it was because of Francis that the accusations happened at all, due to how outspoken he was about his disapproval of

which trials in general. But family ties were incredibly significant and incriminating during the events of and guilt by association was a deadly reality for many. The Ingles family and their widespread of branches suffered through those attacks more than most. Thankfully, though they made it out alive. Some of them, at least one of their descendants would eventually move west by

the way. He and his family would live in a little house on a big open prairie, and his daughter Laura would go on to write a series of books about growing up as a pioneer family in early America. Considering what Laura Ingalls Wilder's ancestors went through, her tails suggest that life can get better. Sadly, though there were some in Salem who didn't want that to happen. Thomas Putnam might have earned top marks as a citizen watchdog during the Salem trials, but thankfully he wasn't in a

position of power. Given enough authority, Putnam might actually have done worse. Sadly, there was someone else in a position to do just that, William Stoughton. He had been in charge of the examinations almost from the very beginning, and he was the driving force behind the Oyer and terminer its sessions. He was even the one petitioning Governor Phipps for the chance to keep going to run his violent,

biased witch hunt to the very end. Because of that, he developed a reputation for breaking families over his knee like a bundle of dry sticks. Stowton lived for power and prestige. He was known to entertain all of the most influential and powerful people from Boston at extravagant parties in his home. He had money and he liked showing it off, even importing chocolate as a treat for his guests.

Back in September of six, Stowton had actually officiated a wedding and the gathering was a who's who of Massachusetts power players. The groom was none other than John Richards, one of the judges on the Court of Oyer and Terminer, and as bride was Annie Winthrop. She was the granddaughter of Massachusetts founder John Winthrop, as well as sister to wait Still Winthrop. Yet another of the judges, even Judge

Samuel Sewell, was there. And I think this autumn wedding celebration shows off just how insulated many of the powerful people were from the witch trials. Families like the Tarbells and Putnam's couldn't attend their own baptisms without bumping into reminders of their loss and grief. But Stowton and his friends could retreat to their circles of power and pretend nothing was going on outside their beautiful walls. And this

was the life that Stouton wanted. He was a colonial power broker, celebrating and raising a glass of Burgundy or Canary wine to the good health of his friends, with himself at the center of it all. But inside we know Stowton was thinking about other issues, and it wasn't a simple thing to leave it all outside the wedding. That very day, September one, was the day that the Wardwell family had been pulled from their home and arrested,

four of them at once. In fact, they were thrown into a cart headed to the Salem jail, along with two other named teenage boys. The surge in accusations and arrests and andover had begun to peak, and Stowton would have been reveling in it. William Stoughton wanted the trials to continue. He believed in them. He was passionate about them. I think if there was a candidate for the one person who might have actually enjoyed them, Stoughton would be

that person. So when Governor Phipps finally struck down the court of oyer and terminal, Stowton would have taken that as a personal slight, which of course Phipps knew. That's why he waited for Stowton to leave the General Court meeting before making his decision. The tide was turning, and Stowton knew it. Yes, there were still some who believed the trials were necessary and that there was a satanic plot against their Bible commonwealth and they needed to confront

it head on. But there were many more who believe that the trials had relied too heavily on spectral evidence and forced false confessions out of the accused, and the results, they feared was damaged that was impossible to undo. The tension between Stowton and Phipps was just one example of that divide. Back in Salem Village, Thomas Putnam was still firm in his position that there was a spectral threat, but his younger half brother was balancing out the scales.

Joseph Putnam had married into the Porter clan and made an enemy of his own kin by openly opposing the trial, and that was a risky position to take in There's a Putnam family legend that Joseph kept one of his horses saddled and ready for over six months during the witchcraft panic, and even carried a pistol. Also he could be ready to defend himself and flee should the need arise. Thomas might have wanted to round up more victims, but

his brother Joseph clearly wanted it all to end. One thing I want to point out, though, no matter what side of the fence most colonists fell on whether they believe the court was just or unjust, they were still in agreement about the truth of the subject matter. They still believed that the Puritan community was under spiritual attack. They still believed that the devil could use sinful people from among them to undermine their mission. And they still

believed in the power and existence of witches. If we want proof of that, we need look no further than the week after Phipps decided that the court of Oyer and Terminer must come to an end. That was when more accusations popped up in the town of Gloucester, just up the coast, Just as with and over a few of the afflicted girls from Salem. Elizabeth Hubbard among them

traveled there to provide witch finding services. Over the course of three days, they identified three local women who had been attacking their neighbors with witchcraft, and they were summarily arrested on November five. This was a week after Phipps had called for no more arrests, and it didn't stop. There new accusations in the town of Wenham pointed the finger at the wife of Beverly minister John Hale, one of the few ministers who had been helpful to Samuel

Paris throughout the spring. In response, Hale got on his horse and rode to the accuser's house. I assume he had intended to make the accusations go away, or to get to the bottom of why that person believed his wife would be a witch. But all we know is that he came away shaken by the experience. He later wrote, what grief of heart. It brings to a tender conscience to have been unwittingly encouraging the sufferings of the innocence. Hale, it seems, had finally seen the error of his ways

and the destruction it had helped cause. But others were much less open to change. In growth and at the center of it all was one figure who held the movement in his hands and yet refused to bring it to an end. William Stoughton would not be swayed. How however misguided William Stoughton might have been, you can't deny his commitment to the moment. It didn't matter what sort

of wind blew at him. He would not be pushed off course, Not by petitions from the accused before their deaths, not by the please of the innocent from their friends and neighbors. Certainly not by ministers who attempted to undermine the court by using scripture and Puritan custom against his own command of English law. Stoughton was unshakable, and he was also fully aware of his power. All he had to do was look inside the jails of the area

around Salem to see its influence. Over fifty people were still in jail awaiting their own trial for witchcraft, and a handful were just waiting for the date of their execution to be announced. Elizabeth Procter was waiting for the birth of her unborn child so that she too could be taken to the gallows and hanged. On October thirty one, Stoughton had returned to the legislative meeting that were still

going on in Boston. The Upper House was continuing to discuss the establishment of permanent courts, and he was part of that conversation. It was all Hallow's Eve, but the Puritans didn't celebrate Halloween. But let's be honest. Seeing a man as twisted and bloodthirsty as William Stoughton exercise his influence over the formation of a new government was probably

frightening enough to the people around him. The Upper House spent the rest of November on setting out the terms by which the colony would operate, everything from the rights and duties of the local governments across the area, to a proposed public works tax that would be used to build bridges and care for the poor, and of course what laws would be complete without penalties for crimes such

as counterfeiting. It wasn't sexy stuff, but it was the essential work of a new government, and there are little hidden gems in their work. For example, the Upper House seriously discussed a limitation on mackerel fishing, as well as options for how they might regulate trade in pickled fish, because there was apparently a lot of scandal in that industry. Those crazy fishermen, always trying to pull one over on

the government. Right, the pieces fell into place. On novembery the judicial system was officially re established and dates were set for the convening of the courts. They voted to determine who would serve in the various roles from Justices of the Peace and constables, two judges serving across all the courts, and of course that meant the Superior Court as well. You'd actually be amazed at how many member

names you'd recognize on the newly elected Superior Court. Wait still, Winthrop, Samuel Sewell, John Richards, all of whom had served on the Court of Oyer and Terminer. The man elected Chief Justice of the Superior Court was you guessed it, William Stowton. But Thomas dan fourth was also elected, and that might have turned out to be a decision that changed the

course of history. Let me try and explain why dan fourth was one of the few men who could put his service record right beside Stowton's and hold his head up with pride. His resume was impressive. He served as the treasurer of Middlesex County and then Treasurer and steward of Harvard University. After that, he held positions on the Massachusetts General Court before heading north to serve six years

as the president of the Province of Maine. While he was there, dan Forth led troops in battle, negotiated land deals with the Wabanaki, and even dabbled in a bit of city planning by drawing up the original street plans for the town of Falmouth. And while he was on the front line serving his people, his own son died doing the exact same thing in Rhode Island. Back in Boston, he served a total of ten years as deputy governor, some of it before the botched Androws administration and some after.

And remember Andros was a crown appointed Anglican governor over a Puritan colony. That would be sort of like electing a Russian politician to the office of President of the United States. During the time Andros was in power, some people compromise their Puritan beliefs to advance their career. Stowton was one of those men. Dan Fourth, however, wasn't, and

that meant something to a lot of people. At seventy years of age, Dan Fourth was also eight years older than Stowton, giving him a bit more seniority over the fiery man, and as if all of that weren't enough, just a year before the Salem panic had erupted, Dan Fourth served over a witchcraft trial of a woman named Martha Sparks, who he had arrested and thrown in jail. At it all up and Dan Fourth was a powerhouse.

He was experienced, trusted and willing to do the right thing, and rather than allow the fear and panics surrounding the witchcraft accusations to cloud his judgment, he had shown he could be restrained and level headed. Stowton didn't even come close to that sort of reputation, and now the two of them were partner together on the Superior Court. Dan Fourth, however,

was reluctant to accept the position. Not only would he have to work with Stowton, but the younger man was the chief justice, which meant that he was calling the shots. That didn't sound like an attractive place to be for a man with a backbone and very different opinions. He was just the sort of man they needed on the court, though, so some of the others decided to convince him to take the job. Samuel Sewell, the judge who had previously asked dan Forth about his position on the Salem Trials.

After hearing from Thomas Brattle that he didn't approve, invited dan Forth to dinner there Sewell and a pair of ministers that included Increase Mather urged the old leader to stick around and serve on the court. I don't know how long he deliberated over that decision, but I can imagine it was a difficult one to make. He probably felt that he was just a bit too old for divisive politics, and endless fighting with Stoughton was the least

attractive thing he could think of. At the same time, though sometimes you have to be divisive to put a stop to evil. True tolerance includes being intolerant of people with the destructive message, and this was his chance to make a difference. But he made a decision, and thankfully for us at least it was the right one. Thomas Danforth would serve on the Superior Court and try to balance out the hatred of William Stoughton. That was the plan on paper anyway. In practice, though it would be

much more difficult. There was one individual missing from the Superior Court, though at least that's how he viewed it. Himself. Remember back to the very first Oyer and Terminer session and a judge named Nathaniel salt Install. Remember how he quit after that first session went in a dark direction and ended with the execution of Bridget Bishop Well. He was still upset about that. Most people don't know that. Salt Install returned home to Haverll after his first and

only session on the Court. In the weeks that followed, four women in his town were accused of witchcraft, and they were brought to him for examination, but he refused to hold hearings about it. He flat out refused to play along with the witch trials. In the end, those four women were taken to andover and examined. There in his mind he had stood up against the court. He had put his foot down and declared it a farce and a gross injustice. While the rest of the world

around him screamed for more blood and more names. He had reached the opinion in June that most everyone else was only just now reaching at the beginning of December. He was an early adopter, so to speak. So there's this story from the day that judges for the Superior Court were selected. Samuel Sewell recalled how he was leaving the Assembly building when he found salt Install sitting on a bench in the room, drunk and upset that he

had been overlooked by the courts. He had assumed, now that Phipps and the others were in agreement that the trials had gotten out of hand, that he would be a logical choice for the Superior Court. When he wasn't. He went out and got blitzed and then showed up to complain about it. I mean, you've got to admire the man's initiative, even if his methods were a bit uncouth. I bring this up because we can learn something from

how Sewel tried to reassure salt Install. He made it clear to the man that he had no part in influencing Phips to pass over him, and that he didn't think it signified anything else about the overlook judge's future prospects. Sewell seemed to be communicating to his friend that while he had played along with Stoughton for months, his allegiances were finally changing, and Samuel Sewell's opinions weren't the only

things that were changing. I mentioned earlier that Stowton still had over fifty people in local jail's awaiting trial, but that was beginning to shift as well. Prisoners were slowly leaking back out into the community. Some did it the legal way, while others might have skirted around the rules just a bit. One young man, Benjamin Procter, the oldest son of executed John Proctor, actually walked out of prison

and headed home. On November, two women were set free from the Boston jail, and another paid her bonds on December three and left the Cambridge jail that she had been stuck in. One prisoner, Abigail Faulkner, had already been condemned to be hanged and was waiting to give birth before that sentence could be carried out. She petitioned Governor Phipps for her own release, stating that the only evidence used to convict or had been spectral, and he let

her go free. It was something that had been unthinkable just a month earlier, and now it was happening. The trickle soon became a flood. On December six, the eight men from and Over petition Phipps to ask that their wives and daughters be allowed bail. Winter was getting colder and more brutal, and jails were far from the safest places to be during those frigid months. Some of the bails were set high, but they paid the price. Anything

was better than the current conditions. Around the same time, Captain John Alden, the convicted witch who had fled the colony to spend time in the safety of New York, actually returned to Boston. Two of his good friends took him straight to Judge Jonathan Richards and paid his bond in full, setting him free. But if you were one of the families that lacked the funds to buy your loved ones freedom, December of two wasn't as encouraging as it seemed. For them. It was still a waiting game.

The new court system had been put together, but their first trial under that new system hadn't been announced yet. I realized many had suffered through actual torture over the course of the witchcraft trials, But for the people left in the cold, unsanitary jails, this was pretty close. Staying in jail could be deadly, and it was for one person at least. The elderly and over woman and foster passed away in jail on de summer ninth. She was the one who had been so frail. They had to

carry her into the courtroom. After that, she had to endure the emotional trauma of hearing her daughter and granddaughter confess and accuse her of witchcraft. But even though her judgment had been swift, she had been left for weeks to wait for her execution. Instead, she died in jail. When her son Abraham visited the jail to claim her body, he was told that he would need to pay her outstanding expenses and provision costs before her body would be

handed over. He had just lost his mother, and yet he would have to scrape together the fees in order to take her home and grieve properly. There were bright spots though. On December tenth, a man in Salem named Samuel Ray showed up at the jail and paid the full fifty pound bond for Dorothy good the little girl who had been jailed alongside her mother, Sarah good Way back in March. Little Dorothy spent ten months in chains, a tragedy that no child should ever have to endure.

According to historians, it would shape the rest of her life. Finally, word went out that the next trial would take place in January, not another oyer and terminer like the past sessions, but a new trial by the Massachusetts Superior Court. It offered hope to those still waiting for a decision and praying for their release from captivity, perhaps even an occasion to celebrate before the trial date could arrive. Though the Governor declared December twenty nine to be a day of

fasting and prayer across the colony. They were urged to consider the various and awful judgments of God continued upon the English nation and the dispersions thereof in their Majesty's several plantations by permitting witchcrafts and evil ages to rage against his people. Translation, judgment was coming, so pray for mercy. The Superior Court met in Salem's town meeting House on January three. Of It was cold, putting this new trial in stark contrast with the ones that had taken place

over the sweltering summer. The jurors for the trial arrived early, and among them were some interesting choices, including Jacob Town from Topsfield, who just so happened to be the nephew of Rebecca Nurse. Another juror was Richard Reid, brother in law to Wilma Reid, who had been executed right alongside Martha Carrier back in September. The process of swearing in the full jury took up the entire first day, apparently, so it wasn't until January four that the first case

was brought forward to the judges. The process would be a lot like the Oyer and Terminer. Evidence would be presented and considered by the jury, and then they would send their indictments to the judges for trial and sentencing. The huge difference now, though, was that spectral evidence no longer counted as real court worthy evidence. In fact, the Upper House had laid down incredibly strict rules about what

did and did not count as evidence. The new law made no mention of signing the Devil's Book or spectral attacks, some of the most common stories told in the courtroom over the previous year, but it did describe the specific crimes that would be punished. Anyone who conjured or invoked evil spirits, then entertained, employed, or rewarded them in any way, who dug up a corpse or any part of a corpse to use for magical purposes, or who used any of these means to lame or to waste pine and

consume anyone else in any way would be executed. In other words, no specters or ghostly apparitions. Sure, if you tried to kill another person with magic, you were guilty of a capital offense and therefore would be executed. But other behavior that was considered to be witchcraft would come with us or punishments. That list of crimes is fascinating

to read. Using spells to discover precious ores or buried treasure, find lost items, lure another person's love, waste or destroy another person's property, including livestock, or hurt someone bodily without killing them. They were the actions of a witch as far as they were concerned, but they weren't capital crimes. On January four, the very first case demonstrated how different

this new trial was going to be. The evidence was laid out and the testimonies were heard, but then as the indictments were considered one by one, they were marked with the term ignoramus, meaning we do not know without allowing spectral evidence. It became clear that almost no case that day was worthy of an actual trial. Of the four cases that did get moved onto a full trial,

one of them was of Margaret Jacobs. She was the grand udter of George Jacobs, who had been convicted and hanged back in August, partly because of her own testimony, But on January four she recanted that confession, pled not guilty and was acquitted. Her mother, Rebecca, did the same thing, and she was also acquitted. She claimed that now that

she had no distraction, she could think clearly. The third case, that of Andover Resident Hannah Tyler, ended with the same decision, and on and on went one case after another, as fear and desperation were replaced with celebration and joy. It was a major shift in tone for the trials. For months, the Oyer and Terminer had served as a gathering of fear and dread, of tempest and turmoil, but all of that seemed to be gone. Cold logic had moved in

and replaced superstition at the head of the courtroom. I can't imagine William Stoughton was happy about the changes, but he was a servant of the law, and the new law made it clear that his personal views no longer held sway. I'm sure it helped that Thomas Danforth was seated with him balancing out his passionate hatred with calm reason, and that in turn must have given the other judges on the Superior Court a bit more courage to work

against Oton. The tide hadn't just turned, it had rushed in and washed away the tragedy in the blink of an eye. Then, on January, the prisoners awaiting their turn and court received a shock. The day had begun on a similarly joyful note, with one case dismissed before it even reached the jurors, and another two sent to trial only to be dismissed by the judges. But it was the fourth case of the day, that of Sarah Hooper

wardwell from and Over, that shook their confidence. The testimonies were heard, the evidence was presented, and then the jury was sent off to deliberate over their decision. Sarah's husband, Samuel, had already been convicted and hanged for witchcraft back on September, partly on her own confession, but she had recanted those words and was hoping for the new court to understand that everyone else who had done the same had walked away acquitted by the court. She prayed for the same results.

When the jury returned with their verdict, it would shake the confidence that the community had built up over the previous week, she was declared guilty of covenanting with the devil and guilty of witchcraft. For whatever the specific reasons were in her case, the new court had failed her. She was taken back to jail and held until her execution date could be set. But her conviction sent a powerful message to the rest of the people awaiting their

own trial. Nothing was guaranteed, not even hope. More bad news came their way during the court session on January a group of miners, including Martha care your son Stephen, we're all indicted on charges of witchcraft. The others, Mary and William Barker, and Stephen Johnson are a little more than names to us now, but they must have felt like blow after blow against the community's sense of safety. After their trial and over, girl Mary Lacey Jr. Was

brought before the court. She had put her mother, Mary Lacey Senior and grandmother Ann Foster in jail due to her accusations, and that had led to Anne Foster's death in jail, her mother had already been found guilty and had been sentenced to death by hanging at a future date. So Mary Junior attempted to change her luck and plead not guilty. Amazingly, the jury came back with the same verdict, declaring her innocence of all charges. She and others were

acquitted that day and many days afterwards. The officials seemed to have settled on a standard bond of one hundred pounds for each prisoner, and as the acquittals were handed out, family members rushed to the jails to purchase the freedom of their loved ones. By January, ten days after the court had started up, over fifty cases of witchcraft had been presented. Thirty of those were tossed out with the label of ignoramus, including Sarah Klois, the sister of Rebecca

Nurse and Mary Est. After months in jail and the loss of both her sisters, Sarah was free. Her husband Peter brought her home from the jail, but the pain of it all was too much to bear. They immediately began plans to move their family south. Cases out of the fifty or so actually went to trial, and only three were found guilty, Sarah Wardwell, who we mentioned before, but also Elizabeth Johnson and Mary Post, Both of them

might have actually been mentally disabled. According to Merchant Robert Califf, they were, and these are his words, not mine. Two of the most senseless and ignorant creatures that could be found. Three convictions out of over fifty suspects must have felt like a major defeat to William Stoughton. He had hoped for more. The witchcraft epidemic needed to be stamped out for good if his community was going to be safe from the forces of the devil. But I suppose he

shrugged and told himself it was better than nothing. He moved quickly to sign the warrants for their speedy execution. But despite his haste, he was meticulous and deliberate. He didn't want to screw up along the way and prevent this last small victory. And then he reached a little

further than anyone expected. You see, there were still five other prisoners who had been convicted and sentenced to death back in September, but the breakdown in the trials and the eventual replacement of the Oyer and terminer by the Superior Court had left them waiting in jail. Stowton added

their names to the death warrant as well. They were Abigail Hobbs, Mary Bradberry, Dorcas Whore, Elizabeth Proctor, and Abigail Faulkner, the last two women by the way, Faulkner and Proctor were safe for the moment because both of them were pregnant. They represented evidence of Stowton's hypocrisy. The unborn children were sacred, but once they were born, he would gladly end the

lives of their mothers, all for justice. Thankfully, Stowton's actions caught the attention of Anthony Checkley, the Attorney General for the colony, and he sent a message to the governor telling him what was taking place. Phipps, away on business in Rhode Island, read over the report carefully. It seems he had a decision to make. On a snowy January seventeenth, Stowton made the trip south to Boston to discuss unrelated

matters with Governor Phipps. It seems that the Crown had sent a messenger to deliver instructions to Phipps about the fate of the island known as Martha's Vineyard. Looking back, we know what those orders were. The island was to become the property of the New York Colony, not Massachusetts. But the messenger, standing off to the side of a room full of the governor's counselors refused to tell that to Phips, he had been given instructions to deliver his

message in private, and he wouldn't budge. Phipps erupted an anger, calling the messenger and impudent saucy pitiful jack Napes, but the messenger stood his ground. Then Stoughton made a mistake. He stood up for the messenger, defending the man's right to deliver the Crown's message in private. Soon enough, the messenger found himself standing alone in a hallway while Phipps and Stoughton continued their argument in a room by themselves.

When Stoughton finally left, the damage had been done. Phipps might have been torn about which side to support in the witch trials before the Chief Justice's arrival, but now it was settled Stoughton would have to be stopped. The snow of January seventeen didn't stop. By the twenty second, the north shore of Boston, including Salem Town and Salem Village,

was under a thick blanket of white drifts. They sewond was a Sunday, and many managed to leave home and attend church at their local meeting house, including Samuel Sewell who described his trip to church with the word floundering. A week later, on January, William Stoughton sent men to Salem to dig eight graves. Too many witches had already gotten away, and he wasn't about to let the cold, hard ground stop him from finishing his work. You couldn't

pay a bond to escape the grave, after all. Believing himself completely in control, he barreled forward with his plans. Two days later, on February one, a little over a year after the first afflicted girls experienced their fits and seizures in the home of Reverend Samuel Paris, Stoughton walked into the Salem Town meeting House with his head held high. He had done it. He had threaded the needle and guided the final eight witches to their execution day, and

now he was here to see it all end. He planned to personally lead them all through the snow and cold to the gallows where they would hang. All that stood between him and that sweet victory was one final court session, a court that he presided over as Chief Justice. But as soon as the session began the doors opened at the rear of the room, a cold breeze blew in, along with a dazzling flash of white snow and blue sky. But it was the messenger that everyone was looking at.

He had traveled up from Boston to deliver news from Governor Phipps himself. Each and every one of the eight convicted witches had been reprieved and were to be set free. Stoughton exploded with rage. Who it is obstructs the cause of justice? I know not, he cried out, But thereby the Kingdom of Satan is advanced. The Lord have mercy on this country. Then he turned on his heel and stormed out of the room, abandoning the court and the

victims he had intended to kill that day. Thomas Danforth, being the senior remaining judge, was left to wrap up the proceedings and carry out the governor's orders. But the tragedy wouldn't easily be erased from everyone's mind, and no messenger could bring back the innocent lives that have been lost. The Lord have mercy. Indeed, that's it for this week's episode of Unobscured. Stick around after this short sponsor break for a preview of what's in store for next week.

Next time on Unobscured, we can spin the story of Salem. However we want, we can look for outside forces like illness or drug induced to lucin nations, or point of the age, old battle between superstition and science. We can invent any number of excuses, but none of it comes close to the most obvious answer on the table, the Salem which trials happened because humans were involved and we have a very long track record of making a mess

of things. Unobscured was created and written by me Aaron Mankey and produced by Matt Frederick and Alex Williams in partnership with How Stuff Works, with research by Carl Nellis and original music by Chad Lawson. Learn more about our contributing historians further reading material, resource archive and links to our other shows at History unobscured dot com. Until next time, thanks for listening.