¶ Salem Witch Trials
Hello Wanderers . I'm Jess and I'm Hannah , and welcome to Wicked Wanderings . Hello Hannah , hello Jess and hello Jonathan . Hi , I'm so glad you're back with us , thanks for inviting me back . Yeah , can you just come every week ? I would love to you have to move here then yes , we're back to Massachusetts .
We can make something happen , I'm sure .
So I am ashamed to admit , as a transplant mass hole , there was a lot I didn't know about Salem . So one thing I didn't know was that all of this didn't actually happen in Salem right , it happened in Salem Village .
Exactly which I think is so cool .
If people don't know , they don't know that there's two different areas .
Yeah , we're like talking geography class now , but the Salem everybody goes to for Halloween and there's like millions of people who show up . That's technically Salem Town . It's next to the water . Originally settled Salem Village was like the suburb and it was the newer area to be settled and it's technically modern day Danvers .
Because I'm sure it was very rocky in Salem Town , because if you're doing farming right , you need to be a little farther off the path , especially if you're trying to build wells and stuff . You don't want to get the sea water , true .
Yes , and that's where all the farmers had moved out to was to Salem Village . Like you said , jonathan , it was on the outskirts of Salem , and I also didn't realize how much the witch trials were not really about witches . What ? Or at least what I imagined , which is about witches . So let's get into it , shall we ?
We are going to start with Samuel Parris , who was born in 1653 in England and spent most of his youth in Barbados , where his family was successful as merchants slash planters .
Planters of what Do you know , I think it was sugar .
Okay , that makes sense .
That makes sense for Barbados .
He attended Harvard for several years but left in 1673 when his father died . He inherited 170 acre plantation with 70 slaves Boo Right . So how did a 20 something merchant plantation owner end up being the Reverend at the heart of the Salem Witch Trials some 21 years later ? As in your seatbelts , wanderers , because I'm going to tell you Witchcraft , witchcraft .
First , samuel Parris kind of sucked Really .
He struggled .
He struggled to maintain the plantation and a generous inheritance he had received from an uncle , and within a few years he sold the property at a loss . By 1680 , he was back in Boston where he tried to set himself up as a West Indies merchant .
He initially did well but , like with the plantation , it didn't last long , despite Boston offering a favorable economic climate .
He married his wife , elizabeth , during this time and spent a year in and out of court over a disputed loan , according to Stacy Schiff , author of the witches that you and I both read , he grew accustomed to financial scrambling and deal making . Opportunities regularly presented themselves , but each one eventually failed .
The Salem delegation found him in 1688 as a member of Boston's first church . He was a father of three and had at some point decided to enter the ministry , which , opposite of what most men did at the time . Most men went from ministry to merchant , but Samuel Parris did the opposite .
If I could just mention something really quickly there might be listeners who were like Barbados to Boston , like two completely different climates . In reality in the 17th century and early 18th century the Caribbean and Boston were so closely linked because of the triangle trade .
So molasses and enslaved persons and sugar and beer all making that triangle trade from basically the northeast in Boston to Africa , back to the plantations both in the south but particularly in the Caribbean , and then with sugar back north to Boston .
I'm not remembering this correctly but I read in some document talking about some merchant princes of Boston in the 18th century had talked about how like Barbados and the Caribbean was like Boston south . So a lot of Boston society .
And of course we're talking a little bit earlier , but in the 18th century it was very common to go between the Caribbean and Boston . So for those who are like that's really weird , that's a weird jump to go back to Boston because of the climate change was kind of normal . You'd kind of be with your own people there , people who had been in the Caribbean .
That's interesting . So he was actually doing what the trend was of the time , except sucking at it .
Yeah he seems like a colossal failure .
I think that's a great foreshadowing to everything else you have to talk about .
He's a nice way of putting dish canoe . He was a colossal failure .
So Reverend Samuel Paris preached his first sermon in Salem in November of 1689 . With little pastoral experience , he was the fourth minister that Salem Village had . George Burroughs was the first minister , and from 1681 to 1683 .
Unfortunately for George he will come up again in the story he left Salem because of the constant feuding between the parishioners that resulted in him not getting paid . At that time it was the responsibility of the congregation to pay their wages , and they don't want to pay him , apparently . Diodot Lawson then took over from 1684 to 1688 .
He left once again when they were feuding parishioners , but some of them refused to accept him as the permanent minister . So that leads us to 1689 , when Sucky Samuel Paris came to town .
It wasn't until the middle of January 1692 when Reverend Paris and his wife Elizabeth became worried about their nine-year-old daughter Betty and their niece 11-year-old Abigail Williams . The girls had started acting rather oddly . Samuel's initial concerns were sickness and had reached out to a doctor to come and check on them .
The girls' afflictions gradually became worse and it was about a month before witchcraft was even suspected . So between the middle of January and the end of February they were trying to figure out any medical causes to what was going on , which is something that I don't think I really thought of . I just assumed it was like witchcraft from the very beginning .
It just sounded like they went to witchcraft because they could not come up with Kind of like even in mental health . Now , when they just don't know what it is , there's actually a diagnosis that they can give , like basically saying unspecified , we don't know . But there's something here .
Big shrug . Like diagnosis is .
Like it's in the DSM-5 . Okay , Unspecified depressive disorder .
So just remind me how long has Samuel Parris been the minister to Salem Village at this point when the girls are having a health episode .
I would say three years . He started in 1689 .
Interesting . Samuel was still having issues , like the previous ministers had , with the population there .
Yes , and there was the nice thing not the nice thing , but Samuel was in the Putnam's back pocket and that will come up .
One of those ministers ?
Yes , and he had to negotiate a lot of what he wanted for his personage , like he wanted chopped wood for the winter and they refused . I remember reading that , and so they're like no , you can chop that yourself . And so he eventually backed off from it . But he also at some point wasn't getting paid . And there are some .
Some of the victims or the accused rather not the accusers , but the accused I call them victims because that's what they are are anti-Parris , and I often wonder if maybe that's why they became .
Like there's an underlying yes , there's a lot of politics , we're starting to talk about the Putnam's .
We already mentioned a little bit about . There's a Salem town in the Salem village . These are farmer folk . There's a lot of Salem .
Population , village wanted to be independent from the Salem town . There was a lot of politics that went on with that , like why should we have to go all the way there for church , or why should we be paying X , whatever for whatever is needed ? We should have our own area .
That's a really good point .
¶ Salem Witch Trials and Counter Magic
We didn't mention that before , but I think that's worth saying that the only church available to them before they established their own and it seems like it's still relatively recent , with Sengo being like the fourth- minister since they founded their own church .
They would have to trudge all the way into Salem , salem town , and when you think about it , danvers and Salem are not that close together , right . And on top of that , you're not dealing with a car , you're dealing with a horse buggy Dirt road .
You're walking .
There's a lot going on here and they had to provide watch for Salem town , so they had to drive horse and buggy they said 14 miles or something just to provide watch overnight , which also is an interesting thing . I didn't know they did .
Are you going to talk about their place with the Native American raids on settlements ?
Yes , I don't want to jump .
Okay , that comes up more when we talk about the accusers and accused from Maine .
I can't wait . I'm so excited .
By the way , I'm looking up how long it would take a horse and buggy to go 14 miles .
That would be interesting . Stop me when you find that out .
Okay , so here it just says how long does it take to travel 15 miles on a horseback ?
and that was four hours . What it's not pulling anything , so maybe they did take just the horse .
Yeah , and this is 15 miles on average terrain with reasonable footing .
Gross , and that's from Danvers to Salem , modern day Salem . This is 14 miles .
That's what they said in the book .
Wow , that's pretty intense .
Yeah , several , several hours .
Ew , I was born in the right time .
Indoor plumbing electricity . Yes , Because yeah , it's saying All the nice things , I'm sorry .
So it's saying how far can a horse and buggy travel in one day ? So it's between 10 to 30 miles in a day , Depending on , I guess , what you're carrying . That's a big chunk of your day . Yeah , that's all day .
Driving or riding a horse four hours .
To provide a 12-hour watch to ride four hours back To listen to him drool about four dices' sermons . Yeah , If anyone knows what dices' sermons from Pride and Prejudice . But anyways , I digress .
It took me a minute . I was like , oh , I'm Mormon . I don't know what that means . I love Pride and Prejudice . You're not an Anglican , what's wrong with you ? Sorry , I lost my place and I had thoughts . So Reverend John Hale , a minister from neighboring Beverly , observed this of the girls . These children were bitten and pinched by invisible agents .
Their arms , necks and backs turned this way and that way and returned back again . So , as it was impossible for them to do it themselves and beyond the power of any epileptic fits or natural disease to affect sometimes they were taken down . Their mouths stopped , their throats choked , their limbs wracked and tormented .
They suffered by pins and visibly stuck into their flesh and pricking with irons . That quote is from a book , the Storm of Witchcraft , by Emerson Baker , which is a source that Aaron Mankey uses in his podcast . Love Aaron Mankey , we love Aaron Mankey .
We love him .
We love him we love him and his podcast is amazing . He takes a deeper dive into the Salem witch trials . He does a whole season .
Unobscured right .
Yes , unobscured , thank you , and he has such a calming voice .
He does .
So everyone should check it out . Just saying , if Aaron Mankey ever listens to us .
And just so you also know that his lore books that I also have . If you listen to him on audible , he also narrates them .
Oh , that's wonderful , which is even better .
It totally makes a difference when they're .
Aaron Mankey can tuck you in at night .
He really can . He can talk about anything . It's like , oh good night , he should do a sleep story for Kong . He should . Yes , thank you .
Maybe we need to message him on Instagram .
Well , you know what , maybe Amy Bruni knows him , so maybe we can get Amy Bruni to have him do it , I mean , since she shared our post we would like to see her .
I mean , we're basically best friends , isn't that what that means ? Okay , so back to the witches . Back to Stacy Schiff's book . She discussed what the life was for a pure tin girl . They were meant to be knitting , spooling or spin flax , and these fits were really disrupting their family routine . Neither girl ran a fever and neither of them had epilepsy .
So what was it ? As much as I want to say this is attention seeking behavior or a way to get out of their chores . It was kind of excessive for an entire month . Sounds like they need an FBA . Yeah Well , I was just going to say I don't know . Hannah , you're the behavior expert in this room .
What do you think it sounds attention seeking , especially for the times . Well , how can they rule out epilepsy ? Because medicine nowadays it's different now that it was back then , as what I'm trying , to say so how could they rule out epilepsy ? That's a very good question .
Or a food .
There could be some type of food that's causing this issue .
Poison . My other question about the epilepsy idea is that if we think that the original young girls who had say they did totally have epilepsy , but they had it at the same time , as cousins in the same household was one having epilepsy and the other one was faking it . Were all the other girls who are part of the witchcraft trials ?
They all have epilepsy or they're all faking it , like where does it ?
stop , and where does it end ?
I'm going to go ahead and take a second .
I will say no .
Jess , just threw that down . They're all faking it .
With behavior . What I've seen with a lot of families that I've worked with is that you'll have one child that has a certain behavior . Let's say head banging . Right , I'm a behavior analyst everyone , so this is not weird for me to say Head banging .
You might have a sibling who is totally neurotypical , with no issues , and they start banging their head because they see their sibling doing it . And what does the sibling get ? Attention , attention . Yes , so it could be .
That would explain it if one of them had been doing it the whole time and then the other one started it , so it seems like it started just at the same time .
It sounds like an in tandem thing .
Yeah , from everything I've read , I still think it's all speculation , right oh ? Totally Just like the Lizzie Borden trials . It's all speculation . Oh , I thought we solved that .
Didn't we solve that in the left hipster ?
Yeah , I mean , I do feel like I mean , if we want to go with that Uncle Morris come on .
Also , did you see the picture of him in the room upstairs ?
Yes , yes , uncle Morris .
He looks like Will Ferrell and Abraham in heaven .
He does look like Abraham .
He does look like Abraham Like in the eyes .
Absolutely , which at some point we're going to have to talk about our Lizzie Borden trip , because , yes , well , I don't want to , I don't want to derail what you're doing .
So mini episode .
Like a mini 16 minute episode .
That's like a special drop on the weekend .
Yes .
Hannah's impressions of maybe for all those people that subscribe to us or that send us money , like Lynn from Springfield , maybe the only one they'll get that episode .
The only patron ?
Yeah , the patrons only and all the ones that we've gotten come on .
It's okay , we have fun .
That's right . On February 25th 1692 , Samuel Parris and his wife Elizabeth attended a religious sermon in another town . Their neighbor , Mary Sibley , instructed the two slaves in Tichibah and her husband , John Indian , to make a witch cake so they could identify the girls tormentors .
They baked a life loaf of rye bread mixed with some urine from the girls and then fed it to the family dog . This is considered one of those counter magic remedies , or white magic , that I had mentioned in previous episodes with the pudding and you and to two , but this was from Tichibah , right ?
Yeah , so she probably got this from Barbados , no , actually this was from Mary Sibley , the neighbor .
Oh , she just directed to Tichibah .
Oh , so I never knew that . I just assumed that Tichibah was coming in with a little bit of that experience from Barbados .
Correct . Correct Because she .
Informed by those who were enslaved and brought over from Africa to the Caribbean .
Correct , because I hope I'm not saying this wrong , but there is white magic that they do do , because you can find it in . We do do .
Sorry , I'm like five years old Sorry .
I mean in New Orleans , right , Because I know have both of you been in New Orleans , or was it ? Just on a I know . Because , there are white magic places that you can go to correct .
Absolutely Long story short . But I was down there to present research at the conference and part of the best parts about being paid by a university to go to a conference is to present your stuff and get out of there and enjoy the city .
And one of the things we wanted to do was to go to a voodoo doctor and what we meant to do was go to the touristy voodoo doctor in the French Quarter and we got the wrong directions and ended up in a little bit more of a dangerous part of the city .
But a real voodoo doctor and we actually he was lovely and honest and he had this gorgeous place in the back of his shop that was just invited us back and this was his work room and it was covered in vines and all of these things in glass bottles and he was just working and putting together his I don't even want to say potions because I think that is
kind of a derogatory word but he was working Tinctures , his tinctures , his there's another word for it His physic , which is an ancient word for it but basically putting together these orders for clients . And he talked to us and he talked about what things he would do and he wouldn't do .
He was asked by a woman to kill her baby daddy because he was having an affair .
He said actually not , that's dark magic .
I'm here to only do white magic , so it was fascinating and it was an experience I'll never forget .
That's really what I wanted out of Salem , massachusetts , when we went to the state witches shop . It was so commercial I wanted to be able to go and get things out of glass bottles . Oh my gosh .
You wanted an apothecary .
I wanted an apothecary . I want lavender picked on a full moon on the 15th of October .
There is yeah , I mean it's not spooky , there's an apothecary .
We don't mind aesthetic apothecary . It doesn't have to be spooky .
I just don't want it to pick up some lavender and be like mate in China . That's not what I want .
It was a little sad and we had to wait and to go in .
And we had to wait in line .
Salem is so commercialized and touristy . Since you guys are here listening , you must be a fan of the podcast , and if you want to show your support , head over to wickedwanderingpodcastcom , click on the support tab and choose a monthly subscription starting at just $3 a month .
Your contributions will directly fuel our podcast production and as a thank you , we'll give you a shout out in every episode .
And you know what might be fun too , if we will say your name and your favorite haunting place . Murder mystery or serial killer , Do you love to go ?
So back to our story and I forgot where it was again . So they baked the loaf of rye bread , mixed it with some urine from the girls and they fed it to the family doc .
¶ Salem Witch Trials
Like I said , this was something that was frowned upon and also thought as a form of witchcraft in of of itself , which makes you wonder why Mary Sibley was never accused . She was the one actually doing like the first one .
She was arrested , though right .
I thought she was arrested . Huh , that is interesting .
I will also mention that at this time there were books on these white witchcraft or or anti-witchcraft concoctions that you could get a hold of even in a very Puritan area like Metro Boston .
What I don't understand , coming from a Christian background , is that you know God says we are of the earth , right ? We literally turned to dust , like we're returning to dust , right . That's part of like the burial service . Why wouldn't we want to use things from the earth ? The natural remedy could fix things .
Well , it's not a rational remedy , it's a divination . That's the problem . It's not like mixing the afflicted children's urine with rye bread , toasting it on an open flame and giving it to the household pup was actually going to solve anything . It was only to divine who was actually the witch in the situation .
And there's other really interesting concoctions to find the same thing . I think something has to do with looking in a boiling pot of an egg . Usually it had involved urine of some sort in these things , but it was all to be able to see the face of the actual witch . So it was not .
Let's throw some urine and a pie together and give it to the dog , and it's going to make the girls better which I see where you're coming from but it was all divination . Like , who is the one responsible for this ?
So Mary Sibley must have had her wires crossed , or something .
Like if she's the first one to be like yeah , roast the urine in a rye bread over 350 for an hour .
What if it was just a big joke ? And she's , she goes home and she's like these fuckers fell for it .
We won't eat it . Give it to the dog .
I made a meat pea cake , anyway . So soon after the dog ate this pea cake , the girls soon identified their slave , titchiba , as the one that was tormenting them .
Okay , Hannah and Jonathan , if you're nine years old and you are experiencing fits and someone comes to your house and suggests we're making this cake to identify the witch who is tormenting you , and this discussion is going on with you in the room and you are active participant , what would nine year old Hannah or Jonathan do ?
Oh , I'd be into the cup so we can make the cake . Yeah , I'm a board .
Follow whatever the adult told me to do Are telling you right , You'd feel obligated to name somebody .
And another possibility is if this was something they were doing on purpose and they didn't name somebody , then they would be discovered as little shitheads . So of course they blame someone who is close to them or their slave Titchiba .
Have either of you read the book Titchiba of Salem Village ? No , okay .
Oh , by the way , I tried getting that book on Amazon . That bitch was like $70 .
Oh , guess who just found it .
So for listeners , it was the first full size book about the Salem Witch Trials that I ever read , and I think I got it out of the library from one of our professors at Christian school after he passed away and I think they divided up his library after he died and that was one book that was in Eatles , a fabulous introduction , what's it called ?
again .
Titchiba of Salem Village . I want to say , and I just rediscovered it in my stuff in mom's house , you need to check on eBay . Maybe I'll sell it by the softcover copy if it's worth $70 . But it is so interesting .
Okay , that's weird because now it's saying it's a dollar 18 paperback . It was not . Did it that a while ago . That's very weird .
You can finally borrow it now , or I don't know my places for math .
Okay , we're just going to put that aside Conveniently the same night as the P Witchcake and Putnam Jr and Elizabeth Hubbard started experiencing fits in different parts of town .
¶ Witchcraft and Accused Women in Salem
Oh yes , one would initially think that witchcraft was really a foot , but these troublemakers would have had the knowledge of what was going on in the Paris home .
Like I said , samuel Paris was in the Putnam's inner circle and Elizabeth Hubbard was the maid at the home of Dr William Griggs , who may have been the doctor that had been requested to evaluate the girls , but also , like I mentioned in previous episodes , the Puritans loved to gossip and if this had been going on for an entire month , then you know that people
had definitely heard about it .
Quick question yes , the Putnam's both lived there were Putnam family members in both Salem Village and Salem Town .
Yes , I believe so .
And if any of you actually go to Salem Village , I strongly recommend it because it's adorable and sweet and exactly what you would expect from a haunted village of witchcraft .
The place is tiny , so you can see the remains of Samuel Paris's actual house , which are like kind of in the backyard of two different houses but it's actually it's like a mini park , so you're allowed to walk back there , but the street's really busy .
Is this where we tried to go before ?
Yes , I tried to park on the side of a highway so I could go see it , and as Hannah did take over the wheel and she was like , absolutely not , I'm frightened .
So we just looked through the trees . This is not safe , that's funny .
But you can actually see that , like Rebecca Nurse , who I'm sure will come up , like these houses are really close together by the road I'm sure there are properties for farming . We're huge . But like they all kind of nestled against each other like wagons out in the West , like the tighter the group of the circle , the more safe they were at night .
So I'm not really surprised that the doctor on his way home bumped into 15 people and the doctor on his way home was like witchcraft .
Exactly yes , Johnny did it Witchcraft , Witchcraft .
And eventually accused Sarah Good of using her specter to attack her . Elizabeth also claimed Sarah Good , but also mentioned Sarah Osbourne as being one of her attackers as well . So I'm wondering what those women did to piss off those girls or their parents . Just saying .
I can make them wrong , but Sarah Osbourne , wasn't she like a local , like homeless woman and her daughter ? Am I thinking of the right one .
Sarah Good was the homeless one . So she was , which is a good segue . Sarah Good was a poor , disaffected woman known for her sharp tongue and outbursts hurled at those that offered help . Sarah Osbourne , on the other hand , was a bedridden woman who lived on the northern edge of Salem .
Osbourne was a widow who was plagued by ill health but had also scandalized the community when she bought the contract of her indentured servant and married him Scandalist .
Sounds like a male or a bride .
These two women were both social outcasts and considered odd or outspoken , and I think we all know by now just how intolerant the Puritans were of people who were deaf .
Yeah , for trying to be inclusive . They weren't .
Did they try and be inclusive ? I thought it was all about exclusivity .
Yeah , and someone or a people who wanted religious freedom they were not accepting , right , wasn't that the whole point ?
Yeah , but then everyone had to be their religion , which is the opposite of religious freedom , right , and this is also a period of time where you couldn't celebrate Christmas or any of the other ancient feasts of Christianity , because it was considered a sin Right because it came from paganism .
Yeah , that's lame , but it was also things like sumptuary laws , extraordinary things , that were all going on at the same time . So you are Higher , but how do you do party's best ?
Lame , super lame . On February 29 , 1692 , thomas Hutnum , his brother Edward Joseph Hutchinson and Thomas Preston went to Salem Town to begin legal proceedings against Tituba , sarah Good and Sarah Osborne . They spoke with magistrates Jonathan Corwin and Jonathan Hawthorne and remember these names because they will become some of the biggest peckerheads of the story .
Corwin and Hawthorne were wealthy merchants and respected politicians , but lacked any formal legal training . Red flag number one Granted at that time in history . Judges were men of stature and means and didn't need legal training for respect and credibility as a judge . According to lawjrankorg , colonial magistrates were local officials with limited power .
They mostly dealt with petty crimes in the local area . They were usually religious or political leaders and they were fully in charge of court proceedings and they believed their main role was to enforce God's plan and their aim was to force confession from the accused and make them repent and apologize for their sins .
It's kind of starting to give me reminiscences of the witchcrafts in witchcraft trials in Springfield with uh Pinchin Samuel Pinchin I mean , he was judge jury executioner the colony all at the same time . Really no legal training , but he's in charge at the same time to make sure that everyone's kind of being pushed forward morally .
Yeah , and this is where I went down one of my rabbit holes with William Pinchin . He didn't have the authority to hold like court proceedings . He was only supposed to , or only was able to , do hearings for petty stuff .
And then everything else went to Boston and so I was like , wait a second , was this whole thing a sham , because they're doing these trials out of you know their authority ? But my thoughts were crushed when it was Governor Phipps came and created the court of Oyer and Terminator .
Love that name . I want a furniture company called Oyer and Terminator .
But that gave them the authority to do the witch trials .
Amazing . So I no , you're fine , I'm just going to mention you've already talked about Corrine and Hawthorne- I know , so you go ahead . So I'm going to quickly mention the only , the only building . I don't want to jump on Jess . I'm a guest . I want to be invited back a third time . I don't want to be on the blacklist from the ladies of Wicked Wandering .
Maybe we'll just do the John show .
Just give me a topic and just let me run for 20 minutes for Rob . But anyway , for those of you who love Salem , I'm sorry . Millions of people go to Salem in October every year . I adore it . I would love to go back every year , but it's crazy .
But one of the places that you may want to go to is called the Witch House , and that was Judge Jonathan Corwin's home . And it's the only building that is still exiting in Salem Town , so Salem proper now . Monday , salem that has direct connections back to the witch trials .
So you may go into , like the Witch Museum , which is actually the basement of a church that was built in the 19th century , or you may go into , you know , a witch shop or things like that . But the only one that has a direct connection in Salem Town is Judge Jonathan Corwin's house , which has been heavily restored .
I went when I was a kid , oddly with my dad and their tour guides . They were amazing . They have an audio tour now , which is kind of sucks , it's not nearly as fun .
There's a reason why that doesn't make sense , by the way .
But anyway you should totally go see it because it has a connection , and of course Hawthorne , which I'm sure you'll talk about .
Also I feel like that's a little misleading , Like calling it a witch house .
Oh , so I mean , I think he had like proceedings in there , like , like it was like his study . But I don't know necessarily whether or not they like examined witches in , like his dining room .
Yeah , most of it was done in the meeting house , or totally misleading . Then Well , no tourist scam misleading because you hear that and you're like , oh , that's one of the witches homes .
Oh , I see what you're saying . That's how I thought of it , yeah house which must have lived there . So wasn't there another house , though , to where there's been a lot of paranormal activity , where one of the accuser that his house is still around ?
the accuser .
Isn't the Putnam home ? Right , yeah relative of the Putnam's home still , I could be wrong .
I can't . Kindred spirits did an episode .
I thought maybe it was a nurse who was accused in proper Salem village . Her house is still around and you can go see it . They book up like two years . They have a giant time . When we drove through last year there was a giant sign at the end of their driveway saying , like we're fully booked for like the year . Like turn back now .
But I don't know anything about one of the Putnam's . I would love to see that .
Maybe I'm wrong . There was a Kindred spirits episode that they did a seance in and like for some reason . I thought it was someone else's house , but I could be wrong , I could be wrong , we'll look into that ?
Yeah , I would look it up , but I know that's gonna mess me up even more because I have problems with words , anyway , okay , so , like I said , the goal was not necessarily punishment , but confession and bringing order to society .
So I can appreciate that this is what was supposed to happen , and it may explain why they were forcing confessions , and maybe this is why all the people who confessed ended up surviving their ordeal . But somewhere along the way something went very wrong .
After hearing the testimonies , hawthorne and Corwin issued a arrest warrant for Tituba , sarah Good and Sarah Osborne . All four girls were to face their tormentors as the accused were questioned , starting with Sarah Good . During the questioning , hawthorne was more like a modern day cop than an impartial judge .
Red flag number two it was clear he believed in witchcraft and he must have already had his mind made up . Sarah Good denied all charges , even when the four girls confirmed her as their tormentor . But wait a second here . The first two girls , abigail Williams and Betty Paris , accused just Tituba . There was no mention of Sarah Good or Sarah Osborne .
So why all of the sudden did they start blaming Sarah Good as well ?
Oh , so they didn't name them . They only named Tituba the first two . Their enslaved woman .
Yes , and it wasn't until after the hearing . That , or after , like at the hearing , that the I'm sure the girls had talked before then , just seems a little suspicious , and I imagine at some point that these girls were in communication with each other before the hearing .
Wow , that's my thought I mean I also want to point out like the dynamic of being a niece . Abigail was a niece living with her uncle's family and I don't know her particular circumstances , but I can only imagine being a young woman in this environment , in the colonies , without parents , and being on the good graces of your family .
I think that might also be another facet to this very strange conversation about epilepsy or poisoning or Urgot or just existing trauma that influences this . But I had no idea . I just assumed that they had accused Sarah Osborne and Sarah Good for my reading , but that's extraordinary .
Yeah , they only named Tituba , and she was the one that was there in closest which , by the way , it was John Proctor's house . Oh doctor , even better . He was better than the putt .
So that's still ex-in Salem town . So I'm surprised it doesn't have like a gift shop , because we would have gone .
I don't know if it's open to the public . But they did go to the John Proctor house to do an investigation there . It was called Devil and Salem . If anyone wants to watch the episode , I've never heard that .
I'm learning all sorts of new things because of your podcast .
Aw thanks , Spread the word .
Also jokes on them , because the devils were the judges , not the witches . Spoiler alert . In my opinion , when Sarah denied the charge , the girls conveniently all began to throw fits , becoming tortured and tormented .
Good would eventually name Osborn as one responsible when she was pressed further , but it was most likely because she knew Osborn had already been named . The judges decided to hold Good for trial . The case against Osborn was less compelling , probably because she was bedridden , or maybe she wasn't as ill-tempered , but they held her over for trial anyway .
Titchibah , on the other hand , was the star of the show . According to Baker , she confirmed all the fears that many witches were loose in Salem . She initially denied all the charges against her but , under Hawthorne's hounding , eventually admitted that she was a witch . She described how Satan had revealed himself to her .
She also said Good , osborn and three strangers from Boston were responsible for hurting the girls . Good's familiar was a yellow bird that sucked between her fingers , so she must have had a teat in between her fingers . The devil had threatened to kill the children and he also encouraged Titchibah to attack the girls
¶ Witches, Trials, and Hysteria
. So here we see the mention of imps and familiars that we have talked about in previous episodes and , fun fact , according to Baker , one of the most common familiars was a cat , which is why there is an association of black cats with witches , which in reality that's kind of messed up .
So say , you get a putnam who doesn't like someone and they notice that you have a cat , or they have a cat . That would be an easy target for them , and I feel like they created all of this drama in a way that would be conveniently manipulated , making it easier to target others and provide quote unquote evidence .
Yes , jen , sorry like raising my hand , like I'm in class . You don't have to . So I also think it's really interesting that Titchibah is really the one who's creating a narrative out of this .
And I don't want to discount anything that she said but like a mythology around , like we danced with Satan in the woods , like there's people from Boston who were involved in this , like she's not stopping it , like , yes , I'm a witch and I'm like afflicting these children .
It's oh yeah , but , by the way , we're having parties and there's people from another city involved .
Yeah , shit's going down .
She's like blowing this up to be a much , even bigger thing , and like I try and put myself into the brain and the circumstances of people in history , like can't possibly do that from an enslaved woman from Barbados . but just even the inkling , the tiny bit that I might be able to .
She's not served by any of these confessions , quote unquote , and like making this a bigger problem , it's only going to turn out badly for her . I can only imagine . But I also kind of want to mention I'm sure you're going to mention this as well but these trials are not just going on in Salem .
You guys are talking about how , in your past episodes , how they've gone on in Springfield . There's a whole bunch of witchcraft trials that have happened out of New Haven , roughly around the same period of time .
Yeah , in Connecticut there was a lot going on .
But of course they all come from kind of the motherland , england , and they've developed the Malleus Maleficarum , which I would love to own one day , which is the book about fighting witches . But this is all very much known and everybody's kind of having the back of their brain .
Witches exist and we need to find them and they live in our community , particularly in the New World .
Yeah , that's definitely a good thought , because , I mean , if we look at it from a 2023 lens , all of this looks completely ridiculous . But , if we look at it at a 1692 lens , like they legit believed in witches , they knew that witches were around and so thinking about it that way kind of gives us a different perspective and like they thought this was real .
I think maybe some people took advantage of that hysteria per se .
There's always someone that takes advantage of the fear of the mass fear people have it's an easy way to control people .
Yep , not naming names , but Putnam's .
Putnam's .
The witches were also believed to be able to assume the shapes of animals , so any unusual behavior in an animal might suggest the presence of a witch . Like I said , the evidence for accusing is getting a little ridiculous and also I'll hit this in another , the next episode . But did you know that two dogs were executed to yes , doesn't that anger you ?
Yes , because dogs are family Fucking putnam's .
And just in terms of timeline , we talked about when the original fits happened within the parish home . That was in February .
Yes .
Where are we in terms of time now ?
So now we are still in February and this first episode that we're doing is a little long , and I bring us to May and you'd be surprised with how much happened between the end of February and the end of April . It's ridiculous .
One thing I'm always surprised by is that how short these trials went on . When I was a kid I just assumed they went on for years . They accomplished a lot of craziness in only a few months .
Oh yeah , a lot of craziness .
¶ Witchcraft Accusations and Arrests in Salem
So Tichiba eventually relented after receiving continuous threats from the devil and agreed to torment all the four girls . When Tichiba started her testimony , the girls were becoming distressed , but when she confessed they immediately quieted . How convenient , and I think we should start taking shots or drinks of our wine every time I say how convenient .
I ran out of wine . Need a refill . Thank you , Lynn , from Springfield .
In today's episode , it is brought to you by a mix of both barefoot wine and also an Italian specialty .
I was trying to get all the wine out of my mouth , so I went .
Wicked wanderings runs on alcohol .
Thanks Mom .
Appreciate you . Tichiba apologized for tormenting the girls , but she then said it was the specter of good that harmed them . She went on to say that she had suffered herself with the hands of good in Osborne , and she claimed they attacked her from speaking freely . As the hearings continued , that week , tichiba would be questioned three more times .
She also provided quote-unquote evidence of Satan's work , and she admitted to signing the Devil's Book with her own blood that she had seen goods in Osborne's mark on there as well .
She's really taken these other ladies down with her .
Oh yeah .
She's like I am creating this narrative and you're just going to ride the crazy train straight down the hill .
Tichiba's testimony gave the officials what they wanted proof that a witch conspiracy was operating in their midst , along with confession of sin and sincere remorse for her diabolical acts . Her testimony was consistent , through multiple examinations , and her details agreed perfectly with the suffering described by the afflicted girls . Of course they did .
Her statements were all the more believable because she described the textbook example of witchcraft making a covenant with Satan , attending witches' assemblies and using familiars All things that were described in detail by English authorities of the day and were in William Perkins' A Discourse of the Damned Art of Witchcraft , a copy of which Samuel Parris was given the
first day of her testimony .
Interesting .
Right . This is why his whole Salem is all full of shitty shit .
It's like building the car while you're trying to drive at the same time . Right , it's like ? Alright , I'm on page 24 .
So I'm thinking that maybe he was prepping her on what to say .
Hmm .
They definitely had to be prepping . They definitely had to be .
All three women would find themselves in jail by March 12th 1692 . Burr , by the way . Yeah , and the jails weren't anything fancy . They were cold and dirty and rats and nasty , no light .
No where to go to the bathroom . No heat yeah .
And we also have to remember that you were required at this point in time to pay for your upkeep while in prison . So say , I get thrown in prison for debt or a lawsuit .
Yeah , debtors prison . I think all of us Sorry , I didn't mean to interrupt you , but all of us that owe student loans would all be in prison right now . Just have to say sorry , I wouldn't , because I served our country oh goodness gracious , I'm just kidding . We appreciate you .
But while you're sitting there in prison , you're also incurring debt , and that is just for the basic things like just occupying your cell .
Yeah .
So you're incurring debt , and yet you cannot work , you cannot harvest crops , you cannot run a ship . The only ones who got out were ones who had friends , who had money .
They don't pay their money . Yeah Right , because if you went to debtors prison , how would you pay off your debt if you're in prison ?
Because you're literally incurring debt while you're in debtors prison for the debt that you went into prison for .
And they didn't have feet finders or only fans back then . So what did they do ?
I was not expecting that to come up today .
I mean granted what picture they make , like $3,000 . Right .
So they have the right kind of feet though .
Hey , there's a jack for every jail .
I mean , how about pedicure done today ? Is this an optimal ?
day for feet finders . There you go .
Oh , I'm glad it is . It's At this point we are two months into the witch trials and I will say that the person that drives me crazy the most in the story is and put them Actually not just her .
Like I've already expressed my hatred for the entire Putnam family and I will save my all of my thoughts for their role in this fiasco for later on , but they are definitely major players in this story and I think you will see why they are shady A F , one of the first major I hate , and putnam moments come after good and Osborne replaced in jail While all
the other girls fits temporarily improved how convenient . And putnam continued to be tormented by two specters . One was the four year old daughter of Sarah Good , a four-year-old Apparently Dorothy . Four-year-old Dorothy , her ghostly present bit , pinched and choked Anne in an attempt to get her to sign up the devil's book .
Not only did this bitch name a four-year-old , but she also named Martha Corey . Thomas Putnam , supposedly distraught over his daughter's inflection , turned to his brother Edward and Ezekiel Cheever . They rode towards Martha's home to talk to her about Anne's accusation . They stopped briefly at the Putnam farm to question Anne again and they wanted to know .
She was sure that it was Martha tormenting her . As Martha was a good standing member of the church , they asked if she could describe her clothes . But that afternoon Anne could only converse with the witch but not see her . How convenient . The spirit had blinded her until the evening , when the trio arrived at her home .
Martha had welcomed them in and , unfortunately for her , she anticipated their arrival and said I know what you are come for . You are come to talk with me about being a witch . I cannot help people talking of me . She said she was not one and they revealed to her that it was Anne that had named her .
Martha then asked but does she tell you what clothes I have on ? The men were shocked that she asked the exact same question . They had just asked Anne . They told Martha what Anne had said and Martha smiled and said she had no cause for concern . She was a devout woman who had made a profession of Christ and rejoiced to go and hear the word of God .
Martha claimed that she did not necessarily believe that witches were about and they reminded her of Tituba's confession . So the evidence was conclusive . Martha then threw some shade towards Tituba Good and Osborn , saying that it wouldn't surprise her if they were witches and that they were idle , slothful and minded nothing . That was good . Oh damn Martha Right .
I'm a good , upstanding Christian woman and oh , by the way , those slothful , awful women who've already been accused . Yeah , you're right there , but stop at my front door Exactly , even though I know all the questions you've just asked somebody across town .
Securing her . Karen Right , there's a lot of those in our stories .
She believed herself in vulnerable . After some interactions with Anne Putnam and accusations from the Putnam's maid servant , mercy Lewis , and Mary Warren maid servant to John Proctor , not my Mary Warren Martha Corey was arrested a few days later .
¶ Religious Dynamics in Salem Witch Trials
Anne would go on to accuse Rebecca Nurse , an elderly Salem Town Church member with an unblemished reputation . Rebecca Nurse was a devout mother , grandmother and great-grandmother . Her and her husband Francis had been married for 50 years and they had raised eight kids and even adopted an orphaned Quaker boy , which apparently the Puritans did not like Quakers .
Yes , jonathan , I was just going to mention that Quakers won't go to war , but Puritans are very happy to .
Right .
So I don't doubt that that is part of the equation .
There's something to be said for the Quakers , though , just saying I feel like they are the hippies of the 1600s .
Right Jonathan agrees .
I kind of feel that .
Yeah , there you go . Honestly , I don't know that much about Quakers .
New episode . Yes , if you buy it .
Francis was one of Salem's most active citizens . He would serve as juror and constable , appraising properties and arbitrating land disputes . Francis also served on the committee that withheld Paris's wages , which , it seems , the citizens of Salem Village like to do a lot .
They wanted full control . I mean , if we can just talk very briefly about religion in the colonies , Okay , so , we're still technically owned by England or a colony of Great Britain , but at this period of time there's only a few churches in the New World .
You have Anglicans , which is the official church of England , and they've come over , but most of them have ended up in the South , Like they're creating plantations in places like Virginia .
But in New England we have the Puritans and the Separatists , and these are the people who are creating problems at home and they think everything's going to be glorious in this beautiful new world . Puritans want to purify the Church of England .
They want to stay Anglicans , but they want to make things better and they want to make things simpler and they want to cast out Catholicism . You know , no candles , no incense , no communion and no statues , right , Separatists are like this is the sinking boat . We got to get out . Those are like the pilgrims at Plymouth .
They wanted to just exit right and create something new . We also have to remember the dynamics of religion in New England during this period of time . So we have some Anglicans , like in Boston . Right , we have some , a lot of Puritans in some Separatists at the Plymouth .
So the people who are up here in Salem Village , Salem Town , are mostly Puritans but they believe in independent church government , which means no oversight . You have a single church and that is up to you and the elders and the deacons and your minister , which you call , and you have a lot of control about who that minister is and what he can do .
And if you're not happy you can withdraw wages or benefits like chopped wood or create problems with his house .
So it's just such an interesting dynamic that they're kind of getting back some of the difficult things that they had put on their ministers are coming back to them and now they're getting you know their wives are being accused or there's some retribution and some vengeance going on here .
If you want to read between the lines . But when he mentioned that there was control over what you can give him for payment and everything , there was also like he could preach whatever the fricky wanted . There was no oversight with that either .
Well , that's absolutely true , because you have to remember , also because we're moving beyond Anglicanism , which has a system of bishops and oversight as good or as bad as that can be the Puritans in these independent churches , like the one that popped up in Salem Village that we're talking about , have no oversight .
Your minister is preaching for four plus hours on a Sunday , usually twice a Sunday , so you're there all day long . Your respite from the fields or from whatever your work is is sit in church . You have to sit and you have to stay awake for hours and hours on end .
And he could tell you whatever you want because he's the most educated man in the entire village .
Supposedly because I'll know that .
Samuel Parris is not .
Right , exactly , he had no type of education in ministry at all , I mean , he had some years at Harvard , but he didn't graduate .
That's a really good point . And we also have to remember that Harvard at this time is still a . It's not doctors or lawyers , it's just ministry , it's a seminary . They're pumping out preachers .
And increased matter . Is the chair of Harvard at this time ? Who is increased matter ?
And the matters pop up , increasing Dad and son .
I feel like I could do a whole episode on them too . Another thing at this time is that King James had revoked their charter and they were in between charters at this time , so there was no authority to be living in Massachusetts Bay Colony and it was due to the conflict between the citizens and the involvement of the ministry and the politics .
And so at this time increased matters actually in England with Governor Phipps . Well , he becomes governor after trying to negotiate a new charger charter , and so there's amazing , so interesting .
I love all these facets of like it's . That's just so extraordinary .
Well , and there's so many things that I think come into play for the Salem trials to go so awry , and you know , the public , the charter , uncertainty , the Native American attacks . I mean , this is just 20 years after the King Phillips war .
But you know a lot about you don't want research on the King Phillips war intrigued by it .
And then the French and Indian war and , like , the citizens in Maine were still getting attacked .
Mercy .
Lewis is an orphan because her family was killed from Native American attacks , and there's a few other accusers that were orphans from those attacks , and so there's a lot of uncertainty , a lot of stress , a lot of uncertainty from everything .
And just because I find time and geography are really helpful , salem at this time is basically the northernmost outpost of the Massachusetts Bay Colony . So think that this is the furthest extent , besides Southern Maine , which I know we'll talk about a little bit to go into the wilderness .
So these people are on the edge of the wilderness and the next closest stop is basically Port of New Hampshire , which is a zone colony , and then you get back into modern day Maine . You were talking about the Native American raids on settlements in Southern Maine .
That's technically still Massachusetts and again , just like there's these wonderful connections and interesting socio connections between the Caribbean and Boston , there are a lot of familial connections between the northernmost outpost and the Massachusetts Bay Colony , which is Salem and Southern Maine , aka extended Massachusetts .
Mm , hmm , that's also interesting . I love history . I could talk for hours , as we have been . They were prosperous and widely respected . They had also had strong ties to the Sibleys . Remember the witch Peacake woman .
I don't like it thinking is like this is the original Martha Stewart . She was like just put this cake together .
Yeah , just put it together .
It's fine .
She was a well known , well liked , devout member of the church , but she was also 71 , sick in bed and had actually been praying for the girls who were afflicted . So what makes you wonder why she was accused ? It's never enough . And that will end our first episode on the Salem's .
We're so set up for conflict .
So sadly , Jonathan has to return to his home state , but he will be zooming in with us and we will figure that out , if you don't mind , jonathan has opinions and now he has a microphone .
You just can't go back .
Oh yeah , you won't have your Wonder Woman headphones .
I mean , you can take them with you if you really want to , I think .
I need my own Because you rock Something with the Virgin Mary on the side .
I'm sure I could find it . As long as they're blessed by a priest will be good .
So there will be two more episodes of the Salem witch trials next week . We'll be the second and , yeah , we're looking forward to talking about more shady shit .
Perfect timing for Halloween .
Right , thank you , wonders .
Thank you for listening .
Bye .
Thanks for listening today . The show wouldn't be possible without our amazing producer and editor , rob Fitzpatrick , who works tirelessly behind the scenes to bring you the best content and a special thanks to Tyga Soundprod for providing the captivating intro music .
Cinematic intro 24 .
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