WITCHCRAFT IN SALEM VILLAGE
A Brief Guide by the Danvers Archival Center
The first European settlement in present-day Danvers, Massachusetts,
was called Salem Village. This village was established in the late 1630s
when a group of farmers moved 5 miles from Salem Town to the area now
known as "Danvers Highlands." The inhabitants remained legally part of
Salem, though from the 1660s they began petitioning for independence. By
1672 Salem Village became a separate parish at which time they built a
meeting house and hired their own minister. In 1689 the village
established a covenant church with Rev. Samuel Parris as their new
minister.
In early 1692, Rev. Parris's 9-year-old daughter Elizabeth, 12-year-old
niece Abigail Williams, and other neighborhood girls began to fall
into horrid fits. Their parents tried to discover what was causing their
distress, and village doctor William Griggs gave his opinion that the
girls were the victims of witchcraft. Put upon to tell who was causing
their afflictions, the girls finally accused three village women, and
warrants were sworn out for the arrest of Sarah Osburn, Sarah Good and
Parris's slave, Tituba.
On March 1, 1692, magistrates John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin
conducted an examination at the Meeting House. Sarah Good and Sarah Osburn
were separately examined and as they answered the questions put to them,
the "afflicted" girls went into horrific fits. To all present, the girls
were obviously victims of these women's witchcraft. Though the two
protested their own innocence, Tituba unraveled a confession of meeting
with the devil and stating there were still other witches in the
neighborhood. This evidence was sufficient for the magistrates, and the
three women were jailed. The girls' afflictions did not abate, however,
and still more villagers became "afflicted."
Soon more accusations were made, and by the end of March Church members
Martha Cory and Rebecca Nurse were also arrested, examined and jailed. No
longer were just the lowly being accused, but people formerly in good
standing in the community. By May, scores of "witches," both men and
women, had been examined in Salem Village, and jails were being filled
with up to 150 accused persons from many towns including Salem, Topsfield
and Andover. Dozens of people under excruciating religious, civil and
family pressures found themselves confessing to being witches.
In May, Governor William Phips called a special court to try the cases
of those accused witches who had not confessed. Convening in Salem in June
1692, the court quickly condemned Bridget Bishop to death. During July,
August, and September, 18 people, including Nurse, Good and Cory were
hanged. In addition, one man, Giles Cory of Salem Farms, died under
torture. At least 5 others including Sarah Osburn died in jail. By the new
year the colony was becoming exhausted with the witchcraft frenzy, and
learned persons were speaking against the validity of "spectral evidence"
being used in court. When the trials resumed, this former evidence was
disallowed and proof was insufficient to condemn any other accused. The
witch horror was over. Of the 19 people who were executed during this
tragic yet heroic period, 12 came from the Salem Village area, dying
rather than confessing to what they had not done.
In 1752 Danvers was officially established as a township separate from
Salem. The 1692 Salem Village witchcraft hysteria was a chilling era of
our history. Yet its lessons have meaning for us today in that each
generation must confront its share of intolerance and "witch hunts" with
integrity, clear vision and bravery.
| 1. Parsonage Archaeological Site. Rear 67 Centre St. Accessible by a cart path, this was the location of the 1681 Village Parsonage. Here lived the Rev. Parris family, and here began the Salem Village witchcraft. The site includes original foundation walls and interpretive signs, and is owned by the Town of Danvers. |
| 2. Ingersoll House, 199 Hobart St. Private House. Though "modernized" in 1753, part of this house was the home and ordinary of Deacon Nathaniel |
| 3. Site of the Salem Village Meeting House. Near corner of Hobart
& Forest Sts. Here villagers gathered for religious and civil
meetings. It was here that numerous persons including Rebecca Nurse,
Bridget Bishop, & John Alden were examined during the witchcraft.
Across the street, at 176 Hobart St., is the Witchcraft Victims'
Memorial, which is owned by the Town of Danvers. |
4. Sarah Holten House, 171 Holten
St. Owned by the General Israel Putnam Chapter of the D.A.R.,
this 1670 house was home of a woman who gave damaging court
testimony against Rebecca Nurse. |
5. Nurse Homestead, 149 Pine St. Operated as a house museum
by the Danvers Alarm List Company. Open: June 15 to Labor Day, Tues.-
Sun., 1-4:30; September to October, Sat. & Sun., 1-4:30; or by
appointment. |
|
A. Nurse House. This New England "Salt Box" house was
the home of the Rebecca Nurse family.
B. Reproduction 1672 Meeting House. Built for the film
"Three Sovereigns for Sarah," this is now used for a 20-minute sound and light program, "The Meeting House at Salem Village."
C. Zerubabel Endecott House. Reerected here with an
exterior facade to look like a barn, this ca. 1681 building
features an architectural exhibit and gift shop.
D. Nurse Graveyard. In an unmarked grave lies
witchcraft victim Rebecca Nurse. Also present are a monument to
Nurse, a tablet remembering the petition of her brave neighbors,
and the grave of witchcraft victim George Jacobs. |
|
|
| 6. Danvers Archival Center, Peabody Institute Library, 15 Sylvan
St. Open: Mon. 1-7:30, Wed.& Thurs. 9-12 and 1-5, and at other
times. Houses the Ellerton J. Brehaut witchcraft collection, being the
largest collection of imprints relating to the Salem witchcraft. |
| 7. Sarah Osburn House, 273 Maple St. Private House. The
relocated home of Osburn, the first accused witchcraft victim to die. |
- Boyer, Paul & Stephen Nissenbaum, Salem Possessed: The Social
Origins of Witchcraft.
- Hansen, Chadwick, Witchcraft at Salem.
- Starkey, Marion L., The Devil In Massachusetts.
- Tapley, Charles S., Rebecca Nurse.
- Trask, Richard B., "The Devil Hath Been Raised."
- Upham, Charles W., Salem Witchcraft.
FOR YOUNG READERS
VIDEO PRESENTATION
Many
thanks to http://www.oldfashionedclipart.com for use of
divider graphic
|
|
