The theme from Amy this week is "Trick or Treat" and it is the week of Halloween. So, what better time than this to share a chapter from a book about my wife's family telling about their involvement in the real Salem Witch Trials! This is just one chapter from an amazing genealogical book, "OUR AMERICAN ANCESTORS - The Known American Ancestors of Charles W. and Gail N. Snider, Third Edition - 2010" by C. Robert Snider, my wife's uncle.
Here is the chapter called:
The thoughtless cruelty of Puritanism came to its peak in Salem Village in 1692. Nineteen innocent persons were murdered in the name of Jesus Christ.
A group of girls, led by twelve-year-old Ann Putnam, enjoyed voodoo games, and decided to play a prank on their elders. The adults took it seriously and began searching for the witches who had caused the girls' "affliction". Soon all the petty hatreds and jealousies in the town turned into charges of witchcraft. The girls, egged on by Satan bashing Reverend Samuel Parris and ambitious magistrates John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin, repeatedly demonstrated their "sufferings" before the court.
The Wildes family, the Towne family, and the Easty family lived just across the town line in Topsfield. They had been involved in disputes with Village residents over property rights along the border and were prime targets for accusations.
Sarah Averill (Wildes) (1141) was convicted of witchcraft. This saintly woman had raised nine children, only one of them her own. There had never been a hint of wrongdoing in her life. But the girls claimed to see her apparition among the rafters and went through their usual gyrations. On the gallows she prayed for the souls of her persecutors. She was hanged on Witch's Hill 19 July 1692.
The sisters Mary Easty and Rebecca Nurse were also convicted and hanged. Each of them was the matriarch of a highly respected family. Several prominent citizens offered testimony in their defense, but it was ignored. Jacob Towne (1138) was their brother.
Sarah's husband John Wildes (1140) married several months later the widow of a man who had been executed for witchcraft. Her son Ephraim Wildes (570) was the constable. It was his duty to find and arrest the accused persons. Ephraim's wife Mary Howlett (571) and his daughter Mary Wildes (285) lived with him.
Mary Putnam (551), a first cousin of Ann Putnam, lived with her parents Edward Putnam (1102) and Mary Hale (1103). her father had been a deacon in the church from the time of its founding. In February he signed a complaint against three persons including Rebecca Nurse. On another occasion he personally interviewed Ann and her intended victim before he decided the lady was guilty and conducted part of her examination before the court. Later he signed a warrant against a five-year-old girl accused of witchcraft. In May he deposed that the suffering of another child had stopped suddenly when an accused woman was imprisoned in irons. He told the court that his niece had been struck and bitten by the ghost of an accused witch who was already in prison. The enormity of his actions finally dawned on him, and he switched sides. Both he and his wife signed an affidavit attesting to the im1ocence of Rebecca Nurse. His parents John Putnam (2182) and Rebecca Prince (2183) also signed it.
Joseph Porter (1088), his wife Ann Hathorne (l 089) and their son Joseph Porter (544) avoided involvement in the hysteria, though her brother was one of the magistrates.
Joseph Bailey (1090) and his wife Priscilla Putnam (1091) of Newbury made a trip to Boston in late May 1692. They stopped overnight at the home of her uncle Thomas Putnam, and her cousin Ann Putnam, where they heard many tales of witchcraft in the Village. Continuing their journey, the next day he experienced vivid hallucinations as they passed the home of John Proctor, who was already charged and in jail. His deposition was important evidence in the conviction and execution of Proctor.
Thomas Flint (1100) and his wife Mary Dounton (1101) were not involved in the trials, though her brother William Dounton was the jailer.
Joseph Capen (1098), pastor of the church in nearby Topsfield, offered to testify in favor of the defendant Mary Easty, but he was ignored.
The hysteria spread to nearby Andover, and similar trials were held there, with the Salem Village girls appearing as witnesses. After a while Magistrate Dudley Bradstreet simply refused to execute any more alleged witches. The angry crowd tried to lynch him, but he escaped. The mob then went after his brother John Bradstreet (1456), who fled for his life. The blood lust was finally quelled when they ceremoniously hanged John Bradstreet's dog.
John Robinson (1094) and his wife Dorothy Perkins (1095), relative newcomers to the community did not escape attention. Fortunately, by the time they were accused, no one was interested in further prosecutions. An unnamed witness stated that as he was passing the Robinson house about midnight, after an evening of drinking in Mr. Gedney's tavern, a giant blue pig ran out and frightened him.
Governor Simon Bradstreet (2912) strongly opposed the Salem witchcraft trials from the beginning, but the weakness of his government plus the fact that he was eighty nine years old kept him from taking any effective action. He spent most of his time negotiating the transfer of power to the new royal governor. At the time Governor William Phips took over, the Salem Village girls were at the height of their power, having caused the execution of several prominent citizens in both Salem and Andover. They now accused the new governor's wife of witchcraft, and the governor lowered the boom. The trials came to a screeching halt. Prisoners were released, and the General Court of Massachusetts began an investigation.
In 1696 all twelve members of the jury signed an affidavit stating that they had been deluded by the witnesses and misled by the judges' instructions, and that they no longer believed in the guilt of the accused. Once they had grown up, the girls confessed that the whole affair had been a hoax. In 1710 the General Court reversed all the convictions and awarded compensatory damages to families of the victims. The Wildes family received £17.
People throughout the colonies, even devout Puritans, were horrified. They reexamined their moral codes and became more tolerant of each other. The people of Salem Village eventually changed the name of their community to Danvers, to minimize the approbation with which others looked at them.
(Introduction of the book: The first mention of each ancestor's name is in boldface, and is followed by his/her Ahnentafel number. In the Ahnentafel system the number of a person's father is twice his/her number. The number of a person's child is half his/her number, disregarding any fractional remainder. The number of a man's wife is his number plus one. The number of a woman's husband is her number minus one.)
This excerpt used with permission of C. Robert Snider, obtained October 27, 2019.
So, in this excerpt, all bolded names are ancestors of my wife and the numbers represent their place in the family tree. It is amazing that so many of her family was involved in some way in these proceedings, but then, it was a small community and most of these families had been together, and intermarried, since they immigrated to the New World.
If you would like to read more about this very famous event in American History, you could start here:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/a-brief-history-of-the-salem-witch-trials-175162489/.
Happy Halloween!
'Til Next Time!
#52Ancestors
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| C. Robert Snider, age 89 when this was taken Uncle Bob will be 97 on his next birthday! |
Here is the chapter called:
THE DEVIL MADE THEM DO IT
"Many of our New England ancestors lived in Essex County, Massachusetts, and several of them were in or near Salem Village.(1)
The thoughtless cruelty of Puritanism came to its peak in Salem Village in 1692. Nineteen innocent persons were murdered in the name of Jesus Christ.
A group of girls, led by twelve-year-old Ann Putnam, enjoyed voodoo games, and decided to play a prank on their elders. The adults took it seriously and began searching for the witches who had caused the girls' "affliction". Soon all the petty hatreds and jealousies in the town turned into charges of witchcraft. The girls, egged on by Satan bashing Reverend Samuel Parris and ambitious magistrates John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin, repeatedly demonstrated their "sufferings" before the court.
The Wildes family, the Towne family, and the Easty family lived just across the town line in Topsfield. They had been involved in disputes with Village residents over property rights along the border and were prime targets for accusations.
Sarah Averill (Wildes) (1141) was convicted of witchcraft. This saintly woman had raised nine children, only one of them her own. There had never been a hint of wrongdoing in her life. But the girls claimed to see her apparition among the rafters and went through their usual gyrations. On the gallows she prayed for the souls of her persecutors. She was hanged on Witch's Hill 19 July 1692.
The sisters Mary Easty and Rebecca Nurse were also convicted and hanged. Each of them was the matriarch of a highly respected family. Several prominent citizens offered testimony in their defense, but it was ignored. Jacob Towne (1138) was their brother.
Sarah's husband John Wildes (1140) married several months later the widow of a man who had been executed for witchcraft. Her son Ephraim Wildes (570) was the constable. It was his duty to find and arrest the accused persons. Ephraim's wife Mary Howlett (571) and his daughter Mary Wildes (285) lived with him.
Mary Putnam (551), a first cousin of Ann Putnam, lived with her parents Edward Putnam (1102) and Mary Hale (1103). her father had been a deacon in the church from the time of its founding. In February he signed a complaint against three persons including Rebecca Nurse. On another occasion he personally interviewed Ann and her intended victim before he decided the lady was guilty and conducted part of her examination before the court. Later he signed a warrant against a five-year-old girl accused of witchcraft. In May he deposed that the suffering of another child had stopped suddenly when an accused woman was imprisoned in irons. He told the court that his niece had been struck and bitten by the ghost of an accused witch who was already in prison. The enormity of his actions finally dawned on him, and he switched sides. Both he and his wife signed an affidavit attesting to the im1ocence of Rebecca Nurse. His parents John Putnam (2182) and Rebecca Prince (2183) also signed it.
Joseph Porter (1088), his wife Ann Hathorne (l 089) and their son Joseph Porter (544) avoided involvement in the hysteria, though her brother was one of the magistrates.
Joseph Bailey (1090) and his wife Priscilla Putnam (1091) of Newbury made a trip to Boston in late May 1692. They stopped overnight at the home of her uncle Thomas Putnam, and her cousin Ann Putnam, where they heard many tales of witchcraft in the Village. Continuing their journey, the next day he experienced vivid hallucinations as they passed the home of John Proctor, who was already charged and in jail. His deposition was important evidence in the conviction and execution of Proctor.
Thomas Flint (1100) and his wife Mary Dounton (1101) were not involved in the trials, though her brother William Dounton was the jailer.
Joseph Capen (1098), pastor of the church in nearby Topsfield, offered to testify in favor of the defendant Mary Easty, but he was ignored.
The hysteria spread to nearby Andover, and similar trials were held there, with the Salem Village girls appearing as witnesses. After a while Magistrate Dudley Bradstreet simply refused to execute any more alleged witches. The angry crowd tried to lynch him, but he escaped. The mob then went after his brother John Bradstreet (1456), who fled for his life. The blood lust was finally quelled when they ceremoniously hanged John Bradstreet's dog.
John Robinson (1094) and his wife Dorothy Perkins (1095), relative newcomers to the community did not escape attention. Fortunately, by the time they were accused, no one was interested in further prosecutions. An unnamed witness stated that as he was passing the Robinson house about midnight, after an evening of drinking in Mr. Gedney's tavern, a giant blue pig ran out and frightened him.
Governor Simon Bradstreet (2912) strongly opposed the Salem witchcraft trials from the beginning, but the weakness of his government plus the fact that he was eighty nine years old kept him from taking any effective action. He spent most of his time negotiating the transfer of power to the new royal governor. At the time Governor William Phips took over, the Salem Village girls were at the height of their power, having caused the execution of several prominent citizens in both Salem and Andover. They now accused the new governor's wife of witchcraft, and the governor lowered the boom. The trials came to a screeching halt. Prisoners were released, and the General Court of Massachusetts began an investigation.
In 1696 all twelve members of the jury signed an affidavit stating that they had been deluded by the witnesses and misled by the judges' instructions, and that they no longer believed in the guilt of the accused. Once they had grown up, the girls confessed that the whole affair had been a hoax. In 1710 the General Court reversed all the convictions and awarded compensatory damages to families of the victims. The Wildes family received £17.
People throughout the colonies, even devout Puritans, were horrified. They reexamined their moral codes and became more tolerant of each other. The people of Salem Village eventually changed the name of their community to Danvers, to minimize the approbation with which others looked at them.
(Introduction of the book: The first mention of each ancestor's name is in boldface, and is followed by his/her Ahnentafel number. In the Ahnentafel system the number of a person's father is twice his/her number. The number of a person's child is half his/her number, disregarding any fractional remainder. The number of a man's wife is his number plus one. The number of a woman's husband is her number minus one.)
This excerpt used with permission of C. Robert Snider, obtained October 27, 2019.
So, in this excerpt, all bolded names are ancestors of my wife and the numbers represent their place in the family tree. It is amazing that so many of her family was involved in some way in these proceedings, but then, it was a small community and most of these families had been together, and intermarried, since they immigrated to the New World.
If you would like to read more about this very famous event in American History, you could start here:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/a-brief-history-of-the-salem-witch-trials-175162489/.
Happy Halloween!
'Til Next Time!
#52Ancestors
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