Real Life Histories of the Victims of “The Salem
Witchcraft Trials”
Samuel Parris
Samuel Parris was the son of Englishman Thomas Parris, who bought land in Barbados in the 1650s.
Samuel was sent to Massachusetts to study at Harvard, where he was in 1673 when his father died.
At the age of 20, Parris inherited his father's land in Barbados. After graduating, Parris moved back
to the island to intending to settle the old estate. He leased out the family sugar plantation and
settled in town's main population center of Bridgetown, where he established himself as a credit
agent for other sugar planters. Parris was unmarried at the time, maintaining two slaves, including
a woman named Tituba.
In 1680, Parris left the island, taking with him his two slaves. He moved to Boston and during his
first New England winter married Elizabeth Eldridge. Through his marriage Parris was connected to
several distinguished families in Boston, including the Sewalls. A year after they were married,
Parris had his first child, a son, Thomas. A year later a daughter Betty was born, and five years later
Susahanna. Parris accumulated sufficient wealth in Barbados to support his business ventures in
Boston.
Dissatisfied with the life of a merchant, Parris considered a change in vocation. In 1686, he began substituting for absent ministers and
speaking at informal church gatherings. After the birth of their third child, Parris began formal negations with Salem Village to become
the Village's new preacher. He and his family settled in the parsonage and Parris began his ministerial duties in July 1689.
Dissatisfaction in the community with Parris as a minister began in 1691 and manifested itself in the sporadic payment of his salary. In
October, a committee refused to impose a tax to support his salary and fire wood through the winter. In response, Parris's sermons began
to focus on warnings against a conspiracy in the village against himself and the church, and he attributed the evil to the forces of Satan
taking hold in Salem.
It was also in 1691 that Parris's daughter Betty and his niece, Abigail Williams (now also living in his household), most likely inspired by
the tales of Tituba, began to dabble in fortune telling and other decidedly non-Puritan activities. Perhaps out of fear of the repercussions
of participating in these forbidden games, Betty began to develop strange symptoms: pinching, prickling and choking sensations. Several
physicians were unable to diagnose the problem, but Dr. William Griggs suggested that her malady must be the result of witchcraft.
Parris organized prayer meetings and days of fasting in an attempt to alleviate Betty's symptoms. Parris did what he could to support
Betty and other seemingly afflicted girls, including beating his servant, Tituba, into confessing, and fanning the flames of witchcraft
suspicions from his pulpit. Once the witchcraft hysteria ran its course, dissatisfaction with Parris grew and intensified. Parris, however,
was slow to recognize his mistakes. It was not until 1694 that he apologized to his congregation, but this was not enough. Opposition to
Parris continued until 1697 when he left the village and was replaced by Joseph Green, who succeeded in smoothing over many of the
divisions within the community and congregation.
After leaving Salem, Parris first moved to Stowe, and then on to other frontier towns. Parris died in 1720.
Bridget Bishop
Bridget Bishop, "a singular character, not easily described," was born sometime between 1632 and 1637.
Bishop married three times. Her third and final marriage, after the deaths of her first two husbands, was
to Edward Bishop, who was employed as a "sawyer" (lumber worker). She appears to have had no children
in any of her marriages.
Although Bishop had been accused by more individuals of witchcraft than any other witchcraft defendant
(many of the accusations were markedly vehement and vicious), it was not so much her "sundry acts of
witchcraft" that caused her to be the first witch hanged in Salem, as it was her flamboyant life style and
exotic manner of dress. Despite being a member of Mr. Hale's Church in Beverly (she remained a member
in good standing until her death), Bishop often kept the gossip mill busy with stories of her publicly
fighting with her various husbands, entertaining guests in home until late in the night, drinking and
playing the forbidden game of shovel board, and being the mistress of two thriving taverns in town. Some
even went so far as to say that Bishop's "dubious moral character" and shameful conduct caused, "discord [to] arise in other familes, and
young people were in danger of corruption." Bishop's blatant disregard for the respected standards of puritan society made her a prime
target for accusations of witchcraft.
In addition to her somewhat outrageous (by Puritan standards) lifestyle, the fact that Bishop "was in the habit of dressing more
artistically than women of the village" also contributed in large part to her conviction and execution. She was described as wearing, "a
black cap, and a black hat, and a red paragon bodice bordered and looped with different colors." This was a showy costume for the times.
Aside from encouraging rumors and social disdain, this "showy costume" was used as evidence against her at her trial for witchcraft. In
his deposition, Shattuck, the town dyer mentions, as corroborative proof of Bishop being a witch, that she used to bring to his dye house
"sundry pieces of lace" of shapes and dimensions entirely outside his conceptions of what would be needed in the wardrobe of a plain and
honest woman. Fashionable apparel was regarded by some as a "snare and sign of the devil."
On April 18, 1692, when a warrant was issued for Bishop's arrest for witchcraft, she was no stranger to the courthouse. In 1680 she had
been charged (but cleared) of witchcraft, and on other occasions she had ended up in the courthouse for violent public quarreling with her
husband. Bishop had never seen or met any of her accusers until her questioning. While several of the afflicted girls cried out and writhed
in the supposed pain she was causing them, John Hathorn and Jonathan Corwin questioned her, although there was little doubt in either
of their minds as to her guilt:
Q: Bishop, what do you say? You stand here charged with sundry acts of witchcraft by you done or committed upon the bodies of Mercy
Lewis and Ann Putman and others.
A: I am innocent, I know nothing of it, I have done no witchcraft .... I am as innocent as the child unborn. ....
Q: Goody Bishop, what contact have you made with the Devil?
A: I have made no contact with the Devil. I have never seen him before in my life.
When asked by one of her jailers, Bishop claimed that she was not troubled to see the afflicted persons so tormented, and could not tell
what to think of them and did not concern herself about them at all. But the afflicted girls were not Bishop's only accusers. Her sister's
husband claimed that "she sat up all night conversing with the Devil" and that "the Devil came bodily into her." With a whole town
against her, Bishop was charged, tried, and executed within eight days. On June 10, as crowds gathered to watch, she was taken to
Gallows Hill and executed by the sheriff, George Corwin. She displayed no remorse and professed her innocence at her execution.
Bishop's death did not go unnoticed in Salem. The court took a short recess, accusations slowed down for a time, more than a month
passed before there were any more executions, and one of the judges, Nathaniel Saltonstall resigned, having become dissatisfied with the
court's methods. Even Governor Phips had doubts about the methods of the court and went to Boston to consult the ministers there as to
what should be done with the rest of the accused. Unfortunately for the eighteen others who would be hanged as witches (in addition to
the one pressed to death and the several who died in prison), the ministers decidedly and earnestly recommended that the proceedings
should be "vigorously carried on," and so they were. Less than a year after her death, Bishop's husband married Elizabeth Cash, and
several of those who had testified against her, in deathbed confessions claimed that their accusations were "deluted by the Devil."
Tituba
Tituba was an Indian woman, not (as commonly believed) a Negro slave. She was
originally from an Arawak village in South America, where she was captured as a child,
taken to Barbados as a captive, and sold into slavery. It was in Barbados that her life
first became entangled with that of Reverend Samuel Parris. She was likely between the
age of 12 and 17 when she came into the Parris household. She was most likely
purchased by Parris from one of his business associates, or given to settle a debt. Parris,
at the time, was an unmarried merchant, leading to speculation that Tituba may have
served as his concubine.
Tituba helped maintain the Parris household on a day-to-day basis. When Parris moved
to Boston in 1680, Tituba and another Indian slave named John accompanied him.
Tituba and John were married in 1689 about the time the Parris family moved to Salem.
It is believed that Tituba had only one child, a daughter named Violet, who would remain in Parris's household until his death.
Tituba made herself a likely target for witchcraft accusations when shortly after Parris's daughter, Betty, began having strange fits and
symptoms, she participated in the preparation of a "witchcake" (a mixture of rye and Betty's urine, cooked and fed to a dog, in the belief
that the dog would then reveal the identity of Betty's afflictor). Parris was enraged when he found out about the cake, and shortly
thereafter the afflicted girls named Tituba as a witch. Parris beat her until she confessed.
Tituba was the first witch to confess in Salem, and she likely did it to avoid further punishment. In her confession she apologized for
hurting Betty, claimed she never wanted to hurt Betty, and professed her love for the child. She also wove a lively tale of an active
community of witches in Salem. She named Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne as witches. By confessing early on, Tituba avoided the ordeal
of going to trial, joining with the afflicted girls in providing key evidence against accused witches. Her husband, John, would also fall into
fits, and become afflicted.
When public sentiment towards the accusers and the trials began to change, Tituba recanted her confession. This further enraged Parris,
who in retaliation, refused to pay the jailer's fee to get Tituba out a prison. As a result, she spent thirteen months in jail until an unknown
person paid the seven pounds for her release and bought her. It is likely that the same person bought her husband, John, because
Puritans were not inclined to split up married couples, even slaves. It is unknown what happened to her after she began her life with her
new owner.
Sarah Osborne
Born in Watertown, Massachusetts in about 1643, Sarah Warren married Robert Prince, a Salem Villager who purchased a 150-acre farm
next to Captain John Putnam's. Putnam was Prince's neighbor and also his brother-in-law and the executor (along with Thomas Putnam)
of his will. When Prince died prematurely in 1674, he left his land entrusted to his wife Sarah with the provision that upon their coming of
age, it be given to his and Sarah's two sons -- James, who was six-years-old at the time, and Joseph, who was two. However, soon after her
husband's death, Sarah hired an indentured Irish immigrant by the name of Alexander Osborne as a farm hand and paid off his
indenture. Rumors spread about Sarah and Alexander's living together and eventually the two were married. Sarah, then attempted to
overtake her children's inheritance and seize control of the estate for herself and her new husband, thus breaking her deceased husband's
will. Legal battles ensued between Osborne and her children, who were the rightful heirs of Prince's land and were defended by the
Putnams. Such conflict continued until February of 1692 when Sarah Osborne became one of the first three persons accused of witchcraft
in Salem.
Sarah was accused by Thomas and Edward Putnam, Joseph Hutchinson, and Thomas Preston for afflicting Ann Putnam, Jr., Betty
Parris, Abigail Williams, and Elizabeth Hubbard. Unlike the other two women accused with her, Tituba and Sarah Good, Osborne never
confessed to witchcraft nor attempted to accuse anyone else. In her own defense, she was the first defendant to assert in her defense the
theological claim that the devil could take the shape of another person without their compliance -- a view that eventually prevailed and
brought the Salem trials to a halt. Nonetheless, Osborne never came to trial because she died, shackled in prison on May 10, 1692 at the
age of 49.
Why was Sarah Osborne accused of witchcraft? To answer this question, we must look closely at the society in which she lived and at her
reputation in it. Historians Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum argue that many of the accused witches were perceived as upsetting
established "patterns of land tenure and inheritance." Sarah Osborne fits this profile. Not only was Salem Village aware of her fornication
with Alexander (an obvious Puritan sin), but by endeavoring to gain full ownership of her late husband's estate, she disregarded her
society's set practices of inheritance and land tenure, and challenged the tradition of strong, extended family alliances. By aspiring to
deny her two sons of their wealth and social position, she threatened the growth and stability of Putnam family alliances in Salem Village.
Is a woman who betrays her society's social and family conventions worthy of an accusation of witchcraft? Not in today's society, but in
seventeenth century New England these offenses were socially and economically serious, and a threat to the divinely sanctioned social
order. Specifically, the Putnam family's economic interests and inheritance grew less secure by Sarah's attempt at social and economic
independence. Consequently, but not surprisingly, it was members of the Putnam family who accused Osborne.
While such theories may offer explanations as to why Sarah Osborne, as opposed to her husband Alexander, was accused of witchcraft, we
might also ask why she was actually convicted. If only 19 of the approximately 160 people accused were actually executed, what prevented
Sarah Osborne from surviving? Unlike Tituba and Sarah Good who both confessed to witchcraft and falsely accused Osborne, Osborne did
not confess nor did she accuse anyone else, and hence unknowingly at this stage, she closed an opportunity that might have saved her.
Even though it later became apparent that the way to survive an accusation was to confess and to point fingers at others, Sarah Osborne
repeatedly affirmed her innocence. When asked by local officials why she practiced with the devil, Osborne responded with bewilderment
that she "was more like to be bewitched than that she was a witch." Ultimately, it was her refusal to compromise her integrity that cost
Sarah Osborne her life.
Martha Cory
In 1692, the small town of Salem, Massachusetts was wracked by terror and confusion. By March, accusations and convictions of witches
and witchcraft had reached a high point, and it seemed like no one was safe from the madness. In late February, Elizabeth Parris and
Abigail Williams had named Tituba, Sarah Goode, and Sarah Osborne. These three women seemed to fit a kind of stereotypical pattern.
They were perceived by many as social outcasts, misfits, and were not members of the church. On March 11, 1692, this pattern took a
drastically different turn, however. Under the pressure of Reverend Samuel Parris, the two girls accused Goodwife Martha Corey, a new
but universally accepted good member of the Salem church; to some, she was even known as the "gospel woman." Citizens of Salem were
shocked at this fourth accusation, and while no one questioned either Elizabeth or Abigail on their indictment, eyebrows were certainly
raised when Martha Corey was asked to testify in court on March 22, 1692.
Martha Corey's active church participation and religious faith were genuine, but her history was not as pure. Over twenty years earlier,
Corey had given birth to an illegitimate son whom she named Benoni. Benoni was thought to be mulatto and was living proof of Corey's
indiscriminate past. Because the boy lived with Corey and her husband, Giles, town members were completely aware of her situation, and
it is likely that this was one factor that played into the afflicted girls' accusation. After being accused, Martha made a concerted effort to
dispel the rumors that she was a witch, and cited her religious fervor as proof that she could never support nor believe in the devil. In her
book, In the Devil's Snare, however, author Mary Beth Norton makes the point that Martha's "acceptance into the church, given her
personal background and the exclusivity of church membership in Salem Village, must have set tongues wagging. On at least one other
occasion in seventeenth-century New England, the admission to church membership of a woman with a checkered sexual past fomented
an uproar among her neighbors. The same could well have happened in the case of Martha Corey, causing speculation about the validity of
her reputed adherence to Christianity (Norton, page 46)."
A second contributing factor, perhaps even more important than her illegitimate son, was Corey's vehement, and public, denunciations of
the witch trials and the judges involved in hearings. From the beginning, Corey was skeptical about even the existence of witches. In an
encounter with a member of the Putnam family, Martha stated that she "did not think there were any witches" in New England and
believed that she could" open the eyes of the church to the truth about non-existence of the devil himself. Corey was also critical of the
afflicted girls themselves. During her trial, she asked that the judges not believe the actions of the girls, and made similar claims
throughout the Salem crisis as a whole. This fact combined with her questionable past made her an easy target for the afflicted girls. By
accusing her, the Putnams demonstrated that they would willingly attack anyone who openly questioned their motives and authority.
In their book Salem Possessed, Paul Boyer and Stephan Nissenbaum make a third argument for why Martha Corey was accused of
witchcraft. By 1692, the Putnam family had fallen on social and economic hardship, and its members were looking for people to blame for
their essential fall from grace. Two easy targets of their anger were Mary Veren Putnam and Joseph Putnam, the stepmother and halfbrother of Thomas Putnam and his siblings. The ideal revenge would be to accuse both of witchcraft; for various reasons, however,
including the perceived social power of Mary and Joseph and their familial ties, the Putnams never brought cases against them. Instead,
they focused their attention on less-threatening targets, like Martha Corey. Indeed, Boyer and Nissenbaum believe that the Putnams
projected their anger and dissatisfaction with Mary onto Martha: "The accusation of…Corey was a key point along the psychological
progression which the Thomas Putnam family, and the entire witchcraft episode, followed in 1692…In turning on [Corey] they betrayed
the fact that witchcraft accusations against the powerless, the outcast, or the already victimized were not sufficiently cathartic for them.
They were driven to last out at persons of real respectability – persons, in short, who reminded them of the individuals actually
responsible (so they believed) for their own reduced fortunes and prospects…Corey was the ideal transition figure: she combined
respectability with a touch of deviance. If the Putnams could bring her down, they would be free, not only politically, but psychologically
as well, to play out their compulsions on a still larger scale (Boyer and Nissenbaum, page 146-147)."
On March 21, 1692, Corey was forced to testify on her innocence in court. When asked by Judge Hathorne why she "hurt" "these persons,"
Corey responded, "I never had to do with Witchcraft since I was born. I am a Gospell Woman." When urged to confess to her crimes, Corey
said that if she was guilty, she would admit it; but she maintained that she was an innocent woman throughout the entirety of the trials.
No matter what she said on the stand, Corey realized the futility of her efforts and told Hathorne and the community: "Ye are all against
me& I cannot help it." Corey, like the other accused witches, was involved in a battle against the dramatic performances of the afflicted,
and determined, young women. It was truly her word against the testimonies of others, telling similar stories to Edward Putnam, who
spoke on behalf of Ann Putnam, Jr., saying that Corey "desired to come and see his daughter Ann Putnam: who had charged Martha Cory
to her face…but no sooner did Martha Cory come into the house of Thomas Putnam but Ann Putnam fell ill in grievous fits." Martha's
sense of desperation could not have proved to be any truer. On September 22 of the same year, Martha Corey was hung to death in Salem.
She was one of nineteen men and women killed during the witchcraft crisis.
The accusation and conviction of Martha Corey marked a turning point in the Salem witch crisis. Corey was a well-liked, accepted, and
covenanted member of the church who was socially and economically stable. Her past sexual indiscretions, combined with her opposition
to the trials and the personal vendettas of the Putnam family, however, all made her a fairly easy target for the afflicted girls. Martha
Corey opened the door for anyone to be accused of witchcraft. She removed all of the social boundaries and led the way for over one
hundred more men and women to be accused of cavorting with the devil in Massachusetts.
George Jacobs
George Jacobs, Sr. was born ca. 1620. Not much is known about when he came to Massachusetts Bay Colony, or
about his first wife. He had three children from his first marriage, all born in Salem. George Jr. (b. ca. 1649), Mary
(b. ca. 1650), and Ann (b. ca. 1655). He bought land in Salem around 1658 and married his second wife, Mary,
about 1673. He had lived in Salem for a little over thirty years when he was accused of witchcraft.
George Jacobs, Sr. was arrested on May 10, 1692, along with his granddaughter Margaret Jacobs. He was
examined twice, on the day of his arrest and on the following day. His trial took place in early August, and he
remained in prison from the time of his arrest until his execution on August 19.
His primary accuser was Sarah Churchill, who was a servant in his home. She came from a wealthy family of
English gentry in Maine but was most likely orphaned in Indian Wars. She, like Margaret, had been accused of witchcraft and, in her confession, accused
others. George Jacobs granddaughter Margaret herself confessed to witchcraft and accused her grandfather among others who had already been accused in
order, she wrote, "to save my life and to have my liberty." The list of accusers against Jacobs did not end there. It swelled to include Abigail Williams, Ann
Putnam, Mercy Lewis, Elizabeth Hubbard, Mary Walcott, Sarah Bibber, Mary Warren, Joseph Flint, Thomas Putnam, John Putnam, Jr., and John DeRich.
The women accused his Jacobs' specter of beating them with his walking stick and other physical abuses. Not only did the women testify that Jacobs afflicted
them, they also testified to witnessing the afflictions of the others. During his testimony, John DeRich, a sixteen-year old boy, was the only person to claim that
Jacobs afflicted him. The Putnam men testified that they witnessed the afflictions that Mary Walcott and the other women suffered on May 11 at the hands of
Jacobs' specter.
The Puritans believed that witches and wizards had proof of their covenants with the Devil on their bodies. Doctor George Herrick was sent to examine Jacobs'
body for the witch's "teat," and found one on his right shoulder. This slight protuberance on his skin combined with the spectral evidence made the case strong
enough for indictment.
George Jacobs, Sr. emerges as an interesting person from the records of his examinations on May 10 and 11. He was incredulous from the moment the first
accuser, Abigail Williams, cried out against him. He laughed in court, always a risky response and said: "Because I am falsely accused.-Your worships all of
you do think this is true?" One of his most famous protest was the defiant assertion, "You tax me for a wizard, you may as well tax me for a buzzard I have
done no harm." Emphatically portraying his unwavering Christian faith, he declared, "Well: burn me, or hang me, I will stand in the truth of Christ, I know
nothing of it." Several times he argued that "The Devill can go in any shape" or "can take any likeness." This was sound theological doctrine at the time,
warning the court that it was doing the Devil's work by accusing innocent people. The judges, however, believed that the Devil cannot take a person's form
"without [his] consent."
George Jacobs, Sr. was then indicted, tried, and found guilty of witchcraft. He was hanged on August 19, 1692 with George Burroughs, John Proctor, John
Willard, and Martha Carrier. This was the first time men were executed as witches in Salem. Meanwhile, Jacobs' granddaughter Margaret Jacobs was free from
danger after confessing and accusing her grandfather but remained in jail. Her father, George Jacobs, Jr., was also accused but fled from Salem Town. When he
did so, he left behind his wife, Rebecca, in jail facing witchcraft charges. She became severely emotionally disturbed and was most likely ruled mentally
incompetent and escaped conviction. George Sr.'s second wife, Mary, survived him and remarried on June 23, 1693 to John Wilds whose wife had been hanged
as a witch on July 19, 1692. Jacobs body was retrieved from Gallows Hill by his family and buried on his land. In the 1980's his body had to be moved quickly,
due to the sale of the Jacobs family property,. His bones were kept in storage in the Danvers Archive until 1992 when he was finally put to rest in the Rebecca
Nurse Cemetery.
George Jacobs, Sr.'s role in the witch trials has been interpreted in several ways. Bernard Rosenthal views him as the victim of fabrication. For example, Ann
Putnam and Abigail Williams knowingly put pins in their hands and accused his specter of putting them there to add to evidence against him (Salem Story). He
was also a victim of the life-saving strategy that the accused learned during the early course of the trials: confess and your life will be spared. Two of his
primary accusers were among the accused who confessed to save themselves..
Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum interpret the trials in socio-economic and political terms. They argue that many members of the more rural and
agricultural Salem Village (e.g. the Putnam family) were threatened by those with economic and political connections to Salem Town (e.g. the Porter family),
the seaport and center of emerging capitalism. Salem Village had been trying to assert its independence from the Town by establishing its own church, and
inhabitants of the Village with ties to the Town were seen as threats to the cause of Village independence. As such, the majority of accusers from the Village
and the majority of the accused who lived on the western side of the Village nearer to the Town. George Jacobs, Sr.'s son, George, was good friend of the
Porters, making the family vulnerable to accusations, particularly from the Putnams. The phenomenon of the accused becoming accusers was due, they argue,
to the swarm of accusations made in the heat of politics and economics. Eventually the confusion had to fall back on itself.
Carol Karlsen offers a more gender-oriented analysis. The "possessed accusers" were usually subordinate members of society such as servants. Many of them,
like Sarah Churchill, were orphans. Their prospects for improving their social standings were virtually nonexistent since they had no families and no dowries to
support them. Totally dependent upon the will of others, their discontent and anxiety would have been quite marked. Puritan society, however, did not tolerate
socially aggressive and assertive women. Their fears were then converted, psychologically, into the belief that they were either witches or were possessed.
After all, Carol Karlsen argues, a society that teaches the existence of possession will invariably contain persons who think they are possessed and are believed
to be so by others. As for the specific reason that Sarah Churchill accused George Jacobs, he may have been seen as a tormentor or harsh master since most of
the accusations contained charges of physical abuse.
All of these explanations fall short, however. None of them explains why Jacobs own granddaughter would accuse him of all people or why such a large
number of accusations flew at Jacobs, except for the fact that he publicly denounced the circle of "afflicted" girls, thus opening them to charges of fraud and
compliance with the Devil. If modern students and scholars find it hard to explain why so many people would spend their time accusing a 70 year-old man, it is
quite easy to see why George Jacobs, Sr. laughed and told the judges that he could not believe this was happening.
George Burroughs
In the minds of many of the villagers of Salem, George Burroughs was "the ringleader of
them all." Burroughs was born in Scituate, although there is some uncertainty
surrounding his origins. He graduated from Harvard College in 1670. Burroughs was a
non-ordained minister.
While preaching in Casco, Maine (now Portland) in 1676, the entire settlement was
broken up by an Indian assault. Burroughs escaped to an island in the Bay. He was
rescued by aid from the mainland. He moved to the Village of Salem in 1680, where a
year later his wife died. Burroughs ministered in the Village of Salem for only two years.
He left as a result of a bitter dispute over his salary. He seems also to have had a more
personal and heated dispute over money with John Putnam, the uncle of one of
Burroughs' later accusers. As a result of these disputes, Burroughs left the Village abruptly. After leaving Salem, he returned to Casco,
where he was again driven out by Indians in 1683, causing him to relocate to Wells, Maine. There he was given a grant of 150 acres of
land, part of which he gave back to the city as population thickened.
Burroughs had been serving as a minister in Wells for nine years when he was arrested for witchcraft. He was seized, taken from the
table while eating, and hauled back to Salem on May 4 to stand trial. The arrest and examination of Burroughs "constituted the most
dramatic escalation of judicial action during the early phases of the trials." Burroughs was tried on August 5. There was no shortage of
testimony that Burroughs was not just a witch, but their leader as well. One of his accusers testified that his specter told her that "he was
above a witch, he was a conjurer." During his examination, the suffering of the afflicted girls was so extreme that the magistrates ordered
them removed from the court house for their own safety. Abigail Hobbs confessed that magical dolls had been given to her by Burroughs.
Nineteen-year-old Mercy Lewis claimed that Burroughs "carried me up to an exceeding high mountain and shewed me all the kingdoms of
the earth and tould me that he would give them all to me if I would writ in his book," a temptation not unlike one used by his supposed
master on occasion. Some of the most damaging testimony against Burroughs was by several confessed witches who identified him as
Satan's personal representative at Salem Sabbaths. They claimed that meetings were personally organized and presided over by Sorcerer
Burroughs. The effect of this testimony was to convince the magistrates that they had finally located one of the central figures in the
current diabolical operations. Much of the testimony, however, in addition to focusing on his commissions of acts of witchcraft, focused on
his general mistreatment of his wives, and his uncanny physical ability. Ann Putnam claimed to have been visited by two women in
shrouds (the deceased wives of Burroughs) who proclaimed to her the mistreatment they suffered at the hands of their husband.
Burroughs was a short man of small build, who supposedly possessed superhuman strength. Burroughs was accused on one occasion of
having carried a whole barrel of molasses or cider a great distance. He responded that at the time an Indian had done the same, and his
accusers immediately replied that his Indian companion had to have been the Devil. It was also said that Burroughs could run faster than
a horse, and would often go from one location to the next in a shorter time than was possible for a mere mortal. Burroughs again
responded that he had a companion on these travels, and it was again alleged that this companion was the Devil.
Despite the wealth of testimony against him, historical records have credited Burroughs with many character traits uncommon for a
wizard (male witch). There is "evidence that he was self-denying, generous, and public spirited, laboring with humility and with zeal." By
another account "he was an able, intelligent, true-minded man; ingenuous, sincere, humble in his spirit, faithful and devoted as a
minister, and active, generous and disinterested as a citizen." These are hardly the characteristics one would expect to find in a close
companion of Satan. Papers in the State house in Maine indicate that he was regarded with confidence by his neighbors and looked up to
as a friend and counselor. As a result of his untarnished record, despite the danger to themselves, thirty-two of the most respectable
citizens of the Village signed a petition on behalf on Burroughs' innocence, and even before his execution, one of his accusers recanted her
accusation as groundless and made out of fear. It was no use. Burroughs was hanged on August 17 along with three other men and one
woman, all supposed witches.
As he stood on the gallows awaiting the noose, Buroughs stunned the crowd by loudly proclaiming his innocence and then reciting the
Lord's Prayer without hesitation or error, a feat thought impossible for a wizard. The spectators, deeply impressed, called for his pardon.
However, more legal-minded officials overseeing the execution refused, and the convicted man was hanged before the protesting spectators
could organize their opposition. A somewhat disputed account claims that after the hanging his body was cut down, dragged by the halter,
thus becoming partially disrobed, thrown in a hole between the rocks, and left, partially buried with two others who had been hanged. It is
interesting to note that many of the depositions against Burroughs were obtained after his trial and execution in order to help bolster the
verdict. About twenty years later his children were given monetary compensation from the government for their father's wrongful
execution.
Giles Corey
Giles Corey was a prosperous farmer and full member of the church. He lived in the southwest corner
of Salem village. In April of 1692, he was accused by Ann Putnam, Jr., Mercy Lewis, and Abigail
Williams of witchcraft. Ann Putnam claimed that on April 13 the specter of Giles Corey visited her and
asked her to write in the Devil's book. Later, Putnam was to claim that a ghost appeared before her to
announce that it had been murdered by Corey. Other girls were to describe Corey as "a dreadful
wizard" and recount stories of assaults by his specter.
Why Corey was named as a witch (male witches were generally called "wizards" at the time) is a
matter of speculation, but Corey and his wife Martha were closely associated with the Porter faction of
the village church that had been opposing the Putnam faction. Corey, eighty years old, was also a hard,
stubborn man who may have expressed criticism of the witchcraft proceedings.
Corey was examined by magistrates on April 18, then left to languish with his wife in prison for five
months awaiting trial. When Corey's case finally went before the grand jury in September, nearly a
dozen witnesses came forward with damning evidence such as testimony that Corey was seen serving
bread and wine at a witches' sacrament. Corey knew he faced conviction and execution, so he chose to
refuse to stand for trial. By avoiding conviction, it became more likely that his farm, which Corey recently deeded to his two sons-in-law,
would not become property of the state upon his death.
The penalty for refusing to stand for trial was death by pressing under heavy stones. It was a punishment never before seen in the colony
of Massachusetts. On Monday, September 19, Corey was stripped naked, a board placed upon his chest, and then--while his neighbors
watched--heavy stones and rocks were piled on the board. Corey pleaded to have more weight added, so that his death might come quickly.
Samuel Sewall reported Corey's death: "About noon, at Salem, Giles Corey was press'd to death for standing mute." Robert Calef, in his
report of the event, added a gruesome detail: Giles's "tongue being prest out of his mouth, the Sheriff with his cane forced it in again,
when he was dying." Judge Jonathan Corwin ordered Corey buried in an unmarked grave on Gallows Hill.
Corey is often seen as a martyr who "gave back fortitude and courage rather than spite and bewilderment." His very public death may
well have played in building public opposition to the witchcraft trials.
Mary Easty
Mary Easty was the daughter of William Towne, of Yarmouth, Norfolk County, New England, where
she was baptized on August 24, 1634. Two of Easty's sisters, Rebecca Nurse, and Sarah Cloyse were
also accused of Witchcraft during the Salem outbreak, although there is ample evidence that all
three were innocent.
At the time of her questioning, Easty was about 58 years old and was married to Isaac Easty, with
whom she had had seven children. Isaac owned and lived upon a large valuable farm. Her examination followed the pattern of most in
Salem: the girls had fits, and were speechless at times, and the magistrate expostulated with her for not confessing her guilt, which he
deemed proven beyond doubt by the sufferings of the afflicted.
"How far have you complied with Satan?" "Sir, I never complied with him but pray against him all my days. What would you have Easty
do?" "Confess if you be guilty" "I will say it, if it was my last time, I am clear of this sin." During the exam, when Easty clasped her hands
together, the hands of Mary Lewis, one of the afflicted were clenched and not released until Easty released her hands, and when she
inclined her head, the afflicted girls cried out to have her straighten her neck, because as long as her head was inclined their necks were
broken.
Easty was committed to prison after her examination. For a reason not disclosed in any of the remaining records, Easty, after spending
two months in prison, was discharged on the 18th of May. She and her family believed she would now be safe from further accusations.
They were wrong. The release seems to have been very distasteful to the afflicted girls, they became determined to not let the matter rest,
and redoubled their energies to get her back into prison. On the 20th, Mary Lewis spent the entire day experiencing fits of unprecedented
severity, during which time she said she was being strangled, and claimed "they will kill Easty out right." Several of the other afflicted
girls claimed that they could see the apparition of Easty afflicting her, and people came from all around to see the fits. That evening a
second warrant was issued for Easty's arrest. At midnight, after experiencing two days of liberty and being reunited with her family,
Easty was rousted from her sleep by the marshall, torn from her husband and children, and taken back to prison where she was loaded
with chains. Once Easty was back in prisons with chains, Lewis's fits stopped.
Easty was tried and condemned to death on September 9th. She was executed on
September 22, despite an eloquent plea to the court to reconsider and not spill any
more innocent blood. The court had long since ceased to pay any attention to
anything that was said by the condemned. On the gallows she prayed for a end to
the witch hunt.
Easty's parting communications with her husband and children were said by those
who were present to have been "as serious, religious, distinct, and affectionate as
could be expressed, drawing tears from the eyes of almost all present."
In November, after Easty had been put to death, Mary Herrick gave testimony
about Easty. Herrick testified that she was visited by Easty who told her she had
been put to death wrongfully and was innocent of witchcraft, and that she had
come to vindicate her cause. Easty's family was compensated with 20 pounds from
the government in 1711 for her wrongful execution.
Sarah Good
Sarah Good was the daughter of a prosperous Wenham
innkeeper, John Solart. Solart took his own life in 1672
when Sarah was 17, leaving an estate of 500 pounds after
debt. After testimony of an oral will, the estate was divided between his widow and
her two eldest sons, with a portion to be paid to each of the seven daughters when they came of age. However, Mrs. Solart quickly
remarried, her new husband came into possession of her share and the unpaid shares of the daughters, and as a result, most of the
daughters never received a portion of the Solart estate.
Sarah married a former indentured servant, Daniel Poole. Poole died sometime after 1682, leaving Sarah only debts, which some sources
credit her with creating for Poole. Regardless of the cause of the debt, Sarah and her second husband, William Good, were held responsible
for paying it. A portion of their land was seized and sold to satisfy their creditors, and shortly thereafter they sold the rest of their land,
apparently out of dire necessity. By the time of the trials, Sarah and her husband were homeless, destitute and she was reduced to
begging for work, food, and shelter from her neighbors.
Good was one of the first three women to be brought in at Salem on the charge of witchcraft, after having been identified as a witch by
Tituba. She fit the prevailing stereotype of the malefic witch quite well. Good's habit of scolding and cursing neighbors who were
unresponsive to her requests for charity generated a wealth of testimony at her trials. At least seven people testified as to her angry
muttering and general turbulence after the refusal of charity. Particularly damaging to her case, was her accusation by her daughter.
Four- year-old Dorcas Good (Sarah's only child) was arrested on March 23, gave a confession, and in so doing implicated her mother as a
witch. At the time of her trial, Good was described as "a forlorn, friendless, and forsaken creature, broken down by wretchedness of
condition and ill-repute." She has been called "an object for compassion rather than punishment."
The proceedings against Good were described as "cruel, and shameful to the highest degree." This remark must have been due in part to
the fact that some of the spectral evidence against Good was known to be false at the time of her examination. During the trial, one of the
afflicted girls cried out that she was being stabbed with a knife by the apparition of Good. Upon examination, a broken knife was found on
the girl. However, as soon as it was shown to the court, a young man came forward with the other part of the knife, stated that he had
broken it yesterday and had discarded it in the presence of the afflicted girls. Although the girl was reprimanded and warned not to lie
again, the known falsehood had no effect on Good's trial. She was presumed guilty from the start. It has been said that "there was no one
in the country around against whom popular suspicion could have been more readily directed, or in whose favor and defense less interest
could be awakened."
Good was executed on July 19. She failed to yield to judicial pressure to confess, and showed no remorse at her execution. In fact, in
response to an attempt by Minister Nicholas Noyes to elicit a confession, Good called out from the scaffolding, "You are a liar. I am no
more a witch than you are a wizard, and if you take away my life God will give you blood to drink." Her curse seems to have come true.
Noyes died of internal hemorrhage, bleeding profusely at the mouth. Despite the seemingly effectiveness of her curse, it likely just further
convinced the crowds of her guilt.
Although he clearly deserved nothing, since he was an adverse witness against his wife and did what he could to stir up the prosecution
against her, William Good was given one of the larger sums of compensation from the government in 1711. He did not swear she was a
witch, but what he did say tended to prejudice the magistrates and public against her. The reason for his large settlement was his
connections with the Putnam family. Although Good's daughter was released from prison after the trials, William Good claimed she was
permanently damaged from her stay in chains in the prison, and
that she was never useful for anything.
Rebecca Nurse
"The Trial of Rebecca Nurse"
Rebecca Nurse was the daughter of William Towne, of Yarmouth,
Norfolk County, New England where she was baptized Feb. 21,
1621. Her sister Mary (also accused and put to death for
witchcraft) married Isaac Easty. Another sister, Sarah Cloyce,
was also accused of witchcraft. Nurse's husband was described as
a "traymaker." The making of these articles and similar articles of
domestic use was important employment in the remote
countryside. He seems to have been highly respected by his
neighbors, and more often than anyone else was called in to settle
disputes. Nurse had four sons and four daughters.
Nurse was one of the first "unlikely" witches to be accused. At the time of her trial she was 71 years old, and had "acquired a reputation
for exemplary piety that was virtually unchallenged in the community." It was written of Nurse: "This venerable lady, whose conversation
and bearing were so truly saint-like, was an invalid of extremely delicate condition and appearance, the mother of a large family,
embracing sons, daughters, grandchildren, and one or more great-grand children. She was a woman of piety, and simplicity of heart."
That her reputation was virtually unblemished was evidenced by the fact that several of the most active accusers were more hesitant in
their accusations of Nurse, and many who had kept silent during the proceedings against others, came forward and spoke out on behalf of
Nurse, despite the dangers of doing so. Thirty-nine of the most prominent members of the community signed a petition on Nurse's behalf,
and several others wrote individual petitions vouching for her innocence. One of the signers of the petition, Jonathan Putnam, had
originally sworn out the complaint against Nurse, but apparently had later changed his mind on the matter of her guilt.
Unlike many of the other accused, during the questioning of Nurse, the magistrate showed signs of doubting her guilt, because of her age,
character, appearance, and professions of innocence. However, each time he would begin to waiver on the issue, someone else in the crowd
would either heatedly accuse her or one of the afflicted girls would break into fits and claim Nurse was tormenting her. Upon realizing
that the magistrate and the audience had sided with the afflicted girls Nurse could only reply, " I have got nobody to look to but God." She
then tried to raise her hands, but the afflicted girls fell into dreadful fits at the motion.
At Nurse's trial on June 30, the jury came back with a verdict of "Not Guilty." When this was announced there was a large and hideous
outcry from both the afflicted girls and the spectators. The magistrates urged reconsideration. Chief Justice Stoughton asked the jury if
they had considered the implications of something Nurse had said. When Hobbs had accused Nurse, Nurse had said "What do you bring
her? She is one of us." Nurse had only meant that Hobbs was a fellow prisoner. Nurse, however, was old, partially hard of hearing, and
exhausted from the day in court. When Nurse was asked to explain her words "she is one of us," she did not hear the question. The jury
took her silence as an indication of guilt. The jury deliberated a second time and came back with a verdict of guilty. Shocking as it seems
today, it was not uncommon in the seventeenth century for a magistrate to ask the jury to reconsider its verdict. Her family immediately
did what they could to rectify the mistake that had caused her to be condemned, but it was no use. Nurse was granted a reprieve by
Governor Phips, however no sooner had it been issued, than the accusers began having renewed fits. The community saw these fits as
conclusive proof of Nurse's guilt.
On July 3, this pious, God fearing woman was excommunicated from her church in Salem Town, without a single dissenting vote, because
of her conviction of witchcraft. Nurse was sentenced to death on June 30. She was executed on July 19. Public outrage at her conviction
and execution have been credited with generating the first vocal opposition to the trials. On the gallows Nurse was "a model of Christian
behavior," which must have been a sharp contrast to Sarah Good, another convicted witch with whom Nurse was executed, who used the
gallows as a platform from which to call down curses on those who would heckle her in her final hour. It was not until 1699 that members
of the Nurse family were welcomed back to communion in the church, and it was fifteen years later before the excommunication of Nurse
was revoked. In 1711, Nurse's family was compensated by the government for her wrongful death.
John Proctor
Proctor was originally from Ipswich, where he and his father before him had a farm of considerable value. In 1666 he moved to Salem,
where he worked on a farm, part of which he later bought. Proctor seems to have been an enormous man, very large framed, with great
force and energy. Although an upright man, he seems to have been rash in speech, judgment, and action. It was his unguarded tongue
that would eventually lead to his death. From the start of the outbreak of witchcraft hysteria in Salem, Proctor had denounced the whole
proceedings and the afflicted girls as a scam. When his wife was accused and questioned, he stood with her throughout the proceedings
and staunchly defended her innocence. It was during her questioning that he, too, was named a witch. Proctor was the first male to be
named as a witch in Salem. In addition, all of his children were accused. His wife Elizabeth, and Elizabeth's sister and sister-in-law, also
were accused witches. Although tried and condemned, Elizabeth avoided execution because she was pregnant.
Mary Warren, the twenty-year-old maid servant in the Proctor house--who herself would later be named as a witch--accused Proctor of
practicing witchcraft. It is believed by some sources that when Mary first had fits Proctor, believing them to be fake, would beat her out of
them. Even if it didn't actually beat her, he certainly threatened beatings and worse if she didn't stop the fits. It was this type of
outspoken criticism of the afflicted that caused Proctor to be accused.
Proctor was tried on August 5 and hanged on the 19th. While in prison on July 23, Proctor wrote a letter to the clergy of Boston, who were
known to be uneasy with the witchcraft proceedings. In his letter he asked them to intervene to either have the trials moved to Boston or
have new judges appointed. After the trial and execution of Rebecca Nurse, the prospects of those still in prison waiting trial were grim. If
a person with a reputation as untarnished as hers could be executed, there was little hope for any of the other accused, which is why
Proctor made his request. With the present judges, who were already convinced of guilt, the trial would just be a formality. In response to
Proctor's letter, in which he describes certain torture that was used to elicit confessions, eight ministers, including Increase Mather, met
at Cambridge on August 1. Little is known about this meeting, except that when they had emerged, they had drastically changed their
position on spectral evidence. The ministers decided in the meeting that the Devil could take on the form of innocent people.
Unfortunately for Proctor, their decision would not have widespread impact until after his execution.
Proctor pleaded at his execution for a little respite of time. He claimed he was not fit to die. His plea was, of course, unsuccessful. In
seventeenth-century society, it would not have been uncommon for a man so violently tempered as Proctor to feel that he had not yet
made peace with his fellow man or his God. In addition, it is thought that he died inadequately reconciled to his wife, since he left her out
of the will that he drew up in prison. Proctor's family was given 150 pounds in 1711 for his execution and his wife's imprisonment.
Ann Putnam Jr.
Twelve-year-old Ann Putnam was in many ways the leader of the “circle girls,” the young girls whose
accusations sparked the Salem witch trials.
During the winter of 1692, the circle girls gathered secretly at Reverend Parris’s house for evenings of
storytelling and magic with the Parris slave, Tituba. One of the fortune-telling games was to drop an egg
white into a glass of water and see what shape it took. One evening, Ann saw the shape of a coffin. Soon
afterwards Ann, Betty Parris, and Abigail Williams started behaving strangely—babbling, convulsing, or
staring blankly.
Once diagnosed as victims of witchcraft, the girls were asked to identify their tormentors. Ann pointed
fingers at Sarah Good and Sarah Osburne. She was also quick to testify against Tituba, claiming an
apparition of the West Indian woman had “tortured me most grievously by pricking and pinching me most
dreadfully.”
Ann’s next accusation surprised the village. She claimed to have been tormented by the spirit of Martha
Corey, a solid member of the church. Despite the lack of hard evidence, Martha was sent to prison and was eventually hanged. But Ann’s
bold accusation had sparked the fear that any one of the villagers could be a witch.
Ann accused many more in the coming months—including four-yearold Dorcas Good. Ann’s parents, Thomas and Ann, also accused dozens
of townspeople of witchcraft—most of whom were enemies of the
influential Putnam family. Two of Ann’s most shocking accusations—
against the pious Rebecca Nurse and the former Salem pastor George
Burroughs—may have been provoked by old family disputes.
By the time the witch hunt was over, Ann had accused 62 people. In
the coming years, she would have a difficult life. Both her parents died,
leaving her to raise her nine brothers and sisters on her own. But she
did something none of the other circle girls would do—publicly
acknowledge her role in the trials. In 1706 she stood before the church
as the pastor read her apology.
John Hathorne
John Hathorne was born on August 5 1641 in Salem to William
Hathorne and Anne Smith. Hathorne, the son of a successful farmer,
became a noted Salem merchant and a politician. Hathorne's political
skills won him a position as justice of the peace and county judge. A
very religious man, Hathorne served on a committee to find a replacement for Salem minister George Burroughs in 1686. He later
sentenced Burroughs to death in the 1692 witch trials. Hathorne believed the devil could use witches to undermine the purpose of the
church and do harm to people. Because of this belief, Hathorne and another justice of the peace, Jonathan Corwin, took very seriously
complaints about suspected witches. Both immediately issued warrants for Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, and Tituba when witchcraft
accusations were made against them. As justices of the peace, Hathorne and Corwin conducted initial examinations of the suspected
witches. Hathorne often appeared to act more as a prosecutor than an impartial inquisitioner. Consider this exchange during the Bridget
Bishop examination:
Hathorne: How do you know that you are not a witch?
Bishop: I do not know what you say. . .I know nothing of it.
Hathorne: Why look you, you are taken now in a flat lye.
Hathorne died on May 10, 1717 in Salem. Many years later, Hathorne's grandson, author Nathaniel Hawthorne, added a "w" in his to
distance himself from Hathorne because of the role he played in the Salem trials.
Samuel Sewall
Samuel Sewall was born at Bishop Stoke, Hampshire, England on March 28, 1652. In 1661, Sewall came with
his family to settle in Newbury, Mass. Ten years later he graduated from Harvard. Sewall married Hannah
Hull, the daughter of one of the wealthiest men in the colony, in 1676 and began a career as a merchant. In
1681, Sewall was appointed by the General Council to run the printing press. Sewall used his position to
publish articles of his own and achieve greater notoriety. From 1691 to 1725 Sewall served on the Governor's
Council.
Governor Phips appointed Sewall to the Court of Oyer and Terminer on May 27, 1692. Sewell's diary entries
provide important information about the Salem witch trials. The diary entries reveal little personal reservations or remorse concerning
his own role in the conduct of the trials. In December 1696, however, Sewall wrote a proclamation for a day of fast and penance and
reparation by the government for the sins of the witchcraft trials. Sewall publicly apologized for his role in the trials. Each year after
1697 Sewall set aside a day in which he fasted and prayed for forgiveness for his sins in the Salem trials.
Though his role in the Salem trials brought Sewall infamy, he continued to receive notoriety for his 1700 publication of The Selling of
Joseph. Considered the first anti-slavery piece published in the colonies, The Selling of Joseph presents religious arguments against
slavery. Countering the prevailing social theory of the time, Sewall argues all men are created equal, using examples to prove his
argument. Never one to adhere to prevailing social norms, Sewall adamantly opposed wearing then-fashionable white powder wigs and
never conceded this position.
Sewall died on January 1, 1730 at his Boston home.
William Stoughton
William Stoughton was born on September 30, 1631 in England. His parents, Israel and Elizabeth
Stoughton, owned a great deal of land in the Massachusetts Bay area. From an early age, Stoughton was
interested in the ministry. At age nineteen, he earned a degree in theology from Harvard College, then
returned to England where he received an M.A. from Oxford in April 1652. Stoughton continued his
studies at Oxford until he lost his fellowship in 1660.
Two years later Stoughton left England for the colonies, finding a job as a preacher in a Dorchester,
Massachusetts church. Stoughton was generally praised for his preaching ability and offered the job of
church pastor.
Following the revocation of the Massachusetts Charter and the reassertion of English control over the colony, Stoughton entered
political life. He served as a Deputy President of the colony's temporary government from 1674 to 1676 and from 1680 to 1686. This
position put him in charge of the colonial courts of justice. From 1676 to 1679 he also acted as an agent for Massachusetts at the Court of
Charles II in England.
Although he lacked any legal education, Stoughton was appointed Chief Justice of Massachusetts, a position he continued to hold until
shortly before his death.
Following the outbreak of witchcraft accusations in Salem, Phips appointed Stoughton chief justice of the newly formed court of oyer
and terminer. Stoughton, possibly because of both his past theological training and lack of legal training , allowed many deviations from
normal courtroom procedure during the witchcraft trials. In addition to admitting spectral evidence, the court allowed private
conversations between accusers and judges, permitted spectators to interrupt the procedures with personal remarks, forbid defense
counsel for the accused, and placed judges in the role of prosecutors and interrogators of witnesses. Although he acted as chief justice in
the court of oyer and terminer during the Salem witches trials, Stoughton suffered little political damage. In 1694, he became acting
governor when Phips returned to London to defend his administration against claims of corruption. Stoughton died on July 7, 1701.
Mercy Lewis
"I veryly believe in my heart," began 19 -year-old Mercy Lewis on April 19, 1692, "that Giles Corey is a dreadful wizzard." Lewis's
confidence in herself was not unique to her accusation of Corey during the Salem Witchcraft Trials. Throughout the months plagued by
chaos and confusion in Salem Village, Mercy Lewis acted as a member of the core group of accusing young women in the Village, blatantly
accusing several persons of afflicting herself and her friends. Besides Giles Cory, Mercy Lewis accused Bridget Bishop, Mary Lacey, Sr.,
Susannah Martin, John Willard, Nehemiah Abbot, Jr., Sarah Wilds, and her former guardian, George Burroughs.
Mercy Lewis was born in Falmouth, Maine in 1675. The Lewis family lived in Maine until an Indian attack killed all of Mercy's extended
family. In the Devil's Snare historian Mary Beth Norton suspects that Mercy's parents were killed in a later attack witnessed by Mercy
herself. This tragic event cemented Mercy's connection between the Wabanaki Indians and Satan. The settlers came to fear death,
captivity, and torture by the Indians. "In light of the perceived alliance between Satan and the Wabanakis, such suffused dread could
easily have been vocalized in what became the commonplace description of the devil's threats to 'tear [the afflicted] to pieces' if they did
not comply with his demands." Mercy testified to one of the witch conventions and reported that they were singing biblical passages
regarding God's judgment of the heathen.
As a result of being orphaned, Mercy was sent to live as a servant with Reverend George Burroughs in Maine and then later to the
household of Thomas Putnam in Salem Village. At the Putnam household, Lewis befriended Ann Putnam and her cousin Mary Walcott
who were among the first to make claims of affliction by specters of witches. From her previous experience, Mercy was chief source of
information about George Burroughs and the Hobbs family in Maine. To support their accusations, Mercy Lewis and the other girls
continued to display spectral "evidence" of affliction. In one notable incident, Lewis is reported by Edward Putnam to have been drawn
helplessly by an unseen force across a room directly towards a burning hearth while in the presence of an accused Martha Corey. Norton
notes that Mercy displayed her leadership in the core group of accusers at least two times. She dismissed Ann Jr.'s claim against
Nehemiah Abbott Jr. by saying that Ann was mistaken and "essentially single-handedly... prevented [Mary] Easty from being freed" when
all other accusations had been withdrawn.
Is it possible that the girls, including Mercy Lewis, actually were afflicted? The position taken by Bernard Rosenthal in Salem Story
considers two possible explanations. Either the girls were experiencing psychological disorders or they were simply frauds, and decides in
favor of fraud. Nineteenth century historian Charles Upham, author of Salem Witchcraft, suggests a mixture of explanations "credulity,
hallucination, and the delirium of excitement" to account for the girls' behavior.
Regardless of what may have fueled the incessant accusations, the fact remains that the girls accused innocent persons of witchcraft,
costing many of them their lives. Historian Carol Karlsen in her book Devil in the Shape of a Woman attempts to explain the girls'
afflictions as a response to their personal insecurities -- both economic and social. Mercy Lewis's case illustrates Karlsen's point well.
Lewis experienced a traumatized childhood and lived in relatively insecure social and economic circumstances. As an orphan, she had no
money or dowry to offer in marriage, so the chances of obtaining a husband and thus escaping her social position of servitude must have
seemed bleak. Indeed, Rev. John Hale noted in his Modest Inquiry, two of the "afflicted" Salem girls were anxious about their marriage
prospects. Norton draws attention to the Indian attacks in many of the girls' pasts and comments that the status of the accusers shifted
from lowest to highest in the family and community. Daily life changed because the girls stopped doing their chores and neighbors
constantly visited to see them perform. This was especially prominent at the Putnam household where Mercy lived because so many of the
women living there were afflicted. Boyer and Nissenbaum, who cite primarily socio-economic causes for the witchcraft trials, might agree
that these girls -- who possessed essentially no social standing before the trials -- were greatly empowered by their accusations. Moreover,
many of the accused persons are examples of people who managed to climb the social ladder or become assertive women -- both feats that
Mercy Lewis was unable to accomplish. Furthermore, because Mercy Lewis was not involved in the initial accusations but rather joined
Ann Putnam, Abigail Williams, and Elizabeth Hubbard later in the game, it seems that perhaps a desperate need for social empowerment
and belonging were strong underlying motives.
Finally, it may be asked, "What did an accuser hope to achieve by naming a person as a witch?" No one's socio-economic status improved
as a result of the trials, and most of the accused suffered financial losses. Mercy Lewis herself did not marry until late in life and then only
after she had given birth to her first child. Perhaps Bernard Rosenthal's response to the question is most appropriate. He replies with a
quotation from Herman Melville who simply asks, "How much money did the devil make by gulling Eve?."
Betty Parris
Elizabeth (Betty) Parris was nine years old when the witchcraft epidemic broke out in Salem, and she actively participated in its
beginning. Elizabeth, a sweet girl, had difficulty facing the stark realities of predestination and damnation that her father, Reverend
Samuel Parris, preached to her. Elizabeth Parris lived in a period of economic uncertainty and yearned to know what lay in her future.
In the dark winter days of 1691, Elizabeth Parris and her cousin Abigail Williams began to undertake experiments in fortune telling,
using a device known as a "venus glass." A venus glass consists of an egg white suspended in water in which one could see shapes and
figures. The girls mainly focused on their future social status, and specifically on the trade in which their husbands would be employed.
These fortune telling secrets were shared with other young girls in the area. On one occasion, the glass revealed the horrendous specter of
a coffin, which, as Rev. John Hale reported in A Modest Inquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft, (1702) led to "diabolical molestation.". And
it is out of these childish beginnings that the Salem witchcraft outbreak began.
Betty Parris' afflictions started innocently in January when she began to forget errands, was unable to concentrate, and seemed rapt in
secret preoccupation. She could not concentrate at prayer time and barked like a dog when her father would rebuke her. She screamed
wildly when she heard the "Our Father" prayer and once hurled a Bible across the room. After these episodes, she sobbed distractedly and
spoke of being damned. She seemed to see damnation as inevitable, perhaps because of her practicing fortune telling, which was regarded
as a demonic activity.. Reverend Samuel Parris believed that prayer could cure her odd behavior, but his efforts were ineffective.
Nobody knows precisely what the Betty Parris and her girl friends were experiencing, but it manifested itself as odd postures, foolish and
ridiculous speech, distempers, and fits. John Hale in A Modest Inquiry described the affliction that the girls suffered by saying they looked
as if they "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 of themselves, and beyond the power of Epileptick fits, or natural disease to effect. Sometimes
they were taken dumb, their mouths stopped, their throats choked, their limbs wracked and tormented so as might move a heart of stone
to sympathize with them." The local physician, William Griggs, diagnosed Elizabeth Parris as being afflicted by the "Evil Hand,"
commonly known as witchcraft. Rev. Samuel Parris thought it was "a very sore rebuke and humbling providence that the Lord ordered the
horrid calamity to break out first in [his] family." Since the sufferers of witchcraft were believed to be the victims of a crime, the
community set out to find the perpetrators.
On February 29, 1692, under intense adult questioning, the afflicted girls named Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, and Tituba as their
tormentors. Elizabeth Parris testified at these trials that she was tormented by spectral visions of these women. During their trials,
Elizabeth would cry out when the accused moved her arms, legs, or head, as if the accused was injuring her from across the room.
Elizabeth Parris was also involved in the conviction of Martha Corey. At Martha Corey's trial, the afflicted girls sat together, and what
Martha did, they all did. If she shifted her feet they did so too, and fell to stamping their feet. If she bit her lips, they yelled that she had
bitten theirs, and showed the magistrates that they bled."
Understandably, Mrs. Parris was worried about the health of her daughter and she protested against using her as a witch finder. At the
end of March, Betty was sent to live with Rev. Samuel Parris' distant cousin, Stephen Sewall, in Salem. This technique of isolation
stopped most of her symptoms, but she still had visions after leaving the Parris household. On March 25, Elizabeth "related that the great
Black Man came to her, and told her, if she would be ruled by him, she should have whatsoever she desired, and go to a Golden City"
(Lawson). Mrs. Sewall told Elizabeth that it had been the Devil who had approached her "and he was a Lyar from the Beginning, and bid
her tell him so, if he came again: which she did" (Lawson).
In 1710, Elizabeth Parris finally found the answer to the question she had been searching for in her homemade crystal ball. She married
Benjamin Baron, a yeoman, trader, cordwainer, and shoemaker, in Sudbury and led a very ordinary existence. She and Benjamin bore
four children, Thomas, Elizabeth Jr., Catherine, and Susanna. Elizabeth Parris survived her husband by six years, succumbing to illness
in their Concord home on March 21, 1760 (Marilyn Roach).
Sir William Phips
William Phips was born on February 2, 1651 near Kennebec, Maine, the youngest of 26 children. His father was a
gunsmith. Though Phips never attended school, he learned the ship-carpentry trade and, at an early age, set off on
foot for Boston. Soon after arriving in Boston, Phips met ship captain Roger Spencer. The relationship with Spencer
led Phips later to a job as captain of carried goods between New England and the West Indies. In 1687, an investorbacked expedition led by Phips recovered the treasure from sixteen Spanish ships that were lost at sea near the
Bahamas in the early 1600's. He kept sixteen percent of his discovery, the majority of the treasure went to the
investors, and the king received the remaining ten percent. As a result of his efforts, the king knighted Phips and
appointed him the first Governor of Massachusetts.
On May 14, 1692 Phips arrived in Boston. He brought with him a charter ending the 1684 English law banning colonies from self
government. Under this new charter, the legislature was to set up a judicial system until October. However, on May 27, deciding matters
too serious to wait until October, Phips issued a commission for a Court of Oyer and Terminer (criminal jurisdiction) to hear witch trial
evidence. Phips appointed William Stoughton as chief justice, though Stoughton had no legal education, and John Alden, John Hathorne,
Nathaniel Saltonstall, Bartholomew Gedney, Peter Sergeant, Samuel Sewall and Wait Still Winthrop as judges.
As accusations of witchcraft spiralled, even Phips' own wife, Lady Mary Phips, was named as a witch. Soon thereafter, in October of
1692, Phips ordered spectral evidence and testimony would no longer suffice to convict suspects in future trials. Three weeks later Phips
prohibited further arrests of witches, released 49 of the 52 of the accused witches still in prison and dismissed the Court of Oyer and
Terminer. In May of 1693, Phips pardoned the remaining suspected witches still in prison.
Phips died on February 18, 1695.
Abigail Williams
Abigail Williams, aged 11 or 12 in 1692, played a major role in the Salem Witch trials as one of the prominent accusers. She lived with her
uncle, the Rev. Samuel Parris, Salem Village's minister. Although it was ordinary practice for young girls to live with relatives to learn
about housewifery, we know very little about Abigail, including where she was born and who her parents were.
The traditional story about the beginning of the Salem Witch trials tells of a "circle of young girls" practicing voodoo and fortune telling
under the direction of Samuel Parris' Indian slave, Tituba. It is commonly suggested that the girls were interested in fortune telling
because they wanted to know the occupation of their future husbands. Even though this version is perpetrated in historical works and
literature, there is no record of any sort of group fortune telling in Parris's household or linkage between Tituba, voodoo, and the girls.
Reverend Hale, a local minister, revealed in his 1702 work, Modest Enquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft, that he knew one of the
afflicted girls had experimented with fortune-telling in order to find out her future husband's profession, but Reverend Hale fails to name
the girl in question.
Mary Beth Norton's work, In the Devil's Snare extinguished the myth surrounding the beginning of the Salem Witch trials. According to
historical fact, both Abigail and her 9-year-old cousin Betty began showing signs of illness in mid-January 1692. When their behavior
turned erratic, Samuel Parris called neighboring Reverend John Hale of Beverly to observe the two girls and their afflictions. Reverend
Hale writes that the girls, "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 of themselves and beyond the power of any Epileptic Fits or natural Disease to
effects." Parris and other local ministers turned to prayer and fasting in hopes that Abigail and Betty would return to health. When the
girls' strange behavior continued, Parris summoned Dr. William Griggs to examine them. Dr. Griggs determined that the girls were under
the influence of an "Evil Hand."
With talk of witchcraft spreading in the Village, the girls were questioned about who was afflicting them. On February 29th 1692, a
formal complaint was issued against Tituba, Sarah Osborne, and Sarah Good for afflicting Betty, Abigail, and other local girls such as Ann
Putnam, Jr. who had began to suffer fits. Abigail Williams along with the other afflicted girls appeared at the trial hearings. In the
presence of Good, Tituba, and Osborne Abigail suffered fits and outbursts. Abigail testified she "saw the apparition of said Sarah Good at
her examination pinch Elizabeth Hubbard and set her into fits and also Elizabeth Parris and Ann Putnam, Jr."
Abigail's accusations continued and included complaints against Martha Cory, George Burroughs, Bridget Bishop, Elizabeth and John
Proctor, Mary Easty, John Willard, Mary Witheridge, and Rebecca Nurse. Overall Abigail Williams made 41 legal complaints and gave
formal testimony in seven cases. Bernard Rosenthal estimates she was involved in at least 17 capital cases. It is important to remember,
however, that without the legal complaints of the adults the testimony of minors would have never been heard in court, as unmarried
women and minors had no legal standing.
During Elizabeth Proctor's examination, Abigail revealed she witnessed Elizabeth's specter along with 40 other witches partake in a
sacrament of blood drinking outside of the Parris house. She even named Sarah Cloyce and Sarah Good as the deacons presiding over the
ceremony. Abigail went on to accuse Elizabeth's husband John Proctor whose specter sat on her chest at night and pinched her. She also
accused Martha Cory's specter of tempting her to put her hand on the Devil's book. In addition, Rebecca Nurse's apparition tried to choke,
pinch, and tempt Abigail into the fire. Abigail also accused Nurse of attending the Devil's sacrament.
It is not clear why Abigail suffered fits and went on to accuse many respectable people. Historians Norton and Roach speculate that it
involved the attention she received. Young girls in Puritan society did not receive much consideration and perhaps Abigail, displaced from
her immediate family, craved this unusual attention and authority over adults. It appears that some of her contemporaries were skeptical
of Abigail's behavior. Joseph Hutchinson of Salem Village attempted to discredit Abigail's accusations and implicitly accused her of
witchcraft. He testified that Abigail told him that she could now talk to the devil as well as she could converse with him.
Even though Abigail played a major role as an accuser at the beginning of the trials, especially in March, April, and May, she gave her
last testimony on June 3rd 1692. There is no historical documentation suggesting why Abigail virtually disappeared from the court
hearings. In addition, there are no records indicating what happened to Abigail after the events of 1692. It is suggested that she never
married and died a single woman, but without any evidence we will never be quite certain.
Thomas Putnam
Thomas Putnam was a third generation member of Salem Village. He had many relatives in the area and they collectively owned a
substantial amount of land in Salem Village and Essex County. Putnam was a Sergeant in the local militia and had fought in King
Phillip's War (1675-1678) against native Indians and their French allies on the northeastern frontier. He was married to Ann Putnam Sr.
(maiden name Carr), who came from a wealthy Essex County family.1
Sometime in January of 1691/1692 Ann Jr. began having fits along with other girls in Salem Village. By the end of February of that year,
the girls claimed that the source of their affliction was witchcraft and made specific accusations against Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne and
Tituba, an Indian slave of the Reverend Samuel Parris. Because the girls were not of legal age to make accusations, Putnam along with
three other prominent men in Salem village filed official compalints on their behalf and sought warrants against the suspected witches on
February 29, 1692. Immediately, the three women were arrested on suspicion of witchcraft, which was a capital offense, and were taken
into custody.2
In April 21, 1692, with dozens of accused already in jail, Putnam wrote a letter to John Hawthorne and Jonathan Corwin, two of the
judges of the examining magistrates in Salem who would later be appointed to the special court of Oyer and Terminer to try the accused
witches. In that letter Putnam gave the honored judges a "most humble and hearty thanks" for the work they had done to root out evil in
Salem. Putnam remarked that the judges had taken "great care and pains" to assist the people of Salem during this time of crisis. Putnam
claimed that the people of Salem could never repay the judges for their remarkable actions. He assured the judges that "therefore a full
reward will be given you of the Lord God of Israel, whose cause and interest you have espoused." Here Putnam was giving the legal
proceedings against the witches a decidedly theological grounding. He was emphasizing the apocalyptic nature of the struggle in Salem.
The Devil was attempting to spread evil in Salem, through his pact with the witches. In order to defeat Satan, good men like the judges
were required to do God's work by seeking out those who had made a pact with the Devil. Putnam reminded the judges that their work for
God's cause against Satan would only "add to [their] crown of glory in the day of the Lord Jesus." Here Putnam was making the argument
that the judges would receive praise and reward when Jesus came for a second time and resurrected the souls of the faithful.
Yet despite the hard work of the judges, there remained work to be done. In his letter, Putnam wrote that he believed it his duty to inform
them of a "high and dreadful" truth, of a "of a wheel within a wheel, at which [their] ears do tingle." The day before, on April 20th, his
daughter had accused the Reverend George Burroughs of tormenting her. Burroughs was to be accused of being the ringleader of the
witches in Salem. Putnam was referring to this greater conspiracy in this part of the letter. Putnam asked the judges to continue to pray
for the community and offer their help and prayed to "almighty God continually to prepare [them]" for the work ahead. He hoped the
judges would be a "a terror to evil-doers and a praise to them that do well" and offered his assistance to them in any way he might be
able.3
In April, Putnam sent a second letter to Judge Samuel Sewall. In that letter he wrote that his daughter "was grievously tormented by
witches, threatening that she should be pressed to death, before Giles Cory." Here Putnam was simultaneously arguing that witches were
still at large in the community and that they were greatly angered by the trial of their fellow witches, like Giles Cory. Putnam claimed
that his daughter had been visited by the specter of a person who had been pressed to death by Giles Cory and that that person had
claimed that God desired Giles Cory to die in the same way that he had died. Here Putnam was arguing that God supported Cory's
immediate death by pressing. Putnam then reminded Judge Sewall that some seventeen years past a man who lived with Giles Cory had
"bruised to death." Putnam implies that Cory had to pay a large bribe to avoid prosecution in this case. Once again, in this letter, we see
Putnam supporting the judges' actions and giving their work a theological basis, arguing that God supported their work. 4
The question of Putnam's motives in furthering the trials has been taken up by many. In Miller's The Crucible, the Putnams worried that
several of their children might have been killed by witchcraft. In reality, the Putnams had only lost one child, a girl named Sarah who
died six weeks after birth in 1689.5 Ann Jr. accused John Willard of killing baby Sarah through witchcraft. Worry over the death of their
baby daughter two years prior and the possibility that it may have been the result of witchcraft provides one explanation for the zeal that
Putnam showed in attempting to provie evidence against so many for the crime of witchcraft.
A recent handwriting analysis of the depositions of the afflicted girls has shown that some 122 of them were written by Thomas Putnam.
While it cannot be known to what degree the accusations made in those depositions were influenced by Putnam it is clear that Putnam
had the opportunity to shape the words of the young accusers as he saw fit. Further, the similarity in language across these depositions
suggests that some of the language might be that of Thomas Putnam rather than that of the afflicted girls themselves.6 In the depositions
taken by Putnam, the afflicted often claim to be "grievously afflicted" or "grievously tormented" and "beleve in my heart" that so-and-so is
a witch. The accused are often referred to as "dreadful witches or wizards" in the depositions taken by Putnam. The frequency with which
these phrases can be found in the depositions written by Putnam furthers the theory that they might have been more strongly influenced
by Putnam that was previously recognized. Taken in conjunction with Putnam's letters to the judges and his efforts to secure warrants
against many of the suspects, this new evidence further demonstrates the remarkable influence Putnam had on the shape and progression
of the trials.
Mary Warren
At the time the Salem witchcraft trials began, Mary Warren was twenty years old and employed as a servant in the household of John
Procter of Salem Village. Before her first formal examination on April 19, 1692, Warren participated mildly in the afflicted girls'
accusations. Both John and Elizabeth Procter disagreed with the conduct of the trials. Therefore, when John Procter discovered that Mary
Warren participated in the accusations he threatened to whip her until her senses returned. After Mary Warren stayed in town the night
of Rebecca Nurse's examination, Samuel Sibley went to court and testified to Procter's opinions about the accusers and about Mary's
participation in the accusations. Sibley claimed that: "Proctor replyed if they [the accusers] were let alone so we should all be Devils &
witches quickly they should rather be had to the Whipping post but he would fetch his jade [Mary Warren] Home & thresh the Devil out of
her & more to the like purpose crying hang them, hang them. And also added that when she [Mary Warren] was first taken with fits he
kept her close to the Wheel & threatened to thresh her, & then she had no more fits till the next day he was gone forth, & then she must
have her fits again firsooth" (SWP II: 683-684)..
Both of Mary Warren's parents died before this stage in her life. This situation forced Warren to become a servant and support herself
since she had no funds or property to claim. Some of Mary's anxiety over the loss of her parents surfaced during the trials. The document
in which John DeRich accused George Jacobs, Sr., states, "that Mary Warrens mother did appeare to this Deponent [John DeRich] this
day with a white man and told him that goodwife Parker and Oliver did kill her." In her statement against Alice Parker, Mary Warren
also claims that she killed her mother and afflicted her sister, Elizabeth, "she [Alice Parker] also told me she: bewiched my mother & was
a caus of her death: also that: she bewiched my sister: Eliz: that is both deaf & dumb." Having no family and working for a man who beat
her, it is not very surprising that, when accused of witchcraft herself, Mary Warren sought the public attention and legal protection of
being an aggressive accuser of local witches.
On April 19, 1692, the magistrates in Salem began their questioning of Mary Warren. "I am innocent" were the first words out of her
mouth. At this point in the trials no one had been hanged, so the clues as to how avoid being convicted had not yet been discovered. Mary
Warren, however, quickly learned that assertions of innocence did not save, but following the judges' lead during questioning did help the
defendant. Warren provided many evasive answers during her first examination, possibly because she was unsure as to how to not be
convicted. Throughout this examination she continuously fell into fits, which often followed the fits of the other girls in the courtroom. At
one point, Mary became so afflicted by the apparitions that tortured her that she had to be removed from the courtroom, and Bridget
Bishop was then brought in for questioning:
"Afterwards she [Mary Warren] started up, & said I will speak & cryed out, Oh! I am sorry for it, I am sorry for it, & wringed her hands, &
fell a little while into a fit again & then came to speak, but immediately her Teeth were set, & then she fell into a voilet fit, & cryed out,
Oh Lord help me, Oh good Lord save me! And then afterwards cryed again, I will tell, I will tell, & then fell into a dead fit againe. And
afterwards cryed, I will tell, they did, they did, they did, & then fell into a violent fit again. After a little recovery she cryed I will tell, I
will tell, they brought me to it; & then fell into a fit again: which fits continuing, she was ordered to be had out, & the next to be brought
in, viz: Bridget Byshop" (SWP II: 794).
Even after being brought back into the courtroom, Warren continued her fits until the magistrates held a private meeting with her. After
that, Mary Warren began to confess and, once she did, the court recorder noted that, "not one of the sufferers was afflicted during her
examination after once she began to confess, though they were tormented before." While in prison, Mary Warren changed her story. Her
fits lessened, and she began to implicate the Procters in the mysterious events occurring in Salem. Following the examination in prison,
Warren faced two more examinations: one on April 21 and the other on May 12. Now a confessed witch, Warren aggressively accused
others of alliances with the devil. At this point, Warren actively accused the Procters of performing certain deeds, although she hesitated
to call them a witch and a wizard. By the end of her examinations, Mary was established as an accuser, and she safeguarded her life by
providing the magistrates with ample accusations and evidence.
Mary Warren's testimony did more than save her life, it also represented a turning point in the trials. For the first time fraud was
introduced. Yet the judges made no move to aid the innocent, and they continued to encourage the accusers. In Edward Bishop, Sarah
Bishop, and Mary Easty's complaint against Mary Warren they stated that, "for Said Mary warrin when I was Aflicted I thought I saw the
Apparission of A hundred persons: for Shee said hir Head was Distempered that Shee Could not tell what Shee Said, And the Said Mary
tould us that when Shee was well Againe Shee Could not Say that Shee saw any of Apparissons at the time Aforesaid -." During Warren's
first examination, Elizabeth Hubbard "testifyed that a little after this Mary was well, she then said that the afflicted persons did but
dissemble." Both of these statements suggest that either Warren was mentally unstable, or that she and the accusers were participating
in concocted lies. Keeping in mind the above statements, Mary's remarkable description in the prison of Giles Cory's clothes could possibly
be explained by the fact that the accusers were "dissembling" - and not that Giles Cory was afflicting Mary at that very moment. In Salem
Story, Bernard Rosenthal claims Warren understood that "cooperation with the accusers proved salutary" and that her decision to become
an active accuser provided a great lesson to others who would later employ the same tactic.