March Overv2iew - The Start of the Salem Witch Trials

This month I will be looking at one specific event from history. This is something that I have recently found an interest in and am hoping to look more into over time. It is also what's sparked my interest in becoming a Pagan and learning witchcraft. Again I will only be looking at the specific day. 

On the first day of March 1692, Sarah Good, Sarah Osborn and Tituba were brought before a magistrate on the accusation that they were witches and had inflicted four girls with the village. Little did they know that this would be the start of the Salem Witch Trials and would spark mass hysteria around the globe. These poor women had lived within the village of Salem peacefully and now were being trusted into the the light for doing nothing.

On the morning that the trail began, all three women were being held in custody at Ingersoll's home. All three women were subjected to a body examination by Ingersoll's wife. During the examination Sarah Osborn kept protested that she was more likely to be the victim of witchcraft, while Titiba acted as though she was hiding something on her body. The husband of Sarah Good came to the house demanding that they find a new mark on the shoulder of his wife that he has never seen before. 

The weather for the past week had been horrendous, but once news of what was happening in Salem got out people came flocking to the village. The trial was originally due to take place at the Ingersoll household, but by the time Magistrates John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin arrived it was moved to the nearby meeting hall. All three women were present in the meeting hall for the opening remarks and prayers, but each was then interrogated separately with only one of them being in the hall at any one time. Sarah Good was questioned first while all four afflicted girls seemed to be in some kind of discomfort throughout. She was asked questions like, have you made contact with the devil?, why hurt these children?, what creature do you employ?. To all the questions that she was asked she denied all of them. The four girls were then told to look upon her and confirm she was in fact one of their tormentors, once they confirmed they explained how she had hurt them for the last two months as well as the morning.

The girls carried on as though tormented and tortured and even yelled out that the spirit of Sarah was lunging out at them. They carried on questioning her about the torment of the four girls, each time she denied the question, she then went on to claim that it was Sarah Osborn that had tormented the girls. Sarah Good started muttering a psalm under her breath and stated that she served God and only God. Her husband was then called upon to state if he had seen anything suspicious, he replied that he hadn't but he had a bad feeling about her and that if she wasn't a witch then she soon would be. After they heard from her husband the court agreed and she was held for trial. 

Sarah Osborn was the next to be taken to the court. The four girls again identified that she had been tormenting them. She was asked roughly the same questions that were asked to Sarah Good and just like her she to denied them. She was then asked how she was connected to Sarah Good, her reply was that she hadn't seen her for the last 2 years and that was only as acquaintances. She was then told how Sarah Good had placed the blame for tormenting the girls on to her, again she denied that she had not hurt the children. Sarah was then questioned about the remark she had made about being a victim of witchcraft, she claimed how she had seen things as she tried to sleep one night.

She was asked if she had seen anything else, which she again denied. People in the meeting house reminded the court about a lying episode, this caused the court to ask if the devil had ever deceived her, to this she replied that she did not know the devil and had never seen him. She claimed that a voice in her head had told her not to go to church, to which she said she would continue to go, but due to being ill she had not been able to go. This statement was allowed as her husband and children testified she had been ill, but there was still something about her that meant she could be held for trail. Once Sarah was questioned the court recessed for afternoon lunch at the Ingersoll's house while the three women contemplated over the events from the morning. 

Tituba was then led into the meeting house in the afternoon, as soon as she walked past the four girls they started to cry out as they had done with Sarah and Sarah. Again she was asked the same questions that had been put to the other two women and just like the other two women she denied them. But when she was asked what appearance does he appear, she stated that it was the shape of a man as it was this shape that had told her to serve him. She told the shape that she would not serve him or have anything to do with him. It was at this point that Tituba stopped insisting she was innocent and that the answers she gave became more acceptable. The four girls in the court seemed to stop and sat still as Tituba seemed to reveal all. It was Tituba that stated she had seen both Sarah Good and Sarah Osborn, along with two other mystery women hurt the girls as well as threaten to hurt her if she did not help them. She agreed to help them at first but then refused to help, the court asked why she had helped at first, she answered that they had told her she had helped them before. 

Tituba carried on stating how this man had come to her telling her to serve him or he would kill the children and then her. She then told the court about a spirit that appeared as a pig or black dog, again this spirit told her to serve him and if she didn't he would do worse to her. She told of other animals that she had seen and when she said about a cat, they questioned her about why she held her arm during the body search. The asked if they had suckled from her body, to which she replied that they hadn't. Each time she claimed that it was Sarah Good and Sarah Osborn that had pushed her into things and that every time she said no, they threatened they would hurt either her or someone else in the town. The four girls started to cry out again, it was at this point that the court asked if she saw who was tormenting the girls. Tituba stated that it was Sarah Good, to which all four girls agreed. At the next question she claimed that she had gone blind and was then taken dumb, before she uttered Good and Osborn had hurt her, this was believed by the court. 

All three women where then held for future trial, Sarah Osborn and Tituba were taken to Salem jail while Sarah Good was taken to the Essex County Jail. In the evening while people were walking home from a town meeting, many swear they saw Sarah, Sarah and Tituba tormenting them. The guards checked the cell that Sarah Good was in and found her to be missing, leaving just her shoes and stockings. All three women were later sentenced to death, sadly all did meet their end. Sarah Osborn passed away in jail about two months later, Sarah Good was hung along side four other women and Tituba was kept in jail for a further thirteen months, she was then sold to a stranger and then seems to disappear after April 1693.

Nearly 330 years later we are still fascinated by the Salem Witch Trials and what really happened. The more I have read about these poor women the more I want to know more. Since I have started going down the path of witchcraft I feel more of a connection to these poor women.