A S H O RT H IST O RY

OF T HE

S al em V i ll ag e Witch craf t T ri al s
I LL US T R AT E D BY A

V erb a ti m Rep o rt of th e T r i a l of

M R S ELI Z A B E T H HO WE
.

A M EM OR IAL OF

T od a nce wi t h
L a pl an d wi t c h
é s, g l j il efi fieil ab n ng mo on e cli p s e s a t t h ei r
c h ar ms o 0 2 )

L
.

P ar a ais e os t , 11 . 6 62
0

MAP AND HALF T ONE I LLUS T RA TI ONS

S AL EM , M AS S
M . V . B . P E RLE Y , P U B L I S HE R

191 1
 C O P YRI G H T , 1911

BY M . V . B . P E RLEY

SAL E M , MAS S .

BOS TON
E b: manor 9m“
1 911
 N OTI C E

Greater Salem the province of Governors

,

Conant and E ndi cott is visit ed by thousands of

,

sojourners yearly They come to study the

.

Quakers and the witches to picture the manses

,

of the latter and the sta tely mansions of S al em s ’

commercia l kings and breathe the s al ubrious air

,
”
of old g ray ocean
“
.

The witchcraft delusion is generall y the

first topic of inqui ry and the earnest desire of
,

those people with notebook in hand to aid the

memory in chronicling answers suggested this ,

m onograph and urged its pub lication There is .

another cogent reason : the pop ul ar knowl edge

is circums cribed and even that needs correcting .

Thi s short history meets that earnest desire ;

it gives the origin growth and death of the
, ,

hi deous monster ; it gives dates courts and names , ,

of pl aces jurors witnesses and those hanged ; it

, , ,

names and explains certain men and things ” “

that are concomitant to the trials with whi ch the ,

re ader may not be conversant and whi ch are

necessary to the proper setting of the trials in
one s mi nd ; it c omp as s es th e salient feat ures of
'
’

wi tch cr aft hi s t ory so that the story of the 1 692

'

,
”
“
del usion may b e garner ed and entertainingly
rehearsed .

The trials were all spread upon the records word ,

for word R ev Samuel Parris stenographer to

. .
,

the court says they were t ak en down in my

,

”
char ac ters written at the time barring of course , , ,

22 5 29 6
the evidence by affidavits which were written , ,

signed and attested and filed in the Clerk of

, ,

Court s office where they may now be seen

’

, .

Great research has hitherto been made keen , ,

sagacious acumen employed and much written ,

but the true criterion of judgment a trial a , ,

word for word trial has not before this be en,

published Here then is the first opportunity

.
, ,

of readers to judge for themselves .

The trials were unique The court was with .

out authority ; none of the judges it is said was , ,

bred to the law ; evidence was arbitrarily ad

m itte d or excluded ; the accused were not a l
lowed counsel i n law or the consolation of the
clergy in religion .

The careful reader may discover between the ,

lines in questions in answers and in the strange

, , ,

exhibitions the real state of mind pervading al l

, ,

which has been mildly characterized as a de

l us i on also he may be able to compare the
Mosaic the 1 692 and the modern spirit m anifes
, ,

t a ti ons and advantageously determine for himself

,

what is worth wh il e i n modern spiritualism mind ,

reading clairvoyance mesmerism and the rest

, , , .

Though men of e ducation religion tit l ed , ,

dignity and o fficial station of the professions and

, ,

the é lite were responsible for the horrible catas

,

trophy and in one instance or more forced the

,

yeoman jurors to convict (who at the end signed

recantations and expressed their grief) religion ,

and education must not be undervalued ; a religious

education wil l yield the highest typ e of manh o od .
 C ON TE N T S

N otice
The Introductio n
The Witch Her A ntiq ui ty Legal Status
, ,

The Modern Witch Her Persecution ,

Le arned Men s Views D issenters C rone Lore

’

, ,

Ingerso ll ; The Four Mi nis ters

The Witch School ; Who s Who “ ’

Unwarrantable Usurpation
N ames of the Court and Jury
N ames of Those Hanged
Rev John Hale Convert ed
.

Lofty Character of the Condemned

Place of E xec ution ; The Crevice
Mrs Howe s Case
.
’

The S unday Warrant ; Her E xamination

Indi cted Remanded to Salem Jail
,

Case Call ed June 29 th The Witnesses .

Andrews Thomas ,

Chapman Simon and Mary ,

Cummings Isaac Sr and Jr , , . .

Cumm ings Mary Sr , , .

H
Howe , four years -

Howe John (brother in law)

,
- -

Knowlton Joseph and Mary ,

Lane Francis
,

Payson R ev E dward
, .
6 T HE WIT C H C RA FT DELUSI ON

C ONTE NTS Conti nued

Perley Samuel and R uth

,
*

Perley Timothy and D eborah

,
*

Phillips R ev Samuel
, .

Safford Joseph ,

Warner D ani el John Sarah

, , ,

Imprisoned at Boston Her E xecution .

Petition for R ei mbursement and Removal

Attainder
Mrs Howe s Home Located
.
’

Judge Jos eph Story s Tribute ’

Who Were the Howes $

James Branch of the Ipswich Howes
Coats of Arms
James Howe Sr , .

James Howe Jr and His Wif e E lizabeth

, .
,

Bibliography

S e e P e r l e y Fa mi l y Hi sto ry
*
a nd G e ne al o gy , p a g es 1 5 , 1 9 .
 ILLUSTRATIO N S

Typic al of the Witchcraft Trial s Frontispiece

Painting by Mattison about 1 8 54 The, .

onl y conception of the witchcraft trials

ever spread on canvas Courtesy o f .

T he Es s ex I ns ti tute .

Witch ecl ipse of the Moon

-

Salem Vill age (now D anvers Highlands )

The New E ngl and Witch
The 1 692 Meetinghouse
The Present Church and Parsonage
Governor Simon Brads treet
The Mathers Incre ase and Cotton
,

The Witch Plat or Place of E xecutions

,

The Witch Pl at showing The Crevice

,
” “

Warrant for Mrs Howe s Arrest

.
’

Ipswich Farms
Location of Mrs Howe 3 Home
’
.

The A aron Howe House

D escendants of James Howe Sr , .

The Howe A rms

 INTROD UCTION
HE proceedings in witchcraft in 1 69 2 to us
T who are two hundre d and twenty years
removed from the scene seem at first , , ,

impossib l e then mort ifying and persu asive of

, ,

disowning our fathers and forgetting the period

of their folly At b est the occurrence furnishes
.
,

the wil dest and s addest chapter in our New E ng

l and his tory .

A N TI QUITY O F TH E WI T C H
AND HER L E GAL S TA TUS
The doctrine of famil iar spirits was current in
most ancient times It is possib l e that immed
.

i at ely after the fal l in A da m the imprisoned spirit

of man began to assert its former freedo m and
ab il ity The old Scriptures depicted the witch s
.
’

character gave warning of her b l ighting infl uence

, ,

and en ac ted heavy penalties against emp l oying

her agency In E x odus xxii 1 8 : Thou shal t
.
, x
“

not s uffer a witch to live ”

In Leviticds xx 27 :
.
, .

A man also or a woman that hath a fa mi l iar

“

spirit or that is a wiz ard s h all surely be put to

, ,

death ; their blood shal l b e upo n them ”

In .

D euteronomy xviii 9 1 2 : When thou art come

—
, .
“

into the land which the Lord thy G od giveth thee ,

thou shalt not learn to do after the abomi nations

of those nations There sh all not be found among
.

you any one that maketh hi s son or his daughter

t o p ass through the fire or that useth divination
, ,

9
10 T H E WITCH CRA FT D ELU SI O N

or any obs erver of times o r any enchanter or a , ,

witch or a charmer or a consulter with fami liar

, ,

spirits or a wizard or a necromancer ; for all that

, ,

do these things are an abomination unto the

Lo rd
”
.

T H E C OLON IAL LA W S A N D
T H E IR B I B LI OA L O R IGI N

The colonial laws to whi ch New E ngl and witches

were amenable codified by R ev Sam uel Ward of
, .
,

Ipswich wh o ha d had extensive legal training

,

and practice before entering the ministry were ,

published in 164 1 Mr Ward fol l owed Moses . .

*
,

the great Hebrew lawgiver in great measure b ut , ,

he distanced E ngland in mildness and was far

ahead of his time in scope With hi m however .
, ,

the witch found no favor D eath was the pun .

i s h ment for witchcraft first and l ast an d t h e , ,

Puritan whose sure pall adium of civil and re

,

l ig i ous freedom wa s the Bible ob eyed th e pre ,

cept to the letter his highest k nowl edge and ,

authority .

T HE MO D ERN WIT C H AND

HE R T ERR I B LE P ER S E CUTIO N

The modern witch i t is said h ad her b irth near

$
the beginning of the Christian era Her per )
, ,

s ec uti on began about two hundred years l a t er a

fl
*
See M V . . B P e rl e y
. s I p swi ch His to ry i n J W
’
. . Lawns 3

His to ry of Ess ex C o u nt y M ass V ol I p a g e 626

, .
. .
. .
 TR IAL OF MR S E LI ZA B E TH H O W E
. 11

From that time hun dreds of thousands o f vic

tims were immolated to appeas e the inconsiderate
and insatiate demands of her persecut ors .

In the earliest years witches were generally

b urned and in the first one hundred and fifty
,

years it is estimated thirty thousand thus per

ish ed L ater in France in one century an
.
, , ,

almost incredible num ber suffered one thou

sand in a single di ocese In the century 1600 to .
,

1 7 00 two hundred were hanged in E ng l and one

, ,

thousand were burned in Scotl and and a much ,

greater number on th e Continent .

T HE AM ER ICAN
WITCH A ND
V I E W S O F T HE E D UCA T E D
In America
there were witch trial s in Con
nec ti cut New Y ork and Pennsyl v ani a
, , ,
*

some years before 169 2 In B o ston 1 64 8 Mar .

, ,

garet Jones of malignant touch w as hanged and

, , ,

Mrs Ann (VVm ) Heb b ins in 1 6 55 In Spring

. .
, .

fiel d 1 6 5 1 Mrs Mary (Hugh ) Parsons was

,
,
, .

hanged In Ipswich quarter court 1 6 52 a man

.
, ,

was sentenced to pay a fine of twenty shill ings ,

or to be Whi pped for having famili arity With the “

”
D evil .

The doctrine of witches was embraced not onl y

by the common people but also by the learned ; ,

the prince of astronomers and ,

*
I n 1 9 08o r 1 9 09 a D u tch w o m a n in P e nnsy l va ni a w a s
cha rg e d i n
co ur t wi th t h e m is d e me a no r of ca s t i ng a s p e ll
on a co w s o tha t t h e co w g a ve no m i l k
, . T h e w o ma n w a s
fine d $ 5 a nd t e n da y s i n j a il .
12 T H E WITCHCRA FT DELUSIO N

Kepler his student Martin Luther the bol d

, , ,

theo l ogian and M el ancth on the gentle ; the

, ,

sil ver tongued D r Watts and the pious Baxter

- .
,

wh o styl ed a d i s b e li ever in witchcraft an obdurate

“

S adducee and others Whom time fail s me to

,

m ention .

OLD C RONE LORE A ND

TH RE E N O TA B LE D ISS EN T ERS
Witch stories were a social entertainm ent t o ,

the mingled fear and merriment of guests and

the positive foreboding of children Who even .

now among the older people has forgotten the

crone lore of our grandmothers how witches
would seize a red hot iron glide into a heated -
,

oven ride through the air on enchanted broom

,

sticks and how stalwart men would stalk through

,

k eyholes supported and directed by Satanic

,

power $ It was bel ieved that Witches made an

actual deliberate and formal compact with Satan
, , .

There were however two or three persons of , ,

l earning and infl uence in the Province wh o (to

their great credi t be it said) dared to oppose the ,

doctrine of Witches the celebrated Rev S amuel .

Willard of the Ol d South Church Boston

, , ,

M aj N athaniel S al tonstall who declined a seat

.
,

upon the bench rather than participate in the

W itch trial s — and R ev John Higgins on (son of
, .

Rev Francis the first minister of S al e m) wh o was

.
, ,

c autious and held himself aloof ; for hi s con

science Whispered he had gone too far against the
Quakers .
 TRIA L O F MRS . E LI ZAB E TH H O W E

P E N PICTURE OF A WI TCH
HOM E O F T HE DELUSI ON
“

The New E ngland witch was suppos ed to be an

o l d woman of attenuated form somewhat bent ; ,

c l othed in lively col ors and ample s kirts ; having a

d arting and pierc ing eye a head sporting di s ,

b eveled hair and crowned with a sugar l oaf hat a -

,

carlin s cheek a falcated chi n bent to m ee t an

’

aq ui li ne nose by both of whi ch w as form ed a

,

Neapolitan bay her mouth in the b ac kground

,

resembling Vesuvius in eruption ; and riding an

enchant ed brooms tick with a blac k cat as
guide .

Sal em Vil lage the l ocation o f the hideous

,

catastrophe was the northern precinct of Sal em ;

,

and when it was incorporated D anvers its name ,

b ecame D anvers Center Quite recently ( 1 9 1 0)

.

the trolley car company changed the na me to

D anvers Highl ands but in the steam car nomen
,

c l atur e it is Collins Street From Town House .

Square in Salem to the Highl ands a tro ll ey ride

costs a nickel ; the dista nce is five mi l es and every ,

m ile a pleasure .

I N G ER S OLL A ND HI S TAV E RN
REV S B A I LEY B URRO UGHS LA W SON
.
, ,

N athaniel Ingerso ll oc cupied the central l oca

tion in the village ; a man of industry and thrift ;
a licensed innk eeper wh o sold l iquor by the ,

quart on Sunday ; a kind of chi ef of police ; man

ag ed the defens es against the India ns ; a b ene vo
 DANV ER S H I GH LAN D S
DANVER S C ENT ER
Ol d S al em V i ll ag e

1 . Locates
the church
there at present .

2 . Locates the church

of 1 692 .

3 . L ocates
the Inger
soll Tavern and the present
parsonage .

4 . L ocates
the Parris
house where the mischi ef
began .

5 . Locates
the entrance
to the Ingersoll Training
Field .

The narrow lane l ead ing

to No 4 is a right of way
.

for all .
 16 T H E WIT CH CRA FT DELUSI ON

l ent
man and was chosen deacon His name do e s
, .

not figure in the wi tch trials and the witches have ,

l eft no records of the i nfl uence of his tavern in the

resul ts The open plat of ground in front of his
.

tavern was called Ingersoll s Common Farther ’

.

up the street at No 5 is a plat of ground he gave

, .
,

”
for a training field forever
“
Capt D ea Jona . . .

than Walcott was a neighbor as was also Sergt , .

Thomas P utna m :p aris h clerk , .

R ev James Bail ey near his majority a recent

.
, ,

g r aduate of Harvard be gan to preach (not as ,

p astor) there in 1 67 1 and created a division , .

R ev George Burroughs succeeded him i n 1680

.
,

but m atters g rew f wors e In 1 683 Rev D eodat . .

Lawson began and gave no better resul ts .

Mr Burroughs was a short stout man very

.
, ,

m uscul ar and of very dark complexion He was .

a Harvard graduate of 1670 Most of the witches .

knew him ; and his co mplexion and extraordinary

strength argued his Connection with the black
art and the m uscular devil .

R ev D eod at Lawson (D eo dat um ) a God

.
- -
,

given cataplasm for the tumor of unrest social

”
,

disc ords and ani mosities that had their rise in

,

Bailey s mini stry $ With Lawson the suppura

’
,

tion began ; for the devi ltry had gone from s eance
to famil ies and the church where the unwhipped ,

g irls cried out from time to time enough of ,

“

that see the yellow bird on the minister s hat ’

“
now name your text ; look how she sits
” “

to all which Mr La wson s simpl icity testifies.

’
18 T HE WITCH CRAFT DEL Ul N

1 71 7 His meetinghouse stood a littl e to the

.

east of the Ingersoll Tavern probably the flat ,

spot now marked by rose bushes and weeds and ,

maybe by a large flat stone in the wall which , ,

stone may have served as a doorstep A beauti .

ful modern church edifice now graces the corner

opposi te Ingersoll s old corner while the parson
’

age occupies the Ingersoll site .

JO H N A ND HI S T ITUB A
REV S PA RR IS S S LAVE S
’
. .

Mr Parris brought with him from the Sp ams h

.

Main as his sl aves a couple called John Indian

, ,
~

and his wife Ti tuba The ignorance of the

, .

Spanish populati on found its summit of pleas

.

ure in dancing s mg mg sleight of hand palmistry

, , , ,

fortune telling magic and necromancy (or spirit

-
, ,

communication with the dead); and John and his

Tituba in all those things were ful ly up to d ate .

PARRIS S WITCH S CH OOL AP T

’

PU PI L S TH E I R P ER S ONN EL
,

To the pastor s house (as he wrote When thes e

’
,
”
calami ties first began which wa s at my house ) ,

the V illage maidens by surreption went under the , ,

tuition of Tituba Those of us who have some .

rem embrance of the rise of spiritualism the ,

phenomenon of table tipping and the slightly -

,

more refi ned practice of the elite with scribbling

planchet can picture in some degree Tituba s
,
’

pupils and how they got there .

 T R IAL OF MR S . E LIZ AB E TH H O W E 19

Of those pupils chil dren as the court call ed ,

them) two were of the pastor s family Ann — ’

Willi ams aged eleven and his daughter whom

, , ,

he quickly sent away ; Ann Putnam daughter of ,

A nn and Sergeant Thomas a precocious miss of ,

onl y twelve wh o e asily became a leader ; Mary

,

Warren domestic in John Proctor s famil y aged

,
’

twenty ; Susannah Sheldon and E lizabeth Booth ,

neighbors and eightee n ; Sarah Churchi ll helper ,

to George Jacobs senior ; E lizabeth Hubbard , ,

Mercy Le wis former domestic for Mr s B ur

, .

roughs and Mary Walcott daughter of D e ac on

, ,

Jonathan e ach of them eighteen

, .

H ad those children the pioneers of the aw

” “
,

fully fatal mischief b ee n scourged at the whipping

,

post ,

Or had bee n b eaten till they d know

“ ’

What wood the cudgel s of by the b l ow ’

,

if needful an d John and hi s Tituba been re

,

turn ed to their native soil no doub t the horrible ,

tragedy woul d have b een avert ed The Sh afl i n .

i l in P e ab ody w as cured wh en a time l y whi pping

“
g r

50 m
”
brought her to her s enses Syl .

ves ter of Mansfield when given her choice of a

, ,

whi pping or owni ng and abandoning her error .

C A STI N G DEVILS O UT

S T ILL T H E W OND ER G RE W

But inst ead Mr P arris in fas hion of the

, , .
,

vaunted p r owess of Cotton Mather and other

p ed antic astute aspiring ministers to show their

, , ,
20 T H E WITCHCRA FT DELUSI ON

8 111016 casting out devils called in the

In ,

clergy the deacons and the elders and held

, , , ,

February 1 1 th a day of fasting and prayer

, .

And still the wonder grew

“ ”
.

A P OR T E N T O US L E A P D A Y
TH E G RE A T E ST S H O W
ON E ARTH
“

It was high time and some leading citizens ,

took the initiative A complaint was lodged .

against Tituba Feb 25 1 6 92 The first warrants .

, .

were issued the 29th the leap day of the year and , ,

Sarah Good Sarah Os b un and Tituba Indian

, ,

were apprehended They were examined March 1 s t .

and ordered to jail in Boston to await the action ,

O f the higher court .

The examinations were to be held in Ingersoll s ’

Tavern but the crowd was so great on Ingersoll s

,
’

Common that the court adjourned to the meeting

,

house The magistrates were John Hath orne

.

and Jonathan C orwm assistants They went , .

over from Salem attended by the marshal con , ,

stables and th e m aids and all of them arrayed

, ,

in the garb of court authority and the attractive

insignia of official station Their advent into .

the V ill age was marked by an ostentation of What

ever grandeur and splendor they had at command .

To the gaping multitude it was the greatest “

”
show on earth while the trials proved a Wild
,
“

”
West .

Sarah Good a broken down outcast deserted

,
-
,

by her husband begging food from house to ,

 TR I AL O F MR S . E LIZA B ETH H O W E 21

house was first examined ; the last examin ed was

,

Tituba the chief offender

, .

GOV . S I M ON B RA D ST REE T ,
—
1 603 16 9 7

UNWARRAN TA B LE USU R PA TI O N
NA M E S OF T H E C O U R T A N D JU RY

1692 Si m on Bradstreet was governor He had

.
.

bee n honored with thi rt ee n annual e lec ti o ns by

 22 T HE WIT CHCRA FT DELUSI O N

the people to that office He w as then eighty .

six years of age th e Grand Ol d Man of his

”
,
“

time He struck the keynote at first in an opinion

.

that the witch evidence was insufficient With .

honor crowned he passed into history as The “

Ol d Charter Governor
”
.

The high action of D eputy Governor D a nf orth -

and hi s Counsel wh o were the court gave é clat , ,

to the proceedings and consternation filled the

county In October 1 69 1 a new charter w as
.
, ,

signed and Sir Wm Phipps wa s appointed

, .

governor He arrived in Boston with the new

.

charter Saturday May 14 1 69 2 William Stough

, , , .

ton was made deputy governor in pl ace of -

,

Thomas D anforth .

In thi s change from popular government In

crease Mather an early president of Harvard ,

College was a power behind the thr one

,
” “
The -
.

new charter had his approval and Sir Wm .

Phipps its first governor was hi s nominee

‘

, , .

Phipps w a s a well meaning man inclined to -

,

superstition and Mather admir ed his incom

,
“

p e te ncy
”
Stoughton was a man of cold aff ec
.
“

tions proud self willed and covetous of dis

, , ,
”
tinction and universally hated by the people
, .

He was appointed deputy governor to please -

Cotton Mather son of Increase Cotton in his , .

race for glory ran amuck He wa s a man of .

overweening vanity panting for fame and the

“ ”
, ,

strenuous mover in the trials He harangued .

the populace and sermonized on witchcraft ; he

”
wrote a boo k : The Trials of Witches and even
“
,
 TR IAL OF MR S E LIZA B E TH H O WE
.

on horseback at the hanging of R ev George , .

Burroughs he harangued the people gathered

,

l est they interfere and rob the gallows .

the new charter courts of justice were to be

esta b lis hed by the General Court The witch .

trial s were therefore strand ed and must remain

, ,

i n s tatu quo apparently for severa l months whil e

, , ,

awaiting the action of the General Court The .

Governor howeve r by , an unwarrantabl e ,

“

”
us urpation of authority organi zed a court of ,

final h ea ring called Oyer and T ermi ner to act

, ,

in the pendi ng c ases .

D eputy Governor Stoughton was appointed

-

chi ef justice and N athaniel Sal tonstall of Haver

, ,

hill who dec lined to serve and w as succeeded by

, ,

Jonathan Corwin of Salem ; Major John R ich ,

ards of Boston ; Major Bartholomew Gedney of

, ,

Sal em ; Mr Wait Winthrop Mr Peter Sargent

.
, .
,

and Capt Samuel Sewell of Boston Associate

.
, ,

Justices .

The panel of th e Jury of Inquest w as Thomas

Fisk foreman ; Willi am Fisk John B achel or
, , ,

Thomas Fisk Jr John D ane Joseph E veleth , .

, , ,

Thomas Perl ey Sr John Peab ody Thomas Per , .

, ,

kins Samue l Sayer Andrew E liot and Henry

, , ,

Herrick Sr , .

The commissions of the court were dated

Friday May 27th ; the court convened Thursday
, , 1
June 2d ; Bridget Bishop of Sal em was con , ,

V i c te d Wednesday the 8 th and hanged Friday , , ,

the l 0th The court by adjournment next sat

.
, ,

Wednes d ay the 29th of June ; the n by sev e ra l

,
24 T H E WI TCHC RA FT D ELUSI ON

adjournm ents it was to sit the l s t of Nove mber

, .

The day on which Bridget Bishop w as hanged ,

June 10th the Genera l Court enacted a law of the

,

ol d charter for capital cases and under it pre ,

s umab l y the subsequent witch trials were held ,

while the personnel of the court rem ained the

sam e .

TR I AL S A RRE ST E D , C O U R T S US P EN D E D
LI ST O F TH O S E HA N G E D
The General Court in Octob er established the
Superior Court of Judicature and gave it juris
diction i n witch cases Governor Phipps imme .

diatel y arrested the witch trials and suspended ,

the court Oyer and T ermi ner was dissolved

. .

These were hanged

FRI D AY JU NE 1 0T H
,

1 . Bishop Bridget wife of E dward of Sale m

, , , .

T U E S D AY , JU LY 1 9 T H

1 . Good Sarah of the V il l age

, ,
.

2 . Wil des Sarah daughter of Wm of Tops

, ,
.
,

fiel d .

3 . Howe E lizabeth wife of Jam es Jr of

, , , .
,

Ipswich Farm s .

4 . No urse Rebecca wife of Francis o f the

, , ,

vill age .

5 . M artin Sus annah of Am esbury

, ,
.
 TRI AL OF MRS E LI ZAB E TH. H O WE 25

FRI D AY , A UGUST 19 T H

1 . Burroughs , R ev . George of C asco

, . See
above .

2 . Proctor John of Peab od y

, , .

3 . Jacobs George of the Vi ll age eighty years

, , ,

old .

4 . Will ard John apprehended at Groton

, , .

5 . C arryer M artha wife of Thom as of An

, , ,

dover .

THU RS D AY , S E PT E M B ER 22D

Cory Martha wife of Gil es of Pe a bo d y

, , , .

ZEs tey Mary wife of Isa ac of T op s fiel d

, , , .

Parker Alice wif e of John of Sal e m

, , , .

P ude ator Ann widow of Jacob

, , .

Scott Margaret widow of Benj of Rowl ey

, , .
, .

Rea d Wil mot wife of Sa m u el of Marbl e

, , ,

Wardwell Samuel of And o ver

, , .

Parker Mary of Sale m

, , .

M O N D AY S E PT EM B ER
, 19T H

Gil es Cory would not p l ead to the in dict me nt ,

and was pressed to death In m odern law one .

thus mute is understood to ple ad not gui lty b ut ,

at that pe riod one must plead before he coul d be

put on trial and might be tortured till he pl ead ed
,
26 T H E WITCHCRA FT DELUSI O N

or died Mr Cory woul d not countenance any

. .

phase or feature of witchcraft .

T U E S D AY, MA Y 1OT H

D ied in prison Sarah Os b un, condemned wife ,

of Al exander .

S A TUR D AY,
DE C E MB ER 3D
D ied in prison Ann Foster widow o f A ndrew
, , ,

of Andover who di ed 1 68 5 aged 1 06

, , , .

E lizabeth Proctor widow of John (a b ove) was , ,

reprieved on acc o unt of her condition then ,

pardoned .

Mrs Thomas Bradbury of Sal isbury daughter

.
, ,

of John Perkins of Ipswich eighty years o l d

, , ,

condemned then acquitted

, .

R ebecca E ames wife of R obert of Bo xford

, , ,

condemned reprieved, .

E lizabeth Morse of Newbury reprieved , , .

Abigail Falkner a nd E lizabeth Johnson both ,

of Andover daughters of Rev Francis D ane

, .
,

were respectively thirteen and five m onths in jai l .

Mary Lacey wife of Lawrence daughter of

, ,

Andrew and Ann Foster ( above) conf essed , ,

accused her mother of bewitching her and e s ,

caped puni shment .

As above there were twenty eight convictions -

,

nineteen persons were hang ed and one was ,

pressed to death fifty five were par d one d one

,
“
-
,

hundred and fifty more were i mprisoned and two ,

 TR IA L OF MR S . E LIZAB E TH H O W E 27

hundred others or more were accused Several .

dogs were accus ed and one of D anvers and ,

another of A ndover were executed .

Let it now be noted and remembered tha t no ,

witch or wiz ard was ever burn ed to death in

Sale m town or E ssex co unty .

T H E B E GI NNI N G O F T HE EN D
RE V J O H N HALE S C H AN G E O F H EAR T
’
.

E ar ly in October 1 69 2 the wil d and ex trava , ,

gant me thods of the court h ad penetrat ed every

community and by rel ation or friendshi p al most
, ,

e very fa m il y and too accusations rested upo n

, ,

famili es of the weal thy and the learned of c l ergy ,

men and laymen and even it was whi spered upon

,

one of the judges of the court and the wif e of the

governor ; and it was o nl y when the ruthl ess
authority of th e l aw invaded those h o mes that
the fury of the storm ab a ted When Rev John . .

Hale of Beverly wh o had been conspicuously

, ,

active in the convictions found hi s wife in the ,

diabolical to il s h e expe rienced a sudden change of

,

heart and prayed for peace The time was ripe ;

, .

Mr Hale s sentiments ech oed from every home

.
’
.

The estab lishm ent of the new court (Wm Stough .

ton Chi ef Justice Thomas D anforth Wait Win

, , ,

th r op John R ichards and Sa m uel Sewell A sso

, , ,

ciat e Justices ) and the abolition of the old court ,

helped the cause .

In the January next following fifty persons

were in di ct ed All who were tried were acqui tt ed
.
28 T H E WIT CHC RA FT DELUSI ON

except three wh o were pardoned All wh o were

, .

not tried were discharg ed on the paym ent of

thirty shillings each In the following May when.
,

a jai l del ivery had been decreed one hundred ,

and fifty went forth .

LO FT Y C H ARA CT ER OF T HE C O N D E MN E D
JU D G E JO S E PH S T ORY S T RI B UT E
’

Those wh o suffered were a remark able company

of men and women They came from the humble .

w alks in l ife but most of them were old in ex

,

p e ri e nc e and solidified in character and sentiments .

Though they were posted as criminals taunted ,

with aspersions forbidden counsel in law and

,

religion and had every word of defense twisted

,

into a semb l ance of condemnation yet they ex ,

h ib i te d the true nobility of life in truth and

righteousness ; they counted their lives not dear
to them c ould they only reach the goal of their
,

hope in God their Savi o ur .

But after al l we must not judge the actors in this

fre nzied del usio n harshly or rashly Hon Jos eph . .

Story Associate Justice of the Unit ed States

,

Supreme Court writes : Surely our ancestors

,
“

had no special reason for shame in a belief whi ch

h ad the universal sanction of their own and al l
former a ge s which count ed in its train p hi l os o
,

p h e rs as well as enthusiasts wh i ch was gr ac ed by ,

the learning of prelates as well as by the c ounte

nance of kings which the law supported by its
,

mandates and the purest judges felt no compul

,
”
sions in enf orcing .
 T R IAL O F MR S . E LI ZAB E TH H O W E 29

T HE P LA C E O F E $ E CUTI O N
T HE C REVIC E FOR T HE C OR P S E S

Or the place where The

Witches were hanged is on
Proctor Street Salem marked , ,

off on this map by the d ott ed

lines The cross locates The
.
“

”
Crevice where the corpses were
,

th ro wn To touch a witch
.

corpse was malignant ; yet some

bodies were taken away for
burial at home .

Giles Cory was pressed to death in the fiel d

corner of St Peters and Brown Streets oppo site
.
,

the jail then on Church Street corner of St , .

Peters Street Sal em , .

 MRS HOWE .
’
S CASE

UND AY M ay 29 1 69 2 E phraim Wildes

, , , ,

constab l e of T op s fiel d with a capias signed

'

b y John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin ,

A ssista nts went to the home of James Howe Jr

, , .
,

in Ipswich Far ms and took into custody the

,

wif e and mother as a Witch .

She w as charged with sundry acts of witch

craft upo n th e b odies of Mary Walcott and
Abig a il W i lliams and others of Sal em V i ll age
, .

She w as exa m ined the n ext Wednesday at th e '

house of N ath ani e l Ingerso ll of that place She . .

p lead ed not gui lty denied all knowl edge of the

,

matter an d testi fied that she had never heard

of th e girls Ma ry and Abigail ti ll their names
, ,

we re read in the warrant But in court th ey fel l . .

,

d own they cri ed out they were pinched and

, ,

pric ked and they ac cused Mrs Howe She was

, . .

re m and ed to prison to await the action of the

Jury of Inqu est Her case was ca lled Wedne s
.

day an d Thursday June 29 and 30 1 69 2, , .

AN D IT S S U N D A Y S ERV I C E

To the Constab l e of T ops fiel d

You are in th eyr M ag es tyes N ames hereby
Reque st ed t o Apprehend bring befo re us Eli za
b eth How y e wif e o f J am es How of T op sfiel d Hus
band man on tuesday next being the thi rty fir s t -

day o f M ay abo ut t e n of ye Cl ock in ye forenoon ,

32 T H E WITC H C RA FT DELUSI ON

at ye house of Leut Nathaniel Ingersolls of Sal e m

Vi l lage Wh oe Stand Charged with Sundry A cts of
Witchcraft done or commi tted on ye b odyes of
Mary Wolc ott Abigail Williams others of
S al em Village to th eyr great hurt in order to her
, ,

examination Relating to ye ab oves d pre mises

hereof you are nott to f ayl e .

D at Salem May 28 th 1 6 9 2
’

, .

p us J O H N H A TH ORN E
J ON A THAN C ORW I N Assists .

In obedience to thi s warrant I have app re

hend ed E lizabeth How the wife of Jems how
on the 29th of May 1 692 and have brought har
unto the house of l eftnant nath aniell e ngl os ons
according too ye warrant as ates te d by me
E phr aim Wi l l de s c ons tab ell for the town of
T op s field .

D at ed may 3l s t 1 6 92 .

T H E PREL I M I NARY E $ A MI NATI O N

SH E N EVER H EAR D OF HE R A CCUS ER S B E FORE

Mercy Lewis Mary Walcott fel l in a fit

quic kly after the examinant came in Mary .

Wal cott said that this woman the examinant had

p i nc h t her C h oa kt this month A nn P u tnam .

s aid she had hurt her thr ee times

Q uesti on What s ay you to this charge $ Here
.

are them th at ch arg e you with witchcraft

A ns wer . If it was the l ast moment I was to
l ive God knows I am innocent of a nything of this
natur e
34 T HE WI T C H CRA FT DELUSI O N

Q Thos e that have confessed they t ell us

.

they us e d images and pins now tell us what h ave

you used
A You woul d not have me conf ess that which
.

I know not

She l ooked upon Mary Warren said Warren

vio l ently fell down Look upon this maid
.
,

V iz :
. Mary Walcott her back being towards
the examinant Mary Warren . Ann Putnam
said they saw thi s woman upon her Susan .

Sheldon saith this was the woman that carryd

her yesterday to the Pond Sus Shel don carried
. .

to the examinant in a fit was well upon

gr asping her arm .

Q You said you never heard before of these

.

people .

A Not b efore the warrant w as s erved m e

.

l ast Sab bath day .

John Indian cryed out Oh she bites fel l

into a g revious fit so carried to her in his fit
was well upon her gr asping him .

Q . do What
you say to thes e things they
cannot com e t o you .

A Sr I a m unab l e to gi ve ac count of it
. .

Q Cannot
. you tell what k eeps the m off fr om
your body $
A I cannot tell I know not what it is
. .
 T R I A L O F MR S . E LI ZAB E T H H O WE 35

Thi s a true account of the examination of E li z

H ow tak en f rom my charact ers written at the
time ther eof .

Witness my hand
[Si gn ed ] S AM PARR IS .

T H E I NDIC T M EN T . T HE CA SE
H EAR D JU NE 29 T H A ND 3OT H AN D JULY IS T

The jurors of our Sovereign Lo rd and La dy the

Kin g and Queen represent That E l izabeth How
wife of James of Ips the 3l s t day of M ay th e
.

fourth year of our Sove rei gne Lo rd and Lady

Wm and Mary by the Grac e of God o f E ngland
.

Sc otl and ffrance and Ireland King and Quee n

defenders of the fl ai th &c and D ivers other days
.

and tim es as well before as after Certaine D e

testab le Acts call ed Witchcraft and s orceries
wic kedly and fl ell oni ous ly hath u s ed Pr ac tic ed
and Ex ercis ed at and withi n the Towns hi p of
S al em i n the county of E ssex afores ai d in upo n
and ag ainst one Mary Walcott of Sal e m Villag e
s i ngl e woma n by which said wic k ed arts the s ai d

Mary Walcott the 31th day of May in the 4 th

year afores aid and D ivers o ther D ays and times
as we ll before as after w as and is Tortured ,

Afflicted Pined Consumed wasted and Torment ed

and also for sundry other Acts of witchcraft by
said E lizabeth How Com mitted and D on e befo re
and since that time agt the Pe ac e of our S overi gne
Lo rd and Lady the Ki ng and Queen and agains t
the form of the statute in that c as e mad e and
Pro vided .
 T H E WI TCHCRA FT DELUSI ON

T H E WIT NE SS E S
T I M O TH Y A NDDEB ORA H P ERLEY
the first of i une 1 692 the deposition of timothi
Perley and deborah Perley his wife timoth Perley
aged about 39 and hi s wife about 33 there being
som diference between goode how that is now
seized namely E lizabeth How wife of James How
Junr and ti mothi Perli abovesaid about so m
b ords the ni ght following our cous l ay out and
’

finding of them the next morning we went to

milk them and one of them did not give but two
or thre spoone fuls of milk and one of the other
cous did not give above halfe a Pinte and the
other gave aboute a quart and these cous used to
'

give thr ee or four quarts at a me al e two of these

cous continued to give litle or nothi ng four or five
meals and yet thes went to a good inglish pasture
and within four dais the cous gave ther full Pro
portion that thir used to give .

furder deborah Perley t es tifieth and as c ons ern

ing hanah Perl ey Samuel Perleys daughter that
was so sore afflicted her mother and she coming to
our house hanah Perley being s uddinl i scared
so th ers that woman she goes into the oven and out
a g a ine and then fell into a dr e dful fit and when I

hav e asked her when she said that woman what

woman she ment she tould me i eams hows wife
sometimes hanah Perley went along with m e to

i eams hows an sone fell into a fitt goode how was

ueri louing to her and when the garl and I came

away i asked whi she tal ked so of goode how being

 TR IAL OF MR S . E LI ZAB E TH H O W E 37

she was so l ouing to her she toul d me that if i

were aflicted as she was that I Would talk as bad
of her as she did at a noth r tim i saw goode how
and hanah Perley together and thai w ere ueri
l oui ng together and after goode How was gone i
ask ed wh i she was so l ouing to good how when thai
were together she tould me that she w as afraide
to doe otherwise for then goode how would ki l her .

DE B ORA H P ERLEY
T es tifie d to June 30th before the Jury of Inquest

S AM U EL A ND R UTH P ERLEY

the first of iune 1 692 the deposition of Sam

uel Perley and his wife aged about 52 and his wife
4 6 years of age w e h a ui ng a dafter about ten
years of age being in a sorrowful condition t his
being sone after a fal ing out thai had bene betwen
i ea m s how and his wi fe and mi s el f our daughter
tol d us that it was ie ams hows wife that afflicted
her both night and day sometimes complaining
of being Pricked with Pins and sometimes f ali ng
down into dre df ul fits and ofte n sai i coul d neuer
a flic t a dog as goode how afl i c ts me mi wife and i
did often chide her for naming goode how being
l oth her name s h ol d be defamed but our daughter
woul d tel us that though we woul d not b el e ue her
now yet you wil know it one day we went to
several docters and thai tould us that she w a s
under an evil hand o ur daughter toul d us that
when she came nere the fire or water thi s witch
Pul s m e in and was often s orel i b urnt and she
38 T H E W I TCH CRA FT DELU SION

woul d tel us wh at cl oath s she wore and wou l d

sai there she goes and there she goes and now she
is gone into the oven and at these sights faling
down into dre dful fits and thus our daughter
continuing about two or three years c ons tantl i
afir mi ng to the l ast that this goode how that is

now seised was the cause of her sorrows and pined

awai to Skin and bone and ended her sorrowful life
a nd this we can atest upon oath ruth Perley s mark
’
.

Sam l Pearly hi s wife declare ye above written

’

to be the truth upon oath After this the ab oue

.

said goode how had a m ind to i oin ipswich church

thai being unsatisfied sent to us to bring in what
we had against her and when w e had declared to
them what we knew thei see cause to Put a stop
to her c oming into the Church within a few dais
after I had a cow wel in the morning as far as we
k new thi s cow was taken s tr aingl i running
about l ike a mad thi ng a l itl e whi le and then run
int o a great Pon and drowned herself and as sone
as she was d ead mi sons and m is el f towed her to
the shore and she stunk so that we had much a doe
t o flea her .

As for the time daughters b eing tak en il l it

was in the yere of our Lord 1 68 2 .

T es tifie d to before the Jury of Inquest

June 30 92 ’

RE V . SAM UEL PH I LL I P S
The testimony of Samuel Phil lips aged about
6 7 minister of the word of God in R owley wh o
say th that mr payson (minister of Gods word al s oe
 i
TR I AL 0 13 MRS E LI ZAB E TH
. H OW E 39

in Ro wl ey)and myse lf went b eing desired to Sa m

,

e ul pear l y of ipswich to se thi ere young daughter

wh o was vis eted with strang fitt s and in her fitts

( as her father and m other a ff e r me d) di d mention
good wi fe How the wife of James How Junior
of Ipswich as if she was in the house and afflict
her ; when we were in the house the chi l d had one
of her fitts but m ade no mention of good wife how ;
and when the fitt w as over and she came to
hersel f goodwif e how went to the child and took
,

her by the hand as kt her whether she had e ver

done her any hurt And she answered noe never
and if I di d complain of you in my fitts I knew
not that I di d soe : I further can affirm upon oath
th at young Samuel Pearly Brother to the afflicted
,

g i rl e l ooking out of a cham b er ( I and the a fflicted

c h il d b eing with outdores together)and sayd to his
sister Say goo dwife How is a witch say she is a
witch the chi l d spake not a word that w ay but ,

I l ookt up to the window where the youth stood

rebuked hi m for hi s boldness to stir up hi s sister
to accuse the s ai d g ood w : How when as she had
c l eared her from doing any hurt to his sister in
both our hearing I add e d no wonder that the
chil d in her fitts did m ention Goodwife How when
her nearest relatives were soe frequent in express
ing th eir e suspicions in the chil ds he aring when
she was out of her fitts that she sayed G oodwife
How was a n Ins trum ent of mi sch eif to th e chi l d

S AMU EL PH ILLI P S .

Rowl ey 3 June 1 6 92
40 T H E WITCH CRA FT DELUSI ON

REV . E DWAR D PAY S ON

I E dwar d Paison of ye Town ab oues d Thoh
present at ye pl ace time afores d yet cannot
evidence in all the particul ars mentioned : Thus
much is yet in my remembrance viz : being in ye
a b oues d P ear l ey s house some considerable time
’

before ye s d Goodw : How came in : their affli cted

D aughter upon something that her mother spake
to her with tar tness presently fell into on of her
usual strange fitts during whi ch she made no
,

mention (as I observed) of ye above s d How her

name or any thi ng relating to her sometime ,

after the s d How came in when s d Girl had re

covered her capacity her fitt being over s d How
,

took s d Girl by ye hand asked her whether she

,

had ever done h er any hurt : ye child answered no

r

never ; with several expressions to yt purpose

which I am not able particularly to recount &c .

E DWAR D PA IS ON
Rowl ey June 3 1 692 .

DEB ORAH HA D LEY

The D eposition of D eb ory Hadl ey aged about
7 0 years ; this D e p ona nt t es tifieth sth that I have
lived near to E lizabeth How (ye wife of James
How Junior of Ipswich) 24 year have found a
neighborly woman C ons ci encious in her dealings
faithful to her p mis es Christianlike in her Con
versation so far as I have observed further
s aith nt .
DEB ORA H HA D LEY .

June 24 1692
42 T H E WI TCHC RA FT DELUSI ON

sayth th at he hath b en Aq uainted with the wiufe

o f James how iunr as a nayb ar for this 9 o r 10
yers and he neuer saw any harm by hur but that
Th at hath b in good for I found hur Joust In hur
delling fayth fool l too hur p rom icis e s I haue
had a cation to be in the compi ny of g oodwi ef
howe by the fortnight tog ath er at Thayer b ous
and at other tims and I found at all Tims by hur
dis cor s shee was a woman of aflikti on and m o urn
ing for sin in her s el ues and others and when she
met with eny Afli kti on she s emid to i os tifi god
and say that Itt was all better than she des s ufid
that it was By falls aq us ations from men and s h e
yust to bles god that she got good by afliktions
for it med hur ex amin hur oun hart I neuer herd
hur refil any person that hath akus id hur with
witchc raft b ut pitti ed them and sayid i pray god
f org i ue th e n for thay harm them s el ues more
then me Thof i am a gret sinar yit i a m c l er
.

of that sayed she and such ki nd of a flikti ons

doth but set me a exs amini ng my oun hart and I
find god wondarfoll y s eporti ni ng me and com
farting me by his word and p romis is she s emi d to
b e a woman thron in that grat work of conuikti on
an conuerti on which I pray god m ak us al l

S I M ON C H A P MAN

My wi ef Mary Chapm an cane Tes tifi to the m ost

of this ab ou retan as witness my hand

MARY C H A P MAN .
 TR IAL OF MR S . E LI ZA B E TH H O W E 43

I S AA C C UMMI N G S , SR .

June 27 1692 disposition of Isaac co mm ins

syner aget about sixty years or thare a bouts
who tes tyfyeth and saith that about aight yers
agou James how iunr of ipswich came to m y h ous
to borow a hors I not being at home my son
isaac told hi m as my son told me whan I ca m
home i h ade no hoes to ride on but my son isa ac
di d tell the said how that he hade no hors t o ride
on but he h ade a mare the whi ah he though hi s
father would not be wil ing to lend thi s b eing upon
a thursday the next day being fryday I to o k the
mare and myself and my wife did ride on thi s maer
abute half a mile to an naigh b ours bous and home
again and when we came home I turned th e maer
out the maer being as well to my thi nking as
ever she was next morni ng it being Saturday ab out
sun rising t hi s said maer stood neer my doore an d
the said maer as i di d ap e r eh e nd did show as if she
had bin much abus ed by riding and here fl esh as I
th ovg mvch wasted and her m ovt h m vch s e me nly
to my ap e r eh antion m vch abused and hurt with
ye bridel bits I seing ye m aer i n s vch a s ad c o n
dition I toke up the said maer and put her into
my barn and she wold e ate no maner of thi ng as
f or provender or any thing w e i give her then I
sent for my brother Thomas An dros which w as
living in b oxford th e said a nder os came to my h ous
I not be ing at home when I came home a lit l e
afore night my b rother anderos tol d m e he h ead
giving th e said m ear southing for the bots b ut as
44 T H E WI T C HCRA FT DELUSI ON

he coul d p ers eve it did do her n o good but sai d he

I cannot tell but she may have the baly ach and
said he I wel try one thing more my brother
a nder os said he would take pipe of tob ac o and

lite it and put itt into the fondement of the m are

I tol d hi m that I thought it was not lawful] he said
it was lawf ul ] for man or beast then I toke a cl en
pipe and fil led it with tobaco and di d lite it and
went with the pipe lite to the barn then the said
a nde r os used the pipe as he said before he wol d

and the pipe of tobaco di d blaze and burn blew

then I said to my brother Ande ros you shall try
no more it is not lawful he said I will try again
once mor which he did and thar arose a blaze
from the pipe of tobaco which seemed to me to
c over the b utocks of the said mear the bla z e went
upward t owards the roof of the barn and in roof of
the barn thar was a grate crac kling as if the barn
wovl d haue falen or bin burnt which s eme d so to
us which ware within and some that ware with
out and we hade no other fier in the barn b vt
onl y a candil and a pipe of tobaco and then I
s aid I thought my barn or my mear mus t goe the
n ext b eing Lord s day I spoke to my brother
’

a nder os at noone to come to see the said mear

and said anderos cam e and What h did I S ay

not the same Lords day at night my naigh b ours
John Han kins came to my h ovs and he and I went
into my barn to see this mear said h ouki ns said
and if I ware as you i wol vd of a pece of this
mear and burn it I said no not to day but if she
-

l ive d ti l to morro w morning he m ight cut of a

 T R I AL O F M R S . E LIZA B ETH H O WE 45

p ece off o f her and b urn if he wovl d p res entely as

we h ad e sp o ke n the se words w e stept o ut of the
b arn and i med ei ately thi s said mear fell down d a de
and never s tvre d as we covl d p urs eve after sh e
fell down b ut l ay dead
Is ac Comings Scur d ecl ared to ye Jury of
Inquest that ye aboue written evidenc e is the
tru th upon oath June 30 1 69 2

JOS E P H A ND MARY $ N O WLT ON

from Ipswich June 27 1 69 2 Joseph Knowl to n
being aq uainte with the wife of James How Junr
as a neighbour s omti m s b ording in the house ,

and at my fi rst coming to l ive in those parts whi c h

was about ten years ago I hard a b ad Report of
her ab out S amull perl eys garl e which caused m e
to take s p e s h all noates of her life conuers ation
euer sence and I haue as k ed her if she coul d
freely forgive them that Raised such Reports of
*

her she toul d me Yes with all her heart des ieri ng
that god woul d give her a heart to b e more
humble vnder such a p rouidence s and further she
fi

sayed she was willing to doe any good she coul d

to them as had done vnneigh b ourly by her also
This I haue taken notes of that she wo ul d deny
herself to doe a neighbour a goo d turn and a lso
I h aue known h er to b e faithful] in the word an d
ho nest in her d ealings as f ar as ever I saw .

JO SEPH $ N OW LTO N age d forty t u

MARY $ N O WL T ON a g ed th urty tu
46 T H E WI TC H CRA FT DELUSI ON

JAM E S H O W E S R (ninety-four
, . yrs old)
.

i nf orm ation for E liz abeth How the wife of Jams

How Juur .

Jam s How s e nr aged about 94 sayth he liueing

by her for about thirty years hath taken notes
th at she hath caried it well becoming her plac e as a
daughter as a wife in all Relations setting s ide
hum ain i nf urmi tys as becometh a Christian with
R espect to myself as a father very dutyf ul ly
a wifife to my son carefull l oueing obedient and
kind considering his want of eye sight tenderly
l eadi ng him about by the hand N ow de s i eri ng
god may guide your honours to se a difl erans
between predig ous and Consents I R est yours to
S arve
JA M E S HO W S enr of Ipswich
dated this 28 day of June 169 2

I S AA C C U MMI N GS JR
, .

June 28 th 1 6 9 2 the testimony of Isaac Comings

Juner aged about 2 7 years T e s tifieth s aeth yt
Ja m es Hough came to my fathers house when he
was not at home he asked me if my father had
euer a hors I told hi m no he asked me if he had
E uer a maer I told him yes h he asked me if I
thought my father would lend him his maer I
tol d him I did not Think woul d upon wch in a
short T yme after my father Mother Ridd their
mae r to Their neighbours house ye same maer wch
s d Hough woul d haue B or owe d wch s e mi ng l y was

well when my fath r mothr c ame ho me I seeing

 TR IAL O F MR S . E LI ZAB ET H H O WE 47

ye sam e s d m aer ye nex morni n g c ould Jud ge

noe oth e r b utt yt she h ad b in Rid ye othe r p art
of yt night or oth r ways h orib l y ab used V pon
wch my fa th r seeing wt a condition hi s m ae r w as
in sent for his b roth r Thomas Andros weh when
he c ame he give her several] Thi ngs weh he
Thought to be good for her butt did her n ot any
good vp on wch he s aid he woul d try one thi ng
more wch was a pipe some To b aco wch he ap
pli d to her Thinking itt might doe her g oo d
against ye Bell y ake Thinki ng yt might be her
d is ee s e wc h when they vs ed ye pip e wth Tobaco
in itt abought ye s d maer ye pipe be in g Litt itt
blaz ed so much yt itt was as much as two persons
coul d putt itt ought wt h both of Their hands upon
wc h my father s ai d we will Trye no mor e his
bro th er my uncle s d he woul d trye once m ore ye
wch he did the pipe being L itt ye fyer B l azed out of
ye same s d pipe more vehemently than before
V p on w ch my father ans wer e d he had R ather

Loose hi s maer yn hi s barn ye nery nex t night

following ye s d maer following my father in his
barn fro m one side to ye other side fell down
i medi atel y D ead agains t ye sell of ye Barn before
my f ath r had well cl ee red him selfe from her furth r
s aith not.

MARY C UMM IN GS , Sr .

June 27 1692 The disposition of mary c o m mings

ye wif of isaac commi ns s enr aged about sixty yers
or th are ab outs tes eifieth and saith my husb an d
48 T H E WITC H CRA FT DELUSIO N

not b eing at home I was sent to by som par s o ns

of ip s weg sent to me for to have me to write what
I cold say of James how i unr his wife eli seb eth
c onsc a r ni ng her life or conversation and that I

woul d say what I cold say for or against her

when the said hows wife sought to aiojn with
the church at ip s weg and I spoke to my son Isaac
to write that we hade vs e d no b ri ms ton nor oyl
nor no c omb us tab l e s to give to our maer b ec avs
thare was a report that the said hows wife had
said that we had given the maer b ri ms ton and
oyl and the like and a short time after I h ade
written my tes temony c ons arning this hows wife
my son Isaac his maer wa s missing that he covl d
not find her in to or th rre days and in a S hort
time after my son isaac s maer came in sight not
fare from the h ovs an d my son isaac praid me
to go ovt and look on his maer when I came to
her asked me what I thought on her her and I
said if he wold have my thoughts I c ovl d not
complain it nothi ng elce but that she wriden with
a hot b ri dil for she hade di vi r s e s b rvs es as if she
had bin runing over rocks and mvch wronged
and where the b ri dil went was as if it had bin
burnt with a hot b ri dil then I bide Isaac take ye
m are and have her vp amongst the nagh b ors
that p eOpl might see her for I hered that James
how i unr or his wife or both had said that we
kept vp ovr maer that people might not see her
and isaac did show his maer to s avi ril and then
the said how as i hered did report that isac
had riden to Lin spring and carye d his gair l
50 T H E WITCHCRA FT DELUSI ON

V iset my neigh b ovr s h eri ns wife and she tol d

me that James how i vnr had bin thare to give her
a s is et and he did sharply talk to her asking her
wh at hopes she hade of her salvation her answer
was to him that she did bild her hopes upon that
s ve r rock Jes vs C hrist this the said s e ri us V ife

did tell me and she told me also that she had never
talked of the said how or his wife bvt she was
wor s for it afterwords and she said also when she
l ay sick of the same sickness whereof she dyed that
the said how would come som time into the roome
to see but she c ovl d not tell how to b are to see him
nor that he s h ovl d b e in the h ovs Mary Comins
owni d that thi s b ar t e s te mony on har oath before
the Juryars for Inq ue s this 29 of June 1 69 2 Jurat
in Curia

FRAN CIS LANE

Fran c is Lane aged 27 ye ares tes tifyeth saith

that about s e auen ye are s agoe James How the
husb and of E lizabeth How of Ipswich farmes
hired s d L ane to get him a parcell of posts rail es
s d L an e hired John Pearl y the son of samue l

Pearl y of Ipswich t o help hi m in getting of them

And aft e r they had got said Posts rails the said
La ne went to the said James How that he might
goe with him take delivery of said Posts rail s
E lizab eth How the wife of s d James how tol d
said Lane that she did not beleive that s d Posts
rails would doe because that said John Pearly
helped him she said that if he had got them
52 T H E WITCHCR A FT DELUSI ON

alone had not got John Pearly to help him she

b el ei ve d that they would haue done but seeing
that said Pearly had helped about them she b e
l e i ue d that they would not doe so s d James How
went with said Lane for to take del iuery of s d
Posts rails the said James How toke s eve rell
of the said rails as they lay in heaps up by the
end they broke of so many of them broke that
said Lane was forced to get thirty or forty more
when said how came home he told his wife
thereof she said to hi m that she had told him
before that they would not doe because said
Pearly helped about them which rails said Lane
t e s tifye th that in his ap r e h e nt i on were sound
railes tf r anci s L ane declared to ye Jury of i n
ques to ye truth of ye above written evidence
upon oath June 30 1 69 2 Jurat in Curia

JOH N H OWE
The testimony of John How aged about 50
y e r s saith that on that day that my broth er
James his wife was Caried to Salem far mes upon
examination she was at my house and would a
have had me to go with her to Salem f armes I
tould hur that if she had ben sent for upon all
most any a Count but witchcraft I would a have
gone with hur bvt one that a Count I would not
for ten pounds but said I If you are a witch tell
m e how long you have ben a witch and what mis
c h e ue you have done and then J will go with you

for said J to hur you have ben acus ie d by Samuel

 TR IAL OF M R S . EL I ZA B E TH H O W E 53

pearlys Chi ld and s us p ac ted by D aken Cumins for

witchcraft ; she s emed to be aingry with me stell ,

asked me to come on the morrow I told hur I

did not know but I might com to morrow but my
oc as h ons c al e d me to go to Ipswich one the mor
row and came wh ome a bout suns set and standing
nere my door talki ng with one of my N a ib our s
I had a sow with six small pigs in the yard the sow
w as as well so fare as I knew as euer one a suding
she l eaped up about three or fouer foot hie a nd
turned about and gave one s q ue ake and fell downe
daed I told my na ib our that was with me I
thought my sow w as bewitched for said I I think
she is dead he l afe d at me but It proved true
for she fell downe daed he bed me cut of hur e a re
the whi ch I did and my hand I had my knife in
was so numb and ful l of paine that night and
s a uera ll days after that I could not doe any work

and is not wh oly wall now and I s os pe c te d no

other person but my s d s ister E lizabeth How
Capt John How declared ye above written
.

evidence to be the truth before ye Jury of inquest .

June 30th 1 692 upon hi s oath in Court

JA C O B FO ST ER
The dep os i on of Jacob Foster aged about 29
y re s the d ep ona nt saith that some years agoe
e a

good wife How the wife of James how w a s about

to Joyne with the church of Ipswich my father
,

was an instru mental ] means of her being d e nye d

admis i on q ui ckly aft e r m y m ar e t urne d out t o
54 T H E WI TCHC RA FT DELUSI ON

grass on the tus day and on thursday I went to

seek my m are to go to lecture I sought my mare
and could not find her I sought all friday and
found her not on Saturday I sought till noon I
found my mare standing l eaning with her b utock
against a tree I hit her with a small whip she
gave a h eaue from a tree and fell back to the tree
again then I took of her fetters and struck her
again she did the same again then I set my
shoul der to her side and thrust her of from the
tree and moved her feet then she went home
and l eapt into the p aus ture and my mare l ookt
as if she had been miserably beaten and abused
Jacob fl oster declared ye evidence to be ye truth
b efore ye Jury of inquest on oath June 30 9 2

JO S E PH SA FFOR D

The deposition of Joseph S afl ord aged about 60

’

he tes tefye th and saith that my wife was much

afraid of E lizabeth how the wife of James how
upon the R eports that were of her about Samuel ]
p e r ll ey s child but upon a ti m after thes R eports
James how and his wife coming to my house
nether mys el fe nor my wife were at home and
good wife how asked my chi ldren wh er ther
mother w as and they said at the next nayb oaers
h ovs she desired them to C 01] ther mother which
they did when my wife cam whom my wife
to l d me that she was much startled to se goode
how but she took her by the hand and said goode
S aff o rd I b el eue that you are not ignorant of
 T R IAL OF M R S . E LI ZA B E TH H O W E 55

the gre te scandal ] that I Ly under upon the euill

R eport that is R aised upon me about Samuel ]
p e r l l e ys child and other things Joseph Safford
saith that after thi s his wife was taken b eyond
Ras on and all p ars w as i on to tek the part of this
woman after this the wife of thi s James how pro
pounded h ers elfe to com into the church of Ips
wich wh er upon sum objection a Ros e / b y sum
uns atisfied b reth ere n wh er upon ther w as a meet
ing ap inte d by our el ders of the church to con
sider of things brought in agains t her my wife
was more than or denery ernest to goe to l e c tur
the church meeting be ing on that day notw ith
standing the many arguments I used to pe r s we d
her to the C ontre ry yet I obtained a promis of her
that she woul d not goe to the church meeting but
meeting with som of the nayb ourh ood they pe r
s w a d e d her to go with them to the church meet

ing at elder pains and told her that shee need say
nothing ther but g ood wife how then being
,

R ether Re ndre d gui lty than c l ee r ed my wife took

her by the hand afte r meeting and told her
though she wer condemned before men she was
Jus tefyed before g od the n e xt S ab ath after this
.

my son that caried my wife to Lec tur was taken

aftar a strange manar the Saturday after that my
wife w as taken after a Rani ng frenzy manar ex
pressing i n a Raging manar that goode how must
co m into the church and that shee w as a precious
s aint and though shee wer condemned befor men

shee was jus tefye d befor god and continued in this

fram for the space of thre or f o ur hours after that
56 T H E WITCHCRA FT DELUSI O N

my wife fell into a kind of trance for the space of

two or thre mi nits shee then coming to h ers el fe
opened her eye and said ha J was mistaken no ,

answer was med by the s ta ndars by and again

,

shee said ha J was mistaken Majar appleton s ’

wife standing b y said wherein art mistaken I was

mistaken said she for J thought goode how had
bene a precious saint of god b ut now I see she is a
witch fer shee hath bewitched me and my child
and we shall neuer be well til l ther is tes te mony
for her that she may be taken into the church
after after thi s there was A meeting of the e l dars
at my h ous and thay desired that goode how might
be at the meeting i ns i gn wallis went with my
selfe to invite goode how to this meeting she
coming in di scours at that time she said two or
thre times shee was sory to se my wife at the church
meeting at eldar p ains after this shee said she
was a fli cted by the ap ari s h ti on of goode how a
few dayes aftar she was taken shee said the caus
of her changing her opinion c ons arning goode how
was b ecaus shee ap e are d to her th r og a creuis of
the c l a mb ouerds which she knew no good person
cou l d do and at thre s euer al] times after was
a fli c t e d by the ap er i s h t i on of goode how and

goode ol l euer and furder this dep oni t saith that

Rising e rl ly in the morning and kindling a fir
in the other R oom in wife shrieked out I presently
R an into the room wh er my wife was and as soon
as euer I opened the dore my said ther be the
e ui l l one take them whereupon I Rep l y e d wh e r

are they I wil l tak e them if I can shee said you

58 T H E WITCHC RA FT DELUSI ON

itt under her fundiment there came a B l ew

fl ame out of ye Bowle R un along ye stem of s d
pipe took hol d of ye haer of s d Maer Burnt
itt we tryed itt 2 or 3 times together itt di d
ye same itt s eme d to Burn blew butt Run Like
fyer yt is sett on the grass to Burn itt in ye spring
T y me we struck itt outt wth our hands ye s d
Comings s d yt he would trye no more for s d he J
had rather loose my mare yn my barn J this
dep ona nt doe tes tif i yt to ye Best of my under
standing wa s ye same mare yt James Hough
Junior Bel onging to Jp s wich f armes husband to
E lizabeth Hough woul d have b orowed of ye s d
Comings
TH O AND R EWS
.

R EMO VAL OF A TTA I N D ER

A ND RE IM BU R SE M E N T

Ipswich ye 9 of Septem b er 1 7 1 0
,

Where as ye honored General Cour t has ap

pointed a committe e to consider what damage
persons have sustained in their names and estates
in the year 1 692 by their sufferings in that as was
c al l ed witch craft ye odium whereof was as if
,

they are one of ye worst of mankind we Mary How

,

and Ab igail How : ye only survivers in this family

al so do groundedly believe that our honored
m other E lizabeth How suffered as innocent of
the crime charged with a s any person in the world ,

and as to the damage done to our estate we can

not give a particul ar ac count but thi s we know that
 TR IAL O F MR S . E LI ZAB E TH H O W E 59

our honored father went twice a wee k y e whol e

time of her imprisonment to carry her m ai nte
nance whi ch w as provided with much difficul ty
and one of us went with him because he coul d not
go alone for want of sight al so one journey to
Boston for a repl evey and for maintenance 53 .

money left with her the first coming down 20s .

the second time and 4 03 so that sometimes more

.

some l ess yt never under 53 per wee k whi ch we

.

know for charge for her and necessary charge for

oursel ves and horses cannot be l ess than £ 20
m oney yet notwi thstan di ng so that ye na me m ay
be repaired we are content if your honors sh all
all ow £ 12 .

Yours to serve
MAR Y How A B I GA IL How .

This petition was present ed to s aid C o urt

by Capt John How and Ab r aha m How unc l es
.

of said Mary and Abigail for relief in the premises

and pray that the petition may b e all ow ed the
”
sam e.

The petition was referred to the c o mm it tee

referred to therein .

The committee met at Sale m 1 3th Sept 1 7 1 0

, , .
,

and the 14 th reported allowing the Misses How

the £ 1 2 asked for.
”

TH O S N OYE S
.

JO H N B URR ILL Commi ttee

NA H JE WE T T
.
60 T H E WITCHCRA FT DELUSION

23 Oct .
,and accepted in House
1711 . R ead
of R epresentatives and sent up for concurrence , .

JOH N B URR I LL S peaker , .

In Council 28 Oct 1 7 1 1
, .
, .

R ead and concurred .

JOH N A DD I N GT ON S ec y
’

, .

State A rchi ves Room 4 34 V ol 1 35 , , . 1 31 , 1 6 9 .

HOM E OF MR S H O W E .

L O CA T E D . T H E C ON C L USI O N
Thi s map
delineates a
part of the
h o m estead
of Mrs E liza .

Howe Perley ,

now in her
n i n e t y th ird -

y e a r ( hI a y
1 5) whose re
s id e nc e is at

6 The as “
.

cent of the
estate is : Mrs Perley s f ather A aron Howe ;
.
’
,

his second cousin Joseph Howe ; Joseph s father

,
’
,

Abraham Howe ; his father Abraham Howe Jr ; , , .

his cousins Abigail and Mary Howe ; their

,

father James Howe Jr ; his father James Howe

, , .
, ,

Sr . a continuous Howe ownership of two hun

,

dred six ty years .

 TR IAL OF MR S . E LIZAB E TH H O W E 61

The house pictured on the opposite page stood

at 2 and was bui lt probably in 1 7 1 1 since
“
, , , ,

Abraham Howe Jr bought the land in February , .

,

of that year to set a house upon ,

” “
.

James Howe Jr owned a small house in the , .

,
“

orchard ”
and a thi rd of other housing
,
” “
,

”
whi ch may have inc l ude d the old house that ,

stood in 1 7 1 1 near ”
5 south of , the “ “ “

southwest corner of the orchard .

Whi le searching the records of deeds the writer ,

noted a course in a description : Thence to the “

”
gate Opposite James Howe Juni or s The ,
’
.

l ocality w as well known to hi m and that knowl ,

edge located the gate He had often seen a gate .

there betwee n 18 4 0 and 1 8 50 It swung at the

, .

entrance of the avenue leadi ng to the residence

”
of James Howe Senior marked gate on the , ,
“

map That fact was tangi b le ; Mrs Howe s

. .
’

”
home was at 2 on the map or near it “
.

Thus far and no farther till one day l ooki ng ,

over the ground back of the present residence

of Mrs E liz a Howe Perley 6 on the map the
.
, ,

writer notice d a pe culiar hollow in the otherwise

l evel surface and to hi s question What m ade it $
, ,

she rep lied I don t know ; I have always heard

,
“ ’

it called Mary s hole ”

H e imme di ately ex ’
.

c l aimed Mary Howe daughter of the witch

,
”
, .

His conclusion : There the survi ving daughters ,

Mary and A bigail l ived secluded and al one , , ,

beneath the shadow of the cruel att ainder .

After the death of Mary their home b ec a me ,

M ary s ce ll ar ; and when all app e arance of a

’
 TR IAL O F MR S . E LI Z AB E TH H O W E 63

cellar was gone it became Mary s hol e

,
’
.

To day there is not the slightest vestige of

-

”
“
Mary s hole the old ho m e known onl y to the
’

saddest pages of N ew E ngland history is arab l e

,

g round .
DES C ENDA NT S OF J AMES HOWE
’

J AMES -u

Howe fir ms
REBECCA
’
‘

A
INCRE S E
ABRA H '
“
lABRAH ‘
“
I$

SAMS ON
$

M
ABRAH
ABRAH

MAR$ $

SARAH cn nmws
Iff lgm
'
t er
no
aé ém
EWe
vift
AT N ’

E A A
;

A
N T HAN [ A o
ELIZ
' $ ‘ m a
him$
“

w AH A R$ N T H N“

R o” lCELl A A
grai n
.
66 T H E WITCHCRA FT DELU SI O N

head which has characterized the Howe arms

,

for centuries suggests forests and an encount e r

, .

T H E C OA T OF AR M S
JAM E S JR , .
, A ND E LIZAB E TH
arm s Of th e
Ga les (r ed )
a chevron ar
g ent (s i l v e r)
b etween three
—
cros c ros lets
—

or (gold )thre e
wolves heads ’

”
of the same ,

said to have
adorned the
walls of the
Wayside ‘

Inn or Howe ’

Tavern in Sudbury for over a hundred an d fifty

, ,

years Y e wolfs are ye fams A rms ye c ros s

,
“
.
, .

for gt accts don by ye 1 s t who lived around

AD . 1 500 or the time of Henry VII or VIII
, .

The seat of the fam ily bearing

the above arms was in county
Warwick ; the seat of Robert
Howe and the pl ace of the
original Howe arms : A rgent
( silver ) a chevron between
three wolves heads couped ’

”
s a bl e ( b l ack ) was i n county
E ssex .
 TR IAL O F MR S . E LI ZA B ETH H O W E 67

If the query is now suggest ed why did n ot o ur ,

Jam es Howe c l ai m a coat of arms if h e were en

titl ed to one thi s answer is pe rsuasiv e if not
,

conc l usive ; so e arly creat ed and so long unus ed ,

it was forgotten ; or m ayb e in N ew E nglan d ,

practic al home l ife its val ue w as c o nsi der ed zero ,

or negative .

It may be s ai d f urther that th e H owe co at

, ,

arm or th e Howe family the B arringto n fam i ly

, , ,

and the King s fores t e ach and all be l onged

— ’
—

to Hatfi eld county E ssex and it may be thought

, ,

strange that the ancient H o we arm s shoul d not

incl ude our J ames the im m igr ant in its d esce nt
, , .

On the whol e there is a preponder ating i m pres

,

sion that the wol f s h ead on the H owe a rm s was

’

captured in the Hatfi el d f ores t b y a H owe .

James Howe Sr w as o f Roxb ury and made

, .
, ,

free man May 17 1 637 and remo ved to Ipswich

, ,

be fore 1648 H e was grant ed June 1 1 1 650 o n

.
, ,

m oti o n of Mr No rton one o f th e farm s of a

.
,

hundred acre s fo rm erl y reserv ed for Mr N orton s .

’

friends H e b ought July 3 16 5 1 a b out twenty

.
, , ,

one ac res adjoi ni ng to Mr Winthrop s and Mr .

’
.

Symonds s f a rm s He was a c o mmoner 1 64 1 ;

’
.
,

a tithing m an 1 67 1 His wife E li z a be th D ane

, .
, ,

only daughter of John D ane of Ro xb ury di ed , ,

Jan 2 1 1 693 4 Both joined th e c hurch at

.
,
-
.

T op s fie l d in 1 6 84 .

He was e minently an all ro und man H e was .

a weaver b y tr ade b ut he coul d b utcher a swine

,

or write a will or d eed ; he coul d practice in pro

bate or dig a gr a ve ; he coul d mak e a coffin or
68 T H E W I TCHC RA FT D E LUSI ON

b uild a house ; he coul d cul tivate a f arm or sur

vey it ; he coul d sh o e a horse or a n ox o r mak e his
o wn or others sho es ; he w as a re ady helper
’

in e very dep artment of country l ife He di ed .

May 17 1 701 at the age of one hun dred and

,

four years a man of three centuri es, .

J ames Howe Jr was born in Roxb ury in 1 635 , .

, ,
”
o r 1636 since h e w as about 30 in 1 6 66 an d
,
“

“
ab out Sept 28 1 669 He m arried April 13 .
, . , ,

1 6 58 E l i z abeth J ackson a neighb o r daughter of

, , ,

Wi ll i am and J oanna of R owley and sister to , ,

M ary , who m arried Wm Foster of Boxford and .

, ,

to D ebo rah wh o m arri ed Lieut John Tru mb l e of

, .
,

Newb ury offi cia l m en in their re sp ec tiv e towns

, .

H e h ad a sh ar e In P l u m Is l and 1 664 ; was a ,

voter 1 679 ; at about fifty years of age w as b l ind

, ,

so he ha d t o b e led His wi ll is dated Nov 1 9 . .

,

1 701 He confirms t o his d aughter E liz abe th

.

J ackson s chi l dren what h e had gi ven her ; m en

’
,

tions his d aughter D eb or ah and grandson J ames

“
when 2 1 and gr anddaughters M artha H ow and
”
Sar ah H ow when 18 or marrie d H e g ave hi s
“
.

other two daughters M ary and Ab igail , for their ,

“

p ains and care that they have t ake n of me for sev

”
eral y ears and their l abor fo r my maintenance ,

my ho us e b arn orch a rd lands a nd movables

, , , , ,

an d appo int ed them exec utric es He sign ed his .

C ald w ell s Anti quar i an P a n q u ot e S e w e ll : M a y 1 9

* ’

fi
,

1 7 01 w as b uri e d M r Ja me s
, o w a g o o d ma n a ge d 1 04
.
. .

y e a r s He d i e d I th i nk L o r d s da y nig ht j us t a b o u t th e
.
, ,
’
,

t i me th e ne ws of th e $ i ng s d e ath w a s b ro ug ht f ro m ’

M e d e ra $ i ng Wi ll i a m d i e d S u nda y M a r ch 8 1 701 -2
”
.
, , ,

O S ; S u nda y M a r ch 8 1 7 02, I S ; o r M a r ch 1 9 1 7 02, N S

. .
, , . . , . .
will Jam es H ow b ut it was prov ed Marc h 1 1 , , ,

1 701 2 as the will of James H o we Jr

-
, H e died , .

Feb 1 5 1 701 Their children were

. , .

James who died in July 1 664

, , .

E l izab eth born June 1 1 6 6 1 m arri ed Cal eb

, , ,

Jac kson son of N icho las a n eighbor

, , .

M ary born Feb 25 1 664 petiti oner p 73

, .
, , , . .

D e bo r ah wh o married Is aac H owe of Rox b ury

, , ,

son an d grandson of Ab r ahams .

John bo rn April 1 7 1 67 1 marri ed Ha nnah

, , ,

Browne and h ad Martha 1 69 1 ; Sarah 1 6 92 3 ;

, , ,
-

wh o m arried Thomas W o od ; Jam es 1 69 5 a nce s , ,

tor of th e Methuen fami ly of Howes His .

widow marri ed E phraim Robe rts of Methuen , ,

and had Patience 1 703 and Mary 1 705 , , , .

Abigail born Dec 3 1 673 pe ti tion e r p 73

, .
, , , . .

All the fami l y conn ec tions of the alleg ed witch

were we ll to do peopl e and st abl e and standard
- -

in church and civic life .

 t t t t

B IBLIO GRA PHY

M . V . B Perl ey Salem Mass Pu blisher

.
, , .
,

PA G E
The Perl ey Family History and G eneal ogy 65

Perl ey s Chronol ogic al Chart

’
68

Family Genealogies 69

E ssex Antiquari an 70
E sse x County Vital R ecord s 70
 72 T H E W I T CH CRA FT D E LUSI ON

m ak e them , and l eave pric el ess heirl oo m s to their

p o ste rities .

A H IST ORY

D on t be deceived The book is not the ordi

’
.

nary gene alogy oi dates and names It is a hi s .

tor y; it reads like a history There are m ore .

than five dozen portraits with their bio gr aphies ;

numero us ex amp l es of uns urp assed b ravery as ,

witness there doubt of Bunk er Hill the Pigwac ket ,

of Captain Lovewe ll and the War of 1 8 12 ; and of

patriotis m as witness the wars for the mother
,

country ; as col oni sts ; agai ns t h er as revol utioni s ts , ,

and as defenders of our hom e governm ent in the

Civil War .

It h as its Wandering Jew its Country s Wonder ,

’

its escapad es in c ourtship its tri umphs in po litics

, ,

and its stories of pioneering and of country wide -

travel It shows how the family s money built

.
’

churche s and s chools ; how m inisters doctors , ,

l awy ers and teachers were ornaments t o the ir

,

professions ; how statesm en by efficiency and i n ,

t egri ty enjoy e d repeated el ec tions ; and how m en

,
”
“
with th e hoe the trowel the saw and other
, , ,

impl em ents of their craft by dil igenc e enterprise

, , ,

and sob ri ety re ared happy homes and garnered

,

weal th .

AN IN S PI RA T I O N
The boo k is an inspiration Squire H wrote .
,

I read a chapter in th e Perl ey History every

 TRI AL or MR S . ELI AZ B ET H H OWE 73

d ay m e aning t o s ay th at e ve ry chap te r h as its

,

peculiar in te rest p leasure a nd up lif ting s e nti

, ,

ment Mrs W bo ught six copi es Mrs H

. .
, .

four both saying , I want eac h of m y chil dre n to

,
“

”
h ave a c opy Ot h e r b uy e rs hav e do n e relat ive l y
.

th e s ame .

A S P LE NDID GIFT

T ake a c opy with y o u to the old f o lks at “

”
ho m e at Thanks giving ; it wo uld gr atify them .

”
Give one to y o ur d aughter at sweet sixteen an d “
,

t o y o ur s o n at twe nty one It woul d be a mag

- .

nific ent present fo r a dear f riend Y our Publi c .

Libr ary woul d wri te you a l et te r of co rdi al th ank s

for a copy A s a N EW Y EAR S a B IRTH DAY a
.
’

, ,

W EDDI N G or a C HR I STMA S gift it wo ul d c ro wn

, ,

the oc c asi o n wi th pro ud del i ght .

T h e book s are i n pate nt corrug ated wrappe rs ,

and can b e rea dy for the ma il in fi ve minu tes after

recei ving y our order .

The nume ro us intermarri ag es wi th old New Eng

l and famil i es an d i ts ful n e ss of b i og r aphy make
, ,

it a val u abl e addi ti o n to li b r ari es and G en ealogi ca l ,

an d Histo ric al S oc ieti es .

Pri ce : Leather b ack an d co rn ers g old ,

top edge and gold l e tt ering

Pi ne Mar oo n clo th a nd go ld lettering
C arri age o n each prep ai d b ut if a t des ti n at i o n
, ,

sen d onl y and $6 1 0 res p ectivel y. .

 PE RLE Y S C HR ON OLO G IC AL CHART
’

FO R ( 1) V ER IFYI NG , (2) C ORRE CTING , A ND (3)

I N T ER PRE T I N G D A T ES , TH U S :

( 1 ) Ge n G eo W ashington was born on Fri day

. .
,

Feb . 1 1 , 1 731-2 .

(3) A tr ansit of Venus occ urred in 1 639 on , ,

Sunday Dec 6 ( al man ac ); Dec 4 (as tro nomy);

, . .

N ov 24 ( anothe r astron omy)

. .

(3) Bryan the mo narch of Irelan d di ed

, 1 75th
G ood Fri d ay 1 7 14 D urha m C athed r al E ng
, .
,

l and w as struck b y lightning The night bef ore

, ,
“

the day of Corpus Christi Thomas ,

Ryh al e dat ed hi s will Vigil o f E aster “

, ,

The Chart is adapted t o th e styles : Jul i an ,

R ussian D ionysian Greg or ian Ol d an d New

, , , .

With a little pri mary arithm etic it furnish es

the date o f E aste r for any y ear .

It gives the day of the week co rrespo n di ng t o ‘

any possible date in y ears beginni ng , ,

Saturday Jan 1 A D 1 , .
, . . .

One ca n easil y d ete rm in e the Fr i day occur

re nce s of gr ea t me n and e v e n ts and s o deter ,

m ine the prop o rtion of u nl uc ky Fridays .

Lawyers historians ge n eal og ists t eachers a n d

, , , ,

all students and rea ders of hi s tory wo ul d find

of weeks in 1 8 92 th e Bos ton T rans cri pt dis c uss ed

the fo ur elements of da tes ; thi s Chart w o uld ha ve
 TR IAL O F MR S . E LI ZA B E TH H O W E 75

given the r e sul t in ten minu tes . See the T r an

s cri p t, Oc t 1 , 1 8 92 . .

FA M ILY G E N E ALO G IE S

These are gl eaned from the various r eco rd s of

E ssex County If your name d oes not appea r .

in the l ist we can furni sh your geneal ogy Cor, .

respondence solicit ed .

Ab b ot Ab orn Ab r aham Ab ram A c ie A cres

, , , , , ,

A d ams A ger Ake rm an Alexan de r Alf ord Al ger

, , , , , ,

A ll en A lley A mb rose A mes Anderson An de r

, , , , ,

ton Andrews Annabl e Annis Antrum App leton

, , , , , ,

A rc her A rno l d Ash Ash b y Ashton As l eb ee

, , , , , ,

A t kins At kinson A twell Atw oo d Au b in A us

‘

, , , , ,

tin A verill
, Ayer B ab idge Bab son B ac on , , , , ,

Bab coc k B ad ger B agl ey B ail ey B ak er B al ch

, , , , , .

Ball B all ard Bancroft Barbe r Barker Barnard

, , , , , ,

Barnes Barney B arr Barrett B arth ol omew

, , , , ,

Bar tl ett B art oll B art on B assett B atchel der

, , , , ,

Bat es B atte r B attin B eadl e Bea] B e an Bear

, , , , , , ,

B ec k B eck et B eckfo rd Bel cher Belk nap B el]

, , , , , ,

Benn ett B ar ry Bes s om Be st Bic kf ord Bil es

, , , , , ,

Birch Bis hop Bisson Bixb y B l ac k B lackl y

,
”

, , , , ,

B lake B lanch ard B l aney Blas del l B l as hfiel d

, , , , ,

B l unt B l yth Boardman B odwell Bo ll es B ol

, , , , ,

to n B o nd Booth B o urn Bowden Bowditch

, , , , , ,

B owen Bowl es B owi man Boyce Boyd Boyn

, , , , ,

t on Br adb ury Br adf ord Bradl ey Bradstree t

, , , , ,

Br agg Bray Br eed B rewer Brick ett B ri dg eo

, , , , , ,

Brid ges Briggs B ri mb l ecome Britton Brock

, , , , ,

Brockl ebank Br ooks B rought on Browne , , , .

76 T HE WIT C H CRA FT D ELU S I ON

TH E E SS E $ ANT IQUARIAN

The w ork b egins with the e arl iest records of

E ss ex C o unty p arish t own and c o urt ; b irths , , ,

marri ag es and death s ; prob at e and d eed s

,

regis try etc The search is thorough and re

,

liable It is put up in thirteen vol um es in

.
,

strong and attr active binding and f ully index ed , .

Th e price for the se t co mpl ete is $35 .

E SS E $ C O UNTY V ITAL RE C ORD S

The publi c ation of these rec ords is pr ogressing .

They a re de rived from grave st one parish church , , ,

t own o l d Bibl e and private rec ords and end

, , ,

wi th the y ear 1 84 9 Th e foll owing l ist gi ve s the .

t owns now r eady the nu mbe r o f page s in each , ,

and the pri c e of e ac h :

An do ve r pp 9 66 B everly pp
, .
, , .

B oxf ord pp 274 Bradf ord pp , .

, , .

373 , Danvers pp 9 1 5 E ss ex pp , .
, , .

86, 9 5 ; H ami lt on pp 11 2
. H ave rhi ll , .
, ,

pp 827
. Ipswich pp
, , .

Lynn PP , Lynnfield pp 9 8
. , . ,

Ma nchest e r pp 296 M arbl ehead pp

, . , , .

1 31 5 , Methuen pp 34 5 M i d dl e , .
,

ton pp 14 3
, Newb ury pp
. , , .

N ewb uryp o rt in p ress ; Saugus pp 8 1 9 0;

, , .
, .

T ops fiel d pp 258 Wenh am pp 227

, . , , .
,
 RET URN T O th e l a tio n d e s k of a ny
c i rc u

Unive rs ity of C a li f o rni a Li b ra ry

or to th e

NO RT HERN REG IO NA L LIBRA RY FA C ILITY

Bl d g 4 00 Ric h mo nd Fi e l d S ta tio n
.
,

Unive rs ity of C a l ifo rni a

Ri c h mo nd C A 9 4 8 04 4 698
,
-

ALL BO O $ S MAY B E REC A LLED A FT ER 7 DAYS

2 -
mo nth l o a ns may b e re ne we d b y c a lli ng
( 4 1 5 ) 2
6 4 -
6 233
1 -ye a r l o a ns may b e re c h a rg e d b y b ri ng i ng b o o ks
to NRLF
Re ne wa l s a nd re c h a rg e s may b e ma d e 4 d a ys
p rio r to d ue d a te

DUE AS S TA MP ED B ELO W