Where were the witch trials

So when these widows turned to begging or becoming healers they faced criticism from both men and women in society who considered these women to be immoral, and as a result they were accused of witchcraft.

This lead many scholars to believe that the European Witch Hunts were not simply a religious movement but also an effort to maintain class and gender hierarchies in society. Many historians now argue that this social unrest led to accusations of witchcraft against these women for two reasons: they had become independent and taken on professions traditionally believed to be only male occupations; and they were challenging the gender roles of what it meant to be a woman in society.

It is estimated that between 40, and , people were executed for witchcraft during this time, making them far more gruesome than the Salem Witch Trials. Specific towns would have higher rates of witchcraft executions than others, and these townships tended to be in the Christian regions that were more likely to adhere to church laws.

One such example was Trier, a town located on the border between Germany and Luxembourg with an execution rate peaking at over people per year! Another superstition about witches was that they could create hailstorms during harvest time to destroy farms- this is because hail is made from ice droplets which fall upon plants in order to choke them out with frost.

They quite literally had to take the word of their superiors as the truth. The people who were accused of witchcraft in Europe during the 16th century could be any woman, man or child. The truth was that a witch hunt often starts with an accusation from someone out of anger, jealousy or vengeance- not because there had been any evidence for their guilt. Usually this would lead to these accusations being brushed off and ignored, but if the accusation had been made by an influential person in the town then it could have led to a witch hunt.

One famous example that demonstrates this is when two women were found guilty of witchcraft and burned alive in the small town of Wiesensteig, Germany. This was just one example that demonstrates the belief system during this time period. Another famous case is when a female healer named Anne Green also known as Mother Ann Lee was convicted for being a witch after she preached to her followers about equality. Of course, you were more likely to be accused if any of these actions were directed at someone influential.

Generally, the more influence your accuser had, the more likely you were to be convicted. Pike recorded most of the testimony given against Susannah Martin. Self-interest teaches everyone better. Pike was buried here after he died in at the age of Bradbury was tried and convicted of witchcraft in September but her execution was delayed and she was eventually released.

She was buried here after she died of old age sometime around or just prior to the year Privately owned land. John Proctor was the first male accused of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials. At the time, the Proctor family was living on this farm, where Proctor also ran a tavern called the Proctor Tavern, in what was then the outskirts of Salem Village.

The house and the farm are privately owned. Nathaniel Felton, Sr, was a neighbor of John Proctor. He came to the defense of John and Elizabeth Proctor and Rebecca Nurse in when he signed a petition calling for their release from jail.

At the time of the witch trials, Felton was living in this house in Peabody. The house was built in , making it the oldest house in Peabody. The house remained in the Felton family for over two centuries until when it was sold a wealthy shoe manufacturer named Joseph Smith. At the time of the witch trials, Felton, Jr. The house was built in and remained in the Felton family for almost two centuries until when it was sold a wealthy shoe manufacturer named Joseph Smith. Two memorial markers dedicated to Giles and Martha Corey are located here near the former site of the Corey farm.

Wilmot Redd was the wife of a Marblehead fisherman. She was accused of witchcraft in May of and brought to Ingersoll Tavern in Salem Village to be examined by a judge. Redd was found guilty in September and was among the last victims of the witch trials when she was hanged on September 22, The pond near the site of her home was later named after Redd. Built in , it is the oldest house in Marblehead and it is currently owned by the Marblehead Historical Commission. Elizabeth Howe was a woman from Topsfield who was accused of witchcraft in May of At the time she was living on this farm with her children and blind husband.

She was indicted on two charges of witchcraft and led to jail, probably either the Salem jail or a jail in Ipswich. The farm remained in the family for several generations. In , the former location of the Howe homestead on the farm was discovered by a writer investigating the history of the Salem Witch Trials.

The site of the homestead at the time was only a hole in the ground where the cellar used to be. The site was later excavated in Saltonstall resigned from the court in June of and was replaced by Judge Jonathan Corwin. After his resignation, Saltonstall became a prominent critic of the trials.

He was then accused of witchcraft himself but never stood trial. Saltonstall was buried here after he died in of a consumptive illness. Stoughton was buried here after he died in at the age of Rebecca Nurse was an elderly grandmother from Salem Village who was accused of witchcraft in March of At the time of the witch trials, she lived in this large house which then sat on acres of land.

Rebecca Nurse Homestead, Danvers, Mass, circa The house is the only home of a person executed during the trials that is open to the public. The house and farm were originally established in by Townshend Bishop when he was granted acres of land in Salem Village. In , Bishop sold the estate to Henry Chickering who then sold it to Governor Endicott in for one hundred and sixty pounds.

Endicott gave the farm to his son, John, in The farm stayed in the Nurse family until it was inherited by the Putnam family in In , the Rebecca Nurse Memorial Association purchased the house and 27 acres to preserve it.

In , the house underwent a renovation by the architect Joseph Chandler. In , a body believed to be that of fellow witch trials victim, George Jacobs, was moved to the Nurse family cemetery after it was discovered on the nearby Jacobs property.

In , the association gave the property to the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities. In , the Danvers Alarm List Company, a colonial history organization, bought the property to preserve and restore it to its colonial-era appearance. Since then, the company has been slowly restoring the building, removing modern fixtures, re-establishing the original land contour, building period fencing, and re-establishing the kitchen garden and orchard.

After the trials ended, the Parris family moved away and a new minister was appointed. It is not known what happened to the original parsonage, but by the 19th century the building was gone and the land was being used for agricultural purposes. During the 19th century and most of the 20th century, the exact location of the old parsonage was marked only by a small granite marker.

In , local historian and archivist Richard B. Trask excavated the site of the old parsonage and the site is now open to visitors. Sarah Osbourn was one of the first women accused in the Salem Witch Trials when she was accused in February of Osbourn never stood trial because she died in jail shortly after.

Sarah Osborne House, Danvers, Mass, circa 19th century. At the time of her arrest, Osbourn was living in this house, which was then located on Spring Street. The house was built sometime between In , it was moved from Spring Street to Maple Street.

Not much is known about the history of the house before or after the Salem Witch Trials except that it is now a privately owned home. During the time of the trials, Holten lived in this house on what is now Holten Street. The house was originally built in It was later also the home of Judge Samuel Holten, a physician, statesman and judge, who was a signer of the Articles of Confederation and served in the Continental Congress in the s and s.

George Jacobs, Sr, was an elderly grandfather living in Salem Village when he was accused of witchcraft in May of He was arrested at his house alongside his granddaughter, Margaret, who was also accused and was examined by Judge John Hathorne and Judge Jonathan Corwin. Jacobs was indicted on two charges of witchcraft and brought to jail.

At the time of the witch trials, Jacobs was living in a center-chimney farmhouse on Margin Street that he built in the late s. Jacobs was later found guilty and executed on August 19, Horne and her daughter were arrested in Dornoch in Sutherland and imprisoned on the accusations of her neighbours.

The last execution for witchcraft in England was in , when Alice Molland was hanged in Exeter. In Scotland, the church outlawed witchcraft in and 1, people were executed, the last, Janet Horne, in Witchcraft was a felony in both England and its American colonies, and therefore witches were hanged, not burned.

We have discovered that the lost lives of the accused witches were the direct result of the Puritan religious fanaticism of the day. Fanaticism in religion occurs when one goes beyond strict adherence to his or her faith.

It occurred in Salem when death resulted from closed minded adherence to religious teaching. This article was originally published in Elizabeth Purdy, Ph. Hoffer, Peter Charles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, Norton, Mary Beth. Roach, Marilyn K. New York: Cooper Square Press, Kluft, David.

Elizabeth R. Salem Witch Trials [electronic resource]. Other articles in Events. Want to support the Free Speech Center?

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