Reading 12: Notes on Accusations of Witchcraft, 1692 and 1706

Accusations of Witchcraft, 1692 and 1706

• Two documents explore the hysteria and death in Salem, Massachusetts at the end of the seventeenth century.
  • First document: Sarah Carrier testifies that her mother forced her into witchcraft. Martha Carrier, the mother, was hanged a week later.
  • Second document: Ann Putnam recants her accusations twenty years after the trials.

The Examination of Sarah Carrier, 1692

• Sarah Carrier was questioned by Magistrates John Hawthorne and others.
  • Asked how long she had been a witch, Sarah said since she was six years old.
    • She was nearly eight years old, and would be eight the following November.
  • She claimed her mother made her a witch by having her set her hand to a book.
    • She touched the red book's white paper with her fingers.
    • Elizabeth Johnson Junior was present.
    • Aunt Toothaker and her cousin were also there.
    • This occurred when she was baptized.
  • Promises:
    • She was promised a black dog.
    • The dog never came to her.
  • A cat threatened to tear her apart if she didn't sign the book.
  • Sarah said her mother baptized her, and though the devil/black man was not there, her mother claimed Sarah was hers forever.
  • How she afflicted folks:
    • She pinched them.
    • She didn't use puppets but went to those she afflicted in spirit.
    • Her mother carried her to afflict people.
  • Her mother, while in prison, came to her like a black cat.
    • The cat told her it was her mother.
  • She afflicted Phelp's child and Elizabeth Johnson joined her.
  • She had a wooden spear about the length of her finger.
    • She received it from the devil.
  • She denied ever attending witch meetings at the village.

The Confession of Ann Putnam, 1706

• Ann Putnam desires to be humbled before God for the sad providence that befell her father's family around 1692.
  • As a child, she was used as an instrument to accuse several people of a grievous crime, leading to their deaths.
  • She now believes they were innocent.
  • It was a delusion of Satan.
  • She fears she contributed to innocent blood being shed in the land.
  • She claims that her accusations were not driven by anger, malice, or ill-will but by being deluded by Satan.
  • Specifically, she was a chief instrument in accusing Goodwife Nurse and her two sisters.
  • She desires forgiveness from God and those she has caused sorrow and offense to, especially those whose relations were taken away or accused.