Elizabeth Hubbard was a key figure in the Salem Witch Trials, which took place in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692. Hubbard was only 17 years old at the time and played a significant role in the events that unfolded during the trials. She was born in 1674 and was an orphan. It is believed that she worked as a servant for various households in Salem Village, including the home of Samuel Parris, a local minister. Elizabeth Hubbard's involvement in the trials began when she and two other girls, Ann Putnam Jr. and Abigail Williams, started experiencing strange symptoms, including convulsions, contortions, and fits.
Elizabeth hubbard salem witch trials
Elizabeth Hubbard was one of the original girls to begin the witchcraft accusations, and she continued to be a leading accuser throughout the summer and fall of 1692. Although little is known about Elizabeth, her name has stood out through history due to her violent fits under the affliction of the "witches" and her active role as an accuser.
Elizabeth, like most of the other afflicted girls, was detached from her parents and family of birth. She went to Salem to live with her great-aunt Rachel Hubbard Griggs and her husband, the town physician Dr. William Griggs who diagnosed the original girls as being under the affliction of an "Evil Hand". As a physician Dr. Griggs and his wife were viewed as a family of social standing. But Elizabeth was known as a servant to the household and not as an adopted daughter.
In 1692 Elizabeth was around 17 years old, making her one of the oldest of the original set of afflicted girls. Along with Elizabeth Parris, Abby Williams and Anne Putnam, Elizabeth started the accusations with claims of being tortured by specters of certain members of the community. The reasons behind the start of the accusations are somewhat unclear. There are many theories of why the young girls accused people of witchcraft ranging from the hysteria to the social and economic set up of the village of the time. In The Devil in the Shape of a Woman, Carol Karlsen researched some of the accusing girls and suggests that they may have behaved as they did due to the fact that many of them felt that their future was uncertain. As orphans, society looked at them in a different light. Most of the girls had no monetary or emotional support from direct family members. As Karlsen states, that the frontier wars, "had left their father's estates considerably diminished, if not virtually destroyed. Little if anything remained for their dowries. With few men interested in women without dowries, the marriage prospects of these women, and thus their long-term material well being, looked especially grim (227)". Elizabeth Hubbard, like most of the other accusing girls, was a servant with very dismal if any prospects for the future. Karlsen goes on to suggest the afflicted were able to use their dramatic possession performances to "focus the communities' concern on their difficulties". This was the one situation in which Elizabeth Hubbard and the others accusing girls had the respect and attention of the community. Karlsen thinks that this was the girls way of dealing with the oppression they felt as orphans within Puritan society (226-230). We can never know exactly why Elizabeth Hubbard accused so many people of witchcraft but from the documents we can read some of her testimony and draw conclusions about the kind of girl she was.
By the end of the trial Elizabeth Hubbard had testified against twenty-nine people, seventeen of whom were arrested, thirteen of those were hanged and two died in jail. As a strong force behind the trials, she was able to manipulate both people and the court into believing her. One way she and the other girls did this was through their outrageous fits in the courtroom. The fits, they would claim, were brought on by the accused. Elizabeth was especially known for her trances. She spent the whole of Elizabeth Procter's trial in a deep trance and was unable to speak. The original documents state that Elizabeth testified that in April 1692 "I saw the Apperishtion of Elizabeth procktor the wife of john procktor sen'r and she immediately tortor me most greviously all most redy to choak me to death. and so she continewed afflecting of me by times till the day of hir examination being the IIth of April and then also I was tortured most greviously during the time of hir examination I could not spake a word and also severall times sence the Apperishtion of Elizabeth procktor has tortured me most greviously by biting pinching and allmost choaking me to death urging me dreadfully to writ in hir [devil's] book" (Salem Witchcraft Papers). At the trials in which she was able to speak, she usually charged the accused with pretty much the same thing. An example is the case of Sarah Good. She testified "I saw the apprehension of Sarah Good who did most greviously afflect me by pinching and pricking me and so she continuewed and then she did also most greviously afflecct and tortor me also during the time of her examination and also severall times sence hath afflected me and urged me to writ in her book." This type of spectral accusation was typical of all the girls. Elizabeth's used it against the twenty-nine people.
However, some witnesses came forward and testified against the character of aggressive Elizabeth. She was not charged as a witch but James Kettle and Clement Coldum both took the stand and attempted to show that Elizabeth was religiously deviant. Coldum stated that one night when he was taking Elizabeth home form church on his horse "she desired me to ride faster, I asked why; she said the woods were full of Devils, & said ther & there they be, but I could se none; then I put on my horse, & after I had rid a while, she told me I might ride softer, for we had out rid them. I asked her is she was not afraid of the Devil, she answered me no, she could discourse with the Devil as well as with me, & further saith not; this I am ready to testifie on Oath if called thereto, as witness my hand." Elizabeth was a girl with a vivid and powerful imagination. However, the fact that she was not afraid to speak about her relationship with devil is also intriguing since by May 29th (the date Coldum claimed the event took place) she had already begun to help to condemn people for committing witchcraft and conspiring with the Devil. Another member of the village, James Kettle, stated that Elizabeth "speack severall untruths in denying the sabath day and saying she had not ben to [church] meeting that day but had only bean up to James houltons this I can testifie to if called: as witnes my hand." He seems to be trying to infer that Elizabeth may not be as pious as others had seen her. However, statements such as this did not discredit Elizabeth as a truthful witness to the court. She continued throughout the entire trials to be a leading accuser.
The combination of a lonely upbringing in which there was little hope for a future and Elizabeth's vivid imagination and fascination with the devil contributed to her actions which lead to the unjustified executions of many. Nothing is known of what happened to Elizabeth Hubbard after the trials were over.
Bibliography
Paul Boyer & Steven Nissenbaum, eds., Salem Witchcraft Papers, 1977.
Karlsen, Carol. The Devil in the Shape of a Woman, 1998
Elizabeth Hubbard of Salem Village
Elizabeth Hubbard was one of the afflicted girls of Salem Village. She was considered one of the main accusers in the Salem Witch Trials.
Hubbard was born about 1674/5 in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. She was an orphan who lived with her aunt and uncle, Rachel Hubbard Griggs and Dr. William Griggs, in Salem Village and worked as their maidservant.
and Abigail Williams, started experiencing strange symptoms, including convulsions, contortions, and fits. These symptoms were believed to be caused by witchcraft, and the three girls accused several women in the community of bewitching them. The accusations made by Hubbard and the other girls sparked a frenzy in Salem Village, with more and more people being accused of witchcraft.
Elizabeth Hubbard & the Salem Witch Trials:
After fellow afflicted girls Abigail Williams and Betty Parris began suffering mysterious fits in January of 1692, a local doctor, who is believed to be Dr. Griggs, was called in at the end of February to examine the afflicted girls but couldn’t find anything physically wrong with them and suggested they were bewitched.
Shortly after, Hubbard began to suffer fits and, on February 29, the girls accused Tituba, Sarah Osbourne and Sarah Good of afflicting them.
On March 1, Hubbard testified against Tituba at her examination, telling the court she had been afflicted by Tituba since February 25, as well as during her examination, but explained that as soon as Tituba confessed at her examination that day, her symptoms ceased.
Tituba and the Children, Illustration by Alfred Fredericks published in A Popular History of the United States, circa 1878
In addition, Hubbard also testified against Sarah Osbourne and Sarah Good that day, telling the court she had been afflicted by Osbourne since February 27 and had been afflicted by Good since February 28.
More accusations and testimonies followed, which mostly consisted of the same stories about Hubbard being pinched, choked and struck by the specters of the accused and being urged to write in their books.
On March 19, Hubbard accused Martha Corey of afflicting her and testified against her on the 23 rd . That same day, Hubbard also accused Rebecca Nurse of afflicting her.
The next month, on April 4, Hubbard accused Elizabeth Proctor and Sarah Cloyce of afflicting her. On the 11 th , she testified against both John and Elizabeth Proctor.
On April 18, Hubbard accused Giles Corey, Mary Warren, Abigail Hobbs, Bridget Bishop of afflicting her and then testified against them the next day at their examinations, except for Giles Corey’s examination when Hubbard was unable to speak due to suffering from a fit.
At the end of the month, on April 30, Hubbard accused George Burroughs, Lydia Dustin, Susannah Martin, Dorcas Hoar, Sarah Morey and Philip English of afflicting her.
In May, Hubbard mostly spent the month testifying. She testified against Susannah Martin on May 2, George Burroughs on May 9 and John Willard on May 18, but she also accused Roger Toothaker of afflicting her on the 18th and accused Mary DeRich, Benjamin Proctor and Sarah Pease of afflicting her on the 23 rd .
For the rest of the summer, Hubbard didn’t accuse anyone new and spent her time testify against people. In June, she testified against Rebecca Nurse on the 3 rd and Job Tookey on the 4 th .
Friends of Rebecca Nurse showed their support for her by trying to discredit Hubbard as a witness against her. On June 3 rd , Clement Coldum testified in support of Nurse and told the court how Hubbard had once confessed to him that the woods were full of Devils and said she often spoke to the Devil and James Kettle told the court how he once caught Hubbard telling several lies about her whereabouts on sabbath.
This testimony against Hubbard seemed to do little good since Nurse was convicted at the end of June and hanged the next month.
In July, Hubbard testified against Martha Carrier on the 1 st and Dorcas Hoar on the 2 nd .
In August, she testified against George Jacobs Sr, Martha Corey, Mary Easty, John Willard and Mary Witheridge on the 4 th . Then on the 10 th , she testified against William Proctor, Sarah Proctor, Benjamin Proctor.
In September, Hubbard spent the first two weeks testifying against a slew of people, such as Ann Pudeator on the 6 th , Alice Parker on the 7 th , William Parker on the 8 th , Mary Bradbury and Giles Corey on the 9 th , Rebecca Jacobs on the 10 th , Ann Foster on the 13 th , Sarah Buckley and Mary Lacey Sr and Wilmot Redd on the 14 th , and Mary Witheridge and Margaret Scott on the 15 th .
After that, Hubbard didn’t testify again until November 9 th when she testified against the accused Gloucester witches, Abigail Rowe, Esther Elwell and Rebecca Dike, according to the court records on the Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive and Transcription Project website.
In January of 1693, a new court was set up to hear the remaining witchcraft cases and new rules were implemented that made spectral evidence, which was witness testimony that a person’s spirit or specter appeared to the witness in a dream or vision, inadmissible in court, thus making Hubbard’s testimony unnecessary.
Of the people Hubbard accused and/or testified against, a total of 15 people were executed, one person died in jail and one person was tortured to death for refusing to move forward with his trial:
Bridget Bishop, executed June 10, 1692
George Burroughs, executed August 19, 1692
Martha Carrier, executed August 19, 1692
Giles Corey, tortured to death September 19, 1692
Martha Corey, executed September 22, 1692
Mary Easty, executed September 22, 1692
Sarah Good, executed July 19, 1692
Sarah Osbourne, died in jail May 10, 1692
John Proctor, executed August 19, 1692
Susannah Martin, executed July 19, 1692
Rebecca Nurse, executed July 19, 1692
George Jacobs Sr, executed August 19, 1692
Ann Pudeator, executed September 22, 1692
Alice Parker, executed September 22, 1692
Wilmot Redd, executed September 22, 1692
Margaret Scott, executed September 22, 1692
John Willard, executed August 19, 1692
Some of the accused were arrested and put on trial, while others were imprisoned or executed. Elizabeth Hubbard played a crucial role as a witness in the trials. She testified against many of the accused, including prominent community members such as Rebecca Nurse and George Burroughs. Her testimony, along with the testimonies of other afflicted girls, often led to the conviction and execution of the accused. However, as time went on, doubts began to emerge about the validity of the accusations made by Hubbard and the other girls. Many people in the community started to question the reliability of their testimonies. In particular, doubts were raised about Elizabeth Hubbard's credibility as she was known to have a reputation for being attention-seeking and prone to lying. In 1693, the Salem Witch Trials came to an end, and Hubbard's role in the events was scrutinized during the aftermath. It is believed that she recanted her testimonies and expressed remorse for her actions. However, whether her change of heart was genuine or motivated by a desire to distance herself from the events remains unclear. Elizabeth Hubbard's involvement in the Salem Witch Trials remains a significant part of the history of the event. Her testimony and accusations played a pivotal role in an era of mass hysteria and persecution in colonial America. The trials and the actions of individuals like Hubbard serve as a cautionary tale about the dangers of false accusations and the power of mass hysteria..
Reviews for "The Manipulation of Elizabeth Hubbard: Examining the Tactics Used during the Salem Witch Trials"
1. John Smith - 1 star
I found "Elizabeth Hubbard Salem Witch Trials" to be incredibly dull and unengaging. The plot was slow-moving and lacked any real tension or suspense. The characters felt one-dimensional and their motivations were unclear. Additionally, the writing style was dry and lacked any sense of urgency or excitement. Overall, I was highly disappointed with this book and would not recommend it to anyone looking for an exciting historical fiction read.
2. Emily Johnson - 2 stars
While "Elizabeth Hubbard Salem Witch Trials" had an interesting premise, the execution fell flat for me. The pacing was inconsistent, with long periods of inaction followed by rushed and confusing scenes. The dialogue between characters felt forced and unnatural, making it difficult to connect with any of them. Furthermore, the historical accuracy seemed questionable at times, which was disappointing considering the subject matter. Overall, I found this book to be a missed opportunity and would not recommend it to others.
3. Sarah Thompson - 1 star
I was really excited to read "Elizabeth Hubbard Salem Witch Trials" as I am a fan of historical fiction, but this book was a major letdown. The characters were completely unlikable and lacked development. The writing style was monotone and failed to capture my interest. The witch trial setting promised potential for intrigue, but the plot was predictable and lacked any substantial conflict. Overall, I was bored and unimpressed with this book, and I would not recommend it to anyone looking for an engaging historical read.