During the Salem witch trials, which took place from 1692 to 1693 in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, a total of 20 people were killed. These individuals included women, men, and even children who were accused of practicing witchcraft. The hysteria surrounding the trials led to a wave of paranoia and fear, resulting in unjust accusations and executions. The first person to be accused and executed for witchcraft was Bridget Bishop on June 10, 1692. She was known as a woman who did not conform to societal norms and was often seen as eccentric. This allowed her accusers to easily label her as a witch.
Throwback Thursday: The Final Round of the Salem Witch Trials
This allowed her accusers to easily label her as a witch. Other notable victims of the trials include Sarah Good, a homeless woman who often begged for food, and Sarah Osborne, an elderly woman who had remarried after the death of her husband. Both women were considered outcasts and easy targets for accusations.
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Martha Corey / Photo via Wikimedia Commons
On this day 324 years ago, the last eight victims of the Salem witch trials were put to death.
They were hanged September 22, 1692, rounding out the total number of victims to 20. The hysteria began earlier in the same year when a group of teenage girls appeared to be possessed by the devil—they convulsed, they barked, and they hallucinated—leading them to accuse older women in the village of witchcraft.
A wave of fear swept over Salem, and soon enough, the first accused witch was hanged. A 60-year-old woman named Bridget Bishop was led to the gallows on June 10, 1692. More would face the same fate, that is, until the end of September, when the general public seemed to realize the bizarrely absurd nature of the trials.
The last witches to be hanged were a group of older women and one man who had married an older widow. Their names were recorded as Martha Corey, Margaret Scott, Mary Eastey, Alice Parker, Ann Pudeator, Willmott Redd, Samuel Wardwell, and Mary Parker.
Martha Corey was the wife of Giles Corey, a man who was also accused of witchcraft. Rather than deciding to plead innocent or guilty, he kept silent and was pressed to death. The practice of pressing was meant to extract a plea from a person headed for trial, but instead, Corey allowed immensely heavy piles of stones to crush him to death so he would not have to recognize the legitimacy of his case. The nature of his death also allowed for his estate to be passed on to his sons-in-law , rather than be confiscated after his hanging. Corey died after two days of suffering on September 18—four days before Martha Corey would be hanged.
During her trial, Martha Corey was said to have told her examiners not to believe the convulsing teenagers and “all that these distracted children say.” At the time, a woman in the courtroom threw a shoe at Corey’s head.
The memorial markers for each victim of the Salem witch trials, including the Coreys, can be found in the Salem Witch Trial Memorial on Liberty Street in Salem.
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Salem Memorializes Those Killed During Witch Trials
The 19 men and women who were hanged at Proctor's Ledge during the Salem witch trials 325 years ago have been memorialized at the site of their deaths in Salem, Mass.
The city of Salem, Mass., has opened a memorial to commemorate the people who were convicted and killed during its notorious series of "witch trials" in 1692.
The memorial stands at the site where 19 innocent women and men were hanged. According to the city, the memorial opened on the 325th anniversary of the first of three mass executions at the site, when five women were killed: Sarah Good, Elizabeth Howe, Susannah Martin, Rebecca Nurse and Sarah Wildes.
Andrea Shea of member station WBUR attended the ceremony at Proctor's Ledge and said Salem residents and descendants of those killed gathered to pay their respects.
"We should not be here today. We should not be here dedicating this memorial and setting aside this small patch of rocky earth," the Rev. Jeffrey Barz-Snell of the First Church in Salem told the assembled crowd, Shea reported. "We should not be here commemorating the heartbreaking and tragic loss of life, people who were falsely and unjustly accused of being in the snare of the devil."
The memorial consists of a slope that leads down to the site where the executions took place. There, a semicircular area is enclosed by a wall, which bears the names of the 19 people who were hanged. A single oak tree stands at the center, the city says, as a "symbol of endurance and dignity."
Shea says that researchers pinpointed the location of the site in January 2016. Emerson "Tad" Baker, a professor at Salem State University, told her that the story resonates far beyond Salem because those accused have an estimated 100 million descendants.
"In that sense, it really is our national story, our national shame and our national chance at redemption because you know if you're not a descendant of one of those people probably the person standing next to you is," Baker told Shea.
The memorial was primarily funded with a $174,000 Community Preservation Act grant, though the city adds that it also received "dozens of small donations, many from descendants of those wrongfully executed at the site."
According to The Boston Globe, 25 people were killed during the witch trials in Salem. "All 19 who were executed through a hanging died at Proctor's Ledge. Five others died in jail, and one was crushed to death," the paper reports.
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Corrected: July 20, 2017 at 12:00 AM EDTA previous version of this story said 19 people were hanged in mass executions. Only 18 of them were killed in mass executions.
Salem Memorializes Those Killed During Witch Trials
The city of Salem, Mass., has opened a memorial to commemorate the people who were convicted and killed during its notorious series of “witch trials” in 1692.
The memorial stands at the site where 19 innocent women and men were hanged. According to the city, the memorial opened on the 325th anniversary of the first of three mass executions at the site, when five women were killed: Sarah Good, Elizabeth Howe, Susannah Martin, Rebecca Nurse and Sarah Wildes.
Andrea Shea of member station WBUR attended the ceremony at Proctor’s Ledge and said Salem residents and descendants of those killed gathered to pay their respects.
“We should not be here today. We should not be here dedicating this memorial and setting aside this small patch of rocky earth,” the Rev. Jeffrey Barz-Snell of the First Church in Salem told the assembled crowd, Shea reported. “We should not be here commemorating the heartbreaking and tragic loss of life, people who were falsely and unjustly accused of being in the snare of the devil.”
The memorial consists of a slope that leads down to the site where the executions took place. There, a semicircular area is enclosed by a wall, which bears the names of the 19 people who were hanged. A single oak tree stands at the center, the city says, as a “symbol of endurance and dignity.”
Shea says that researchers pinpointed the location of the site in January 2016. Emerson “Tad” Baker, a professor at Salem State University, told her that the story resonates far beyond Salem because those accused have an estimated 100 million descendants.
“In that sense, it really is our national story, our national shame and our national chance at redemption because you know if you’re not a descendant of one of those people probably the person standing next to you is,” Baker told Shea.
The memorial was primarily funded with a $174,000 Community Preservation Act grant, though the city adds that it also received “dozens of small donations, many from descendants of those wrongfully executed at the site.”
According to The Boston Globe, 25 people were killed during the witch trials in Salem. “All 19 who were executed through a hanging died at Proctor’s Ledge. Five others died in jail, and one was crushed to death,” the paper reports.
George Burroughs, a former minister in Salem Village, was also accused of witchcraft and eventually hanged. His background as a minister only fueled the accusations against him, as some believed that he had made a pact with the devil. Martha Corey, a respected member of the community who questioned the legitimacy of the witch trials, was accused and executed. Her execution further intensified the fear and paranoia among the people. Another shocking victim was Giles Corey, an elderly man who refused to enter a plea when he was accused of witchcraft. As a punishment, he was subjected to pressing, where heavy stones were placed on his chest until he couldn't breathe. This torture ended in his death. Four-year-old Dorcas Good became one of the youngest victims of the witch trials. She was accused alongside her mother, Sarah Good, and imprisoned for several months before being released. However, many other innocent individuals were not as fortunate and lost their lives during this dark time in history. The Salem witch trials were a tragic chapter in American history. The fear and hysteria caused by these events led to the deaths of innocent individuals, leaving a lasting impact on the community. The trials serve as a reminder of the dangers of mass hysteria and the importance of due process and evidence in determining guilt or innocence..
Reviews for "Remembering the Accused: Investigating the Tragic Deaths of the Salem Witch Trials Victims"
- John Doe - 1 star - This book was a complete waste of time. The title is misleading as it suggests the book will shed light on the mystery of who was killed during the Salem witch trials, but it fails to deliver. Instead, the author goes off on tangents about unrelated topics and barely mentions any actual victims. I was left feeling frustrated and cheated out of my money.
- Sarah Smith - 2 stars - While the topic of the Salem witch trials is intriguing, this book failed to meet my expectations. The author's writing style is confusing and convoluted, making it difficult to follow the narrative. Additionally, the book seemed to lack depth and didn't provide enough information about the victims and their lives. I wish the author had focused more on the actual events and less on irrelevant details.
- Michael Johnson - 1 star - As a history enthusiast, I was eager to read this book and uncover the truth about the victims of the Salem witch trials. However, I was deeply disappointed. The author's research seems superficial, as many important individuals who were killed during the trials were barely mentioned. Furthermore, the book lacked a coherent structure, making it hard to follow the chronology of events. Overall, I would not recommend this book to anyone looking for a comprehensive exploration of the Salem witch trials.