The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. The trials resulted in the execution of twenty people, fourteen women and six men, and the imprisonment, torture, or suicide of several others. The exact number of deaths related to the Salem witch trials is difficult to determine due to limited historical records and conflicting information. However, it is generally believed that twenty people were executed as a result of the trials. These individuals were accused of practicing witchcraft and were found guilty during the trials. Among the executed were fourteen women: Bridget Bishop, Sarah Good, Sarah Wildes, Elizabeth Howe, Susannah Martin, Rebecca Nurse, Sarah Osborne, Martha Carrier, Mary Eastey, Mary Parker, Alice Parker, Wilmot Redd, Margaret Scott, and Ann Pudeator.

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.

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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."

Wednesday's dedication of a memorial honoring those executed during the Salem witch trials draws a crowd to where researchers say was the site of the hangings. Stephan Savoia/AP hide caption

Wednesday's dedication of a memorial honoring those executed during the Salem witch trials draws a crowd to where researchers say was the site of the hangings.

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.

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"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.

Correction July 20, 2017

A previous version of this story said 19 people were hanged in mass executions. Only 18 of them were killed in mass executions.

• American History

The Salem Witch Trials of 1692

The Salem witch trials are a defining example of intolerance and injustice in American history. The extraordinary series of events in 1692 led to the deaths of 25 innocent women, men and children. The crisis in Salem, Massachusetts took place partly because the community lived under an ominous cloud of suspicion. A remarkable set of conflicts and tensions converged, sparking fear and setting the stage for the most widespread and lethal outbreak of witchcraft accusations on this continent.

Centuries after this storied crisis, the personal tragedies and grievous wrongs of the Salem Witch Trials continue to provoke reflection, reckoning and a search for meaning. Today, the City of Salem attracts more than one million tourists per year, many of whom are seeking to learn more about these events. The Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) holds one of the world’s most important collections of objects and architecture related to the Salem Witch Trials. From 1980 to 2023, PEM’s Phillips Library was the temporary repository of the state’s Supreme Judicial Court collection of Witch Trial documents. These legal records, which were returned to the Judicial Archives following the expansion and modernization of the Massachusetts State Archives facility, are available to researchers around the world on our website here thanks to a comprehensive digitization project undertaken by the museum. Through exhibitions, research, publishing and public programming, PEM is committed to telling the story of the Salem Witch Trials in ways that honor the victims and amplify the teachings of wrongful persecution that remain relevant to today.

The Salem Witch Trials Walk

This self-guided audio tour takes you inside the galleries and outside the museum to learn more about the infamous events of 1692. PEM curators and experts share a behind-the-scenes perspective of some of the most compelling stories in Salem in this 1 hour tour. Included with admission.

History and Origins of the Salem Witch Trials

English colonial settlers arrived in 1626 at Naumkeag, a traditional Native American fishing site, to establish a Massachusetts Bay Colony outpost. Most were Puritans who sought to purify the Church of England from Roman Catholic religious practices and build a utopian society. The settlers renamed the place Salem, after Jerusalem, the “city of peace.”

Over successive decades, waves of colonists arrived, changing the power dynamics in governance, land ownership and religion. By the 1670s, tensions between rural Salem Village (now Danvers) and the prosperous Salem Town flared. Contentions multiplied when Salem Village formed its own church and appointed a controversial minister. Changes to the colony’s charter and leadership, skirmishes with French colonists and their Indigenous allies, a smallpox epidemic, and extreme weather heightened concerns.

In January 1692, young girls in Salem Village reported that unseen agents or forces afflicted them. The minister suspected witchcraft. In the 17th century, a witch was understood as a person who agreed to serve the devil in opposition to the Christian church. On February 29, four men and four girls traveled to Salem Town to make complaints against three women. The next day interrogations began.

Notable Figures of the Witch Trials: The Accused and the Accusers

Learn more about the individuals who were involved in the Salem witch trials, both the accused and the accusers.

Historical research reveals a picture of Bridget Bishop (1632–1692) as a witty and independent, though quarrelsome, resident of Salem. Widowed twice, she was married to sawyer Edward Bishop. Attorney General Thomas Newton decided to put Bishop on trial first, perhaps looking for a strong case to set the tone for subsequent hearings. Accused and acquitted of witchcraft 12 years earlier, she may have been an easy target by association. Multiple accusers claimed Bishop’s specter was responsible for damages and afflictions. Their testimonies were the result of longstanding suspicions or misattributed gossip about Sarah Bishop—a different person entirely. No witchcraft allegedly perpetrated by Bishop was ever proven by the required testimony of two witnesses. Instead, the court relied on the spectral evidence claimed by the accusers, the only ones who could “see” the invisible world of demons. Tragically, this injustice against Bishop set the pattern for the remainder of the trials.

What little is known about Tituba is through her involvement in the witch trials. Documents refer to her as “Indian,” but it is likely that she was from an Indigenous community in the Caribbean, Florida, or South America. Reverend Samuel Parris enslaved Tituba and brought her to Boston and then Salem Village when he returned north from Barbados in 1680. Betty Parris, Parris’s daughter, and her cousin Abigail Williams identified Tituba as the perpetrator of their January and February afflictions, the first accusations of 1692. Tituba’s testimonies on March 1–2 confirmed for locals that a witchcraft conspiracy existed. In addition to confessing — undoubtedly under pressure — she accused Sarah Osburn and Sarah Good and said there were seven more witches, quickly widening the scope of the crisis. The court left Tituba to languish in prison until May 1693 when a grand jury rejected the charges brought against her. Shortly after, an enslaver, whose name is not known, paid her jail debts and released her to their ownership. The remainder of her life is a mystery.

George Jacobs Sr. (1620–1692) was born in London and was living in the Salem colony by 1649. As a country farmer suffering from arthritis, he used two canes to walk. He did not attend church regularly and had a reputation for a violent temper and defiant spirit. These facts — along with his son’s friendship with the Porter family, enemies of the powerful Putnam family —made Jacobs an easy target for early accusers. His granddaughter Margaret, who confessed to the charge of witchcraft, accused him. Then Mercy Lewis, a servant of Thomas Putnam, testified that Jacobs “did torture me and beat me with a stick which he had in his hand . . . coming sometimes with two sticks in his hands to afflict me.” His son and wife also contributed. In August, the court sentenced him to death.

Rebecca Nurse (about 1621–1692), Mary Esty (born about 1634–1692), and Sarah Cloyce (about 1641–1703) were sisters from the Towne family of Topsfield, Massachusetts. All three women were married with large extended families. Elderly Rebecca, a respected member of the church, was nearly deaf, which may have prevented her from defending herself fully in court. Dozens petitioned the court on her behalf. At first, the jury returned a not guilty verdict, but the judges asked them to reconsider. In a dramatic reversal, Rebecca was found guilty, condemned, and hanged. Mary put before the court two of the most eloquent, heartfelt petitions of the entire episode. The documents called for fair trials, exposed the flaws of the existing court, and proposed methods of getting to the truth behind the accusations. But they did not help her avoid execution. It is unknown how Sarah escaped the fate of her sisters. After months in prison, she was cleared. Sarah, her husband, and many members of the extended Towne family were among the first English settlers of Framingham.

Giles and Martha Corey: Both faced accusations by multiple people. In March, Giles testified against Martha claiming that she bewitched him and his farm animals. In September, when Giles refused to participate in his own trial, the court ordered him to be pressed under stones in order to extract a plea. He remained silent and died under the weight in the only death by pressing in Massachusetts history. Martha and seven other victims were hanged days later.

The Putnams, a well-established Puritan family, owned much of the land in Salem Village and supported the Reverend Samuel Parris. They were deeply involved in the witchcraft hunt, accusing and testifying against many community and extended family members.

Jonathan Corwin (1640–1718) was a merchant and political figure who held various positions, including serving as magistrate during the 1692 pre-trial examinations. Corwin lived in the house now known as the Witch House on the corner of Essex and Summer streets. Corwin remained on the bench until October 1692 when the governor officially disbanded the court of oyer and terminer. We do not know much about how Corwin felt about the trials because he spoke little during the examinations and never made any public statements. He never apologized for his role in the trials. His brother-in-law magistrate John Hathorne served as magistrate and one of Corwin’s children was listed as afflicted in Tituba’s examination in March. His mother-in-law Margaret Thacher was accused of witchcraft, but the charges against her were ignored and no arrest warrant was issued.

Born in England, Samuel Sewall (1652–1730) and his family emigrated to Newbury, Massachusetts, in the 1660s. A Harvard graduate, Sewall initially trained to become a clergyman. He later pursued a career in business, politics, and public service after marrying the daughter of a wealthy Boston merchant. His wife’s first cousin was the Reverend Samuel Parris. He derived significant income from real estate holdings in New England. Sewall was one of nine judges appointed by Governor William Phips to serve on the court in Salem to “hear and determine” accusations of witchcraft. These judges were respected, educated, and affluent members of the community, but none had formal legal training. While fulfilling his role as judge, Sewall took part in proceedings that sent 19 innocent persons to their deaths. In the aftermath of the trials, Sewall’s troubled conscience led to a change of heart and, in January 1697, he made a public confession of guilt, remorse, and repentance for the part he played in the trials and apologized for his role in the proceedings. For the rest of his life, Sewall observed a day of fasting as evidence of ongoing contrition. Sewall continued his judicial career for many years culminating in 1718 with his appointment as Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Judicature. Sewall is also remembered for publishing the first anti-slavery tract in America in 1700.

Blog Post The Salem Witchcraft Trials

People are still trying to determine why a court of law would have indicted, tried, found guilty, sentenced to death, and executed nineteen men and women in Salem village in 1692 for the alleged crime of witchcraft.

In the September 7, 2015 issue of the New Yorker, Stacy Schiff’s article, “The Witches of Salem: Diabolical doings in a Puritan village” says “In 1641, when the colonists established a legal code, the first capital crime was idolatry. The second was witchcraft. ‘If any man or woman be a witch, that is, has or consults with a familiar spirit, they shall be put to death,’ read the Massachusetts body of laws.” This law appears in the General Laws and Liberties of Massachusetts Bay, Chapter XVIII, “Acts Respecting Capital Crimes”, Section 2, in The Charters and General Laws of the Colony and Province of Massachusetts Bay .

In 1957, in Chapter 145 of the Resolves , a “Resolve Relative to the Indictment, Trial, Conviction and Execution of Ann Pudeator and Certain Other Persons for ‘Witchcraft’ in the Year Sixteen Hundred and Ninety-Two,” the General Court of Massachusetts issued a kind of apology to the descendants of some of the witches who were executed. It read “The General Court of Massachusetts declares its belief that such proceedings, even if lawful under the Province Charter and the law of Massachusetts as it then was, were and are shocking, and the result of a wave of popular hysterical fear of the Devil in the community. . .” Chapter 122 of the Acts of 2001 went on to name five other women who fit in the category of “certain other persons.”

Massachusetts Trial Court’s Essex Law Library can direct you to more information about the Salem trials, including a wealth of material from their own collection.

Douglas Linder’s Famous American Trials website provides An Account of the Events in Salem and a host of other links to information about the Salem Witchcraft Trials .

The Repentance of Judge Samuel Sewall for his Action in the Witchcraft Trials by Albert Herter, 1942 https://malegislature.gov/VirtualTour/Artifact/65

Among the executed were fourteen women: Bridget Bishop, Sarah Good, Sarah Wildes, Elizabeth Howe, Susannah Martin, Rebecca Nurse, Sarah Osborne, Martha Carrier, Mary Eastey, Mary Parker, Alice Parker, Wilmot Redd, Margaret Scott, and Ann Pudeator. Six men were also executed: Giles Corey, George Burroughs, John Willard, John Proctor, George Jacobs Sr., and John Proctor.

Trial Court Law Libraries

There are 15 Trial Court Law Libraries located across Massachusetts to serve the courts, attorneys and the public. We are here to help you with your legal information needs.

How many died in the salem witch trials

In the end, 25 people died as a direct result of the Salem Witch Trials. Let’s break down that number:

Nineteen victims were hanged. Most of the people found guilty of witchcraft were sent to Gallows Hill to meet their fate. This includes a Christian minister called George Burroughs. Burroughs holds the distinction of being the only clergyman ever to be convicted of witchcraft in American history. Burroughs recited the Lord’s Prayer at his hanging, which many thought impossible for witches to do.

September 22, 1692, was an especially deadly day in Salem’s history. Eight victims were hanged on the same day, and every single one of them was innocent.

Five victims perished in prison. Sarah Osborne was one of the first three people to be accused in Salem. She was already elderly when she was indicted. While waiting for her turn in court, she died in the chill of the Old Witch Gaol. (If you visit a Salem Witch Trials tour, you can still visit this jail and see precisely where accused witches like Osborne were forced to stay.)

One victim died by torture. Giles Corey, an 81-year-old farmer, was pressed to death under heavy stones while extracting a confession. When the court ordered that he plead guilty, he replied: “More weight.”

Salem – Site n Salem Memorial for Victims

Twenty-five needless deaths are too many. But all in all, it could have been MUCH worse… When the trials ended and the court disbanded, at least 150 other townsfolk were still awaiting judgment in the Old Witch Gaol. It’s a good thing they stayed in custody since nobody who reached that court was EVER found innocent. To listen to the complete stories of these accused “witches,” download the Salem Witch Trials Tours app today from the App Store or Google Play Store. This self-guided walking tour of Salem, MA, leads you on a path through the town and history.

These men were accused of supporting witches or being involved in witchcraft themselves. In addition to the executed, several other people connected to the trials suffered immensely. Many individuals were imprisoned, some for months or even years, while others were subjected to various forms of torture and abuse in an attempt to extract confessions. Furthermore, the trials had a lasting impact on the Salem community. Families were torn apart, reputations were destroyed, and fear and suspicion gripped the entire town. It took years for the community to recover from the tragedy and for the legal system to recognize the unjust nature of the trials. The Salem witch trials serve as a sobering reminder of the dangers of mass hysteria, misinformation, and injustice. The loss of innocent lives and the suffering endured by those accused highlights the need for a fair and rational judicial system, guided by evidence and reason. The events of the Salem witch trials continue to be studied and remembered as a dark chapter in American history..

Reviews for "Salem Witch Trials: Counting the Victims of Mass Hysteria"

- Emily - 1 star

I was extremely disappointed with "How many died in the Salem witch trials". I felt that the book lacked depth and failed to truly capture the essence of this dark period in history. It was filled with superficial information and lacked any in-depth analysis or critical insights. The author seemed to simply regurgitate facts without providing any meaningful context or interpretation. Overall, I would not recommend this book to anyone looking for a thorough understanding of the Salem witch trials.

- Benjamin - 2 stars

Although "How many died in the Salem witch trials" provided a basic overview of the number of deaths during the infamous witch trials, I found it to be quite repetitive. The book constantly reiterated the same facts and figures without delving into the underlying causes or the societal implications of these events. I was left wanting more in terms of analysis and contextualization. Additionally, the writing style was dry and uninspiring, making it difficult to fully engage with the content. Overall, this book fell short of my expectations and I would not recommend it to those seeking a comprehensive exploration of the Salem witch trials.

- Sarah - 1 star

I found "How many died in the Salem witch trials" to be an incredibly shallow and poorly researched book. It failed to provide any new insights or shed light on the true complexities of the witch trials. The author seemed more focused on sensationalizing the events rather than providing a nuanced understanding of the historical context. The lack of in-depth analysis left me unsatisfied and I had to turn to other sources to better comprehend the significance of the Salem witch trials. Save yourself the disappointment and look elsewhere for a more comprehensive examination of this dark period in American history.

Salem Witch Trials: Analyzing the Number of Lives Taken