The Salem witch trials, which took place in the 17th century in colonial Massachusetts, resulted in the deaths of at least 25 people. The exact number is not known, as records from that time are incomplete, but it is estimated that 19 people were executed by hanging, one person was pressed to death, and several others died in jail or during the trials. The witch trials began in 1692 when a group of young girls in Salem Village claimed to be possessed by witches. The local community, driven by fear and paranoia, believed their accusations and an outcry for justice ensued. Over the next several months, dozens of people were accused and arrested on charges of witchcraft. The accused were subjected to a variety of tests and examinations, including the infamous "touch test" in which the person's body was prodded for signs of a witch's mark, a supposed indication of witchcraft.

Salem Witch Trials

The death toll was mounting. Three days after Giles Corey was pressed to death, eight more witches Corey's wife Martha among them were hanged, bringing the death toll to 20 (19 hanged, one pressed to death). Three people including Sarah Good's nursing baby had died in prison awaiting trial. At least 40 people had been jailed awaiting trial, several had escaped with the help of family and friends and many simply left the area until the storm blew over.

It was now six months from the time Elizabeth Parris started acting possessed and terror swept the colony. Along with their cadre of afflicted friends, Ann Putnam and Abby Williams were summoned to nearby Andover where they pointed accusing fingers at 50 more people, most of them strangers. Emboldened by their power, the Putnam women and several of the more precocious girls started accusing even more prominent people than the likes of Rebecca Nurse, Mary Easty and Martha Corey. They went too far when they accused Lady Phipps, wife of the governor and forced the ministers of Boston to step in.

Increase Mather had been publicly silent since June when he signed the ministers' letter urging the speedy prosecution of witches. In October, he delivered a sermon that was later circulated around the colony recanting his belief in spectral evidence. Having seen the chaos and bloodlust the witch-hunts had created among the people of Salem, he took a stand that contradicted the guilty-until-proven-innocent belief of the Court of Oyer and Terminer. "Better that ten suspected witches should escape than one innocent person be condemned," he wrote.

Mather's pamphlet, "Cases of Conscience Concerning Evil Spirits Personating Men," was extremely influential, especially in the office of his friend, the governor.

A week after Mather delivered his sermon, Thomas Brattle, Fellow of the Royal Society of Science along with such notables as Edmund Halley and Isaac Newton and treasurer of Harvard University wrote in widely circulated correspondence about his doubts concerning the fairness of the accusations.

"If our officers and Courts have apprehended, imprisoned, condemned, and executed our guiltlesse neighbours, certainly our errour is great, and we shall rue it in the conclusion," Brattle wrote to his now anonymous correspondent. "There are two or three other things that I have observed in and by these afflicted persons, which make me strongly suspect that the Devill imposes upon their brains, and deludes their fancye and imagination; and that the Devill's book (which they say has been offered them) is a mere fancye of theirs, and no reality: That the witches' meeting, the Devill's Baptism, and mock sacraments, which they oft speak of, are nothing else but the effect of their fancye, depraved and deluded by the Devill, and not a Reality to be regarded or minded by any wise man."

Brattle's letter made a profound ripple in the colony, and Governor Phipps forbade any further imprisonments for witchcraft. By the end of October, the ministers of the colony were calling for a day of prayer and fasting to consider the course the trials should take. On October 29, Phipps dissolved the Court of Oyer and Terminer. He did allow Stoughton to continue some trials in a Superior Court, but when Stoughton's juries brought in guilty verdicts, Phipps immediately pardoned the convicted witches. This infuriated Stoughton who held another session of the Superior Court in Boston in January 1693 but walked off the bench when no further witches were convicted. There would be no more trials. By May 1693 the furor had died down and Phipps ordered any suspected witches freed from Ipswich prison.

"Peoples minds, before divided and distracted by different opinions concerning this matter, are now well composed," he wrote to a friend before opening the prison gates. Over the next several years, families of the accused witches, especially those who had died either in prison or on the gallows, began petitioning the colony for restitution. Some were successful, others were not.

The Rev. Samuel Parris would continue on as the minister of the Salem Village church for several years, but in 1697 he was forced out of his position and left Salem forever. He had expressed great remorse many times for his role in the madness that took more than 20 lives and especially regretted the fact that the whole mess began in his own home. To greater and lesser extents, the afflicted girls also publicly expressed sorrow for their roles in the trials. In 1702, Ann Putnam the younger stood before the congregation of Salem Village and apologized for her actions. Dorcas Good, the 5-year-old daughter of Sarah Good, was released on bail shortly after her mother was executed but was emotionally scarred by the ordeal. Her father reported to colonial authorities years later that Dorcas was "quite chargeable" and not in control of her sensibilities.

Salem witch trials death toll

Picture a place where paranoia beats like a pulse. Where neighbors and families accuse each other of wrongdoing, communities gather for sensational trials, and scores of people lose their lives after being found “guilty” of being a witch. This was what life was like during witch trials.

The witch trials that took place in Salem, Massachusetts, from 1692 to 1693 may be the most infamous, but they hardly stand alone. Hunting witches and putting them on trial has a long, bloody history. And Salem actually pales in comparison to some witch hunts that took place abroad.

In 17th-century Spain, for example, some 7,000 people were investigated for being witches (in Salem, that number was just 200). Around the same time in Germany, as many as 2,000 people in the towns of Würzburg and Bamberg were executed for being witches (in Salem, 19 were executed).

Indeed, the Salem witch trials may be the best known, but they’re hardly the bloodiest, most extensive, or most notorious. Read on to learn about seven other witch trials from history.

The accused were subjected to a variety of tests and examinations, including the infamous "touch test" in which the person's body was prodded for signs of a witch's mark, a supposed indication of witchcraft. Witness testimonies and spectral evidence, which included claims that the accused had appeared as spirits to torment the afflicted girls, were often used against the accused in court. The trials were marked by widespread hysteria and religious fervor.

The “Explosive” Start Of European Witch Trials In Valais, Switzerland

Public Domain An illustration from 1451 depicting Waldensians as witches flying on broomsticks.

The modern-day witch hunt arguably began almost 600 years ago in the Swiss canton of Valais, best known today for its location at the base of the Matterhorn. Between 1428 and 1436, fear, paranoia, and death gripped this picturesque region during the Valais witch trials.

The trials emerged amid a fog of political and religious tension. The area had recently seen the rise of Waldensians (predecessors to Swiss Protestants), which drew the ire of Catholic authorities. At the same time, many people in Valais were shaken by recent rebellions, which put pressure on local authorities to enforce the law.

Things kicked off in August 1428 when delegates from seven districts demanded investigations into accused witches and sorcerers. The delegation agreed that if any one person were accused of witchcraft three times, they would be arrested. And in Valais, an arrest was as good as a death sentence. Those who confessed to being witches were executed, and those who denied being witches were tortured until they confessed — and then they were executed, too.

Public Domain Accused witches in Valais were sometimes tied to a ladder with a bag of gunpowder tied around their neck and then pushed into the flames.

The accused witches confessed to all sorts of wild things: basement meetings with the Devil, shapeshifting, the ability to fly on chairs, and, of course, curses and murders.

According to History Collection, most of the victims were male peasants. However, some were educated, and about a third of the accused were women. Despite their gender, occupation, or protestations of innocence, the estimated 367 victims of the Valais witch hunt (the true death toll may be higher) all met gruesome fates.

The lucky ones were decapitated. Others were burned alive. These poor souls were often tied to a ladder with a bag of gunpowder around their neck and then pushed into the flames, triggering an explosion.

How Many People Died During The Salem Witch Trials?

America's bloodiest witch trials began with accusations against just three women and grew to include a huge number of ordinary people, culminating in the deaths of many innocents. Today the executions carried out in Salem still serve as a brutal reminder of the terrible evils that can be wrought at the hands of a superstitious mob.

The trouble began in the small colonial town with the accusations of two young girls: 9-year-old Elizabeth Parris and 11-year-old Abigail Williams, both of whom came down with strange symptoms, including fits and odd outbursts. The town doctor diagnosed them with "bewitchment," according to History, and their bizarre ailments appeared to spread to several other young girls — and so too did the hysteria about witches.

Unfortunately, in the King Jame's Bible, Exodus 18:22 states "Thou Shalt not suffer a witch to live," a command 17th century people took particularly seriously. Over 150 people had to contend with accusations during the course of the Salem witch craze, including men, women, and small children. By the end of this dark saga, 25 people who were accused of practicing witchcraft had been killed or had died in jail, simply for being the victims of wild rumors.

People were quick to believe in witches, and anyone suspected of having ties to the devil was seen as a threat to the community. This led to a rapid escalation in the number of accusations and arrests. Additionally, tensions between different factions within the community further fueled the trials, as personal vendettas and rivalries often played a role in the accusations. The Salem witch trials eventually came to an end in 1693, when the accusations started to lose credibility and public opinion turned against the trials. The trials have since become a symbol of the dangers of mass hysteria, and a cautionary tale about the consequences of unchecked fear and prejudice. The exact reasons for the witch trials and the death toll that resulted from them continue to be subjects of debate and analysis among historians..

Reviews for "The Forgotten Victims: Rediscovering the Death Toll of the Salem Witch Trials"

- Lisa - 2 stars - The Salem witch trials death toll is a disappointing book that failed to deliver on its promise. The author's writing style was dull and lacked any excitement or suspense. The information provided was repetitive and lacked depth, leaving me with more questions than answers. Additionally, the book failed to explore the social and psychological impact of the trials, focusing solely on the death toll. Overall, I was unimpressed and would not recommend this book to anyone looking for a comprehensive or engaging account of the Salem witch trials.

- Mark - 1 star - I found the Salem witch trials death toll to be a shallow and poorly researched book. The author seemed more interested in sensationalizing the death toll rather than providing a balanced and unbiased account of the events. The book lacked the necessary historical context and failed to explore the role of religion and superstition in fueling the hysteria. Furthermore, the writing was convoluted and lacking in clarity, making it difficult to follow the narrative. Overall, I was disappointed and would not recommend this book to anyone looking for a nuanced understanding of the Salem witch trials.

- Sarah - 2 stars - The Salem witch trials death toll was a letdown for me. The book seemed to lack structure and focus, jumping from one topic to another without clear transitions. The author also failed to provide sufficient evidence or sources to support their claims, leaving me skeptical of the information presented. Additionally, the writing style was dry and uninspiring, making it hard to stay engaged with the content. Overall, I was hoping for a more comprehensive and well-researched book on the subject, and unfortunately, this was not it.

- Matthew - 2 stars - I was disappointed by the Salem witch trials death toll. The book felt rushed and poorly organized, with little regard for proper storytelling or historical accuracy. The information provided was superficial and lacked depth, leaving me wanting more. Additionally, the author's bias towards certain individuals involved in the trials was blatant and undermined the objectivity of the book. Overall, I would not recommend this book to anyone seeking a thorough or well-written account of the Salem witch trials.

Lost Lives: Investigating the Fatalities of the Salem Witch Trials