Mass. Lawmakers Consider Bill to Exonerate People Accused of Witchcraft Before Salem Trials
A Massachusetts House bill to exonerate eight individuals accused in the pre-1692 Salem witchcraft outbreak was presented with testimony from a Watertown historian supporting the measure.
The Witch Memorial in Salem, Mass dedicated to the victims of the Salem Witch Trials. It consists of 20 granite benches surrounded by a low stone wall.
Getty ImagesA Massachusetts House bill to exonerate eight individuals accused in the pre-1692 Salem witchcraft outbreak was presented at the State House with testimony from a Watertown historian supporting the measure.
Watertown author Marilynne Roach, who has researched the Salem Witch Trials, has written multiple books about the infamous Witch Trials in Massachusetts. She sought to find a way to give those found guilty some justice.
“A few months ago, I spoke with Rep. Steven Owens at one of his regular visits to the senior center to ask about getting a bill to clear the names of the people found guilty of witchcraft before the well-known Salem outbreak,” Roach said in a statement shared with Watertown News. “Needless to say, the verdicts were based on faulty evidence. Two of the eight cases have a Watertown tie-in.”
Owens introduced the bill and coordinated testimony before the Joint Judicial Committee on Nov. 25, with supporters presenting in person and via virtual statements.
“Although they are not alive and present after over three centuries to feel satisfaction at a reversal of the verdict that killed them, clearing their names is not only right, but would also give us, the living, a firmer ground to speak from when we deplore the actions of other nations, other cultures, (and some individuals in our own country) because witch persecutions are still happening, mostly (though not exclusively) targeting woman and children — victims who are scorned, incarcerated, and even killed — today, now,” Owens said in a statement.
According to Watertown News, if the act passes, it would clear the names of eight known suspects:
- 1648: Margaret Jones of Charlestown was a healer whose forthright style of giving advice jarred some of her patients.
- Between 1647 & 1651: Elizabeth Kendall of Cambridge (now part of Newton) was hanged for bewitching a Watertown child to death.
- c. 1650: Alice Lake of Dorchester was depressed over the death of one of her children. She denied being a witch but felt she deserved to die due to a failed abortion before her marriage.
- 1652: Hugh Parsons of Springfield, a man who frequently drew the ire of his neighbors, was accused of being a witch, along with his wife, Mary, who confessed to killing her own child.
- 1656: Following a quarrel, Anne Hibbins of Boston was tried and convicted of witchcraft. Her case was transferred to a higher court due to concerns raised by the magistrate.
- 1656, 1673, and 1680: Eunice Cole of Hampton (later in New Hampshire, part of Massachusetts) was known for her odd behavior. She was accused of shape-shifting and attempting to lure children. She was frequently tried for witchcraft but was acquitted.
- 1680: Elizabeth Morse of Newbury encountered poltergeist-like activity in her house, which caused an adult neighbor to experience unrest and visions.
- 1688: Goodwife Glover of Boston (her first name is no longer known) was a Gaelic- speaking Irish Catholic whose blunt tongue, when accused of stealing laundry from the Goodwin family, escalated into witchcraft accusations after the Goodwin children started experiencing convulsions and reported seeing demons.
