Show Notes
Dorcas Galley Hoar of Beverly, Massachusetts was one of the more dynamic characters caught in the 1692 witch hunt. An admitted fortune teller, Dorcas was no stranger to suspicion of witchcraft. For decades, rumors swirled around the woman and her children, who operated a theft ring in conjunction with the minister’s maid.
Accusations against Dorcas involved specters, familiars, the devil’s book, and murder. After a September 6 trial and a guilty verdict, Dorcas was sentenced to death on September 10. A late confession prompted ministers to submit an 11th hour petition to delay her execution, and she ultimately lived for nearly twenty years after the trials, passing at the age of about 76.
Chapters
- 00:00 Dorcas Hoar Introduced
- 00:34 Accused and Arrested
- 01:36 Salem Village Examination
- 04:13 Courtroom Spectacle and Dehumanization
- 08:59 Jailed and Sent to Boston
- 10:22 Early Depositions and Husband’s Death
- 11:58 Grand Jury Indictment
- 14:17 September Trial Evidence
- 21:55 Guilty Verdict and Death Sentence
- 22:22 Confession, Reprieve, and Survival
- 23:08 Aftermath and Legacy
- 24:19 Closing and Where to Follow
Links:
- Salem Witch-Hunt Facebook Page
- Salem Witch Trials History YouTube
- The Thing About the Salem Witch Trials
- Salem Witch Trials Daily
- The Thing About Witch Hunts
- High Quality Scans of Salem Witch Trials Records (Peabody Essex Museum Salem Witch Trials Collection)
- Bernard Rosenthal, ed., Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt
- Emerson W. Baker, A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience
- Marilynne K. Roach, The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege
- Mary Beth Norton, In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692
- Deodat Lawson, A Brief and True Narrative
- Samuel Willard,Some Miscellany Observations
- Thomas Brattle, Letter of Thomas Brattle
- Increase Mather, Cases of Conscience
- Cotton Mather, Wonders of the Invisible World
- Thomas Maule, Truth Held Forth and Maintained
- John Hale, A Modest Enquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft
- Robert Calef, More Wonders of the Invisible World