Bridget Bishop: The First Person Executed in the Salem Witch Trials

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Show Notes

Step into Salem in 1692 as we follow Bridget Bishop from her life in Salem Town to the courtroom that condemned her. She was the first person executed in the Salem Witch Trials, convicted on testimony about specters, poppets, an “unnatural mark,” and long-running neighborhood quarrels—despite insisting she had never harmed the accusers and did not even know them. We trace her documented history from England to Massachusetts, her three marriages, earlier accusations that faded for lack of evidence, and the legal machinery that made her case the opening death sentence for the Court of Oyer and Terminer. We also confront how Bridget has been misremembered, explore modern portrayals like Cry Innocent and screen adaptations, and highlight memorials, exoneration, and the living legacy of her descendants.