We share highlights from our New England trip for The Thing About the Salem Witch Trials, including visiting key Salem Village and Danvers sites with our colleague Mary Louise Bingham, paying respects at the Danvers Witch Trial Victims Memorial, and standing together as descendants of Mary Esty at her home site. We reflect on places central to 1692, such as the Samuel Parris parsonage site, the meetinghouse replica at the Rebecca Nurse Homestead, Ingersoll’s Tavern property, Essex Street, the Salem 400 exhibit, Charter Street Cemetery, and the Salem Witch Trials Memorial. We also recount presenting at sold-out History Camp Boston on how English witch-hunting manuals shaped deliberate New England legal proceedings, and staffing a history and remembrance booth at the Connecticut Witch and Culture Festival with tribute cloth signings, remembrance ceremonies, volunteer presentations, and connections to World Day Against Witch Hunts and modern anti-witch-hunt advocacy.
Not all witch trials were the Salem Witch Trials. To truly understand the infamous Salem Witch Trials of 1692-1693, we must examine the broader context of witch hunting that swept through colonial America. This episode explores the extensive history of witch trials in British North America that preceded and influenced the Salem events, revealing how witch hunts affected dozens of communities across New England and beyond.
Key Topics Covered
The Context Behind Salem
Why Salem didn’t happen in a bubble
European influence on colonial witch trials
How English writings shaped Salem court decisions
The role of European witchcraft tales in accuser testimonies
Pre-Salem Witch Trials in New England (1647-1691)
Connecticut Witch Trials
Alice Young of Windsor – First execution, May 26, 1647
How the Goodwin children became the model for Salem’s afflicted
Witch Trials Beyond New England
Virginia
First accusation: Joan Wright (1626)
William Harding conviction (1656)
Grace Sherwood, “Witch of Pungo” – water ordeal trial (1706)
Maryland
Multiple accusations investigated
Rebecca Fowler execution (1685)
John Cowman conviction
Maine, New Hampshire & Vermont
Goody Cole trials across jurisdictions
Massachusetts Bay control influence
Salem’s Wider Impact
The 1692-1693 Salem Witch Trials affected numerous communities:
Andover
Boston
Maine and New Hampshire territories
Connecticut spinoff: Katharine Branch case (1692)
Episode Highlights
First witch trial execution in colonial America: Alice Young, 1647
Total colonial witch trial scope: Over 65 indictments across multiple colonies
Geographic spread: From Connecticut to Maine, Virginia to Maryland
Timeline: 45+ years of witch trials before Salem
Legal precedents: How earlier trials shaped Salem procedures
Resources & Further Learning
Check out the hosts’ companion podcast: The Thing About Witch Hunts for deeper dives into European witch trial history and modern witchcraft persecution worldwide.
SEO Keywords
Salem Witch Trials, colonial witch trials, New England witch hunts, Alice Young witch trial, Connecticut witch trials, Massachusetts witch trials, Goody Glover, Cotton Mather, Grace Sherwood, Hartford Witch Panic, colonial America witchcraft, pre-Salem witch trials, New England history, colonial justice system
The Thing About Salem podcast explores the real history behind one of America’s most infamous events. New episodes dive deep into the social, legal, and cultural factors that led to the Salem Witch Trials of 1692-1693.
