It is a common misconception that the people convicted of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials were burned at the stake. The convicted Salem witches were hanged by the neck by a rope tied to a tree. The victims were forced to climb a ladder that was propped up against…| History of Massachusetts Blog
As convicted witches, the Salem Witch Trials victims were not allowed a Christian burial in consecrated ground. As a result, it is not known where they were buried. After each victim was executed at Proctor's Ledge, their body was cut down and placed in a shallow grave in a rocky…| History of Massachusetts Blog
George Corwin was the high sheriff of Essex County during the Salem Witch Trials in 1692. He was the nephew of Judge Jonathan Corwin and Judge Wait Winthrop and the grandson of John Winthrop the Younger, the Governor of Connecticut. George Corwin was born in Salem, Massachusetts on February 26,…| History of Massachusetts Blog
John Proctor was a successful farmer and the first male to be named a witch during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Proctor was born in Assington, England on October 9, 1631. He immigrated to the Massachusetts Bay Colony with his parents, John Proctor, Sr, and Martha Harper Proctor, sometime…| History of Massachusetts Blog
The Rebecca Nurse Homestead is a historic house museum in Danvers, Massachusetts. The home once belonged to Rebecca Nurse, who was accused of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials, and it is the only home of a person executed during the trials that is open to the public. Rebecca Nurse…| History of Massachusetts Blog
Mary Ayer Parker was a widow from Andover who was accused of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials. Mary Ayer was born around 1637, most likely in England, to John and Hannah Ayer and later moved with her family to the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The family moved around the colony…| History of Massachusetts Blog
Alice Parker was a woman from Salem who was accused of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials. Parker was married to a fisherman named John Parker at the time of the Salem Witch Trials. The couple lived in a rented house, owned by Mary English, on English street in Salem…| History of Massachusetts Blog
The Salem Witch Museum is a popular attraction in Salem that discusses the history of the Salem Witch Trials. I first visited this museum about 10 years ago or so and recently decided to visit it again to write a review and see if they changed anything. (Disclaimer: This post…| History of Massachusetts Blog
In 1950, Salem resident John Beresford Hatch began a crusade to convince the British government to clear the names of the convicted Salem Witch Trials victims. Hatch first became interested in the Salem Witch Trials when he met Alfred Putnam Goodell, historian and owner of the Old Witch Jail and…| History of Massachusetts Blog
John Hathorne was a judge in the Salem Witch Trials and the great-great-grandfather of author Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hathorne was born in Salem on August 5, 1641, to William Hathorne and Anne Smith. He was the fifth of nine children. His father, William, was a local judge who came to the…| History of Massachusetts Blog
Ann Putnam, Jr, was one of the afflicted girls during the Salem Witch Trials and the daughter of the witch trials ringleader Thomas Putnam. Born on October 18, 1679, in Salem, Ann Putnam Jr, was the oldest of 10 children born to Ann Carr Putnam and Thomas Putnam, a sergeant…| History of Massachusetts Blog
The Salem Witch Jail, also known as the Essex County Jail, was a county jail where some of the accused witches were kept during the Salem Witch Trials in 1692. The building was located on what is now the corner of St. Peter Street and Federal Street in Salem, Mass.…| History of Massachusetts Blog
Rebecca Nurse was a 71-year-old grandmother and wife of a local artisan when she was accused of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials. Nurse was also the sister of accused witches Mary Easty and Sarah Cloyce and the daughter of suspected witch Joanna Blessing Towne. Born in Yarmouth, England in…| History of Massachusetts Blog
Tituba was a slave who worked for Samuel Parris during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. The various documents and books about the Salem Witch Trials over the years often refer to Tituba as Black or mixed race, but the actual court documents from her trial refer to her as…| History of Massachusetts Blog
