A BRIEF HISTORY
OF THE
SALEM WITCH
TRIALS

Salem was called Naumkeag
(fishing place) by the Native
Americans who originally inhabited
the locale.

1626: The first settlers move
from Gloucester.
1629: The settlers rename the
location Salem, for the Hebrew
Shalom, which means peace.

1641: Britain makes witchcraft a
capital offense.

1689: Samuel Parris becomes the
minister of Salem.
1691: Residents of Salem resent
Parris, who has denounced some of
them as greedy and unpuritan.
1691: The British Government
issues a new charter for the
colony which causes resentment and
tension.

January 1692: 3 women begin to
have fits and exhibit strange
behavior.
February 1692: Doctors are unable
to find a reason for the behavior
and suggest the women are under
the influence of Satan.

February 1692: Tituba, a slave of
Parris, bakes a cake, trying to
determine the name of whoever has
bewitched the women.
In turn, several girls accuse
Tituba, Sarah Good and Sarah
Osborne of witchcraft.
Arrest warrants for the three are
issued.

1 March 1692: Tituba confesses
that she works for the devil and
there are many witches in Salem.

12 March 1692: Martha Corey is
accused of witchcraft by Ann
Putnam
19 March 1692: Rebecca Nurse is
accused of witchcraft by Edward
and John Putnam (this is after
there have been a number of land
disputes between the parties)

23 March 1692: Four year old Dorcas
Good, the daughter of Sarah Good, is
accused of witchcraft.
A flurry of accusations fly in March
and April.

10 May 1692: Sarah Osborne dies
in prison.
27 May 1692: The Governor
establishes a special court to
hear the witchcraft cases.

10 June 1692: Having been found
guilty, Bridget Bishop is hanged.
The first, but not the last,
execution.

16 June 1692: Another prisoner
dies while in jail awaiting trial.
29-30 June 1692: Five women are
hanged.
23 July 1692: John Proctor writes
to the Boston clergy detailing the
torture being used to elicit
confessions and asks for the
trials to be moved.
They aren’t.

19 August 1692: 5 more people
are hanged.

19 September 1692: Giles Corey is
‘pressed’ to death, refusing to confess.
(If he confessed, the state would seize
his property—without a confession his
family kept it). His last words are “More
weight.”

22 September 1692: Eight more
people are hanged.
These are the last hangings.
In total, 20 people were
executed.
January 1693: 49 of the 52 people
still in jail are released.
May 1693: The last 3 are released
by the Governor.

14 January 1697: A day of fasting
and prayer for the victims of the
trials is ordered. One of the
judges apologizes for his role.

1702: The General Court declares
the 1692 trials illegal.
1711: The Massachusetts Colony
passes a bill restoring the rights
and good names of all accused and
allows 600 Pounds as restitution
to victim’s families.

1953: Arthur
Miller writes The
Crucible.
1957:
Massachusetts
formally
apologizes for
what happened in
1692.

Causes of the Salem Witch Trials?
No one can state definitively but
here are some of those postulated:
-A strong belief in the occult
-personal disputes and rivalries
-convulsive ergotism caused by
eating infected bread
-mass hysteria

Mass hysteria: a condition
affecting a group of persons,
characterized by excitement or
anxiety, irrational behavior or
beliefs, or inexplicable symptoms
of illness.

20 People were
executed as a
result of the witch
trials.
They are a warning
about getting
caught up in a
cause that goes
beyond the bounds
of reason.

Travel back in time to Salem, Massachusetts in 1692.
The year 20 people were executed as witches.
She’s there for the 21st victim.
She also returns to Salem on 22 September 1692, in
Equinox.
Lara’s Mission: Hallows Eve

31 October. Hallows Eve
1517
1692
1828
1941
1984
Zero Year
What do they all have in common?
A day when history stood in the balance.

Click on Image for links

www.bobmayer.com
About the author: Bob Mayer up in the Bronx, New York
City; graduated West Point, served in the Infantry
including leading a recon platoon in the First Cav
Division, and then Special Forces (Green Berets),
commanding an A-Team and other assignments. After
leaving active duty he studied martial arts in the Orient
and was brought back for numerous ADSW (Active Duty
Special Work) tours in Special Operations.
He’s lived on an island off the east coast, an island off
the west coast, in the Rocky Mountains, the hill country of
Texas, the first of New England, the Appalachians and
other places.
They haven’t caught up to him yet.
He is the New York Times bestselling author of over 80
books.