Hump Day Horror


 The Salem Witch Trials began in February of 1692, following fits experienced by children in the village, Elizabeth Parris and Abigail Williams.  A doctor concluded they were suffering from the effects of witchcraft, and the girls were pressured to name names.

On this day in 1692, Bridget Bishop was found guilty and was the first to be hanged.

She was not the first to be charged though.  That was Sarah Goode, Sarah Osborne, and Tituba.  As an enslaved woman from Barbados, owned by Samuel Parris, she was the presumed main culprit, with her "Haitian Vodou."  She was allowed to contest at trial, and she helped point fingers at others.

Bishop had been accused by more individuals than anyone else.  She didn't dress by Puritan standards, she had been married three times, and she was known to frequent taverns.

HEATHEN!

Many were found guilty based on the response of the "afflicted" during proceedings.  By October, the special court had been dissolved by the governor of Massachusetts, and sensationalized testimony was no longer allowed.  From there, convictions ceased, and those still awaiting trial were released.

19 men and women had been executed.

Giles Corey was infamously crushed to death, because he refused to enter a plea of "guilty" or "not guilty."  It took three days.


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