The Salem Witch Trials

Last updated: October 30, 2023

I’ve wanted to visit Salem since hearing about the Salem Witch Trials during my pre-teen years. Twenty years later, I explored New England and made sure Salem was part of my agenda while in Massachusetts. In case you’re actually normal and don’t spend your free time reading about seriously messed up murders, let me clue you in.

The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. More than two hundred people were accused. Thirty were found guilty, nineteen of whom were executed by hanging (fourteen women and five men). One other man, Giles Corey, was pressed to death for refusing to plead, and at least five people died in jail. As early as 2001, the Massachusetts legislature was absolving these victims.

A little bit more about Giles because I’ve always liked his tenacity and the way he went out. Back then, if someone was found guilty of a crime, their entire estate went to the government. Giles was a prosperous land owning farmer and had a family. He knew if he pleaded innocent, they would just find him guilty and the government would take everything. He was no dummy. He’d seen how these witch trials were playing out. Plead innocent and they find you guilty and you lose your estate. You get executed and your family goes to the poor house and has nothing because the government takes everything that belongs to you. Pleading guilty yielded the same result. Old Giles was smart. He knew that a person who refused to plead could not be tried. No trial equals no conviction and he stays in full possession of his estate. But here’s the rub; to avoid people cheating justice, the legal remedy for refusing to plead was to strip the prisoner naked and lay heavy boards on their bodies. Then rocks or boulders were laid on the plank of wood, slowly increasing the weight until the person pleaded either innocent or guilty. This was the process of being pressed.

So sure enough, Giles stands mute when they ask him if he pleads guilty or innocent and as a result of his refusal to plead, he was subjected to the pressing procedure by the Sheriff. Giles was steadfast in his refusal. In fact, he didn’t even cry out in pain as the rocks were continually placed on the boards. After two days, Giles was asked three times to enter a plea, but each time he replied, “More weight!”. The first time I read this, I cheered out loud. Like, you go Giles. I know this isn’t fair but you don’t let them take your crap and send your family to the poor house. You show ‘em.

It is unusual for people to refuse to plead, and extremely rare to find reports of people who have been able to endure this painful form of death in silence. However, Giles did it and died in full possession of his estate and his family received every dime. The government wasn’t able to take a single thing. I applaud you, Giles.

As far as how folks ended up standing trial, they were accused of the crimes by young females between the ages of 11 and 20. The mischief began when a group of girls accused Tituba, a slave from South America who had told them their fortunes, of witchcraft after they became mysteriously ill. Responding to increased attention, the girls expanded their credibility by producing a plethora of new evidence against accused witches and spreading the hysteria to neighboring towns.

Chief instigators included a twelve-year-old ringleader, Ann Putnam, and seven other girls. Encouraged by their elders and joined by some peers, the girls began accusing anyone they disliked or feared of being witches. In court, the girls submitted anecdotal evidence and exhibited strange behavior, including weeping, joking, jerking, barking, writhing, and screeching, to suggest that their accusers were using magic to attack them while on the stand. They even accused a FIVE year old girl, Dorothy Good, who was actually sent to jail for NINE MONTHS. #Crazy

I have been interested in the Salem witch trials for years and have studied them, watched documentaries, and heavily researched the hysteria, trying my best to understand how 20 people were executed based on the spectral evidence allowed in the courtroom. No matter how often I study it, it still baffles the heck out of me.

Spending the afternoon in Salem was so interesting for me to walk the same streets as Sarah Good, Rebecca Nurse and the other victims who were unjustly executed. Respecting their lives and what they went though at the memorial was sobering.

I’ve chalked it up to the teenage girls basking in the movie star status they received by being the accusers. I mean, they were carted from town to town to identify who was a witch and who wasn’t whilst all the townspeople were obsessed with them and who they would accuse next. It was their reality TV and the girls were the stars. I wouldn’t be surprised if people weren’t asking for their autographs. Oh, YOU’RE the ones who identify witches? I’ve heard so much about you! Wow, you’re here in our town??? They were basically worshipped. A secondary reason was due to the minister using these trials to his political advantage. You see, there were some folks who didn’t like him. If he was forced out, he’d lose his home and his salary. Golly gee, what do you know… the same people who wanted the minister out were the same families being accused. Hmmm. There’s so much to uncover here. I could honestly go on and on.

I’m so happy to have it this off my bucket list! The town of Salem definitely capitalizes on these tragic events. There’s a museum, people offering to tell your future, a Witch City Mall, potions and spell books… and of course I basked in it all and thoroughly enjoyed my day! Totally recommend visiting and would love to go back dressed in full witch gear closer to Halloween. As a bonus I found out Hocus Pocus 2 was being filmed (19 years later!!) and can’t wait for it to be released in 2022 so I can add it to my Halloween movie watching tradition. In case you need some Halloween movies, my two favorites are Hocus Pocus and Practical Magic.

What do you think about the Salem Witch Trials? I would love (and I do mean LOVE) to hear your thoughts and theory’s below. Also, share your Halloween movie recommendations in the comments below! I’m not a fan of gory horror (I will legit have my eyes covered asking you to tell me when the bloody scene is over), but if I REALLY need to see it, let me know!

If you’re interested, you can check out other things I did in while in Massachusetts, as well as my exploration of the rest of New England; Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Maine.