Salem Witch Trials Daily

June 29, 1692: Sarah Good Convicted, Rebecca Nurse Reversed, Susannah Martin GuiltyWe follow the relentlessly efficient Court of Oyer and Terminer on Wednesday, June 29, 1692, as Sarah Good’s trial concludes with testimony about threats, livestock losses, and spectral torment, ending in a conviction and expected death sentence. Abigail and Deliverance Hobbs are reexamined, describing a witches’ meeting in Samuel Parris’s field and alleging John Proctor urged afflicting others and brought a poppet and thorn. Rebecca Nurse finally faces trial after weeks in jail, with depositions from Salem Village figures and the afflicted countered by numerous defense witnesses attacking accusers’ credibility; the jury first finds her not guilty, then—after Chief Justice Stoughton sends them back—returns a guilty verdict and she is sentenced to die. Susannah Martin is indicted and tried the same day, convicted after accounts of strange animal behavior and uncanny incidents, while Elizabeth How is indicted by the grand jury for allegedly afflicting Mary Walcott and Mercy Lewis.00:00 Daily Overview June 2900:19 Parris Notes Infant Death00:29 Hobbs Reexamined Proctor Claim01:13 Sarah Good Trial Evidence04:07 Good Conviction No Mercy04:39 Rebecca Nurse Trial Begins05:51 Accusers Depositions Against Nurse10:37 Defense Challenges Accusers15:09 Verdict Reversed Guilty16:05 Susannah Martin Indicted Tried16:37 Martin Evidence And Verdict19:49 Elizabeth How Grand Jury20:03 Closing Day Summary

June 28, 1692: Sarah Good Convicted as the Court Targets Its Next AccusedWe take you inside the Salem townhouse on June 28, 1692, as the Court of Oyer and Terminer moves decisively against Sarah Good—three “true bill” indictments, a witness list packed with familiar accusers, and testimony ranging from spectral assaults to bound hands, vanishing objects, and dead cattle—ending in her conviction for witchcraft. Our story then turns to rare moments of resistance: Rebecca Nurse petitions for a new, qualified examination to challenge alleged physical evidence, while 94-year-old James How Sr. testifies to Elizabeth How’s long Christian character and pleads for judges to distinguish “prejudice and conscience,” even as her case continues to build. We also track the widening hunt with fresh summonses, new arrests including Mary Bradbury and Sarah Davis, and parallel Connecticut accusations involving Katherine Branch and Elizabeth Clawson.00:00 Court Convenes Again00:27 Indictments Against Good01:01 Witnesses And Evidence Types01:30 Spectral Attacks Described02:20 Bound Hands And Vanishing Objects02:58 Dead Cattle Accusations03:47 A Deposition Left Unused04:32 Nurse Petitions For Reexam05:52 Statement For Elizabeth How07:10 Next Targets And Arrests08:06 Day's Verdict Recap

Blue Fire in the Barn: Ministers, Spectral Afflictions, and the Elizabeth How Depositions (June 27, 1692)Blue flame erupts in a Boxford barn as a desperate “countermagic” remedy is tried on a ruined mare—one of the strangest depositions tied to accusations against Elizabeth How. We follow June 27, 1692 from Harvard College’s library, where Boston-area ministers revisit whether Satan can impersonate the innocent, to Salem Village, where spectral torment is reported against Rebecca Nurse and Elizabeth Procter. Our timeline tracks the tangled identity of two Elizabeth Booths, the escalating neighborhood dispute behind Mary Cummings’s statements, and the court machinery moving fast as Stephen Sewall issues witness summonses for Sarah Good and Susannah Martin ahead of the June 28 Court of Oyer and Terminer session. A rare counterpoint appears with Joseph and Mary Knowlton’s supportive testimony for Elizabeth How. Chapters: Harvard ministers debate spectral evidence (00:00); Nurse and Procter apparitions (01:05); Two Elizabeth Booths explained (02:10); Isaac Cummings’s mare and blue-burning tobacco countermagic (03:05); Mary Cummings depositions and neighborhood tension (06:10); Sewall’s summonses for June 28 trials (08:15); Knowltons testify for Elizabeth How (10:05).00:00 Ministers Meet at Harvard00:34 Afflictions in Salem Village01:12 Which Elizabeth Booth01:55 Cummings Depose Against How02:49 Countermagic and the Mare04:37 Mary Cummings Three Depositions06:41 Summonses for Upcoming Trials08:14 Testimony Supporting Elizabeth How

Welcome to Salem Witch Trials Daily for Sunday, June 26, 1692. I'm Josh Hutchinson.This is Sarah Jack. According to Susannah Sheldon's June 28th deposition, today, June 26, 1692, Sarah Good's specter, quote, "most violently pulled down Susannah's head behind a chest and tied her hands together with a wheel band and almost choked her to death." Susannah reports in the deposition that William Batten and Thomas Buffington Jr. had to cut the wheel band off of her hands because they could not untie it. A wheel band is a cord used with a spinning wheel that transfers energy from the foot treadle to twist the fibers into yarn and pull the finished yarn into the bobbin.

Spectral Evidence Challenged: Milborne Arrested, Neighbors Defend Elizabeth HowWe spotlight a pivotal moment in the Salem Witch Trials as Baptist minister William Milborne petitions Governor Phips and the council to question the use of spectral evidence, warning it could condemn the innocent and unleash “a woeful chain of consequences.” Instead of weighing his concerns, the authorities label the petitions “seditious and scandalous,” arrest Milborne, and require him to post 200 pounds bail to face the Superior Court—while accusers post no bond. Our focus then shifts to Ipswich, where Mary and Simon Chapman and Sarah, Daniel, and John Warner offer powerful testimony for Elizabeth How, describing decades of Christian conduct, fairness, penitence, and compassion, including her prayers for those accusing her. Chapters: Petition Against Spectral Evidence (00:00), Phips’ Response and Milborne’s Bail (02:10), Ipswich Witnesses Defend Elizabeth How (04:10).00:00 Daily Introduction00:08 Milborne Petitions01:02 Arrest And Bail01:24 Chapmans Defend How02:11 Warners Support How

June 24, 1692: A Neighbor Defends Elizabeth How as Procter’s Specter Targets Abigail HobbsWe return to Salem Witch Trials Daily for Friday, June 24, 1692, after a quiet June 23 with no recorded events. Our focus shifts to testimony from Deborah Hadley, a seventy-year-old Rowley resident, who says she lived near Elizabeth How for twenty-four years and found her to be a neighborly, conscientious, truthful, and Christian woman in life and behavior. In Salem, darker claims surface from the jail: the specter of accused witch John Procter allegedly harasses Abigail Hobbs, presses her to sign the devil’s book, and tells her she is better off afflicting than being afflicted—and that she will not be hanged. Abigail later testifies that Procter guided her hand to the book, urged her to afflict Ann Putnam Jr., and brought her a poppet and thorn used to harm Ann.00:00 Daily Intro00:06 June 24 Context00:22 Deborah Hadley Testimony00:38 Procter Specter Claims00:58 Devil's Book and Poppet

Stamford-Fairfield Witch Trials (1692): Skepticism, Petitions, and Split VerdictsWe head from Salem to Connecticut’s Stamford-Fairfield Witch Trials, where the General Court formed a Court of Oyer and Terminer on June 22, 1692, after a panic began in Sergeant Daniel Westcott’s home when his servant Katherine Branch suffered violent fits and reported visions of cats. Instead of rushing to prosecute, neighbors observed her, tried practical tests, and waited about five weeks—until a night of 40 fits ended with her cry of “A witch!” She accused Elizabeth Clawson, Mercy Disborough, Goody Miller, and Mary, Hannah, and Mary Harvey. Clawson drew strong support, including an 80-person petition and a clean body search, while Disborough faced extensive grievances and an examination alleging an “unnatural teat.” Both endured the swimming test, yet the court acquitted Clawson and convicted Disborough, who later received a reprieve after minister Gershom Bulkeley challenged spectral evidence and emphasized the need for corroboration. Westcott ultimately left Stamford for New Jersey.00:00 Connecticut in 169200:28 Katherine Branch Fits00:59 Skepticism and Testing01:36 Accusations Named02:12 Clawson Supported02:38 Disborough Accused03:11 Swimming Test and Verdicts03:43 Reprieve and Aftermath04:31 Closing and Next Episode

June 21, 1692: Jemima Rea Accuses Sarah Cloyce, Rebecca Nurse, and Faith BlackSalem Witch Trials Daily recounts reports from Tuesday, June 21, 1692, that the shapes of Sarah Cloyce, her sister Rebecca Nurse, and Faith Black assaulted 11-year-old Jemima Rea. A June 29 deposition by Sarah Stevens and Marjorie Pasque describes Jemima’s repeated fits and cries against the three, including claims that Cloyce pricked and pinched her and that Cloyce’s specter said the devil would not suffer her to be a witch any longer and that she had signed the devil’s book after leaving the meetinghouse. Jemima reportedly feared being made to afflict others and asked to have her hands held. Separately, testimony dated June 28 states Susannah Shelden’s hands were tied by Sarah Good’s specter at William Shaw’s home, amid household items being moved to an apple tree. The script clarifies “Goody Black” refers to Faith Black, not Mary Black.00:00 Daily Introduction00:08 Jemima Rea Afflicted00:47 Spectral Confessions01:14 Fits and Restraint01:35 Susannah Shelden Bound02:08 Mysterious House Pranks02:23 Clearing Up Goody Black

June 20, 1692: William Hubbard Testifies for Sarah BuckleyOn Monday, June 20, 1692, we share testimony from Ipswich minister William Hubbard in support of Sarah Buckley, arrested on witchcraft charges on May 14 during the Salem Witch Trials. Hubbard tells the court he has known Buckley for more than 50 years, since she came from England as a child, and says he never heard or observed anything in her behavior or conversation unbecoming a Christian. He emphasizes she was raised by Christian parents, admitted to the Ipswich church over 40 years earlier, and consistently lived in a manner suited to her profession of faith. Hubbard says he is shocked anyone would suspect her of the crime now charged, asserting her innocence.00:00 Daily Introduction00:09 Hubbard Defends Buckley00:19 Character Testimony01:10 Final Verdict

Salem Sabbath: Samuel Parris Preaches 2 Corinthians 1 (June 19, 1692)We take you into Salem Village on Sunday, June 19, 1692, when the Sabbath drew neighbors to the meetinghouse twice to hear Reverend Samuel Parris preach from 2 Corinthians 1. Although Parris’s loose papers with sermon details were later lost or destroyed, we follow the King James passage itself as Paul calls God “the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,” describing comfort in trouble and the calling to comfort others. We also trace the chapter’s focus on Paul’s conviction that God showed mercy by saving his life in what is now modern Turkey, grounding this Salem Witch Trials Daily moment in the scripture Salem heard that day.00:00 June 19 1692 Intro00:08 Sabbath Sermons00:18 Lost Notes Unknown Focus00:29 2 Corinthians Comfort00:47 Paul Saved in Turkey