The Thing About the Salem Witch Trials

In our April 1, 1692 episode of Salem Witch Trials Daily, we explore how the afflictions continue to mislead people in Salem and nearby communities through the reported testimony of Mercy Lewis. We recount her vivid description of being taken to a “glorious place” filled with light, where she saw a multitude in white robes singing from Revelation 5:9, Psalm 110, and Psalm 149—passages we connect to the religious climate of the moment, including Samuel Parris’s recent focus on Psalm 110. We also follow Mercy’s reluctance to leave the vision and discuss Deodat Lawson’s report that a recurring “white man” foretold the timing of future fits, which he claimed happened as predicted.

00:00 April Fools Intro

00:30 Mercy Lewis Vision

01:02 Revelation New Song

01:20 Psalm 110 Footstool

02:09 Parris Sermon Context

02:28 Psalm 149 Vengeance

03:19 Lawson Closing Note

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The Thing About Witch Hunts / About Salem YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCliis4vjMIUgg3wcA0pXeYQ/

⁠Salem Witch Trials Daily Hub: https://aboutsalem.com/salem-witch-trials-daily/⁠

⁠The Thing About Salem: https://aboutsalem.com⁠

⁠The Thing About Witch Hunts: https://aboutwitchhunts.com⁠

⁠Mary Beth Norton, In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692: https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9780375706905⁠

Bernard Rosenthal, ed., Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt: https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9781107689619⁠

⁠Emerson W. Baker, A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience: 

https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9780190627805⁠

⁠Marilynne K. Roach, The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege: https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9781589791329⁠

Peabody Essex Museum Salem Witch Trials Collection: https://pem.quartexcollections.com/collections/salem-witch-trials-collection

Links

Fast Day in Salem: Prayer, Fasting, and Abigail Williams’ Witch Feast Vision

In this episode, we follow Thursday, March 31, 1692, as Salem observes a Puritan fast day while Abigail Williams reports seeing about 40 witches feasting near the Salem Village parsonage of minister Samuel Parris and claims the specter of Rebecca Nurse attacks her. We explore how Puritans in New England viewed prayer and fasting—grounded in the Gospel of Mark—as powerful defenses against demonic possession and witchcraft, from private household fasts like those held for the Goodwin children in 1688 and the Parris family earlier in 1692, to government-ordered public fasts during crises, including the 1697 fast when Judge Samuel Sewall’s apology was read aloud. We also preview Abigail’s testimony pattern, listing multiple March and April dates when she says Nurse afflicted her.

00:00 Fast Day in Salem

00:33 Why Puritans Fasted

00:54 Private Fasts and Afflictions

01:31 Public Fast Days

02:15 Witches Sabbath Allegation

03:05 Rebecca Nurse Specter Claims

03:18 Testimony Timeline Wrap Up

Sign the petition to exonerate Massachusetts witch trial victims

Find My Massachusetts Legislators

The Thing About Witch Hunts / About Salem YouTube channel

⁠Salem Witch Trials Daily Hub

⁠The Thing About Salem

⁠The Thing About Witch Hunts

⁠Mary Beth Norton, In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692

Bernard Rosenthal, ed., Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt

⁠Emerson W. Baker, A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience

⁠Marilynne K. Roach, The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege

Peabody Essex Museum Salem Witch Trials Collection

In this episode of Salem Witch Trials Daily, we cover Wednesday, March 30, 1692, when Rachel Clinton—arrested the day before—was slated for examination, though no record of that hearing survives. We focus on three depositions made against her that day: Thomas Burnam Jr. describes watching for a cow-milker he associates with Clinton and claims the figure vanished and later turned into a gray cat; Mary Fuller Sr. recounts Clinton confronting her at home amid a crisis involving her niece Betty Fuller, who later indicated Clinton was responsible; and Thomas Knowlton Jr. reports an incident at the John Rogers household involving demands for food, insults, a thrown stone followed by severe toe pain, and earlier claims about his daughter being harmed by Clinton’s specter. We also discuss how wartime language and imagery appear in these records.

00:00 Welcome and Date

00:15 Rachel Clinton Arrested

00:43 Burnam Cow Milking Tale

01:36 Fuller Family Accusation

02:42 Knowlton Confrontation

03:40 Specter Pricking Threats

04:03 Warfare Imagery Context

04:30 Closing Reflections

Sign the petition to exonerate Massachusetts witch trial victims

Find My Massachusetts Legislators

The Thing About Witch Hunts / About Salem YouTube channel

⁠Salem Witch Trials Daily Hub

⁠The Thing About Salem

⁠The Thing About Witch Hunts

⁠Mary Beth Norton, In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692

Bernard Rosenthal, ed., Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt

⁠Emerson W. Baker, A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience

⁠Marilynne K. Roach, The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege

Peabody Essex Museum Salem Witch Trials Collection

We are so happy to introduce Salem Witch Trials Daily, our new podcast that follows the 1692 Salem Witch Trials in real time, day by day, court date by court date, through the documented record. In Salem, Massachusetts, 19 people were executed, one man was pressed to death for refusing trial, and more than a hundred others were accused and imprisoned, leaving a lasting mark on American history. Building on the extraordinary listener response to this series when it launched within The Thing About Salem, the show now has its own dedicated feed, available wherever you get podcasts. Each micro-episode is tied to the actual calendar of 1692 and draws directly from primary sources like court documents, examination transcripts, petitions, letters, and contemporary accounts, alongside established scholarship and our own research. We also provide weekly companion blog posts and downloadable worksheets on aboutsalem.com for deeper, self-paced learning.

⁠Salem Witch Trials Daily – The Thing About Salem Podcast

The Salem witch trials of 1692 were not driven by local grudges alone. Behind the arrests, examinations, and executions was a centuries-old theological framework that convinced educated elites, magistrates, and Puritan clergy that they were fighting a coordinated demonic war against the Christian church itself.

Josh Hutchinson and Sarah Jack trace the elaborated theory of witchcraft from its origins at the Council of Basel in the 1430s through the circulation of the Errores Gazariorum, the standardization of the witches' Sabbath concept, and the mass distribution of the Malleus Maleficarum following the invention of the printing press. By the late 17th century, this framework had transformed witchcraft from a personal crime of harmful magic into an existential conspiracy — witches organized under the devil, sworn to pull down the kingdom of Christ and replace it with a kingdom of Satan.

In Salem, that theory played out in real time. Tituba's confession named nine witches in the devil's book. That number grew to forty, then a hundred, then three hundred alleged conspirators gathering in Samuel Parris's own pasture to consume red bread and blood wine in mockery of the Christian sacraments. Reverend George Burroughs was accused of leading the diabolical assembly. Coerced confessions described a formal pact to destroy the churches. Cotton Mather, in Wonders of the Invisible World, traced the conspiracy back more than forty years — to executions in Connecticut and Massachusetts that included Alice Young, Margaret Jones, and the Carringtons.

This episode examines how fear of an anti-church conspiracy — not panic, but deliberate legal prosecution rooted in genuine theological terror — drove the witchcraft crisis and what that pattern of fear-driven scapegoating reveals about witchcraft accusation violence today.

Josh Hutchinson and Sarah Jack are co-hosts of The Thing About Salem, The Thing About Witch Hunts, and Salem Witch Trials Daily. Both are descendants of families who experienced the Salem witch trials.

📚 Full course and resources at aboutsalem.com 🌍 End Witch Hunts: endwitchhunts.org

Links

Salem Witch Trials Daily Videos & Course

The Thing About Salem Website

⁠The Thing on YouTube⁠!

⁠The Thing About Witch Hunts Website

Sign the Petition: MA Witch Hunt Justice Project

www.massachusettswitchtrials.org

Support the nonprofit End Witch Hunts Podcasts and Projects

On Sunday, March 27, 1692, Reverend Samuel Parris led Salem Village through two Sabbath services shaped by the recent “dreadful witchcraft” crisis and the public suspicion of alleged witches. We cover how his sermon warned that Christ knows how many devils are in the church, prompting Sarah Cloyce—sister of Rebecca Nurse—to flee the meetinghouse, and we note later claims about what witnesses said happened after she left. We also discuss how, after dismissing non-members on sacrament Sunday, Parris addressed the congregation about Mary Sibley’s role in the witch cake incident, calling it seeking the devil’s help against the devil, while still allowing her to remain in fellowship if she humbled herself and promised greater caution.

00:00 Welcome and Hosts

00:11 Sabbath in Salem

00:41 Parris Targets Cloyce

01:13 Seven Sins Listed

01:48 Sacrament Sunday Dismissal

02:03 Condemning the Witch Cake

03:12 Mary Sibley Rebuked

03:54 Church Response and Closing

Sign the petition to exonerate Massachusetts witch trial victims

Find My Massachusetts Legislators

The Thing About Witch Hunts / About Salem YouTube channel

⁠Salem Witch Trials Daily Hub

⁠The Thing About Salem

⁠The Thing About Witch Hunts

⁠Mary Beth Norton, In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692

Bernard Rosenthal, ed., Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt

⁠Emerson W. Baker, A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience

⁠Marilynne K. Roach, The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege

Peabody Essex Museum Salem Witch Trials Collection

We revisit Mercy Lewis’s reported afflictions and connect them to later depositions involving Elizabeth Proctor and Martha Cory. We also discuss a pivotal event recorded by former Salem Village minister Deodat Lawson in A Brief and True Narrative, describing how magistrates John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin, along with minister John Higginson, examined the youngest witchcraft suspect at the prison keeper’s house. We explore Lawson’s account of what the child said about a “little snake” and what investigators claimed to observe, as well as the allegation that the familiar came from the child’s mother, Sarah Good, who was already jailed.00:00 Welcome and Date00:15 Mercy Lewis Afflictions00:36 Lawson’s Jail Visit00:54 Dorothy Good Examined01:24 Snake Familiar Accusation01:32 Wrap Up and Meaning

Note: We are moving these daily episodes to a new Salem Witch Trials Daily podcast.

In this episode, we dig into Friday, March 25, 1692, as tensions surge in Salem Village and beyond. We discuss John Procter’s furious confrontation with Samuel Sibley at Walter Phillips’ Tavern over Mary Warren’s fits and his harsh skepticism toward the afflicted girls. Back in the village, we cover Ann Putnam Jr.’s reported violent spectral assault—attributed to Rebecca Nurse—with witnesses claiming visible bite marks and chain impressions, alongside Edward Putnam’s deposition against Nurse. In Salem Town, we examine Betty Parris’s severe seizures at Captain Stephen Sewall’s home and her account of a dark figure offering temptation, as well as the advice that seemed to end her fits. We also explore Rev. Samuel Parris’s discovery of Mary Sibley’s role in the witch cake and the church repentance he orchestrated.

00:00 Welcome and Date

00:23 Procter Confronts Sibley

01:34 Skepticism Turns Violent

02:08 Ann Putnam Chain Attack

02:49 Betty Parris in Salem Town

03:44 Temptation and Recovery

05:13 Parris Learns Witch Cake

06:20 Mary Sibley Public Rebuke

Deposition of Edward Putnam v. Rebecca Nurse

Deodat Lawson, Christ’s Fidelity the Only Shield

Deodat Lawson, A Brief and True Narrative

Sign the petition to exonerate Massachusetts witch trial victims

Find My Massachusetts Legislators

The Thing About Witch Hunts / About Salem YouTube channel

⁠Salem Witch Trials Daily Hub

⁠The Thing About Salem

⁠The Thing About Witch Hunts

⁠Mary Beth Norton, In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692

Bernard Rosenthal, ed., Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt

⁠Emerson W. Baker, A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience

⁠Marilynne K. Roach, The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege

Peabody Essex Museum Salem Witch Trials Collection

In this episode, we revisit Thursday, March 24, 1692, when Salem Village’s packed meetinghouse witnessed chaotic examinations that sent Rebecca Nurse and the very young Dorothy Good toward jail. We follow how accusations and courtroom theatrics escalated under Magistrates Hathorne and Corwin, with Reverend Parris recording the proceedings and the afflicted reacting violently to the accused’s movements. We also discuss the troubling scrutiny of Dorothy Good, including claims about bite marks and a “snake” on her finger, and the decision to imprison her. After the examinations, we cover Reverend Deodat Lawson’s lecture, “Christ’s Fidelity the Only Shield Against Satan’s Malignity,” his warnings about Satan and spectral affliction, and his rejection of countermagic in favor of prayer. We end with how depositions and suspicions—reaching even Giles and Martha Corey—deepened the village’s panic.

00:00 Welcome and Setup

00:27 Rebecca Nurse Arrives

01:22 Accusations Erupt

02:51 Spectral Chaos in Court

04:37 Nurse Jailed and Defended

04:55 Dorothy Good Examined

06:04 Lawson Thursday Lecture

06:58 No Countermagic Warning

08:17 Evening Fallout and New Targets

08:49 Day Ends in Dread

Examination of Rebecca Nurse

Statement of Giles Cory Regarding Martha Cory

Deodat Lawson, Christ’s Fidelity the Only Shield

Deodat Lawson, A Brief and True Narrative

Sign the petition to exonerate Massachusetts witch trial victims

Find My Massachusetts Legislators

The Thing About Witch Hunts / About Salem YouTube channel

⁠Salem Witch Trials Daily Hub

⁠The Thing About Salem

⁠The Thing About Witch Hunts

⁠Mary Beth Norton, In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692

Bernard Rosenthal, ed., Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt

⁠Emerson W. Baker, A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience

⁠Marilynne K. Roach, The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege

Peabody Essex Museum Salem Witch Trials Collection

In this March 22, 1692 episode of Salem Witch Trials Daily, we cover a Salem town meeting that resolves long-running tension between Salem and Salem Village by keeping the Village part of Salem while easing obligations on both sides: villagers no longer support the town’s ministers or maintain the town meetinghouse, and townspeople are no longer required to fund Village roads. We also discuss Ann Putnam, Sr.’s account of being tormented by the apparition of Rebecca Nurse, who urges her to sign a red book. Finally, we follow a committee visit to the real Rebecca Nurse, who is recovering from illness and praying for the afflicted, but is unaware of rumors accusing her until friends inform her she is a suspect, leaving her stunned as she insists on her innocence.

00:00 Daily Introduction

00:14 Town Meeting Compromise

01:02 Ann Putnam Specter Attack

01:58 Friends Visit Rebecca Nurse

02:42 Accusation Revealed

03:08 Nurse Proclaims Innocence

Deposition of Ann Putnam Sr. v. Martha Corey and Rebecca Nurse, and testimony of Ann Putnam Jr. v. Rebecca Nurse, Martha Cory, and Sarah Cloyce

Deodat Lawson, A Brief and True Narrative

Sign the petition to exonerate Massachusetts witch trial victims

Find My Massachusetts Legislators

The Thing About Witch Hunts / About Salem YouTube channel

⁠Salem Witch Trials Daily Hub

⁠The Thing About Salem

⁠The Thing About Witch Hunts

⁠Mary Beth Norton, In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692

Bernard Rosenthal, ed., Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt

⁠Emerson W. Baker, A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience

⁠Marilynne K. Roach, The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege

Peabody Essex Museum Salem Witch Trials Collection