In this episode of Salem Witch Trials Daily, we explore the intersection of local government and the unfolding crisis in 1692. As Salem held its annual town meeting, the community elected leaders who would soon find themselves on opposite sides of the prisoner bars. We also look beyond the 17th century to honor International Women’s Day by discussing the ongoing global struggle against witchcraft accusations.

• The Salem Elections: We look at the town meeting on March 8, 1692, where residents voted for new selectmen and constables. We highlight how several of these newly elected officials, such as Philip English and Daniel Andrew, transitioned from positions of authority to being the accused.

• Divided Families and Neighbors: We examine the complex roles of other elected men, including the son of Salem Town’s senior minister and members of the Putnam and Porter families, whose involvement ranged from making accusations to defending the innocent.

• Reflecting on Gender and Misogyny: For International Women’s Day, we reflect on our past conversations regarding the patriarchal hierarchies and fears of female independence that fueled historic witch hunts.

• The Modern Crisis: We discuss the critical need for intersectional approaches to protect vulnerable women today. We also share details about our upcoming special live panel focused on achieving justice for women currently accused of witchcraft in Africa.

We invite you to join us this Sunday for our special Zoom panel, "Justice for Women Accused of Witchcraft in Africa," featuring a distinguished group of activists, magistrates, and journalists.

• When: Sunday, March 8th at 6:30 PM GMT. Join with the Zoom link at endwitchhunts.org/iwd.

For International Women's Day and Women's History Month, The Thing About Salem takes a deep look at one of the Salem witch trials' most fascinating and misrepresented figures: Tituba Indian. Who was she, and why have writers, scholars, and storytellers kept returning to her story for two centuries?

Joining Josh and Sarah is Samaine Lockwood, associate professor of English at George Mason University and the 2026 Fenwick Fellow, whose forthcoming book traces Tituba's transformation as an American cultural figure from 1820 to the present.

In this episode, you'll discover:

• Why Tituba is largely absent from 19th-century Salem novels, and what her absence reveals about race and citizenship in post-Civil War America

• How wrongfully accused white women in historical fiction were shaped into symbols of ideal democratic citizenship, while Tituba was cast as their opposite

• Which overlooked novels and authors are essential to understanding how Salem has been reimagined across American literary history

• Why Black feminist writers like Ann Petry and Maryse Conde were the first to place Tituba at the center of the story, and why that matters

• What Samaine's research trip to Salem will examine about how Tituba is represented in today's memorial and tourist spaces

This episode also includes an invitation to the live International Women's Day panel Justice for Women Accused of Witchcraft in Africa, taking place Sunday, March 8th at 6:30 PM GMT. Join Dr. Leo Igwe, Chief Magistrate Safiya Musa Salihu, Dr. Barrister Dise Ogbise Goddy Harry, broadcast journalist Hauwa Mundi, and Maimonat Mohammad for a conversation on gender, justice, and witchcraft accusations today. Register at endwitchhunts.org/iwd.

Links

Publications by Samaine Lockwood

University Libraries has named Samaine Lockwood, associate professor of English, the 2026 Fenwick Fellow

Buy Books Mentioned in Today's Episode

Sign the Petition to Exonerate the Boston 8

The History of Witch Trial Exonerations in Massachusetts

About the MA Witch Hunt Justice Project

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Attend Free Event March 8 2026: Woman Accused of Witchcraft in Africa

In this episode of Salem Witch Trials Daily, we dive into the pivotal events of March 7, 1692, a day that marked a massive shift in the escalating crisis of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. We explore how the absence of stable leadership and a deep-seated spiritual dread created the perfect storm for the tragedies that followed.

• A Colony in Limbo: We discuss the long journey of Reverend Increase Mather and the future governor, Sir William Phips, as they departed London with a new charter in hand. We look at how the lack of a formal government in Massachusetts during their absence allowed the witch hunt to spiral out of control without legal oversight.

• The Ministers’ Meeting: We take you to Cambridge, where local ministers gathered to grapple with what they perceived as a literal demonic invasion. We examine the "city upon a hill" worldview and the apocalyptic fears that led the clergy to interpret strange behaviors as a diabolical conspiracy.

• The Road to Boston: We follow the first group of accused women—Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborne—as they are ordered to be transferred from Salem Village to the horrific conditions of the Boston jail.

• The Human Cost: We touch upon the devastating impact these transfers had on the accused and their families, including the heartbreaking presence of Sarah Good’s infant daughter and the later imprisonment of her four-year-old, Dorothy.

Sign the petition to exonerate Massachusetts witch trial victims

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The Thing About Witch Hunts / About Salem YouTube channel

⁠Salem Witch Trials Daily Hub

Salem Witch Trials Daily Course Week 7: Families, Geography, and the Machinery of Accusation, February 9-15, 2026

⁠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: https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9781107689619⁠

⁠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 discuss Ann Putnam Jr.’s March 1692 claims that the apparition of “Goody Proctor” attacked her by choking, biting, and pinching, and that she later identified Elizabeth Proctor as the specter’s owner, alleging pressure to sign a book. We then introduce Elizabeth Proctor’s background beyond later fictional portrayals: her birth as Elizabeth Bassett in Lynn, her family connection to Ann Burt who had faced a witchcraft accusation in 1669, and how beliefs about inherited witchcraft could fuel suspicion. We also cover her 1674 marriage to John Proctor, their large blended household on the rented Downing farm in Salem Farms, their choice to worship in Salem Town, the presence of servant Mary Warren, and hints of domestic tension that will shape our ongoing timeline.

00:00 Accusation Begins

00:22 Testimony Details

00:59 Who Was Proctor

01:17 Family Background

01:51 Marriage And Home

02:17 Servant And Tensions

02:35 Closing And Subscribe

Sign the petition to exonerate Massachusetts witch trial victims

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The Thing About Witch Hunts / About Salem YouTube channel

⁠Salem Witch Trials Daily Hub

Salem Witch Trials Daily Course Week 7: Families, Geography, and the Machinery of Accusation, February 9-15, 2026

⁠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 cover March 5, 1692, when authorities transferred Sarah Good from the Ipswich Jail to the Salem Jail and magistrates John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin questioned her, while Tituba again repeated her confessions. We also discuss how William Allen, William Good, John Hughes, and Samuel Braybrook submitted a statement against Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, and Tituba, and we read from the original text describing alleged strange noises, apparitions, animals, lights, and other incidents connected to the accused. Braybrook’s account includes details from transporting Sarah Good to Ipswich and her remarks about the evidence against her. We note that while the accusations began with afflicted girls, by this point adults in the community were making similar claims and filing complaints that led to warrants.

00:00 March 5 Interrogations

00:46 Reading the Statement

00:54 Allen and Hughes Testimony

02:07 Witch Mark Allegation

02:23 Hughes Dog and Cat

03:05 Braybrook Escort Account

03:45 How Accusations Spread

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

Salem Witch Trials Daily Course Week 7: Families, Geography, and the Machinery of Accusation, February 9-15, 2026

⁠The Thing About Salem: https

⁠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 4th episode of Salem Witch Trials Daily, we place Salem Village in the tense aftermath of the first public examinations held March 1, 1692, noting that while March 4 is quiet with no new warrants or hearings, the legal process and accusations continue, fueled in part by Tituba’s alarming testimony about the devil, familiars, and a book of names as the three accused women remain jailed. We also explore March 4’s broader colonial significance through two charters: the Massachusetts Bay charter becoming operative on March 4, 1629, later revoked in 1684, with a new charter en route in 1692 with Increase Mather; and the March 4, 1681 Pennsylvania charter granted to William Penn, contrasting Pennsylvania’s record on witchcraft with Massachusetts’ mounting crisis.

00:00 March 4th in Salem

00:12 Aftermath of Hearings

00:45 Tituba Shocks the Court

01:06 Charter Day Connections

01:16 Massachusetts Bay Charter

01:46 Revoked and Replaced

02:08 Pennsylvania Contrast

02:39 Why Systems Matter

02:54 Pressure Cooker Finale

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

Salem Witch Trials Daily Course Week 7: Families, Geography, and the Machinery of Accusation, February 9-15, 2026

⁠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 recount the fear people felt at the alleged sight of the specter of a 4-year-old girl. We explore what 17th-century New Englanders meant by “specters” or “shapes,” why afflicted accusers were treated as visionaries, and how invisible attacks like pinching, choking, and demands to sign the devil’s book became accepted in court. We share a vivid example involving Benjamin Hutchinson and Abigail Williams that shows how frightening and persuasive spectral claims could be. We also examine the central legal and theological dispute of 1692—whether the devil could assume the form of an innocent person—along with how magistrates such as William Stoughton and clergy such as Cotton Mather (via “The Return of Several Ministers”) differed on the reliability of spectral evidence. We note how things changed in early 1693, and we mention key events dated March 3, 1692, including claims involving Dorothy Good and Tituba’s third questioning.

00:00 Dorothy Good Specter

00:16 Meet the Hosts

00:22 What Is a Specter

00:47 Invisible Attacks Described

01:05 Spectral Evidence Trap

01:36 Benjamin Hutchinson Incident

02:02 Devil Shape Debate

02:43 Ministers Push Back

03:04 Spectral Evidence Ends

03:43 Tituba Questioned Again

Sign the petition to exonerate Massachusetts witch trial victims: https://change.org/witchtrials

Find My Massachusetts Legislators: https://malegislature.gov/Search/FindMyLegislator

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/⁠

Salem Witch Trials Daily Course Week 7: Families, Geography, and the Machinery of Accusation, February 9-15, 2026: https://aboutsalem.com/week-7-blog-families-geography-and-the-machinery-of-accusation-february-9-15-2026/

⁠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

In this episode of Salem Witch Trials Daily, we cover the developments of March 2, 1692 in Essex County, including constable Samuel Braybrook’s report that Sarah Good escaped custody three times on the way to the Ipswich jail. Back at the Salem jail, magistrates John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin interrogated Sarah Osborne and Tituba, with Osborne maintaining her innocence while Tituba expanded on her confession, describing the devil’s appearance, coercion to harm Betty Parris and Abigail, and signing the devil’s book alongside nine others, including Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne, leaving several witches unidentified. We also share how testimony continued to mount, with reports of Sarah Good’s specter and strange animal apparitions, as five community members formally deposed against the three accused women.

00:00 March 2nd Shock

00:35 Show Introduction

00:40 Osborne and Tituba

01:37 Devil’s Book

01:59 Witch Hunt Begins

02:18 More Testimonies

02:38 Formal Depositions

Sign the petition to exonerate Massachusetts witch trial victims: https://change.org/witchtrials

Find My Massachusetts Legislators: https://malegislature.gov/Search/FindMyLegislator

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/⁠

Salem Witch Trials Daily Course Week 7: Families, Geography, and the Machinery of Accusation, February 9-15, 2026: https://aboutsalem.com/week-7-blog-families-geography-and-the-machinery-of-accusation-february-9-15-2026/

⁠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 (the court documents): https://pem.quartexcollections.com/collections/salem-witch-trials-collection

Links

We cover the busy day of March 1, 1692 in Salem Village as Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, and Tituba were arrested and brought to the meetinghouse for crowded examinations led by magistrates John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin, with multiple people recording the proceedings. We discuss how Good and Osborne denied any pact with the devil while pressure and accusations mounted, including debate over whether the devil could appear in an innocent person’s shape. We recount how Tituba’s testimony escalated fears by describing the devil, other alleged witches, and strange creatures, and by implicating Good and Osborne while claiming coercion. We also touch on the suspects’ jailing arrangements, a village meeting pushing separation from Salem Town, and reports of spectral affliction, a “beast” sighting, and Good’s brief escape attempt.

00:00 A Tense Day Begins

00:23 Arrests and Witch Marks

00:54 Hearing Setup and Recorders

01:27 Sarah Good Examined

02:46 Sarah Osborne Questioned

03:35 Tituba Breaks and Confesses

07:00 Specters and Strange Creatures

08:57 Jail and Village Politics

09:41 More Reports and Closing Tease

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

Salem Witch Trials Daily Course Week 7: Families, Geography, and the Machinery of Accusation, February 9-15, 2026

⁠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

How did the Salem Witch Trials Start?

It's early March 1692, and Salem Village is about to change forever. In this episode of The Thing About Salem, we cover the explosive first week of the Salem Witch Trials, from the very first arrests to the courtroom confessions that transformed a local crisis into a full-blown witch hunt.

The episode opens with a recap of the pivotal final days of February 1692, when a physician's diagnosis, a desperate folk magic ritual, and a gathering of ministers set the stage for what was coming. By February 29, the waiting was over. Complaints were filed, warrants were issued, and three women were headed to examination.

March 1, 1692 marks a critical  moment in the Salem Witch Trials. Magistrates John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin questioned the accused in the packed Salem Village meeting house, and what happened inside those walls would send shockwaves through Massachusetts Bay Colony and fuel months of accusations to come.

The episode traces events day by day through March 7, showing exactly how a handful of afflicted girls, a contested diagnosis, and one dramatic confession set an entire province on edge.

In this episode:

• The witch cake and what it was meant to do

• The first complaints and arrest warrants of the Salem Witch Trials

• The examinations of Sarah Good, Sarah Osburn, and Tituba before magistrates Hathorne and Corwin

• Tituba's confession and the Devil's book with nine signatures

• Why the debate over spectral evidence mattered

• Day-by-day events from March 1 through March 7, 1692

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

⁠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

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

Peabody Essex Museum Salem Witch Trials Collection