The Thing About the Salem Witch Trials

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

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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 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

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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/⁠

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

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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

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

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Sign the Petition: MA Witch Hunt Justice Project

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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

In this episode of Salem Witch Trials Daily, we cover the events of February 28th and 29th, 1692. We discuss how heavy rains kept Governor Bradstreet from meeting, while the afflicted in Salem Village—Betty, Abigail, Ann, and Elizabeth—continued to suffer. We explore reports from the parsonage in which Tituba was visited by the devil, alleged witches, and familiars, and how these encounters escalated fears in the village. As the girls’ afflictions intensified, Samuel Parris and others moved from waiting to action. We recount how a formal complaint was filed against Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborne, leading Salem magistrates to issue arrest warrants and order the accused brought to Ingersoll’s Tavern for preliminary examinations the next morning.

00:00 Stormy Sabbath Setup

00:29 Meet the Hosts

00:34 Feb 28 and 29 Overview

00:46 Tituba's Spectral Visits

01:26 Threats and Rising Afflictions

01:35 Complaints and Arrest Warrants

02:13 Tomorrow's Examinations 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

In today’s Salem Witch Trials Daily episode, we discuss February 27, 1692, when Ann Putnam Jr. reported that Sarah Good’s specter tortured her and tried to force her to sign the Devil’s book, marking the first such accusation in the Salem crisis. We place this idea in its long theological context and explain how Puritans viewed the book as a set of diabolical contracts, even as descriptions of it varied during the trials. We also touch on Elizabeth Hubbard’s claims that Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne tormented her, including a frightening wolf incident later referenced during Tituba’s questioning. Finally, we preview how the Devil’s book concept escalated rapidly after Tituba’s March 1 confession, including her testimony that nine names were already in the book.

00:00 Welcome and Date

00:16 Devil’s Book Origins

00:59 First Salem Accusation

01:49 What the Book Meant

02:22 Hubbard and the Wolf

03:22 Tituba’s Confession

03:38 Conspiracy Expands

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 our February 26, 1692 episode of Salem Witch Trials Daily, we look at the moment the Salem Witch Trials escalated when the first specific accusation of witchcraft was made. We discuss how neighboring ministers and gentlemen visited Samuel Parris at the Salem Village parsonage, witnessed Betty and Abigail’s afflictions, and concluded Satan’s hand was involved while advising caution. We also cover what was learned from Tituba during this visit, including her connection to the witch cake attempt and what she said about learning methods to discover witches. Finally, we follow how the afflicted girls’ finger-pointing began in the Parris household, setting the stage for arrests that would soon follow.

00:00 Late February Recap

00:45 Ministers Visit Parris

01:31 Tituba And The Witch Cake

02:00 First Accusations Begin

02:44 What Happens Next

02:49 Where To Follow

Sign the petition to exonerate Massachusetts witch trial victims

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The Thing About Witch Hunts / About Salem YouTube channe

⁠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

The Witch Cake That Sparked Salem’s PanicWe revisit the crisis in Reverend Samuel Parris’s Salem Village household in February 1692, when his daughter Betty and niece Abigail Williams suffered violent fits and a doctor declared they were under an “evil hand.” With no natural cure, neighbor Mary Sibley intervened while the Parrises were away, directing Tituba and John Indian to make a traditional witch cake using rye flour and the girls’ urine, then feed it to the family dog as a form of sympathetic counter-magic. We discuss the folk beliefs behind this practice and why it failed to help the girls, who soon began naming alleged tormenters. We also cover Parris’s furious reaction and his condemnation of using folk magic as sinful in the Puritan worldview.00:00 Fits in Salem Village00:35 Witch Cake Countermagic01:16 How the Cake Was Supposed to Work01:54 Accusations Ignite02:07 Parris Condemns Folk MagicLinks

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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

We introduce the early events that sparked the Salem witch trials, focusing on January and February 1692 in Reverend Samuel Parris’s Salem Village household. Parris’s 9-year-old daughter Betty and 11-year-old niece Abigail began exhibiting alarming, inexplicable behaviors and violent physical afflictions. The family tried prayer, fasting, and medical treatment without relief, and around February 24 a local physician (widely believed to be Dr. William Griggs) examined the girls and found no natural cause, concluding they were under an “evil hand.” The hosts draw on later accounts by ministers John Hale and Deodat Lawson describing preternatural fits, invisible biting and pinching, contorted movements, choking, and apparent conversations with unseen “appearances.” With the community quickly concluding the girls were bewitched, the episode turns toward how this diagnosis shifted attention from medicine to the question of who was responsible.

00:00 Mysterious Afflictions Begin

00:18 Bizarre Symptoms in Parris Home

01:01 Prayer and Medicine Fail

01:07 Doctor Declares Evil Hand

01:34 Hale Describes Torments

02:15 Lawson Witnesses the Fits

03:10 Meaning of Bewitchment

03:39 Who Is Responsible

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⁠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