Timeline of the Salem Witch Trials - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Preceding the initial outbreak

1688
The behavior of several children in the home of the Goodwin family in Boston results in the accusation, trial and execution of their Irish washerwoman, Ann Glover

Ann Glover

Goodwife "Goody" Glover was the last person to be hanged in Boston as a witch.-Background:Ann Glover was born in Ireland as a Roman Catholic. Oliver Cromwell sold her into slavery and sent her off to Barbados in the 1650s...

(also known as "Goody Glover"), for witchcraft.

1689
Cotton Mather

Cotton Mather

Cotton Mather, FRS was a socially and politically influential New England Puritan minister, prolific author and pamphleteer; he is often remembered for his role in the Salem witch trials...

publishes "Memorable Providences, Relating to Witchcrafts and Possessions", which includes his account of the Goodwins and Glover.

November: Samuel Parris

Samuel Parris

Samuel Parris was the Puritan minister in Salem, Massachusetts during the Salem witch trials; he was also the father of one of the afflicted girls, and the uncle of another.-Life:...

is named the new minister of Salem. Parris moves to Salem from Boston, where Memorable Providences was published.

1691
October 16: Villagers vow to drive Parris out of Salem and stop contributing to his salary.

Outbreak of accusations

1692:
January 20: Eleven-year-old Abigail Williams

Abigail Williams

Abigail Williams was one of the initial accusers in the Salem witch trials of 1692, which led to the arrest and imprisonment of over 150 innocent people.-Salem Witch trials:...

and nine-year-old Elizabeth Parris begin behaving much as the Goodwin children acted three years earlier. Soon Ann Putnam Jr. and other Salem girls begin acting similarly.

Mid-February: A local doctor (historically assumed to be Doctor Griggs), attends to the "afflicted" girls, and first suggests that witchcraft may be the cause.

c. February 25: Mary Sibley, a neighbor of the Parris family, tells John Indian, the husband of Tituba

Tituba

Tituba was a 17th-century slave belonging to Samuel Parris of Salem, Massachusetts. Tituba was one of the first three people accused of practicing witchcraft during the Salem witch trials which took place in 1692. Tituba was the first person accused by Betty Parris and Abigail Williams of...

, the recipe to make a "witch cake" of rye meal and the girls' urine to feed to a dog in order to discover who is bewitching the girls, according to English folk "white magic" practices.

late February: Pressured by ministers and townspeople to say who caused her odd behavior, Elizabeth Parris identifies Tituba. The girls later accuse Sarah Good

Sarah Good

Sarah Good Born in Salem Village , Massachusetts, was accused of witchcraft in 1692. It has been proved in multiple ways that Sarah Good was falsely accused of witchcraft. She was accused only because of economical and political biases from the families of the accusers...

and Sarah Osborne

Sarah Osborne

Sarah Osborne was one of the first three women to be accused of witchcraft in the Salem witch trials of 1692...

of witchcraft.

February 29: Based on formal complaints from Joseph Hutchinson, Thomas Putnam, Edward Putnam and Thomas Preston, Magistrates John Hathorne

John Hathorne

John Hathorne was an executor in the Salem witch trials, and the only one who never repented of his actions. He was also a merchant in Salem, Massachusetts....

and Jonathan Corwin

Jonathan Corwin

Jonathan Corwin was a wealthy New England merchant, and a judge in the Salem, Massachusetts area who was involved in the Salem Witch Trials....

issue warrants to arrest Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne and Tituba

Tituba

for afflicting Betty Parris, Abigail Williams, Ann Putnam Jr. and Elizabeth Hubbard

Elizabeth Hubbard

Elizabeth Hubbard is an American film, soap opera, stage and television actress. Hubbard was born in New York City]. She attended Radcliffe College, and graduated summa cum laude. She pursued her theatrical education at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, where she was the first American...

.

March 1–March 7: Magistrates John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin interrogate Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne and Tituba over the course of several days. Tituba confesses to afflicting and confirms Good and Osborne are her co-conspirators.

March 11: Ann Putnam Jr. shows symptoms of affliction by witchcraft. Mercy Lewis

Mercy Lewis

-Brief Overview:Mercy Lewis was born in Falmouth, Maine in 1675 and was a servant in Thomas Putnam’s household. She is also one of the featured characters in Arthur Miller's play The Crucible...

, Mary Walcott

Mary Walcott

Mary Walcott was one of the witnesses at the Salem Witch Trials of Salem, Massachusetts in the years 1692 and 1693....

and Mary Warren

Mary Warren

Mary Ann Warren was the oldest of the accusers during the 1692 Salem witch trials, in her teens. She was a servant for John and Elizabeth Proctor. Renouncing her claims after being threatened to be hanged, she was later arrested for practicing witchcraft herself, but did not confess...

later alleged affliction as well.

March 12: Ann Putnam Jr. accuses Martha Corey

Martha Corey

Martha Corey was accused of being a witch during the 1692 Salem witch trials.The community was surprised to see Corey accused, as she was known for her piety and dedicated church attendance. However, she had never shown support for the witch trials, since she did not believe witches existed...

of witchcraft.

March 19: Abigail Williams denounces Rebecca Nurse

Rebecca Nurse

Rebecca Towne Nurse was executed for witchcraft by the government of the Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New England in 1692, during the Salem witch trials. She was the wife of Francis Nurse, with several children and grandchildren, and a well-respected member of the community...

as a witch.

March 21: Magistrates Hathorne and Corwin examine Martha Corey.

March 23: Salem Marshal Deputy Samuel Brabrook arrests four-year-old Dorothy Good

Dorothy Good

Dorothy Good was the daughter of William Goode and Sarah Goode. Both Dorothy and her mother were accused of practicing witchcraft in Salem at the very beginning of the Salem witch trials in 1692. Only 4 1/2 years old at the time, she was interrogated by the local magistrates and confessed to...

.

March 24: Corwin and Hathorne examine Rebecca Nurse and Dorothy Good

Dorothy Good

March 26: John Hathorne, Jonathan Corwin and Rev. John Higginson question Dorothy Good

Dorothy Good

, now in jail.

March 28: Elizabeth Proctor

Elizabeth Proctor

Elizabeth Proctor was accused of witchcraft in the Salem Witch Trials. She was the third wife of John Proctor, and remarried after his execution. Part of her life was fictitiously dramatized as part of Arthur Miller's play The Crucible and later adaptations.-Early life:Elizabeth was the daughter...

is accused of witchcraft.

April 3: Sarah Cloyce

Sarah Cloyce

Sarah Cloyce was the sister of Rebecca Nurse and Mary Easty. She was accused of witchcraft but never indicted by a grand jury in the Salem Witch Trials.-In fiction:...

, after defending her sister, Rebecca Nurse, is accused of witchcraft.

April 11: Sarah Cloyce and Elizabeth Proctor

Elizabeth Proctor

are examined before Deputy Governor Thomas Danforth

Thomas Danforth

Thomas Danforth was a judge for the 1692 Salem witch trials in early colonial America.-Early life:He was born in Framlingham, Suffolk, England as the eldest son of Nicholas Danforth and Elizabeth Symmes...

and members of the Governor's Council. On the same day Elizabeth's husband, John Proctor

John Proctor

John Proctor was a farmer in 17th century Massachusetts. He married three women in his life, and divorced the first two. The last one he married was Elizabeth Proctor, who gave birth to two children, William and Sarah...

, becomes the first man accused of witchcraft and is jailed.

Early April: The Proctors' servant and accuser, Mary Warren, admits to lying and accuses the other girls of lying.

April 13: Ann Putnam Jr. accuses Giles Corey

Giles Corey

Giles Corey was a prosperous farmer and full member of the church in early colonial America who died under judicial torture during the Salem witch trials. Corey refused to enter a plea, and was crushed to death by stone weights in an attempt to force him to do so...

of witchcraft and alleges that a man who died at Corey's house also haunts her.

June 8: Abigail Hobbs, Bridget Bishop

Bridget Bishop

Bridget Bishop was the first person executed for witchcraft during the Salem witch trials of 1692....

, Giles Corey and Mary Warren are examined. Deliverance Hobbs confesses to practicing witchcraft. Mary Warren reverses her statement made in early April and rejoins the accusers.

April 22: Mary Easty, another of Rebecca Nurse's sisters who defended her, is examined by Hathorne and Corwin. Hathorne and Corwin also examine Nehemiah Abbott

Nehemiah Abbott

Nehemiah Abbott was a United States Representative from Maine. He was born in Sidney, studied law at the Litchfield, Connecticut Law School, was admitted to the bar in 1836 and began his practice at Calais, Maine....

, William and Deliverance Hobbs, Edward and Sarah Bishop, Mary Black

Mary Black

Mary Black is an Irish singer. She is well known as an interpreter of both folk and contemporary material which has made her a major recording artist in her native Ireland, and in many other parts of the world....

, Sarah Wildes

Sarah Wildes

Sarah Wildes was executed for witchcraft during the Salem witch trials. She was one of seven children born to William Averell. She married English immigrant John Wildes and had a son, Ephraim. Ephraim held the positions of town treasurer and constable during the period of the conspiracy...

and Mary English.

April 30: Several girls accuse former Salem minister George Burroughs

George Burroughs

George Burroughs , American Congregational pastor, graduated from Harvard College in 1670, and became the minister of Salem Village in 1680, a charge which he held until 1683. He lived at Falmouth until it was destroyed by natives in 1690. Burroughs then moved to Wells, Maine...

of witchcraft.

May 2: Hathorne and Corwin examine Sarah Morey, Lyndia Dustin, Susannah Martin

Susannah Martin

Susannah Martin was a woman executed for witchcraft during the Salem witch trials.Martin was the fourth daughter, and youngest child, of Richard North and Joan North. Her mother died when she was a child. Her stepmother was named Ursula. She was baptized in Olney, Buckinghamshire, England on...

and Dorcas Hoar.

May 4: George Burroughs is arrested in Maine.

May 7: George Burroughs is returned to Salem and placed in jail.

May 9: Corwin and Hathorne examine Burroughs and Sarah Churchill. Burroughs is moved to a Boston jail.

May 10: Corwin and Hathorne examine George Jacobs, Sr. and his granddaughter Margaret Jacobs. Sarah Osborne dies in prison.

May 14: The Reverend Increase Mather

Increase Mather

Increase Mather was a major figure in the early history of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and Province of Massachusetts Bay . He was a Puritan minister who was involved with the government of the colony, the administration of Harvard College, and most notoriously, the Salem witch trials...

and Sir William Phips

William Phips

Sir William Phips was a shipwright, ship's captain, treasure hunter, military leader, and the first royally-appointed governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay....

, the newly-appointed governor of the colony, arrive in Boston. They bring with them a new charter establishing the Province of Massachusetts Bay

Province of Massachusetts Bay

The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a crown colony in North America. It was chartered on October 7, 1691 by William and Mary, the joint monarchs of the kingdoms of England and Scotland...

.

May 18: Mary Easty is released from prison. Following protest by her accusers, she is again arrested. Roger Toothaker

Roger Toothaker

Roger Toothaker was a physician who came to Massachusetts from England shortly after he was born. He was one of the victims of the Salem witch trials who died in prison.-Background:...

is also arrested on charges of witchcraft.

Formal prosecutions

May 27: Phips issues a commission for a Court of Oyer and Terminer and appoints as judges John Hathorne

John Hathorne

John Hathorne was an executor in the Salem witch trials, and the only one who never repented of his actions. He was also a merchant in Salem, Massachusetts....

, Nathaniel Saltonstall

Nathaniel Saltonstall

Col. Nathaniel Saltonstall was selected as a judge for the special Court of Oyer and Terminer, a specific court responsible for the trial and sentence of people, mostly women, for the crime of witchcraft in Massachusetts during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692...

, Bartholomew Gedney

Bartholomew Gedney

Bartholomew Gedney was a physician and native of Salem, Massachusetts, who participated as a magistrate in the Salem witchcraft trials.Gedney was present at several of the examinations and later served as a member of the Court of Oyer and Terminer. He was present at the examination of his friend...

, Peter Sergeant

Peter Sergeant

Peter Sergeant was a merchant in Boston, Massachusetts in the late 17th and early 18th century.-Biography:Born in England, Sergeant moved to Boston and prospered as a merchant. He served as town constable in 1674, and as a Councillor 1692–1703 and 1707–1714...

, Samuel Sewall

Samuel Sewall

Samuel Sewall was a Massachusetts judge, best known for his involvement in the Salem witch trials, for which he later apologized, and his essay The Selling of Joseph , which criticized slavery.-Biography:...

, Wait Still Winthrop and Lieutenant Governor William Stoughton

William Stoughton (Massachusetts)

William Stoughton was a colonial magistrate and admininstrator in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. He was in charge of what have come to be known as the Salem Witch Trials, first as the Chief Justice of the Special Court of Oyer and Terminer in 1692, and then as the Chief Justice of the...

.

May 31: Hathorne, Corwin and Gednew examine Martha Carrier, John Alden

John Alden

John Alden is said to be the first person from the Mayflower to set foot on Plymouth Rock in 1620. He was a ship-carpenter by trade and a cooper for Mayflower, which was usually docked at Southampton. He was also one of the founders of Plymouth Colony and the seventh signer of the Mayflower Compact...

, Wilmott Redd, Elizabeth Howe

Elizabeth Howe

Elizabeth How was one of the accused in the Salem witch trials. She was found guilty and executed on July 19, 1692.- Background :Elizabeth Jackson How was born in or about 1635 in Yorkshire. She was born to William and Deborah Jackson. Elizabeth married James How in April of 1658; the couple had...

and Phillip English. Alden and English later escape from prison and do not return.

June 8: Bridget Bishop is the first to be tried and convicted of witchcraft. She is sentenced to death.

June 8: Eighteen year old Elizabeth Booth shows symptoms of affliction by witchcraft.

June 10: Bridget Bishop is hanged at Gallows Hill

Gallows Hill

Gallows Hill is the name given to places which were formerly the site of gallows. Such places include:* Gallows Hill SSSI, Wiltshire, a Site of Special Scientific Interest in Wiltshire...

. Following the hanging Nathaniel Saltonstall resigns from the court and is replaced by Corwin.

June 15: Cotton Mather

Cotton Mather

Cotton Mather, FRS was a socially and politically influential New England Puritan minister, prolific author and pamphleteer; he is often remembered for his role in the Salem witch trials...

writes a letter requesting the court not use spectral evidence

Spectral evidence

Spectral evidence is a form of evidence based upon dreams and visions. It was admitted in court during the Salem witch trials by the appointed chief justice, William Stoughton. The booklet A Tryal of Witches taken from a contemporary report of the proceedings of the Bury St...

as a standard and urging that the trials be speedy. The Court of Oyer and Terminer pays more attention to the request for speed and less attention to the criticism of spectral evidence.

June 16: Roger Toothaker

Roger Toothaker

Roger Toothaker was a physician who came to Massachusetts from England shortly after he was born. He was one of the victims of the Salem witch trials who died in prison.-Background:...

dies in prison.

June 17: Chris Anzivino lands in Massachusetts, bringing with him Italian ideas on witchcraft.

June 29-June 30: Rebecca Nurse

Rebecca Nurse

, Susannah Martin

Susannah Martin

, Sarah Wildes

Sarah Wildes

, Sarah Good

Sarah Good

and Elizabeth Howe

Elizabeth Howe

are tried, pronounced guilty and sentenced to death by hanging.

July 19: Rebecca Nurse, Susannah Martin, Elizabeth Howe, Sarah Good and Sarah Wildes are hanged at Gallows Hill.

August 5: George Jacobs Sr., Martha Carrier, George Burroughs

George Burroughs

, John Willard

John Willard

John Willard, born no later than 1672, was one of the people executed for witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts, during the Salem witch trials of 1692. He was hanged on Gallows Hill on August 19. At the time of the first allegations of witchcraft Willard was serving as a constable in the village of...

, and John and Elizabeth Proctor

Elizabeth Proctor

are pronounced guilty and sentenced to hang.

August 19: George Jacobs Sr., Martha Carrier, George Burroughs, John Willard and John Proctor

John Proctor

are hanged on Gallows Hill. Elizabeth Proctor is not hanged because she is pregnant.

August 20: Margaret Jacobs recants the testimony that led to the execution of her grandfather George Jacobs Sr. and George Burroughs.

September 9: Martha Corey

Martha Corey

, Mary Easty, Alice Parker

Alice Parker

Alice Parker is an American composer, arranger and conductor. Many of her arrangements were done in cooperation with Robert Shaw....

, Ann Pudeator

Ann Pudeator

Ann Greenslit Pudeator was a well-to-do septuagenarian widow hanged on charges of being a witch on September 22, 1692.Thomas Greenslit was her first husband and they had five children . Ann's maiden name is not known, nor the place of her birth. After Thomas' death, she married Jacob Pudeator and...

, Dorcas Hoar

Dorcas Hoar

Dorcas Hoar, a widow from Beverly, Massachusetts, was accused of witchcraft during the Salem witch trials of 1692, found guilty and condemned to hang, but then confessed and with the support of several ministers, was given a temporary reprieve....

and Mary Bradbury

Mary Bradbury

Mary Perkins Bradbury was tried, convicted and sentenced to hang as a witch in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692.-Early life:...

are pronounced guilty and sentenced to hang.

Mid-September: Giles Corey

Giles Corey

is indicted.

September 17: Margaret Scott, Wilmott Redd, Samuel Wardwell

Samuel Wardwell

Samuel Warddork of Salem, Massachusetts was a man accused of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. He was hanged on September 22, 1692 with several others. Samuel was the son of Thomas who had been a follower of John Wheelwright and Ann Hutchinson. Samuel was executed due to his...

, Mary Parker

Mary Parker

For other articles about people named Mary Parker, see Mary Parker Mary Parker of Andover, Mass., was executed September 22, 1692, with several others, for witchcraft in the Salem witch trials. She was 55 years old and a widow. Mary's husband, Nathan, died in 1685...

, Abigail Faulkner

Abigail Faulkner

Abigail Faulkner was an American woman accused of witchcraft during the Salem witch trials in 1692. In the frenzy that followed, Faulkner’s sister Elizabeth Johnson, her sister-in-law Deliverance Dane, two of her daughters, two of her nieces, and a nephew, would all be accused of witchcraft and...

, Rebecca Earnes, Mary Lacy, Ann Foster

Ann Foster

Ann Foster was an Andover widow accused of witchcraft during the Salem witch trials.Born in 1617, Ann came to Massachusetts from London in 1635 on the ship Abigail. Her mother, Ann Hooker, was a sister of Rev. Thomas Hooker, and her father was Deacon George Alcock. She married Andrew Foster and...

and Abigail Hobbs

Abigail Hobbs

Abigail Hobbs was a girl of about 17 years old when she was arrested for witchcraft on April 18, 1692 along with Giles Corey, Mary Warren, and Bridget Bishop. Prior to living in Salem Village , she and her family had lived in Casco, Maine, the frontier of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, during a time...

are tried and sentenced to hang.

September 19: Sheriffs administer Peine Forte Et Dure (pressing) to Giles Corey after he refuses to enter a plea to the charges of witchcraft against him. After two days under the weight, Corey dies.

September 21: Robert Mailea is accused of being a witch

September 22: Martha Corey, Margaret Scott, Mary Easty, Alice Parker, Ann Pudeator, Willmott Redd, Samuel Wardwell and Mary Parker are hanged. Giles Corey is pressed to death. Dorcas Hoar escapes execution by confessing.

September 23: Andrew Erickson is hung on the scaffold because he was accused of witchcraft

September 28: Timothy Gaetani is stoned to death after being accused by his wife of witchcraft

October 3: The Reverend Increase Mather

Increase Mather

, President of Harvard College

Harvard College

Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...

and father of Cotton Mather

Cotton Mather

Cotton Mather, FRS was a socially and politically influential New England Puritan minister, prolific author and pamphleteer; he is often remembered for his role in the Salem witch trials...

, denounces the use of spectral evidence.

October 12: Governor Phips writes the Privy Council

Privy council

A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the monarch's closest advisors to give confidential advice on...

of King William

William II of England

William II , the third son of William I of England, was King of England from 1087 until 1100, with powers over Normandy, and influence in Scotland. He was less successful in extending control into Wales...

and Queen Mary

Mary II of England

Mary II was joint Sovereign of England, Scotland, and Ireland with her husband and first cousin, William III and II, from 1689 until her death. William and Mary, both Protestants, became king and queen regnant, respectively, following the Glorious Revolution, which resulted in the deposition of...

saying that he has stopped the proceedings and referring to "what danger some of their innocent subjects might be exposed to, if the evidence of the afflicted persons only did prevail," i.e., "spectral evidence."

October 29: Phips prohibits further arrests, releases many accused witches, and dissolves the Court of Oyer and Terminer.

November 25: The General Court

General Court

The General Court is the shorthand name for the:* General Court * New Hampshire General Court* Massachusetts General CourtThis term also formally applied to the:* Vermont General Assembly, formerly the Vermont General Court...

establishes a Superior Court

Superior court

In common law systems, a superior court is a court of general competence which typically has unlimited jurisdiction with regard to civil and criminal legal cases...

to pardon remaining witches.

1693
January: 49 of the 52 surviving people brought into court on witchcraft charges are released because their arrests were based on "spectral evidence."

Aftermath

1700
Abigail Faulkner, Sr. requests that the Massachusetts General Court reverse the attainder on her name.

1706
Ann Putnam Jr. stands before her church and offers an apology for her part in the witch trials.

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