1 00:00:10,080 --> 00:00:14,320 Speaker 1: None of the remedies had worked. They tried parsnip seeds 2 00:00:14,400 --> 00:00:17,840 Speaker 1: ground up in red wine, and spirits of castor mixed 3 00:00:17,880 --> 00:00:21,480 Speaker 1: with oil of amber. They tried an elixir by taking 4 00:00:21,520 --> 00:00:23,600 Speaker 1: hard shore and oil from the antlers of a deer 5 00:00:23,680 --> 00:00:26,880 Speaker 1: and mixing it with soot. They'd even tried collecting dew 6 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:29,800 Speaker 1: drops and let them evaporate so they could use the 7 00:00:29,800 --> 00:00:33,440 Speaker 1: minuscule amount of dust to make a tonic, but none 8 00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:38,680 Speaker 1: of it had worked. That was frustrating too, because Samuel's niece, 9 00:00:38,680 --> 00:00:42,680 Speaker 1: Abigail wasn't getting any better. It had begun days earlier 10 00:00:42,720 --> 00:00:45,120 Speaker 1: when he found the eleven year old girl crouched beneath 11 00:00:45,120 --> 00:00:48,200 Speaker 1: a chair, her hands pressed against the signs of her head. 12 00:00:48,760 --> 00:00:52,720 Speaker 1: She was twisting and writhing and complaining loudly about some 13 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:57,640 Speaker 1: sort of torment. When things got really bad, Abigail would 14 00:00:57,640 --> 00:01:00,560 Speaker 1: collapse onto the floor in a limp heap, as if 15 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:03,440 Speaker 1: all of her bones had been magically removed from her body. 16 00:01:03,960 --> 00:01:06,600 Speaker 1: She would seize up and contort and panic, and in 17 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:09,280 Speaker 1: a house as small and packed as theirs, that was 18 00:01:09,400 --> 00:01:13,920 Speaker 1: a frightening sight. Samuel and his wife Elizabeth lived in 19 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:16,639 Speaker 1: that small house with three of their own children, plus 20 00:01:16,680 --> 00:01:22,160 Speaker 1: abigail close quarters meant that everyone was suffering vicariously alongside 21 00:01:22,160 --> 00:01:25,039 Speaker 1: the young girl, But it also meant that illness was 22 00:01:25,120 --> 00:01:28,479 Speaker 1: likely to spread unless they could treat it fast. Before 23 00:01:28,480 --> 00:01:31,600 Speaker 1: they could manage to do that, however, their worst fears 24 00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:36,440 Speaker 1: came true. In early January of sixteen ninety two. Screams 25 00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:39,080 Speaker 1: from another part of the house pulled Samuel out of 26 00:01:39,120 --> 00:01:42,759 Speaker 1: his frigid upstairs study. He bolted down to see who 27 00:01:42,800 --> 00:01:45,240 Speaker 1: was in trouble and what they might need, only to 28 00:01:45,319 --> 00:01:48,640 Speaker 1: find his nine year old daughter, Betty, suffering through her 29 00:01:48,680 --> 00:01:53,520 Speaker 1: own version of poor Abigail's original symptoms. Elizabeth was crouched 30 00:01:53,560 --> 00:01:56,320 Speaker 1: over the girl, hand on her back to comfort her, 31 00:01:56,680 --> 00:01:59,360 Speaker 1: but when she locked eyes with her husband, there was 32 00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:04,720 Speaker 1: nothing but Hannock in them. The Reverend Samuel Paris felt 33 00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:08,240 Speaker 1: a chill rippled down his spine. He and his wife 34 00:02:08,240 --> 00:02:11,320 Speaker 1: shared a common fear, an assumption about what was really 35 00:02:11,360 --> 00:02:14,200 Speaker 1: going on in their house. There was no doubt either. 36 00:02:14,919 --> 00:02:18,080 Speaker 1: Samuel was a deeply religious man who served as the 37 00:02:18,120 --> 00:02:21,839 Speaker 1: minister of the local Puritan settlement. He understood how things 38 00:02:21,880 --> 00:02:25,560 Speaker 1: worked and had heard similar stories before. All of it 39 00:02:25,639 --> 00:02:29,440 Speaker 1: pointed to an obvious conclusion, but just because it was 40 00:02:29,480 --> 00:02:34,760 Speaker 1: plain to see didn't make it any less frightening. Something 41 00:02:34,840 --> 00:02:39,200 Speaker 1: evil had arrived in Salem and it was just getting started. 42 00:02:42,200 --> 00:03:22,520 Speaker 1: This is unobscured. I'm Aaron Mankie. This might come as 43 00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:25,799 Speaker 1: a bit of a surprise, but there's nothing inherently special 44 00:03:25,880 --> 00:03:30,560 Speaker 1: about Salem, Massachusetts. Sure, it's old, having been incorporated in 45 00:03:30,600 --> 00:03:33,680 Speaker 1: sixty nine, which, if you do the math, is nearly 46 00:03:33,720 --> 00:03:36,680 Speaker 1: four years ago, but it's not even the oldest city 47 00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:39,680 Speaker 1: in the state. That honor goes to Plymouth, the site 48 00:03:39,680 --> 00:03:44,720 Speaker 1: of the Mayflower landing in Si. Salem began life as 49 00:03:44,760 --> 00:03:47,560 Speaker 1: a fishing town founded by a guy named Roger Conant, 50 00:03:47,760 --> 00:03:50,160 Speaker 1: but after a couple of years of going at it alone, 51 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:53,680 Speaker 1: the settlement received an infusion of new colonists, one of 52 00:03:53,680 --> 00:03:56,200 Speaker 1: whom was a man named John Endicott, who had been 53 00:03:56,280 --> 00:03:59,760 Speaker 1: sent to take over leadership of the colony. Conan stepped 54 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:03,720 Speaker 1: as so peacefully that they named the new settlement Salem, 55 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:06,640 Speaker 1: a word that comes from the Hebrew term shalom, which 56 00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:10,920 Speaker 1: means peace. Soon the area became home to a growing 57 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:14,560 Speaker 1: population of English Puritans who were tired of living under 58 00:04:14,600 --> 00:04:16,960 Speaker 1: the rule of a king who didn't support them, and 59 00:04:17,080 --> 00:04:20,360 Speaker 1: an Anglican Church that all out attacked them. The New 60 00:04:20,400 --> 00:04:25,640 Speaker 1: World offered them more freedom and less conflict. Here's historian 61 00:04:25,760 --> 00:04:29,960 Speaker 1: Richard Trask, A number of them eventually decided to go 62 00:04:30,080 --> 00:04:34,040 Speaker 1: to the New World. They latched onto an economic device 63 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:38,320 Speaker 1: of the mass Bay Colony. Once they got here, they 64 00:04:38,520 --> 00:04:42,360 Speaker 1: for a good generation or two were pretty much independent 65 00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:45,560 Speaker 1: to do what they wanted. They looked upon themselves, as 66 00:04:45,839 --> 00:04:49,760 Speaker 1: John Winthrop would later say, establishing a new kingdom upon 67 00:04:49,839 --> 00:04:54,839 Speaker 1: the hill. The first Puritans in Old England and New 68 00:04:54,839 --> 00:04:59,880 Speaker 1: England were very staunch believers. Over the years to come, 69 00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:04,400 Speaker 1: wave after wave of Puritan settlers washed into the new colony. 70 00:05:04,600 --> 00:05:07,520 Speaker 1: They built new lives there in a strange land, but 71 00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:11,240 Speaker 1: did so upon the familiar foundations of their religious beliefs 72 00:05:11,240 --> 00:05:14,839 Speaker 1: and a common vision for a brighter future. Over the 73 00:05:14,880 --> 00:05:17,800 Speaker 1: coming decades, though this vision of a city on a 74 00:05:17,880 --> 00:05:21,080 Speaker 1: hill would begin to waver a bit. Some people had 75 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:24,719 Speaker 1: called for the loosening of rules around church membership, a 76 00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:28,320 Speaker 1: concept that became official in sixteen fifty two under an 77 00:05:28,360 --> 00:05:32,200 Speaker 1: agreement known as the Halfway Covenant. Mary Beth Norton is 78 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:36,800 Speaker 1: a professor of American history at Cornell University. The Halfway 79 00:05:36,800 --> 00:05:41,000 Speaker 1: Covenant allowed people who had been baptized as children but 80 00:05:41,040 --> 00:05:44,800 Speaker 1: had not yet experienced saving faith to in effect be 81 00:05:44,760 --> 00:05:47,480 Speaker 1: members of the church, to be under the church at supervision, 82 00:05:47,520 --> 00:05:50,720 Speaker 1: and to have communion, and to have their babies baptized. 83 00:05:52,640 --> 00:05:56,640 Speaker 1: But as the population of Salem grew, it also spread westward, 84 00:05:56,800 --> 00:06:00,760 Speaker 1: creating pockets of smaller communities far from Sale Harbor and 85 00:06:00,880 --> 00:06:05,320 Speaker 1: original settlements. They called these the Salem village to avoid 86 00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:09,240 Speaker 1: confusion with the older, more wealthy Salem Town. During the 87 00:06:09,279 --> 00:06:12,680 Speaker 1: early years, though, some of these smaller communities managed to 88 00:06:12,720 --> 00:06:16,160 Speaker 1: break off and become recognized independent towns of their own, 89 00:06:16,520 --> 00:06:21,280 Speaker 1: places like marble Head and Manchester, Wenham and Beverly. It 90 00:06:21,400 --> 00:06:24,640 Speaker 1: was as if Salem Town was having babies and they 91 00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:29,440 Speaker 1: were moving out and growing up. One other thing. When 92 00:06:29,480 --> 00:06:32,520 Speaker 1: these towns became independent, they also earned the right to 93 00:06:32,600 --> 00:06:35,440 Speaker 1: collect their own local taxes, as well as build and 94 00:06:35,560 --> 00:06:39,440 Speaker 1: staff their own local churches. They became their own authority 95 00:06:39,520 --> 00:06:43,120 Speaker 1: in a sense, rather than depending on Salem Town for everything, 96 00:06:43,279 --> 00:06:48,120 Speaker 1: which was a healthy development. The fields and woods farther inland, 97 00:06:48,240 --> 00:06:51,719 Speaker 1: about a dozen miles west of Salem Town, were parceled 98 00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:54,200 Speaker 1: out to a handful of families who were ready to 99 00:06:54,240 --> 00:06:57,560 Speaker 1: settle down and farm there. Families with names like Putnam 100 00:06:57,640 --> 00:07:01,440 Speaker 1: and Porter, Hutchinson and ing U Saul. They might sound 101 00:07:01,480 --> 00:07:04,320 Speaker 1: unfamiliar to you now, but give it some time. You're 102 00:07:04,360 --> 00:07:07,240 Speaker 1: going to hear a lot about them soon enough. But 103 00:07:07,320 --> 00:07:10,200 Speaker 1: as these families moved west to set up their farmsteads, 104 00:07:10,640 --> 00:07:15,960 Speaker 1: they encountered a few problems. Namely, they became disconnected socially 105 00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:19,800 Speaker 1: from the thriving community in Salem Town. They didn't feel 106 00:07:19,800 --> 00:07:22,280 Speaker 1: like they were part of the popular crowd anymore, but 107 00:07:22,440 --> 00:07:26,040 Speaker 1: more like outsiders instead. To make matters worse, though, they 108 00:07:26,040 --> 00:07:29,360 Speaker 1: were still required to contribute to the responsibilities of their 109 00:07:29,400 --> 00:07:33,120 Speaker 1: former home, having to serve in Salem Town's militia, but 110 00:07:33,360 --> 00:07:36,520 Speaker 1: also travel the twelve miles each week to attend church 111 00:07:36,640 --> 00:07:40,440 Speaker 1: and participate in the night Watch. As you can imagine, 112 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:43,560 Speaker 1: that was more than a little frustrating. So it probably 113 00:07:43,560 --> 00:07:45,600 Speaker 1: won't shock you to learn that a few of the 114 00:07:45,640 --> 00:07:49,760 Speaker 1: prominent farmers in Salem Village banded together in sixteen sixty 115 00:07:49,840 --> 00:07:54,760 Speaker 1: six to petition Salem Town for their independence. Salem Town, however, 116 00:07:55,400 --> 00:07:59,560 Speaker 1: refused to comply. If you look at a map, Salem 117 00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:03,559 Speaker 1: Town is right on the coast. That's Richard Trask again, 118 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:07,680 Speaker 1: it's a fairly large community. In sixteen nine two they 119 00:08:07,720 --> 00:08:11,680 Speaker 1: have about dred residents. It looks more to the commercial 120 00:08:11,760 --> 00:08:16,680 Speaker 1: ventures to fishing. People there tend not to be Yeoman farmers, 121 00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:21,680 Speaker 1: but people who have occupations besides farming. The center of 122 00:08:21,680 --> 00:08:24,080 Speaker 1: Salem Village is about seven miles from the center of 123 00:08:24,080 --> 00:08:28,400 Speaker 1: Salem Town, and Salem Village was looked at kind of 124 00:08:28,440 --> 00:08:32,720 Speaker 1: as the bread basket for Salem Town. A year later, 125 00:08:32,840 --> 00:08:36,360 Speaker 1: in sixteen sixty seven, these same farmers traveled south to 126 00:08:36,440 --> 00:08:39,760 Speaker 1: Boston to petition the General Court. They didn't get the 127 00:08:39,840 --> 00:08:42,960 Speaker 1: independence they wanted, but they did walk away with a 128 00:08:43,000 --> 00:08:47,040 Speaker 1: smaller victory. Anyone living outside of a four mile circle 129 00:08:47,160 --> 00:08:49,920 Speaker 1: would no longer be required to serve in the Salem 130 00:08:49,960 --> 00:08:53,120 Speaker 1: Town Watch. It was enough to keep a lot of 131 00:08:53,120 --> 00:09:02,280 Speaker 1: people happy for a while. At least. Every movement has 132 00:09:02,320 --> 00:09:06,880 Speaker 1: two things, supporters and detractors, and the push for Salem 133 00:09:06,920 --> 00:09:09,840 Speaker 1: Village to become a community independent from the rule and 134 00:09:09,960 --> 00:09:14,240 Speaker 1: oversight of Salem Town was no exception. On the side 135 00:09:14,240 --> 00:09:17,400 Speaker 1: in favor of breaking off. Was the second wealthiest family 136 00:09:17,440 --> 00:09:21,000 Speaker 1: in the area, the Putnam's. Their dynasty had begun decades 137 00:09:21,080 --> 00:09:24,560 Speaker 1: earlier when Old John Putnam arrived in sixteen forty one 138 00:09:24,840 --> 00:09:28,079 Speaker 1: and purchased over eight hundred acres of land, land that 139 00:09:28,120 --> 00:09:31,720 Speaker 1: now belonged to his three adult sons, Thomas, Nathaniel, and 140 00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:34,840 Speaker 1: John Jr. In fact, if you were to time travel 141 00:09:34,920 --> 00:09:37,440 Speaker 1: to Salem Village in the sixteen sixties and take a 142 00:09:37,480 --> 00:09:40,520 Speaker 1: walking tour, most of the farmland you would see belong 143 00:09:40,640 --> 00:09:44,200 Speaker 1: to one of the Putnam's. The Putnams weren't happy with 144 00:09:44,320 --> 00:09:47,520 Speaker 1: a lot of things. They weren't happy with the Halfway Covenant, 145 00:09:47,720 --> 00:09:52,040 Speaker 1: that church policy that loosened the rules around membership and piety. 146 00:09:52,160 --> 00:09:55,120 Speaker 1: The Putnams believe that the church needed to become more strict, 147 00:09:55,320 --> 00:09:58,520 Speaker 1: not less. They weren't happy with paying taxes to a 148 00:09:58,559 --> 00:10:01,400 Speaker 1: town that rarely benefited, and when living outside the town's 149 00:10:01,440 --> 00:10:05,320 Speaker 1: borders independence, to them, was a better way of life. 150 00:10:07,120 --> 00:10:10,640 Speaker 1: On the opposite side of the argument were the Porter brothers, Joseph, 151 00:10:10,720 --> 00:10:14,720 Speaker 1: Benjamin and Israel. While the Putnam's owned eight hundred acres 152 00:10:14,760 --> 00:10:17,959 Speaker 1: of land, the Porters had amassed over two thousand acres 153 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:21,040 Speaker 1: Between them. They were the top dog, the most wealthy 154 00:10:21,120 --> 00:10:24,560 Speaker 1: and influential of all the Salem Village farmers. But not 155 00:10:24,640 --> 00:10:28,320 Speaker 1: only that, they heartily supported the halfway Covenant, putting them 156 00:10:28,400 --> 00:10:32,480 Speaker 1: in direct conflict with the more pious Putnam family. The 157 00:10:32,559 --> 00:10:36,040 Speaker 1: Porters also had deep financial ties to Salem Town, and 158 00:10:36,160 --> 00:10:40,280 Speaker 1: an independent Salem Village would harm them financially. The land 159 00:10:40,280 --> 00:10:43,240 Speaker 1: they owned actually straddled the line between the two communities, 160 00:10:43,360 --> 00:10:46,200 Speaker 1: so breaking them up would also break their property up. 161 00:10:46,520 --> 00:10:49,840 Speaker 1: Oh and they also owned three of Salem's four sawmills, 162 00:10:50,000 --> 00:10:53,400 Speaker 1: which were incredibly busy thanks to the town's constant growth. 163 00:10:53,800 --> 00:10:56,840 Speaker 1: Splitting off from Salem Town was not a plan that 164 00:10:56,880 --> 00:11:02,320 Speaker 1: the Porters supported. In six teen seventy, Salem Town voted 165 00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:05,000 Speaker 1: to build a brand new meeting house, a church building 166 00:11:05,080 --> 00:11:08,640 Speaker 1: that served double duty as a community gathering place, and 167 00:11:08,760 --> 00:11:12,319 Speaker 1: they wanted to levy more taxes to raise the necessary funds. 168 00:11:12,920 --> 00:11:16,160 Speaker 1: The Putnam's over in Salem Village refused to hand over 169 00:11:16,200 --> 00:11:19,240 Speaker 1: any more wealth to the town. They returned to Boston 170 00:11:19,320 --> 00:11:22,120 Speaker 1: to petition the General Court for help, but were sent 171 00:11:22,200 --> 00:11:24,440 Speaker 1: back to Salem to sort the matter out with their 172 00:11:24,480 --> 00:11:28,280 Speaker 1: Salem Town counterparts. It took them two years, two years 173 00:11:28,320 --> 00:11:32,720 Speaker 1: of haggling and fighting, of arguing and counter arguing, but 174 00:11:32,800 --> 00:11:37,560 Speaker 1: in sixteen seventy two they managed to win Salem Village 175 00:11:37,600 --> 00:11:40,800 Speaker 1: had permission to build their own meeting house and hire 176 00:11:40,840 --> 00:11:43,679 Speaker 1: a minister to lead them. They even had permission to 177 00:11:43,720 --> 00:11:47,720 Speaker 1: set themselves up as a township, but not completely independent. 178 00:11:48,120 --> 00:11:50,440 Speaker 1: They would still have to defer to Salem Town for 179 00:11:50,480 --> 00:11:53,000 Speaker 1: all of their major legal matters. A good way to 180 00:11:53,040 --> 00:11:55,800 Speaker 1: think of it was that Salem Village became a recognized 181 00:11:55,840 --> 00:12:00,800 Speaker 1: district within Salem Town, but it wasn't good enough. Building 182 00:12:00,880 --> 00:12:04,199 Speaker 1: the meeting house was the easy part. The Putnam's had 183 00:12:04,200 --> 00:12:06,719 Speaker 1: the money and timber to help that happen, and there 184 00:12:06,760 --> 00:12:10,680 Speaker 1: were enough farmers around to help construct it. The bigger challenge, though, 185 00:12:10,800 --> 00:12:13,839 Speaker 1: was finding the right minister for the job. He had 186 00:12:13,880 --> 00:12:17,679 Speaker 1: to be firmly against the halfway covenant, suitably pious and 187 00:12:17,840 --> 00:12:21,200 Speaker 1: well trained for the position, and what better place to 188 00:12:21,280 --> 00:12:25,320 Speaker 1: start than a friend of the family. James Bailey was 189 00:12:25,360 --> 00:12:28,560 Speaker 1: the brother in law of Thomas Putnam, junior, grandson of 190 00:12:28,640 --> 00:12:32,480 Speaker 1: Old John Putnam. When Bailey graduated from Harvard, the Putnams 191 00:12:32,480 --> 00:12:34,760 Speaker 1: asked him and his wife to come to Salem Village 192 00:12:34,800 --> 00:12:37,720 Speaker 1: and serve as their minister, which sounded like the happy 193 00:12:37,840 --> 00:12:41,400 Speaker 1: ending to a long and tragic fairy tale, except it 194 00:12:41,440 --> 00:12:44,920 Speaker 1: wasn't that simple. Once Bailey arrived, he proved to be 195 00:12:45,080 --> 00:12:48,680 Speaker 1: much less religious and strict then they'd hoped. In fact, 196 00:12:48,760 --> 00:12:50,920 Speaker 1: they began to fear that although he was close to 197 00:12:50,960 --> 00:12:54,680 Speaker 1: the Putnam family, he wasn't actually close to God. They 198 00:12:54,840 --> 00:12:58,160 Speaker 1: managed to avoid ordaining him for seven whole years, and 199 00:12:58,240 --> 00:13:00,760 Speaker 1: even refused to build him a house. He ended up 200 00:13:00,800 --> 00:13:04,520 Speaker 1: doing that himself, but life didn't get any easier when 201 00:13:04,520 --> 00:13:07,800 Speaker 1: he left Salem in sixteen seventy nine. He actually quit 202 00:13:07,840 --> 00:13:13,680 Speaker 1: the ministry entirely, becoming a doctor instead. The second minister 203 00:13:13,720 --> 00:13:17,280 Speaker 1: to arrive in Salem Village was George Burrows. He had 204 00:13:17,280 --> 00:13:21,000 Speaker 1: graduated from Harvard the year after Bailey and represented an 205 00:13:21,040 --> 00:13:24,720 Speaker 1: attempt to bridge the gap between Salem Village and Salem Town. 206 00:13:25,080 --> 00:13:27,920 Speaker 1: You see, Burrows was actually related to the junior minister 207 00:13:28,040 --> 00:13:31,440 Speaker 1: of the Salem Town Congregation. Hiring him could be seen 208 00:13:31,480 --> 00:13:34,280 Speaker 1: as a sort of olive branch. He was a play 209 00:13:34,480 --> 00:13:37,640 Speaker 1: for unity, but when he arrived, he moved into the 210 00:13:37,679 --> 00:13:40,480 Speaker 1: home of one of the Putnam's, which upset the porters. 211 00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:44,520 Speaker 1: Whatever hope they had of uniting their divided village evaporated 212 00:13:44,640 --> 00:13:47,320 Speaker 1: like missed over a new England field in the spring. 213 00:13:47,760 --> 00:13:50,959 Speaker 1: The porters also refused to contribute to the minister's salary, 214 00:13:51,160 --> 00:13:55,520 Speaker 1: leaving him without an income. Two years later, Burrows left 215 00:13:55,520 --> 00:13:59,400 Speaker 1: for Maine. Their third attempt at finding a minister to 216 00:13:59,440 --> 00:14:02,400 Speaker 1: guide their new church was a man named Deodat Lawson. 217 00:14:02,840 --> 00:14:05,800 Speaker 1: He arrived in sixteen eighty four and really did his 218 00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:08,880 Speaker 1: best to try to unite the community. They've been trying 219 00:14:08,880 --> 00:14:10,920 Speaker 1: to get their new church up and running for twelve 220 00:14:11,000 --> 00:14:14,280 Speaker 1: years at that point, and everyone was feeling a bit desperate. 221 00:14:14,640 --> 00:14:20,640 Speaker 1: But two years after his arrival, something unexpected happened. Thomas Putnam, senior, 222 00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:24,680 Speaker 1: son of the patriarch Old John Putnam, died in sixteen 223 00:14:24,760 --> 00:14:28,320 Speaker 1: eight six and his will needed to be executed. He 224 00:14:28,360 --> 00:14:32,200 Speaker 1: had an immense fortune and nine children from two separate marriages. 225 00:14:32,680 --> 00:14:35,800 Speaker 1: Everyone expected the fortune to be divided up equally among 226 00:14:35,840 --> 00:14:39,720 Speaker 1: the nine, but that didn't happen. That's because Thomas Sr's 227 00:14:39,840 --> 00:14:42,520 Speaker 1: second wife, and the mother of only one of his 228 00:14:42,640 --> 00:14:46,560 Speaker 1: nine children, was also the daughter of Israel Porter, and 229 00:14:46,720 --> 00:14:51,120 Speaker 1: Israel Porter somehow managed to become appointed executor of the will. 230 00:14:52,200 --> 00:14:54,800 Speaker 1: When it was over, a large chunk of the Putnam 231 00:14:54,840 --> 00:14:58,000 Speaker 1: family wealth had headed back towards the Salem town side 232 00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:01,160 Speaker 1: of the community. Dao dat Law and tried to manage 233 00:15:01,160 --> 00:15:04,680 Speaker 1: the situation as any good minister might, but he failed 234 00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:08,600 Speaker 1: to help smooth things over. Defeated, he quit his position 235 00:15:08,680 --> 00:15:11,360 Speaker 1: and left the church and the village defend for itself. 236 00:15:12,160 --> 00:15:15,280 Speaker 1: Fourteen years after beginning their search for a minister to 237 00:15:15,320 --> 00:15:19,000 Speaker 1: bring the community together under one roof Salem Village found 238 00:15:19,040 --> 00:15:22,920 Speaker 1: themselves returning to square one. They had tried and failed 239 00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:25,880 Speaker 1: not once, but three times, and I have to imagine 240 00:15:25,920 --> 00:15:28,840 Speaker 1: it was beginning to feel rather hopeless. But there were 241 00:15:28,880 --> 00:15:33,280 Speaker 1: still some who refused to give up entirely. The Putnam's, 242 00:15:33,400 --> 00:15:44,520 Speaker 1: you see, had an ace up their sleeve. Samuel's uncle 243 00:15:44,760 --> 00:15:49,120 Speaker 1: made his fortune selling other human beings. John Paris was 244 00:15:49,200 --> 00:15:52,640 Speaker 1: one of those enterprising english Men who took full advantage 245 00:15:52,640 --> 00:15:56,320 Speaker 1: of the global empire his country was building. Early on, 246 00:15:56,400 --> 00:15:59,080 Speaker 1: he got involved in the African slave trade, helping to 247 00:15:59,160 --> 00:16:02,160 Speaker 1: kidnap Africas and sell them to plantation owners in the 248 00:16:02,200 --> 00:16:06,200 Speaker 1: New World. One of those locations was the island of Barbados, 249 00:16:06,240 --> 00:16:10,120 Speaker 1: which England had begun to colonize in sixty seven. After 250 00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:12,920 Speaker 1: earning a heavy profit from the sale of slaves, John 251 00:16:12,960 --> 00:16:17,480 Speaker 1: Paris bought a plantation there and settled in It. Turns 252 00:16:17,480 --> 00:16:20,360 Speaker 1: out John wasn't very good at running his own business. 253 00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:23,760 Speaker 1: Sometime in the sixteen fifties, his brother Thomas took over 254 00:16:23,840 --> 00:16:26,920 Speaker 1: running everything in an attempt to turn things around. In 255 00:16:27,040 --> 00:16:30,960 Speaker 1: sixteen sixty, John died, leaving everything to his brother, who 256 00:16:31,000 --> 00:16:33,800 Speaker 1: packed up his entire family and moved them from London 257 00:16:33,880 --> 00:16:37,320 Speaker 1: to the plantation, and that included seven year old Samuel. 258 00:16:39,240 --> 00:16:41,960 Speaker 1: That's the world Samuel Paris grew up in, but it 259 00:16:42,040 --> 00:16:45,200 Speaker 1: was also a very Puritan lifestyle, leaning hard toward the 260 00:16:45,240 --> 00:16:48,920 Speaker 1: conservative side of the Christian spectrum. In fact, Samuel's older 261 00:16:48,920 --> 00:16:51,880 Speaker 1: brother was a Puritan minister back in England, and he 262 00:16:51,920 --> 00:16:55,240 Speaker 1: had an uncle, John Oxenbridge, who served as a minister 263 00:16:55,320 --> 00:16:58,400 Speaker 1: of Boston's Puritan First Church. So when it came time 264 00:16:58,440 --> 00:17:01,240 Speaker 1: for Samuel to consider his edge accation and trained to 265 00:17:01,240 --> 00:17:07,119 Speaker 1: be a minister, there was only one place to send him. Harvard. Today, 266 00:17:07,119 --> 00:17:10,320 Speaker 1: Harvard is a bastion of progressive thinking, but it began 267 00:17:10,440 --> 00:17:13,879 Speaker 1: life as a conservative alternative to more liberal schools like 268 00:17:13,920 --> 00:17:17,960 Speaker 1: Oxford or Cambridge. Sure, Thomas could have sent Samuel back 269 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:20,760 Speaker 1: to England for training as a minister, but Harvard was 270 00:17:20,840 --> 00:17:24,240 Speaker 1: the safer choice for a Puritan. So in sixteen seventy 271 00:17:24,359 --> 00:17:27,760 Speaker 1: Samuel left home and headed to the Massachusetts Bay Colony, 272 00:17:27,840 --> 00:17:30,560 Speaker 1: where he joined the ranks of students at Harvard just 273 00:17:30,680 --> 00:17:35,760 Speaker 1: outside of Boston. Real life doesn't always play along with 274 00:17:35,800 --> 00:17:39,359 Speaker 1: our carefully laid plans, though. Just three years after arriving 275 00:17:39,359 --> 00:17:42,040 Speaker 1: in Boston with his degree in sight at the end 276 00:17:42,040 --> 00:17:45,320 Speaker 1: of the tunnel, Samuel's father died and he was forced 277 00:17:45,359 --> 00:17:48,160 Speaker 1: to return to Barbados to take over the family business. 278 00:17:48,840 --> 00:17:51,919 Speaker 1: Two years later, the bottom fell out of the sugar market, 279 00:17:52,160 --> 00:17:56,399 Speaker 1: destroying most of his fortune. Months later, a hurricane devastated 280 00:17:56,440 --> 00:18:00,320 Speaker 1: the island, and after that racial tensions began to boil over. 281 00:18:00,960 --> 00:18:03,040 Speaker 1: This was a time when nine out of every ten 282 00:18:03,080 --> 00:18:06,000 Speaker 1: people on the island were black, yet the whites held 283 00:18:06,040 --> 00:18:12,040 Speaker 1: all the power. People were upset, and rightly so. When 284 00:18:12,040 --> 00:18:15,560 Speaker 1: a smallpox outbreak arrived in sixteen eighty, Samuel took it 285 00:18:15,600 --> 00:18:18,880 Speaker 1: as a sign. He sold everything off, packed up, and 286 00:18:18,960 --> 00:18:22,280 Speaker 1: headed back north. He arrived in Boston with at least 287 00:18:22,280 --> 00:18:25,200 Speaker 1: one of his slaves, a woman named Tituba, as well 288 00:18:25,240 --> 00:18:27,760 Speaker 1: as a small fortune that he hoped to use as 289 00:18:27,800 --> 00:18:30,480 Speaker 1: a seed for something greater. He bought one of the 290 00:18:30,480 --> 00:18:34,199 Speaker 1: wharfs in Boston's Harbor, a downtown shop and interest in 291 00:18:34,280 --> 00:18:38,600 Speaker 1: one of the smaller shipping companies. Being back in New 292 00:18:38,600 --> 00:18:42,080 Speaker 1: England was refreshing for Samuel. He was back in touch 293 00:18:42,160 --> 00:18:46,000 Speaker 1: with his Harvard friends and reconnected to the Puritan movement. There. 294 00:18:46,480 --> 00:18:49,080 Speaker 1: He had begun to brush shoulders with religious leaders like 295 00:18:49,240 --> 00:18:53,000 Speaker 1: Increased Mather and his popular son Cotton. He even worked 296 00:18:53,040 --> 00:18:55,680 Speaker 1: for a time alongside his uncle at the Puritan church 297 00:18:55,680 --> 00:18:58,199 Speaker 1: in Boston, and it was there that he met a 298 00:18:58,200 --> 00:19:01,560 Speaker 1: physician named William Griggs who had some family north of 299 00:19:01,560 --> 00:19:06,480 Speaker 1: the city, and they we're looking for a minister. This 300 00:19:06,560 --> 00:19:09,439 Speaker 1: family turned out to be none other than the Putnams, 301 00:19:09,440 --> 00:19:13,320 Speaker 1: and their timing was actually perfect. Samuel wasn't doing so 302 00:19:13,359 --> 00:19:16,359 Speaker 1: well compared to some of the other businesses around him. 303 00:19:16,400 --> 00:19:19,919 Speaker 1: He was earning good money, but nothing compared to the competition. 304 00:19:20,320 --> 00:19:24,000 Speaker 1: So in six he began conversations with the folks in 305 00:19:24,040 --> 00:19:28,119 Speaker 1: Salem Village about shifting careers once again and stepping into 306 00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:32,960 Speaker 1: their vacant minister role. Here's Richard Trask. He had not 307 00:19:33,280 --> 00:19:37,120 Speaker 1: been an ordained minister. I guess the term today would 308 00:19:37,119 --> 00:19:40,000 Speaker 1: be had taken courses. He was a man who had 309 00:19:40,080 --> 00:19:42,760 Speaker 1: changed his occupation. He was a merchant. Didn't do that 310 00:19:42,800 --> 00:19:46,200 Speaker 1: while there had a belief in wanting to do good, 311 00:19:46,520 --> 00:19:49,840 Speaker 1: and so took the call in Salem Village, and the 312 00:19:49,920 --> 00:19:53,760 Speaker 1: village took him on as the minister. It took them 313 00:19:53,840 --> 00:19:57,880 Speaker 1: nearly a year of negotiations, but in November of six nine, 314 00:19:58,040 --> 00:20:01,119 Speaker 1: Samuel Paris took over as the fourth minister of the 315 00:20:01,160 --> 00:20:04,800 Speaker 1: Salem Village Congregation. And not only did he get the job, 316 00:20:05,200 --> 00:20:08,359 Speaker 1: but unlike his three predecessors, he was even ordained by 317 00:20:08,359 --> 00:20:12,120 Speaker 1: the community there. This was huge, but things weren't all 318 00:20:12,320 --> 00:20:16,640 Speaker 1: rose colored glasses and smooth sailing. You find that in 319 00:20:16,720 --> 00:20:20,399 Speaker 1: his coming to Salem Village, you had some problems, and 320 00:20:20,480 --> 00:20:25,800 Speaker 1: the problems were you always had within your community, the 321 00:20:25,920 --> 00:20:30,640 Speaker 1: covenant members usually like ten of the population, and then 322 00:20:30,720 --> 00:20:34,000 Speaker 1: the others, the outsiders who had to contribute to the 323 00:20:34,160 --> 00:20:37,800 Speaker 1: meetinghouse for the church but didn't really have too much 324 00:20:37,840 --> 00:20:41,320 Speaker 1: of a say that way. You see, you can hire 325 00:20:41,400 --> 00:20:44,560 Speaker 1: a new minister, even one that meets that very specific 326 00:20:44,640 --> 00:20:47,760 Speaker 1: list of requirements that Salem Village had, but you can't 327 00:20:47,840 --> 00:20:51,040 Speaker 1: change the culture around the village. If Paris was meant 328 00:20:51,080 --> 00:20:53,920 Speaker 1: to be a seed for change, he'd been planted in toxic, 329 00:20:54,080 --> 00:20:57,320 Speaker 1: unfriendly soil, and nothing good could ever grow. From that. 330 00:20:58,920 --> 00:21:01,560 Speaker 1: Don't get me wrong, there were flaws on both sides 331 00:21:01,600 --> 00:21:04,680 Speaker 1: of the argument. On one hand, the Putnam's finally had 332 00:21:04,720 --> 00:21:08,440 Speaker 1: an ultrapious minister who would fight against the halfway covenant. 333 00:21:08,920 --> 00:21:11,880 Speaker 1: Paris refused to give church membership to anyone who wasn't 334 00:21:11,920 --> 00:21:15,119 Speaker 1: willing to take on the highly conservative practices that he taught. 335 00:21:15,560 --> 00:21:19,000 Speaker 1: He refused them communion and baptism, which was like depriving 336 00:21:19,200 --> 00:21:23,040 Speaker 1: starving men of a good meal. On the other side 337 00:21:23,080 --> 00:21:25,679 Speaker 1: of the argument were the Porters. They were some of 338 00:21:25,720 --> 00:21:29,160 Speaker 1: the people denied membership by Samuel Paris, and they weren't 339 00:21:29,160 --> 00:21:32,119 Speaker 1: happy about that. But one of the Porters was the 340 00:21:32,200 --> 00:21:35,400 Speaker 1: leader of the Salem Tax Committee, so he fought back. 341 00:21:35,800 --> 00:21:39,040 Speaker 1: If Paris was going to play hardball with essentials like communion, 342 00:21:39,240 --> 00:21:42,120 Speaker 1: then they would simply refuse to pay him his salary 343 00:21:42,359 --> 00:21:48,200 Speaker 1: and regular allotment of firewood. Historian Maryland k Roach at 344 00:21:48,240 --> 00:21:51,560 Speaker 1: one point, He's really low on it and complaining about it. 345 00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:54,560 Speaker 1: He's riding in the winter and in the ink praises 346 00:21:54,600 --> 00:22:01,000 Speaker 1: in the innklow. So it was a necessity, which is 347 00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:05,520 Speaker 1: why in early January Paris was freezing in his upstairs study. 348 00:22:05,920 --> 00:22:08,600 Speaker 1: It was his space away from the rest of the household, 349 00:22:08,640 --> 00:22:11,679 Speaker 1: where he retreated to prepare his sermons. But New England 350 00:22:11,720 --> 00:22:15,560 Speaker 1: winters have always been a brutal experience, and he probably 351 00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:18,320 Speaker 1: spent just as much time breathing into his cupped hands 352 00:22:18,640 --> 00:22:22,000 Speaker 1: as he did dipping his quill in the ink. Thankfully 353 00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:25,919 Speaker 1: though he kept writing. In fact, his Minister's Notebook is 354 00:22:25,920 --> 00:22:28,680 Speaker 1: one of the most important documents we still have today, 355 00:22:29,000 --> 00:22:32,000 Speaker 1: and it provides a unique window into the events that 356 00:22:32,040 --> 00:22:36,199 Speaker 1: were about to unfold. During my time with historian Richard Trask, 357 00:22:36,680 --> 00:22:40,000 Speaker 1: I got to see that notebook for myself. This is 358 00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:43,679 Speaker 1: the Minister's record book. We had it restored back in 359 00:22:43,720 --> 00:22:48,159 Speaker 1: the nineties seventies, so he is the original piece of 360 00:22:48,320 --> 00:22:53,000 Speaker 1: paunchment on a new binding. Yeah, and this is all 361 00:22:53,040 --> 00:22:59,399 Speaker 1: in the handwriting of Reverend Paris. The notebook helps us 362 00:22:59,440 --> 00:23:02,439 Speaker 1: see the new wants in the story. The tensions in 363 00:23:02,480 --> 00:23:06,000 Speaker 1: Salem were a lot more complex than just withheld firewood 364 00:23:06,040 --> 00:23:10,479 Speaker 1: deliveries and religious disputes between two prominent families. There was 365 00:23:10,520 --> 00:23:13,639 Speaker 1: another layer to their worldview, one that was filled with 366 00:23:13,720 --> 00:23:18,040 Speaker 1: dark powers, horrifying dangers, and a system of rules that 367 00:23:18,119 --> 00:23:21,280 Speaker 1: was so loose and full of holes that anyone could 368 00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:25,160 Speaker 1: be accused of breaking them. Taking it all into account, 369 00:23:25,480 --> 00:23:29,840 Speaker 1: it wasn't just bad. It was a recipe or a disaster. 370 00:23:38,040 --> 00:23:41,720 Speaker 1: Samuel Paris had guts, that much was clear. But while 371 00:23:41,760 --> 00:23:45,080 Speaker 1: he was preaching harsh messages to his church about wandering 372 00:23:45,160 --> 00:23:49,600 Speaker 1: in the wilderness, about suffering through hatred and persecution, about 373 00:23:49,640 --> 00:23:52,720 Speaker 1: the wicked and reprobate people who were working with the 374 00:23:52,760 --> 00:23:56,600 Speaker 1: devil to destroy the church, well, things were falling apart 375 00:23:56,680 --> 00:24:01,280 Speaker 1: back home. It wasn't just that Betty Abigail were suffering 376 00:24:01,400 --> 00:24:04,680 Speaker 1: from something they couldn't treat. No, there was something else. 377 00:24:05,119 --> 00:24:08,480 Speaker 1: It reminded Paris of another story, one from just a 378 00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:14,880 Speaker 1: few years before. In six four children of a Boston 379 00:24:14,960 --> 00:24:20,680 Speaker 1: family by the name of Goodwin began to show unusual symptoms, fits, seizures, 380 00:24:20,920 --> 00:24:24,560 Speaker 1: and violent twisting, the sort that caused great alarm and 381 00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:28,119 Speaker 1: were also very hard to forget. At some point in 382 00:24:28,160 --> 00:24:30,520 Speaker 1: their suffering, the four girls cried out that they were 383 00:24:30,520 --> 00:24:34,000 Speaker 1: being attacked by their neighbor, an elderly Irish immigrant named 384 00:24:34,040 --> 00:24:37,520 Speaker 1: Goody Glover. Goody, by the way, wasn't a first name. 385 00:24:37,800 --> 00:24:40,199 Speaker 1: The terms Goody and good Men were sort of a 386 00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:44,080 Speaker 1: seventeenth century version of Mr. And mrs. That After a 387 00:24:44,119 --> 00:24:48,040 Speaker 1: long trial, Goody Glover was convicted of witchcraft and hanged 388 00:24:48,040 --> 00:24:52,120 Speaker 1: in Boston. There were others too, and they had all 389 00:24:52,160 --> 00:24:54,720 Speaker 1: been written about and spread to the far reaches of 390 00:24:54,760 --> 00:24:57,960 Speaker 1: the colony there. We can blame Cotton Mother for that, 391 00:24:58,160 --> 00:25:01,119 Speaker 1: because he had a passion for collect these sorts of tales, 392 00:25:01,320 --> 00:25:04,320 Speaker 1: in publishing them as a sort of warning to the pious. 393 00:25:05,359 --> 00:25:09,840 Speaker 1: Here's Jane Kamensky, Professor of American History at Harvard University. 394 00:25:10,480 --> 00:25:15,000 Speaker 1: Kind Mother was a fellow of the Royal Historical Society, 395 00:25:15,240 --> 00:25:21,280 Speaker 1: fancied himself a scientist of international connection. So it's not 396 00:25:22,680 --> 00:25:27,680 Speaker 1: education or intellect that explains where people came down and 397 00:25:27,680 --> 00:25:32,000 Speaker 1: and how this is a world in which science and 398 00:25:32,480 --> 00:25:38,359 Speaker 1: religion and ghost stories all are are very much of 399 00:25:38,440 --> 00:25:42,600 Speaker 1: a piece. They had a particular cosmology, parts of which 400 00:25:42,640 --> 00:25:46,280 Speaker 1: we believe we have proved wrong. We also have a 401 00:25:46,359 --> 00:25:51,560 Speaker 1: cosmology right that there are certainly things in our conceptions 402 00:25:51,600 --> 00:25:55,639 Speaker 1: of science are totalizing conceptions of science that people in 403 00:25:56,080 --> 00:25:59,080 Speaker 1: two hundred or three hundred years will wonder, how on 404 00:25:59,119 --> 00:26:08,040 Speaker 1: earth did they believe that these stories were on Samuel 405 00:26:08,040 --> 00:26:10,560 Speaker 1: Paris's mind when he heard a knock at the door 406 00:26:10,600 --> 00:26:13,600 Speaker 1: one day in early February. It was a local woman 407 00:26:13,720 --> 00:26:16,640 Speaker 1: named Sarah Good. She and her little girl had come 408 00:26:16,680 --> 00:26:20,080 Speaker 1: to beg for assistance. Her husband had no income, and 409 00:26:20,160 --> 00:26:23,040 Speaker 1: her relatives had turned her away. She was known to 410 00:26:23,080 --> 00:26:27,720 Speaker 1: be rude and unpleasant, and she creeped people out. She 411 00:26:27,720 --> 00:26:30,439 Speaker 1: would arrive on their doorstep and beg for food, and 412 00:26:30,480 --> 00:26:33,199 Speaker 1: when people turned her away, she would mutter under her 413 00:26:33,240 --> 00:26:36,159 Speaker 1: breath and say things about their property that sounded an 414 00:26:36,160 --> 00:26:39,520 Speaker 1: awful lot like a curse to their superstitious Puritan ears. 415 00:26:40,160 --> 00:26:42,919 Speaker 1: On this occasion, Paris gave the little girl something to 416 00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:45,840 Speaker 1: eat and then turned the pair of them away. As 417 00:26:45,840 --> 00:26:49,320 Speaker 1: she left, Sarah Good did more of her mysterious muttering 418 00:26:49,760 --> 00:26:54,159 Speaker 1: in Paris didn't like the sound of it. Events like these, 419 00:26:54,359 --> 00:26:57,480 Speaker 1: along with all the other stories, served to inform how 420 00:26:57,520 --> 00:27:01,159 Speaker 1: the Paris family would treat Abigail and Betty. Sure He 421 00:27:01,320 --> 00:27:04,320 Speaker 1: tried to take the more logical path. First, his old 422 00:27:04,320 --> 00:27:07,960 Speaker 1: physician friend, William Griggs, paid them a visit in January 423 00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:11,560 Speaker 1: of six two and examine the girls. But despite being 424 00:27:11,640 --> 00:27:14,960 Speaker 1: a doctor, he could only agree with Samuel's puzzlement. There 425 00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:17,720 Speaker 1: was no bodily illness that could cause the symptoms that 426 00:27:17,760 --> 00:27:21,760 Speaker 1: they were witnessing. Instead, Griggs suggested that the girls were 427 00:27:21,880 --> 00:27:25,480 Speaker 1: under an evil hand, a pronouncement that must have chilled 428 00:27:25,520 --> 00:27:28,440 Speaker 1: Paris to the bone. Not only that, but it also 429 00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:31,520 Speaker 1: made him feel well out of his depths. Yes he 430 00:27:31,600 --> 00:27:34,879 Speaker 1: had read about the Goodwin children and others like them. 431 00:27:34,960 --> 00:27:37,880 Speaker 1: Yes he was a pious man of faith, but this 432 00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:41,159 Speaker 1: was out of his realm of personal experience, and he 433 00:27:41,240 --> 00:27:47,719 Speaker 1: was going to need advice. On February six, Samuel and 434 00:27:47,840 --> 00:27:51,320 Speaker 1: his wife Elizabeth left home to attend a nearby gathering 435 00:27:51,359 --> 00:27:55,000 Speaker 1: of local ministers and church leaders called a Thursday lecture. 436 00:27:56,200 --> 00:27:58,600 Speaker 1: His hope was that there might be someone there who 437 00:27:58,680 --> 00:28:01,520 Speaker 1: could consult with him, or even be invited over to 438 00:28:01,600 --> 00:28:04,760 Speaker 1: his home to see for themselves what the symptoms looked like. 439 00:28:05,480 --> 00:28:07,600 Speaker 1: While he was there, he was able to chat with 440 00:28:07,680 --> 00:28:10,719 Speaker 1: both of the Salem town ministers, as well as Reverend 441 00:28:10,800 --> 00:28:14,520 Speaker 1: John Hale from Beverly and former Salem village minister Dao 442 00:28:14,600 --> 00:28:18,560 Speaker 1: Dat Lawson. Hale and Lawson both agreed to visit soon 443 00:28:20,680 --> 00:28:22,800 Speaker 1: while the paris Is were gone, though they had left 444 00:28:22,800 --> 00:28:25,040 Speaker 1: their children in the care of a local woman named 445 00:28:25,119 --> 00:28:28,680 Speaker 1: Mary Sibley. She was a pregnant mother of five children 446 00:28:28,800 --> 00:28:32,280 Speaker 1: and one of the faithful members of Samuel's congregation. She 447 00:28:32,359 --> 00:28:34,200 Speaker 1: stayed in the house that day to care for Betty 448 00:28:34,280 --> 00:28:38,640 Speaker 1: and Abigail, along with the Paris slaves Tituba and John Indian. 449 00:28:39,400 --> 00:28:42,360 Speaker 1: What she witnessed that day concerned her enough to drive 450 00:28:42,400 --> 00:28:46,640 Speaker 1: her into action. Mary told Tituba and John that she 451 00:28:46,760 --> 00:28:50,040 Speaker 1: remembered an old remedy from her time growing up in England. 452 00:28:50,440 --> 00:28:52,920 Speaker 1: She gave the instructions to John and he got to 453 00:28:52,960 --> 00:28:58,000 Speaker 1: work preparing this miracle cure. First, John collected urine from 454 00:28:58,040 --> 00:29:00,840 Speaker 1: the girls and then mixed it with hour to form 455 00:29:00,880 --> 00:29:04,320 Speaker 1: a dough. Then it was shaped into biscuits and baked 456 00:29:04,360 --> 00:29:08,480 Speaker 1: in the orange embers of the fireplace. Next, and this 457 00:29:08,560 --> 00:29:11,320 Speaker 1: is a bit confusing, and most historians don't have a 458 00:29:11,360 --> 00:29:14,800 Speaker 1: definitive explanation why the biscuits were then fed to the 459 00:29:14,840 --> 00:29:17,880 Speaker 1: family dog. Maybe it was a way of passing the 460 00:29:17,960 --> 00:29:20,920 Speaker 1: curse over from the girls to the dog, or perhaps 461 00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:23,720 Speaker 1: it somehow marked the dog as a better target for 462 00:29:23,840 --> 00:29:27,480 Speaker 1: the evil forces attacking the girls. We don't know. All 463 00:29:27,520 --> 00:29:30,120 Speaker 1: we know is that Mary Sibley had made the biscuits 464 00:29:30,200 --> 00:29:34,800 Speaker 1: in an effort to help, but that help backfired. Both 465 00:29:34,840 --> 00:29:38,320 Speaker 1: of the girls experienced an uptick in their symptoms that day. 466 00:29:38,480 --> 00:29:41,040 Speaker 1: It was so dramatic of an increase that Samuel and 467 00:29:41,040 --> 00:29:44,640 Speaker 1: Elizabeth noticed it immediately when they returned home on Friday, 468 00:29:44,680 --> 00:29:47,840 Speaker 1: as did the guests who came with them. The convulsions 469 00:29:47,880 --> 00:29:50,840 Speaker 1: had visibly increased, and both of the girls were now 470 00:29:50,840 --> 00:29:53,440 Speaker 1: claiming to see the shape of a stranger in the house, 471 00:29:54,000 --> 00:29:59,400 Speaker 1: a stranger who was slapping and pinching them. When Paris 472 00:29:59,400 --> 00:30:01,920 Speaker 1: asked the girl as who it was, both of them 473 00:30:02,040 --> 00:30:06,360 Speaker 1: named Tichuba as their attacker. Naturally, Samuel pulled the woman 474 00:30:06,400 --> 00:30:10,120 Speaker 1: aside and asked her about it. He'd known Tichuba for years, 475 00:30:10,160 --> 00:30:12,640 Speaker 1: long before his time in England, and he thought he 476 00:30:12,680 --> 00:30:16,000 Speaker 1: could trust her. His faith was deeper, though, causing him 477 00:30:16,040 --> 00:30:19,520 Speaker 1: to believe the girl's claim. Tichuba denied it, of course, 478 00:30:19,920 --> 00:30:22,520 Speaker 1: but she also revealed what had happened while they were gone, 479 00:30:23,040 --> 00:30:28,120 Speaker 1: and what Mary Sibley had done. Samuel exploded in rage. 480 00:30:28,640 --> 00:30:31,760 Speaker 1: Someone had dared to come into his home, the home 481 00:30:31,840 --> 00:30:36,120 Speaker 1: of Salem Village's ordained servants of God, and use magic. 482 00:30:36,720 --> 00:30:39,200 Speaker 1: They had called upon the powers of the Devil himself 483 00:30:39,240 --> 00:30:43,680 Speaker 1: to save the girls, thereby making the situation worse, not better. 484 00:30:44,280 --> 00:30:47,400 Speaker 1: The increase in the symptoms of both girls was irrefutable 485 00:30:47,440 --> 00:30:50,000 Speaker 1: proof of just how bad an idea that had been. 486 00:30:51,600 --> 00:30:54,640 Speaker 1: What he did in response after his guests had left 487 00:30:54,640 --> 00:30:57,280 Speaker 1: for the evening would only come to light later on. 488 00:30:58,280 --> 00:31:00,960 Speaker 1: As the ministers and town of issials went back to 489 00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:05,960 Speaker 1: their homes and families, they carried a dark rumor with them. 490 00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:09,560 Speaker 1: There was a witch in Salem and no one was safe. 491 00:31:20,000 --> 00:31:23,920 Speaker 1: It's easy to lose perspective on history. The events of 492 00:31:23,920 --> 00:31:27,560 Speaker 1: Salem took place over three centuries ago. That's three hundred 493 00:31:27,680 --> 00:31:31,880 Speaker 1: years of looking back, three years of storytelling, and three 494 00:31:31,960 --> 00:31:35,800 Speaker 1: hundred years of preconceived notions about what we think happened. 495 00:31:36,560 --> 00:31:40,280 Speaker 1: From where we stand today, we've forgotten more about Salem 496 00:31:40,400 --> 00:31:44,000 Speaker 1: than we ever remembered. Time has taken it from us. 497 00:31:45,920 --> 00:31:50,360 Speaker 1: That's why this series exists. Over the centuries, the Salem 498 00:31:50,400 --> 00:31:54,440 Speaker 1: witch trials have become obscured by time and distance. It's 499 00:31:54,480 --> 00:31:58,600 Speaker 1: mysterious and misunderstood by most people. I want to clean 500 00:31:58,760 --> 00:32:04,000 Speaker 1: that foggy window, to leave it clear and understandable, unobscured, 501 00:32:05,600 --> 00:32:08,400 Speaker 1: So keep that in mind as we dive deeper. These 502 00:32:08,440 --> 00:32:13,840 Speaker 1: seemingly unimportant details, the religious divisions, the competing families, and 503 00:32:13,960 --> 00:32:18,360 Speaker 1: the small town politics all of them are essential pieces 504 00:32:18,400 --> 00:32:20,920 Speaker 1: in a larger puzzle that my team and I want 505 00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:23,560 Speaker 1: to assemble for you over the course of this season. 506 00:32:24,400 --> 00:32:27,760 Speaker 1: Along the way, we'll hear from historians and experts in 507 00:32:27,800 --> 00:32:30,800 Speaker 1: the study of the Sale and witch trials. Their insight 508 00:32:31,160 --> 00:32:36,360 Speaker 1: will prove to be invaluable tools for our journey. That 509 00:32:36,520 --> 00:32:40,080 Speaker 1: Thursday experiment by Mary Sibley and the aftermath it took 510 00:32:40,080 --> 00:32:44,080 Speaker 1: place the following day were flashpoints. All of the background 511 00:32:44,120 --> 00:32:48,440 Speaker 1: information and context came together like that yurine and flower biscuit, 512 00:32:48,960 --> 00:32:51,440 Speaker 1: and after it baked in the heat of Samuel Paris's 513 00:32:51,560 --> 00:32:56,080 Speaker 1: rage and his neighbor's fear, it got to work. On 514 00:32:56,160 --> 00:33:01,080 Speaker 1: February six, two, the day after Samuel Paris and his 515 00:33:01,200 --> 00:33:05,360 Speaker 1: friends learned of the witch cake experiment, young Elizabeth Hubbard 516 00:33:05,480 --> 00:33:08,560 Speaker 1: was walking through the snow toward her home. She was 517 00:33:08,600 --> 00:33:11,800 Speaker 1: on an errand for her uncle, William Griggs, who also 518 00:33:11,920 --> 00:33:14,800 Speaker 1: happened to be the physician Samuel Paris had been consulting 519 00:33:14,840 --> 00:33:18,040 Speaker 1: with for weeks. It had been Griggs that suggested that 520 00:33:18,080 --> 00:33:21,840 Speaker 1: Betty and Abigail weren't suffering from a physical illness, but 521 00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:26,440 Speaker 1: a spiritual one. Elizabeth trudged along the path that cut 522 00:33:26,480 --> 00:33:29,840 Speaker 1: through the snow and tugged her coat tighter to her body. 523 00:33:30,000 --> 00:33:32,640 Speaker 1: The winds had picked up and it was throwing daggers 524 00:33:32,640 --> 00:33:35,800 Speaker 1: of bitter cold. But as she walked, she had the 525 00:33:35,840 --> 00:33:40,960 Speaker 1: overwhelming feeling that something was following her. She glanced back 526 00:33:41,000 --> 00:33:43,640 Speaker 1: a few times, but didn't see anything until she was 527 00:33:43,760 --> 00:33:46,400 Speaker 1: very close to her home. That's when she caught a 528 00:33:46,400 --> 00:33:49,240 Speaker 1: glimpse of what she believed to be a wolf. It 529 00:33:49,320 --> 00:33:52,640 Speaker 1: had been following her the entire time, stalking her through 530 00:33:52,680 --> 00:33:55,800 Speaker 1: the wind and snow, but there was something wrong about 531 00:33:55,800 --> 00:34:01,920 Speaker 1: that wolf, something different. Elizabeth Bubbard believed it was a familiar, 532 00:34:02,360 --> 00:34:05,440 Speaker 1: an animal under the control of a witch acting as 533 00:34:05,480 --> 00:34:08,840 Speaker 1: a servant and helper. And while I have no idea 534 00:34:08,920 --> 00:34:11,799 Speaker 1: how she made this next leap in logic, she told 535 00:34:11,840 --> 00:34:14,799 Speaker 1: her uncle that the wolf served one which, in particular 536 00:34:15,640 --> 00:34:18,680 Speaker 1: Sarah Good, the grumpy beggar who went door to door 537 00:34:18,760 --> 00:34:22,880 Speaker 1: for handouts. Later that day, she claimed that another woman, 538 00:34:23,080 --> 00:34:29,640 Speaker 1: Sarah Osburne, was also tormenting her. Elsewhere in Salem Village, 539 00:34:29,719 --> 00:34:34,080 Speaker 1: another family was encountering their own problems. Thomas Putnam Jr. 540 00:34:34,160 --> 00:34:36,239 Speaker 1: Was a veteran of the wars on the main Frontier, 541 00:34:36,400 --> 00:34:38,920 Speaker 1: so he had seen a lot of evil in his life. 542 00:34:39,400 --> 00:34:41,440 Speaker 1: He was also most likely one of the friends who 543 00:34:41,520 --> 00:34:45,200 Speaker 1: witnessed Betty and Abigail's new symptoms on Friday, and in 544 00:34:45,239 --> 00:34:47,520 Speaker 1: the middle of all of that, at the same time 545 00:34:47,560 --> 00:34:51,399 Speaker 1: Elizabeth Hubbard was seeing demonic wolves. Thomas's twelve year old 546 00:34:51,480 --> 00:34:54,440 Speaker 1: daughter Annie began to convulse and writhe on the floor. 547 00:34:55,640 --> 00:34:59,440 Speaker 1: A storm blasted Salem that Sunday, pinning most people down 548 00:34:59,480 --> 00:35:02,919 Speaker 1: inside their homes. When it lifted on Monday morning, though, 549 00:35:03,160 --> 00:35:06,279 Speaker 1: Thomas and three other local men made their journey to 550 00:35:06,360 --> 00:35:09,560 Speaker 1: Salem Town, where they requested to speak with the local 551 00:35:09,560 --> 00:35:14,680 Speaker 1: magistrates there, John Hawthorne and Jonathan Corwin. They told the 552 00:35:14,719 --> 00:35:17,759 Speaker 1: magistrates about the events of the past two months of 553 00:35:17,920 --> 00:35:21,839 Speaker 1: Tituba and Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne. They told them 554 00:35:21,880 --> 00:35:25,400 Speaker 1: about the fear that was creeping into the village, and 555 00:35:25,480 --> 00:35:28,680 Speaker 1: that was enough for Corwin and Hawthorne. They called two 556 00:35:28,760 --> 00:35:32,160 Speaker 1: constables to assist them and drafted the arrest warrants for 557 00:35:32,280 --> 00:35:36,000 Speaker 1: the accused witches before setting an examination time for the 558 00:35:36,120 --> 00:35:39,480 Speaker 1: very next day. They were hoping to stop the evil 559 00:35:39,600 --> 00:35:42,919 Speaker 1: before it spread, to contain it and remove it from 560 00:35:42,920 --> 00:35:47,480 Speaker 1: the village, but they started something else entirely, something that 561 00:35:47,520 --> 00:35:50,680 Speaker 1: would leave a mark on history that we can still 562 00:35:50,680 --> 00:35:59,840 Speaker 1: see today. The Salem witch trials had begun. That's it 563 00:36:00,040 --> 00:36:03,960 Speaker 1: for this week's episode of Unobscured. Stick around after this 564 00:36:04,040 --> 00:36:07,280 Speaker 1: short sponsor break for a preview of what's in store 565 00:36:07,400 --> 00:36:14,919 Speaker 1: for next week. Next time on Unobscured, Have you made 566 00:36:15,080 --> 00:36:20,600 Speaker 1: no contract with the devil? John Hawthorne began, No, she replied, then, 567 00:36:20,760 --> 00:36:24,160 Speaker 1: pointing toward the four girls who had begun the entire ordeal, 568 00:36:24,440 --> 00:36:29,200 Speaker 1: Hawthorne continued, why do you hurt these children? I do 569 00:36:29,360 --> 00:36:33,480 Speaker 1: not hurt them, she replied. In response, Hawthorne asked the 570 00:36:33,520 --> 00:36:36,279 Speaker 1: girls to look at Sarah Good and say whether or 571 00:36:36,320 --> 00:36:39,279 Speaker 1: not she was the person who had been tormenting them. 572 00:36:39,320 --> 00:36:42,720 Speaker 1: They replied that Good was one of the people responsible. Yes. 573 00:36:43,239 --> 00:36:46,480 Speaker 1: A moment later, all four of them began to convulse 574 00:36:46,600 --> 00:36:50,520 Speaker 1: and cry out in pain. For the first time, all 575 00:36:50,560 --> 00:36:53,240 Speaker 1: of the torment and despair that had been kept behind 576 00:36:53,280 --> 00:36:56,800 Speaker 1: the closed doors of the Paris home was on full display, 577 00:36:56,960 --> 00:36:59,480 Speaker 1: laid bare to the eyes of everyone in the galleries. 578 00:37:00,239 --> 00:37:03,279 Speaker 1: If their accusations of witchcraft had begun as a private matter, 579 00:37:03,680 --> 00:37:06,600 Speaker 1: left to the realms of whispers and rumor, this was 580 00:37:06,680 --> 00:37:10,920 Speaker 1: the moment it transformed a cat as black and evil 581 00:37:11,000 --> 00:38:08,839 Speaker 1: as it was was finally out of the bag. Unobscured 582 00:38:09,000 --> 00:38:12,480 Speaker 1: was created and written by me Aaron Mankey and produced 583 00:38:12,480 --> 00:38:15,680 Speaker 1: by Matt Frederick and Alex Williams in partnership with How 584 00:38:15,719 --> 00:38:19,320 Speaker 1: Stuff Works, with research by Carl Nellis and original music 585 00:38:19,400 --> 00:38:24,120 Speaker 1: by Chad Lawson. Learn more about our contributing historians further 586 00:38:24,239 --> 00:38:28,360 Speaker 1: reading material, resource archive and links to our other shows 587 00:38:28,480 --> 00:38:34,400 Speaker 1: at History unobscured dot com. Until next time, thanks for listening.