WEBVTT - S1 – 11: Floundering 0:00:09.600 --> 0:00:12.160 It wasn't the sort of gathering one would have expected 0:00:12.240 --> 0:00:17.520 in Salem Village, especially after months of intense fear, public executions, 0:00:18.000 --> 0:00:20.840 and personal betrayal. It was the sort of thing you 0:00:20.920 --> 0:00:24.000 might have expected the year prior, or many years later, 0:00:24.720 --> 0:00:29.200 just not now, Not on October, after nine months of 0:00:29.240 --> 0:00:33.879 devoting every ounce of attention and energy toward the Witchcraft trials. 0:00:35.360 --> 0:00:40.720 It was a baptism, two actually, from two different local families, 0:00:41.240 --> 0:00:44.040 and they all gathered in the Salem Village meeting house 0:00:44.080 --> 0:00:47.960 to partake in that essential tradition that put their children 0:00:48.080 --> 0:00:51.519 on the path toward membership. It was a ceremony that 0:00:51.600 --> 0:00:54.840 was meant to feel special and encouraging. It was a 0:00:54.880 --> 0:00:59.080 sign of health and growth, and honestly it was normal, 0:00:59.280 --> 0:01:02.920 and maybe everyone in the village needed a bit of 0:01:02.960 --> 0:01:08.280 normalcy for a change. But there was a darkness surrounding 0:01:08.280 --> 0:01:13.200 this baptism because both families had recently experienced death and 0:01:13.240 --> 0:01:17.080 the pain was still fresh worse yet, each of those 0:01:17.120 --> 0:01:20.520 families blamed the other for their loss. So while the 0:01:20.560 --> 0:01:24.520 baptisms were meant to signify a new beginning, each of 0:01:24.520 --> 0:01:27.880 them was more likely to be consumed with the past. 0:01:29.959 --> 0:01:33.480 The first of these families was Thomas and and Putnam. 0:01:33.560 --> 0:01:36.080 We know them as the parents of Annie Putnam, one 0:01:36.120 --> 0:01:38.800 of the most vocal afflicted girls. Over the course of 0:01:38.840 --> 0:01:42.479 the trials, Annie and her mother Anne had both provided 0:01:42.560 --> 0:01:46.560 mountains of spectral evidence for the courts, while Thomas had 0:01:46.560 --> 0:01:49.000 been working with the court to bring as many witches 0:01:49.040 --> 0:01:53.320 to justice as he could. But through all of that, 0:01:53.840 --> 0:01:58.240 And had been pregnant with their newborn daughter, Abigail, through 0:01:58.280 --> 0:02:01.680 all of the fits and seizures, through the chaos inside 0:02:01.680 --> 0:02:06.000 her own household, through countless days in court giving testimonies 0:02:06.040 --> 0:02:10.280 against the accused. Maybe it was religious piety that drove 0:02:10.320 --> 0:02:12.840 them all to do it, or maybe it was something 0:02:13.080 --> 0:02:17.680 much more personal, because three years prior, Thomas and Anne 0:02:17.680 --> 0:02:20.519 had to endure the death of their daughter, Sarah, who 0:02:20.560 --> 0:02:23.800 was barely six weeks old at the time. It was 0:02:23.960 --> 0:02:26.520 a tragedy that no parent should have to go through, 0:02:27.000 --> 0:02:30.840 and it happened without reason or obvious cause. That is 0:02:31.120 --> 0:02:34.679 until their daughter Annie gave testimony in court one day 0:02:34.800 --> 0:02:39.800 in claiming to see the ghost of John Willard, the 0:02:40.160 --> 0:02:44.400 escaped constable who was captured, brought back, and later executed. 0:02:44.800 --> 0:02:47.760 Annie told the court that he confessed to her that 0:02:47.840 --> 0:02:50.840 he was the one who had killed little Sarah. He 0:02:50.880 --> 0:02:55.040 whipped her to death with a spectral lash. So, as 0:02:55.040 --> 0:02:58.640 you can imagine, Thomas and and Putnam were upset, even 0:02:58.680 --> 0:03:01.000 if they were a bitness guy did. And while it 0:03:01.080 --> 0:03:03.600 might not make sense right now, it's important to know 0:03:03.760 --> 0:03:06.920 that they blamed the other family for Sarah's death, a 0:03:07.000 --> 0:03:10.799 family that you've never heard of before, the Tarbells, who 0:03:10.800 --> 0:03:14.320 were present at the baptism with their own son, Jonathan. 0:03:15.760 --> 0:03:19.360 Little Jonathan Tarbell was older than the Putnam's newborn. He 0:03:19.440 --> 0:03:22.160 had been born in the spring, just as the witchcraft 0:03:22.200 --> 0:03:25.280 panic had begun to pick up speed. But his parents, 0:03:25.400 --> 0:03:28.680 John and Mary Tarbell had experienced their own portion of 0:03:28.760 --> 0:03:32.519 loss over the months between his birth and baptism. Mary, 0:03:32.680 --> 0:03:36.240 you see, was the daughter of Rebecca Nurse, and the 0:03:36.280 --> 0:03:41.320 Putnam's had been instrumental in her arrest and conviction. And 0:03:41.440 --> 0:03:46.560 yet despite those intents and passionate differences, they were standing 0:03:46.600 --> 0:03:50.839 together in the Salem Village meeting house. Reverend Paris had 0:03:50.880 --> 0:03:54.120 to have known how awkward things were between the two families, 0:03:54.560 --> 0:03:56.720 and yet there was nothing he could do about it. 0:03:57.400 --> 0:04:01.080 This innocent event was a small dem straation of a 0:04:01.240 --> 0:04:06.040 much larger truth life was never going to be the 0:04:06.120 --> 0:04:46.520 same in Salem. This is unobscured. I'm aaron Manky. Passionate 0:04:46.560 --> 0:04:49.960 people are capable of enormous amounts of work. If you 0:04:50.000 --> 0:04:52.760 believe in something deeply enough, that belief can act like 0:04:52.800 --> 0:04:56.200 a fuel that drives the car forward. But how that 0:04:56.279 --> 0:04:59.720 power is used is entirely up to the person, and 0:05:00.000 --> 0:05:03.400 Thomas and Ann Putnam spent months focusing theirs into the 0:05:03.480 --> 0:05:07.520 destruction of the lives around them. In the first few 0:05:07.560 --> 0:05:11.039 weeks of the witchcraft trials, Thomas Putnam filed eight complaints 0:05:11.120 --> 0:05:14.080 with the magistrates against a total of twenty one people. 0:05:14.680 --> 0:05:16.880 He saw it as his duty to put a stop 0:05:16.920 --> 0:05:19.400 to the activity of the witches before the village was 0:05:19.560 --> 0:05:23.280 overwhelmed by the devil's forces, and I drove him to action. 0:05:24.000 --> 0:05:26.599 By the time the baptism of his daughter Abigail rolled 0:05:26.600 --> 0:05:30.640 around in October, Thomas and his family were responsible in 0:05:30.680 --> 0:05:33.919 some way or another for the prosecution of at least 0:05:33.960 --> 0:05:37.440 fifty eight individuals. That's more than one third of the 0:05:37.640 --> 0:05:42.040 entire collection of accused and arrested. Throughout the trials, Thomas 0:05:42.040 --> 0:05:47.280 Putnam was a busy man. One of the most significant 0:05:47.279 --> 0:05:50.359 moments for the Putnam family was when Thomas's daughter Annie 0:05:50.360 --> 0:05:54.000 testified that George Burrows Specter had bragged to her about 0:05:54.080 --> 0:05:57.479 his efforts to advance the Devil's kingdom in Maine. She 0:05:57.560 --> 0:06:00.240 claimed he told her he had recruited a great many 0:06:00.320 --> 0:06:03.560 witches into his army and they were coming for them all. 0:06:04.839 --> 0:06:07.599 But Thomas and Annie weren't alone in their efforts to 0:06:07.640 --> 0:06:12.240 fight the witchcraft epidemic. Despite being pregnant and willingly threw 0:06:12.279 --> 0:06:15.159 herself into the fray. In fact, she was one of 0:06:15.160 --> 0:06:17.800 the very few adults who joined the afflicted girls in 0:06:17.800 --> 0:06:22.320 the courtroom displays of spiritual warfare and spectral visions. And 0:06:22.360 --> 0:06:24.920 that was a bold claim from such a well respected 0:06:24.960 --> 0:06:30.400 member of the Salem village community. So when Rebecca Nurse 0:06:30.480 --> 0:06:34.159 had stood trial, it was Ann Putnam's testimony that rose 0:06:34.240 --> 0:06:37.919 above all the others. Remember, Rebecca had been a full 0:06:38.000 --> 0:06:41.400 member in good standing in the church. She was loved 0:06:41.440 --> 0:06:45.239 and respected by many, and lived a generous and humble life. 0:06:45.800 --> 0:06:48.760 The word of a few young teenagers wasn't going to 0:06:48.800 --> 0:06:52.719 be enough to convict her. That's why, and Putnam added 0:06:52.720 --> 0:06:57.760 her own voice. Today, some historians believe that Thomas and 0:06:58.040 --> 0:07:01.480 and Annie, along with their households, servant girl Mercy Lewis 0:07:01.839 --> 0:07:05.920 were responsible for more than one hundred sixty witchcraft accusations. 0:07:06.520 --> 0:07:10.160 They were waging a war against an entire coven of witches, 0:07:10.760 --> 0:07:14.360 and that somehow made John Willard, Rebecca Nurse and all 0:07:14.400 --> 0:07:17.560 the others responsible for the death of their daughter Sarah 0:07:17.600 --> 0:07:23.560 three years before. The Tarbells begged to differ. Yes, they 0:07:23.600 --> 0:07:26.240 might have been related to Rebecca Nurse by blood, but 0:07:26.280 --> 0:07:28.680 they had done an admirable job of staying out of 0:07:28.680 --> 0:07:33.240 the spotlight all year long, and honestly, who could blame them? 0:07:33.280 --> 0:07:36.200 They watched as Mary's mother and aunts were rounded up 0:07:36.240 --> 0:07:39.720 and arrested, and by late October two of them had 0:07:39.760 --> 0:07:44.880 been executed. John Tarbell only appears in the court documents once. 0:07:45.280 --> 0:07:48.120 In March of that year, when accusations were pointed at 0:07:48.120 --> 0:07:50.960 his mother in law, Rebecca Nurse. John actually went to 0:07:51.000 --> 0:07:53.720 the home of Thomas Putnam and demanded to know who 0:07:53.760 --> 0:07:57.360 had been the first to accuse her. Mercy Lewis said 0:07:57.440 --> 0:08:01.400 it was Anne, and of course said it was Mercy. 0:08:01.520 --> 0:08:03.840 None of them would admit to who slipped young Annie 0:08:03.840 --> 0:08:06.920 Putnam Rebecca's name, though, and the matter en did there, 0:08:07.240 --> 0:08:11.840 allowing her arrest and conviction. To move forward, Mary and 0:08:12.000 --> 0:08:14.680 John Tarbell would have been front row witnesses to the 0:08:14.760 --> 0:08:18.720 destruction caused by the witchcraft trials. They rented farmland from 0:08:18.720 --> 0:08:22.080 Mary's parents and were close to her family, including her 0:08:22.080 --> 0:08:26.880 aunt's Sarah Klois and Mary Esty. As the accusations flew 0:08:26.920 --> 0:08:30.280 like bullets and struck member after member of their family, 0:08:30.800 --> 0:08:32.840 it would have been easy for them to see who 0:08:32.920 --> 0:08:38.720 was firing the shots, the Putnam's. But despite this, Mary's 0:08:38.760 --> 0:08:41.960 family wasn't the only one hit so hard. Sure, the 0:08:42.040 --> 0:08:46.000 high profile hangings of Rebecca Nurse and Mary Esty, alongside 0:08:46.000 --> 0:08:49.200 other families like the Proctors and the Corries, are the 0:08:49.200 --> 0:08:52.400 ones we tend to remember. But as the witchcraft trials 0:08:52.400 --> 0:08:55.640 wore on through the summer and fall, bigger numbers began 0:08:55.720 --> 0:08:58.600 to add up in nearby and Over, and they told 0:08:58.640 --> 0:09:03.520 a frightening story. Through August and September, the number of 0:09:03.559 --> 0:09:07.000 accused witches in Andover had exploded to more than forty 0:09:07.080 --> 0:09:11.800 six individuals. That's more than Salem Town and Salem Village combined, 0:09:12.160 --> 0:09:16.000 and it highlighted a dark fact. However much the Putnam's 0:09:16.040 --> 0:09:19.480 attacked and harmed the Nurse family, there was another clan 0:09:19.640 --> 0:09:23.480 in town that suffered the most. According to historians, this 0:09:23.640 --> 0:09:28.520 single family represented eleven percent of all suspects across the trials. 0:09:30.400 --> 0:09:33.240 We don't know when Edmund and Ann Ingalls moved into 0:09:33.320 --> 0:09:36.400 the area. They were part of a larger migration of 0:09:36.400 --> 0:09:40.280 settlers who moved into the colony decades before the witchcraft trials, 0:09:40.559 --> 0:09:43.480 putting down their roots in the town of Lynn. Those 0:09:43.559 --> 0:09:46.400 roots grew into a mighty tree over the years, and 0:09:46.440 --> 0:09:48.080 I'm going to try my best to give you a 0:09:48.160 --> 0:09:52.840 quick tour of all the branches hold on tight. Edmund 0:09:52.880 --> 0:09:57.079 and Anne had at least three children that we know of, Henry, Elizabeth, 0:09:57.200 --> 0:09:59.920 and Faith, all of whom seemed to have moved north 0:10:00.040 --> 0:10:04.400 to and Over. Henry had three sons, Henry Jr. Samuel, 0:10:04.520 --> 0:10:08.960 and John. Elizabeth married the Andover minister Francis Dane, and 0:10:09.080 --> 0:10:12.960 Faith married into the Allen family. Simple so far right, 0:10:13.400 --> 0:10:16.400 Families grow, the kids get married, and they have kids, 0:10:16.480 --> 0:10:19.320 and on and on it goes. But the Ingles family 0:10:19.320 --> 0:10:22.440 had a long road ahead of them. You see, two 0:10:22.480 --> 0:10:26.440 of Faith's daughters were familiar to us already, Martha Carrier 0:10:26.679 --> 0:10:30.240 and Mary Toothicker. Martha, of course, was known as the 0:10:30.320 --> 0:10:33.480 Queen of Hell, and by the time the October baptisms arrived, 0:10:33.760 --> 0:10:37.720 she had already been executed. Mary, on the other hand, 0:10:38.040 --> 0:10:40.840 still sat in a jail awaiting her own trial and 0:10:41.080 --> 0:10:45.360 possible conviction, having already lost her husband, Roger, who died 0:10:45.400 --> 0:10:49.800 in jail months before. The Carriers weren't doing much better. 0:10:50.400 --> 0:10:53.480 Martha was hanged on August nine, and we've already covered 0:10:53.520 --> 0:10:56.520 that in an earlier episode. What I haven't mentioned is 0:10:56.559 --> 0:10:59.600 that her two children, seven year old Sarah and ten 0:10:59.679 --> 0:11:03.400 year old Thomas, were also arrested and examined in August. 0:11:03.920 --> 0:11:07.320 The accusations of Thomas Putnam had cut straight through the 0:11:07.360 --> 0:11:12.680 Carrier family, and the pain was powerful. Elizabeth Ingalls, as 0:11:12.720 --> 0:11:17.040 I said before, married the Andover minister Francis Dane, but 0:11:17.160 --> 0:11:21.040 despite being a solid and respected minister's family, two of 0:11:21.080 --> 0:11:24.319 their daughters, five of their grandchildren, and one daughter in 0:11:24.440 --> 0:11:28.360 law were all accused of witchcraft. In fact, historians think 0:11:28.400 --> 0:11:31.800 it was because of Francis that the accusations happened at all, 0:11:32.200 --> 0:11:35.400 due to how outspoken he was about his disapproval of 0:11:35.440 --> 0:11:40.440 which trials in general. But family ties were incredibly significant 0:11:40.679 --> 0:11:46.079 and incriminating during the events of and guilt by association 0:11:46.480 --> 0:11:50.280 was a deadly reality for many. The Ingles family and 0:11:50.320 --> 0:11:55.440 their widespread of branches suffered through those attacks more than most. Thankfully, 0:11:55.480 --> 0:11:59.040 though they made it out alive. Some of them, at 0:11:59.120 --> 0:12:02.840 least one of their descendants would eventually move west by 0:12:02.840 --> 0:12:05.600 the way. He and his family would live in a 0:12:05.640 --> 0:12:09.079 little house on a big open prairie, and his daughter 0:12:09.160 --> 0:12:11.480 Laura would go on to write a series of books 0:12:11.480 --> 0:12:14.600 about growing up as a pioneer family in early America. 0:12:15.280 --> 0:12:19.840 Considering what Laura Ingalls Wilder's ancestors went through, her tails 0:12:19.880 --> 0:12:25.199 suggest that life can get better. Sadly, though there were 0:12:25.280 --> 0:12:34.760 some in Salem who didn't want that to happen. Thomas 0:12:34.800 --> 0:12:38.160 Putnam might have earned top marks as a citizen watchdog 0:12:38.240 --> 0:12:40.880 during the Salem trials, but thankfully he wasn't in a 0:12:40.920 --> 0:12:45.320 position of power. Given enough authority, Putnam might actually have 0:12:45.400 --> 0:12:48.960 done worse. Sadly, there was someone else in a position 0:12:49.000 --> 0:12:53.760 to do just that, William Stoughton. He had been in 0:12:53.840 --> 0:12:57.000 charge of the examinations almost from the very beginning, and 0:12:57.080 --> 0:12:59.800 he was the driving force behind the Oyer and terminer 0:13:00.000 --> 0:13:03.840 its sessions. He was even the one petitioning Governor Phipps 0:13:03.840 --> 0:13:06.840 for the chance to keep going to run his violent, 0:13:07.000 --> 0:13:09.920 biased witch hunt to the very end. Because of that, 0:13:10.320 --> 0:13:13.920 he developed a reputation for breaking families over his knee 0:13:14.320 --> 0:13:19.640 like a bundle of dry sticks. Stowton lived for power 0:13:19.760 --> 0:13:22.640 and prestige. He was known to entertain all of the 0:13:22.679 --> 0:13:26.920 most influential and powerful people from Boston at extravagant parties 0:13:26.960 --> 0:13:30.040 in his home. He had money and he liked showing 0:13:30.080 --> 0:13:33.720 it off, even importing chocolate as a treat for his guests. 0:13:35.160 --> 0:13:39.400 Back in September of six, Stowton had actually officiated a 0:13:39.440 --> 0:13:43.120 wedding and the gathering was a who's who of Massachusetts 0:13:43.120 --> 0:13:46.760 power players. The groom was none other than John Richards, 0:13:46.840 --> 0:13:49.320 one of the judges on the Court of Oyer and Terminer, 0:13:49.720 --> 0:13:53.280 and as bride was Annie Winthrop. She was the granddaughter 0:13:53.400 --> 0:13:57.080 of Massachusetts founder John Winthrop, as well as sister to 0:13:57.320 --> 0:14:01.840 wait Still Winthrop. Yet another of the judges, even Judge 0:14:01.840 --> 0:14:04.920 Samuel Sewell, was there. And I think this autumn wedding 0:14:05.000 --> 0:14:09.119 celebration shows off just how insulated many of the powerful 0:14:09.160 --> 0:14:12.640 people were from the witch trials. Families like the Tarbells 0:14:12.679 --> 0:14:16.120 and Putnam's couldn't attend their own baptisms without bumping into 0:14:16.120 --> 0:14:19.040 reminders of their loss and grief. But Stowton and his 0:14:19.080 --> 0:14:22.560 friends could retreat to their circles of power and pretend 0:14:22.600 --> 0:14:26.960 nothing was going on outside their beautiful walls. And this 0:14:27.120 --> 0:14:29.960 was the life that Stouton wanted. He was a colonial 0:14:30.000 --> 0:14:33.800 power broker, celebrating and raising a glass of Burgundy or 0:14:33.960 --> 0:14:36.800 Canary wine to the good health of his friends, with 0:14:36.920 --> 0:14:40.560 himself at the center of it all. But inside we 0:14:40.640 --> 0:14:43.800 know Stowton was thinking about other issues, and it wasn't 0:14:43.840 --> 0:14:46.360 a simple thing to leave it all outside the wedding. 0:14:47.520 --> 0:14:50.400 That very day, September one, was the day that the 0:14:50.400 --> 0:14:53.240 Wardwell family had been pulled from their home and arrested, 0:14:53.680 --> 0:14:56.440 four of them at once. In fact, they were thrown 0:14:56.440 --> 0:14:59.120 into a cart headed to the Salem jail, along with 0:14:59.200 --> 0:15:03.400 two other named teenage boys. The surge in accusations and 0:15:03.480 --> 0:15:07.280 arrests and andover had begun to peak, and Stowton would 0:15:07.280 --> 0:15:12.000 have been reveling in it. William Stoughton wanted the trials 0:15:12.000 --> 0:15:16.200 to continue. He believed in them. He was passionate about them. 0:15:16.240 --> 0:15:18.120 I think if there was a candidate for the one 0:15:18.200 --> 0:15:21.600 person who might have actually enjoyed them, Stoughton would be 0:15:21.640 --> 0:15:25.040 that person. So when Governor Phipps finally struck down the 0:15:25.080 --> 0:15:27.640 court of oyer and terminal, Stowton would have taken that 0:15:27.720 --> 0:15:31.760 as a personal slight, which of course Phipps knew. That's 0:15:31.760 --> 0:15:34.200 why he waited for Stowton to leave the General Court 0:15:34.240 --> 0:15:39.120 meeting before making his decision. The tide was turning, and 0:15:39.240 --> 0:15:42.480 Stowton knew it. Yes, there were still some who believed 0:15:42.480 --> 0:15:45.400 the trials were necessary and that there was a satanic 0:15:45.440 --> 0:15:48.760 plot against their Bible commonwealth and they needed to confront 0:15:48.800 --> 0:15:51.400 it head on. But there were many more who believe 0:15:51.480 --> 0:15:54.920 that the trials had relied too heavily on spectral evidence 0:15:55.360 --> 0:15:59.200 and forced false confessions out of the accused, and the results, 0:15:59.240 --> 0:16:04.400 they feared was damaged that was impossible to undo. The 0:16:04.480 --> 0:16:07.840 tension between Stowton and Phipps was just one example of 0:16:07.880 --> 0:16:11.600 that divide. Back in Salem Village, Thomas Putnam was still 0:16:11.680 --> 0:16:14.200 firm in his position that there was a spectral threat, 0:16:14.640 --> 0:16:17.560 but his younger half brother was balancing out the scales. 0:16:18.160 --> 0:16:21.640 Joseph Putnam had married into the Porter clan and made 0:16:21.640 --> 0:16:25.240 an enemy of his own kin by openly opposing the trial, 0:16:25.840 --> 0:16:30.600 and that was a risky position to take in There's 0:16:30.640 --> 0:16:33.360 a Putnam family legend that Joseph kept one of his 0:16:33.440 --> 0:16:36.440 horses saddled and ready for over six months during the 0:16:36.440 --> 0:16:40.080 witchcraft panic, and even carried a pistol. Also he could 0:16:40.080 --> 0:16:43.480 be ready to defend himself and flee should the need arise. 0:16:44.280 --> 0:16:47.040 Thomas might have wanted to round up more victims, but 0:16:47.120 --> 0:16:52.400 his brother Joseph clearly wanted it all to end. One 0:16:52.400 --> 0:16:54.960 thing I want to point out, though, no matter what 0:16:55.040 --> 0:16:57.640 side of the fence most colonists fell on whether they 0:16:57.640 --> 0:17:00.880 believe the court was just or unjust, they were still 0:17:00.920 --> 0:17:04.440 in agreement about the truth of the subject matter. They 0:17:04.440 --> 0:17:08.080 still believed that the Puritan community was under spiritual attack. 0:17:08.560 --> 0:17:11.560 They still believed that the devil could use sinful people 0:17:11.680 --> 0:17:15.080 from among them to undermine their mission. And they still 0:17:15.160 --> 0:17:20.439 believed in the power and existence of witches. If we 0:17:20.520 --> 0:17:22.960 want proof of that, we need look no further than 0:17:23.000 --> 0:17:25.679 the week after Phipps decided that the court of Oyer 0:17:25.680 --> 0:17:28.360 and Terminer must come to an end. That was when 0:17:28.480 --> 0:17:31.399 more accusations popped up in the town of Gloucester, just 0:17:31.560 --> 0:17:34.320 up the coast, Just as with and over a few 0:17:34.359 --> 0:17:37.920 of the afflicted girls from Salem. Elizabeth Hubbard among them 0:17:37.920 --> 0:17:42.919 traveled there to provide witch finding services. Over the course 0:17:42.920 --> 0:17:45.920 of three days, they identified three local women who had 0:17:45.960 --> 0:17:49.359 been attacking their neighbors with witchcraft, and they were summarily 0:17:49.440 --> 0:17:53.199 arrested on November five. This was a week after Phipps 0:17:53.240 --> 0:17:56.160 had called for no more arrests, and it didn't stop. 0:17:56.200 --> 0:17:59.200 There new accusations in the town of Wenham pointed the 0:17:59.240 --> 0:18:02.320 finger at the wife of Beverly minister John Hale, one 0:18:02.359 --> 0:18:05.120 of the few ministers who had been helpful to Samuel 0:18:05.160 --> 0:18:09.879 Paris throughout the spring. In response, Hale got on his 0:18:09.960 --> 0:18:13.240 horse and rode to the accuser's house. I assume he 0:18:13.280 --> 0:18:15.919 had intended to make the accusations go away, or to 0:18:16.040 --> 0:18:18.760 get to the bottom of why that person believed his 0:18:18.800 --> 0:18:21.199 wife would be a witch. But all we know is 0:18:21.280 --> 0:18:25.280 that he came away shaken by the experience. He later wrote, 0:18:25.720 --> 0:18:28.639 what grief of heart. It brings to a tender conscience 0:18:29.080 --> 0:18:34.320 to have been unwittingly encouraging the sufferings of the innocence. Hale, 0:18:34.560 --> 0:18:37.800 it seems, had finally seen the error of his ways 0:18:38.280 --> 0:18:41.800 and the destruction it had helped cause. But others were 0:18:41.880 --> 0:18:44.760 much less open to change. In growth and at the 0:18:44.800 --> 0:18:47.119 center of it all was one figure who held the 0:18:47.160 --> 0:18:50.199 movement in his hands and yet refused to bring it 0:18:50.280 --> 0:18:59.920 to an end. William Stoughton would not be swayed. How 0:19:00.000 --> 0:19:03.560 however misguided William Stoughton might have been, you can't deny 0:19:03.720 --> 0:19:06.720 his commitment to the moment. It didn't matter what sort 0:19:06.720 --> 0:19:09.040 of wind blew at him. He would not be pushed 0:19:09.040 --> 0:19:13.000 off course, Not by petitions from the accused before their deaths, 0:19:13.600 --> 0:19:16.320 not by the please of the innocent from their friends 0:19:16.320 --> 0:19:20.320 and neighbors. Certainly not by ministers who attempted to undermine 0:19:20.359 --> 0:19:24.240 the court by using scripture and Puritan custom against his 0:19:24.320 --> 0:19:30.280 own command of English law. Stoughton was unshakable, and he 0:19:30.359 --> 0:19:33.760 was also fully aware of his power. All he had 0:19:33.800 --> 0:19:36.040 to do was look inside the jails of the area 0:19:36.080 --> 0:19:39.960 around Salem to see its influence. Over fifty people were 0:19:39.960 --> 0:19:43.199 still in jail awaiting their own trial for witchcraft, and 0:19:43.240 --> 0:19:45.479 a handful were just waiting for the date of their 0:19:45.520 --> 0:19:49.359 execution to be announced. Elizabeth Procter was waiting for the 0:19:49.400 --> 0:19:52.200 birth of her unborn child so that she too could 0:19:52.200 --> 0:19:57.400 be taken to the gallows and hanged. On October thirty one, 0:19:57.560 --> 0:20:00.640 Stoughton had returned to the legislative meeting that were still 0:20:00.640 --> 0:20:03.879 going on in Boston. The Upper House was continuing to 0:20:03.960 --> 0:20:07.200 discuss the establishment of permanent courts, and he was part 0:20:07.280 --> 0:20:11.199 of that conversation. It was all Hallow's Eve, but the 0:20:11.200 --> 0:20:16.000 Puritans didn't celebrate Halloween. But let's be honest. Seeing a 0:20:16.040 --> 0:20:19.760 man as twisted and bloodthirsty as William Stoughton exercise his 0:20:19.880 --> 0:20:23.680 influence over the formation of a new government was probably 0:20:23.800 --> 0:20:28.480 frightening enough to the people around him. The Upper House 0:20:28.600 --> 0:20:31.200 spent the rest of November on setting out the terms 0:20:31.240 --> 0:20:34.280 by which the colony would operate, everything from the rights 0:20:34.280 --> 0:20:37.159 and duties of the local governments across the area, to 0:20:37.320 --> 0:20:39.840 a proposed public works tax that would be used to 0:20:39.880 --> 0:20:42.760 build bridges and care for the poor, and of course 0:20:43.160 --> 0:20:46.480 what laws would be complete without penalties for crimes such 0:20:46.520 --> 0:20:50.520 as counterfeiting. It wasn't sexy stuff, but it was the 0:20:50.640 --> 0:20:53.400 essential work of a new government, and there are little 0:20:53.480 --> 0:20:56.800 hidden gems in their work. For example, the Upper House 0:20:56.960 --> 0:21:01.200 seriously discussed a limitation on mackerel fishing, as well as 0:21:01.240 --> 0:21:04.760 options for how they might regulate trade in pickled fish, 0:21:04.880 --> 0:21:08.080 because there was apparently a lot of scandal in that industry. 0:21:08.560 --> 0:21:11.840 Those crazy fishermen, always trying to pull one over on 0:21:11.880 --> 0:21:16.440 the government. Right, the pieces fell into place. On novembery 0:21:17.080 --> 0:21:20.400 the judicial system was officially re established and dates were 0:21:20.440 --> 0:21:23.159 set for the convening of the courts. They voted to 0:21:23.200 --> 0:21:26.359 determine who would serve in the various roles from Justices 0:21:26.400 --> 0:21:29.760 of the Peace and constables, two judges serving across all 0:21:29.760 --> 0:21:33.320 the courts, and of course that meant the Superior Court 0:21:33.400 --> 0:21:36.919 as well. You'd actually be amazed at how many member 0:21:37.000 --> 0:21:42.080 names you'd recognize on the newly elected Superior Court. Wait still, Winthrop, 0:21:42.400 --> 0:21:46.560 Samuel Sewell, John Richards, all of whom had served on 0:21:46.600 --> 0:21:49.480 the Court of Oyer and Terminer. The man elected Chief 0:21:49.520 --> 0:21:53.840 Justice of the Superior Court was you guessed it, William Stowton. 0:21:54.440 --> 0:21:57.520 But Thomas dan fourth was also elected, and that might 0:21:57.560 --> 0:21:59.520 have turned out to be a decision that changed the 0:21:59.560 --> 0:22:04.360 course of history. Let me try and explain why dan 0:22:04.440 --> 0:22:06.480 fourth was one of the few men who could put 0:22:06.560 --> 0:22:09.840 his service record right beside Stowton's and hold his head 0:22:09.920 --> 0:22:13.960 up with pride. His resume was impressive. He served as 0:22:14.000 --> 0:22:17.560 the treasurer of Middlesex County and then Treasurer and steward 0:22:17.600 --> 0:22:21.399 of Harvard University. After that, he held positions on the 0:22:21.440 --> 0:22:25.000 Massachusetts General Court before heading north to serve six years 0:22:25.040 --> 0:22:27.840 as the president of the Province of Maine. While he 0:22:27.880 --> 0:22:31.520 was there, dan Forth led troops in battle, negotiated land 0:22:31.560 --> 0:22:34.360 deals with the Wabanaki, and even dabbled in a bit 0:22:34.359 --> 0:22:37.320 of city planning by drawing up the original street plans 0:22:37.320 --> 0:22:39.960 for the town of Falmouth. And while he was on 0:22:40.000 --> 0:22:43.040 the front line serving his people, his own son died 0:22:43.119 --> 0:22:47.920 doing the exact same thing in Rhode Island. Back in Boston, 0:22:48.080 --> 0:22:50.879 he served a total of ten years as deputy governor, 0:22:51.200 --> 0:22:55.119 some of it before the botched Androws administration and some after. 0:22:55.720 --> 0:22:59.800 And remember Andros was a crown appointed Anglican governor over 0:22:59.840 --> 0:23:02.600 a Puritan colony. That would be sort of like electing 0:23:02.640 --> 0:23:05.280 a Russian politician to the office of President of the 0:23:05.400 --> 0:23:08.840 United States. During the time Andros was in power, some 0:23:08.920 --> 0:23:13.080 people compromise their Puritan beliefs to advance their career. Stowton 0:23:13.440 --> 0:23:17.359 was one of those men. Dan Fourth, however, wasn't, and 0:23:17.440 --> 0:23:20.879 that meant something to a lot of people. At seventy 0:23:20.960 --> 0:23:23.600 years of age, Dan Fourth was also eight years older 0:23:23.640 --> 0:23:26.480 than Stowton, giving him a bit more seniority over the 0:23:26.520 --> 0:23:29.440 fiery man, and as if all of that weren't enough, 0:23:29.720 --> 0:23:32.640 just a year before the Salem panic had erupted, Dan 0:23:32.720 --> 0:23:35.440 Fourth served over a witchcraft trial of a woman named 0:23:35.440 --> 0:23:38.440 Martha Sparks, who he had arrested and thrown in jail. 0:23:39.720 --> 0:23:42.480 At it all up and Dan Fourth was a powerhouse. 0:23:42.960 --> 0:23:46.520 He was experienced, trusted and willing to do the right thing, 0:23:46.960 --> 0:23:49.159 and rather than allow the fear and panics surrounding the 0:23:49.200 --> 0:23:52.600 witchcraft accusations to cloud his judgment, he had shown he 0:23:52.600 --> 0:23:56.160 could be restrained and level headed. Stowton didn't even come 0:23:56.200 --> 0:23:58.880 close to that sort of reputation, and now the two 0:23:58.920 --> 0:24:04.600 of them were partner together on the Superior Court. Dan Fourth, however, 0:24:04.760 --> 0:24:07.800 was reluctant to accept the position. Not only would he 0:24:07.840 --> 0:24:10.159 have to work with Stowton, but the younger man was 0:24:10.200 --> 0:24:13.159 the chief justice, which meant that he was calling the shots. 0:24:13.680 --> 0:24:15.800 That didn't sound like an attractive place to be for 0:24:15.840 --> 0:24:19.720 a man with a backbone and very different opinions. He 0:24:19.920 --> 0:24:22.520 was just the sort of man they needed on the court, though, 0:24:22.880 --> 0:24:25.359 so some of the others decided to convince him to 0:24:25.359 --> 0:24:28.920 take the job. Samuel Sewell, the judge who had previously 0:24:28.920 --> 0:24:32.040 asked dan Forth about his position on the Salem Trials. 0:24:32.080 --> 0:24:35.520 After hearing from Thomas Brattle that he didn't approve, invited 0:24:35.560 --> 0:24:38.840 dan Forth to dinner there Sewell and a pair of 0:24:38.880 --> 0:24:42.439 ministers that included Increase Mather urged the old leader to 0:24:42.480 --> 0:24:46.040 stick around and serve on the court. I don't know 0:24:46.240 --> 0:24:49.159 how long he deliberated over that decision, but I can 0:24:49.200 --> 0:24:52.360 imagine it was a difficult one to make. He probably 0:24:52.359 --> 0:24:54.239 felt that he was just a bit too old for 0:24:54.359 --> 0:24:58.280 divisive politics, and endless fighting with Stoughton was the least 0:24:58.280 --> 0:25:01.480 attractive thing he could think of. At the same time, 0:25:01.520 --> 0:25:04.520 though sometimes you have to be divisive to put a 0:25:04.560 --> 0:25:09.000 stop to evil. True tolerance includes being intolerant of people 0:25:09.040 --> 0:25:12.040 with the destructive message, and this was his chance to 0:25:12.080 --> 0:25:16.520 make a difference. But he made a decision, and thankfully 0:25:16.600 --> 0:25:20.040