1 00:00:10,320 --> 00:00:14,000 Speaker 1: John Willard was making a name for himself. Unlike most 2 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:16,880 Speaker 1: of the people in Salem Village, he hadn't been born there. 3 00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:19,400 Speaker 1: It was marriage that had brought him to the close 4 00:00:19,480 --> 00:00:22,720 Speaker 1: knit community there west of Salem Town, and that was 5 00:00:22,840 --> 00:00:27,280 Speaker 1: his first smart decision. He married into the Wilkins family, 6 00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:30,280 Speaker 1: one of the prominent families in the area. By no 7 00:00:30,400 --> 00:00:32,879 Speaker 1: means were the Wilkins on par with the Putnam's, but 8 00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:35,960 Speaker 1: just like them, they chose to live far from Salem 9 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:39,720 Speaker 1: Town in the western bread basket of the community. Over 10 00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:42,479 Speaker 1: the years, the Wilkins had built a micro village on 11 00:00:42,520 --> 00:00:45,919 Speaker 1: a rise of land everyone called Will's Hill, and they 12 00:00:45,960 --> 00:00:50,600 Speaker 1: started to shrug off outsiders. But not John Willard. The 13 00:00:50,680 --> 00:00:53,200 Speaker 1: leader of the clan was an old man named Bray Wilkins. 14 00:00:53,920 --> 00:00:56,680 Speaker 1: Maybe it was the loss of his timber business or 15 00:00:56,680 --> 00:01:00,040 Speaker 1: the government seizure of all his company assets. Whatever the 16 00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:03,480 Speaker 1: nudge was, Bray had become closed off to the outside 17 00:01:03,520 --> 00:01:07,319 Speaker 1: world over time. When young Margaret Wilkins married someone from 18 00:01:07,319 --> 00:01:10,039 Speaker 1: outside their community, she was the first to do so. 19 00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:13,200 Speaker 1: But John Willard wasn't going to let that be a hindrance. 20 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:17,399 Speaker 1: He had plans to win them over. He bought property 21 00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:20,320 Speaker 1: near the Wilkins Clan and started into a career in 22 00:01:20,440 --> 00:01:24,319 Speaker 1: land speculation by dividing it into smaller lots and selling 23 00:01:24,360 --> 00:01:26,760 Speaker 1: those off. He was trying to do right for his 24 00:01:26,840 --> 00:01:29,800 Speaker 1: wife and new family, to make them proud and keep 25 00:01:29,880 --> 00:01:34,080 Speaker 1: up with their ambitions. But not everything was storybook perfect. 26 00:01:34,520 --> 00:01:36,680 Speaker 1: In fact, it seems that John had developed a bit 27 00:01:36,720 --> 00:01:41,120 Speaker 1: of a reputation and it was catching up with him. 28 00:01:41,160 --> 00:01:44,560 Speaker 1: Looking back, I wonder if he regretted coming to Salem Village. 29 00:01:45,120 --> 00:01:47,280 Speaker 1: There were a lot of reasons why his marriage to 30 00:01:47,319 --> 00:01:50,320 Speaker 1: Margaret was a good thing, but it toppled the first 31 00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:53,600 Speaker 1: domino that set a whole series of events in motion. 32 00:01:54,280 --> 00:02:00,240 Speaker 1: And now on May ten, Willard found himself trying to 33 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:05,720 Speaker 1: escape at all. John Willard, Deputy Constable to Salem Village, 34 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:40,960 Speaker 1: was on the run. This is unobscured. I'm Aaron Minky, 35 00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:48,959 Speaker 1: Like I said, John Willard had a bit of baggage. First, 36 00:02:49,120 --> 00:02:52,079 Speaker 1: one of John's relatives had been tried for witchcraft back 37 00:02:52,080 --> 00:02:55,720 Speaker 1: in his hometown of Lancaster in western Massachusetts, and that 38 00:02:55,840 --> 00:02:58,120 Speaker 1: sort of thing had a way of following people around. 39 00:02:58,680 --> 00:03:01,560 Speaker 1: As I've said before, the people of Puritan New England 40 00:03:01,680 --> 00:03:05,040 Speaker 1: believe that a person could inherit the spiritual disposition of 41 00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:08,000 Speaker 1: their direct ancestors in the same way that people inherit 42 00:03:08,040 --> 00:03:11,880 Speaker 1: hair color or facial features. This wasn't a good thing 43 00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:16,440 Speaker 1: for John at home, though. There was more trouble. John 44 00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:19,080 Speaker 1: was known to beat his wife with a stick whenever 45 00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:22,119 Speaker 1: she crossed him, and during his time in the Wilkins community, 46 00:03:22,200 --> 00:03:25,560 Speaker 1: he had shown that same propensity toward abuse while watching 47 00:03:25,600 --> 00:03:28,640 Speaker 1: over some of the Putnam children. All of those details 48 00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:31,320 Speaker 1: make up a really good list of reasons why John's 49 00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:34,280 Speaker 1: future might not be as bright as he hoped. But 50 00:03:34,360 --> 00:03:39,000 Speaker 1: the real turning point arrived on March eight. That was 51 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:41,800 Speaker 1: the day he was selected to be a deputy constable 52 00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:45,600 Speaker 1: for Salem Village. The rumors of witchcraft had started just 53 00:03:45,640 --> 00:03:48,240 Speaker 1: a month before, so perhaps he was part of an 54 00:03:48,280 --> 00:03:51,400 Speaker 1: effort to bolster the ranks of the village officials. We 55 00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:54,160 Speaker 1: know that John Putnam Jr. Was also sworn in that 56 00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:57,680 Speaker 1: same day, so that's probably the case. They knew they 57 00:03:57,680 --> 00:04:02,680 Speaker 1: were about to become very, very busy. John Willard's role 58 00:04:02,760 --> 00:04:05,000 Speaker 1: gave him a front row seat to the mess that 59 00:04:05,120 --> 00:04:08,320 Speaker 1: was unfolding in the village. His name isn't on any 60 00:04:08,360 --> 00:04:11,280 Speaker 1: of the legal documents, but As a deputy constable, he 61 00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:14,680 Speaker 1: would have been responsible for helping Constables Herrick and Locker 62 00:04:15,080 --> 00:04:18,839 Speaker 1: arrest and transport the accused witches, dragging them from their 63 00:04:18,839 --> 00:04:21,279 Speaker 1: homes to the meeting house, and then from jail to 64 00:04:21,400 --> 00:04:24,000 Speaker 1: jail when they were removed from Salem to Boston and 65 00:04:24,160 --> 00:04:28,040 Speaker 1: back again. Maybe he was one of the men responsible 66 00:04:28,080 --> 00:04:31,000 Speaker 1: for hauling the six Sarah Osburne from place to place, 67 00:04:31,480 --> 00:04:34,480 Speaker 1: or the elderly Rebecca Nurse. Maybe he was one of 68 00:04:34,520 --> 00:04:37,800 Speaker 1: the men who transported little Dorothy Good, imprisoned as a 69 00:04:37,839 --> 00:04:41,520 Speaker 1: witch at just four years old. No record remains of 70 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:45,320 Speaker 1: exactly what touched John's heart, but something about it got 71 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:51,200 Speaker 1: to him. There was something about jailing so many vulnerable women, children, elders, 72 00:04:51,279 --> 00:04:55,680 Speaker 1: and respected churchgoers that finally broke through his conscience. What 73 00:04:55,720 --> 00:04:58,880 Speaker 1: he was doing was wrong, and everything about his position 74 00:04:58,960 --> 00:05:01,760 Speaker 1: was suddenly filling him with doubt. And one of the 75 00:05:01,800 --> 00:05:04,719 Speaker 1: things he felt the most doubt about was the truth 76 00:05:04,839 --> 00:05:08,239 Speaker 1: of the accusations Annie Putnam and her friends were making. 77 00:05:10,480 --> 00:05:14,359 Speaker 1: On April, he visited Putnam to confront her about the 78 00:05:14,400 --> 00:05:17,960 Speaker 1: accusation she was making. Maybe he thought he could talk 79 00:05:18,040 --> 00:05:20,400 Speaker 1: some sense into her, or at least figure out what 80 00:05:20,440 --> 00:05:23,359 Speaker 1: the truth was in the middle of the chaos. Maybe 81 00:05:23,440 --> 00:05:26,040 Speaker 1: he knew something about the girls that the others didn't. 82 00:05:26,440 --> 00:05:29,440 Speaker 1: After all, he'd been a caretaker for the family, he 83 00:05:29,560 --> 00:05:34,760 Speaker 1: knew the girl well. His visit backfired, though. The next day, 84 00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:37,279 Speaker 1: Annie began to claim that she'd been attacked by his 85 00:05:37,360 --> 00:05:40,280 Speaker 1: spectral shape for days and days, but that she had 86 00:05:40,320 --> 00:05:43,120 Speaker 1: stayed silent about it, hoping that he would stop. When 87 00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:46,400 Speaker 1: she begged him to leave her alone. Everyone seemed to 88 00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:49,359 Speaker 1: take notice of this and began to look into John's 89 00:05:49,360 --> 00:05:53,799 Speaker 1: behavior for proof of the accusations. It turns out John 90 00:05:53,839 --> 00:05:58,120 Speaker 1: had already stopped serving warrants against accused witches. After his 91 00:05:58,240 --> 00:06:02,119 Speaker 1: visit to Annie Putnam, those spurs of suspicion bloomed into 92 00:06:02,160 --> 00:06:06,239 Speaker 1: full accusations. In the first week of May, girls all 93 00:06:06,279 --> 00:06:11,160 Speaker 1: over Sale and village were attacked by his spirit. When 94 00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:14,039 Speaker 1: he found out about the claims against him, John sped 95 00:06:14,120 --> 00:06:17,840 Speaker 1: to Bray Wilkins house. He was positive the family patriarch, 96 00:06:18,120 --> 00:06:22,080 Speaker 1: his wife's own grandfather, would know what to do. Bray 97 00:06:22,279 --> 00:06:26,040 Speaker 1: later recalled that John came to my house greatly troubled, 98 00:06:26,360 --> 00:06:29,839 Speaker 1: desiring me with some other neighbors to pray for him. 99 00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:32,000 Speaker 1: But John caught Bray in the middle of trying to 100 00:06:32,080 --> 00:06:34,880 Speaker 1: leave for a trip, and the older man brushed him off. 101 00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:37,920 Speaker 1: A few days later, when the family was having dinner 102 00:06:37,960 --> 00:06:41,760 Speaker 1: together in Boston, John glared at Bray across the table, 103 00:06:42,160 --> 00:06:45,280 Speaker 1: perhaps fueled by what he perceived to be as betrayal, 104 00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:49,159 Speaker 1: but Bray didn't notice. All he remembered from that night 105 00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:53,520 Speaker 1: was the pain that suddenly bloomed in his bladder. Later, 106 00:06:53,720 --> 00:06:57,640 Speaker 1: a doctor who examined him said that his affliction was preternatural, 107 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:01,640 Speaker 1: reminding him of the newest rumors of John Willard. When 108 00:07:01,680 --> 00:07:04,480 Speaker 1: Bray had recovered enough to make the journey home to Salem, 109 00:07:04,760 --> 00:07:07,680 Speaker 1: he arrived to find one of his grandchildren, seventeen year 110 00:07:07,720 --> 00:07:11,480 Speaker 1: old Daniel, laid low by a mysterious illness of his own. 111 00:07:13,120 --> 00:07:16,640 Speaker 1: That was enough evidence for the village. Hawthorne and Corwin 112 00:07:16,760 --> 00:07:20,280 Speaker 1: scribbled out another of their warrants, this time for John Willard. 113 00:07:20,920 --> 00:07:23,520 Speaker 1: No one had formally approached them to request it, but 114 00:07:23,560 --> 00:07:26,480 Speaker 1: the rumors were just too enticing, so they handed the 115 00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:29,280 Speaker 1: slip of paper to John Putnam Jr. Who had been 116 00:07:29,320 --> 00:07:34,200 Speaker 1: selected alongside John Willard on March eight. When Putnam arrived 117 00:07:34,240 --> 00:07:37,200 Speaker 1: at John Willard's home the next day he found it empty. 118 00:07:38,080 --> 00:07:41,120 Speaker 1: He searched all over Will's Hill, asking from house to 119 00:07:41,160 --> 00:07:43,800 Speaker 1: house for anyone who might know where John had gone, 120 00:07:44,200 --> 00:07:46,720 Speaker 1: but no one had a clue. At the end of 121 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:49,400 Speaker 1: his visit, Putnam left with a clear message from the 122 00:07:49,400 --> 00:07:59,480 Speaker 1: Wilkins family, John Willard had fled Salem. I want to 123 00:07:59,480 --> 00:08:01,920 Speaker 1: switch is for a bit and talk about a place 124 00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:06,400 Speaker 1: that isn't Salem. We've covered the differences between Massachusetts and 125 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:09,840 Speaker 1: Maine in the previous episode, but there's another colony that's 126 00:08:09,880 --> 00:08:12,280 Speaker 1: going to come into play over the course of the trials, 127 00:08:12,960 --> 00:08:16,920 Speaker 1: New York. Today. We picture New York City as a 128 00:08:16,960 --> 00:08:21,400 Speaker 1: metropolis unlike any other. It's diverse and textured and full 129 00:08:21,400 --> 00:08:25,640 Speaker 1: of countless languages, cultures, and attitudes. It has a powerful 130 00:08:25,680 --> 00:08:28,640 Speaker 1: relationship with the waters that surround it, and the people 131 00:08:28,720 --> 00:08:32,319 Speaker 1: who live there have a more international mindset than most 132 00:08:32,320 --> 00:08:36,720 Speaker 1: of their fellow Americans. In the late seventeenth century, though, 133 00:08:37,280 --> 00:08:40,360 Speaker 1: it was pretty similar to all of that, and all 134 00:08:40,400 --> 00:08:42,160 Speaker 1: of it seems to be the fault of the Dutch. 135 00:08:42,920 --> 00:08:45,920 Speaker 1: In the early sixteen hundreds, a lot of European powers 136 00:08:45,920 --> 00:08:49,320 Speaker 1: were trying to colonize the New World. Most European countries 137 00:08:49,360 --> 00:08:54,559 Speaker 1: tended toward authoritarian monarchies that persecuted religious outliers and expelled 138 00:08:54,600 --> 00:08:58,480 Speaker 1: minority people groups, not the Dutch, though they were a 139 00:08:58,520 --> 00:09:01,600 Speaker 1: different sort of country. The Dutch had discovered that a 140 00:09:01,640 --> 00:09:05,600 Speaker 1: liberal government built around intellectual freedom and tolerance was much 141 00:09:05,600 --> 00:09:10,160 Speaker 1: more powerful. They prioritized commerce over religion and welcomed all 142 00:09:10,200 --> 00:09:14,040 Speaker 1: of those displaced minority groups into their own population, allowing 143 00:09:14,080 --> 00:09:16,960 Speaker 1: them to reap the benefit of their talents and resources. 144 00:09:17,679 --> 00:09:20,120 Speaker 1: It was that sort of attitude that was woven into 145 00:09:20,160 --> 00:09:23,800 Speaker 1: the foundational elements of the New York Colony. Back then, 146 00:09:23,840 --> 00:09:26,800 Speaker 1: of course, it was known as New Amsterdam, but things 147 00:09:26,800 --> 00:09:30,280 Speaker 1: would begin to change in sixteen sixty seven. That was 148 00:09:30,320 --> 00:09:33,200 Speaker 1: the year the Dutch handed control of the colony over 149 00:09:33,240 --> 00:09:36,360 Speaker 1: to the English and renamed the territory in port after 150 00:09:36,480 --> 00:09:39,520 Speaker 1: the brother of the King, the Duke of York. Goodbye 151 00:09:39,520 --> 00:09:44,360 Speaker 1: New Amsterdam, Hello New York. But the English ran things 152 00:09:44,520 --> 00:09:47,480 Speaker 1: very differently. Thanks to the English Civil War in the 153 00:09:47,520 --> 00:09:50,480 Speaker 1: sixteen forties, the Crown lacked the funds to embark on 154 00:09:50,559 --> 00:09:55,040 Speaker 1: proper royal colonies. Instead intended to give those opportunities to 155 00:09:55,080 --> 00:09:59,800 Speaker 1: private companies founded by merchants and wealthy aristocrats with royal 156 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:03,960 Speaker 1: over site. Of course, that's why the Puritans of Massachusetts 157 00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:06,600 Speaker 1: were able to do what they did. They received a 158 00:10:06,600 --> 00:10:10,080 Speaker 1: commercial charter from the English government prior to the Civil War, 159 00:10:10,480 --> 00:10:13,400 Speaker 1: and then all of the leaders of that company transplanted 160 00:10:13,400 --> 00:10:16,560 Speaker 1: themselves overseas to live right in the middle of their investment. 161 00:10:17,040 --> 00:10:21,040 Speaker 1: It was economic cover for a deeply religious experiment to 162 00:10:21,200 --> 00:10:24,920 Speaker 1: live an unobstructed Puritan life far from the watchful eye 163 00:10:24,920 --> 00:10:29,840 Speaker 1: of the King. New York didn't have that purposeful beginning. 164 00:10:30,240 --> 00:10:33,319 Speaker 1: When the English took control in sixteen sixty seven, they 165 00:10:33,320 --> 00:10:35,320 Speaker 1: had to send troops into the city to help it 166 00:10:35,360 --> 00:10:38,720 Speaker 1: go smoothly. The Dutch had attracted a very diverse and 167 00:10:38,800 --> 00:10:42,400 Speaker 1: liberal community there, and they chafed under the English yoke. 168 00:10:42,920 --> 00:10:46,120 Speaker 1: The early governors of the colony even refused English shipping 169 00:10:46,160 --> 00:10:49,439 Speaker 1: companies in favor of their old Dutch partners. It was 170 00:10:49,480 --> 00:10:52,440 Speaker 1: a mess, and England felt like it was losing control. 171 00:10:53,679 --> 00:10:56,800 Speaker 1: Massachusetts sent troops and supplies to help out in an 172 00:10:56,800 --> 00:10:59,240 Speaker 1: effort to seem like a team player, but their time 173 00:10:59,280 --> 00:11:02,720 Speaker 1: was running out. After the devastation of King Philip's War 174 00:11:02,840 --> 00:11:05,480 Speaker 1: and the related conflict up and down the main coast, 175 00:11:05,800 --> 00:11:09,560 Speaker 1: England decided enough was enough. The old way of running 176 00:11:09,600 --> 00:11:14,160 Speaker 1: things was no longer working. In sixteen seventy nine, the 177 00:11:14,200 --> 00:11:17,680 Speaker 1: Crown took New Hampshire away from the Massachusetts colony and 178 00:11:17,840 --> 00:11:21,440 Speaker 1: issued them a new royal charter. Five years later, in 179 00:11:21,520 --> 00:11:25,839 Speaker 1: sixteen eighty four, Massachusetts saw their own charter revoked, leaving 180 00:11:25,880 --> 00:11:29,640 Speaker 1: them in a lawless chaos. Less than a year after that, 181 00:11:29,920 --> 00:11:32,920 Speaker 1: King Charles the Second died before law and order could 182 00:11:32,960 --> 00:11:36,640 Speaker 1: be restored. To help calm the colonies, Edmund Andros was 183 00:11:36,679 --> 00:11:41,520 Speaker 1: sent to set up English military rule. Here's historian Emerson Baker. 184 00:11:42,160 --> 00:11:44,760 Speaker 1: He was an Anglican with a Church of England, and 185 00:11:44,800 --> 00:11:48,440 Speaker 1: Puritanism no longer was special. Massachusetts was no longer special. 186 00:11:48,480 --> 00:11:50,600 Speaker 1: It was part of a super colony for stretch from 187 00:11:50,640 --> 00:11:54,559 Speaker 1: New Jersey to Maine. Andros wasn't a well loved governor. 188 00:11:55,040 --> 00:11:57,600 Speaker 1: He had previously been governor of New York and was 189 00:11:57,720 --> 00:12:03,320 Speaker 1: very outspoken against Puritans. He raised taxes, revoked Puritan laws, 190 00:12:03,360 --> 00:12:07,800 Speaker 1: and appointed his own judges and sheriffs. The worst blow, however, 191 00:12:08,080 --> 00:12:11,800 Speaker 1: came when Andros forced landowners to essentially re buy their 192 00:12:11,920 --> 00:12:15,920 Speaker 1: land from the Crown. The result was deep organized resistance. 193 00:12:17,520 --> 00:12:21,480 Speaker 1: On April eighteenth of sixteen eighty nine, hundreds of armed 194 00:12:21,559 --> 00:12:25,640 Speaker 1: Puritans flooded into Boston and captured Andros and his cadre 195 00:12:25,800 --> 00:12:29,080 Speaker 1: of loyal officers. All of them were thrown into prison, 196 00:12:29,360 --> 00:12:31,640 Speaker 1: and a new provisional government was set up on the 197 00:12:31,640 --> 00:12:35,839 Speaker 1: foundation of the old Charter and Puritan law. It left 198 00:12:35,880 --> 00:12:39,360 Speaker 1: Massachusetts defend for itself once again, and with the threat 199 00:12:39,400 --> 00:12:42,160 Speaker 1: of the Native American attacks on the northern border, it 200 00:12:42,160 --> 00:12:45,400 Speaker 1: wouldn't be an easy task. But there was a new 201 00:12:45,520 --> 00:12:48,760 Speaker 1: star rising in the Puritan sky. He was a son 202 00:12:48,800 --> 00:12:52,600 Speaker 1: of Maine, a Puritan sympathizer, and a man willing to 203 00:12:52,679 --> 00:12:57,040 Speaker 1: fight for a good cause. Folks, I'd like to introduce 204 00:12:57,080 --> 00:13:06,360 Speaker 1: you to Sir William Phipps. William Phipps had the sort 205 00:13:06,400 --> 00:13:10,040 Speaker 1: of upbringing that any hard working American today might connect with. 206 00:13:10,800 --> 00:13:13,840 Speaker 1: We don't like the silver spoon elitists who don't have 207 00:13:13,880 --> 00:13:17,040 Speaker 1: to work hard for their rewards. We want the scrapper, 208 00:13:17,240 --> 00:13:19,840 Speaker 1: the fighter, the one who was going to scramble to 209 00:13:19,880 --> 00:13:23,160 Speaker 1: the top of the pile. And William Phipps seems to 210 00:13:23,160 --> 00:13:27,800 Speaker 1: fit that bill, at least at first Blush He was 211 00:13:27,840 --> 00:13:30,800 Speaker 1: born on the coast of northern Maine around sixteen fifty 212 00:13:31,000 --> 00:13:34,679 Speaker 1: two frontier parents. His father used the family home as 213 00:13:34,679 --> 00:13:37,640 Speaker 1: a sort of hub for trading goods with the Native Americans, 214 00:13:37,880 --> 00:13:41,000 Speaker 1: but passed away when William was just four. When his 215 00:13:41,080 --> 00:13:44,480 Speaker 1: mother remarried, it was to his father's business partner, which 216 00:13:44,520 --> 00:13:48,200 Speaker 1: consolidated what little wealth they had, and then life carried on. 217 00:13:50,040 --> 00:13:51,960 Speaker 1: There were a lot of factors that might have helped 218 00:13:51,960 --> 00:13:55,120 Speaker 1: Phipps become the man history knows him as being when 219 00:13:55,120 --> 00:13:58,080 Speaker 1: of fourteen children taught him to fight for himself, and 220 00:13:58,160 --> 00:14:00,800 Speaker 1: working hard on the edge of the frontier taught him 221 00:14:00,800 --> 00:14:04,600 Speaker 1: that survival was much more important than social politeness. But 222 00:14:04,679 --> 00:14:07,720 Speaker 1: every character trait can become a flaw if you twist 223 00:14:07,760 --> 00:14:10,920 Speaker 1: it hard enough. At the age of eighteen, he quit 224 00:14:11,000 --> 00:14:13,920 Speaker 1: his job as a shepherd and became an apprentice to 225 00:14:14,000 --> 00:14:17,840 Speaker 1: a group of local shipbuilders. Shipbuilders who made frequent trips 226 00:14:17,840 --> 00:14:20,640 Speaker 1: to Boston, which allowed him to rub shoulders with the 227 00:14:20,640 --> 00:14:24,320 Speaker 1: sort of wealthy people who ran merchant companies. It's also 228 00:14:24,440 --> 00:14:27,760 Speaker 1: how he met a Puritan minister named Increase Mather, a 229 00:14:27,800 --> 00:14:32,720 Speaker 1: man roughly a decade his senior. William married into a 230 00:14:32,760 --> 00:14:36,120 Speaker 1: successful merchant family and then proceeded to try his hand 231 00:14:36,280 --> 00:14:39,600 Speaker 1: running his own business as a shipbuilder. It turns out 232 00:14:39,840 --> 00:14:42,280 Speaker 1: he wasn't the best business man out there, and he 233 00:14:42,320 --> 00:14:44,840 Speaker 1: never really achieved the level of success he aspired to. 234 00:14:45,520 --> 00:14:48,600 Speaker 1: In fact, he was better at achieving debts and failures, 235 00:14:48,680 --> 00:14:50,880 Speaker 1: much to the frustration of the people he dealt with. 236 00:14:52,560 --> 00:14:55,080 Speaker 1: It's important to stop for a moment and call attention 237 00:14:55,120 --> 00:14:58,160 Speaker 1: to one of his flaws. Phipps, it turns out, was 238 00:14:58,280 --> 00:15:00,440 Speaker 1: much more of a man of passion and a man 239 00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:04,320 Speaker 1: of learning. He wasn't stupid by any stretch of the imagination, 240 00:15:04,640 --> 00:15:07,880 Speaker 1: but he also wasn't educated and that sort of rubbed 241 00:15:07,920 --> 00:15:10,720 Speaker 1: off in his business dealings. He was known as a 242 00:15:10,800 --> 00:15:14,280 Speaker 1: rough talker who used abusive language like a weapon to 243 00:15:14,440 --> 00:15:18,880 Speaker 1: demean and intimidate others, and he was a fortune seeker 244 00:15:19,400 --> 00:15:22,400 Speaker 1: in fact. In Sight three, he managed to raise enough 245 00:15:22,440 --> 00:15:25,040 Speaker 1: money in England to go on a literal treasure hunt 246 00:15:25,080 --> 00:15:28,480 Speaker 1: in the Caribbean, which failed, but somehow the fact that 247 00:15:28,520 --> 00:15:31,200 Speaker 1: he survived the trip earned him enough attention to get 248 00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:35,040 Speaker 1: a second round of funding. That new, better equipped expedition 249 00:15:35,200 --> 00:15:38,160 Speaker 1: paid off, and he returned home with thirty tons of silver. 250 00:15:38,640 --> 00:15:42,440 Speaker 1: In return, he was given the honor of knighthood. When 251 00:15:42,520 --> 00:15:45,360 Speaker 1: he was ready to head back to Massachusetts, he expected 252 00:15:45,400 --> 00:15:48,320 Speaker 1: that Governor Andros would welcome him with open arms as 253 00:15:48,320 --> 00:15:50,920 Speaker 1: some sort of hero and give him a lofty position 254 00:15:50,920 --> 00:15:55,600 Speaker 1: in the government, but instead Androws turned him away. Months later, though, 255 00:15:55,720 --> 00:15:58,440 Speaker 1: Andros was in a prison cell and the Puritans had 256 00:15:58,480 --> 00:16:01,880 Speaker 1: retaken control of the colony, so Phipps offered his help 257 00:16:01,960 --> 00:16:04,440 Speaker 1: in their efforts against the Native Americans to the north. 258 00:16:05,920 --> 00:16:07,920 Speaker 1: The next two years were a bit of a blur. 259 00:16:08,520 --> 00:16:11,520 Speaker 1: Phipps led a small attack against French troops at Port 260 00:16:11,600 --> 00:16:15,000 Speaker 1: Royal Way up in modern day Nova Scotia. They found 261 00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:18,880 Speaker 1: the fourth there mostly unmanned and under extensive repairs, so 262 00:16:18,920 --> 00:16:22,760 Speaker 1: their victory was incredibly easy. Phipps returned to Boston as 263 00:16:22,760 --> 00:16:25,760 Speaker 1: a hero, and they rewarded him by sending him out 264 00:16:25,800 --> 00:16:29,400 Speaker 1: to do it again. There was a major attack going 265 00:16:29,440 --> 00:16:32,000 Speaker 1: on at the English settlement of Falmouth up in Maine. 266 00:16:32,440 --> 00:16:35,520 Speaker 1: Everyone gathered in New York for a large multi colony 267 00:16:35,560 --> 00:16:38,280 Speaker 1: gathering and insisted that they pushed back and end the 268 00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:41,440 Speaker 1: struggle with New France for good, and they put Phips 269 00:16:41,440 --> 00:16:45,800 Speaker 1: in charge. It looked impressive. Phipps had gathered over thirty 270 00:16:45,840 --> 00:16:48,800 Speaker 1: ships and more than two thousand fighting men, but he 271 00:16:48,840 --> 00:16:51,880 Speaker 1: also took his time doing so, wasting the better part 272 00:16:51,880 --> 00:16:54,640 Speaker 1: of two months. At one point he sent one of 273 00:16:54,680 --> 00:16:58,320 Speaker 1: his officers, Captain John Alden, over to marble Head, just 274 00:16:58,560 --> 00:17:01,640 Speaker 1: up the coast from Salem Town, to take their cannons 275 00:17:01,680 --> 00:17:05,919 Speaker 1: for use in the battle. But marble Head refused. Here's 276 00:17:05,920 --> 00:17:09,440 Speaker 1: Emerson Baker once again. This takes place, and they lead 277 00:17:09,480 --> 00:17:12,840 Speaker 1: in the fall of but for numerous reasons, a bad weather, 278 00:17:12,920 --> 00:17:17,120 Speaker 1: poor planning, frankly the fortifications of Quebec. It fails disastrously. 279 00:17:17,520 --> 00:17:20,280 Speaker 1: They lose hundreds of men. They bring back smallpox with 280 00:17:20,320 --> 00:17:22,680 Speaker 1: him into the harbor. When they arrived, they talk about 281 00:17:22,720 --> 00:17:25,600 Speaker 1: frozen dead being stacked on the ships like cordwood, and 282 00:17:25,640 --> 00:17:29,200 Speaker 1: they lose hundreds of people. And of course, since Phipps 283 00:17:29,280 --> 00:17:32,000 Speaker 1: was the man in charge of the entire operation, he 284 00:17:32,200 --> 00:17:35,120 Speaker 1: was looked on as a failure to deal with it. 285 00:17:35,480 --> 00:17:38,720 Speaker 1: He's skipped down. In fact, he was so embarrassed that 286 00:17:38,760 --> 00:17:41,639 Speaker 1: he sailed back across the Atlantic to London, where his 287 00:17:41,720 --> 00:17:44,919 Speaker 1: good friend Increase Mather was currently working to get the 288 00:17:44,960 --> 00:17:49,640 Speaker 1: old Massachusetts charter restored by the King. Phipps arrival, whether 289 00:17:49,760 --> 00:17:51,680 Speaker 1: or not it was born on the wings of failure, 290 00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:55,639 Speaker 1: gave Mather an idea. What if Phipps a man he 291 00:17:55,680 --> 00:17:58,800 Speaker 1: considered to be a friend could be appointed governor by 292 00:17:58,800 --> 00:18:03,000 Speaker 1: the King. An ally he would be, so that's what 293 00:18:03,040 --> 00:18:06,600 Speaker 1: they pushed for. Mather ditched over two years of diplomatic 294 00:18:06,640 --> 00:18:10,359 Speaker 1: efforts to restore the old Puritan charter and instead seemed 295 00:18:10,359 --> 00:18:13,199 Speaker 1: to have made a new deal, a new charter that 296 00:18:13,280 --> 00:18:16,480 Speaker 1: was favorable to royal control, in exchange for Phipps in 297 00:18:16,480 --> 00:18:20,960 Speaker 1: the governor's house. But of course that meant returning to Boston. 298 00:18:21,680 --> 00:18:24,760 Speaker 1: Bipps loved the idea of being governor, but hated the 299 00:18:24,760 --> 00:18:27,960 Speaker 1: thought of facing all of those angry colonists. He had 300 00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:31,440 Speaker 1: already disappointed them once before with the failed Quebec incidents. 301 00:18:31,880 --> 00:18:34,040 Speaker 1: Now he was bringing them a charter that was the 302 00:18:34,080 --> 00:18:37,400 Speaker 1: opposite of what they wanted. That's probably all he thought 303 00:18:37,400 --> 00:18:41,680 Speaker 1: about on that long journey back. By the time his 304 00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:44,480 Speaker 1: ship was pulling into Boston Harbor on May fourteenth of 305 00:18:44,520 --> 00:18:49,240 Speaker 1: six he had a plan. It wasn't honest, and it 306 00:18:49,359 --> 00:18:52,680 Speaker 1: certainly wasn't legal, but he knew how he was going 307 00:18:52,720 --> 00:18:56,119 Speaker 1: to prevent the crowds from showing him the same hospitality 308 00:18:56,480 --> 00:19:00,280 Speaker 1: they extended to Edmund andros. He was going to lie 309 00:19:00,320 --> 00:19:11,200 Speaker 1: to them. The arrival of increase Mather with a new 310 00:19:11,280 --> 00:19:14,439 Speaker 1: charter was seen as good news in Boston, but of 311 00:19:14,440 --> 00:19:17,639 Speaker 1: course they didn't know what that charter said yet. That 312 00:19:17,760 --> 00:19:20,240 Speaker 1: was a bitter pill that needed a lot of sugarcoating 313 00:19:20,359 --> 00:19:23,840 Speaker 1: and lies to go down smoothly. So Phipps stood before 314 00:19:23,840 --> 00:19:27,080 Speaker 1: a massive crowd the night he returned and did just that. 315 00:19:28,720 --> 00:19:31,880 Speaker 1: This new charter, he told them, would restore the old 316 00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:35,160 Speaker 1: laws and freedoms that they had enjoyed under the first Charter. 317 00:19:35,720 --> 00:19:38,000 Speaker 1: It was what the crowd wanted to hear, and it 318 00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:40,960 Speaker 1: made him a hero for bringing that news to them. 319 00:19:40,960 --> 00:19:43,159 Speaker 1: But I can't help but wonder if Phipps cast a 320 00:19:43,240 --> 00:19:46,120 Speaker 1: knowing glance at Mather, because both of them knew how 321 00:19:46,160 --> 00:19:50,639 Speaker 1: patently false that promise was. In fact, the new Charter 322 00:19:50,800 --> 00:19:53,960 Speaker 1: required new laws to be established that matched English laws 323 00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:56,240 Speaker 1: back home. It would take them a while to get 324 00:19:56,280 --> 00:19:59,000 Speaker 1: things set up, sure, but when he was done, the 325 00:19:59,040 --> 00:20:03,800 Speaker 1: Puritan experiment in New England would essentially be over. Massachusetts 326 00:20:03,840 --> 00:20:08,639 Speaker 1: would become just one more royal colony. And Phipps needed 327 00:20:08,640 --> 00:20:11,760 Speaker 1: this to work. He had his own plans and goals 328 00:20:11,800 --> 00:20:14,520 Speaker 1: for his time in office, but that meant staying in 329 00:20:14,600 --> 00:20:18,399 Speaker 1: office to see them through. Here's Emerson Baker once again, 330 00:20:19,040 --> 00:20:21,760 Speaker 1: this is a guy that has no political experience whatsoever. 331 00:20:21,960 --> 00:20:24,439 Speaker 1: He's pretty good at commanding a ship, but he's one 332 00:20:24,440 --> 00:20:27,320 Speaker 1: of these fortune seekers, and frankly, one off one of 333 00:20:27,359 --> 00:20:28,959 Speaker 1: his big personal goals would have been to make as 334 00:20:29,040 --> 00:20:31,639 Speaker 1: much money off the office as possible. He's all about 335 00:20:31,760 --> 00:20:35,000 Speaker 1: personal profit and advancement, and if you can cut a 336 00:20:35,040 --> 00:20:37,000 Speaker 1: side deal, he can. When he goes to make a 337 00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:39,600 Speaker 1: treaty with the Native Americans up at Pemaquid the end 338 00:20:39,640 --> 00:20:42,320 Speaker 1: of the war, he also manages to get the leading 339 00:20:42,359 --> 00:20:45,800 Speaker 1: stage him of Maine, Madakawando, to deed him several thousand 340 00:20:45,880 --> 00:20:49,119 Speaker 1: acres of mainland as a part of the treaty. The 341 00:20:49,200 --> 00:20:52,600 Speaker 1: same evening that Phipps arrived in Boston, Mercy Lewis and 342 00:20:52,680 --> 00:20:56,480 Speaker 1: a companion visited Will's Hill, where Bray Wilkins still suffered 343 00:20:56,560 --> 00:20:59,880 Speaker 1: enormous pain in his bladder and where young Daniel had 344 00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:05,280 Speaker 1: fallen into paralysis without hesitation. Mercy identified the specter of 345 00:21:05,359 --> 00:21:10,680 Speaker 1: John Willard afflicting them both. Two days later, Daniel would 346 00:21:10,680 --> 00:21:14,040 Speaker 1: suffocate to death in his own bed. Mercy Lewis and 347 00:21:14,119 --> 00:21:17,159 Speaker 1: Mary Walcott would report that they'd both seen John Willard 348 00:21:17,240 --> 00:21:20,000 Speaker 1: choke him, though of course no one else could see 349 00:21:20,040 --> 00:21:23,320 Speaker 1: anything but the dying boy, grasping for air until he 350 00:21:23,400 --> 00:21:27,320 Speaker 1: was finally still. Samuel Paris would record the boy's cause 351 00:21:27,320 --> 00:21:30,680 Speaker 1: of death in his church records as bewitched to death. 352 00:21:32,600 --> 00:21:34,880 Speaker 1: The man hunt for Willard picked up steam after that. 353 00:21:35,480 --> 00:21:37,720 Speaker 1: Now he was a murderer as well as a witch. 354 00:21:38,359 --> 00:21:41,439 Speaker 1: A new warrant was issued that authorized anyone in or 355 00:21:41,560 --> 00:21:44,760 Speaker 1: out of Salem to bring the former constable into custody, 356 00:21:44,880 --> 00:21:48,280 Speaker 1: and with it word of his evil deeds spread far 357 00:21:48,359 --> 00:21:52,280 Speaker 1: and wide. John Willard's goal had been to escape to 358 00:21:52,320 --> 00:21:55,840 Speaker 1: the more liberal and irreligious New York, but he apparently 359 00:21:55,920 --> 00:21:59,240 Speaker 1: took a detour along the way before heading south. He 360 00:21:59,359 --> 00:22:02,280 Speaker 1: headed west, making his way out to his family land 361 00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:05,439 Speaker 1: in Lancaster along the Nashua River. He apparently had the 362 00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:08,200 Speaker 1: bright idea to till the family land there and plant 363 00:22:08,200 --> 00:22:10,840 Speaker 1: the crops so that he could return when everything had 364 00:22:10,840 --> 00:22:14,040 Speaker 1: blown over and have a harvest waiting for him. So 365 00:22:14,080 --> 00:22:17,640 Speaker 1: the records about his capture have this head scratching detail 366 00:22:17,680 --> 00:22:22,000 Speaker 1: written in Willard They say was captured while howeing his 367 00:22:22,160 --> 00:22:26,679 Speaker 1: field that was May sixt The constables who found him 368 00:22:26,680 --> 00:22:28,639 Speaker 1: put him on a horse and guided him back to 369 00:22:28,680 --> 00:22:32,240 Speaker 1: Salem that very night in anticipation of his examination the 370 00:22:32,240 --> 00:22:35,400 Speaker 1: following day, But when they arrived there were already too 371 00:22:35,400 --> 00:22:39,760 Speaker 1: many people listed for examinations on so Willard would have 372 00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:44,280 Speaker 1: to wait in jail for another day. As part of 373 00:22:44,280 --> 00:22:47,800 Speaker 1: Willard's examination, a coroner's jury looked over the body of 374 00:22:47,880 --> 00:22:52,680 Speaker 1: Daniel Wilkins, including Nathaniel Ingersoll, Joseph Herrick, and a handful 375 00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:56,119 Speaker 1: of the Putnam clan. They reported finding a collection of 376 00:22:56,119 --> 00:22:59,520 Speaker 1: bruises on the boy's back, along with cuts and puncture 377 00:22:59,560 --> 00:23:02,919 Speaker 1: marks all over his body. In fact, it almost seemed 378 00:23:02,920 --> 00:23:06,040 Speaker 1: as if someone had pierced Daniel with an all and 379 00:23:06,080 --> 00:23:08,600 Speaker 1: when they rolled the body onto its front, they noted 380 00:23:08,640 --> 00:23:13,399 Speaker 1: that blood flowed freely from the boy's mouth. This horrifying 381 00:23:13,440 --> 00:23:16,240 Speaker 1: condition compelled these men to declare that he'd been the 382 00:23:16,320 --> 00:23:20,480 Speaker 1: victim of violent and malicious witchcraft. Given what the Wilkins 383 00:23:20,560 --> 00:23:23,919 Speaker 1: family knew about John's violent tendencies against his own wife, 384 00:23:24,320 --> 00:23:27,399 Speaker 1: it seemed all too clear that this could be his handiwork. 385 00:23:28,040 --> 00:23:31,359 Speaker 1: As a result, John was restrained with shackles to stop 386 00:23:31,440 --> 00:23:34,200 Speaker 1: him from attacking the afflicted girls in the room, who 387 00:23:34,240 --> 00:23:38,600 Speaker 1: screamed that his specter was torturing them. Oh, and when 388 00:23:38,600 --> 00:23:42,240 Speaker 1: the chains clanked onto John's legs, they say old Bray 389 00:23:42,280 --> 00:23:45,840 Speaker 1: Wilkins was suddenly relieved of the piercing pain in his abdomen. 390 00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:51,280 Speaker 1: That you were fled from authority is an acknowledgement of guilt, 391 00:23:51,520 --> 00:23:55,600 Speaker 1: Hawthorne declared. In other words, John Willard had made his 392 00:23:55,640 --> 00:24:01,919 Speaker 1: confession through his actions. The previous afternoon in Boston was 393 00:24:01,960 --> 00:24:05,440 Speaker 1: devoted to other matters, though, Phipps and the Council devoted 394 00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:08,359 Speaker 1: their time to the ordering of the Massachusetts Militia and 395 00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:11,720 Speaker 1: the naval fleet. They also ordered a public fast for 396 00:24:11,880 --> 00:24:14,760 Speaker 1: May twenty six so that everyone in the colony could 397 00:24:14,760 --> 00:24:17,960 Speaker 1: devote time to prayer for the new government. The next 398 00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:20,480 Speaker 1: few days after that were taken up with an emergency 399 00:24:20,840 --> 00:24:23,800 Speaker 1: as three French privateers rated up and down the coast. 400 00:24:24,600 --> 00:24:27,399 Speaker 1: Time was slipping away from Phipps and it was starting 401 00:24:27,400 --> 00:24:30,040 Speaker 1: to become clear that governing would be nothing more than 402 00:24:30,119 --> 00:24:35,639 Speaker 1: handling one crisis after another. All the while, Hawthorne and 403 00:24:35,720 --> 00:24:39,760 Speaker 1: Corwin continued to examine multiple accused witches every day, and 404 00:24:39,840 --> 00:24:42,600 Speaker 1: the flow of prisoners to the Boston jail couldn't have 405 00:24:42,760 --> 00:24:47,280 Speaker 1: escaped Phipps notice. On May he finally gave his first 406 00:24:47,280 --> 00:24:51,520 Speaker 1: official orders regarding the trials, he instructed the prison keeper 407 00:24:52,080 --> 00:24:55,440 Speaker 1: the buy more shackles. I don't know about you, but 408 00:24:55,560 --> 00:25:00,359 Speaker 1: that sort of response wouldn't have sat well with me. Finally, 409 00:25:00,440 --> 00:25:04,400 Speaker 1: on ma Phipps and the Council met with Hawthorne and Corwin, 410 00:25:04,600 --> 00:25:07,840 Speaker 1: who had traveled down to Boston for the occasion. Their 411 00:25:07,840 --> 00:25:11,240 Speaker 1: main goal was to discuss judicial appointments and the schedule 412 00:25:11,320 --> 00:25:14,159 Speaker 1: for when all of the governing bodies would start operating, 413 00:25:14,560 --> 00:25:16,040 Speaker 1: but it looked like it was going to take a 414 00:25:16,080 --> 00:25:20,320 Speaker 1: few weeks. That was time they didn't have. After three 415 00:25:20,359 --> 00:25:23,720 Speaker 1: days of discussion, Phipps finally realized that the sale of 416 00:25:23,840 --> 00:25:26,160 Speaker 1: matter couldn't wait for the General Court to be set 417 00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:30,360 Speaker 1: up in operational so on, he declared that because they 418 00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:34,119 Speaker 1: had no official Massachusetts courts ready to go, he was 419 00:25:34,240 --> 00:25:37,760 Speaker 1: ordering a special court that would follow English laws in 420 00:25:37,800 --> 00:25:42,840 Speaker 1: regards to the Salem troubles. Soon enough, the Oyer and 421 00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:52,760 Speaker 1: Terminal trials would begin. You're probably wondering at this point, 422 00:25:53,119 --> 00:25:56,000 Speaker 1: what in the world is an Oyer and Terminer trial. 423 00:25:56,640 --> 00:26:01,400 Speaker 1: I'll let historian Richard Trask explain that to you. By May, 424 00:26:01,480 --> 00:26:05,600 Speaker 1: the new Governor, William Phipps, comes together with a lot 425 00:26:05,640 --> 00:26:09,800 Speaker 1: of the learned people in Massachusetts and establishes a court 426 00:26:09,880 --> 00:26:13,120 Speaker 1: of Oyer and Termina to hear and determine these cases, 427 00:26:13,440 --> 00:26:16,800 Speaker 1: because now the jails are being clogged by a number 428 00:26:16,840 --> 00:26:20,520 Speaker 1: of people who have been accused, and at the preliminary 429 00:26:20,600 --> 00:26:23,600 Speaker 1: hearing they've just been put in jail. So what they 430 00:26:23,640 --> 00:26:27,400 Speaker 1: then do is have just the same legal system that's 431 00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:31,440 Speaker 1: done in Old England. You have a grand jury that 432 00:26:31,560 --> 00:26:37,159 Speaker 1: listens to the Attorney General of Massachusetts give the case. 433 00:26:37,680 --> 00:26:41,800 Speaker 1: You have a pool of jurors from among the towns 434 00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:45,640 Speaker 1: in Massachusetts who will be the jury. You have this 435 00:26:45,800 --> 00:26:49,320 Speaker 1: eight or nine person special court court of Oyer and 436 00:26:49,440 --> 00:26:52,920 Speaker 1: Termina who will be the judges, and they are supposed 437 00:26:52,960 --> 00:26:54,719 Speaker 1: to have I think at least three or four of 438 00:26:54,800 --> 00:26:58,920 Speaker 1: these magistrates there. They can ask questions and can kind 439 00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:02,080 Speaker 1: of mole what they want to have happened. But it's 440 00:27:02,119 --> 00:27:05,919 Speaker 1: basically the Attorney General who gives the information. So then 441 00:27:05,960 --> 00:27:08,800 Speaker 1: you have the trial, and trials are very fast, usually 442 00:27:08,800 --> 00:27:12,520 Speaker 1: within two days maybe three, All of the evidences in 443 00:27:12,960 --> 00:27:17,400 Speaker 1: the jury goes out, makes us determination, and in almost 444 00:27:17,480 --> 00:27:21,760 Speaker 1: every case the people have found guilty. So an Oyer 445 00:27:21,800 --> 00:27:25,560 Speaker 1: and Terminer is essentially an English high court. The name 446 00:27:25,680 --> 00:27:28,840 Speaker 1: literally means to hear and determine, and that's what they 447 00:27:28,840 --> 00:27:32,679 Speaker 1: were calling into existence, an official, well staffed court that 448 00:27:32,720 --> 00:27:35,920 Speaker 1: could hear these cases in an official capacity and then 449 00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:39,720 Speaker 1: determined guilt or innocence. And for the nearly forty people 450 00:27:39,840 --> 00:27:43,840 Speaker 1: still waiting in jail on May four, that sounded like progress. 451 00:27:45,280 --> 00:27:48,040 Speaker 1: Of course, word got out that this new, more official 452 00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:51,159 Speaker 1: version of justice was about to be implemented. But the 453 00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:54,520 Speaker 1: people from the area around Salem didn't sigh with relief 454 00:27:54,560 --> 00:27:57,760 Speaker 1: and let down their guard. No. Instead, in the two 455 00:27:57,760 --> 00:28:00,480 Speaker 1: weeks between the order to establish the court and the 456 00:28:00,560 --> 00:28:05,119 Speaker 1: date of the first session, new accusations flooded in. In fact, 457 00:28:05,160 --> 00:28:08,520 Speaker 1: that figure of thirty eight nearly doubled just because the 458 00:28:08,600 --> 00:28:13,440 Speaker 1: court had been announced. The new wave of accused came 459 00:28:13,480 --> 00:28:16,840 Speaker 1: from Salem, as you might expect, but also from Topsfield, 460 00:28:16,960 --> 00:28:20,800 Speaker 1: ip Switch, marble Head, and even Boston. The names were 461 00:28:20,800 --> 00:28:23,840 Speaker 1: coming in so quickly that Hawthorne and Corwin couldn't keep 462 00:28:23,920 --> 00:28:26,960 Speaker 1: up with their warrant process. Of course, that didn't mean 463 00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:29,840 Speaker 1: the arrests were slowing down, and sometimes they put the 464 00:28:29,880 --> 00:28:33,800 Speaker 1: cart before the horse. A great example is the story 465 00:28:33,840 --> 00:28:37,159 Speaker 1: of Captain John Alden. Today, he would be perfect in 466 00:28:37,160 --> 00:28:40,160 Speaker 1: the role of that sixty year old action hero. He 467 00:28:40,200 --> 00:28:43,560 Speaker 1: was strong, brave, and a career fighter. He was a 468 00:28:43,560 --> 00:28:46,800 Speaker 1: merchant who ran the dangerous route between the civilized Salem 469 00:28:46,840 --> 00:28:50,560 Speaker 1: area and the wild Maine frontier, but also served in 470 00:28:50,560 --> 00:28:54,000 Speaker 1: the militia for decades. In fact, when Phipps sailed up 471 00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:57,120 Speaker 1: the coast to attack Quebec, Captain John Alden was right 472 00:28:57,160 --> 00:29:02,480 Speaker 1: there with him. In time between that failed military expedition 473 00:29:02,640 --> 00:29:05,480 Speaker 1: and the start of the Oyer and Terminer, Alden had 474 00:29:05,520 --> 00:29:08,000 Speaker 1: managed to get captured by the French along with his 475 00:29:08,200 --> 00:29:12,560 Speaker 1: entire ship, including his own son. Everyone had been taken 476 00:29:12,560 --> 00:29:16,600 Speaker 1: back to French territory in the North in September, but 477 00:29:16,640 --> 00:29:19,640 Speaker 1: at some point they picked John Alden as their representative 478 00:29:19,800 --> 00:29:22,200 Speaker 1: to go to Salem and collect a ransom for the 479 00:29:22,280 --> 00:29:27,280 Speaker 1: ship and the sailors. So that's why. On May thirty one, 480 00:29:27,440 --> 00:29:31,120 Speaker 1: John Alden was in Salem village when a massive crowd 481 00:29:31,120 --> 00:29:34,080 Speaker 1: of people surrounded the little meeting house, filling the room 482 00:29:34,120 --> 00:29:37,400 Speaker 1: and spilling out into the grass surround it. John wandered 483 00:29:37,440 --> 00:29:41,120 Speaker 1: over for a closer look. More people were being examined 484 00:29:41,120 --> 00:29:43,560 Speaker 1: ahead of the Oyer and Terminer, and I can't help 485 00:29:43,560 --> 00:29:46,560 Speaker 1: but assume that John was curious about who was inside 486 00:29:46,600 --> 00:29:49,320 Speaker 1: at the front of the room. That's when a hand 487 00:29:49,360 --> 00:29:51,600 Speaker 1: shot out of the crowd and grabbed him by the wrist. 488 00:29:52,160 --> 00:29:54,960 Speaker 1: It was one of the local constables, and he informed 489 00:29:54,960 --> 00:29:58,680 Speaker 1: Alden that he was up next for examination. It happened 490 00:29:58,720 --> 00:30:01,400 Speaker 1: so quickly that his warrant was drafted after he was 491 00:30:01,480 --> 00:30:04,880 Speaker 1: inside the meeting house. Rushing to make everything as official 492 00:30:04,960 --> 00:30:09,000 Speaker 1: as possible, Alden was stunned as they dragged him into 493 00:30:09,040 --> 00:30:11,200 Speaker 1: the meeting house and held him at the edge of 494 00:30:11,200 --> 00:30:15,160 Speaker 1: the crowd. Hawthorn and Corwin were seated up front as usual, 495 00:30:15,600 --> 00:30:18,920 Speaker 1: joined that day by a new judge, bartholem you Gedney. 496 00:30:19,080 --> 00:30:21,840 Speaker 1: The usual crowd of accusers were seated near the front 497 00:30:21,880 --> 00:30:25,200 Speaker 1: as well. When they were ready to begin, the judges 498 00:30:25,280 --> 00:30:28,280 Speaker 1: asked the girls to look at the crowd and identify 499 00:30:28,480 --> 00:30:31,800 Speaker 1: Captain John Alden, the man they had accused of sending 500 00:30:31,880 --> 00:30:35,520 Speaker 1: his spectral form to attack them. The girls failed to 501 00:30:35,560 --> 00:30:38,320 Speaker 1: point to the correct man, though much to John's delight. 502 00:30:39,680 --> 00:30:42,040 Speaker 1: Rather than assumed that was because they really didn't know 503 00:30:42,080 --> 00:30:45,000 Speaker 1: what Alden looked like, the judges assumed it was because 504 00:30:45,040 --> 00:30:48,000 Speaker 1: the meeting house was so dimly lit, so they dragged 505 00:30:48,000 --> 00:30:50,600 Speaker 1: the girls and a group of the accused outside into 506 00:30:50,600 --> 00:30:54,040 Speaker 1: the daylight for a better look. Along the way, someone 507 00:30:54,200 --> 00:30:56,680 Speaker 1: must have coached one of them, because they were finally 508 00:30:56,720 --> 00:31:01,520 Speaker 1: able to point a finger at Alden. The actual examination 509 00:31:01,680 --> 00:31:04,240 Speaker 1: didn't go any better for him. We might look on 510 00:31:04,280 --> 00:31:07,040 Speaker 1: Alden's capture by the French with pity and see his 511 00:31:07,160 --> 00:31:10,120 Speaker 1: release and plans to return to his son to be noble. 512 00:31:10,720 --> 00:31:13,239 Speaker 1: The magistrates, though, saw it as a sign that he 513 00:31:13,320 --> 00:31:16,320 Speaker 1: was in league with the nevill The French were Catholic, 514 00:31:16,600 --> 00:31:19,640 Speaker 1: and they had allied themselves with the Native Americans, two 515 00:31:19,680 --> 00:31:23,080 Speaker 1: groups of people viewed as tools of Satan by the Puritans. 516 00:31:24,280 --> 00:31:26,960 Speaker 1: John Alden wasn't the only suspect to leave the meeting 517 00:31:27,000 --> 00:31:30,040 Speaker 1: house in shackles that day, though. One of them was 518 00:31:30,160 --> 00:31:34,840 Speaker 1: Martha Carrier from nearby and over. Accusations about her involvement 519 00:31:34,880 --> 00:31:38,160 Speaker 1: in witchcraft began after she refused to leave town after 520 00:31:38,200 --> 00:31:42,640 Speaker 1: her family contracted smallpox, which upset her neighbors, never mind 521 00:31:42,640 --> 00:31:45,160 Speaker 1: the fact that the outbreak was really the fault of 522 00:31:45,160 --> 00:31:50,840 Speaker 1: Phipps and his failed military expedition. Everyone was carted off 523 00:31:50,840 --> 00:31:54,680 Speaker 1: to jail that afternoon, but unlike all the previous examinations 524 00:31:54,720 --> 00:31:57,960 Speaker 1: that had taken place, these suspects could at least see 525 00:31:58,000 --> 00:32:00,240 Speaker 1: the light at the end of the tunnel. With the 526 00:32:00,280 --> 00:32:03,600 Speaker 1: oyer and terminer announced, they knew their time in jail 527 00:32:03,720 --> 00:32:08,160 Speaker 1: wouldn't go on for months. Finally there was an end 528 00:32:08,280 --> 00:32:12,720 Speaker 1: in sight, but that tunnel would be much more dark 529 00:32:12,760 --> 00:32:23,920 Speaker 1: and dangerous than any of them could have imagined. I 530 00:32:23,920 --> 00:32:26,560 Speaker 1: think it's interesting to point out just how upside down 531 00:32:26,600 --> 00:32:31,800 Speaker 1: these examinations were. In typical Puritan society, women and children 532 00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:34,920 Speaker 1: had almost no voice, and yet here was a group 533 00:32:34,960 --> 00:32:38,600 Speaker 1: of young women who practically guided the entire debacle toward 534 00:32:38,680 --> 00:32:43,280 Speaker 1: its dark destination. And I'm not alone in noticing that hypocrisy. 535 00:32:44,240 --> 00:32:48,360 Speaker 1: Here's Jane Kaminsky, professor of American history at Harvard, with 536 00:32:48,440 --> 00:32:51,880 Speaker 1: more thoughts on the matter. That is, to me the 537 00:32:52,040 --> 00:32:56,200 Speaker 1: great mystery of the Salem proceedings. How in a world 538 00:32:56,200 --> 00:33:01,320 Speaker 1: that devalues women's utterances and that tends to keep maybe 539 00:33:01,480 --> 00:33:07,240 Speaker 1: especially young women within their channels, this group of adolescent 540 00:33:07,640 --> 00:33:11,960 Speaker 1: that's anachronistic term, but women in their teens and early 541 00:33:12,040 --> 00:33:16,280 Speaker 1: twenties come to be this, this sort of star witness 542 00:33:16,480 --> 00:33:21,959 Speaker 1: coterie is completely ineffable. I think there is pretty convincing 543 00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:26,720 Speaker 1: evidence that they are to a certain extent, coordinating with 544 00:33:26,760 --> 00:33:31,560 Speaker 1: each other and engaging in deliberate fraud. It's also interesting 545 00:33:31,600 --> 00:33:34,800 Speaker 1: to note just how frantic things became so early on, 546 00:33:35,120 --> 00:33:38,120 Speaker 1: and how that chaos provided another reason for why these 547 00:33:38,160 --> 00:33:41,680 Speaker 1: young women were able to take such control over the proceedings. 548 00:33:42,880 --> 00:33:47,720 Speaker 1: It seems like a moment where the normal sources of 549 00:33:47,800 --> 00:33:55,840 Speaker 1: authority holds so poorly, and the need for answers two 550 00:33:56,080 --> 00:34:01,720 Speaker 1: questions that seem profound feels so urgent, and that people 551 00:34:01,760 --> 00:34:05,600 Speaker 1: begin listening to unexpected witnesses who say they have answers. 552 00:34:06,720 --> 00:34:09,319 Speaker 1: It's hard to be definitive about it, but looking back 553 00:34:09,320 --> 00:34:12,160 Speaker 1: on this phase of the Salem Trials, it really seems 554 00:34:12,200 --> 00:34:16,120 Speaker 1: like the magistrates were simply overwhelmed by it all. An 555 00:34:16,120 --> 00:34:20,360 Speaker 1: ever increasing flow of suspects and a nearly constant barrage 556 00:34:20,440 --> 00:34:24,400 Speaker 1: of new afflictions and unexplainable episodes combined to make it 557 00:34:24,440 --> 00:34:28,200 Speaker 1: all just too much to handle logically. At some point 558 00:34:28,680 --> 00:34:33,680 Speaker 1: they had to have just given in. When they were 559 00:34:33,680 --> 00:34:37,320 Speaker 1: wrapping up the examination of Captain John Alden, they asked 560 00:34:37,400 --> 00:34:40,120 Speaker 1: him to stand on a chair with his arms limp 561 00:34:40,200 --> 00:34:42,640 Speaker 1: at his sides, and look toward the girls who had 562 00:34:42,640 --> 00:34:46,160 Speaker 1: accused him. The moment his eyes fell on them. The 563 00:34:46,200 --> 00:34:49,040 Speaker 1: girls toppled over and began to writhe on the floor 564 00:34:49,080 --> 00:34:52,239 Speaker 1: in agony, just as they had done before in his 565 00:34:52,360 --> 00:34:56,160 Speaker 1: presence and in the presence of so many other accused individuals. 566 00:34:57,760 --> 00:34:59,759 Speaker 1: The newest judge at the front of the room ar 567 00:35:00,000 --> 00:35:03,279 Speaker 1: aleam you. Gedney motioned towards the girls and glared at 568 00:35:03,280 --> 00:35:06,040 Speaker 1: Alden as if to say, do you see what you 569 00:35:06,120 --> 00:35:09,920 Speaker 1: have done? But Alden stood his ground. He turned his 570 00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:14,160 Speaker 1: gaze from the girls and aimed his eyes straight at Gedney. 571 00:35:14,280 --> 00:35:16,840 Speaker 1: After a brief pause to let this significant sink in, 572 00:35:17,160 --> 00:35:21,040 Speaker 1: Alden spoke up in his own defense. If his gaze 573 00:35:21,160 --> 00:35:24,040 Speaker 1: was so powerful as to afflict the girls over there, 574 00:35:24,160 --> 00:35:28,360 Speaker 1: he suggested, why did Gedney not also fall over in pain. 575 00:35:30,160 --> 00:35:34,680 Speaker 1: The stumping of the judges enraged Salem's junior minister, Nicholas Noyes, 576 00:35:34,880 --> 00:35:38,319 Speaker 1: who launched into a tirade, fueling that Alden dared to 577 00:35:38,400 --> 00:35:42,799 Speaker 1: speak of God while bringing calamity to the colony. With 578 00:35:42,840 --> 00:35:45,560 Speaker 1: the minister on the side of the girls, the judges 579 00:35:45,680 --> 00:35:49,360 Speaker 1: ordered George Herrick to escort John Alden to jail. Neither 580 00:35:49,520 --> 00:35:52,480 Speaker 1: his standing in the community nor his wealth as a 581 00:35:52,520 --> 00:35:56,839 Speaker 1: merchant would serve to render him free. Instead, like so 582 00:35:57,000 --> 00:36:00,560 Speaker 1: many others, he was sent to Boston to away justice. 583 00:36:01,920 --> 00:36:05,360 Speaker 1: Whether they believed God would finally step in and intervene, 584 00:36:06,000 --> 00:36:08,680 Speaker 1: or their faith was in the newly appointed Governor Phipps, 585 00:36:09,360 --> 00:36:13,680 Speaker 1: a higher power was about to take over the official 586 00:36:13,800 --> 00:36:19,800 Speaker 1: trials we're about to begin. That's it for this week's 587 00:36:19,800 --> 00:36:24,200 Speaker 1: episode of Unobscured. Stick around after this short sponsor break 588 00:36:24,400 --> 00:36:27,200 Speaker 1: for a preview of what's in store for next week. 589 00:36:29,480 --> 00:36:35,040 Speaker 1: Next time on Unobscured, Mercy Lewis and Annie Putnam both 590 00:36:35,080 --> 00:36:37,920 Speaker 1: had claimed to see Bridget spirit in their home. They 591 00:36:37,960 --> 00:36:41,359 Speaker 1: stated as if it were indisputable fact that she had 592 00:36:41,400 --> 00:36:44,920 Speaker 1: bewitched her second husband, Thomas to death. It was damning 593 00:36:45,000 --> 00:36:49,920 Speaker 1: evidence given the circumstances, but Bridget had also lied to 594 00:36:49,920 --> 00:36:53,319 Speaker 1: the magistrates, and that didn't help her case. When they 595 00:36:53,320 --> 00:36:55,799 Speaker 1: asked her if she was a witch, she denied it 596 00:36:55,880 --> 00:36:58,080 Speaker 1: and claimed that she didn't even know what a witch was. 597 00:36:58,719 --> 00:37:01,520 Speaker 1: She also claimed she hadn't known anyone else confessed to 598 00:37:01,600 --> 00:37:04,760 Speaker 1: being agents of the devil, but that wasn't exactly true. 599 00:37:05,160 --> 00:37:07,759 Speaker 1: On the morning of her examination back in April, she 600 00:37:07,880 --> 00:37:11,320 Speaker 1: had been told that Abigail Hobbs and Mary Warren had confessed, 601 00:37:11,760 --> 00:37:14,719 Speaker 1: and if Bridget was willing to lie about that, what 602 00:37:14,840 --> 00:37:18,400 Speaker 1: else was she lying about? It was all word games. 603 00:37:18,680 --> 00:37:21,600 Speaker 1: It was all a classic example of Bridget being considered 604 00:37:21,600 --> 00:37:26,720 Speaker 1: guilty even before she was examined on April nineteenth. Nothing 605 00:37:26,800 --> 00:37:29,480 Speaker 1: she could say would change the public perception of her. 606 00:37:29,719 --> 00:37:32,280 Speaker 1: All she could do was deny it, as each question 607 00:37:32,360 --> 00:37:35,920 Speaker 1: was fired at her, one by one. I am innocent. 608 00:37:36,760 --> 00:38:35,880 Speaker 1: I Am innocent. I Am innocent. Unobscured was created and 609 00:38:35,960 --> 00:38:39,440 Speaker 1: written by me Aaron Bankey and produced by Matt Frederick 610 00:38:39,520 --> 00:38:42,759 Speaker 1: and Alex Williams in partnership with How Stuff Works, with 611 00:38:42,920 --> 00:38:46,440 Speaker 1: research by Carl Nellis and original music by Chad Lawson. 612 00:38:47,280 --> 00:38:52,080 Speaker 1: Learn more about our contributing historians further reading material, resource 613 00:38:52,239 --> 00:38:56,160 Speaker 1: archive and links to our other shows at History Unobscured 614 00:38:56,239 --> 00:39:00,520 Speaker 1: dot com. Until next time, thanks are listening.