1 00:00:10,080 --> 00:00:13,119 Speaker 1: The body of Bridget Bishop was left hanging from the 2 00:00:13,160 --> 00:00:17,600 Speaker 1: gallows for days. It was standard practice for the execution 3 00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:20,960 Speaker 1: of felons. By leaving the results of their crime out 4 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:23,600 Speaker 1: in the public for everyone to see, it was thought 5 00:00:23,640 --> 00:00:26,440 Speaker 1: that fewer people would be tempted to follow the same 6 00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:32,000 Speaker 1: immoral path. We don't have any records about when Bridget's 7 00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:35,040 Speaker 1: body was cut down or where it was buried, but 8 00:00:35,159 --> 00:00:38,520 Speaker 1: executed criminals were usually buried near the place of death. 9 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:42,280 Speaker 1: It wasn't respectful or sacred, and that was the point 10 00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:46,600 Speaker 1: in the Puritan mind. People evil enough to do horrible things, 11 00:00:47,080 --> 00:00:51,879 Speaker 1: they didn't deserve a proper burial. Bridget's death might not 12 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:54,800 Speaker 1: have left a physical trace, but it certainly had a 13 00:00:54,880 --> 00:00:58,640 Speaker 1: social impact. In the two weeks that followed her execution, 14 00:00:59,040 --> 00:01:03,960 Speaker 1: reports of a flictions almost stopped entirely. Yes, there were 15 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:07,400 Speaker 1: a handful of exceptions, but the overall effect was like 16 00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:11,040 Speaker 1: pulling the emergency brake on a speeding car. People took 17 00:01:11,080 --> 00:01:15,680 Speaker 1: notice of how deadly the game had become, but nothing 18 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:19,200 Speaker 1: lasts forever. However nice it would have been for everything 19 00:01:19,240 --> 00:01:21,760 Speaker 1: to grind to a permanent halt. I think all of 20 00:01:21,840 --> 00:01:24,200 Speaker 1: us are very aware that no such thing was about 21 00:01:24,240 --> 00:01:27,160 Speaker 1: to happen, and one of the few instances where people 22 00:01:27,319 --> 00:01:31,600 Speaker 1: still reported afflictions from a witch. A community even deepens 23 00:01:31,640 --> 00:01:34,880 Speaker 1: its roots into the soil of insanity and chaos, they 24 00:01:34,920 --> 00:01:40,960 Speaker 1: find themselves a witch detective. Weeks earlier, when Bray Wilkins 25 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:44,880 Speaker 1: and his grandson Daniel were sick and witchcraft was suspected, 26 00:01:45,280 --> 00:01:48,400 Speaker 1: Mercy Lewis offered to come and help. She was the 27 00:01:48,440 --> 00:01:51,080 Speaker 1: refugee from Maine that had moved to sale In village 28 00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:56,080 Speaker 1: years before along with George Burrows, but in she lived 29 00:01:56,080 --> 00:01:58,880 Speaker 1: and worked in one of the Putnam households, and if 30 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:01,840 Speaker 1: you remember, it was she who pointed the finger at 31 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:06,520 Speaker 1: John Willard, the village deputy constable and husband of wilkins granddaughter, 32 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:11,800 Speaker 1: as the suspect. So when new afflictions were reported inside 33 00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:14,919 Speaker 1: a Putnam house, Mercy Lewis was called in to offer 34 00:02:14,960 --> 00:02:20,240 Speaker 1: her observations. She immediately identified two witches at work, Rebecca 35 00:02:20,360 --> 00:02:24,079 Speaker 1: Nurse and Martha Carrier, and while both of these women 36 00:02:24,160 --> 00:02:28,080 Speaker 1: were already in jail, these new accusations would simply be 37 00:02:28,160 --> 00:02:30,960 Speaker 1: added to their records for when their own trials began. 38 00:02:32,800 --> 00:02:36,400 Speaker 1: But the momentary pause was only localized to Salem far 39 00:02:36,520 --> 00:02:39,240 Speaker 1: to the north. On the day after the execution of 40 00:02:39,320 --> 00:02:43,160 Speaker 1: Bridget Bishop, the French and Wabanaki launched an attack on 41 00:02:43,240 --> 00:02:46,560 Speaker 1: the town of Wells. Garrison and ships in the harbor 42 00:02:46,720 --> 00:02:50,040 Speaker 1: were able to repel the attack, but the enemy managed 43 00:02:50,080 --> 00:02:53,200 Speaker 1: to capture a prisoner, who was then tortured to death 44 00:02:53,480 --> 00:02:58,800 Speaker 1: in full view of the defenders. Observant participants in the 45 00:02:58,840 --> 00:03:02,720 Speaker 1: Salem situation couldn't help but see the symbolism. They had 46 00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:06,040 Speaker 1: struck a blow against the devil on June tenth, only 47 00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:09,280 Speaker 1: to be hit back the following day. I can imagine 48 00:03:09,400 --> 00:03:12,360 Speaker 1: it was frustrating to the powers that be, but also 49 00:03:12,639 --> 00:03:15,079 Speaker 1: more than frightening to the rest of the community who 50 00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:17,839 Speaker 1: were waiting with bated breath for it all to end. 51 00:03:19,160 --> 00:03:22,600 Speaker 1: But the attack on Wells, along with the subsequent torture 52 00:03:22,680 --> 00:03:26,720 Speaker 1: and murder of that single captive, also sent a powerful 53 00:03:26,800 --> 00:03:32,359 Speaker 1: message to the people of Salem that was difficult to ignore. Monsters, 54 00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:40,360 Speaker 1: it seems, could be found anywhere. This is unobscured. I'm 55 00:03:40,440 --> 00:04:17,800 Speaker 1: Aaron Manky. While Bridget Bishop had been executed for capital crimes, 56 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:21,200 Speaker 1: she wasn't the first to die. If you remember, it 57 00:04:21,279 --> 00:04:24,479 Speaker 1: was Sarah Osborne who passed away first. While waiting in 58 00:04:24,560 --> 00:04:27,760 Speaker 1: jail for her own trial, And even though the community 59 00:04:27,880 --> 00:04:30,440 Speaker 1: slipped into a two week pause in the chaos on 60 00:04:30,560 --> 00:04:36,440 Speaker 1: June tenth, that didn't mean more deaths weren't coming. On June, 61 00:04:36,640 --> 00:04:40,000 Speaker 1: a prisoner named Roger tooth Acker died while sitting inside 62 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:43,040 Speaker 1: the Boston Jail, adding one more name to a list 63 00:04:43,080 --> 00:04:46,599 Speaker 1: that was just beginning to grow. Tooth Acker was Martha 64 00:04:46,640 --> 00:04:49,560 Speaker 1: Carrier's brother in law, but had also worked as a 65 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:53,320 Speaker 1: folk healer throughout Essex County. If people needed help with 66 00:04:53,400 --> 00:04:56,680 Speaker 1: a sitcow or a mysterious ailment, they would call on 67 00:04:56,800 --> 00:04:59,640 Speaker 1: him to use whatever tools he had at his disposal. 68 00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:05,840 Speaker 1: Here's historian Maryland k Roach. Some people did practice a 69 00:05:05,880 --> 00:05:09,640 Speaker 1: lot of folk magic, maybe more in England because they 70 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:13,400 Speaker 1: weren't all Puritans. Well, they weren't all Purans hereies. They 71 00:05:13,400 --> 00:05:17,440 Speaker 1: were white witches, a blessing witches so called, meaning they 72 00:05:17,440 --> 00:05:20,719 Speaker 1: did only the good magic. But if you have the 73 00:05:20,839 --> 00:05:24,520 Speaker 1: idea that the source of it is really only pretending 74 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:26,880 Speaker 1: to do good for a while, until you're really thoroughly 75 00:05:26,920 --> 00:05:29,839 Speaker 1: caught in this clutches, it's not something you should be 76 00:05:29,839 --> 00:05:35,240 Speaker 1: fooling around with. Understandably, that gray area between witchcraft and 77 00:05:35,360 --> 00:05:38,920 Speaker 1: Puritan piety was an unsettling place to be for many 78 00:05:38,960 --> 00:05:42,920 Speaker 1: of the people in the area. Roger Toothaker was essentially 79 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:46,200 Speaker 1: dabbling with magic as far as they were concerned, and 80 00:05:46,240 --> 00:05:49,440 Speaker 1: that was the devil's work. Yes, he thought of himself 81 00:05:49,480 --> 00:05:51,919 Speaker 1: to be one of the good guys, but enough people 82 00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:57,480 Speaker 1: disagreed that he was arrested, examined, and in jail. By May, 83 00:05:58,279 --> 00:06:00,880 Speaker 1: I have a feeling tooth Acker new it was coming. Though. 84 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:04,880 Speaker 1: Back in February, if you remember from episode one, the 85 00:06:04,920 --> 00:06:08,360 Speaker 1: Paris family's neighbor, Mary Sibley, had baked a witch cake 86 00:06:08,480 --> 00:06:11,719 Speaker 1: to try and cure the first two afflicted girls, but 87 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:16,279 Speaker 1: the results were disastrous. Reverend Paris and his peers viewed 88 00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:19,840 Speaker 1: the use of magic, even white magic meant to help others, 89 00:06:20,279 --> 00:06:26,360 Speaker 1: as an invitation to the devil. By May of Roger 90 00:06:26,400 --> 00:06:29,880 Speaker 1: Toothaker found himself in jail, but the long wait for 91 00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:33,440 Speaker 1: his own trial only brought him sickness and death. Like 92 00:06:33,480 --> 00:06:37,040 Speaker 1: Sarah Osburne before him, his life was snuffed out by 93 00:06:37,080 --> 00:06:40,120 Speaker 1: the grinding gears of the witch hunt, long before he 94 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:44,240 Speaker 1: would ever have a chance for freedom and justice. As 95 00:06:44,320 --> 00:06:47,520 Speaker 1: you might expect, people were beginning to have doubts it 96 00:06:47,640 --> 00:06:50,840 Speaker 1: was one thing to throw accusations around the village, but 97 00:06:50,920 --> 00:06:55,119 Speaker 1: when those words began to draw real blood and take lives, well, 98 00:06:55,160 --> 00:06:57,640 Speaker 1: it felt like a bridge too far for many people. 99 00:06:58,440 --> 00:07:01,760 Speaker 1: Most of that doubt manifested as murmurs and whispers around 100 00:07:01,760 --> 00:07:07,440 Speaker 1: the community, but it had official representation too. Immediately after 101 00:07:07,480 --> 00:07:10,280 Speaker 1: the trial and conviction of bridget Bishop, one of the 102 00:07:10,360 --> 00:07:14,280 Speaker 1: nine judges, resigned his post. For anyone concerned about the 103 00:07:14,280 --> 00:07:17,520 Speaker 1: trials getting out of hand, Nathaniel salt Install had been 104 00:07:17,600 --> 00:07:20,360 Speaker 1: their source of hope, but he took that pipe dream 105 00:07:20,440 --> 00:07:22,920 Speaker 1: with him when he quit, and the road ahead looked 106 00:07:22,960 --> 00:07:26,840 Speaker 1: a lot less promising As a result. What happened in 107 00:07:26,880 --> 00:07:29,360 Speaker 1: the days to come was a battle of wills between 108 00:07:29,400 --> 00:07:33,360 Speaker 1: those with spiritual authority and those with legal power. Religious 109 00:07:33,440 --> 00:07:37,480 Speaker 1: leaders like Cotton Mather, Samuel Willard, and William Millbourne all 110 00:07:37,520 --> 00:07:40,040 Speaker 1: came forward with concerns for how the trial should be 111 00:07:40,080 --> 00:07:43,720 Speaker 1: handled and laced throughout. All of their arguments were liberal 112 00:07:43,760 --> 00:07:47,840 Speaker 1: amounts of theology. So when the Governor's Council met three 113 00:07:47,920 --> 00:07:51,600 Speaker 1: days after the first public execution, Phipps and a handful 114 00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:54,640 Speaker 1: of the magistrates reached out to the ministers, then asked 115 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:58,640 Speaker 1: for their full official response. Gathered together, they told them 116 00:07:58,680 --> 00:08:02,360 Speaker 1: and discussed the challenges we all face. Then, when you're ready, 117 00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:06,120 Speaker 1: bring them to us for a discussion. What they came 118 00:08:06,120 --> 00:08:09,120 Speaker 1: back with was a written response known as the Return 119 00:08:09,200 --> 00:08:13,200 Speaker 1: of Several Ministers. It was polite and supportive of the 120 00:08:13,240 --> 00:08:16,280 Speaker 1: overall mission of the Oyer and termin Or trials, but 121 00:08:16,320 --> 00:08:20,400 Speaker 1: the letter addressed a bigger concern, namely, Chief Judge William 122 00:08:20,480 --> 00:08:24,960 Speaker 1: Stowton believed that specters could not impersonate innocent people, and 123 00:08:25,120 --> 00:08:30,400 Speaker 1: the ministers disagreed. There's a lot of theology at play here, 124 00:08:30,600 --> 00:08:32,280 Speaker 1: and I don't want to get too deep into the 125 00:08:32,360 --> 00:08:35,600 Speaker 1: nitty gritty of it all, but essentially, people were worried 126 00:08:35,679 --> 00:08:40,080 Speaker 1: about wrongful accusations and convictions. Thanks to the trust the 127 00:08:40,080 --> 00:08:43,920 Speaker 1: authorities replacing in the accusations of the afflicted girls, as 128 00:08:43,920 --> 00:08:47,280 Speaker 1: well as allowing Mercy Lewis to serve as a witch finder, 129 00:08:47,760 --> 00:08:50,920 Speaker 1: it had become all too easy to imagine that innocent 130 00:08:50,960 --> 00:08:54,760 Speaker 1: people might get caught in the crossfire. Stoton believed that 131 00:08:54,800 --> 00:08:57,520 Speaker 1: if someone witnessed the spectral image of a witch, then 132 00:08:57,559 --> 00:09:01,360 Speaker 1: the person they saw was the person to laim. The ministers, 133 00:09:01,360 --> 00:09:05,880 Speaker 1: though disagreed, they believed that the devil could impersonate innocent people, 134 00:09:06,320 --> 00:09:10,040 Speaker 1: literally putting on their appearance as a disguise, just to 135 00:09:10,080 --> 00:09:14,360 Speaker 1: get those people in trouble. So obviously, the next question 136 00:09:14,520 --> 00:09:17,959 Speaker 1: was even trickier, how can you tell? It was bad 137 00:09:18,080 --> 00:09:20,679 Speaker 1: enough that no one except a handful of the accused 138 00:09:20,760 --> 00:09:24,520 Speaker 1: could actually see the specters of their attackers, but now 139 00:09:24,559 --> 00:09:27,199 Speaker 1: they had to play detective and figure out which ones 140 00:09:27,240 --> 00:09:30,800 Speaker 1: were the devil in disguise and which ones were real witches. 141 00:09:31,440 --> 00:09:34,520 Speaker 1: And the solution, according to the ministers, was to avoid 142 00:09:34,559 --> 00:09:40,160 Speaker 1: prosecuting virtuous people, people with blameless reputations and no history 143 00:09:40,200 --> 00:09:44,720 Speaker 1: of any wrongdoing. It was a cop out answer, though, 144 00:09:44,960 --> 00:09:48,600 Speaker 1: because Stoton believed that very few people were actually of 145 00:09:48,800 --> 00:09:53,440 Speaker 1: unblemished reputation. He and his fellow judges were part of 146 00:09:53,480 --> 00:09:57,000 Speaker 1: that select few, naturally, But outside of that, it was 147 00:09:57,080 --> 00:10:01,839 Speaker 1: difficult to imagine anyone without a sordid path, even Rebecca Nurse, 148 00:10:02,200 --> 00:10:05,000 Speaker 1: who was a full member of the Salem Village Church 149 00:10:05,559 --> 00:10:09,400 Speaker 1: and well respected, and as she was about to find out, 150 00:10:10,040 --> 00:10:14,120 Speaker 1: when your fate rested on invisible evidence, it was hard 151 00:10:14,160 --> 00:10:23,680 Speaker 1: to see anything other than darkness. Ask most people today 152 00:10:23,760 --> 00:10:26,760 Speaker 1: if they know anything about the Salem Which Trials, and 153 00:10:26,960 --> 00:10:30,199 Speaker 1: the most common answer you'll get from non historians is 154 00:10:30,240 --> 00:10:33,120 Speaker 1: that it was really just one big mess that revolved 155 00:10:33,160 --> 00:10:37,240 Speaker 1: around property line disputes. And hopefully over the last few 156 00:10:37,320 --> 00:10:41,079 Speaker 1: episodes I've put that rumor to rest for you at least. 157 00:10:41,800 --> 00:10:44,240 Speaker 1: But here's where I'm going to contradict myself for a moment. 158 00:10:44,760 --> 00:10:47,680 Speaker 1: When we talk about Rebecca Nurse, we have to talk 159 00:10:47,679 --> 00:10:52,240 Speaker 1: about property lines. Keep in mind, these Puritan settlers were 160 00:10:52,280 --> 00:10:55,760 Speaker 1: certainly focused on the mission of establishing God's kingdom in 161 00:10:55,800 --> 00:10:59,320 Speaker 1: the New World. They were deeply religious people, but they 162 00:10:59,320 --> 00:11:02,960 Speaker 1: were also a notoriously difficult to get along with. That's 163 00:11:03,000 --> 00:11:05,560 Speaker 1: one of the reasons they left England after all. So 164 00:11:05,600 --> 00:11:09,040 Speaker 1: you can imagine living in a community in a strange place, 165 00:11:09,400 --> 00:11:12,679 Speaker 1: constantly afraid of the world around them, that these settlers 166 00:11:12,720 --> 00:11:15,319 Speaker 1: were on the edge and cranky about a lot of things. 167 00:11:17,200 --> 00:11:20,080 Speaker 1: Back in episode one, we talked about the differences between 168 00:11:20,080 --> 00:11:22,800 Speaker 1: the Putnam's and the Porters, and I don't want to 169 00:11:22,840 --> 00:11:25,319 Speaker 1: repeat myself here, but let me sum it up by 170 00:11:25,320 --> 00:11:28,079 Speaker 1: saying that the Porters were the wealthy family that lived 171 00:11:28,080 --> 00:11:31,319 Speaker 1: on the edge between Salem Town and Salem Village. They 172 00:11:31,400 --> 00:11:35,600 Speaker 1: figuratively rode the fence, so to speak. They benefited from 173 00:11:35,640 --> 00:11:39,120 Speaker 1: the high society of the town, but also benefited from 174 00:11:39,160 --> 00:11:42,960 Speaker 1: the resources and expansive land of the village. Keeping the 175 00:11:43,000 --> 00:11:46,440 Speaker 1: two communities together as a single legal entity was in 176 00:11:46,520 --> 00:11:51,320 Speaker 1: their best interest. But inside Salem Village was another family, 177 00:11:51,480 --> 00:11:54,959 Speaker 1: the Putnam's, who didn't have a vested interest in the town. 178 00:11:55,360 --> 00:11:59,280 Speaker 1: They wanted autonomy and a break from the wealthier Port community. 179 00:11:59,360 --> 00:12:02,400 Speaker 1: So there is this tug of war between the two families, 180 00:12:03,400 --> 00:12:06,240 Speaker 1: and then the town family showed up. They were a 181 00:12:06,280 --> 00:12:10,120 Speaker 1: family from England with seven children, three daughters and four sons, 182 00:12:10,480 --> 00:12:12,959 Speaker 1: and when they arrived they purchased a tract of land 183 00:12:12,960 --> 00:12:16,640 Speaker 1: along the western edges of Salem Village, or maybe it 184 00:12:16,760 --> 00:12:20,000 Speaker 1: was the eastern edges of tops Field, because that's where 185 00:12:20,000 --> 00:12:24,960 Speaker 1: the conflict began five decades before the Salem which trials 186 00:12:25,000 --> 00:12:29,200 Speaker 1: a sloppy Massachusetts clerk, as Stacy Shift puts, it, drew 187 00:12:29,280 --> 00:12:32,200 Speaker 1: part of tops Fields boundary lines right over the existing 188 00:12:32,280 --> 00:12:35,880 Speaker 1: lines for Western Salem. It created a small bubble of 189 00:12:35,960 --> 00:12:39,560 Speaker 1: land between the two communities that technically belonged to both, 190 00:12:40,040 --> 00:12:44,040 Speaker 1: and that's the land that the Town's bought. Now, as 191 00:12:44,080 --> 00:12:46,720 Speaker 1: the conflict went on and grew between the Porters and 192 00:12:46,720 --> 00:12:49,160 Speaker 1: the Putnam's. The Putnam started to feel the need to 193 00:12:49,200 --> 00:12:52,760 Speaker 1: expand farther west and get away from the porters. The 194 00:12:52,800 --> 00:12:56,040 Speaker 1: trouble was the towns were there, sort of walling them in, 195 00:12:56,640 --> 00:12:59,880 Speaker 1: and as a result, the Putnam's resented them, and this 196 00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:03,720 Speaker 1: led to all sorts of conflict. There was a horse 197 00:13:03,760 --> 00:13:06,800 Speaker 1: theft that forced the towns to sue the Putnams. They 198 00:13:06,800 --> 00:13:10,400 Speaker 1: fought over firewood, something that every family needed an abundance 199 00:13:10,440 --> 00:13:13,480 Speaker 1: to survive the cold New England winters, and they bickered 200 00:13:13,480 --> 00:13:17,920 Speaker 1: about where each family might grace their livestock. Honestly, anything 201 00:13:18,040 --> 00:13:20,920 Speaker 1: that could have been fought over probably was, and it 202 00:13:20,960 --> 00:13:24,880 Speaker 1: went on for years. All the town kids grew up, 203 00:13:24,920 --> 00:13:29,160 Speaker 1: of course, and married into the surrounding community. Daughters, Mary, 204 00:13:29,320 --> 00:13:34,199 Speaker 1: Sarah and Rebecca became Mary sty Sarah Klois, and Rebecca Nurse, 205 00:13:34,600 --> 00:13:37,040 Speaker 1: all three names that should ring a bell by now, 206 00:13:37,200 --> 00:13:41,400 Speaker 1: because by June of they were all in jail and 207 00:13:41,440 --> 00:13:44,880 Speaker 1: no wonder. Up until July, more than half of all 208 00:13:44,920 --> 00:13:49,520 Speaker 1: the witchcraft accusations had originated from a Putnam house. You 209 00:13:49,559 --> 00:13:54,080 Speaker 1: don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to understand why Rebecca 210 00:13:54,280 --> 00:13:57,240 Speaker 1: was particularly annoying to the Putnam's. Because she married into 211 00:13:57,320 --> 00:14:01,160 Speaker 1: a Salem Town family, aligning herself with the wealthier reporters 212 00:14:01,240 --> 00:14:05,440 Speaker 1: by association. Her husband, Francis, was an artist there, but 213 00:14:05,559 --> 00:14:08,760 Speaker 1: years after their marriage they leased a large three acre 214 00:14:08,880 --> 00:14:11,640 Speaker 1: farm in the middle of Salem Village, pushing the thorn 215 00:14:12,080 --> 00:14:15,240 Speaker 1: right back into the heel of the Putnams. By the 216 00:14:15,240 --> 00:14:18,200 Speaker 1: time the witch trials had ramped up, Rebecca was an 217 00:14:18,280 --> 00:14:21,640 Speaker 1: old woman in her seventies. But despite doing well for 218 00:14:21,680 --> 00:14:25,440 Speaker 1: herself and building a reputation as an upstanding member of 219 00:14:25,480 --> 00:14:29,320 Speaker 1: the local church and an elder in the community, Rebecca 220 00:14:29,640 --> 00:14:34,520 Speaker 1: was still accused of witchcraft. Why while outside of the 221 00:14:34,560 --> 00:14:37,480 Speaker 1: decades long feud between her own family and the Putnams 222 00:14:37,480 --> 00:14:40,480 Speaker 1: of Salem Village, there might be two other reasons for 223 00:14:40,560 --> 00:14:43,520 Speaker 1: the way some in the community turned on her. Here's 224 00:14:43,560 --> 00:14:48,160 Speaker 1: Emerson Baker Rebecca Nurse. Her case is another key turning point. 225 00:14:48,520 --> 00:14:52,680 Speaker 1: Why would this wonder this, this elderly sainted grandmother who's 226 00:14:52,720 --> 00:14:55,840 Speaker 1: a member of the Salem Town Church up here in 227 00:14:55,960 --> 00:14:59,520 Speaker 1: Saint why would she be accused of witchcraft? Well, again, 228 00:14:59,720 --> 00:15:02,040 Speaker 1: note she's a member of the Salem Town Church, not 229 00:15:02,120 --> 00:15:06,320 Speaker 1: the Salem Village church. In other words, Rebecca didn't go 230 00:15:06,440 --> 00:15:10,240 Speaker 1: through the rigorous membership gauntlet that the strict conservative Salem 231 00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:13,920 Speaker 1: Village Church required. Instead, she had become a full member 232 00:15:13,920 --> 00:15:16,760 Speaker 1: in the less strict Salem town where the halfway Covenant 233 00:15:16,840 --> 00:15:20,800 Speaker 1: was accepted. Despite that she was enjoying all the benefits 234 00:15:20,840 --> 00:15:25,000 Speaker 1: of full membership right there in Samuel Paris's congregation. To 235 00:15:25,120 --> 00:15:29,600 Speaker 1: a lot of people, it didn't seem fair. The second reason, though, 236 00:15:29,760 --> 00:15:32,800 Speaker 1: was rooted in bigotry. If you remember, it was known 237 00:15:32,840 --> 00:15:35,840 Speaker 1: that Rebecca had taken in an orphaned Quaker neighbor out 238 00:15:35,840 --> 00:15:38,720 Speaker 1: of the goodness of her heart, but that child represented 239 00:15:38,800 --> 00:15:43,000 Speaker 1: something evil in the minds of her accusers. That's because, 240 00:15:43,080 --> 00:15:45,720 Speaker 1: in pursuit of their mission to build a Puritan Kingdom 241 00:15:45,760 --> 00:15:48,520 Speaker 1: of God in the New World, any other version of 242 00:15:48,600 --> 00:15:53,480 Speaker 1: Christianity was the enemy. Catholic, Quaker, it didn't matter. They 243 00:15:53,480 --> 00:15:57,720 Speaker 1: were forces of the devil. So Rebecca, through her Christian charity, 244 00:15:58,120 --> 00:16:00,880 Speaker 1: had done something that many in the commune nity equated 245 00:16:00,960 --> 00:16:04,040 Speaker 1: with being a traitor. Add to this the fact that 246 00:16:04,120 --> 00:16:06,960 Speaker 1: her husband, Francis, was part of the committee that was 247 00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:10,600 Speaker 1: trying to remove Reverend Paris from his job as village minister. 248 00:16:10,960 --> 00:16:14,240 Speaker 1: And we have a recipe for division and in fighting 249 00:16:14,800 --> 00:16:17,240 Speaker 1: it was a bigger version of the story that most 250 00:16:17,280 --> 00:16:20,360 Speaker 1: of the victims were living through that spring and early summer. 251 00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:25,040 Speaker 1: But Rebecca had a few advantages over her fellow jail mates. 252 00:16:25,680 --> 00:16:29,800 Speaker 1: Her family had decades of experience fighting back, they were 253 00:16:29,880 --> 00:16:35,840 Speaker 1: well connected, and they were tenacious. Unfortunately, they were going 254 00:16:35,880 --> 00:16:38,720 Speaker 1: to need every bit of that in the coming weeks. 255 00:16:45,640 --> 00:16:48,680 Speaker 1: The pump had been primed. If anyone was to blame 256 00:16:48,680 --> 00:16:51,760 Speaker 1: for getting the community in an uproar about Rebecca Nurse 257 00:16:51,800 --> 00:16:55,920 Speaker 1: and her sisters, it was Reverend Samuel Paris. Of course, 258 00:16:56,160 --> 00:16:59,080 Speaker 1: he felt threatened. Rebecca and the others didn't care for 259 00:16:59,120 --> 00:17:01,600 Speaker 1: his highly concern port of hand on the rudder, and 260 00:17:01,760 --> 00:17:06,120 Speaker 1: they wanted him gone. Paris responded with scathing sermons from 261 00:17:06,119 --> 00:17:10,639 Speaker 1: the pulpit through March, April and May. Paris used his 262 00:17:10,680 --> 00:17:14,080 Speaker 1: position at the head of the congregation to so discontent 263 00:17:14,240 --> 00:17:17,399 Speaker 1: and fear. He preached about the devil among them, and 264 00:17:17,400 --> 00:17:20,480 Speaker 1: about how anyone might be working for the enemy, even 265 00:17:20,520 --> 00:17:24,080 Speaker 1: the neighbors they had known for so long. So when 266 00:17:24,080 --> 00:17:27,040 Speaker 1: the Oyer and Terminer moved on from bridget Bishop and 267 00:17:27,160 --> 00:17:30,800 Speaker 1: began to hear testimony and depositions in regards to Rebecca Nurse, 268 00:17:31,040 --> 00:17:34,280 Speaker 1: there were plenty of people to come forward. Mercy Lewis 269 00:17:34,280 --> 00:17:38,800 Speaker 1: reported seeing Rebecca's specter attacking a Putnam boy, then another Putnam, 270 00:17:38,920 --> 00:17:42,160 Speaker 1: John Jr. Claimed that his infant son died just three 271 00:17:42,240 --> 00:17:45,440 Speaker 1: days after he had a public disagreement with the old woman. 272 00:17:46,440 --> 00:17:50,760 Speaker 1: Thomas Putnam, Nathaniel Ingersoll, and Reverend Paris were among the 273 00:17:50,800 --> 00:17:54,040 Speaker 1: respected adults who put pen to paper and wrote out 274 00:17:54,040 --> 00:17:58,000 Speaker 1: their testimony against Rebecca. They were bringing out the big guns, 275 00:17:58,160 --> 00:18:00,480 Speaker 1: so to speak, with the aim of damn the old 276 00:18:00,480 --> 00:18:03,359 Speaker 1: woman in the eyes of the judges and jury. But 277 00:18:03,440 --> 00:18:07,359 Speaker 1: they were in for a surprise. Maryland k roach once again. 278 00:18:08,080 --> 00:18:12,760 Speaker 1: The nurse family circulated a petition among neighbors, and lots 279 00:18:12,760 --> 00:18:16,240 Speaker 1: of people signed it. It wasn't just them, so people 280 00:18:16,240 --> 00:18:21,520 Speaker 1: put their names on it. This was incredibly significance. Here's 281 00:18:21,560 --> 00:18:27,320 Speaker 1: historian Richard Trask on exactly why. Of the documents that survive, 282 00:18:27,560 --> 00:18:31,359 Speaker 1: we have maybe about twenty of them in which either 283 00:18:31,480 --> 00:18:36,040 Speaker 1: one person, a couple, or a bunch of people would 284 00:18:36,080 --> 00:18:39,959 Speaker 1: send in a deposition or a petition saying that we've 285 00:18:40,440 --> 00:18:43,080 Speaker 1: known her all of our life and she never looked 286 00:18:43,080 --> 00:18:46,520 Speaker 1: like she was a witch. Er, never deported her any 287 00:18:46,520 --> 00:18:50,480 Speaker 1: more than a good Christian. Forty people signed the one 288 00:18:50,520 --> 00:18:54,520 Speaker 1: to Rebecca Nurse. The judges went into the official Oyer 289 00:18:54,600 --> 00:18:57,840 Speaker 1: and Terminator trial for Rebecca Nurse, assuming she would play 290 00:18:57,840 --> 00:19:01,760 Speaker 1: along like everyone else, but backfired. If they were going 291 00:19:01,800 --> 00:19:04,240 Speaker 1: to have a cloud of witnesses to her evil nature, 292 00:19:04,560 --> 00:19:07,520 Speaker 1: then Rebecca's family would bring an army of their own, 293 00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:11,679 Speaker 1: and they made huge advances too. Some of the character 294 00:19:11,760 --> 00:19:15,359 Speaker 1: witnesses who stepped forward to defend Rebecca Nurse also brought 295 00:19:15,440 --> 00:19:18,800 Speaker 1: unusual stories that cast doubt on the testimony of the 296 00:19:18,840 --> 00:19:23,119 Speaker 1: afflicted girls. Much of it centered around Elizabeth Hubbard, the 297 00:19:23,160 --> 00:19:25,800 Speaker 1: teenage girl who had seen that wolf following her that 298 00:19:25,880 --> 00:19:30,200 Speaker 1: cold winter night many months before. One man claimed that 299 00:19:30,320 --> 00:19:33,560 Speaker 1: during a visit to the home of Elizabeth's uncle, Dr Griggs, 300 00:19:33,880 --> 00:19:37,360 Speaker 1: the girl had talked about denying the Sabbath. Another man, 301 00:19:37,880 --> 00:19:41,879 Speaker 1: sixty year old farmer named Clements Coldham, recalled giving Elizabeth 302 00:19:41,960 --> 00:19:44,600 Speaker 1: a ride home on his horse when the girl claimed 303 00:19:44,640 --> 00:19:47,639 Speaker 1: that they were being followed by the devil. After a while, 304 00:19:48,040 --> 00:19:51,280 Speaker 1: she told Coldham that she wasn't afraid because she and 305 00:19:51,320 --> 00:19:55,679 Speaker 1: the devil were on good speaking terms. A similar story 306 00:19:55,800 --> 00:19:58,480 Speaker 1: with a similar message was told about one of the 307 00:19:58,520 --> 00:20:02,160 Speaker 1: other afflicted girls, ab Gail Williams and a farmer named 308 00:20:02,200 --> 00:20:05,399 Speaker 1: Robert Molton believed that Susannah Sheldon had lied to the 309 00:20:05,400 --> 00:20:07,719 Speaker 1: court when she told them that the devil had dragged 310 00:20:07,720 --> 00:20:10,480 Speaker 1: her over a stone wall, because he was there that 311 00:20:10,600 --> 00:20:12,959 Speaker 1: day and he watched her climb the wall all on 312 00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:17,679 Speaker 1: her own. Rebecca's own daughter, Sarah Nurse, testified that she 313 00:20:17,760 --> 00:20:21,639 Speaker 1: had watched another of the accusers, Sarah Biber, actually pulled 314 00:20:21,680 --> 00:20:24,720 Speaker 1: straight pins out of her clothing and then prick herself 315 00:20:24,720 --> 00:20:27,800 Speaker 1: in the knee before crying out that Rebecca had attacked her. 316 00:20:28,400 --> 00:20:32,199 Speaker 1: It was all a farce, she said, and in a 317 00:20:32,240 --> 00:20:36,240 Speaker 1: shocking move against her own family, John and Rebecca Putnam 318 00:20:36,480 --> 00:20:39,040 Speaker 1: stood up in her defense as well. One of the 319 00:20:39,119 --> 00:20:41,960 Speaker 1: charges against Rebecca Nurse had been that she had killed 320 00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:44,680 Speaker 1: their daughter and son in law, but the grieving parents 321 00:20:44,680 --> 00:20:47,000 Speaker 1: made it clear that the younger couple had died from 322 00:20:47,040 --> 00:20:52,439 Speaker 1: a fever and not witchcraft. It was amazing, really, in 323 00:20:52,480 --> 00:20:55,879 Speaker 1: the face of the frightful charge of witchcraft, Rebecca's family 324 00:20:55,960 --> 00:20:59,080 Speaker 1: not only mounted a solid defense of her character, but 325 00:20:59,160 --> 00:21:01,720 Speaker 1: they attacked the very truth of the accusers at the 326 00:21:01,760 --> 00:21:05,280 Speaker 1: same time. It was a one to punch that was 327 00:21:05,320 --> 00:21:09,400 Speaker 1: sure to set their friend and matriarch free. Armed with 328 00:21:09,560 --> 00:21:12,760 Speaker 1: all of that testimony, the jury was sent away to 329 00:21:12,840 --> 00:21:17,399 Speaker 1: make a decision. Here's Richard Trask once again. At first 330 00:21:17,880 --> 00:21:22,240 Speaker 1: the jurors came back with a not guilty, and it 331 00:21:22,280 --> 00:21:27,680 Speaker 1: was pandemonium in the courthouse. The afflicted children who were there, 332 00:21:27,720 --> 00:21:32,120 Speaker 1: and also some older afflicted ones started going into profound 333 00:21:32,160 --> 00:21:35,440 Speaker 1: fits and so forth. WILLIAMS. Stouton, he was the chief 334 00:21:35,560 --> 00:21:39,600 Speaker 1: justice of the panel, He said, um, have you considered 335 00:21:39,680 --> 00:21:44,080 Speaker 1: some testimony of someone who said this of that? And 336 00:21:44,280 --> 00:21:48,720 Speaker 1: the jurors asked Rebecca Nurse a question I confessed, which 337 00:21:48,920 --> 00:21:52,320 Speaker 1: had given testimony that she was one of us. Rebecca 338 00:21:52,440 --> 00:21:56,240 Speaker 1: said why she is one of us? And she was 339 00:21:56,280 --> 00:22:00,400 Speaker 1: asked what did that mean? And she didn't say anything, 340 00:22:01,080 --> 00:22:05,480 Speaker 1: and because she couldn't hear, she was almost deaf. After 341 00:22:05,600 --> 00:22:08,320 Speaker 1: what must have seemed like an eternity, the members of 342 00:22:08,320 --> 00:22:11,639 Speaker 1: the jury slowly walked back into the courtroom. I can 343 00:22:11,680 --> 00:22:15,000 Speaker 1: imagine the room was blanketed with a tense silence as 344 00:22:15,080 --> 00:22:18,160 Speaker 1: each of them took their seat, and then they announced 345 00:22:18,200 --> 00:22:21,720 Speaker 1: that they had made their decision. Rebecca Nurse. They said 346 00:22:22,760 --> 00:22:31,919 Speaker 1: it was guilty. Jun was a busy day for the 347 00:22:31,960 --> 00:22:35,000 Speaker 1: court of Lawyer and Terminer. Not only had they heard 348 00:22:35,040 --> 00:22:37,679 Speaker 1: the case against Rebecca Nurse, but others were brought to 349 00:22:37,720 --> 00:22:42,880 Speaker 1: trial as well. One of them was Sarah Good, the grumbling, homeless, 350 00:22:42,960 --> 00:22:46,639 Speaker 1: pipe smoking woman that everyone loved to hate. She'd been 351 00:22:46,680 --> 00:22:50,119 Speaker 1: in jail for months, her infant child had died, and 352 00:22:50,240 --> 00:22:52,560 Speaker 1: her five year old daughter, Dorothy, was still in a 353 00:22:52,640 --> 00:22:55,800 Speaker 1: Boston jail, the same jail that had already claimed the 354 00:22:55,840 --> 00:23:00,480 Speaker 1: lives of Sarah Osburne and Roger Toothaker. But her trial 355 00:23:00,560 --> 00:23:03,600 Speaker 1: couldn't have been a stronger contrast to that of Rebecca Nurse. 356 00:23:04,040 --> 00:23:07,520 Speaker 1: There was no large collection of friends and family mounting 357 00:23:07,640 --> 00:23:10,800 Speaker 1: a passionate defence. There were no prominent members of the 358 00:23:10,840 --> 00:23:14,359 Speaker 1: community calling the accusations of the afflicted girls. Into question. 359 00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:18,080 Speaker 1: It was just Sarah Good against the court, and she 360 00:23:18,160 --> 00:23:22,120 Speaker 1: can't have felt a lot of hope about that. One 361 00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:24,240 Speaker 1: of the witnesses brought to the courtroom that day was 362 00:23:24,400 --> 00:23:27,840 Speaker 1: none other than Tituba, the slave woman from the Paris household. 363 00:23:28,440 --> 00:23:31,320 Speaker 1: She was asked to repeat for the benefit of the jury, 364 00:23:31,359 --> 00:23:35,360 Speaker 1: of course, the story she told that first examination months earlier, 365 00:23:35,440 --> 00:23:38,600 Speaker 1: on March one. Of course, she had been given plenty 366 00:23:38,640 --> 00:23:41,600 Speaker 1: of opportunities to keep her story straight thanks to the 367 00:23:41,640 --> 00:23:45,240 Speaker 1: repeated visits from the magistrates over those long months in jail. 368 00:23:47,080 --> 00:23:51,200 Speaker 1: Thomas Newton, the Attorney General overseeing the trial, even submitted 369 00:23:51,240 --> 00:23:55,760 Speaker 1: a document as evidence that came straight from Sarah's little girl, Dorothy. 370 00:23:55,800 --> 00:23:59,000 Speaker 1: Despite her young age, someone had managed to convince the 371 00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:02,199 Speaker 1: child to give to stimony against her own mother, and 372 00:24:02,280 --> 00:24:05,280 Speaker 1: as the court proceeded, Sarah had to listen to those 373 00:24:05,320 --> 00:24:10,320 Speaker 1: words as they were read aloud. Local heavyweights contributed their 374 00:24:10,320 --> 00:24:14,200 Speaker 1: own testimony against her too. Thomas Putnam and Ezekiel Chiever 375 00:24:14,400 --> 00:24:18,760 Speaker 1: reaffirmed their earlier testimony, and Reverend Samuel Paris described the 376 00:24:18,760 --> 00:24:21,640 Speaker 1: torment that his daughter and niece had gone through, and 377 00:24:21,760 --> 00:24:25,360 Speaker 1: by doing so, Paris gave the courtroom clear permission from 378 00:24:25,359 --> 00:24:29,679 Speaker 1: the church to view Sarah Good as the enemy. She 379 00:24:29,880 --> 00:24:33,440 Speaker 1: was found guilty and charged with three separate counts of witchcraft, 380 00:24:33,680 --> 00:24:36,399 Speaker 1: but she wouldn't be the only one that day. A 381 00:24:36,440 --> 00:24:39,359 Speaker 1: woman named Susannah Martin was also brought to the trial, 382 00:24:39,560 --> 00:24:42,080 Speaker 1: and there were plenty of witnesses available to paint her 383 00:24:42,119 --> 00:24:44,919 Speaker 1: in a dark light. She was like Sarah Good in 384 00:24:44,960 --> 00:24:48,000 Speaker 1: many ways. She was poor and alone, but she was 385 00:24:48,040 --> 00:24:51,399 Speaker 1: also an old widow from Amesbury, a community far to 386 00:24:51,480 --> 00:24:54,840 Speaker 1: the north. When she was led into the courtroom, the 387 00:24:54,960 --> 00:24:59,159 Speaker 1: afflicted girls fell into terrible fits. Former sale and village 388 00:24:59,160 --> 00:25:02,399 Speaker 1: minister Dale Debt Lawson would later record that some of 389 00:25:02,400 --> 00:25:06,200 Speaker 1: them even vomited blood. It was sometime during this chaos 390 00:25:06,280 --> 00:25:08,840 Speaker 1: that one of the afflicted shouted out to the courtroom 391 00:25:09,040 --> 00:25:13,040 Speaker 1: that they were being attacked by someone new, Samuel Willard. 392 00:25:14,080 --> 00:25:16,479 Speaker 1: There must have been a sharp intake of breath at 393 00:25:16,520 --> 00:25:19,359 Speaker 1: the sound of his name. Willard was not someone they 394 00:25:19,359 --> 00:25:22,199 Speaker 1: would have suspected of witchcraft. Not only was he the 395 00:25:22,240 --> 00:25:25,119 Speaker 1: minister of the Boston First Church, but he was a 396 00:25:25,160 --> 00:25:28,119 Speaker 1: close friend and adviser to many of the judges in 397 00:25:28,160 --> 00:25:32,679 Speaker 1: the trial. Thinking quickly on his feet, Stoughton suggested to 398 00:25:32,720 --> 00:25:35,760 Speaker 1: the girl that she was mistaken, that she had confused 399 00:25:35,880 --> 00:25:39,280 Speaker 1: John Willard with the good reverend. She was quickly removed 400 00:25:39,280 --> 00:25:42,199 Speaker 1: from the courtroom, while word was passed among those seated 401 00:25:42,200 --> 00:25:45,040 Speaker 1: in the crowd that it had been a mistake. It 402 00:25:45,080 --> 00:25:48,040 Speaker 1: seems they were just as quick to dismiss charges against 403 00:25:48,040 --> 00:25:50,679 Speaker 1: one of their own as they were to declare women 404 00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:55,120 Speaker 1: like Sarah Good as guilty. Two other women were put 405 00:25:55,119 --> 00:25:58,320 Speaker 1: on trial during the same session as the others. Elizabeth 406 00:25:58,320 --> 00:26:01,880 Speaker 1: Howe and Sarah Wild's I'd have seemed like disconnected players 407 00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:04,880 Speaker 1: in the drama, but that was far from true. In fact, 408 00:26:04,920 --> 00:26:07,560 Speaker 1: they were both deeply connected to the woman whose conviction 409 00:26:07,640 --> 00:26:12,720 Speaker 1: began the day, Rebecca Nurse. Elizabeth Howe was Rebecca's sister 410 00:26:12,760 --> 00:26:15,040 Speaker 1: in law, as well as being close friends with her 411 00:26:15,080 --> 00:26:18,480 Speaker 1: sister Mary Esty. And if you remember that old property 412 00:26:18,520 --> 00:26:21,639 Speaker 1: line issue between tops Field and Salem Village, it was 413 00:26:21,720 --> 00:26:25,120 Speaker 1: Sarah Wild's husband that had drawn it up. While both 414 00:26:25,119 --> 00:26:28,400 Speaker 1: of the women had accusations of witchcraft hovering over them, 415 00:26:28,440 --> 00:26:31,240 Speaker 1: it's clear looking back that there were other issues at 416 00:26:31,240 --> 00:26:35,160 Speaker 1: play as well. Both were declared guilty, putting the final 417 00:26:35,280 --> 00:26:38,679 Speaker 1: count for the session at five convicted witches. But the 418 00:26:38,720 --> 00:26:42,080 Speaker 1: family of Rebecca Nurse wasn't ready to quitch just yet. 419 00:26:42,560 --> 00:26:45,400 Speaker 1: After the court adjourned, they approached one of the jurors, 420 00:26:45,440 --> 00:26:50,000 Speaker 1: a man named Thomas Fisk, and pleaded their case. Amazingly, 421 00:26:50,080 --> 00:26:52,880 Speaker 1: they managed to get a collection of documents along with 422 00:26:52,920 --> 00:26:56,040 Speaker 1: a written statement from Fisk that might serve to free 423 00:26:56,080 --> 00:26:59,919 Speaker 1: Rebecca from the charges. With that precious cargo of paper 424 00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:03,560 Speaker 1: an ink in hand, they saddled their horses and rode 425 00:27:03,600 --> 00:27:08,119 Speaker 1: hard for Boston. It was time to confront the governor. 426 00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:23,240 Speaker 1: They must have had connections. Perhaps the Nurse family brought 427 00:27:23,280 --> 00:27:26,480 Speaker 1: along some of their wealthy porter allies, or maybe they 428 00:27:26,520 --> 00:27:29,719 Speaker 1: already had a history with the governor. Whatever the reason was, 429 00:27:29,840 --> 00:27:33,000 Speaker 1: they managed to get access to William Phipps just as 430 00:27:33,080 --> 00:27:37,160 Speaker 1: they had hoped. They confronted him inside his Boston home 431 00:27:37,480 --> 00:27:39,800 Speaker 1: and then spread out all of their documents for him 432 00:27:39,800 --> 00:27:42,919 Speaker 1: to look over. They explained the issue at hand and 433 00:27:42,960 --> 00:27:45,960 Speaker 1: how the spectral evidence and pins and lies had all 434 00:27:46,000 --> 00:27:49,520 Speaker 1: been disproven, And then they told Phipps about the not 435 00:27:49,680 --> 00:27:53,840 Speaker 1: guilty verdict that came before the guilty They explained the 436 00:27:53,880 --> 00:27:56,679 Speaker 1: confusion that had led to the guilty verdict, how her 437 00:27:56,760 --> 00:28:00,200 Speaker 1: lack of hearing and a misunderstanding about a question led 438 00:28:00,240 --> 00:28:03,159 Speaker 1: them to doubt her character, and all they wanted was 439 00:28:03,280 --> 00:28:08,639 Speaker 1: a fair decision. Bipps was instantly sympathetic. He reviewed the 440 00:28:08,680 --> 00:28:12,639 Speaker 1: documents and listened to their testimony, and right there inside 441 00:28:12,680 --> 00:28:16,960 Speaker 1: his Boston home, he reversed the court's ruling, issuing a reprieve. 442 00:28:17,640 --> 00:28:22,879 Speaker 1: Rebecca Nurse was free for a moment, anyway. When the 443 00:28:22,920 --> 00:28:25,159 Speaker 1: news of the reprieve made its way to Salem, the 444 00:28:25,240 --> 00:28:30,200 Speaker 1: afflicted and their support network exploded in anger. Robert Califf 445 00:28:30,400 --> 00:28:33,080 Speaker 1: was a Boston merchant whose record of the trials has 446 00:28:33,119 --> 00:28:36,160 Speaker 1: come to be an essential document for understanding what happened 447 00:28:36,160 --> 00:28:39,480 Speaker 1: off the books and behind the scenes. He later wrote 448 00:28:39,520 --> 00:28:42,240 Speaker 1: that when the news of the reprieve became known, the 449 00:28:42,360 --> 00:28:47,040 Speaker 1: accusers renewed their dismal outcries against her, insomuch that the 450 00:28:47,080 --> 00:28:51,160 Speaker 1: Governor was by some Salem gentleman prevailed with to recall 451 00:28:51,240 --> 00:28:55,040 Speaker 1: the reprieve. In the clinical, detached tone of the time, 452 00:28:55,560 --> 00:28:59,720 Speaker 1: we can see Rebecca's last hope for justice slip away. 453 00:29:00,600 --> 00:29:05,920 Speaker 1: On July nine, Sheriff George Corwin headed to the execution 454 00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:10,320 Speaker 1: site for the second time in five weeks. Sarah Good, 455 00:29:10,440 --> 00:29:16,560 Speaker 1: Susannah Martin, Elizabeth Howe, Sarah Wilds, and Rebecca Nurse all 456 00:29:16,640 --> 00:29:19,280 Speaker 1: rode in the back of his wagon, all hope for 457 00:29:19,480 --> 00:29:24,280 Speaker 1: salvation driven from their minds. They were lost and they 458 00:29:24,320 --> 00:29:28,720 Speaker 1: knew it. Beneath the gallows, each of the women had 459 00:29:28,760 --> 00:29:31,800 Speaker 1: their skirts tied around their legs, and then the Salem 460 00:29:31,840 --> 00:29:35,360 Speaker 1: town minister, Nicholas Noys, spoke with each of them in turn. 461 00:29:36,240 --> 00:29:39,040 Speaker 1: When he reached Sarah Good, though, he used the moment 462 00:29:39,120 --> 00:29:43,600 Speaker 1: to lecture her and beg for a confession. Here's Emerson Baker. 463 00:29:44,240 --> 00:29:46,120 Speaker 1: She says, you know, basically, come come, women. You know 464 00:29:46,240 --> 00:29:48,320 Speaker 1: you're gonna die, but you might as well clear your conscience. 465 00:29:48,720 --> 00:29:50,720 Speaker 1: She says, you know, I'm no more which than you are, 466 00:29:51,280 --> 00:29:53,040 Speaker 1: and if you kill me, God will give you blood 467 00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:55,920 Speaker 1: to drink. So take that. That's actually a quarter out 468 00:29:55,920 --> 00:29:58,200 Speaker 1: of revelation where one of the sort of plagues that 469 00:29:58,200 --> 00:30:00,640 Speaker 1: will come to the earth is the waters will turn 470 00:30:00,720 --> 00:30:02,760 Speaker 1: to blood and you'll have to drink it. So, on 471 00:30:02,800 --> 00:30:04,400 Speaker 1: the one hand, one initially saw that, I thought, Wow, 472 00:30:04,400 --> 00:30:07,280 Speaker 1: Sarah Good, that's pretty good. She was showing noise. You 473 00:30:07,320 --> 00:30:09,440 Speaker 1: know what, I'm a perfectly good purit and here i 474 00:30:09,480 --> 00:30:11,680 Speaker 1: am facing death and I'm going to quote scripture to you. 475 00:30:12,040 --> 00:30:14,520 Speaker 1: But it's more complicated than that, because, as it turns out, 476 00:30:15,240 --> 00:30:19,200 Speaker 1: back in this early sixteen sixties, when the Massachusetts government 477 00:30:19,280 --> 00:30:23,000 Speaker 1: is executing Quakers in Boston for simply trying to proselytize 478 00:30:23,040 --> 00:30:26,600 Speaker 1: the faith, an Englishman writes a book about their behaviors 479 00:30:26,680 --> 00:30:28,640 Speaker 1: and tells the magistrates that they have to stop what 480 00:30:28,720 --> 00:30:30,800 Speaker 1: you're doing or God will give them blood to drink. 481 00:30:31,840 --> 00:30:34,600 Speaker 1: So Sarah Good in that famous quote, was actually not 482 00:30:34,640 --> 00:30:37,360 Speaker 1: just wasn't a biblical quote. She was actually quoting from 483 00:30:37,400 --> 00:30:42,600 Speaker 1: a Quaker complaint against the magistrates of Massachusetts. So there 484 00:30:42,640 --> 00:30:44,600 Speaker 1: may be a lot of reasons why Sarah I'm not 485 00:30:44,640 --> 00:30:46,960 Speaker 1: even I'm not sure she was a Quaker necessarily, but 486 00:30:47,040 --> 00:30:49,760 Speaker 1: she certainly lived in that part of Salem that was 487 00:30:49,840 --> 00:30:52,720 Speaker 1: susceptible to where the Quakers lived. Um, so she certainly 488 00:30:52,720 --> 00:30:54,960 Speaker 1: would have known about them, might well have even a 489 00:30:55,040 --> 00:30:59,960 Speaker 1: Quaker sympathies. After their battle of words, Noise left Sarah 490 00:31:00,040 --> 00:31:02,600 Speaker 1: Good and the others to their fate. Each of them 491 00:31:02,720 --> 00:31:05,320 Speaker 1: was led up a ladder where a noose was tightened 492 00:31:05,360 --> 00:31:09,240 Speaker 1: around their necks. Then, from the safety of the ground below, 493 00:31:09,840 --> 00:31:13,360 Speaker 1: Sheriff Corwin began to push them off, one at a time. 494 00:31:15,320 --> 00:31:17,800 Speaker 1: I imagine the crowd was stunned by the violence of 495 00:31:17,840 --> 00:31:22,600 Speaker 1: it all. Execution by hanging was notoriously graphic, with sights 496 00:31:22,600 --> 00:31:26,120 Speaker 1: and sounds that could unsettle even the strongest among them. 497 00:31:26,200 --> 00:31:29,280 Speaker 1: These were women they had known for years, known and 498 00:31:29,360 --> 00:31:33,080 Speaker 1: trusted and spoken with, and now they were writhing at 499 00:31:33,120 --> 00:31:36,800 Speaker 1: the end of a rope as their lives slowly faded away. 500 00:31:37,480 --> 00:31:41,040 Speaker 1: Historian Stacy Schiff suggests that they probably didn't leave the 501 00:31:41,040 --> 00:31:44,320 Speaker 1: bodies up for long. It was July and far too 502 00:31:44,400 --> 00:31:47,040 Speaker 1: hot to leave a corpse out in the sun. They 503 00:31:47,040 --> 00:31:49,480 Speaker 1: would have been cut down a short time later and 504 00:31:49,640 --> 00:31:53,200 Speaker 1: hastily buried right there on the hill, although local legend 505 00:31:53,320 --> 00:31:56,200 Speaker 1: says that the families of those women, those who had 506 00:31:56,240 --> 00:31:59,400 Speaker 1: them at least returned under the cover of darkness to 507 00:31:59,400 --> 00:32:04,000 Speaker 1: take their love ones away for a proper burial. Rebecca 508 00:32:04,080 --> 00:32:06,920 Speaker 1: Nurse was carried back to the family homestead in Salem 509 00:32:07,040 --> 00:32:10,760 Speaker 1: Village and buried in an unmarked grave. The house and 510 00:32:10,840 --> 00:32:14,480 Speaker 1: property are still there today, and if you're ever in Danvers, 511 00:32:14,680 --> 00:32:17,160 Speaker 1: you can visit the museum that was once her home 512 00:32:17,680 --> 00:32:21,040 Speaker 1: and stand beside the graveyard that took its place. It's 513 00:32:21,080 --> 00:32:24,520 Speaker 1: a physical reminder of just how normal these people were 514 00:32:25,280 --> 00:32:27,760 Speaker 1: and how tragic their final days turned out to be. 515 00:32:29,400 --> 00:32:32,880 Speaker 1: Speaking of which, those words that Sarah Good tossed at 516 00:32:32,920 --> 00:32:36,120 Speaker 1: Reverend Noise, the ones where she promised blood for him 517 00:32:36,160 --> 00:32:39,760 Speaker 1: to drink, those words seemed to stick around. We know 518 00:32:39,920 --> 00:32:42,800 Speaker 1: Samuel Sewell remembered them, as did those who heard them 519 00:32:42,840 --> 00:32:46,120 Speaker 1: spoken prior to the execution, and I have to think 520 00:32:46,200 --> 00:32:54,440 Speaker 1: that Noise himself never forgot them. Years later, on December seventeen, seventeen, 521 00:32:55,080 --> 00:32:59,080 Speaker 1: Reverend Noise passed away. Legend says that he suffered a 522 00:32:59,160 --> 00:33:02,720 Speaker 1: hemorrhage in his head or throat, and as a result, 523 00:33:03,320 --> 00:33:08,320 Speaker 1: his mouth filled with his own blood. He drowned, just 524 00:33:08,640 --> 00:33:14,320 Speaker 1: as Sarah Good had promised. That's it for this week's 525 00:33:14,320 --> 00:33:18,720 Speaker 1: episode of Unobscured. Stick around after this short sponsor break 526 00:33:18,920 --> 00:33:21,720 Speaker 1: for a preview of what's in store for next week 527 00:33:24,000 --> 00:33:28,920 Speaker 1: next time on Unobscured. Looking back, it's easy to see 528 00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:33,280 Speaker 1: countless examples of the authorities leading the witness. They suggest 529 00:33:33,360 --> 00:33:36,600 Speaker 1: answers with their questions and give the accused just enough 530 00:33:36,640 --> 00:33:41,120 Speaker 1: detail to reply with answers that fit their expectations. Maybe 531 00:33:41,160 --> 00:33:44,440 Speaker 1: these men were just really bad at interviewing the accused, 532 00:33:44,920 --> 00:33:47,480 Speaker 1: or perhaps they allow their bias to steer the ship. 533 00:33:48,200 --> 00:33:51,400 Speaker 1: We might never know, But something else came out of 534 00:33:51,400 --> 00:33:55,160 Speaker 1: the examination of Anne Foster and her family New Names 535 00:33:55,240 --> 00:33:59,040 Speaker 1: From and Over. Mary Lacey Sr. Mentioned two of Martha 536 00:33:59,120 --> 00:34:02,400 Speaker 1: Carrier's own children as one of their own, sending the 537 00:34:02,440 --> 00:34:06,080 Speaker 1: court into a frenzy. The following day, eighteen year old 538 00:34:06,200 --> 00:34:09,800 Speaker 1: Richard and sixteen year old Andrew were arrested and brought 539 00:34:09,840 --> 00:34:15,440 Speaker 1: to town. What awaited them, however, was not the usual examination, 540 00:34:15,640 --> 00:34:19,000 Speaker 1: we have come to expect their fate would be much 541 00:34:19,080 --> 00:35:19,880 Speaker 1: more painful than anyone thus far. Torture Unobscured was created 542 00:35:19,960 --> 00:35:23,160 Speaker 1: and written by me Aaron Mankey and produced by Matt 543 00:35:23,160 --> 00:35:26,640 Speaker 1: Frederick and Alex Williams in partnership with How Stuff Works, 544 00:35:26,840 --> 00:35:30,600 Speaker 1: with research by Carl Nellis and original music by Chad Lawson. 545 00:35:31,440 --> 00:35:36,240 Speaker 1: Learn more about our contributing historians further reading material, resource 546 00:35:36,400 --> 00:35:40,319 Speaker 1: archive and links to our other shows at History unobscured 547 00:35:40,400 --> 00:35:44,680 Speaker 1: dot com. Until next time, thanks for listening.