1 00:00:10,400 --> 00:00:15,320 Speaker 1: You're listening to Unexplained, Season seven, episode twenty five, The 2 00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:25,680 Speaker 1: City upon a Hill, Part two of three. On Saturday 3 00:00:25,720 --> 00:00:30,880 Speaker 1: March first, sixteen ninety two, the congregation of Salem Village 4 00:00:31,160 --> 00:00:35,920 Speaker 1: shuffled nervously into the meeting house, squeezing into whatever space 5 00:00:35,960 --> 00:00:39,440 Speaker 1: they can find. At the front of the hawk, sat 6 00:00:39,479 --> 00:00:42,680 Speaker 1: behind a desk on a raised platform, are the pale, 7 00:00:42,880 --> 00:00:48,159 Speaker 1: hardened faces of Magistrates John Hawthorne and Jonathan Corwyn. The 8 00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:53,000 Speaker 1: pair survey the scene before them with ominous stony authority. 9 00:00:54,280 --> 00:00:57,680 Speaker 1: Minister Samuel Parris and his family watch on at the 10 00:00:57,680 --> 00:01:02,040 Speaker 1: front of the crowd, alongside the Putner. Among them are 11 00:01:02,120 --> 00:01:07,440 Speaker 1: the four young accusers, nine year old Betty Paris, her cousin, 12 00:01:07,720 --> 00:01:12,440 Speaker 1: eleven year old Abigail Williams, twelve year old and Putnam Junior, 13 00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:17,200 Speaker 1: and seventeen year old Elizabeth Hubbard, the great niece of 14 00:01:17,319 --> 00:01:22,920 Speaker 1: doctor William Griggs. Pastor John Hale, minister of nearby Beverly, 15 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:27,640 Speaker 1: who Minister Paris had first consulted over the whole beguiling matter, 16 00:01:28,440 --> 00:01:33,360 Speaker 1: stands watch alongside them. All are there to witness the 17 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:39,959 Speaker 1: examinations of Sarah good Sarah Osborne, and Titchuba. This is 18 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:44,320 Speaker 1: the first part of the legal process. If after examination, 19 00:01:44,920 --> 00:01:48,560 Speaker 1: enough evidence is found to try the defendants, they will 20 00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:53,800 Speaker 1: be reminded in custody to await trial. As stunned looking 21 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:58,400 Speaker 1: Sarah Good is led into the room by Constable Joseph Herrick, 22 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:03,280 Speaker 1: the principal law law enforcement officer in Salem, there are 23 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:08,240 Speaker 1: gasps and cries at the sight of her. Good desperately 24 00:02:08,280 --> 00:02:11,440 Speaker 1: searches the crowd for any sign of a friendly face, 25 00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:17,520 Speaker 1: imploring begging anyone to believe she is innocent, but all 26 00:02:17,560 --> 00:02:21,200 Speaker 1: turn away or avert their gaze. Just as her eyes 27 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:28,239 Speaker 1: threaten to meet theirs, the magistrates call for order. Sarah Good, 28 00:02:28,880 --> 00:02:35,280 Speaker 1: what evil spirit have you familiarity with? Asks Hawthorne. None, 29 00:02:35,720 --> 00:02:41,080 Speaker 1: she replies, have you made a contract with the devil? No, 30 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:46,680 Speaker 1: says Sarah again. Then Sarah is ordered to look upon 31 00:02:46,840 --> 00:02:51,960 Speaker 1: the four young girls her accuses. As she turns to 32 00:02:52,040 --> 00:02:56,040 Speaker 1: face them, Abigail lets out a cry, and soon all 33 00:02:56,160 --> 00:03:00,000 Speaker 1: four of them are writhing about in apparent agony. There, 34 00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:06,120 Speaker 1: hands and arms twisting into strange configurations. They scream out 35 00:03:06,320 --> 00:03:10,840 Speaker 1: for Sarah to stop attacking them. There are numerous shouts, 36 00:03:10,840 --> 00:03:15,000 Speaker 1: of which from the crowd. Why do you torment them? 37 00:03:15,440 --> 00:03:21,480 Speaker 1: Yells Magistrate Corwyn over the din I torment. Nobody replies Sarah, 38 00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:27,200 Speaker 1: growing increasingly angry. So who is it? Then? It must 39 00:03:27,200 --> 00:03:31,440 Speaker 1: be Sarah Osborne. She is doing this, shouts Good in reply. 40 00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:37,160 Speaker 1: More gasps ring out as the magistrates call for order again. 41 00:03:44,720 --> 00:03:48,240 Speaker 1: Sarah Good is returned to Salem jail to await trial. 42 00:03:48,880 --> 00:03:53,480 Speaker 1: Then Sarah Osborne is led into the meeting house. The 43 00:03:53,640 --> 00:03:57,800 Speaker 1: children writhe and twist again in apparent pain at the 44 00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:02,080 Speaker 1: first sight of her. Though only ten years older than 45 00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:05,800 Speaker 1: thirty nine year old Sarah Good, Osborne is a much 46 00:04:05,960 --> 00:04:10,400 Speaker 1: meeker figure and far less combative. In front of the 47 00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:15,280 Speaker 1: feverish crowd, The children accuse her again of tormenting them. 48 00:04:15,640 --> 00:04:20,240 Speaker 1: They tell the congregation that Osborne takes a spectral form 49 00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:24,160 Speaker 1: with her witchy powers to poke and pinch them from 50 00:04:24,160 --> 00:04:31,520 Speaker 1: a distance. Osborne softly denies the accusation. The magistrates want 51 00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:35,039 Speaker 1: to know about something peculiar Osborne said to one of 52 00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:39,360 Speaker 1: the jailers. Earlier in the day. Osborne had told them 53 00:04:39,640 --> 00:04:41,840 Speaker 1: that she was more likely to be a victim of 54 00:04:41,920 --> 00:04:46,359 Speaker 1: witchcraft than be a witch herself. And why did you 55 00:04:46,480 --> 00:04:52,279 Speaker 1: say that, asks Magistrate Hawthorne. Osborne explained it was because 56 00:04:52,320 --> 00:04:55,360 Speaker 1: of a nightmare she'd had in which she was attacked 57 00:04:55,600 --> 00:04:59,400 Speaker 1: by what she described as a dark skinned Indian. Then 58 00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:02,200 Speaker 1: a voice had told her never to go to a 59 00:05:02,320 --> 00:05:06,640 Speaker 1: church service again. She insisted that she'd not obeyed it 60 00:05:07,720 --> 00:05:11,960 Speaker 1: only as someone shouts from the crowd, Osborne hasn't been 61 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:15,680 Speaker 1: to church for over a year. Proof, surely, they say 62 00:05:15,960 --> 00:05:18,760 Speaker 1: that she is in league with the strange figure from 63 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:23,200 Speaker 1: her dream, who is clearly the devil. The crowd roars 64 00:05:23,240 --> 00:05:28,839 Speaker 1: in agreement. Osborne tries to plead her innocence. She's been sick, 65 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:33,400 Speaker 1: she says, that's why she hasn't attended church, but her 66 00:05:33,480 --> 00:05:37,839 Speaker 1: voice is barely audible over the din. She too, is 67 00:05:37,920 --> 00:05:42,800 Speaker 1: sent back to jail to await trial, and then it's 68 00:05:42,880 --> 00:05:48,279 Speaker 1: Titchiba's turn. When she enters the room, a hush falls 69 00:05:48,320 --> 00:05:53,480 Speaker 1: over the crowd. Some visibly draw back as this woman, 70 00:05:53,960 --> 00:05:57,960 Speaker 1: more strange and unknown to them than any other they knew, 71 00:05:58,480 --> 00:06:03,320 Speaker 1: is pushed to the front. Constable Herrick, even the young 72 00:06:03,360 --> 00:06:08,520 Speaker 1: accusers are stilled as she takes the stand. And what 73 00:06:08,640 --> 00:06:14,240 Speaker 1: evil spirit are you familiar with? Asks Magistrate Hawthorne. None, 74 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:19,560 Speaker 1: says Titchubah, Why do you hurt these children? But I 75 00:06:19,640 --> 00:06:24,919 Speaker 1: do not hurt them, she replies, tell the truth. Who 76 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:29,479 Speaker 1: is it that hurts them? Tituba looks round at the 77 00:06:29,520 --> 00:06:35,039 Speaker 1: assembled crowd hanging on her every word. Among them the tall, 78 00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:40,080 Speaker 1: imposing frame of Minister Samuel Parris, dressed all in black, 79 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:46,839 Speaker 1: his eyes bore into her. Titchuba shifts uneasily on her feet, 80 00:06:47,360 --> 00:06:50,560 Speaker 1: her body still tender from the beating he gave her 81 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:56,920 Speaker 1: only a few days before. The truth, Titchuba, who hurts 82 00:06:56,960 --> 00:07:03,640 Speaker 1: these girls? Repeats Hawthorne. Tichiba pauses for a moment, collecting 83 00:07:03,720 --> 00:07:08,960 Speaker 1: her thoughts. Then, to the horror of all present, she says, 84 00:07:10,040 --> 00:07:13,640 Speaker 1: I do I am the one who hurts them. I 85 00:07:13,760 --> 00:07:25,080 Speaker 1: do it for the devil. The meeting house erupts. After 86 00:07:25,120 --> 00:07:29,760 Speaker 1: the initial shock of Titchiba's confession, a strange calm descends 87 00:07:29,840 --> 00:07:35,000 Speaker 1: over the congregation. It's almost cathartic to hear her admit it. 88 00:07:35,960 --> 00:07:39,160 Speaker 1: Not only is there an explanation for the strange and 89 00:07:39,360 --> 00:07:43,920 Speaker 1: terrifying harm being seemingly inflicted on the young girls, but 90 00:07:44,120 --> 00:07:49,360 Speaker 1: here was physical proof too, of everything The congregation stood for, 91 00:07:50,200 --> 00:07:53,960 Speaker 1: proof of the very evil it was their divine mission 92 00:07:54,360 --> 00:08:00,000 Speaker 1: to expunge. But few could have anticipated the story that followed. 93 00:08:01,560 --> 00:08:06,080 Speaker 1: It all began late one frigid January night, while Titchuba 94 00:08:06,320 --> 00:08:11,160 Speaker 1: was settling down to sleep. The parsonage was silent, her 95 00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:14,560 Speaker 1: cramped room lit only by the soft light of a 96 00:08:14,640 --> 00:08:19,600 Speaker 1: quarter moon. It was then she said that something resembling 97 00:08:19,640 --> 00:08:24,240 Speaker 1: a man suddenly appeared before her. The figure said he 98 00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:26,960 Speaker 1: was God and that she had to serve him for 99 00:08:27,040 --> 00:08:33,679 Speaker 1: six years. In return, she'd receive many fine things. Titchuba 100 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:37,560 Speaker 1: said she refused at first, but the figure told her 101 00:08:37,840 --> 00:08:40,440 Speaker 1: that if she didn't do as he asked, he would 102 00:08:40,559 --> 00:08:45,120 Speaker 1: kill Betty and Abigail, and he would kill her too. 103 00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:49,680 Speaker 1: The next time he appeared, he brought a small green 104 00:08:49,720 --> 00:08:53,800 Speaker 1: and white bird for her to stroke. She thought then 105 00:08:54,160 --> 00:08:58,880 Speaker 1: that perhaps he was God after all. A few days later, 106 00:08:59,280 --> 00:09:03,679 Speaker 1: while tit was sweeping the kitchen, four women appeared to her. 107 00:09:04,559 --> 00:09:08,360 Speaker 1: Two of them, she says to more startled cries from 108 00:09:08,400 --> 00:09:13,680 Speaker 1: the congregation, were Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne. The other 109 00:09:13,800 --> 00:09:19,520 Speaker 1: two she didn't recognize. The strange man was there too. 110 00:09:19,800 --> 00:09:23,560 Speaker 1: Standing behind her. He grabbed her arms and told her 111 00:09:23,600 --> 00:09:27,280 Speaker 1: to go into the children's bedroom and pinch them. The 112 00:09:27,360 --> 00:09:31,800 Speaker 1: coven of five watched, she said, as she reluctantly did 113 00:09:31,840 --> 00:09:36,520 Speaker 1: what she was told, and so it began. Over the 114 00:09:36,559 --> 00:09:41,040 Speaker 1: following weeks and months, she tells the congregation the devil, 115 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:44,839 Speaker 1: who she now believed the strange man to be, made 116 00:09:44,960 --> 00:09:47,880 Speaker 1: cats appear to her and told her to pinch them 117 00:09:48,920 --> 00:09:52,400 Speaker 1: in terror. She obeyed, and each time she pinched them, 118 00:09:52,800 --> 00:09:55,600 Speaker 1: she heard the girls cry out in pain, as if 119 00:09:55,640 --> 00:09:59,800 Speaker 1: they were somehow linked to the animals. Whenever she refused 120 00:09:59,800 --> 00:10:04,080 Speaker 1: to continue, other cats appeared to her. They scratched and 121 00:10:04,200 --> 00:10:08,320 Speaker 1: threatened her if she didn't continue to obey. One day, 122 00:10:08,640 --> 00:10:12,320 Speaker 1: the devil came again and presented Titchuba with a book 123 00:10:12,679 --> 00:10:15,360 Speaker 1: and a stick with a pin tied to the end 124 00:10:15,400 --> 00:10:19,120 Speaker 1: of it. He instructed her to prick her finger and 125 00:10:19,200 --> 00:10:22,920 Speaker 1: write her name in blood in the book. When she 126 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:26,400 Speaker 1: did just that, she said she observed other names in 127 00:10:26,440 --> 00:10:31,360 Speaker 1: the book written in blood just like hers. Unable to read, 128 00:10:31,800 --> 00:10:35,560 Speaker 1: she asked the devil whose names they were. He revealed 129 00:10:35,600 --> 00:10:39,120 Speaker 1: only that two of them belonged to Sarah Good and 130 00:10:39,280 --> 00:10:43,920 Speaker 1: Sarah Osborne. More cries went up from the crowd, and 131 00:10:43,960 --> 00:10:49,199 Speaker 1: the young accusers writhed again, in apparent agony, how many 132 00:10:49,280 --> 00:10:53,240 Speaker 1: names were in the book? Shouts Magistrate Hawthorne over the 133 00:10:53,320 --> 00:11:01,080 Speaker 1: din nine replies Titchuba nine witches to that gasps from 134 00:11:01,120 --> 00:11:16,280 Speaker 1: the crowd. For two days, Titchubur relays her bizarre story 135 00:11:16,400 --> 00:11:21,560 Speaker 1: to the congregation. One night, she says, Osborne and Good 136 00:11:21,920 --> 00:11:25,160 Speaker 1: came to her at the Paris home while the family 137 00:11:25,240 --> 00:11:29,360 Speaker 1: were at prayer. Good was accompanied by a cat and 138 00:11:29,400 --> 00:11:34,640 Speaker 1: a yellow bird, familiars of the devil. This same yellow bird, 139 00:11:34,760 --> 00:11:38,160 Speaker 1: she said, had apparently been seen numerous times by the 140 00:11:38,240 --> 00:11:43,280 Speaker 1: children in and around the parsonage. Osborne, on the other hand, 141 00:11:43,720 --> 00:11:49,480 Speaker 1: was accompanied by things altogether more strange. One had the 142 00:11:49,520 --> 00:11:53,840 Speaker 1: head of a woman, two legs, and wings that seemed 143 00:11:53,840 --> 00:11:57,559 Speaker 1: to shapeshift in and out of a likeness of Osborne, 144 00:11:58,080 --> 00:12:02,240 Speaker 1: as though it were mimicking her. The other was covered 145 00:12:02,320 --> 00:12:06,600 Speaker 1: all over in dark hair and had an eerily long nose. 146 00:12:07,880 --> 00:12:12,120 Speaker 1: Good had stood silently feeding her yellow bird with pieces 147 00:12:12,120 --> 00:12:16,360 Speaker 1: of meat as Osborne ordered Titchuba to travel with them 148 00:12:16,440 --> 00:12:20,560 Speaker 1: to Boston. Or three of them then flew off into 149 00:12:20,600 --> 00:12:25,199 Speaker 1: the night on a stick. Titchiba didn't quite recall how 150 00:12:25,240 --> 00:12:28,320 Speaker 1: they got there, only that one moment they were in 151 00:12:28,480 --> 00:12:33,200 Speaker 1: Salem Village, the next they were in Boston. There they 152 00:12:33,240 --> 00:12:36,640 Speaker 1: met with two other women and a man whom Titchuber 153 00:12:36,760 --> 00:12:43,400 Speaker 1: didn't recognize what were these devilish creatures wearing? Asks Hawthorne. 154 00:12:43,720 --> 00:12:48,719 Speaker 1: Titchiburh looks out at the throng of Puritans or crowding 155 00:12:48,800 --> 00:12:54,520 Speaker 1: around her. They wore black, she says, and the man 156 00:12:56,160 --> 00:13:01,640 Speaker 1: the enslaved. Titchiba turns to her master, Samuelaris, then back 157 00:13:01,679 --> 00:13:07,280 Speaker 1: to the magistrates. He wore black too, she says. And 158 00:13:07,360 --> 00:13:10,680 Speaker 1: what exactly did they ask you to do there in Boston? 159 00:13:11,840 --> 00:13:14,600 Speaker 1: They said that I should go to Thomas Putnam's house 160 00:13:15,040 --> 00:13:19,800 Speaker 1: and cut off his daughter's head. Another scream rings out 161 00:13:20,240 --> 00:13:24,120 Speaker 1: as all four children shake and hurl themselves to the ground, 162 00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:31,160 Speaker 1: their eyes rolling back into their heads. In the seventeenth century, 163 00:13:31,679 --> 00:13:37,400 Speaker 1: science blended inextricably with witchcraft and religion. Through the genius 164 00:13:37,440 --> 00:13:41,120 Speaker 1: of Galileo in sixteen oh four to Isaac Newton in 165 00:13:41,200 --> 00:13:45,079 Speaker 1: sixteen eighty six, it had been proved beyond doubt that 166 00:13:45,200 --> 00:13:51,360 Speaker 1: invisible forces existed in the world. If gravity and magnetism existed, 167 00:13:51,920 --> 00:13:56,760 Speaker 1: it stood reason thought many that so too could satanic possession, 168 00:13:57,280 --> 00:14:03,280 Speaker 1: divine intervention, and witchcraft. And in the Bible, the existence 169 00:14:03,320 --> 00:14:09,040 Speaker 1: of witches is made explicitly clear Exodus twenty two eighteen. 170 00:14:09,760 --> 00:14:15,160 Speaker 1: Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. Deuteronomy eighteen 171 00:14:15,280 --> 00:14:18,960 Speaker 1: ten to eleven there shall not be found among you 172 00:14:19,480 --> 00:14:24,640 Speaker 1: any that useth divination, or an enchanter, or a witch, 173 00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:30,880 Speaker 1: and Leviticus twenty twenty seven makes it very clear how 174 00:14:30,960 --> 00:14:35,360 Speaker 1: any upstanding Christian should respond to the discovery of a 175 00:14:35,400 --> 00:14:39,920 Speaker 1: witch or wizard. A man or woman that hath a 176 00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:44,280 Speaker 1: familiar spirit, or that is a witch shall be put 177 00:14:44,320 --> 00:14:49,080 Speaker 1: to death. They shall be stoned, their blood shall be 178 00:14:49,240 --> 00:14:54,120 Speaker 1: upon them. If Salem Village had been a fractured place before, 179 00:14:54,840 --> 00:14:59,280 Speaker 1: now there was finally something to rally around, something they 180 00:14:59,280 --> 00:15:03,160 Speaker 1: could all come together and agree on that the three 181 00:15:03,160 --> 00:15:08,240 Speaker 1: women in custody had to be punished for their despicable crimes. 182 00:15:08,880 --> 00:15:13,280 Speaker 1: For Samuel Parris, though deeply troubled by the events for 183 00:15:13,400 --> 00:15:16,880 Speaker 1: so long a pariah to many in the congregation, it 184 00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:20,520 Speaker 1: seemed he'd finally achieved the impossible of bringing them all 185 00:15:20,680 --> 00:15:27,160 Speaker 1: closer together. But all that was about to change. On 186 00:15:27,200 --> 00:15:31,360 Speaker 1: the eleventh of March, just over a week since the examinations, 187 00:15:31,920 --> 00:15:37,840 Speaker 1: and Putnam Junior collapses before her parents. Swiping at something 188 00:15:37,880 --> 00:15:40,920 Speaker 1: in the air, she cries out that she's being attacked 189 00:15:41,040 --> 00:15:45,320 Speaker 1: by a spectral form of Martha Cory that pinches and 190 00:15:45,400 --> 00:15:51,200 Speaker 1: bites her with gnashing teeth. Unlike the three previously accused women, 191 00:15:51,760 --> 00:15:56,520 Speaker 1: Martha Corey is largely popular in Salem Village. Both her 192 00:15:56,600 --> 00:16:01,200 Speaker 1: and her husband Giles are considered respectable and pious, But 193 00:16:01,280 --> 00:16:05,240 Speaker 1: Martha has also spent the last few days telling anyone 194 00:16:05,320 --> 00:16:09,000 Speaker 1: and everyone that she thinks the children are making it 195 00:16:09,040 --> 00:16:14,359 Speaker 1: all up. On March twelfth, a group of men, including 196 00:16:14,440 --> 00:16:18,240 Speaker 1: Thomas Putnam, visit Corey at her home and accuse her 197 00:16:18,440 --> 00:16:23,000 Speaker 1: of attacking Anne. But Martha doesn't have any of it. 198 00:16:23,720 --> 00:16:27,720 Speaker 1: If it's really true that Anne saw her in spirit form, 199 00:16:27,840 --> 00:16:31,200 Speaker 1: she says, then ask her what I was wearing last night. 200 00:16:31,920 --> 00:16:36,000 Speaker 1: But Thomas Putnam is one step ahead. He'd already asked 201 00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:39,720 Speaker 1: her that, he says. However, Anne had told him that 202 00:16:39,880 --> 00:16:44,040 Speaker 1: she'd been struck blind at the time and so couldn't see. 203 00:16:45,120 --> 00:16:50,840 Speaker 1: Of course, said Martha with a wry smile. Later that day, 204 00:16:51,320 --> 00:16:54,280 Speaker 1: there is a new rumor in town that when Martha 205 00:16:54,360 --> 00:16:59,200 Speaker 1: Corey was told about Anne's accusation, she had smiled in scorn, 206 00:16:59,720 --> 00:17:02,920 Speaker 1: as though she was pleased to hear that Anne had 207 00:17:02,960 --> 00:17:14,320 Speaker 1: been violently attacked. The day after being informed of the accusation, 208 00:17:14,960 --> 00:17:18,800 Speaker 1: Martha Corey pays a visit to the Putnam's home, demanding 209 00:17:18,920 --> 00:17:22,920 Speaker 1: to speak with Anne Junior. No sooner has she stepped 210 00:17:22,920 --> 00:17:28,160 Speaker 1: inside the house, Anne slips into a violent seizure than 211 00:17:28,680 --> 00:17:32,399 Speaker 1: the Putnam's servant Mercy Lewis, who was beside her at 212 00:17:32,440 --> 00:17:37,719 Speaker 1: the time, also collapses to the ground. Lewis had borne 213 00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:42,560 Speaker 1: many scars in her short sixteen years of life. Only 214 00:17:42,600 --> 00:17:46,320 Speaker 1: a few years before, she was orphaned when a series 215 00:17:46,400 --> 00:17:49,600 Speaker 1: of Native American attacks on the village where she used 216 00:17:49,640 --> 00:17:55,200 Speaker 1: to live resulted in the death of most of her family. Together, 217 00:17:55,600 --> 00:17:59,760 Speaker 1: her and Anne writhe chaotically on the floor, their eyes 218 00:18:00,119 --> 00:18:04,880 Speaker 1: rolling as they shriek in apparent torment. Then Anne points 219 00:18:04,920 --> 00:18:09,520 Speaker 1: suddenly at the fire in the hearth and screams, see 220 00:18:09,560 --> 00:18:13,359 Speaker 1: there a man in chains, stabbed through on a spit. 221 00:18:14,080 --> 00:18:17,520 Speaker 1: Good wife Cory is roasting him, turning him on the spit. 222 00:18:18,400 --> 00:18:23,400 Speaker 1: See him burn. Mercy staggers to her feet and grabs 223 00:18:23,440 --> 00:18:27,959 Speaker 1: the poker from the fire. She swipes at the supposed apparition, 224 00:18:28,440 --> 00:18:31,840 Speaker 1: yelling for Martha to stop hurting them and to stop 225 00:18:32,119 --> 00:18:36,960 Speaker 1: roasting the man on the spit. Martha is seen fleeing 226 00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:41,119 Speaker 1: from the house soon after three days later, she is 227 00:18:41,200 --> 00:18:46,359 Speaker 1: arrested and accused of witchcraft. At first it seems that 228 00:18:46,440 --> 00:18:50,359 Speaker 1: this will be the last of the accusations. Then Mary Wallen, 229 00:18:50,880 --> 00:18:56,240 Speaker 1: servant to John and Elizabeth Proctor, begins fitting too. As 230 00:18:56,320 --> 00:18:59,240 Speaker 1: owners of a local tavern and a number of farm 231 00:18:59,280 --> 00:19:03,600 Speaker 1: properties in Salem and nearby Ipswich, the Proctors are one 232 00:19:03,600 --> 00:19:07,840 Speaker 1: of the more prosperous families in the community. Elizabeth, who 233 00:19:07,960 --> 00:19:12,240 Speaker 1: runs the tavern, was John's third wife. The first two 234 00:19:12,280 --> 00:19:17,080 Speaker 1: had died in childbirth, having bared eleven children between them. 235 00:19:17,680 --> 00:19:22,320 Speaker 1: Inside the Proctor's home, Mary Wollen wails in apparent pain 236 00:19:22,440 --> 00:19:25,760 Speaker 1: on the floor, claiming that she is being attacked by 237 00:19:25,800 --> 00:19:31,720 Speaker 1: the specter of Giles Corey, Martha Corey's husband of amused 238 00:19:31,840 --> 00:19:35,359 Speaker 1: John Proctor tells her to get up immediately and to 239 00:19:35,440 --> 00:19:39,840 Speaker 1: stop playing games. It is only his shadow she is seeing, 240 00:19:39,920 --> 00:19:43,600 Speaker 1: he says, when he threatens to beat Mary if she 241 00:19:43,640 --> 00:19:48,080 Speaker 1: doesn't stop it. The apparent fit abates, and she dutifully 242 00:19:48,240 --> 00:19:53,400 Speaker 1: returns to work. A few days later, on March nineteenth, 243 00:19:53,880 --> 00:19:58,880 Speaker 1: former Minister of Salem Deo Dat Lawson travels to Salem village, 244 00:19:59,320 --> 00:20:02,960 Speaker 1: where he's met by Mary Walcott. The sixteen year old 245 00:20:03,040 --> 00:20:07,160 Speaker 1: cousin of Anne Putnam Junior and niece of Mary Sibley, 246 00:20:07,600 --> 00:20:11,480 Speaker 1: who'd instructed Tituba to make a witch's cake all those 247 00:20:11,520 --> 00:20:16,840 Speaker 1: weeks ago. Mary is at Lawson's lodgings to pass on 248 00:20:16,920 --> 00:20:22,200 Speaker 1: her parents' well wishes, when suddenly she cries out, my wrist, 249 00:20:22,200 --> 00:20:27,080 Speaker 1: my wrist. Lawson grabs a nearby candle and holds it 250 00:20:27,200 --> 00:20:30,919 Speaker 1: over the inflicted area to reveal what appears to be 251 00:20:31,119 --> 00:20:36,399 Speaker 1: teeth marks from a small human mouth. It's Dorothy Good, 252 00:20:36,680 --> 00:20:42,560 Speaker 1: said Mary, she has done this. Dorothy Good is Sarah 253 00:20:42,640 --> 00:20:56,400 Speaker 1: Good's four year old daughter. Deeply disturbed by what he'd 254 00:20:56,440 --> 00:21:00,919 Speaker 1: seen on Mary Walcott's wrist. Minister Lawson travels to the 255 00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:06,439 Speaker 1: parsonage to see Minister Samuel Parris. While there, Paris and 256 00:21:06,560 --> 00:21:11,040 Speaker 1: Lawson are deep in conversation when an almighty wail is heard. 257 00:21:12,080 --> 00:21:15,760 Speaker 1: The two men rush into an adjoining room to find 258 00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:20,560 Speaker 1: eleven year old Abigail Williams being seemingly hurled about by 259 00:21:20,600 --> 00:21:26,359 Speaker 1: an invisible force. Do you not see her? She screams, there, Look, 260 00:21:26,960 --> 00:21:32,720 Speaker 1: it's Rebecca Nurse tormenting me. Seventy two year old Rebecca 261 00:21:32,840 --> 00:21:37,440 Speaker 1: Nurse is another prominent figure in the community, regarded by 262 00:21:37,480 --> 00:21:42,919 Speaker 1: many as a deeply devout Christian. Abigail accuses her of 263 00:21:43,080 --> 00:21:46,119 Speaker 1: trying to make her sign her name in the Devil's Book. 264 00:21:47,280 --> 00:21:51,639 Speaker 1: As a shocked Paris and Lawson continue to look on, Abigail, 265 00:21:52,040 --> 00:21:55,600 Speaker 1: seemingly in the grip of some kind of spell, begins 266 00:21:55,680 --> 00:21:58,719 Speaker 1: pulling pieces of burning wood out at the fire and 267 00:21:58,880 --> 00:22:02,560 Speaker 1: throwing them about the room, whom at one point she 268 00:22:02,600 --> 00:22:06,040 Speaker 1: appears to be flung straight toward the fire, only to 269 00:22:06,119 --> 00:22:10,440 Speaker 1: stop at the last moment, having been seemingly released suddenly 270 00:22:10,680 --> 00:22:16,320 Speaker 1: from the spell. On March twenty first, Martha Corey is 271 00:22:16,359 --> 00:22:20,879 Speaker 1: brought before magistrates Hawthorne and Corwyn, this time at the 272 00:22:21,040 --> 00:22:26,080 Speaker 1: Ingersol's tavern. Once again, all the afflicted girls are present 273 00:22:26,440 --> 00:22:31,919 Speaker 1: as the defendant desperately pleads her innocence. Look says one, 274 00:22:32,119 --> 00:22:37,680 Speaker 1: I see that little yellow bird again, dancing between her fingers. Yes, yes, 275 00:22:38,119 --> 00:22:42,800 Speaker 1: I see it too, say the others. Martha turns to 276 00:22:42,880 --> 00:22:45,960 Speaker 1: her husband George and begs him to back her up, 277 00:22:46,359 --> 00:22:51,240 Speaker 1: but instead he also testifies against her. He says that 278 00:22:51,280 --> 00:22:55,080 Speaker 1: she refuses to follow his leadership as all wives ought 279 00:22:55,119 --> 00:22:59,280 Speaker 1: to do. He says she reads dangerous literature and that 280 00:22:59,359 --> 00:23:02,959 Speaker 1: whenever she claims to be praying. He never actually hears 281 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:07,040 Speaker 1: the words coming from her lips. Maybe she isn't praying 282 00:23:07,119 --> 00:23:12,560 Speaker 1: at all, he says, but casting spells. The crowd shout 283 00:23:12,680 --> 00:23:16,679 Speaker 1: and jeer in response. Then from somewhere out of the 284 00:23:16,760 --> 00:23:20,680 Speaker 1: back of the room, a heavy black shoe hurtles through 285 00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:25,359 Speaker 1: the air and smacks Martha square on the head, And 286 00:23:25,480 --> 00:23:29,240 Speaker 1: with that she is formally charged and taken to jail 287 00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:34,600 Speaker 1: to await trial. A few days later, its Nurse Rebecca's 288 00:23:34,600 --> 00:23:38,560 Speaker 1: turn to be hauled in front of the congregation. Despite 289 00:23:38,640 --> 00:23:43,679 Speaker 1: thirty nine prominent villages signing a petition defending her, including 290 00:23:43,720 --> 00:23:48,560 Speaker 1: Elizabeth Hawthorne, the wife of Magistrate John Hawthorne, it's not 291 00:23:48,800 --> 00:23:53,080 Speaker 1: enough to save her now. Among the girls accusing her 292 00:23:53,480 --> 00:23:58,639 Speaker 1: is Mary Warren. Despite her boss, John Proctor's threats, she 293 00:23:58,720 --> 00:24:03,000 Speaker 1: continued to claim she was being psychically attacked by witchcraft. 294 00:24:03,920 --> 00:24:07,680 Speaker 1: She and the others cry out in such apparent anguish 295 00:24:08,000 --> 00:24:11,479 Speaker 1: at the site of Nurse Rebeccah, the magistrates are forced 296 00:24:11,480 --> 00:24:15,880 Speaker 1: to pause proceedings on a number of occasions. Like all 297 00:24:15,920 --> 00:24:21,280 Speaker 1: the others save for Tituba, Nurse Rebeccah too protests her innocence, 298 00:24:21,800 --> 00:24:25,679 Speaker 1: and despite having nothing but kind words and prayers for 299 00:24:25,720 --> 00:24:29,679 Speaker 1: the girls who accuse her. She too is remanded in 300 00:24:29,720 --> 00:24:40,480 Speaker 1: custody to await her trial. The same day as Nurse 301 00:24:40,560 --> 00:24:44,399 Speaker 1: Rebecca's examination, a group of men are despatched to the 302 00:24:44,440 --> 00:24:48,119 Speaker 1: home of Sarah Good, who continues to languish in jail 303 00:24:48,320 --> 00:24:52,320 Speaker 1: with the other accused. It's not her husband William they 304 00:24:52,359 --> 00:24:56,040 Speaker 1: have come for, however, but rather her four year old 305 00:24:56,200 --> 00:25:01,440 Speaker 1: daughter Dorothy. In the previous few days, and Putnam Junior 306 00:25:01,640 --> 00:25:06,080 Speaker 1: had added to her cousin Mary Walcott's accusation, claiming that 307 00:25:06,200 --> 00:25:09,800 Speaker 1: she too had been bitten by the child. It was 308 00:25:09,880 --> 00:25:13,920 Speaker 1: clear she said that little Dorothy had been enticed by 309 00:25:13,960 --> 00:25:17,720 Speaker 1: her mother to consort with the devil, and so the 310 00:25:17,800 --> 00:25:22,520 Speaker 1: following day, the tiny, helpless Dorothy is led into the 311 00:25:22,560 --> 00:25:27,720 Speaker 1: meeting hall to face the magistrates. Without much comprehension of 312 00:25:27,840 --> 00:25:31,440 Speaker 1: what she is being accused of, the terrified young girl 313 00:25:32,040 --> 00:25:35,280 Speaker 1: admits to owning a pet snake that had been given 314 00:25:35,320 --> 00:25:39,160 Speaker 1: to her by her mother. She describes how it recently 315 00:25:39,200 --> 00:25:43,480 Speaker 1: bitter on the finger and sucked at her blood. Then 316 00:25:43,560 --> 00:25:47,000 Speaker 1: she holds up her forefinger, where at the lower joint 317 00:25:47,320 --> 00:25:50,760 Speaker 1: a dark red spot is found. It is all the 318 00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:56,680 Speaker 1: evidence the magistrate's need Dorothee is immediately thrown in jail 319 00:25:57,040 --> 00:26:01,320 Speaker 1: along with the others. So small her wrists that the 320 00:26:01,400 --> 00:26:04,720 Speaker 1: jailers are forced to have a smaller set of manacles 321 00:26:05,119 --> 00:26:10,960 Speaker 1: forged especially for her. Most jails in the seventeenth century 322 00:26:11,040 --> 00:26:15,439 Speaker 1: were grim, and Salem jail is no different. The smell 323 00:26:15,480 --> 00:26:20,560 Speaker 1: of vomit and feces of unwashed bodies and stale food 324 00:26:20,800 --> 00:26:25,560 Speaker 1: hangs thick and heavy in the air. Rats scurry about 325 00:26:25,720 --> 00:26:32,560 Speaker 1: endlessly while inside, the accused are routinely starved and kept 326 00:26:32,640 --> 00:26:35,960 Speaker 1: sleep deprived in the hope that they might crack and 327 00:26:36,160 --> 00:26:41,919 Speaker 1: finally confess, but all save for Tituba, refuse to do so. 328 00:26:43,359 --> 00:26:46,320 Speaker 1: At the end of March, they are joined by Rebecca 329 00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:51,679 Speaker 1: Nurse's sister, Sarah Klois. Kloys had spent the days since 330 00:26:51,800 --> 00:26:57,320 Speaker 1: Rebecca's arrest loudly protesting her innocence and, like Martha Corey, 331 00:26:57,800 --> 00:27:02,640 Speaker 1: accusing the apparent victims of making it all up. Then 332 00:27:02,760 --> 00:27:06,760 Speaker 1: Abigail and Mary Walcott accused her of being a witch too, 333 00:27:07,160 --> 00:27:12,440 Speaker 1: and she was promptly thrown in jail. By now, fear 334 00:27:12,520 --> 00:27:15,760 Speaker 1: in the village is at a fever pitch. Not only 335 00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:19,000 Speaker 1: does the devil seem to be running a Mark among them, 336 00:27:19,200 --> 00:27:22,080 Speaker 1: but there is no telling who the next victim might be, 337 00:27:23,200 --> 00:27:29,480 Speaker 1: and everybody is under suspicion. On March twenty sixth, Elizabeth 338 00:27:29,520 --> 00:27:33,560 Speaker 1: Proctor becomes the seventh supposed witch to be accused by 339 00:27:33,640 --> 00:27:38,000 Speaker 1: not only Mercy Lewis and Abigail Williams, but also her 340 00:27:38,080 --> 00:27:44,240 Speaker 1: own servant, Mary Warren. A furious John Proctor orders Mary 341 00:27:44,400 --> 00:27:49,200 Speaker 1: to publicly retract her accusation, and so in early April, 342 00:27:49,600 --> 00:27:53,320 Speaker 1: Mary does exactly that in front of the whole congregation 343 00:27:53,720 --> 00:27:57,719 Speaker 1: during a Sunday service, but it's too late for Elizabeth, 344 00:27:58,080 --> 00:28:08,240 Speaker 1: who is arrested a few days later to Unlike all 345 00:28:08,280 --> 00:28:12,800 Speaker 1: the others accused to date, Elizabeth and Sarah Cloyse are 346 00:28:12,880 --> 00:28:18,880 Speaker 1: examined by Deputy Governor of Massachusetts Thomas Danforth. After being 347 00:28:18,920 --> 00:28:22,480 Speaker 1: informed at the beguiling events threatening to get out of 348 00:28:22,560 --> 00:28:26,560 Speaker 1: hand in Salem, Danforth is determined to get a handle 349 00:28:26,600 --> 00:28:29,720 Speaker 1: on it, but even he is left bewildered by the 350 00:28:29,800 --> 00:28:34,800 Speaker 1: sheer chaos of it all. Throughout Elizabeth and Sarah's examination, 351 00:28:35,560 --> 00:28:42,040 Speaker 1: the accusers, Abigail Williams, Mercy Lewis, Mary Walcott, and Anne 352 00:28:42,040 --> 00:28:46,920 Speaker 1: Putnam Junior, scream and wail whenever the defendants try to speak, 353 00:28:47,680 --> 00:28:52,000 Speaker 1: they hurl themselves to the floor, tremble and shake, seemingly 354 00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:56,480 Speaker 1: uncontrollably as they cry out for Elizabeth and Sarah to 355 00:28:56,600 --> 00:29:01,080 Speaker 1: stop tormenting them. Other times, when asked how the women 356 00:29:01,160 --> 00:29:05,560 Speaker 1: are hurting them exactly, they seem struck, dumb, or stick 357 00:29:05,640 --> 00:29:10,240 Speaker 1: their hands in their mouths instead of talking. Joining them 358 00:29:10,280 --> 00:29:16,280 Speaker 1: as an accuser is also the enslaved John Indian Titchiba's husband. 359 00:29:16,840 --> 00:29:20,880 Speaker 1: John testifies that the specters of both Elizabeth and Sarah 360 00:29:21,160 --> 00:29:24,520 Speaker 1: had choked him and tried to force him to write 361 00:29:24,520 --> 00:29:29,080 Speaker 1: his name in the Devil's book. At one point, Abigail 362 00:29:29,240 --> 00:29:33,880 Speaker 1: rushes out to strike Elizabeth. When she pulls away instinctively, 363 00:29:34,360 --> 00:29:38,959 Speaker 1: Abigail's fingers lightly brushed the hood covering her head, a 364 00:29:39,000 --> 00:29:43,920 Speaker 1: customary uniform for Puritan women. At the slightest contact with 365 00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:48,840 Speaker 1: the material, Abigail staggers back, crying out that her fingers 366 00:29:48,880 --> 00:29:53,920 Speaker 1: are burning, and Putnam Junior falls to the floor, clutching 367 00:29:53,960 --> 00:30:01,160 Speaker 1: her head. Elizabeth and Sarah are immediately despatched to Salem jail. 368 00:30:01,360 --> 00:30:04,640 Speaker 1: In the following days, a number of the accusers turned 369 00:30:04,680 --> 00:30:09,560 Speaker 1: their ire on Mary Warren, maybe scornful of her decision 370 00:30:09,640 --> 00:30:13,640 Speaker 1: to retract her accusation, they begin to accuse her of 371 00:30:13,680 --> 00:30:17,719 Speaker 1: being a witch too, perhaps seeing a way out of 372 00:30:17,720 --> 00:30:23,120 Speaker 1: her predicament. Warren then accuses John Proctor of being a witch, 373 00:30:23,960 --> 00:30:27,800 Speaker 1: telling magistrates that late one night, he and his wife 374 00:30:28,080 --> 00:30:32,200 Speaker 1: had tried to make her touch the Devil's Book. Around 375 00:30:32,280 --> 00:30:37,400 Speaker 1: the same time, Anne Putnam Junior and Mercy Lewis accused 376 00:30:37,480 --> 00:30:41,680 Speaker 1: Giles Corey of attacking them. Lewis claims she was beaten 377 00:30:41,760 --> 00:30:46,520 Speaker 1: so hard by Giles's spectral form he almost broke her back. 378 00:30:47,920 --> 00:30:52,280 Speaker 1: And so it is that John Proctor and Cory become 379 00:30:52,360 --> 00:30:56,880 Speaker 1: the eighth and ninth after titchuba accused of witchcraft, to 380 00:30:56,920 --> 00:31:02,720 Speaker 1: be arrested. Nine Witches of Salem, just as Titchubah had 381 00:31:02,760 --> 00:31:10,320 Speaker 1: foretold Sarah Osborne, Sarah and Dorothy Good, Martha and Giles Corey, 382 00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:16,080 Speaker 1: Rebecca Nurse and her sister, Sarah Cloyse, and Elizabeth and 383 00:31:16,200 --> 00:31:25,680 Speaker 1: John Proctor. But things were far far from over. You've 384 00:31:25,720 --> 00:31:30,960 Speaker 1: been listening to Unexplained Season seven episode twenty five, The 385 00:31:31,040 --> 00:31:35,240 Speaker 1: City upon a Hill, Part two of three. The third 386 00:31:35,280 --> 00:31:39,440 Speaker 1: and final part will be released next Friday, July twelfth. 387 00:31:41,040 --> 00:31:44,920 Speaker 1: This episode was written by Ella McLoud and Richard McLain. 388 00:31:45,000 --> 00:31:50,240 Speaker 1: Smith Unexplained as an Avy Club Productions podcast created by 389 00:31:50,320 --> 00:31:54,280 Speaker 1: Richard mclin Smith. All other elements of the podcast, including 390 00:31:54,280 --> 00:31:59,640 Speaker 1: the music, were also produced by me Richard McClean Smith Unexplained. 391 00:31:59,640 --> 00:32:03,080 Speaker 1: The book and audiobook, with stories never before featured on 392 00:32:03,120 --> 00:32:06,760 Speaker 1: the show, is now available to buy worldwide. You can 393 00:32:06,800 --> 00:32:11,400 Speaker 1: purchase from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Waterstones and other bookstores. 394 00:32:12,120 --> 00:32:15,160 Speaker 1: Please subscribe to and rate the show wherever you get 395 00:32:15,200 --> 00:32:17,960 Speaker 1: your podcasts, and feel free to get in touch with 396 00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:21,400 Speaker 1: any thoughts or ideas regarding the stories you've heard on 397 00:32:21,440 --> 00:32:24,160 Speaker 1: the show. Perhaps you have an explanation of your own 398 00:32:24,240 --> 00:32:26,920 Speaker 1: you'd like to share. You can find out more at 399 00:32:27,000 --> 00:32:31,080 Speaker 1: Unexplained podcast dot com and reach us online through Twitter 400 00:32:31,280 --> 00:32:35,840 Speaker 1: at Unexplained Pod and Facebook at Facebook dot com, Forward 401 00:32:35,840 --> 00:32:37,840 Speaker 1: Slash Unexplained Podcast