In 1692, Mary Bradbury was living a normal, privileged life in Salisbury, Massachusetts. She had been married to her husband Thomas since 1636 and had given birth to eleven children but instead of enjoying her later years, she was thrust into a literal witch hunt that would threaten her life and tear a community apart.
The horrible ordeal started in February 1692, when two young girls told their parents that a slave in one of their homes and two other women were witches and they had been cursed into having fits. By the end of 1693 two hundred people had been accused of witchcraft with nineteen executed and one having died while being “tested” for their associations with the devil.
Mary was arrested and convicted on September 22, 1692 despite over one hundred people testifying that she lived a God-fearing, pious life. The accusations against her included her being able to turn into a blue boar and causing storms to sink the ships of her enemies. She was even accused of cursing butter that she sold to these same ships. The butter spoiled, gaining maggots and of course the only explanation they could think of was that Mary had been the cause of all hardships they incurred.
At the time of Mary’s conviction, executions for those who pled guilty had been halted. However, Mary had refused to plead guilty and was sentenced to be hung on Gallow’s Hill. What happened after is not conclusively known. Some say that Mary was convicted at just the right time and the hangings were stopped before her sentence could be carried out. Some say that her husband and brother Jacob helped to break her out of prison and she hid away in another town until she was no longer in danger.
What we know for sure is that Mary did not meet the same fate as so many other accused of this time. She lived until late 1700 when she died back in her own home in Salisbury, having come back after the paranoia had ended.
What caused this hysteria? There are many schools of thought ranging from wide spread community poisoning to fear of the unknown by an overly religious community. We may never know the true cause but should learn from these cases and never let ourselves get to this level of brutality again. Let us try to never forget those poor souls who lost their lives over complex irrational fears.
The Casco Voice 