Three-hundred-thirty years ago today was the final day of the Salem witch trials.
Back in August, while doing genealogy research leading up to a family reunion, I discovered my mother is related to Sarah Good, one of the first people executed there, and among the best-known.
Specifically, my grandfather's maternal grandmother (born in 1827) is descended from Sarah Solart Poole Good's half-sister, Abiah Woodward (or from Sarah Good's mother, depending on how you want to look at it).
It's a bit complicated, but essentially, Good's stepfather (my other ancestor) cheated her out of the inheritance that was intended from her late father, which left her to marry without a dowry. Eventually, she became homeless, begging for food and sleeping in barns, accompanied by a young child and later an infant.
Sometimes, as she was walking away, she muttered about people who didn't help her out. Maybe she wasn't very pleasant to be around in general. That turned into accusations of putting curses on people (or their cows, or their crops).
Sarah Good never confessed to witchcraft, despite coercion and even her husband testifying against her. She defied the authorities until the end. She was hanged on July 19, 1692 at the age of 39.
Her infant daughter, Mercy, had died while she was imprisoned. Her 4-year-old, Dorothy*, was also jailed for witchcraft and only released (after her mother's execution) when a Good Samaritan paid her jail fees.
Historical records indicate Dorothy had at least two children, probably as an unmarried woman, and was in and out of the correctional institutions of the time. She died some time after 1738. It is unknown if those children have any descendants.
Sarah Good had two brothers and several sisters, and there appear to be many descendants from most of them.
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* Dorothy is often referred to as Dorcas in stories of the witch trials. The historians at the Salem Witch Museum are quite sure Dorothy is her correct name.
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The photo is from the Proctor's Ledge memorial erected in Salem in 2017, the 325th anniversary, on the site of the witch trial executions.
1 comment:
Such suffering. I sometimes think that those of us whose family histories are murky are the fortunate ones. But it’s better to know than not.
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