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Post by Joanna on May 8, 2014 0:03:15 GMT -5
Descendant of accused Salem witch writes book about her ancestorIDAHO FALLS, Idaho – An Idaho Falls woman says she can claim descent to Bridget Bishop, the first accused witch hanged during the Salem Witch Trials in 1692.
Even though Bishop lived more than 300 years ago, you can still see some of her in local author Laura Jo DeMordaunt. "I am a strong-willed individual and I stand up for the things I believe in, and I guess that's been passed down,” said DeMordaunt.
Fascinated by her family's dark history, DeMordaunt said she began researching Bishop 35 years ago. "I have been back to Salem and into the Library of Congress studying old documents, reading books. Books, books, books, books,” said DeMordaunt.
What she discovered became the inspiration for her own newly published book, Thou Shalt Not Allow a Witch to Live. It details Bishop's life and the times in which she lived through a first-person narrative. "I would call her probably the first American feminist,” said DeMordaunt.
Bishop owned her own businesses and wore brightly colored clothing, which DeMordaunt said made her an easy target for accusations of witchcraft. "She allowed her taverns to be open late in the evening and for the sailors to come in to play shuffleboard and to bet and throw the dice and play cards and dance. I'm naming all the things that the Puritans hated,” said DeMordaunt.
Bishop, like other accused witches, was convicted using spectral evidence, which essentially allowed witnesses to testify about things they saw in dreams and visions. “She was accused of looking at a baby and then the baby died,” said DeMordaunt.
DeMordaunt says Bishop's story is still relevant today. "What happened to her is probably still happening today where we accuse people wrongly for something they did, and then we don't let people be individualistic,” said DeMordaunt.
Bishop was the first of 20 women* who were hanged as witches during the Salem Witch Trials.Source: Luke Jones, KIDK News, May 4, 2014.
*Note: This is incorrect. Twenty people were put to death during the trials, but seven of them were men. Thirteen women and six men were hanged and a seventh man, Giles Corey, was pressed to death.
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Post by Kate on May 9, 2014 12:30:39 GMT -5
The cover of the book is misleading. Bridget Bishop was in her 60s when she was accused and hanged for witchcraft. Also, it was her bodice that was red, not the sleeves. Back then the sleeves and bodice of women's clothing were separate and they laced the sleeves to the bodice.
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Post by pat on May 9, 2014 23:46:52 GMT -5
I didn't know that, Kate. I know a little about the clothing people wore in Victorian times, but not any further back. It must have taken them a long time to get dressed having to lace the sleeves to the bodice of their dresses. Was the bodice of their dresses separate from the skirts, or were they sewn together?
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Post by Kate on May 10, 2014 23:32:31 GMT -5
The skirt was separate from the bodice. Women slept in what were called "shifts" and she put her stays on over the shift and then petticoats went on over that. Then she had to put on her skirt, bodice and sleeves. Collars were also separate. Most women's clothing was made at home and didn't have buttons, so everything had to be laced and tied. For some reason, a lot of people think that the Puritans wore black, but black was an expensive color, so it was mostly the rich who wore black. People often made their own dyes and there were also people who were in the dye making trade, where you could take your cloth to be dyed. One of the easiest and cheapest colors to make was blue, which was made from woad; and green from green leaves; and brown from hemlock bark. I'm sure a lot of women wore blue, green and brown. Orange and brown were also made from madder root. Of course, the dyes faded every time the clothing was washed, so the darker colors probably didn't last all that long and became more muted. By 1692, when the witch trials started, cloth was being imported from Europe, so women were able to buy plaids, prints and different fabric. Bridget Bishop's red bodice was made from a cloth called "paragon," which was a blend of wool and silk, so it would have been made from imported cloth.
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Post by pat on May 11, 2014 16:27:36 GMT -5
Thanks, Kate. Did they wear bloomers or drawers under their petticoats?
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Post by Kate on May 12, 2014 0:48:43 GMT -5
Women didn't start wearing pantaloons or underpants until the early 1800s, when thin muslin dresses were popular. Until then, they didn't wear any kind of underpants.
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Post by pat on May 13, 2014 0:22:41 GMT -5
Gosh, I didn't know that! I had just assumed that women had always worn bloomers or some kind of drawers.
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