Post by Graveyardbride on Jun 11, 2014 18:23:02 GMT -5
Today Marks the Anniversary of the First Salem Witch Hanging
SALEM, Mass. – Today marks the day of the first hanging in what would eventually become known as the Salem Witch Trials.
Bridget Bishop was tried for witchcraft, gaining more accusations than any other alleged witch on trial. After pleading innocent, she was found guilty. She was hanged in Salem on June 10, 1692. According to the History Channel, “Bishop, known around town for her dubious moral character, frequented taverns, dressed flamboyantly (by Puritan standards) and was married three times.”
In March 1692, the first women in the coastal Massachusetts town to be charged with witchcraft were Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne, and Tituba, an Indian slave from Barbados. Good was hanged July 19, 1692, Osborne died in prison May 10, 1692, and Tituba was released from jail and sold to a new master, according to the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s chronology of the trials.
The Salem Witch Trials would lead to 150 incriminations, and 19 accused witches hanged between June and October 1692, when the trials ended. A 20th accused witch, Giles Corey, was pressed to death. Those who had been awaiting trial were released the following year.
Today in Salem, you can watch witch trial re-enactments at the Old City Hall and walk through the cemetery where there is a Witch Trials Memorial (above) to Bridget Bishop and the other 19 who were executed.
Source: Megan Turchi, Boston Local, June 10, 2014.
