[96] The Indictment does not appear in the Records, probably for the
Reason that it had been given to or taken by Dr. Mather, and never
returned. Mrs. How was of Topsfield, Wife of James How of that Town.
Ephraim Wildes was the Constable who apprehended her. Her Examination
was on the 30th of May, 1692, occupies two Pages, and was taken down by
Mr. "Sam. Parris."
[97] The Author has not taken up the respective Parties who gave
Evidence. Among others, no Notice is taken of that of two Ministers,
namely, Mr. Samuel Phillips and Mr. Edward Payson, both of Rowley. Mr.
Phillips gave his Age as about 67. Mr. _Paison_ did not state his.
Their Testimonies were passed over undoubtedly because they did not in
the least criminate Mrs. How; nor did they pretend that they had seen
any Thing like Witchcraft.
[98] They were not only not proved, but there are no Testimonies
recorded containing these Ghost Stories. The following Witnesses are
not noticed by Dr. Mather, viz.: Samuel Perley, aged about 52, and his
Wife about 46. Deborah Hadley, aged about 70 Years; had lived near
Elizabeth How ("ye Wife of James How, Jr. of Ipswich 24 year.") She
gave her a good Character. Mrs. Hadley testified on the 24th of June.
The next Day Daniel Warner, Sen. gave in his Testimony. It was of the
same tenor of Mrs. Hadley's. John Warner, Senʳ. also signed the same
Evidence. They had been well acquainted with Mrs. How "aboue 20 yeers."
So Simon Chapman and his Wife testified. Simon gave his Age as about
48--"hath ben aquainted with the Wiuef of James How, iunʳ. as a Naybar
for this 9 or 10 Yers;" never knew any harm of her, and "found hur
joust in hur delling, faythfooll," &c.
[99] Against such gratuitous, and to say the least, hearsay Testimony,
the Doctor should, in fairness, have noticed such Evidence as that
referred to in the last Note. A few others must not be overlooked.
Joseph Knowlton stated that he had been acquainted with Mrs. How, as
a Neighbor, and sometimes boarded in the House at his first coming to
live in these Parts, which was about ten Years ago. He and his Wife
Mary both gave her a good Character. His Age was "forty tu," and his
Wife's "thurty-tu."
James How, Sen., aged about 94, testified that he had lived by
Elizabeth, the Wife of James How, Junʳ, for about thirty Years; and,
"setting a side humain Infurmity," she always behaved well, becoming
her Place as a Daughter and Wife in all Relations.
Respecting the Church Difficulty, referred to in the Text, one Jacob
Foster, aged about 29, swore, that "some Years agoe," as Goodwife How
was about to join the Church, his Father was a Means of preventing it.
Whereupon his Mare was lost for several Days. When found she looked as
if she had been miserably beaten and abused. Sworn June 30th, 1692.
Thomas Andrews of Boxford, aged about 50, told a more ridiculous Story
about a Mare, belonging to Josiah Comings, Senʳ of Topsfield.
[100] Joseph Safford gave his Age about 60.
[101] John How gave his Age as about 50. The Doctor has made some
wretched Mistakes in his Abstract of this Testimony. It was his Sow
that "leaped up about three or foure foot hie," and fell down dead. The
_squeaking_ belonged to the Swine, and not to the Cattle.
[102] I do not find any Note of Nehemiah Abbot's Evidence in the
Records.
[103] This has reference, perhaps, to the Ghost Stories darkly hinted
at by the Dr. Mather in a previous Page.
[104] I have not noticed Martha Wood's Evidence among the Records. The
"great Quantities of Drink" reported lost, was probably found by some
of the Witnesses already noticed.
[105] Cummin's Testimony occupies above two solid Pages. His Age was
about sixty Years. His Christian Name was mistaken by Mather, being
Isaac instead of Josiah, as appears by the Records.
[106] Timothy _Perley_ and his Wife Deborah testified, June 1st, 1692,
that he was about 39 Years of Age, and his Wife about 33. The Abstract
above is exceedingly defective. See the _Records_, ii, 73-4.
[107] Francis Lane gave his Age as about 27, and said that the Time the
Witches afflicted the Rails was about "seauen" Years ago, and makes a
long Story out of it; but it is of a Piece with most of the Evidence.
Lane's Parentage has not been traced.
[108] They affirmed that many of those wretched Souls had been Baptized
at Newberry Falls; and at several other Rivers and Ponds; and as to the
Manner of Administration, the Great Officer of _Hell_ took them up by
the Body, and putting their Heads into the Water, said over them, _Thou
art mine, and I have full Power over the_: And thereupon they engaged
and covenanted to renounce GOD, CHRIST, their _sacred Baptism_, and the
whole Way of _Gospel Salvation_; and to use their utmost Endeavours to
oppose the Kingdom of CHRIST, and to set up and _advocate_ the Kingdom
of _Satan_.--Lawson, _Second Edition_, 118. See, also, Vol. I, Page
102-3.
[Martha Carryer's _Indictment_.]
[136] _The Indictment of_ Martha Carryer.[109]
[Essex ss.] _Anno Regni Regis & Reginæ Wilielmi & Mariæ, nunc Angliæ,
&c. quarto._--
THE Jurors for our Soveraign Lord and Lady the King and Queen, present,
That _Martha Carryer_, Wife of _Thomas Carryer_ of _Andover_, in the
County of _Essex_, Husbandman, The Thirty first Day of _May_, in the
fourth Year of the Reign of our Soveraign Lord and Lady _William_ and
_Mary_, by the Grace of God, of _England_, _Scotland_, _France_ and
_Ireland_, King and Queen, Defenders of the Faith, _&c._ And divers
other days and times, as well before as after, certain detestable Arts,
called Witchcrafts, and Sorceries, Wickedly and Felloniously hath
used, practised, and exercised, at and within the Township of _Salem_,
in the County of _Essex_ aforesaid, in, upon, and against one _Mary
Wolcott_ of _Salem_-Village, Single Woman, in the County of _Essex_
aforesaid; by which said wicked Arts the said _Mary Wolcott_, the
Thirty first Day of _May_, in the fourth Year aforesaid, and at divers
other days and times, as well before as after, was and is Tortured,
Afflicted, Pined, Consumed, Wasted and Tormented; against the Peace
of our Soveraign Lord and Lady, _William_ and _Mary_, King and Queen
of _England_; their Crown and Dignity, and against the Form of the
Statute, in that Case made and provided.
Witnesses--_Mary Wolcott, Elizabeth Hubbard, Ann Putnam_.
There was also a Second Indictment for afflicting _Elizabeth Hubbard_,
by Witchcraft. Witnesses--_Elizabeth Hubbard_, _Mary Wolcott_, _Ann
Putnam_, _Mary Warrin_.
[Martha Carryer's _Tryal_.]
The Trial of _Martha Carryer_, August 2, 1692. As may be seen in
_Wonders of the Invisible World_, from P. 132, to 138.
1. M_Artha Carryer_ was indicted for the bewitching of certain persons
according to the form usual in such Cases: Pleading not Guilty to her
Indictment; there were first brought in a considerable number of the
Bewitched persons; who not only made the Court sensible of an horrid
Witchcraft committed upon them, but also deposed, That it was _Martha
Carryer_, or her shape, that grievously tormented them by biting,
pricking, pinching and choaking them. It was further deposed that while
this _Carryer_ was on her Examination before the Magistrates, the poor
People were so tortured, that every one expected their Death upon the
very spot; but that upon the binding of _Carryer_ they were eased.
[137] Moreover the looks of _Carryer_ then laid the Afflicted People
for dead, and her Touch, if her Eyes at the same time were off them,
raised them again. Which things were also now seen upon her Tryal. And
it was testified, that upon the mention of some having their Necks
twisted almost round by the shape of this _Carryer_, she replied, _Its
no matter, tho their Necks had been twisted quite off_.[110]
2. Before the Tryal of this Prisoner, several of her own Children had
frankly and fully confessed not only that they were Witches themselves,
but that this their Mother had made them so. This confession they made
with great shows of Repentance, and with much Demonstration of Truth.
They related Place, Time, Occasion; they gave an Account of Journeys,
Meetings, and Mischiefs by them performed; and were very credible in
what they said. Nevertheless, this Evidence was not produced against
the Prisoner at the Bar, in as much as there was other Evidence enough
to proceed upon.[111]
3. _Benj. Abbot_ gave in his Testimony, That last _March_ was a Twelve
month, this _Carryer_ was very angry with him, upon laying out some
Land near her Husbands. Her expressions in this Anger were, _That she
would stick as close to_ Abbot, _as the Bark stuck to the Tree; and
that he should repent of it afore seven Years came to an end, so as
Doctor_ Prescot _should never cure him_. These words were heard by
others, besides _Abbot_ himself, who also heard her say, _She would
hold his Nose as close to the Grind-stone as ever it was held since his
name was_ Abbot. Presently after this he was taken with a swelling in
his Foot, and then with a Pain in his Side, and exceedingly tormented.
It bred unto a Sore, which was lanced by Dr. _Prescot_, and several
Gallons of Corruption ran out of it. For six Weeks it continued very
bad; and then another Sore bred in his Groin, which was also lanced
by Dr. _Prescot_. Another Sore bred in his Groin which was likewise
Cut, and put him to very great misery. He was brought unto Death's
door, and so remained until _Carryer_ was taken and carried away by the
Constable. From which very day he began to mend, and so grew better
every day, and is well ever since.[112]
_Sarah Abbot_ also his Wife testified, that her Husband was not
only all this while Afflicted in his Body; but also that strange,
extraordinary and unaccountable calamities befel his Cattle; their
Death being such as they could guess at no Natural Reason for.[113]
4. _Allin Toothaker_ testified, that _Richard_ the Son of _Martha
Carryer_, having some difference with him, pull'd him down by the Hair
of the Head, when he rose again, he was going to strike at _Richard
Carryer_, but fell down flat on his back to the ground, and had not
power to stir Hand or foot, until he told _Carryer_ he yielded; and
then he saw the shape of _Martha Carryer_, go off his Breast.
[138] This _Toothaker_ had received a wound in the Wars, and he
now testified, that _Martha Carryer_ told him, _He shall never be
cured_. Just afore the apprehending of _Carryer_, he could thrust a
Knitting-Needle into his wound four Inches deep, but presently after
her being seized, he was thoroughly healed.
He further testified, that when _Carryer_ and he sometimes were at
variance, she would clap her Hands at him and say, _He should get
nothing by it_. Whereupon he several times lost his Cattle, by strange
Deaths, whereof no natural causes could be given.[114]
5. _John Roger_ also testified, that upon the threatning words of this
malicious _Carryer_, his Cattle would be strangely bewitched; as was
more particularly then described.[115]
6. _Samuel Preston_ testified, that about two Years ago, having
some difference with _Martha Carryer_, he lost a Cow in a strange,
preternatural, unusual manner; and about a Month after this, the said
_Carryer_, having again some difference with him, she told him, _He had
lately lost a Cow, and it should not be long before he lost another!_
which accordingly came to pass; for he had a thriving and well kept
Cow, which without any known cause quickly fell down and died.[116]
7. _Phebe Chandler_ testified, that about a Fortnight before the
Apprehension of _Martha Carryer_, on a Lords Day, while the Psalm was
singing in the Church, this _Carryer_ then took her by the Shoulder,
and shaking her, asked her, _Where she lived?_ she made her no Answer,
altho as _Carryer_, who lived next door to her Father's House, could
not in Reason but know who she was. Quickly after this, as she was at
several times crossing the Fields she heard a Voice that she took to
be _Martha Carryers_, and it seem'd as if it were over her head. The
Voice told her, _She should within two or three Days be Poison'd_:
Accordingly within such a little time, one half of her Right Hand
became greatly swollen and very painful; as also part of her Face;
whereof she can give no Account how it came. It continued very bad
for some days; and several times since she has had a great pain in
her Breast; and been so seized on her Legs that she has hardly been
able to go. She added that lately, going well to the House of God,
_Richard_ the Son of _Martha Carryer_, look'd very earnestly upon
her, and immediately her Hand which had formerly been Poisoned, as is
abovesaid, began to pain her greatly, and she had a strange burning
at her Stomach; but was then struck deaf, so that she could not hear
any of the Prayer, or Singing, till the two or three last words of the
Psalm.[117]
8. One _Foster_, who confessed her own share in the Witchcraft, for
which the Prisoner stood Indicted, affirmed, that she had seen
the Prisoner at some of their Witch-meetings, and that it was this
_Carryer_, who perswaded her to be a Witch. She confessed that the
Devil carried them on [139] a Pole to a Witch-meeting, but the Pole
broke, and she hanging about _Carryer's_ Neck, they both fell down, and
she then received an hurt by the fall, whereof she was not at this very
time recovered.[118]
9. One _Lacy_, who likewise confessed her share in this Witchcraft,
now testified that she and the Prisoner, were once bodily present, at
a Witch-meeting in _Salem_-Village, and that she knew the Prisoner to
be a Witch, and to have been at a Diabolical Sacrament, and that the
Prisoner was the undoing of her and her Children, by enticing them into
the Snare of the Devil.[119]
10. Another _Lacy_, who also confessed her share in this Witchcraft,
now testified that the Prisoner was at the Witch meeting in
_Salem_-Village, where they had Bread and Wine administred unto them.
11. In the time of this Prisoners Tryal, one _Susanna Shelden_[120]
in open Court, had her Hands unaccountably tied together, with a
Wheel-band, so fast, that without cutting, it could not be loosed. It
was done by a Spectre; and the Sufferer affirm'd, it was the Prisoners.
_Memorandum._ This _Rampant Hag, Martha Carryer_, was the person of
whom the Confessions of the Witches and of her own Children, among the
rest, agreed, that the Devil had promised her, she should be Queen of
Hell.[121]
Thus far the Account given in _Wonders of the Invisible World_; in
which setting aside such words as these, in the Tryal of _G. B._ viz.
[_They_ (i. e.) _the Witnesses were enough to fix the character of a
Witch upon him._]
In the Tryal of _Bishop_, these words, [_but there was no need of
them_] i. e. of further Testimony.
In the Tryal of _How_, where it is said, [and there came in Testimony
of preternatural Mischiefs, presently befalling some that had been
instrumental to debar her from the Communion, whereupon she was
_intruding_.] _Martin_ is call'd [one of the most impudent, scurrilous,
wicked Creatures in the World.] In his Account of _Martha Carryer_, he
is pleased to call her [a _Rampant Hag_,] &c.
These Expressions as they manifest, that he wrote more like an Advocate
than an Historian; so also that those that were his Imployers were not
mistaken in their choice of him for that work, however he may have mist
it in other things.
As in his owning (in the Tryal of _G. B._) That the _Testimony of the
bewitched, and confessors was not enough against the Accused_, for it
is known that not only in _New-England_, such Evidence has been taken
for sufficient, but also in _England_, as himself there owns, and will
also hold true of _Scotland_, &c. they having proceeded upon such
Evidence, to the taking away of the Lives of many, to assert that this
is not enough, is to tell the World that such Executions were but so
many Bloody Murders; which surely was not his intent to say.[122]