The Thing About Salem

In our February 26, 1692 episode of Salem Witch Trials Daily, we look at the moment the Salem Witch Trials escalated when the first specific accusation of witchcraft was made. We discuss how neighboring ministers and gentlemen visited Samuel Parris at the Salem Village parsonage, witnessed Betty and Abigail’s afflictions, and concluded Satan’s hand was involved while advising caution. We also cover what was learned from Tituba duri...

The Witch Cake That Sparked Salem’s PanicWe revisit the crisis in Reverend Samuel Parris’s Salem Village household in February 1692, when his daughter Betty and niece Abigail Williams suffered violent fits and a doctor declared they were under an “evil hand.” With no natural cure, neighbor Mary Sibley intervened while the Parrises were away, directing Tituba and John Indian to make a traditional witch cake using rye flour and the g...

We introduce the early events that sparked the Salem witch trials, focusing on January and February 1692 in Reverend Samuel Parris’s Salem Village household. Parris’s 9-year-old daughter Betty and 11-year-old niece Abigail began exhibiting alarming, inexplicable behaviors and violent physical afflictions. The family tried prayer, fasting, and medical treatment without relief, and around February 24 a local physician (widely believe...

Before Salem: Boston’s Forgotten Witchcraft Victims and the Push for Exoneration

We open with a 1692 London story involving Increase and Samuel Mather and a warning that supposed ghosts could be devils deceiving the grieving. Then we share an update on Massachusetts bill H.1927 to exonerate people accused of witchcraft in Boston and elsewhere: it has been favorably reported out of the Judiciary Committee, is headed to the full House...

Eight Survival Strategies in the Salem Witch Trials

We look at how accused people tried to stay alive during the 1692 Salem witch panic, when witchcraft convictions often led to the gallows. We outline eight strategies that were used to delay or avoid execution—ranging from confession and pregnancy to seeking spiritual reprieves, accusing others, presenting as afflicted, and leaning on petitions and character witnesses. We also disc...

The Putnam Family's Role in the Salem Witch Trials

No family is more associated with the Salem Witch Trials than the Putnams. And for good reason. One man in this family filed complaints against 35 people. His wife, his daughter, and their maid were all among the afflicted. The depositions, the courtroom drama, the relentless momentum of accusation after accusation. The Putnams were not bystanders to any of it.

So it would be eas...

We look back to May 1690, two years before the Salem witch trials, to examine the fall of Falmouth and Fort Loyal and how it helped fuel an atmosphere of fear in New England. We trace Boston’s wartime strategy in King William’s War, including plans for offensives against Port Royal and Montreal, and the council’s tendency to blame frontier settlers for raids. We follow John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin’s inspection of Maine’s defen...

We discuss how Maine, then part of Massachusetts, was a war-torn frontier during the years surrounding the Salem Witch Trials and show that refugee movements, fear, and trauma from frontier conflict contributed to the Salem panic. The hosts focus on Salem figures connected to Falmouth (now Portland), including minister George Burroughs, afflicted witness Mercy Lewis, and confessor Abigail Hobbs, emphasizing how their experiences in...

This episode explores an often-overlooked driver of the 1692 Salem witch trials: the fear and instability radiating from the Maine and New Hampshire frontier. Against the backdrop of war, raids, refugees, and political turmoil, the hosts trace how frontier experiences and beliefs seeped into Essex County and helped intensify the witch-hunt—connecting key Salem figures to events and accusations rooted far to the north.

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We recount John Proctor’s role in the Salem witch trials, from his defense of his wife Elizabeth after she was accused in 1692 to his own arrest and conviction. We describe his criticism of the proceedings, petitions arguing the trials were unfair, and his execution on August 19, 1692 after being denied a final prayer because he would not falsely confess. Elizabeth survived due to pregnancy, later received a reprieve, and the famil...

The episode of Salem Witch Trials Daily profiles the influential Putnam family of Salem Village and their mixed roles during the 1692 witchcraft crisis. It traces the family’s origins and three main branches, highlighting that some Putnams were major accusers while others supported the accused, including signing a petition for Rebecca Nurse. The hosts also note a prominent Putnam opponent of the trials and concludes that people in ...

We discuss colonial physicians in the Salem area and their role in shifting unexplained illness from a medical issue to a spiritual and legal crisis. On February 16, 1692, physician William Griggs Sr. bought a home and land in Salem Village for 71 pounds, where he lived with his wife and his niece Elizabeth Hubbard, who became afflicted on February 25. Griggs is widely believed to have diagnosed Betty Parris and Abigail Williams as...

Martha Carrier was dubbed the “Queen in Hell.” We trace how her 1692 witchcraft case expanded into a royal family saga. The episode outlines her arrest, trial, and execution, then follows the accusations and confessions that swept through multiple connected relatives and in-laws in the Allen, Ingalls, Toothaker, Carrier, Dane, and Johnson branches, showing how family ties and reputation intensified the crisis in Andover.

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History remembers Tituba—but she wasn’t the only enslaved woman caught in Salem’s 1692 witch hunt. Meet Candy of Barbados, whose courtroom testimony turned Puritan assumptions upside down.

When magistrates asked if she was a witch, Candy gave an answer that indicted the entire colony: “Candy no witch, Barbados. This country, mistress give Candy witch.” Then she brought cheese and grass into the courtroom as proof.

What followed was o...

We trace Reverend Samuel Parris’s sermons from late 1691 through 1692 to show how his preaching shifted from general theology to targeted rhetoric during the Salem witch trials. Beginning November 22, 1691, amid village disputes over his salary and firewood, Parris preaches on Psalm 110:1 about enemies. On January 3, 1692, he intensifies his message, calling even the elect “children of wrath,” warning that the devil actively threat...

We examine the unwavering defiance of many individuals accused of witchcraft in 1692, looking into the stories of Rebecca Nurse, George Jacobs Sr., Susannah Martin, John Willard, and more, who refused to confess despite immense pressure and the threat of execution. Additionally, we discuss those who did confess, like Samuel Wardwell, and examine the physical and psychological pressures faced by the accused. The episode also highlig...

We examine the critical role of geography in the 1692 Salem Witch Trials. They discuss the stark contrasts between Salem Town and Salem Village, the widespread nature of the accusations, and the influence of the broader region, including the impact of the Frontier War in Maine and the significant number of accusations in Andover. They also debunk common misconceptions about the accusers' proximity and detail the physical realit...

In this episode, we explain the criteria set by English Puritan theologian William Perkins for identifying witches, as detailed in his book 'A Discourse of the Damned Art of Witchcraft.' The discussion includes the seven grounds for examining alleged witches, such as public defamation and association with other witches, and the insufficiency of various olden-day practices like the swimming test and the red-hot iron test. Th...

We investigate the lives of the afflicted persons during the Salem Witch Trials, focusing on their roles as servants and their marriage prospects. The episode delves into the stories of key figures Abigail Williams, Elizabeth Hubbard, Mary Warren, Mercy Lewis, Sarah Churchill, Elizabeth Parris, Ann Putnam Jr., Mary Walcott, Susannah Sheldon, and Daniel Wilkins. Listeners will learn about the diverse backgrounds and fates of these i...