August 24, 2025 • 14 mins
The thing about witch hunts is what happens after can be just as revealing as the hunt itself. After 20 executions and over 150 arrests, Salem had a serious PR problem on its hands. How do you explain away one of colonial America's most notorious legal disasters? Simple: you control who gets to tell the story.
But here's the thing about cover-ups—they rarely go according to plan. Join us as we dive into Salem's messy aftermath, where the real question wasn't who practiced witchcraft, but who was willing to admit they'd been wrong. Because the thing about truth is it has a funny way of surfacing, even when powerful people are trying their hardest to bury it.
Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive and Transcription Project
Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt
The Thing About Salem Patreon
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
When I came home, I found many persons in a strange ferment of
dissatisfaction, which was increased by some hot spirits
that blew up the flame. But on inquiry into the matter,
I found that the devil had takenupon him the name and shape of
several persons who were doubtless innocent, and to my
certain knowledge of good reputation.
(00:22):
For which 'cause I have now forbidden the committing of any
more that shall be accused without unavoidable necessity.
And those that have been committed, I would shelter from
any proceedings against them, where in there may be the least
suspicion of any wrong to be done unto the innocent.
I would also wait for any particular directions or
(00:43):
commands, if their Majesties please, to give me any for the
fuller ordering this perplexed affair.
I have also put a stop to the printing of any discourses one
way or the other, that may increase the needless disputes
of people upon this occasion, because I saw a likelihood of
(01:03):
kindling an inextinguishable flame, if I should admit any
public and open contests. Governor Sir William Phipps,
October 12th, 1692 Letter to thePrivy Council in London.
Welcome back to the Thing about Salem.
(01:24):
I'm Josh Hutchinson. And I'm Sarah Jack.
Our ancestors had to move on after the Salem witch trials.
But as Governor Phipps predicted, an inextinguishable
flame had been kindled. And that flame still burns
today. Do you see it?
Do you feel its heat? So here we are in Massachusetts.
(01:47):
It's October 1692. The colony has just executed 20
people based on spectral evidence.
The governor has shut everythingdown, and suddenly everyone's
looking around. Like what now?
Over 150 people have been crammed into horrible jail
(02:08):
condition. Let's talk about other events of
October 1692. Governor Phipps had stopped the
trials. He banned unauthorized books.
But guess who gets to publish Cotton rather and increase
Mather? Cotton rushes out his
(02:30):
publication. You know the title Wonders of
the Invisible World, The official We did nothing wrong
account defending the trials in Wonders of the Invisible World,
he wrote. I have indeed set myself to
counter mind the whole plot of the Devil against New England,
(02:52):
and every branch of it, as far as one of my darkness can
comprehend such a work of darkness.
Meanwhile, Cotton's father Increase Mather, who ministers
with them at the same church in Boston.
They both published these books in October 1692.
(03:15):
Increases book is called cases of conscience and he argues
against spectral evidence while Cotton Mather defends the use of
spectral evidence and yet in their books they claim that they
agree with each other. So increase Mather in cases of
conscience. One of the things that he says
(03:37):
is the same God who hath said, Thou shalt not suffer a witch to
live hath also said At the mouthof two witnesses, or three
witnesses shall he that is worthy of death be put to death,
but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.
But do they really get the last word?
(04:00):
Did that extinguish the flame that Phipps wanted stomped out?
There was one other narrative that did get out in October
1692. It was written anonymously by
the Reverend Samuel Willard, also of Boston, but he published
(04:20):
it under an imprint that said itwas printed in Philadelphia.
So he's both not putting his ownname on it and it's coming out
in Philadelphia, all to get around this publication ban and
any repercussions against him. Because Massachusetts had
(04:41):
prosecuted for some writings forscandalous and seditious
writings criticizing the court proceedings.
So we know that any blowback against what the court was doing
did actually result in penalties, fines and jail time.
(05:05):
So it was dangerous to try to skirt this publication.
But Samuel Willard writes this book.
It's called Some Miscellaneous Observations on Our Present
Debates Respecting Witchcrafts in a dialogue between S&B, which
everyone believes stand for Salem and Boston.
(05:25):
And he credits it. He says it's written by PE and
JA, so Philip English and John Alden, who had escaped from the
witch trials and gone flood to New York.
So it's all wrapped up in this mystery.
He's really hiding his name behind a number of layers here.
(05:48):
And then there's somebody who has given us a lot of details
and he started openly confronting Cotton mothers
through correspondence. They had a furious exchange of
letters which Robert Caleb printed in his book More Wonders
(06:15):
of the Invisible World, which here More Wonders of the
Invisible World is a play on thetitle of Cotton Mothers work,
Wonders of the Invisible World, suggesting that here's some more
information about the Salem Witch Trials.
In it, he says, And now 19 persons have been hagged, and
(06:38):
one pressed to death, and eight more condemned, in all 20, and
eight of which above a third part were members of some of the
churches in New England, and more than half of them have a
good conversation in general, and not one cleared about 50
having confessed themselves to be witches, of which not one
(06:59):
executed above 150 in prison, and above 200 more accused.
Another guy who's really trustedhere because he witnessed a lot
of the witch trial activity first hand is the minister from
Beverly, MA, John Hale. He's one of the ones who Samuel
(07:25):
Parris called in very early, before any witchcraft
accusations were even made to come and pray for Betty Parris
and Abigail Williams when they were afflicted.
And so he's involved. He he testifies against Dorcas
or he's in the trials and involved with them.
(07:46):
And then in the fall, supposedlyhis wife got accused of
witchcraft. And so that caused him to
reconsider. And so he spent years, five
years actually reconsidering thewitch trials and thinking it all
(08:07):
through, what it meant, how it went wrong.
And he challenges the official narrative with this book.
It's written in 1697. It's noteworthy that it's not
published in Boston until 17 O2,which is after William Stoughton
had died in July 17 O one. So he's the primary cheerleader
(08:32):
for the Salem witch trial, basically the former Chief
Justice of the court. And by the way, Governor Phipps
had died in 1695 S They're both out of the way.
And now it's finally time to publish A Modest Inquiry into
the Nature of Witchcraft by Beverly Minister John Hale.
(08:54):
It's a parrot. The community was really
questioning everything that theyhad just experienced and
witnessed. Yeah.
And another way that we know that people were questioning it
is through some public acts of contrition.
(09:15):
You might call them apologies, you might say that maybe they're
not the most sincere apologies, but they are apologies.
And on January 14th, 1697, thereis a fast day being held all
across Massachusetts, partly in response to the late troubles
(09:37):
with the witch trials. Because things have really gone
badly for Massachusetts the lastfive years since they tried all
these witches. And, well, maybe one thing is
responsible for the other. So they're going to have a fast
day. Judge Sewell stands up in his
church. He hands a note to Minister
(09:58):
Samuel Willard, who we've met before.
And Samuel Willard reads this apology aloud while Judge Sewell
stands there under the gaze of all of his fellow congregants.
And he takes responsibility on himself.
He doesn't blame anybody else. He takes responsibility for his
(10:19):
role in the witch trials. And we know he was tormented
because there's a transcription of Magistrate Sewell's diary.
There's a lot of really great stories in there and a lot of
details about life. And one of the things that he
expresses is having nightmares. And Robert Califf reports that
(10:43):
several jurors signed statementssaying they were sadly deluded
and mistaken, asking for forgiveness from families in the
community. And the apologies continued, or
at least there was one more in the 18th century.
August 25th, 17 O 6. And Putnam Junior apologized in
(11:04):
church. She probably stood in front of
the congregation while the new minister of Salem Village,
Joseph Green, read what she said.
But here she is. When the witch trials were
happening, she was 12. Now she's about 26, and she's
standing before her whole congregation saying that she
(11:28):
desires to lie in the dust and take the blame and the shame of
it. Continuing on into the 18th
century, the legal reckoning opens.
In 17 O 3, Massachusetts reversed the attenders and the
convictions of three women out of the 30 people who had been
(11:50):
convicted. And so the rest are still
waiting. But 1711 comes around, and
finally the General Court of Massachusetts takes some
actions, But they sound like thejurors.
They sound like Ann Putnam Junior.
They're saying that the trials were caused by delusion, that
(12:13):
yes, there were innocent victims, but it was a delusion
of Satan that caused that to happen.
They do reverse convictions and the Tangers.
And then in 1712, the General Court paid out restitution to
the individuals. Many of them, not all had family
(12:37):
members killed or who had survived being convicted, like
Elizabeth Proctor had survived because of her pregnancy, but
she was convicted and still lived under this attainder,
which was basically legal death.And this bill, this reversal of
(12:59):
attainder in 1711, it didn't include everybody who had been
convicted. There were several people who
had to have their names cleared in 1957, and Prudiator was
cleared then. You had five women cleared in
2001, and finally Elizabeth Johnson Junior had her Tanger
(13:21):
reversed in 2022. And that took a lot of work.
We've seen pardons in Spain, we've seen apology in Scotland,
we've seen absolution in Connecticut.
(13:43):
Those all took concerted effortswith petitions backed by
thousands of signatures and justa lot of letter writing and
testimony being given to push for those things to be done.
And as it happens, there are 8 individuals who were convicted
(14:03):
of witch trapped in Boston priorto the Salem witch trials who
have not been cleared or recognized.
So there is a bill to exonerate those individuals.
It's Massachusetts bill age 1927.
It was proposed by Representative Stephen Owens of
(14:24):
Cambridge and Watertown, and it would clear those 8 individuals.
And it also recognizes everyone who's suffered witchcraft
accusations of Massachusetts. If you would like to have your
name on the petition asking for this exoneration, you can go to
change.org/witch Trials and showyour support with the thousands
(14:49):
of other people who are signing it.
When I came home, I found many persons in a strange ferment of
dissatisfaction, which was increased by some hot spirits
that blew up the flame. But on inquiry into the matter,
I found that the devil had takenupon him the name and shape of
several persons who were doubtless innocent, and to my
certain knowledge of good reputation.
(00:22):
For which 'cause I have now forbidden the committing of any
more that shall be accused without unavoidable necessity.
And those that have been committed, I would shelter from
any proceedings against them, where in there may be the least
suspicion of any wrong to be done unto the innocent.
I would also wait for any particular directions or
(00:43):
commands, if their Majesties please, to give me any for the
fuller ordering this perplexed affair.
I have also put a stop to the printing of any discourses one
way or the other, that may increase the needless disputes
of people upon this occasion, because I saw a likelihood of
(01:03):
kindling an inextinguishable flame, if I should admit any
public and open contests. Governor Sir William Phipps,
October 12th, 1692 Letter to thePrivy Council in London.
Welcome back to the Thing about Salem.
(01:24):
I'm Josh Hutchinson. And I'm Sarah Jack.
Our ancestors had to move on after the Salem witch trials.
But as Governor Phipps predicted, an inextinguishable
flame had been kindled. And that flame still burns
today. Do you see it?
Do you feel its heat? So here we are in Massachusetts.
(01:47):
It's October 1692. The colony has just executed 20
people based on spectral evidence.
The governor has shut everythingdown, and suddenly everyone's
looking around. Like what now?
Over 150 people have been crammed into horrible jail
(02:08):
condition. Let's talk about other events of
October 1692. Governor Phipps had stopped the
trials. He banned unauthorized books.
But guess who gets to publish Cotton rather and increase
Mather? Cotton rushes out his
(02:30):
publication. You know the title Wonders of
the Invisible World, The official We did nothing wrong
account defending the trials in Wonders of the Invisible World,
he wrote. I have indeed set myself to
counter mind the whole plot of the Devil against New England,
(02:52):
and every branch of it, as far as one of my darkness can
comprehend such a work of darkness.
Meanwhile, Cotton's father Increase Mather, who ministers
with them at the same church in Boston.
They both published these books in October 1692.
(03:15):
Increases book is called cases of conscience and he argues
against spectral evidence while Cotton Mather defends the use of
spectral evidence and yet in their books they claim that they
agree with each other. So increase Mather in cases of
conscience. One of the things that he says
(03:37):
is the same God who hath said, Thou shalt not suffer a witch to
live hath also said At the mouthof two witnesses, or three
witnesses shall he that is worthy of death be put to death,
but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.
But do they really get the last word?
(04:00):
Did that extinguish the flame that Phipps wanted stomped out?
There was one other narrative that did get out in October
1692. It was written anonymously by
the Reverend Samuel Willard, also of Boston, but he published
(04:20):
it under an imprint that said itwas printed in Philadelphia.
So he's both not putting his ownname on it and it's coming out
in Philadelphia, all to get around this publication ban and
any repercussions against him. Because Massachusetts had
(04:41):
prosecuted for some writings forscandalous and seditious
writings criticizing the court proceedings.
So we know that any blowback against what the court was doing
did actually result in penalties, fines and jail time.
(05:05):
So it was dangerous to try to skirt this publication.
But Samuel Willard writes this book.
It's called Some Miscellaneous Observations on Our Present
Debates Respecting Witchcrafts in a dialogue between S&B, which
everyone believes stand for Salem and Boston.
(05:25):
And he credits it. He says it's written by PE and
JA, so Philip English and John Alden, who had escaped from the
witch trials and gone flood to New York.
So it's all wrapped up in this mystery.
He's really hiding his name behind a number of layers here.
(05:48):
And then there's somebody who has given us a lot of details
and he started openly confronting Cotton mothers
through correspondence. They had a furious exchange of
letters which Robert Caleb printed in his book More Wonders
(06:15):
of the Invisible World, which here More Wonders of the
Invisible World is a play on thetitle of Cotton Mothers work,
Wonders of the Invisible World, suggesting that here's some more
information about the Salem Witch Trials.
In it, he says, And now 19 persons have been hagged, and
(06:38):
one pressed to death, and eight more condemned, in all 20, and
eight of which above a third part were members of some of the
churches in New England, and more than half of them have a
good conversation in general, and not one cleared about 50
having confessed themselves to be witches, of which not one
(06:59):
executed above 150 in prison, and above 200 more accused.
Another guy who's really trustedhere because he witnessed a lot
of the witch trial activity first hand is the minister from
Beverly, MA, John Hale. He's one of the ones who Samuel
(07:25):
Parris called in very early, before any witchcraft
accusations were even made to come and pray for Betty Parris
and Abigail Williams when they were afflicted.
And so he's involved. He he testifies against Dorcas
or he's in the trials and involved with them.
(07:46):
And then in the fall, supposedlyhis wife got accused of
witchcraft. And so that caused him to
reconsider. And so he spent years, five
years actually reconsidering thewitch trials and thinking it all
(08:07):
through, what it meant, how it went wrong.
And he challenges the official narrative with this book.
It's written in 1697. It's noteworthy that it's not
published in Boston until 17 O2,which is after William Stoughton
had died in July 17 O one. So he's the primary cheerleader
(08:32):
for the Salem witch trial, basically the former Chief
Justice of the court. And by the way, Governor Phipps
had died in 1695 S They're both out of the way.
And now it's finally time to publish A Modest Inquiry into
the Nature of Witchcraft by Beverly Minister John Hale.
(08:54):
It's a parrot. The community was really
questioning everything that theyhad just experienced and
witnessed. Yeah.
And another way that we know that people were questioning it
is through some public acts of contrition.
(09:15):
You might call them apologies, you might say that maybe they're
not the most sincere apologies, but they are apologies.
And on January 14th, 1697, thereis a fast day being held all
across Massachusetts, partly in response to the late troubles
(09:37):
with the witch trials. Because things have really gone
badly for Massachusetts the lastfive years since they tried all
these witches. And, well, maybe one thing is
responsible for the other. So they're going to have a fast
day. Judge Sewell stands up in his
church. He hands a note to Minister
(09:58):
Samuel Willard, who we've met before.
And Samuel Willard reads this apology aloud while Judge Sewell
stands there under the gaze of all of his fellow congregants.
And he takes responsibility on himself.
He doesn't blame anybody else. He takes responsibility for his
(10:19):
role in the witch trials. And we know he was tormented
because there's a transcription of Magistrate Sewell's diary.
There's a lot of really great stories in there and a lot of
details about life. And one of the things that he
expresses is having nightmares. And Robert Califf reports that
(10:43):
several jurors signed statementssaying they were sadly deluded
and mistaken, asking for forgiveness from families in the
community. And the apologies continued, or
at least there was one more in the 18th century.
August 25th, 17 O 6. And Putnam Junior apologized in
(11:04):
church. She probably stood in front of
the congregation while the new minister of Salem Village,
Joseph Green, read what she said.
But here she is. When the witch trials were
happening, she was 12. Now she's about 26, and she's
standing before her whole congregation saying that she
(11:28):
desires to lie in the dust and take the blame and the shame of
it. Continuing on into the 18th
century, the legal reckoning opens.
In 17 O 3, Massachusetts reversed the attenders and the
convictions of three women out of the 30 people who had been
(11:50):
convicted. And so the rest are still
waiting. But 1711 comes around, and
finally the General Court of Massachusetts takes some
actions, But they sound like thejurors.
They sound like Ann Putnam Junior.
They're saying that the trials were caused by delusion, that
(12:13):
yes, there were innocent victims, but it was a delusion
of Satan that caused that to happen.
They do reverse convictions and the Tangers.
And then in 1712, the General Court paid out restitution to
the individuals. Many of them, not all had family
(12:37):
members killed or who had survived being convicted, like
Elizabeth Proctor had survived because of her pregnancy, but
she was convicted and still lived under this attainder,
which was basically legal death.And this bill, this reversal of
(12:59):
attainder in 1711, it didn't include everybody who had been
convicted. There were several people who
had to have their names cleared in 1957, and Prudiator was
cleared then. You had five women cleared in
2001, and finally Elizabeth Johnson Junior had her Tanger
(13:21):
reversed in 2022. And that took a lot of work.
We've seen pardons in Spain, we've seen apology in Scotland,
we've seen absolution in Connecticut.
(13:43):
Those all took concerted effortswith petitions backed by
thousands of signatures and justa lot of letter writing and
testimony being given to push for those things to be done.
And as it happens, there are 8 individuals who were convicted
(14:03):
of witch trapped in Boston priorto the Salem witch trials who
have not been cleared or recognized.
So there is a bill to exonerate those individuals.
It's Massachusetts bill age 1927.
It was proposed by Representative Stephen Owens of
(14:24):
Cambridge and Watertown, and it would clear those 8 individuals.
And it also recognizes everyone who's suffered witchcraft
accusations of Massachusetts. If you would like to have your
name on the petition asking for this exoneration, you can go to
change.org/witch Trials and showyour support with the thousands
(14:49):
of other people who are signing it.
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