Salem Witch Trials Daily

June 4, 1692: Mary Ireson Arrest Warrant and Job Tookey ExaminedWe track the Salem Witch Trials on Saturday, June 4, 1692, as magistrates John Hathorne, Jonathan Corwin, and Bartholomew Gedney record accusations against Mary Ireson of Lynn for allegedly afflicting multiple Salem Village girls, leading to a warrant for her arrest and delivery to Thomas Beadle’s tavern. We follow constable Henry Col...

Grand Jury Indicts Rebecca Nurse and John Willard | Salem Witch Trials Daily (June 3, 1692)We head inside the Salem Court of Oyer and Terminer on June 3, 1692, as the grand jury—led again by foreman John Ruck—hears spectral testimony and older depositions against Rebecca Nurse and John Willard, with no physical evidence presented. Our focus is the turning point as Nurse is charged on four counts f...

Bridget Bishop on Trial: The Court of Oyer and Terminer Opens in Salem (June 2, 1692)The new Court of Oyer and Terminer opens at the Salem Town House as we follow Bridget Bishop through the first full force of Salem Witch Trials justice—oaths sworn by William Stoughton, Thomas Newton, and Stephen Sewall, preliminary actions in other accused witches’ cases, and a startling jailhouse body search for...

June 1, 1692: Spectral “General Meeting,” Perley Testimony vs. Elizabeth How, and Trials on the Brink Salem is at a breaking point on June 1, 1692, with the Court of Oyer and Terminer about to open and overcrowded Massachusetts jails feeding a steady transfer of witchcraft suspects from Boston to Salem. We follow magistrates John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin as they question Abigail and Deliveranc...

May 31, 1692: John Alden Arrested as Salem Witch Trials NearWe’re racing toward the start of the Salem witch trials, and May 31, 1692 explodes with action: John Alden’s shocking arrest, seven examinations in the Salem meetinghouse, and a flood of depositions as the colony braces for court in just two days. We follow surviving records for Alden, Martha Carrier, Elizabeth How, and Wilmot Redd, along...

Spectral Attacks, a Boston Arrest, and the Oyer and Terminer Jury CallWe dive into a chilling cluster of late-May 1692 developments: a tantalizing, barely recorded claim that Elizabeth How’s specter dragged Susannah Shelden to a pond, and the strange death of Captain John How’s sow—followed by countermagic, a numb hand, and lasting pain that pointed suspicion back to Elizabeth. Tension spikes as P...

Sunday Arrests and Spectral Attacks: May 29, 1692We drop you into a shocking Sabbath in Salem’s 1692 crisis, when Wilmot Redd, Sarah Rice, and Elizabeth How are seized despite the day’s sacred rules—one arrest made even as the constable’s own mother sits jailed for witchcraft. Tension spikes as Captain John How refuses to escort his own sister-in-law to Salem Village, declaring he won’t be part of...

May 28, 1692: Eleven New Accusations and a Wave of Arrest WarrantsEleven new witchcraft accusations land at once, and with trials looming, the danger is immediate—three of today’s newly named suspects, Martha Carrier, Wilmot Redd, and Elizabeth How, will ultimately be hanged. We track the sweeping complaint filed by Jonathan Walcott and John Holten, aimed at a wide-ranging set of people from Andov...

May 27, 1692: Oyer and Terminer Rises as Jails OverflowWe’re at a turning point on Friday, May 27, 1692, as the new charter transforms Massachusetts into a royal province, wipes out the old legal system, and forces new courts and laws aligned with England—just as overcrowded jails strain under at least 51 witchcraft prisoners and rising “jail fever.” Governor Phips moves fast, creating the special...

Today was a fast day across the Massachusetts colony. Essex County Marshall George Herrick and Constable Joseph Neal saw several people be afflicted by supposed specters. Mary Walcott, Ann Putnam Jr., Mercy Lewis, and a Mrs. Mary Marshall of Reading, who was reported as afflicted for the very first time, claimed that Mary Bradbury of Salisbury, Sarah Rice of Reading, Wilmot Redd of Marblehead, and...

Chest Pain on the Road Past Procter’s HouseWe track Salem on May 25, 1692, as magistrates John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin push paperwork forward with a mittimus transferring prisoners to Boston Jail—despite those prisoners already being there. Then our attention turns to a tense ride from Newbury to Boston: Priscilla Bailey and her husband Joseph pass through Salem Village and near John Procter’...

We take you straight into Tuesday, May 24, 1692, as Boston’s leadership gathers at the Town House and the governor and council wrangle over who will hold the colony’s key civil offices—sheriffs, justices, and more—while Governor Phips also sets June 8 for the next General Court session. Then we head to Salem Village, where Mary Warren, seemingly trapped in a trance, confronts a chilling demand to...

May 23, 1692: Surprise Examinations, New Warrants, and 51 SuspectsWe race through a packed Monday as accusations explode across Salem: Elizabeth Booth alleges nighttime torment from Mary DeRich and the Procters while officials move fast with fresh complaints, sweeping warrants, and three arrests delivered to Salem for questioning. Our biggest jolt comes from Captain Nathaniel Cary’s firsthand acco...

Increase Mather Returns as the Witchcraft Crisis BuildsWe’re in Boston on Sunday, May 22, 1692, as Reverend Increase Mather preaches at the North Church just eight days after returning from London with a new charter, choosing Psalm 121:8 to mark his “going out” and “coming in.” Drawing on Cotton Mather’s notes, we follow Increase as he warns the congregation that “a power of devils” is in the air...

Mary Esty Shackled as New Accusations and Philip English’s Threats EscalateWe pick up on Saturday, May 21, 1692, with Mary Esty imprisoned and shackled as Mercy Lewis reportedly begins to recover from violent fits and Magistrates John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin start examining Esty. While the court pauses and prepares to resume, new complaints from John and Thomas Putnam target Susannah Roots, S...

Midnight Deadline: Mercy Lewis, Mary Esty, and the May 20 Panic Mercy Lewis lies bedridden and voiceless in the Putnam home, terrified by alleged specters—identified as Mary Esty, John Willard, and Mary Whittredge—who threaten her to “sign the devil’s book” or die before midnight, even displaying a winding sheet and coffin. As Ann Putnam Jr., Abigail Williams, and others claim to witness the assau...

Prison Lane and a Lingering Accusation: Mercy Lewis Targets Mary EstyWe trace a tense morning on May 19, 1692, as guards breakfast at Ingersoll’s Tavern, collect prisoners from the Salem Village watch house, and escort John Willard, Elizabeth Hart, Roger Toothaker, and Thomas Farrar Sr. by cart and horseback to Boston Prison on Prison Lane (today’s Court Street). We set the grim destination in sta...

John Willard Faces Hathorne as Salem’s Accusations SwellWe head straight into the chaos of Salem Village as accusations spill onto Samuel Parris’s pasture and the court finally brings John Willard in for examination. We follow the tricks and pressures that defined these hearings—fits on cue, the touch test, the Lord’s Prayer trap, and Magistrate John Hathorne’s relentless insistence that flight eq...

May 17, 1692: Daniel Wilkins’ Death Ruled Diabolical as Spectral Accusations MultiplyWe follow the explosive events of Tuesday, May 17, 1692, when a coroner’s jury—stacked with familiar Salem Village names—rules that Daniel Wilkins died by “witchcraft or diabolical art,” citing bruises and puncture-like wounds. As fear intensifies, new warrants target fugitives Elizabeth Colson, Daniel Andrew, and...

May 16, 1692: Power Shifts, a Death at the Wilkins House, and Susannah Martin’s “Puppies”We follow an action-packed May 16, 1692, as Massachusetts’ new government takes office under Governor William Phips, with William Stoughton as lieutenant governor, while the Salem witchcraft crisis escalates. Daniel Wilkins dies after Mercy Lewis and Mary Walcott claim to witness John Willard’s apparition chok...

Specters in the Meetinghouse and a Copy-Paste ClueWe follow the strange events of Sunday, May 15, 1692, when specters disrupted worship in Salem Village and Andover, with accusations tying Sarah Buckley, Martha Carrier, and George Jacobs Jr. and his wife Rebecca to attacks and temptations to sign the devil’s book. As Thomas Fuller Jr. and Benjamin Wilkins Sr. escalate their complaint against John...

New Warrants, Missing Suspects, and a Spectral “Prediction” We follow Elizabeth Hart as she confronts Ann Putnam Jr. after being accused of afflicting her, only for Ann to claim Hart’s specter returned to torment her and push her to write it down. Tension spikes as Nathaniel Ingersoll and Thomas Putnam push fresh complaints naming eight new suspects and one already-arrested target, with oddly inco...

Friday the 13th: Abigail Soames, Mary Warren, and the Courtroom “Touch Test” CircusWe head straight into a Friday the 13th examination where Abigail Soames is hauled to a tavern, searched, and pressed under relentless questioning while Mary Warren’s dramatic fits drive the room. A stray needle, whispered biographical “facts,” spectral accusations, and the infamous touch tests turn the hearing into...

Poppets, Confessions, and New Arrests: Salem, May 12, 1692 We head to Salem on May 12, 1692, as magistrates John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin issue an arrest warrant for Ann Pudeator and Alice Parker and question Abigail Hobbs, Pudeator, Parker, and Mary Warren while specters torment Mary Walcott, Mercy Lewis, and Ann Putnam Jr. Hobbs details poppets, thorns, and covenants with the devil, tying he...

May 11, 1692: Willard’s Dish Crossing and the Jacobs & Martin DepositionsWe take you straight into May 11, 1692, as Susannah Sheldon claims she saw accused witch John Willard and an old man cross water in a dish and later tempt her with the devil’s book, while Elizabeth Hubbard reports Willard’s apparition tormenting her to sign. Salem magistrates John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin press George...