Salem Witch Trials Daily

Spectral Evidence and the First Death: Salem, May 10, 1692We’re visit Salem and Boston on May 10, 1692, as warrants fly, accusations harden into “evidence,” and a single day reshapes lives. George Jacobs Sr. and Margaret Jacobs are hauled to Thomas Beadle’s Tavern, where Jacobs—an elderly man with two walking sticks—spars with Hathorne and Corwin while Sarah Churchill and Mercy Lewis describe chil...

May 9, 1692: George Burroughs Faces Salem’s MagistratesChaos erupts as Salem magistrates John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin, joined by William Stoughton and Samuel Sewall, interrogate former Salem Village minister George Burroughs and then confront him with a roomful of afflicted accusers. After a private courtesy interview, Burroughs denies key allegations and admits lapses in communion and baptis...

We take you into Salem Village on the sacrament Sunday of May 8, 1692, when Samuel Parris preached from 1 Corinthians about choosing the Lord’s table over the devils’. Then the accusations turn chilling: Mercy Lewis says George Burroughs’ apparition returned to intimidate her, warning she wouldn’t see his two dead wives because she might testify against him. With haunted testimony and threats in t...

Mercy Lewis Faces George Burroughs’ SpecterWe’re on May 7, 1692, as Mercy Lewis reports a terrifying encounter with the apparition of former Salem Village minister George Burroughs—her past pastor, employer, and landlord in Falmouth, Maine. Our story follows her claim that his specter brutally tortured her and pressed her to sign “his book,” then produced a different book said to have been kept in...

May 6, 1692: A Mysterious Illness, a Spectral Sighting, and a Warrant for Philip English We follow May 6, 1692, as Daniel Wilkins—nephew of John Willard—begins a serious and mysterious illness that will shape what follows. Days later, during Alice Parker’s May 12 examination, Margaret Jacobs claims she saw Parker’s apparition that very night in Salem’s Northfields. Meanwhile in Boston, with the Ge...

Blobs in the Chimney: Burroughs Held at Beadle’s Tavern It’s Thursday, May 5, 1692, and Salem’s tensions escalate and George Burroughs is held at Thomas Beadle’s Tavern, while officials delay his examination until May 9 so William Stoughton and Samuel Sewell can attend—signaling the shift toward the coming Court of Oyer and Terminer under newly arrived Governor William Phips. We follow Elizer Keys...

We take you to May 4, 1692, when Boston holds elections even as the new royal charter for the Province of Massachusetts Bay is about to transform the government. Simon Bradstreet is chosen to remain acting governor until William Phips arrives from London, and Thomas Danforth continues as acting deputy governor until he is replaced by William Stoughton. Our story then turns to 81-year-old Bray Wilk...

May 3, 1692: Burroughs’ Specter, a Tavern Transfer, and the Salem Trials’ Only ReleaseSpecters reportedly strike from jail cells and as far away as Maine: we follow May 3, 1692 as Elizabeth Hubbard swears George Burroughs’ apparition visits with the devil’s book and boasts he’s a “conjurer,” even while the real man is under guard en route to Salem. Guards move Susannah Martin, Dorcas Hoar, Lydia D...

May 2, 1692: Burroughs Captured, Hoar & Martin Clash with the CourtWe take you straight into Monday, May 2, 1692—one of the busiest days of the Salem witch-hunt—when arrests, examinations, depositions, and jail transfers collide. Reverend George Burroughs is seized in Wells, Maine as the net tightens, while Dorcas Hoar and Susannah Martin face John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin at Ingersoll’s T...

Walpurgis Night, May Day, and a Spectral Attack: Salem’s May 1, 1692We open on May 1, 1692, as Elizabeth Hubbard claims an attack by the specter of Rebecca Jacobs, wife of George Jacobs Jr., with warrants soon to follow for George Jacobs Sr. and Margaret Jacobs and later complaints and arrests that send George Jacobs Jr. fleeing. From there, we trace how Walpurgis Night—rooted in Saint Walpurga’s...

April 30, 1692: Six New Warrants and a Minister Hunted to MaineWe’re on Friday, April 30, 1692—day seven of Susannah Shelden’s afflictions—as the panic surges with fresh warrants for six new suspects: George Burroughs, Lydia Dustin, Susannah Martin, Dorcas Hoar, Sarah Morell, and wealthy merchant Philip English. Accusers Jonathan Walcott and Thomas Putnam tie these names to torments suffered by Ma...

Susannah Sheldon’s Sixth Day of Torment and Repairs at Boston JailWe take you straight into Friday, April 29, 1692, as Susannah Sheldon endures a sixth consecutive day of torment and reports a terrifying night visitation by the specters of Bridget Bishop, Mary English, Giles Cory, and Martha Cory. We follow her account as Martha presses the devil’s book, claims to be in Boston Prison, and describe...

April 28, 1692: Susannah Shelden’s Torment and John Willard AccusedWe’re back in Salem on Thursday, April 28, 1692, where Susannah Shelden’s account turns physical and threatening: Giles Cory and Mary English urge her not to eat, and Susannah says Cory strikes her, nearly chokes her, and holds her hands shut while mocking her. Philip English then appears demanding she sign his book, biting her whe...

Susannah Shelden Faces Bridget Bishop and . . . SatanWe follow Susannah Shelden deeper into the week-long string of spectral encounters she reported, landing on Wednesday, April 27, 1692, when Bridget Bishop, Philip English, Giles Cory, Mary English, and a black man in a high-crowned hat—identified as the Devil—arrive with books and pressure Susannah to touch and sign. Susannah resists, questions...

Devil Books and a Ride from Hell: Susannah Shelden Names Her Tormentors Mysterious specters harass Susannah Shelden with the Devil’s Book. The strangers then identify themselves as Sarah Buckley, her daughter Mary Whitteredge, and another woman calling herself Goodwife Whits, insisting she touch and sign. Our story turns grotesque as Susannah reports Sarah Buckley confessing to ten years of witchc...

April 25, 1692: A Deal with John Willard—and Philip English’s SpecterWe lean into sports report energy while tracking the Salem crisis on Monday, April 25, 1692, and teasing our newly recorded conversation about an ESPN podcast released for the 50th anniversary of the Ergot Theory, soon arriving Saturday night on The Thing About the Salem Witch Trials. Two striking claims anchor the day: Susannah...

Specters in the Pews: April 24, 1692Drawing on 1692 records, we trace how Dorcas Hoar is said to begin afflicting Elizabeth Hubbard on the night of April 24 and is linked by multiple witnesses to claims about choking her first husband, while Ann Putnam Jr. also reports being tormented that day. Susannah Shelden describes a startling scene in the Salem Town meetinghouse where Philip English’s spect...

Confessions, Fits, and a Red Communion: April 22–23, 1692We revisit two volatile days in Salem, as Deliverance Hobbs is brought in under a ruse, identified by Ann Putnam Jr., and pressured into a confession that names Sarah Wilds, Sarah Osborne, poppets, pins, and a “tall man” in a high-crowned hat—while the afflicted abruptly fall quiet. We track the court’s fixation on marks, rapiers, and spectr...

A Day of Fits, Specters, and a Rare Release in SalemStep into April 22, 1692, as our Salem Witch Trials daily dive follows reports of a massive witches’ sabbath, complete with claims that minister specters like George Burroughs rallied companies of witches to topple New England churches. We track nine new arrests and a courtroom shocker: Nehemiah Abbott Jr. faces the afflicted, only to be cleared...

Nine New Accused and Thomas Putnam’s “Wheel Within a Wheel” Letter (April 21, 1692)We race through April 21, 1692 as accusations explode with nine new witchcraft suspects—William and Deliverance Hobbs, Nehemiah Abbott Jr., Mary Esty, Sarah Wildes, Edward Bishop Jr., Sarah Bishop, Mary Black, and Mary English—pushing the total accused to 23 and prompting Hathorne and Corwin to issue arrest warrants...

Jailhouse Confessions and Two Georges in the DarkWe take you straight into Salem jail on April 20, 1692, where Abigail Hobbs doubles down after her confession and names apparitions, a “witches’ sabbath,” and the Devil’s image-magic used to afflict the girls. Then the pressure shifts to Mary Warren as she describes signing the book, explosive claims about the Proctors, and the tense, live-wire mome...

April 19, 1692: Confessions, Specters, and the Salem Village ExaminationsWe head straight into the packed courtroom at Ingersoll’s Ordinary as magistrates John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin arrive from Salem Town to interrogate Giles Cory, Bridget Bishop, Mary Warren, and Abigail Hobbs—while Ezekiel Cheever and Samuel Parris take notes and the afflicted erupt. Two of the accused confess and two ref...

April 18, 1692: Four More Arrests, and a Name AddedFour more suspects were arrested on Monday, April 18, 1692—Giles Corey, Mary Warren, Abigail Hobbs, and Bridget Bishop—with Bishop named as a suspect for the first time in a warrant that shows her name inserted after the document was initially written. Earlier that day, John Putnam Jr. and Ezekiel Cheever complained that the four had bewitched Ann...

Abigail Hobbs and the Devil’s NicknamesWe take you straight into Salem Village on Sunday, April 17, 1692, where the specter of rebellious Topsfield teen Abigail Hobbs unsettles the afflicted with her bold claims about the devil and her contempt for her stepmother, Deliverance. Our account follows testimonies describing Abigail’s strange acts—sleeping alone in the woods, declaring she sold herself...

New Specters: Bridget Bishop and Mary Warren Enter the Salem Witch TrialsTwo new specters ignite Salem Village in April 1692, pushing the accused list to 14 in just seven weeks, with 10 already in custody and no slowdown in sight. We track the sudden rise of Bridget Bishop and Mary Warren as names tied to the afflictions of Ann Putnam Jr., Mercy Lewis, Abigail Williams, Mary Walcott, and Elizabeth...