Witch Hunt
In January of 1692, Reverend Samuel Parris' 9-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, and his 11-year-old niece, Abigail Williams, started feeling ill. Elizabeth and Abigail screamed uncontrollably, threw things, uttered peculiar sounds, and contorted themselves into strange positions. When they failed to get any better, the village doctor, William Griggs was called in. Griggs diagnosed Elizabeth and Abigail with bewitchment. After Griggs' diagnosis, other young girls in the village began to exhibit similar symptoms.
In late February, magistrates Jonathan Corwin and John Hathorne put the girls under pressure to find the blame for afflicting them. The girls blamed three women: Tituba (The Parris' Caribbean slave), Sarah Good (A homeless beggar), and Sarah Osborne (An elderly impoverished woman). In March, the women were interrogated for several days. Good and Osborne claimed to be innocent. However, Tituba confessed that the devil came to her and bid her to serve him. She admitted that there were other witches seeking to destroy the Puritans. All three women were put in jail.
A stream of accusations were followed for the next few months. Martha Corey and her husband, Giles Corey, were charged against, although both were loyal members of the Church in Salem Village. The community became paranoid knowing that it was possible for anyone to be a witch. Even Good's 4-year-old daughter, Dorothy, was questioned. In April, the questionings became more serious when Deputy Governor Thomas Danforth and his assistant attended the hearings. Many people from Salem and other villages in Massachusetts were brought in for questioning.
In May, Governor William Phipps ordered the establishment of a Special Court. Bridget Bishop, an older woman known for her gossipy habits and promiscuity, was the first case brought to the court. Bishop claimed to be innocent, but the court was found guilty. On June 10, 1962, she became the first person to be hanged on Gallows Hill.