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Mrs. Elizabeth Howe's Trial

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A SHORT HISTORY

Salem Village Witchcraft Trials

ILLUSTRATED BY A

Verbatim Report of the Trial of
Mrs. Elizabeth Howe

A MEMORIAL OF HER

, ., To dance with

Lapland witches, wljile^-je Ja.^'ring moon eclipses at their
charms. «. ». . ", / ■

— Paradise Lost, U. 662

MAP AND HALF TONE ILLUSTRATIONS

SALEM, MASS.:
M. V. B. PERLEY, Publisher
1911

Copyright, 1911

By M. V. B. PERLEY

Salem, Mass.

• •••••• •

• • • •«••• •
• • • • • •'■

• • • „• •• • .••• • • • - '

•••• •••• ••• ••••'

BOSTON
WUt GTubor $retf*

1911

NOTICE

Greater Salem, the province of Governors
Conant and Endicott, is visited by thousands of
sojourners yearly. They come to study the
Quakers and the witches, to picture the manses
of the latter and the stately mansions of Salem's
commercial kings, and breathe the salubrious air
of "old gray ocean."

The witchcraft "delusion" is generally the
first topic of inquiry, and the earnest desire of
those people with notebook in hand to aid the
memory in chronicling answers, suggested this
monograph and urged its publication. There is
another cogent reason: the popular knowledge
is circumscribed and even that needs correcting.

This short history meets that earnest desire;
it gives the origin, growth, and death of the
hideous monster; it gives dates, courts, and names
of places, jurors, witnesses, and those hanged; it
names and explains certain "men and things"
that are concomitant to the trials, with which the
reader may not be conversant and which are
necessary to the proper setting of the trials in
one's mind; it compasses the salient features of
witchcraft history, so that the story of the 1692
"delusion" may be garnered and entertainingly
rehearsed.

The trials were all spread upon the records, word
for word. Rev. Samuel Parris, stenographer to
the court, says they were " taken down in my
characters written at the time," barring, of course,

225296

, ;4; • j , ; ' , :Tkk. ,\\STCE&iAFT DELUSION

the evidence by affidavits, which were written,
signed, and attested, and filed in the Clerk of
Court's office, where they may now be seen.

Great research has hitherto been made, keen,
sagacious acumen employed, and much written;
but the true criterion of judgment, a trial, — a
word for word trial, — has not before this been
published. Here, then, is the first opportunity
of readers to judge for themselves.

The trials were unique. The court was with-
out authority; none of the judges, it is said, was
bred to the law; evidence was arbitrarily ad-
mitted or excluded; the accused were not al-
lowed counsel in law or the consolation of the
clergy in religion.

The careful reader may discover, between the
lines, in questions, in answers, and in the strange
exhibitions, the real state of mind pervading all,
which has been mildly characterized as a "de-
lusion"; also he may be able to compare the
Mosaic, the 1692, and the modern spirit manifes-
tations, and advantageously determine for himself
what is worth while in modern spiritualism, mind-
reading, clairvoyance, mesmerism, and the rest.

Though men of education, religion, titled
dignity, and official station, of the professions and
the elite, were responsible for the horrible catas-
trophy, and in one instance or more forced the
yeoman jurors to convict (who at the end signed
recantations and expressed their grief), — religion
and education must not be undervalued; a religious
education will yield the highest type of manhood.

CONTENTS

Notice 3

The Introduction 9

The Witch, Her Antiquity, Legal Status . 9

The Modern Witch; Her Persecution . . 10

Learned Men's Views, Dissenters, Crone Lore 11

Ingersoll; The Four Ministers .... 13

The Witch School; "Who's Who" ... 18

Unwarrantable Usurpation 21

Names of the Court and Jury .... 23

Names of Those Hanged 24

Rev. John Hale Converted 27

Lofty Character of the Condemned ... 28

Place of Execution; The Crevice ... 29

Mrs. Howe's Case: 31

The Sunday Warrant; Her Examination . 31
Indicted, Remanded to Salem Jail . . .35

Case Called June 29th. The Witnesses:

Andrews, Thomas 57

Chapman, Simon and Mary .... 41
Cummings, Isaac, Sr. and Jr. . . . 43-46
Cummings, Mary, Sr. J . . . . 47-49

Foster, Jacob . y/\ 53

Hadley, I^eborah^^. 40

Howe, JamesTSr. (ninety-four years old) . 46

Howe, John (brother-in-law) .... 52

Knowlton, Joseph and Mary .... 45

Lane, Francis 50

Payson, Rev. Edward 40

6 The Witchcraft Delusion

CONTENTS — Continued

PAGE

Perley, Samuel* and Ruth 37

Perley, Timothy* and Deborah ... 36

Phillips, Rev. Samuel 38

Safford, Joseph 54

Warner, Daniel, John, Sarah .... 41

Imprisoned at Boston. Her Execution . . 24
Petition for Reimbursement and Removal of

Attainder 58

Mrs. Howe's Home Located 60

Judge Joseph Story's Tribute 28

Who Were the Howes?

James Branch of the Ipswich Howes . . 65

Coats of Arms 66

James Howe, Sr 67

James Howe, Jr., and His Wife Elizabeth . 68

Bibliography 71

*See Perley Family History and Genealogy, pages 15, 19.

ILLUSTRATIONS

Typical of the Witchcraft Trials Frontispiece
Painting by Mattison, about 1854. The
only conception of the witchcraft trials
ever spread on canvas. — Courtesy of
The Essex Institute.

PAGE

Witch-eclipse of the Moon 1

Salem Village (now Danvers Highlands) . 14

The New England Witch 15

The 1692 Meetinghouse 17

The Present Church and Parsonage . opp. 18

Governor Simon Bradstreet 21

The Mathers, Increase and Cotton opp. 22
The Witch Plat, or Place of Executions . . 29
The Witch Plat, showing "The Crevice" opp. 29
Warrant for Mrs. Howe's Arrest . . opp. 31

Ipswich Farms 51

Location of Mrs. Howe's Home .... 60

The Aaron Howe House 62

Descendants of James Howe, Sr 64

The Howe Arms 66

INTRODUCTION

THE proceedings in witchcraft in 1692 to us
who are two hundred and twenty years
removed from the scene, seem, at first,
impossible, then mortifying, and persuasive of
disowning our fathers and forgetting the period
of their folly. At best, the occurrence furnishes
the wildest and saddest chapter in our New Eng-
land history.

Antiquity of the Witch
and Her Legal Status

The doctrine of familiar spirits was current in
most ancient times. It is possible that immed-
iately after the fall in Adam the imprisoned spirit
of man began to assert its former freedom and
ability. The old Scriptures depicted the witch's
character, gave warning of her blighting influence,
and enacted heavy penalties against employing
her agency. In Exodus, xxii. 18: "Thou shalt
not suffer a witch to live." In Leviticus, xx. 27:
"A man also or a woman that hath a familiar
spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to
death; their blood shall be upon them." In
Deuteronomy, xviii. 9-12: "When thou art come
into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee,
thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations
of those nations. There shall not be found among
you any one that maketh his son or his daughter
to pass through the fire, or that useth divination,
9

10 The Witchcraft Delusion

or any observer of times, or any enchanter, or a
witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar
spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer; for all that
do these things are an abomination unto the
Lord."

The Colonial Laws and
Their Biblical Origin

The colonial laws to which New England witches
were amenable, codified by Rev. Samuel Ward, of
Ipswich, who had had extensive legal training
and practice before entering the ministry, were
published in 1641. Mr. Ward* followed Moses,
the great Hebrew lawgiver, in great measure, but
he distanced England in mildness and was far
ahead of his time in scope. With him, however,
the witch found no favor. Death was the pun-
ishment for witchcraft, first and last, and the
Puritan, whose sure palladium of civil and re-
ligious freedom was the Bible, obeyed the pre-
cept to the letter, his highest knowledge and

authority.

it

The Modern Witch and
Her Terrible Persecution

The modern witch, it is said, had her birth near ,
the beginning of the Christian era. Her per- J
secution began about two hundred years later.

♦See M. V. B. Perley's Ipswich History in J. W. Lewis's
History of Essex County, Mass., Vol. I, page 626.

Trial of Mrs. Elizabeth Howe 11

From that time hundreds of thousands of vic-
tims were immolated to appease the inconsiderate
and insatiate demands of her persecutors.

In the earliest years witches were generally
burned, and in the first one hundred and fifty
years it is estimated thirty thousand thus per-
ished. Later, in France, in one century, an
almost incredible number suffered — one thou-
sand in a single diocese. • In the century, 1600 to
1700, two hundred were hanged in England, one
thousand were burned in Scotland, and a much
greater number on the Continent.

The American Witch and
Views of the Educated

In America there were witch trials — in Con-
necticut, New York, and Pennsylvania,* —
some years before 1692. In Boston, 1648, Mar-
garet Jones, of malignant touch, was hanged, and
Mrs. Ann (Wm.) Hebbins, in 1655. In Spring-
field, 1651, Mrs. Mary (Hugh) Parsons was
hanged. In Ipswich quarter court, 1652, a man
was sentenced to pay a fine of twenty shillings,
or to be whipped for "having familiarity with the
Devil."

The doctrine of witches was embraced not only
by the common people, but also by the learned;
Tycho Brahe, the prince of astronomers, and

*In 1908 or 1909 a Dutch woman in Pennsylvania was
charged in court with the misdemeanor of casting a spell
on a cow, so that the cow gave no milk. The woman was
fined $5 and ten days in jail.

12 The Witchcraft Delusion

Kepler, his student, Martin Luther, the bold
theologian, and Melancthon, the gentle; the
silver-tongued Dr. Watts and the pious Baxter,
who styled a disbeliever in witchcraft "an obdurate
Sadducee," and others whom time fails me to
mention.

Old Crone Lore and
Three Notable Dissenters

Witch stories were a social entertainment, to
the mingled fear and merriment of guests and
the positive foreboding of children. Who even
now among the older people has forgotten the
crone lore of our grandmothers — how witches
would seize a red-hot iron, glide into a heated
oven, ride through the air on enchanted broom-
sticks, and how stalwart men would stalk through
keyholes, supported and directed by Satanic
power! It was believed that witches made an
actual, deliberate, and formal compact with Satan.

There were, however, two or three persons of
learning and influence in the Province who (to
their great credit, be it said) dared to oppose the
doctrine of witches — the celebrated Rev. Samuel
Willard, of the Old South Church, Boston, —
Maj. Nathaniel Saltonstall, who declined a seat
upon the bench rather than participate in the
witch trials, — and Rev. John Higginson (son of
Rev. Francis, the first minister of Salem), who was
cautious and held himself aloof; for his con-
science whispered he had gone too far against the
Quakers.

Trial of Mrs. Elizabeth Howe 13

Pen Picture of a Witch
Home of the "Delusion"

The New England witch was supposed to be an
old woman of attenuated form, somewhat bent;
clothed in lively colors and ample skirts; having a
darting and piercing eye, a head sporting dis-
heveled hair and crowned with a sugar-loaf hat, a
carlin's cheek, a falcated chin bent to meet an
aquiline nose, by both of which was formed a
Neapolitan bay, her mouth in the background
resembling Vesuvius in eruption; and riding an
enchanted broomstick with a black cat as
guide.

Salem Village, the location of the hideous
catastrophe, was the northern precinct of Salem;
and when it was incorporated Danvers, its name
became Danvers Center. Quite recently (1910)
the trolley car company changed the name to
Danvers Highlands, but in the steam car nomen-
clature it is Collins Street. From Town House
Square in Salem to the Highlands a trolley ride
costs a nickel; the distance is five miles, and every
mile a pleasure.

Ingersoll and His Tavern
Revs. Bailey, Burroughs, Lawson

Nathaniel Ingersoll occupied the central loca-
tion in the village; a man of industry and thrift;
a licensed innkeeper, who sold liquor by the
quart on Sunday; a kind of chief of police; man-
aged the defenses against the Indians; a benevo-

Danvers Highlands
Danvers Center
Old Salem Village

1. Locates the church
there at present.

2. Locates
of 1692.

the church

3. Locates the Inger-
soll Tavern and the present
parsonage.

4. Locates the Parris
house where the mischief
began.

5. Locates the entrance
to the Ingersoll Training
Field.

The narrow lane leading
to No. 4 is a right of way
for all.

<J

16 The Witchcraft Delusion

lent man, and was chosen deacon. His name does
not figure in the witch trials, and the witches have
left no records of the influence of his tavern in the
results. The open plat of ground in front of his
tavern was called Ingersoll's Common. Farther
up the street, at No. 5, is a plat of ground he gave
for "a training field forever." Capt. Dea. Jona-
than Walcott was a neighbor, as was also Sergt.
Thomas Putnam, parish clerk.

Rev. James Bailey, near his majority, a recent
graduate of Harvard, began to preach (not as
pastor) there in 1671, and created a division.
Rev. George Burroughs succeeded him in 1680,
but matters grew- worse. In 1683 Rev. Deodat
Lawson began and gave no better results.

Mr. Burroughs was a short, stout man, very
muscular and of very dark complexion. He was
a Harvard graduate of 1670. Most of the witches
knew him; and his complexion and extraordinary
strength argued his connection with the black
art and the muscular devil.

Rev. Deodat Lawson (Deo-dat-um), a "God-
given" cataplasm for the tumor of unrest, social
discords, and animosities that had their rise in
Bailey's ministry! With Lawson, the suppura-
tion began; for the deviltry had gone from seance
to families and the church, where the unwhipped
girls cried out from time to time, "enough of
that " ; " see the yellow bird on the minister's hat " ;
"now name your text"; "look how she sits";
to all which Mr. Lawson's simplicity testifies:

Trial of Mrs. Elizabeth Howe 17

these things "did something interrupt me in my
first prayer, being so unusual."

Rev. Samuel Parris, Student
West Indian Trader, First Pastor

The wound was treated and cleansed during the
ministry of Rev. Samuel Parris. He was born
in London, about 1653, had been a merchant in
Boston and the Spanish Main, and had studied
at Harvard. He succeeded Mr. Lawson and was
ordained and installed their first pastor, Tuesday,
Nov. 19, 1689. He left in 1696. The unanimity
of the church since he left has been as marked as
the schism was before he left.

Mr. Parris's home was at No. 4 on the map.
His house probably did not survive the year

The Parris Meeting House, 1692

1& The Witchcraft Delusion

1717. His meetinghouse stood a little to the
east of the Ingersoll Tavern, probably the flat
spot now marked by rose bushes and weeds, and
maybe by a large, flat stone in the wall, which
stone may have served as a doorstep. A beauti-
ful modern church edifice now graces the corner
opposite Ingersoll's old corner, while the parson-
age occupies the Ingersoll site.

John and His Tituba
Rev. S. Parris's Slaves

Mr. Parris brought with him from the Spanish
Main, as his slaves, a couple called John Indian
and his wife, Tituba. The ignorance of the
Spanish population found its summit of pleas-
ure in dancing, singing, sleight of hand, palmistry,
fortune-telling, magic, and necromancy (or spirit
communication with the dead) ; and John and his
Tituba in all those things were fully up to date.

Parris's Witch School, Apt
Pupils, Their Personnel

To the pastor's house (as he wrote, " When these
calamities first began, which was at my house")
the village maidens, by surreption, went under the
tuition of Tituba. Those of us who have some
remembrance of the rise of spiritualism, the
phenomenon of table-tipping, and the slightly
more refined practice of the elite with scribbling
planchet, can picture in some degree Tituba's
pupils and how they got there.

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Trial of Mrs. Elizabeth Howe 19

Of those pupils (" children,' ' as the court called
them) two were of the pastor's family — Ann
Williams, aged eleven, and his daughter, whom
he quickly sent away; Ann Putnam, daughter of
Ann and Sergeant Thomas, a precocious miss of
only twelve, who easily became a leader; Mary
Warren, domestic in John Proctor's family, aged
twenty; Susannah Sheldon and Elizabeth Booth,
neighbors and eighteen; Sarah Churchill, helper
to George Jacobs, senior; Elizabeth Hubbard,
Mercy Lewis, former domestic for Mrs. Bur-
roughs, and Mary Walcott, daughter of Deacon
Jonathan, each of them eighteen.

Had those "children," the pioneers of the aw-
fully fatal mischief, been scourged at the whipping
post,

"Or had been beaten till they'd know
What wood the cudgel's of by the blow,"

if needful, and John and his Tituba been re-
turned to their native soil, no doubt the horrible
tragedy would have been averted. The Shafflin
girl in Peabody was cured "when a timely whipping
brought her to her senses." So was Dinah Syl-
vester, of Mansfield, when given her choice of a
whipping or owning and abandoning her error.

Casting out Devils
"Still the Wonder Grew"

But, instead, Mr. Parris, in fashion of the
vaunted prowess of Cotton Mather and other
pedantic, astute, aspiring ministers, to show their

20 The Witchcraft Delusion

efficiency in "casting out devils," called in the
clergy, the deacons, and the elders, and held,
February 11th, a day of fasting and prayer.
"And still the wonder grew."

A Portentous Leap Day

"The Greatest Show on Earth"

It was high time, and some leading citizens
took the initiative. A complaint was lodged
against Tituba Feb. 25, 1692. The first warrants
were issued the 29th, the leap day of the year, and
Sarah Good, Sarah Osbun, and Tituba Indian
were apprehended. They were examined March 1st
and ordered to jail in Boston, to await the action
of the higher court.

The examinations were to be held in Ingersoll's
Tavern, but the crowd was so great on Ingersoll's
Common, that the court adjourned to the meeting
house. The magistrates were John Hathorne
and Jonathan Corwin, assistants. They went
over from Salem, attended by the marshal, con-
stables, and their aids, and all of them arrayed
in the garb of court authority and the attractive
insignia of official station. Their advent into
the village was marked by an ostentation of what-
ever grandeur and splendor they had at command.
To the gaping multitude it was "the greatest
show on earth," while the trials proved a "Wild
West."

Sarah Good, a broken-down outcast, deserted
by her husband, begging food from house to

Trial of Mrs. Elizabeth Howe 21

house, was first examined; the last examined was
Tituba, the chief offender.

Gov. Simon Bradstreet, 1603-1697

Unwarrantable Usurpation
Names of the Court and Jury

The Province took formal charge in re April 11,
1692. Simon Bradstreet was governor. He had
been honored with thirteen annual elections by

22 The Witchcraft Delusion

the people to that office. He was then eighty-
six years of age, the "Grand Old Man" of his
time. He struck the keynote at first in an opinion
that the witch evidence was insufficient. With
honor crowned he passed into history as "The
Old Charter Governor."

The high action of Deputy-Governor Danforth
and his Counsel, who were the court, gave eclat
to the proceedings and consternation filled the
county. In October, 1691, a new charter was
signed, and Sir Wm. Phipps was appointed
governor. He arrived in Boston with the new
charter, Saturday, May 14, 1692. William Stough-
ton was made deputy-governor, in place of
Thomas Danforth.

In this change from popular government In-
crease Mather, an early president of Harvard
College, was a "power behind the throne." The
new charter had his approval and Sir Wm.
Phipps, its first governor, was his nominee.
Phipps was "a well-meaning man, inclined to
superstition," and Mather admired his "incom-
petency." Stoughton was a man "of cold affec-
tions, proud, self willed, and covetous of dis-
tinction, and universally hated by the people."
He was appointed deputy-governor to please
Cotton Mather, son of Increase. Cotton in his
race for glory ran amuck. He was a man of
"overweening vanity," panting for fame, and the
strenuous mover in the trials. He harangued
the populace and sermonized on witchcraft; he
wrote a book: "The Trials of Witches," and even

Trial of Mrs. Elizabeth Howe 23

on horseback, at the hanging of Rev. George
Burroughs, he harangued the people gathered
there, lest they interfere and rob the gallows.

By the new charter courts of justice were to be
established by the General Court. The witch
trials were, therefore, stranded and must remain
in statu quoy apparently, for several months, while
awaiting the action of the General Court. The
Governor, however, by "an unwarrantable
usurpation of authority," organized a court of
final hearing, called Oyer and Terminer, to act
in the pending cases.

Deputy-Governor Stoughton was appointed
chief justice, and Nathaniel Saltonstall, of Haver-
hill, who declined to serve, and was succeeded by
Jonathan Corwin, of Salem; Major John Rich-
ards, of Boston; Major Bartholomew Gedney, of
Salem; Mr. Wait Winthrop, Mr. Peter Sargent,
and Capt. Samuel Sewell, of Boston, Associate
Justices.

The panel of the Jury of Inquest was Thomas
Fisk, foreman; William Fisk, John Bachelor,
Thomas Fisk, Jr., John Dane, Joseph Eveleth,
Thomas Perley, Sr., John Peabody, Thomas Per-
kins, Samuel Sayer, Andrew Eliot, and Henry
Herrick, Sr.

The commissions of the court were dated
Friday, May 27th; the court convened Thursday,
June 2d; Bridget Bishop, of Salem, was con- V
victed Wednesday, the 8th, and hanged Friday,
the 10th. The court, by adjournment, next sat
Wednesday, the 29th of June; then by several

24 The Witchcraft Delusion

adjournments, it was to sit the 1st of November.
The day on which Bridget Bishop was hanged,
June 10th, the General Court enacted a law of the
old charter for capital cases, and under it pre-
sumably the subsequent witch trials were held,
while the personnel of the court remained the
same.

Trials Arrested, Court Suspended
List of Those Hanged

The General Court in October established the
Superior Court of Judicature and gave it juris-
diction in witch cases. Governor Phipps imme-
diately arrested the witch trials, and suspended
the court. Oyer and Terminer was dissolved.
These were hanged:

Friday, June 10th
l. Bishop, Bridget, wife of Edward, of Salem.

Tuesday, July 1 9th

1. Good, Sarah, of the village.

2. Wildes, Sarah, daughter of Wm., of Tops-
field.

3. Howe, Elizabeth, wife of James, Jr., of
Ipswich Farms.

4. Nourse, Rebecca, wife of Francis, of the
village.

5. Martin, Susannah, of Amesbury.

Trial of Mrs. Elizabeth Howe 25

Friday, August 19th

1. Burroughs, Rev. George, of Casco. See
above.

2. Proctor, John, of Peabody.

3. Jacobs, George, of the Village, eighty years
old.

4. Willard, John, apprehended at Groton.

5. Carryer, Martha, wife of Thomas, of An-
dover.

Thursday, September 22d

1. Cory, Martha, wife of Giles, of Peabody.

2. yEstey, Mary, wife of Isaac, of Topsfield.

3. Parker, Alice, wife of John, of Salem.

4. Pudeator, Ann, widow of Jacob.

5. Scott, Margaret, widow of Benj., of Rowley.

6. Read, Wilmot, wife of Samuel, of Marble-
head.

7. Wardwell, Samuel, of Andover.

8. Parker, Mary, of Salem.

Monday, September 19th

Giles Cory would not plead to the indictment,
and was pressed to death. In modern law one
thus mute is understood to plead not guilty, but
at that period one must plead before he could be
put on trial, and might be tortured till he pleaded

26 The Witchcraft Delusion

or died. Mr. Cory would not countenance any
phase or feature of witchcraft.

Tuesday, May 10th

Died in prison Sarah Osbun, condemned, wife
of Alexander.

Saturday, December 3d

Died in prison, Ann Foster, widow of Andrew,
of Andover, who died, 1685, aged 106.

Elizabeth Proctor, widow of John (above), was
reprieved on account of her condition, then
pardoned.

Mrs. Thomas Bradbury, of Salisbury, daughter
of John Perkins, of Ipswich, eighty years old,
condemned, then acquitted.

Rebecca Eames, wife of Robert, of Boxford,
condemned, reprieved.

Elizabeth Morse, of Newbury, reprieved.

Abigail Falkner and Elizabeth Johnson, both
of Andover, daughters of Rev. Francis Dane,
were respectively thirteen and five months in jail.

Mary Lacey, wife of Lawrence, daughter of
Andrew and Ann Foster (above), confessed,
accused her mother of bewitching her, and es-
caped punishment.

As above there were twenty-eight convictions,
nineteen persons were hanged, and one was
pressed to death, "fifty-five were pardoned, one
hundred and fifty more were imprisoned, and two

Trial of Mrs. Elizabeth Howe 27

hundred others or more were accused." Several
dogs were accused, and one of Danvers and
another of Andover were executed.

Let it now be noted and remembered, that no
witch or wizard was ever burned to death in
Salem town or Essex county.

The Beginning of the End

Rev. John Hale's Change of Heart

Early in October, 1692, the wild and extrava-
gant methods of the court had penetrated every
community, and by relation or friendship, almost
every family, and too, accusations rested upon
families of the wealthy and the learned, of clergy-
men and laymen, and even it was whispered upon
one of the judges of the court and the wife of the
governor; and it was only when the ruthless
authority of the law invaded those homes that
the fury of the storm abated. When Rev. John
Hale, of Beverly, who had been conspicuously
active in the convictions, found his wife in the
diabolical toils, he experienced a sudden change of
heart, and prayed for peace. The time was ripe;
Mr. Hale's sentiments echoed from every home.
The establishment of the new court (Wm. Stough-
ton, Chief Justice, Thomas Danforth, Wait Win-
throp, John Richards, and Samuel Sewell, Asso-
ciate Justices) and the abolition of the old court,
helped the cause.

In the January next following fifty persons
were indicted. All who were tried were acquitted

28 The Witchcraft Delusion

except three, who were pardoned. All who were
not tried were discharged on the payment of
thirty shillings each. In the following May, when
a jail delivery had been decreed, one hundred
and fifty went forth.

Lofty Character of the Condemned
Judge Joseph Story's Tribute

Those who suffered were a remarkable company
of men and women. They came from the humble
walks in life, but most of them were old in ex-
perience and solidified in character and sentiments.
Though they were posted as criminals, taunted
with aspersions, forbidden counsel in law and
religion, and had every word of defense twisted
into a semblance of condemnation, yet they ex-
hibited the true nobility of life in truth and
righteousness; they counted their lives not dear
to them, could they only reach the goal of their
hope in God their Saviour.

But after all we must not judge the actors in this
frenzied delusion harshly or rashly. Hon. Joseph
Story, Associate Justice of the United States
Supreme Court, writes: "Surely our ancestors
had no special reason for shame in a belief which
had the universal sanction of their own and all
former ages, which counted in its train philoso-
phers as well as enthusiasts, which was graced by
the learning of prelates as well as by the counte-
nance of kings, which the law supported by its
mandates, and the purest judges felt no compul-
sions in enforcing."

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Trial of Mrs. Elizabeth Howe

29

The Place of Execution
The Crevice for the Corpses

^-TT^ii si ' wool

The

Or the place where
Witches" were hanged is on
Proctor Street, Salem, marked
off on this map by the dotted
lines. The cross locates "The
Crevice," where the corpses were
thrown. To touch a witch
corpse was malignant; yet some
bodies were taken away for

burial at home.

Giles Cory was pressed to death in the field

corner of St. Peters and Brown Streets, opposite

the jail then on Church Street, corner of St.

Peters Street, Salem.

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MRS. HOWE'S CASE

SUNDAY, May 29, 1692, Ephraim Wildes,
constable of Topsfield, with a capias signed
by John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin,
Assistants, went to the home of James Howe, Jr.,
in Ipswich Farms, and took into custody the
wife and mother as a witch.

She was charged with sundry acts of witch-
craft upon the bodies of Mary Walcott and
Abigail Williams, and others of Salem Village.
She was examined the next Wednesday at the
house of Nathaniel Ingersoll of that place. She
pleaded not guilty, denied all knowledge of the
matter and testified that she had never heard
of the girls, Mary and Abigail, till their names
were read in the warrant. But in court they fell
down, they cried out, they were pinched and
pricked, and they accused Mrs. Howe. She was
remanded to prison to await the action of the
Jury of Inquest. Her case was called Wednes-
day and Thursday, June 29 and 30, 1692.

The Sunday Warrant
And its Sunday Service

To the Constable of Topsfield:

You are in theyr Magestyes Names hereby
Requested to Apprehend & bring before us Eliza-
beth How ye wife of James How of Topsfield Hus-
bandman on tuesday next being the thirty-first
day of May about ten of ye Clock in ye forenoon.

32 The Witchcraft Delusion

at ye house of Leut Nathaniel Ingersolls of Salem
Village Whoe Stand Charged with Sundry Acts of
Witchcraft done or committed on ye bodyes of
Mary Wolcott Abigail Williams & others of
Salem Village, to theyr great hurt, in order to her
examination Relating to ye abovesd premises &
hereof you are nott to fayle.
Dat' Salem May 28th, 1692.

p us John HathorneI

Jonathan Cor win] Assists.

In obedience to this warrant I have appre-
hended Elizabeth How the wife of Jems how
on the 29th of May 1692 and have brought har
unto the house of leftnant nathaniell englosons
according too ye warrant as atested by me
Ephraim Willdes constabell for the town of
Topsfield.

Dated may 31st 1692.

The Preliminary Examination

She Never Heard op Her Accusers Before

Mercy Lewis & Mary Walcott fell in a fit
quickly after the examinant came in. Mary
Walcott said that this woman the examinant had
pincht her & Choakt this month. Ann Putnam
said she had hurt her three times

Question. What say you to this charge? Here
are them that charge you with witchcraft

Answer. If it was the last moment I was to
live God knows I am innocent of anything of this
nature

Trial of Mrs. Elizabeth Howe 33

Q. Did not you take notice that now when you
lookt upon Mercy Lewis she was struck down?

A. I cannot help it.

Q. You are charged here what doe you say?

A. I am innocent of anything of this nature

Q. Is this the first time that ever you were
accused

A. Yes Sr

Q. Do not you know that one at Ipswich hath
accused you?

A. This is the first time that ever I heard of it.

Q. You say that you never heard of these
folks before.

Mercy Lewis at length spake & charged this *
woman with hurting & pinching her. And then
Abigail Williams cryed she hath hurt me a great
many times, a great while and she hath brought
me the book. Ann Putnam had a pin stuck in her
hand.

Q. What do you say to this?

A. I cannot help it.

Q. What consent have you given?

Abig Williams cryed out that she was pincht &
great prints were seen in her arm. Mary Warren
cryed out she was prickt

Q. Have you not seen some apparition?
A. No never in all my life.

34 The Witchcraft Delusion

Q. Those that have confessed they tell us
they used images and pins now tell us what have
you used

A. You would not have me confess that which
I know not

She looked upon Mary Warren & said Warren
violently fell down. Look upon this maid,
viz.: Mary Walcott her back being towards
the examinant. Mary Warren & Ann Putnam
said they saw this woman upon her. Susan
Sheldon saith this was the woman that carryd
her yesterday to the Pond. Sus. Sheldon carried
to the examinant in a fit & was well upon
grasping her arm.

Q. You said you never heard before of these
people.

A. Not before the warrant was served me
last Sabbath day.

John Indian cryed out Oh she bites & fell
into a grevious fit & so carried to her in his fit
& was well upon her grasping him.

Q. What do you say to these things — they
cannot come to you.

A. Sr I am unable to give account of it,

Q. Cannot you tell what keeps them off from
your body?

A. I cannot tell I know not what it is.

Trial of Mrs. Elizabeth Howe 35

This a true account of the examination of Eliz :
How taken from my characters written at the
time thereof.

Witness my hand

[Signed] Sam Parris.

The Indictment. The Case

Heard June 29th and 30th and July 1st

The jurors of our Sovereign Lord and Lady the
King and Queen represent That Elizabeth How
wife of James of Ips. the 31st day of May the
fourth year of our Sovereigne Lord and Lady
Wm. and Mary by the Grace of God of England
Scotland ffrance and Ireland King and Queen
defenders of the ffaith &c. and Divers other days
and times as well before as after Certaine De-
testable Acts called Witchcraft and sorceries
wickedly and ffelloniously hath used Practiced
and Exercised at and within the Township of
Salem in the county of Essex aforesaid in upon
and against one Mary Walcott of Salem Village
singlewoman by which said wicked arts the said
Mary Walcott the 31th day of May in the 4th
year aforesaid and Divers other Days and times
as well before as after was and is Tortured,
Afflicted Pined Consumed wasted and Tormented
and also for sundry other Acts of witchcraft by
said Elizabeth How Committed and Done before
and since that time agt the Peace of our Soverigne
Lord and Lady the King and Queen and against
the form of the statute in that case made and
Provided.

36 The Witchcraft Delusion

The Witnesses

Timothy and Deborah Perley

the first of iune 1692 the deposition of timothi
Perley and deborah Perley his wife timoth Perley
aged about 39 and his wife about 33 there being
som diference between goode how that is now
seized namely Elizabeth How wife of James How
Junr and timothi Perli abovesaid about som
bords the night following our cous lay out and
finding of them the next morning we went to
milk them and one of them did not give but two
or thre spoone fuls of milk and one of the other
cous did not give above halfe a Pinte and the
other gave aboute a quart and these cous used to
give three or four quarts at a meale two of these
cous continued to give litle or nothing four or five
meals and yet thes went to a good inglish pasture
and within four dais the cous gave ther full Pro-
portion that thir used to give.

furder deborah Perley testifieth and as consent-
ing hanah Perley Samuel Perleys daughter that
was so sore afflicted her mother and she coming to
our house hanah Perley being suddinli scared &
so thers that woman she goes into the oven and out
againe and then fell into a dredful fit and when I
have asked her when she said that woman what
woman she ment she tould me ieams hows wife
sometimes hanah Perley went along with me to
ieams hows an sone fell into a fitt goode how was
ueri louing to her and when the garl and I came
away i asked whi she talked so of goode how being

Trial of Mrs. Elizabeth Howe 37

she was so louing to her she tould me that if i
were aflicted as she was that I Would talk as bad
of her as she did at anothr tim i saw goode how
and hanah Perley together and thai were ueri
louing together and after goode How was gone i
asked whi she was so louing to good how when thai
were together she tould me that she was afraide
to doe otherwise for then goode how would kil her.

Deborah Perley
Testified to June 30th before the Jury of Inquest

Samuel and Ruth Perley

the first of iune 1692 the deposition of Sam-
uel Perley and his wife aged about 52 and his wife
46 years of age we hauing a dafter about ten
years of age being in a sorrowful condition this
being sone after a f aling out thai had bene betwen
ieams how and his wife and miself our daughter
told us that it was ieams hows wife that afflicted
her both night and day sometimes complaining
of being Pricked with Pins and sometimes faling
down into dredful fits and often sai i could neuer
aflict a dog as goode how aflicts me mi wife and i
did often chide her for naming goode how being
loth her name shold be defamed but our daughter
would tel us that though we would not beleue her
now yet you wil know it one day we went to
several docters and thai tould us that she was
under an evil hand our daughter tould us that
when she came nere the fire or water this witch
Puis me in and was often soreli burnt and she

38 The Witchcraft Delusion

would tel us what cloaths she wore and would
sai there she goes and there she goes and now she
is gone into the oven and at these sights faling
down into dredful fits and thus our daughter
continuing about two or three years constantli
afirming to the last that this goode how that is
now seised was the cause of her sorrows and pined
awai to Skin and bone and ended her sorrowful life
and this we can atest upon oath ruth Perley's mark.

Sam'l Pearly & his wife declare ye above written
to be the truth upon oath. After this the aboue
said goode how had a mind to ioin ipswich church
thai being unsatisfied sent to us to bring in what
we had against her and when we had declared to
them what we knew thei see cause to Put a stop
to her coming into the Church within a few dais
after I had a cow wel in the morning as far as we
knew this cow was taken straingli running
about like a mad thing a litle while and then run
into a great Pon and drowned herself and as sone
as she was dead mi sons and miself towed her to
the shore and she stunk so that we had much a doe
to flea her.

As for the time daughters being taken ill it y
was in the yere of our Lord 1682. '

Testified to before the Jury of Inquest
June 30 '92

Rev. Samuel Phillips

The testimony of Samuel Phillips aged about
67 minister of the word of God in Rowley who
sayth that mr payson (minister of Gods word alsoe

Trial of Mrs. Elizabeth Howe 39

in Rowley) and myself went, being desired to Sam-
eul pearly of ipswich to se thiere young daughter
who was viseted with Strang fitts and in her fitts
(as her father and mother affermed) did mention
good wife How the wife of James How Junior
of Ipswich as if she was in the house and afflict
her; when we were in the house the child had one
of her fitts but made no mention of good wife how;
& and when the fitt was over and she came to
herself, goodwife how went to the child and took
her by the hand & askt her whether she had ever
done her any hurt And she answered noe never
and if I did complain of you in my fitts I knew
not that I did soe : I further can affirm upon oath
that young Samuel Pearly, Brother to the afflicted
girle looking out of a chamber (I and the afflicted
child being with outdores together) and sayd to his
sister Say goodwife How is a witch say she is a
witch & the child spake not a word that way, but
I lookt up to the window where the youth stood
& rebuked him for his boldness to stir up his sister
to accuse the said goodw: How when as she had
cleared her from doing any hurt to his sister in
both our hearing & I added no wonder that the
child in her fitts did mention Goodwife How when
her nearest relatives were soe frequent in express-
ing theire suspicions in the childs hearing when
she was out of her fitts that she sayed Goodwife
How was an Instrument of mischeif to the child

Samuel Phillips.
Rowley 3 June 1692

40 The Witchcraft Delusion

Rev. Edward Payson

I Edward Paison of ye Town abouesd Thoh
present at ye place & time aforesd yet cannot
evidence in all the particulars mentioned: Thus
much is yet in my remembrance viz: being in ye
abouesd Pearley's house some considerable time
before ye sd Goodw : How came in : their afflicted
Daughter upon something that her mother spake
to her with tartness presently fell into on of her
usual strange fitts, during which she made no
mention (as I observed) of ye above sd How her
name or any thing relating to her, sometime
after the sd How came in when sd Girl had re-
covered her capacity, her fitt being over sd How
took sd Girl by ye hand, asked her whether she
had ever done her any hurt : ye child answered no
never; with several expressions to yt purpose
which I am not able particularly to recount &c.

EdwArd Paison

Rowley June 3 1692.

Deborah Hadley

The Deposition of Debory Hadley aged about
70 years; this Deponant testifieth & sth that I have
lived near to Elizabeth How (ye wife of James
How Junior of Ipswich) 24 year & have found a
neighborly woman Consciencious in her dealings
faithful to her pmises & Christianlike in her Con-
versation so far as I have observed & further
saith nt. Deborah Hadley.

June 24 1692

Trial of Mrs. Elizabeth Howe 41

Daniel, John, Sarah Warren

from Ipswich Ju ye 25 1692 this may sertify
houe it may conserne we being desired to wright
some thing in ye behalfe of Ye Wife of Jeams how
Junior of Ipswich hoe is aprehended upon sus-
pition of being gilty of ye Sin of witchcraft &
now in Salem prisson upon ye same acount for
ouer oun partes we haue bin well aquainted wt
hur for aboue twenty yeers we neuer see but yt
she cared it very wel & yt both hur wordes &
actions wer always such as well become a good
Cristian: we ofte spake to hur of somethings yt
wer reported of hur yt gaue some suspition of yt
she is now charged wt & she always profesing hur
Inosency yr in offen desiring our prayers to god
for hur yt god would keep hur in his fear & yt
god would support hur under hur burdin we haue
offen herd hur Speaking of those persons yt raised
thos reports of hur and we neuer heered hur
Speake badly of y for ye same but in ouer hering
hath offen said yt she desired god that he
would santify yt afflicttion as well as others for
hur spiritual good.

Daniel Warner senr
John Warner senr
Sarah Warner

Simon and Mary Chapman

Ipswich June the 25th 1692 The testimony
of Simon Chapman About 48 years testifieth and

42 The Witchcraft Delusion

sayth that he hath ben Aquainted with the wiufe
of James how iunr as a nay bar for this 9 or 10
yers and he neuer saw any harm by hur but that
That hath bin good for I found hur Joust In hur
delling fayth fooll too hur promicises I haue
had acation to be in the compiny of goodwief
howe by the fortnight togather at Thayer hous:
and at other tims and I found at all Tims by hur
discors shee was a woman of afliktion and mourn-
ing for sin in her selues and others and when she
met with eny Afliktion she semid to iostifi god
and say that Itt was all better than she dessufid
that it was By falls aqusations from men and she
yust to bles god that she got good by afliktions
for it med hur examin hur oun hart I neuer herd
hur refil any person that hath akusid hur with
witchcraft but pittied them and sayid i pray god
forgiue then for thay harm them selues more
then me. Thof i am a gret sinar yit i am cler
of that sayed she and such kind of afliktions
doth but set me a exsamining my oun hart and I
find god wondarfolly seportining me and com-
farting me by his word and promisis she semid to
be a woman thron in that gratwork of conuiktion
an conuertion which I pray god mak us all

Simon Chapman

My wief Mary Chapman cane Testifi to the most
of this abou retan as witness my hand

Mary Chapman.

Trial of Mrs. Elizabeth Howe 43

Isaac Cummings, Sr.

June 27 1692 disposition of Isaac commins
syner aget about sixty years or thare abouts
who testyfyeth and saith that about aight yers
agou James how iunr of ipswich came to my hous
to borow a hors I not being at home my son
isaac told him as my son told me whan I cam
home i hade no hoes to ride on but my son isaac
did tell the said how that he hade no hors to ride
on but he hade a mare the whiah he though his
father would not be wiling to lend this being upon
a thursday the next day being fryday I took the
mare and myself and my wife did ride on this maer
abute half a mile to an naighbours hous and home
again and when we came home I turned the maer
out the maer being as well to my thinking as
ever she was next morning it being Saturday about
sun rising this said maer stood neer my doore and
the said maer as i did aperehend did show as if she
had bin much abused by riding and here flesh as I
thovg mvch wasted and her movth mvch semenly
to my aperehantion mvch abused and hurt with
ye bridel bits I seing ye maer in svch a sad con-
dition I toke up the said maer and put her into
my barn and she wold eate no maner of thing as
for provender or any thing we i give her then I
sent for my brother Thomas Andros which was
living in boxf ord the said anderos came to my hous
I not being at home when I came home a litle
afore night my brother anderos told me he head
giving the said mear southing for the bots but as

44 The Witchcraft Delusion

he could perseve it did do her no good but said he
I cannot tell but she may have the baly ach and
said he I wel try one thing more my brother
anderos said he would take pipe of tobaco and
lite it and put itt into the fondement of the mare
I told him that I thought it was not lawfull he said
it was lawfull for man or beast then I toke a clen
pipe and filled it with tobaco and did lite it and
went with the pipe lite to the barn then the said
anderos used the pipe as he said before he wold
and the pipe of tobaco did blaze and burn blew
then I said to my brother Anderos you shall try
no more it is not lawful he said I will try again
once mor which he did and thar arose a blaze
from the pipe of tobaco which seemed to me to
cover the butocks of the said mear the blaze went
upward towards the roof of the barn and in roof of
the barn thar was a grate crackling as if the barn
wovld haue falen or bin burnt which semed so to
us which ware within and some that ware with-
out and we hade no other fier in the barn bvt
only a candil and a pipe of tobaco and then I
said I thought my barn or my mear must goe the
next being Lord's day I spoke to my brother
anderos at noone to come to see the said mear
and said anderos came and what h did I say
not the same Lords day at night my naighbours
John Haukins came to my hovs and he and I went
into my barn to see this mear said houkins said
and if I ware as you i wolvd of a pece of this
mear and burn it I said no not to-day but if she
lived til to morrow morning he might cut of a

Trial of Mrs. Elizabeth Howe 45

pece off of her and burn if he wovld presentely as
we hade spoken these words we stept out of the
barn and imedeiately this said mear fell down dade
and never stvred as we covld purseve after she
fell down but lay dead

Isac Comings Senr declared to ye Jury of
Inquest that ye aboue written evidence is the
truth upon oath June 30 1692

Joseph and Mary Knowlton

from Ipswich June 27 1692 Joseph Knowlton
being aquainte with the wife of James How Junr
as a neighbour & somtims hording in the house,
and at my first coming to live in those parts which
was about ten years ago I hard a bad Report of
her about Samull perleys garle which caused me
to take speshall noates of her life & conuersation
euer sence and I haue asked her if she could
freely forgive them that Raised such Reports of
her she tould me Yes with all her heart desiering
that god would give her a heart to be more
humble vnder such a prouidences and further she
sayed she was willing to doe any good she could
to them as had done vnneighbourly by her also
This I haue taken notes of that she would deny
herself to doe a neighbour a good turn and also
I haue known her to be faithfull in the word and
honest in her dealings as far as ever I saw.

Joseph Knowlton aged forty tu
Mary knowlton aged thurty tu

46 The Witchcraft Delusion

James Howe, Sr. (ninety-four yrs. old)

information for Elizabeth How the wife of Jams
How Junr.

Jams How senr aged about 94 sayth he liueing
by her for about thirty years hath taken notes
that she hath caried it well becoming her place as a
daughter as a wife in all Relations setting side
humain infurmitys as becometh a Christian with
Respect to myself as a father very dutyfully
& a wifife to my son carefull loueing obedient and
kind considering his want of eye sight tenderly
leading him about by the hand Now desiering
god may guide your honours to se a differans
between predigous and Consents I Rest yours to
Sarve

James How Senr of Ipswich
dated this 28 day of June 1692

Isaac Cummings, Jr.

June 28th 1692 the testimony of Isaac Comings
Juner aged about 27 years Testifieth & saeth yt
James Hough came to my fathers house when he
was not at home he asked me if my father had
euer a hors & I told him no he asked me if he had
Euer a maer & I told him yesh he asked me if I
thought my father would lend him his maer & I
told him I did not Think would upon wch in a
short Tyme after my father & Mother Ridd their
maer to Their neighbours house ye same maer wch
sd Hough would haue Borowed wch semingly was
well when my fathr & mothr came home I seeing

Trial of Mrs. Elizabeth Howe 47

ye same sd maer ye nex morning could Judge
noe other butt yt she had bin Rid ye other part
of yt night or othr ways horibly abused vpon
wch my fathr seeing wt a condition his maer was
in sent for his brothr Thomas Andros wch when
he came he give her severall Things wch he
Thought to be good for her butt did her not any
good vpon wch he said he would try one thing
more wch was a pipe & some Tobaco wch he ap-
plid to her Thinking itt might doe her good
against ye Belly ake Thinking yt might be her
diseese wch when they vsed ye pipe wth Tobaco
in itt abought ye sd maer ye pipe being Litt itt
blazed so much yt itt was as much as two persons
could putt itt ought wth both of Their hands upon
wch my father said we will Trye no more his
brother my uncle sd he would trye once more ye
wch he did the pipe being Litt ye fyer Blazed out of
ye same sd pipe more vehemently than before
vpon wch my father answered he had Rather
Loose his maer yn his barn ye uery next night
following ye sd maer following my father in his
barn from one side to ye other side fell down
imediately Dead against ye sell of ye Barn before
my fathr had well cleered him self e from her furthr
saith not.

Mary Cummings, Sr.

June 27 1692 The disposition of mary commings
ye wif of isaac commins senr aged about sixty yers
or thare abouts teseifieth and saith my husband

48 The Witchcraft Delusion

not being at home I was sent to by som parsons
of ipsweg sent to me for to have me to write what
I cold say of James how iunr his wife elisebeth
conscarning her life or conversation and that I
would say what I cold say for or against her
when the said hows wife sought to aiojn with
the church at ipsweg and I spoke to my son Isaac
to write that we hade vsed no brimston nor oyl
nor no combustables to give to our maer becavs
thare was a report that the said hows wife had
said that we had given the maer brimston and
oyl and the like and a short time after I hade
written my testemony consarning this hows wife
my son Isaac his maer was missing that he covld
not find her in to or thrre days and in a short
time after my son isaacs maer came in sight not
fare from the hovs and my son isaac praid me
to go ovt and look on his maer when I came to
her asked me what I thought on her her and I
said if he wold have my thoughts I covld not
complain it nothing elce but that she wriden with
a hot bridil for she hade divirses brvses as if she
had bin runing over rocks and mvch wronged
and where the bridil went was as if it had bin
burnt with a hot bridil then I bide Isaac take ye
mare and have her vp amongst the naghbors
that peopl might see her for I hered that James
how iunr or his wife or both had said that we
kept vp ovr maer that people might not see her
and isaac did show his maer to saviril and then
the said how as i hered did report that isac
had riden to Lin spring and caryed his gairl

Trial of Mrs. Elizabeth Howe 49

and so sorfited th maer the which was not so.
Mary Comins owned this her testimony to be
truth before the Juryes for Inques this 29th of
June 1692.

Mary Cummings, Sr.

Jvn 27 1692 I mary comins ageed abovt sixty
yers thar abovts the wife of isaac comins syner
I being at my neighbour Samuel parlys hovs
samuel parlys davgter hannah being in a straing
condition asked me if J did see goodee how in the
hovs going rovnd vpon the wall as gvrl dricted
her finger along rovnd in won place and another
of the hovs J teled her no J looked as dilegently
as i cold and i covld see nothing of her the gvrls
mother then did chek her and told her she was
alwas foil of such kind of notions and bid her hold
her toong then she told her mother she wovld
believe it one day and som thing mor which shold
hav bin mantioned as the garl poynted to show
me whare goode how was she asked me if I did
not se her go ovt at that crak which she poynted
at.

Mary Comins owned this har testimony one
her oath to be the truth before the Juriars of In-
quest this 29 of June 92. Jurat in Curia.

Mary Cummings

Jvn 27 1692 The disposition of Mary commins
aged abuvt sixty yers or there abovts ho testefieth
and saieth that above too yeres agou J went to

50 The Witchcraft Delusion

viset my neighbovr sherins wife and she told
me that James how ivnr had bin thare to give her
a siset and he did sharply talk to her asking her
what hopes she hade of her salvation her answer
was to him that she did bild her hopes upon that
sver rock Jesvs christ this the said serius vife
did tell me and she told me also that she had never
talked of the said how or his wife bvt she was
wors for it afterwords and she said also when she
lay sick of the same sickness whereof she dyed that
the said how would come som time into the roome
to see but she covld not tell how to bare to see him
nor that he shovld be in the hovs Mary Comins
ownid that this har testemony on har oath before
the Juryars for Inques this 29 of June 1692 Jurat
in Curia

Francis Lane

Francis Lane aged 27 yeares testifyeth & saith
that about seauen yeares agoe James How the
husband of Elizabeth How of Ipswich farmes
hired sd Lane to get him a parcell of posts & railes
& sd Lane hired John Pearly the son of samuel
Pearly of Ipswich to help him in getting of them
And after they had got said Posts & rails the said
Lane went to the said James How that he might
goe with him & take delivery of said Posts & rails
& Elizabeth How the wife of sd James how told
said Lane that she did not beleive that sd Posts &
rails would doe because that said John Pearly
helped him & she said that if he had got them

<

o

CO

a
o

ct: <*>

i,_p .t? «> o o
■ b « * «~ <U'T3 o 3

52 The Witchcraft Delusion

alone & had not got John Pearly to help him she
beleived that they would haue done but seeing
that said Pearly had helped about them she be-
leiued that they would not doe so sd James How
went with said Lane for to take deliuery of sd
Posts & rails & the said James How toke severell
of the said rails as they lay in heaps up by the
end & they broke of so many of them broke that
said Lane was forced to get thirty or forty more
& when said how came home he told his wife
thereof & she said to him that she had told him
before that they would not doe because said
Pearly helped about them which rails said Lane
testifyeth that in his aprehention were sound
railes ffrancis Lane declared to ye Jury of in-
ques to ye truth of ye above written evidence
upon oath June 30 1692 Jurat in Curia

John Howe

The testimony of John How aged about 50
yers saith that on that day that my brother
James his wife was Caried to Salem farmes upon
examination she was at my house and would a
have had me to go with her to Salem farmes I
tould hur that if she had ben sent for upon all-
most any a Count but witchcraft I would a have
gone with hur bvt one that a Count I would not
for ten pounds but said I If you are a witch tell
me how long you have ben a witch and what mis-
cheue you have done and then J will go with you
for said J to hur you have ben acusied by Samuel

Trial of Mrs. Elizabeth Howe 53

pearlys Child and suspacted by Daken Cumins for
witchcraft; she semed to be aingry with me, stell
asked me to come on the morrow I told hur I
did not know but I might com to morrow but my
ocashons caled me to go to Ipswich one the mor-
row and came whome a bout suns set and standing
nere my door talking with one of my Naibours
I had a sow with six small pigs in the yard the sow
was as well so fare as I knew as euer one a suding
she leaped up about three or fouer foot hie and
turned about and gave one squeake and fell downe
daed I told my naibour that was with me I
thought my sow was bewitched for said I I think
she is dead he lafed at me but It proved true
for she fell downe daed he bed me cut of hur eare
the which I did and my hand I had my knife in
was so numb and full of paine that night and
sauerall days after that I could not doe any work
and is not wholy wall now and I sospected no
other person but my sd sister Elizabeth How
Capt. John How declared ye above written
evidence to be the truth before ye Jury of inquest.
June 30th 1692 upon his oath in Court

Jacob Foster

The deposion of Jacob Foster aged about 29
yeares the deponant saith that some years agoe
good wife How the wife of James how was about
to Joyne with the church of Ipswich my father
was an instrumentall means of her being denyed
admision quickly after my mare turned out to

54 The Witchcraft Delusion

grass on the tusday and on thursday I went to
seek my mare to go to lecture I sought my mare
and could not find her I sought all friday and
found her not on Saturday I sought till noon & I
found my mare standing leaning with her butock
against a tree I hit her with a small whip she
gave a heaue from a tree and fell back to the tree
again then I took of her fetters and struck her
again she did the same again then I set my
shoulder to her side and thrust her of from the
tree and moved her feet then she went home
and leapt into the pausture and my mare lookt
as if she had been miserably beaten and abused
Jacob ffoster declared ye evidence to be ye truth
before ye Jury of inquest on oath June 30 92

Joseph Safford

The deposition of Joseph Safford aged about 60
he testefyeth and saith that my wife was much
afraid of Elizabeth how the wife of James how
upon the Reports that were of her about Samuell
perlleys child but upon a tim after thes Reports
James how and his wife coming to my house
nether myselfe nor my wife were at home and
good wife how asked my children wher ther
mother was and they said at the next nayboaers
hovs she desired them to Coll ther mother which
they did when my wife cam whom my wife
told me that she was much startled to se goode
how but she took her by the hand and said goode
Safford I beleue that you are not ignorant of

Trial of Mrs. Elizabeth Howe 55

the grete scandall that I Ly under upon the euill
Report that is Raised upon me about Samuell
perlleys child and other things Joseph Safford
saith that after this his wife was taken beyond
Rason and all parswasion to tek the part of this
woman after this the wife of this James how pro-
pounded herselfe to com into the church of Ips-
wich wher upon sum objection a Rose by sum
unsatisfied bretheren wher upon ther was a meet-
ing apinted by our elders of the church to con-
sider of things brought in against her my wife
was more than ordenery ernest to goe to lectur
the church meeting being on that day notwith-
standing the many arguments I used to perswed
her to the Contrery yet I obtained a promis of her
that she would not goe to the church meeting but
meeting with som of the naybourhood they per-
swaded her to go with them to the church meet-
ing at elder pains and told her that shee need say
nothing ther, but good wife how then being
Rether Rendred guilty than cleered my wife took
her by the hand after meeting and told her
though she wer condemned before men she was
Justefyed before god. the next Sabath after this
my son that caried my wife to Lectur was taken
aftar a strange manar the Saturday after that my
wife was taken after a Rauing frenzy manar ex-
pressing in a Raging manar that goode how must
com into the church and that shee was a precious
saint and though shee wer condemned befor men
shee was justefyed befor god and continued in this
fram for the space of thre or four hours after that

56 The Witchcraft Delusion

my wife fell into a kind of trance for the space of
two or thre minits shee then coming to herselfe
opened her eye and said ha J was mistaken, no
answer was med by the standars by, and again
shee said ha J was mistaken Majar appleton's
wife standing by said wherein art mistaken I was
mistaken said she for J thought goode how had
bene a precious saint of god but now I see she is a
witch fer shee hath bewitched me and my child
and we shall neuer be well till ther is testemony
for her that she may be taken into the church
after after this there was A meeting of the eldars
at my hous and thay desired that goode how might
be at the meeting insign wallis went with my-
selfe to invite goode how to this meeting she
coming in discours at that time she said two or
thre times shee was sory to se my wife at the church
meeting at eldar pains after this shee said she
was aflicted by the aparishtion of goode how a
few dayes aftar she was taken shee said the caus
of her changing her opinion consarning goode how
was becaus shee apeared to her throg a creuis of
the clambouerds which she knew no good person
could do and at thre seuerall times after was
aflicted by the aperishtion of goode how and
goode olleuer and furder this deponit saith that
Rising erlly in the morning and kindling a fir
in the other Room in wife shrieked out I presently
Ran into the room wher my wife was and as soon
as euer I opened the dore my said ther be the
euill one take them whereupon I Replyed wher
are they I will take them if I can shee said you

Trial of Mrs. Elizabeth Howe 57

will not tek them and then sprang out of the bed
herselffe and went to the window and said thar
they went out thar wer both biger than she and
they went out ther but she could not then J
Replyed who be they she said goode how and
goode olleuer goode olleuer said J you never
saw the woman in your Life no said she I neuer
saw her in my Life but so she is Represented to
me goode olleuer of Sallam the miliar
Joseph Safford declared to ye Jury of inquest
that ye evidence above written & on the other
side of this paper is ye truth upon oath

June 30 1692 Jurat in Curia

Thomas Andrews

July 1st 1692

The testimony of Thomas Andrews of Boxford
aged about 50 yars this deponant Testifieth &
saith yt Jsiah Comings senior of Topsfield sent
for me to help help a mare yt was not well &
when I came thare ye mare was in such a condi-
tion yt I could not tell wt she ailed for J neuer
sawe yt like her lips ware exceedingly swelled
yt ye Jnsides of Them Turned outward & Look
Black & blue & gelled, her Tung was in ye same
Condition J told ye said Comings I could not tell
wt to doe for her J perceiued she had not ye
Botts wch J did att first think she had but J
said she might haue some great heat in her Body
& I would applie a pipe of Tobaco to her & yt
that was concented & I lit a pipe of Tobaco & putt

58 The Witchcraft Delusion

itt under her fundiment & there came a Blew
flame out of ye Bowie & Run along ye stem of sd
pipe & took hold of ye haer of sd Maer & Burnt
itt & we tryed itt 2 or 3 times together & itt did
ye same itt semed to Burn blew butt Run Like
fyer yt is sett on the grass to Burn itt in ye spring
Tyme & we struck itt outt wth our hands & ye sd
Comings sd yt he would trye no more for sd he J
had rather loose my mare yn my barn & J this
deponant doe testifi yt to ye Best of my under-
standing was ye same mare yt James Hough
Junior Belonging to Jpswich farmes husband to
Elizabeth Hough would have borowed of ye sd
Comings

Tho. Andrews

Removal of Attainder
and Reimbursement

"Ipswich ye 9 of September, 1710

"Whereas ye honored General Court has ap-
pointed a committee to consider what damage
persons have sustained in their names and estates
in the year 1692 by their sufferings in that as was
called witch craft, ye odium whereof was as if
they are one of ye worst of mankind, we Mary How
and Abigail How : ye only survi vers in this family
also do groundedly believe that our honored
mother Elizabeth How suffered as innocent of
the crime charged with as any person in the world,
and as to the damage done to our estate we can
not give a particular account but this we know that

Trial of Mrs. Elizabeth Howe 59

our honored father went twice a week ye whole
time of her imprisonment to carry her mainte-
nance which was provided with much difficulty
and one of us went with him because he could not
go alone for want of sight also one journey to
Boston for a replevey and for maintenance 5s.
money left with her the first coming down 205.
the second time and 405. so that sometimes more
some less yt never under 5s. per week which we
know for charge for her and necessary charge for
ourselves and horses cannot be less than £20
money yet notwithstanding so that ye name may
be repaired we are content if your honors shall
allow £12.

Yours to serve

Mary How & Abigail How."

"This petition was presented to said Court
by Capt. John How and Abraham How uncles
of said Mary and Abigail for relief in the premises
and pray that the petition may be allowed the
same."

The petition was referred to the committee
referred to therein.

"The committee met at Salem, 13th, Sept. 1710,
and the 14th reported allowing the Misses How
the £12 asked for."

Thos. Noyes i

John Burrill > Committee

Nah. Jewett j

60

The Witchcraft Delusion

"23 Oct., 1711. Read and accepted in House
of Representatives, and sent up for concurrence.
John Burrill, Speaker.

"In Council, 28 Oct., 1711.
"Read and concurred.

John Addington, Sec'y."

State Archives, Room 434, Vol. 135 : 131, 169.

Home of Mrs. Howe
Located. The Conclusion

This map

\ delineates a

part of the
homestead
of Mrs. Eliza
Howe Perley,
now in her
ninety-third
year (May
15) whose re-
sidence is at
"6." The as-
cent of the
estate is: Mrs. Perley 's father, Aaron Howe;
his second cousin, Joseph Howe; Joseph's father,
Abraham Howe; his father, Abraham Howe, Jr.;
his cousins, Abigail and Mary Howe; their
father, James Howe, Jr. ; his father, James Howe,
Sr., — a continuous Howe ownership of two hun-
dred sixty years.

Trial of Mrs. Elizabeth Howe 61

The house pictured on the opposite page stood
at "2," and was built, probably, in 1711, since
Abraham Howe, Jr., bought the land in February
of that year, "to set a house upon."

James Howe, Jr., owned "a small house in the
orchard," "3," and a third of other "housing,"
which may have included "the old house," that
stood in 1711, "near" "5" south of "2," "the
southwest corner of the orchard."

While searching the records of deeds, the writer
noted a course in a description: "Thence to the
gate opposite James Howe, Junior's." The
locality was well known to him, and that knowl-
edge located the gate. He had often seen a gate
there, between 1840 and 1850. It swung at the
entrance of the avenue leading to the residence
of James Howe, Senior, marked "gate" on the
map. That fact was tangible; Mrs. Howe's
home was at "2" on the map or near it.

Thus far and no farther, till one day looking
over the ground back of the present residence
of Mrs. Eliza Howe Perley, "6" on the map, the
writer noticed a peculiar hollow in the otherwise
level surface, and to his question, What made it?
she replied, "I don't know; I have always heard
it called Mary's hole." He immediately ex-
claimed, "Mary Howe, daughter of the witch."

His conclusion : There the surviving daughters,
Mary and Abigail, lived, secluded and alone,
beneath the shadow of the cruel attainder.
After the death of Mary, their home became
Mary's cellar; and when all appearance of a

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Trial of Mrs. Elizabeth Howe 63

cellar was gone, it became "Mary's hole."
To-day there is not the slightest vestige of
"Mary's hole"; the old home, known only to the
saddest pages of New England history, is arable
ground.

DESCENDANTS OF JAMES HOWE

JAMES-

MARv

JOHN-

REBECCA

ABRAH'

SARAH

OE BORAH

IGAH

INCREASE-

SAMSON'

ABRAH~

ABUAH
ISRAEL"

MARK-

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JOHN • •
ANN

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wife11

JOSEPH
LOVE

IMARTHA
SARAH
IJAMES

'AgK

RAH
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SB!1

>usant*

IBST1

MERCY

JEMIMA
HEPHZIBAH
ARAH

as

IDANiEL

JAH
SlLLA

MM!

HANNAH

*

MARY
AARON
MAR*
ABUAH
MARK ••

NATHAN1 •■
PHILEMON ,
HEPHZIBAH

/We f\

rms

ABRAH~ ■

JOHN

LUCY

ISKi?H

SAMUEL

ABRAH**- |A8RAH~ R

ABEL •
ELEANOR

EDWARD E

LEVEREjrS
IlLARD 9

fflp-

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MOSES
PRISCIL
SAMUEL

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ICECIL <>

WM0MC*

ICATHERINE

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ON-jCELIA A.

64

DESCENDANTS OF JAMES HOWE
IPSWICH HOWES — JAMES BRANCH

ARMA VIRUMQUE CANO

James Howe, Jr., was son of James, Sen., of
Ipswich, County Essex, Mass., and grandson of
Robert, "who lived in Hatfield, Broad-Oak,
county Essex, England, where Sir Francis Bar-
rington lived in Woodrow-Green; James, son of
said Robert, lived in a place called Hackerill, or
Bockerill, in Bishop-Stortford — in the happy
and gracious reign of King James I."

The mention of Sir Francis's name in this
connection suggests some particular attachment,
of which Mr. Howe had, no doubt, informed his
children, and which he wished them to remember
and cherish. Sir Francis's family name went
into England with the Conqueror, 1066, as Du
Barentin. The old feudal burg and barony which
cradled the name, near Rouen, is now Barentin.
The Conqueror gave Baron Odo Du Barentin a
grant of land in county Essex and the descendant
office of ranger or keeper of the forest of Hatfield.
Early in the seventeenth century the name was
anglicized Barrington.

The special mention of Sir Francis's name,
noted above, could hardly indicate a family rela-
tion; it may have been a correlation, as ranger
and subranger, or assistant, a lucrative station
of Sir Francis's gift. The charge, a wolf's

66 The Witchcraft Delusion

head, which has characterized the Howe arms
for centuries, suggests forests and an encounter.

The Coat of Arms

James, Jr., and Elizabeth

Of the arms
"Gules (red)
a chevron ar-
gent (silver)
between three
cros-cros-lets
or (gold) three
wolves' heads
of the same,"
said to have
"adorned the
walls of the
'W a y s i d e
Inn ' or Howe

Tavern, in Sudbury, for over a hundred and fifty

years, "Ye wolfs are ye fams. Arms, ye cross.

for gt accts don by ye 1st EL," who lived around

a.d. 1500, or the time of Henry VII or VIII.

The seat of the family bearing

the above arms was in county

Warwick; the seat of Robert

Howe and the place of the

original Howe arms: "Argent

(silver) a chevron between

three wolves' heads couped

sable (black)" was in county

Essex.

Trial of Mrs. Elizabeth Howe 67

If the query is now suggested, why did not our
James Howe claim a coat of arms if he were en-
titled to one, this answer is persuasive if not
conclusive; so early created and so long unused,
it was forgotten; or maybe, in New England
practical home life its value was considered zero,
or negative.

It may be said, further, that the Howe coat
armor, the Howe family, the Barrington family,
and the King's forest — each and all — belonged
to Hatfield, county Essex, and it may be thought
strange that the ancient Howe arms should not
include our James, the immigrant, in its descent.
On the whole, there is a preponderating impres-
sion that the wolf's head on the Howe arms was
captured in the Hatfield forest by a Howe.

James Howe, Sr., was of Roxbury, and made
freeman May 17, 1637, and removed to Ipswich
before 1648. He was granted June 11, 1650, on
motion of Mr. Norton, one of the farms of a
hundred acres formerly reserved for Mr. Norton's
friends. He bought, July 3, 1651, about twenty-
one acres adjoining to Mr. Winthrop's and Mr.
Symonds's farms. He was a commoner, 1641;
a tithing man, 1671. His wife, Elizabeth Dane,
only daughter of John Dane, of Roxbury, died
Jan. 21, 1693-4. Both joined the church at
Topsfield in 1684.

He was eminently an all round man. He was
a weaver by trade, but he could butcher a swine
or write a will or deed; he could practice in pro-
bate or dig a grave; he could make a coffin or

68 The Witchcraft Delusion

build a house; he could cultivate a farm or sur-
vey it; he could shoe a horse or an ox or make his
own or others' shoes; he was a ready helper
in every department of country life. He died
May 17, 1701-2,* at the age of one hundred and
four years, a man of three centuries.

James Howe, Jr., was born in Roxbury, in 1635
or 1636, since he was "about 30" in 1666 and
"about 34," Sept. 28, 1669. He married, April 13,
1658, Elizabeth Jackson, a neighbor, daughter of
William and Joanna, of Rowley, and sister to
Mary, who married Wm. Foster, of Boxford, and
to Deborah, who married Lieut. John Trumble, of
Newbury, official men in their respective towns.

He had a share in Plum Island, 1664; was a
voter, 1679; at about fifty years of age was blind,
so he had to be led. His will is dated Nov. 19,
1701. He confirms to his daughter Elizabeth
Jackson's children, what he had given her; men-
tions his daughter Deborah and grandson James
"when 21 " and granddaughters Martha How and
Sarah How "when 18 or married." He gave his
other two daughters, Mary and Abigail, "for their
pains and care that they have taken of me for sev-
eral years and their labor for my maintenance,"
my house, barn, orchard, lands, and movables,
and appointed them executrices. He signed his

*Caldwell'8 Antiquarian Papers quote Sewell: "May 19,
1701, was buried Mr. James How, a good man, aged 104
years. He died, I think, Lord's day night, just about the
time the news of the King's death was brought from
Medera." King William died Sunday, March 8, 1701-2.
o.s.; Sunday, March 8, 1702, j.s.; or March 19, 1702, n.b.

Trial of Mrs. Elizabeth Howe ' 69

will "James How," but it was proved, March 11,
1701-2, as the will of James Howe, Jr. He died
Feb. 15, 1701. Their children were:

James, who died in July, 1664.

Elizabeth, born June 1, 1661, married Caleb
Jackson, son of Nicholas, a neighbor.

Mary, born Feb. 25, 1664, petitioner, p. 73.

Deborah, who married Isaac Howe, of Roxbury,
son and grandson of Abrahams.

John, born April 17, 1671, married Hannah
Browne, and had Martha, 1691; Sarah, 1692-3;
who married Thomas Wood; James, 1695, ances-
tor of the Methuen family of Howes. His
widow married Ephraim Roberts, of Methuen,
and had Patience, 1703, and Mary, 1705.

Abigail, born Dec. 3, 1673, petitioner, p. 73.
All the family connections of the alleged witch

were well-to-do people and stable and standard

in church and civic life.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
M. V. B. Perley, Salem, Mass., Publisher

PAGE

The Perley Family History and Genealogy 65
Perley's Chronological Chart . . . .68

Family Genealogies 69

Essex Antiquarian 70

Essex County Vital Records .... 70

THE PERLEY FAMILY HISTORY
AND GENEALOGY

839 pages; printed page, 4 J x 7j inches; 5
dozen full page portraits; 280 illustrations; all
handwork binding; index to every proper name;
biography covers two thirds of the book; weight,
4J lbs.

Favorable Comment

The N. E. Historical- Genealogical Register
says, "So copious are the details respecting
nearly every member of the family that the work
may be described as a Biographical Genealogy."

Maj. E. T. Bouve, Mass., compiler of war
records, writes: "Your very fine genealogy. . . .
The information is of great importance to me."

The Sutton Reference Library, Mass., ordered
a copy for approval or return. It was not re-
turned; a check was sent in payment.

The Essex Antiquarian says: "A more inter-
esting family history has not been published."

Family Pride

Family pride is a commendable trait, like
national pride or patriotism. The book is the
story of the family, male and female, and cannot
fail to awaken the just pride of all loyal members.
They can write in it their own families as years

72 The Witchcraft Delusion

make them, and leave priceless heirlooms to their
posterities.

A History

Don't be deceived. The book is not the ordi-
nary genealogy of dates and names. It is a his-
tory; it reads like a history. There are more
than five dozen portraits with their biographies;
numerous examples of unsurpassed bravery, as
witness there doubt of Bunker Hill, the Pigwacket
of Captain Lovewell and the War of 1812; and of
patriotism, as witness the wars for the mother
country; as colonists; against her, as revolutionists,
and as defenders of our home government in the
Civil War.

It has its Wandering Jew, its Country's Wonder,
its escapades in courtship, its triumphs in politics,
and its stories of pioneering and of country-wide
travel. It shows how the family's money built
churches and schools; how ministers, doctors,
lawyers, and teachers were ornaments to their
professions; how statesmen, by efficiency and in-
tegrity, enjoyed repeated elections; and how men
"with the hoe," the trowel, the saw, and other
implements of their craft, by diligence, enterprise,
and sobriety, reared happy homes and garnered
wealth.

An Inspiration

The book is an inspiration. Squire H — wrote,
"I read a chapter in the Perley History every

Trial of Mrs. Eliazbeth Howe 73

day," meaning to say that every chapter has its
peculiar interest, pleasure, and uplifting senti-
ment. Mrs. W — bought six copies, Mrs. H —
four, both saying, "I want each of my children to
have a copy." Other buyers have done relatively
the same.

A Splendid Gift

Take a copy with you to "the old folks at
home" at Thanksgiving; it would gratify them.
Give one to your daughter at "sweet sixteen," and
to your son at twenty-one. It would be a mag-
nificent present for a dear friend. Your Public
Library would write you a letter of cordial thanks
for a copy. As a New Year's, a Birthday, a
Wedding, or a Christmas gift, it would crown
the occasion with proud delight.

The books are in patent corrugated wrappers,
and can be ready for the mail in five minutes after
receiving your order.

For Libraries

The numerous intermarriages with old New Eng-
land families, and its fulness of biography, make
it a valuable addition to libraries, and Genealogical
and Historical Societies.

Price: Leather back and corners, gold

top edge and gold lettering $6.50

Fine Maroon cloth and gold lettering 5.50
Carriage on each prepaid, but if at destination,
send only $5 . 10 and $6 . 10 respectively.

PERLEY'S CHRONOLOGICAL CHART

FOR (1) VERIFYING, (2) CORRECTING, AND (3)
INTERPRETING DATES, THUS:

(l) Gen. Geo. Washington was born on Friday,
Feb. 11, 1731-2.

(3) A transit of Venus occurred, in 1639, on
Sunday, Dec. 6 (almanac); Dec. 4 (astronomy);
Nov. 24 (another astronomy).

(3) Bryan, the 175th monarch of Ireland died
Good Friday, 1714. Durham Cathedral, Eng-
land, was struck by lightning, "The night before
the day of Corpus Christi, 1429." Thomas
Ryhale dated his will, "Vigil of Easter, 1427."

The Chart is adapted to the styles: Julian,
Russian, Dionysian, Gregorian, Old and New.

With a little primary arithmetic it furnishes
the date of Easter for any year.

It gives the day of the week corresponding to
any possible date in 4,000 years, beginning,
Saturday, Jan. 1, A.d. 1.

One can easily determine the Friday occur-
rences of great men and events, and so deter-
mine the proportion of unlucky Fridays.

Lawyers, historians, genealogists, teachers, and
all students and readers of history would find
the Chart eminently serviceable. For a number
of weeks in 1892 the Boston Transcript discussed
the four elements of dates; this Chart would have

Trial of Mrs. Elizabeth Howe 75

given the result in ten minutes. See the Tran-
script, Oct. 1, 1892.

FAMILY GENEALOGIES

These are gleaned from the various records of
Essex County. If your name does not appear
in the list, we can furnish your genealogy. Cor-
respondence solicited.

Abbot, Aborn, Abraham, Abram, Acie, Acres,
Adams, Ager, Akerman, Alexander, Alford, Alger,
Allen, Alley, Ambrose, Ames, Anderson, Ander-
ton, Andrews, Annable, Annis, Antrum, Appleton,
Archer, Arnold, Ash, Ashby, Ashton, Aslebee,
Atkins, Atkinson, Atwell, Atwood, Aubin, Aus-
tin, Averill, Ayer, Babidge, Babson, Bacon,
Babcock, Badger, Bagley, Bailey, Baker, Balch.
Ball, Ballard, Bancroft, Barber, Barker, Barnard,
Barnes, Barney, Barr, Barrett, Bartholomew,
Bartlett, Bartoll, Barton, Bassett, Batchelder,
Bates, Batter, Battin, Beadle, Beal, Bean, Bear,
Beck, Becket, Beckford, Belcher, Belknap, Bell,
Bennett, Barry, Bessom, Best, Bickford, Biles,
Birch, Bishop, Bisson, Bixby, Black, Blackly,
Blake, Blanchard, Blaney, Blasdell, Blashfield,
Blunt, Blyth, Boardman, Bodwell, Bolles, Bol-
ton, Bond, Booth, Bourn, Bowden, Bowditch,
Bowen, Bowles, Bowiman, Boyce, Boyd, Boyn-
ton, Bradbury, Bradford, Bradley, Bradstreet,
Bragg, Bray, Breed, Brewer, Brickett, Bridgeo,
Bridges, Briggs, Brimblecome, Britton, Brock,
Brocklebank, Brooks, Broughton, Browne.

76 The Witchcraft Delusion

THE ESSEX ANTIQUARIAN

The work begins with the earliest records of
Essex County — parish, town, and court; births,
marriages, and deaths; probate and deeds
registry, etc. The search is thorough and re-
liable. It is put up in thirteen volumes, in
strong and attractive binding, and fully indexed.
The price for the set complete is $35.

ESSEX COUNTY VITAL RECORDS

The publication of these records is progressing.
They are derived from gravestone, parish, church,
town, old Bible, and private records, and end
with the year 1849. The following list gives the
towns now ready, the number of pages in each,
and the price of each:

Andover, pp. 966, $10.10; Beverly, pp. 1,027,
$10.75; Boxford, pp. 274, $2.90; Bradford, pp.
373, $3.90; Danvers, pp. 915, $9.75; Essex, pp.
86, $ .95; Hamilton, pp. 112, $1.20; Haverhill,
pp. 827, $8.65; Ipswich, pp. 1,125, $12.75;
Lynn, pp. 1,050, $10.95; Lynnfield, pp. 98, $1.10;
Manchester, pp. 296, $3.15; Marblehead, pp.
1315, $13.70; Methuen, pp. 345, $3.63; Middle-
ton, pp. 143, $1.55; Newbury, pp. 1,323, $13.75;
Newburyport, in press; Saugus, pp. 81, $ .90;
Topsfield, pp. 258, $2.75; Wenham, pp. 227,
$2.40.

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