Like Bridget Bishop , Susannah had also been accused of witchcraft twice before During her first witchcraft case, she was accused by William Browne of tormenting his wife Elizabeth with her spirit. After her arrest, Susannah was released on bail and the charges were eventually dropped.
She was accused again in , this time by William Sargent Jr, who also said he witnessed Susannah give birth to and kill an illegitimate baby. Susannah posted bail, promising to return to court for her trial but, again, the charges were dropped. Her husband, George, later sued Sargent for slander. The court held Sargent libel for slander in accusing Susannah of fornication and infanticide but allowed the witchcraft accusations. The charges were later dismissed.
When Susannah was accused of witchcraft for the final time in , she had no one to come to her rescue. Since they lived in different villages, it is not known how these girls knew Susannah, but it is possible they heard about her bad reputation from others and made the decision to accuse her.
Although most of the court records from her trial were lost, Cotton Mather, a well known minister at the time, personally documented her trial:.
Others by fits were hindered from speaking. Eliz: Hubbard said she hath not been hurt by her. Ann Putman threw her Glove in a fit at her. The examinant laught. The hurt of these persons. Susan Sheldon also accused her of afflicting her. Did not you give your consent? I do not think they are [Magistrate]: Tell me your thoughts about them.
She was buried in a shallow grave near the execution site with the other victims but because the exact location of the executions has never been found, it is not known where her body currently lies. An honest, hardworking Christian woman accused of being a witch and executed at Salem, July 19, She will be missed!
A Martyr of Superstition. In , the Massachusetts legislature passed a resolution clearing the names of the convicted witches and offered financial restitution to their descendants. In , the Massachusetts legislature formally apologized to the victims of the Salem Witch Trials but did not specifically mention any of the victims by name. Parris, or an associate, later purchased her in Barbados when she was a teenager and brought her to Boston in Over a decade later, Tituba was one of the first women to be accused of witchcraft during the hysteria of Some sources suggest Tituba was named a witch because she allegedly practiced voodoo and taught the Salem Village girls fortune telling, but there are no references to this in the court records and no evidence that she did this.
The three women were promptly arrested. It was this confession and her dramatic testimony that convinced the people of Salem that this was not an isolated incident and that the Devil had invaded Salem:. Tituba went on to describe conversations she had with evil pigs, dogs and rats who all ordered her to do their bidding and said she personally witnessed Sarah Good and Sarah Osbourne transform into strange, winged creatures.
Like other women accused of witchcraft, she was a poor, elderly widow who had been reduced to begging, and a longtime outsider in the community. Painting depicting the Salem witch trials. It would be the last day of executions that year, as public opinion had begun to turn against the trials, which would end for good in The original of one court document, transcribed by Thomas Gage in an history of Rowley, has yet to surface.
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