Some are, the later petition said, persuaded to confess what they were suggested to confess. Afterward, over their shock at arrest, they renounce their confessions.

They are reminded that Samuel Wardwell had confessed and then renounced his confession and was therefore condemned and executed; the petition states that they were frightened that they would be next to meet that fate. September 8: Deliverance Dane confesses under examining, implicating her father-in-law, Rev. Francis Dane, though he is never arrested or questioned. Mercy Lewis testifies as a witness against Giles Corey. He is formally indicted on the charge of witchcraft and continues to refuse to plead either guilty or not guilty.

September Mary Lacey Sr. She is indicted on the charge of witchcraft. September Margaret Scott is examined in court.

September Abigail Faulkner, Jr. September Under the law, an accused person who refused to plead could not be tried. It has been speculated that Giles Corey realized that if he could not be tried, in a situation where he would most likely be found guilty especially in the wake of his wife's conviction, then the property he had signed over to his daughters' husbands would be less vulnerable to seizure. In an attempt to force Giles Corey to plead either guilty or not guilty, which he refused to do, he is pressed heavy rocks were placed on a board on his body.

He asked for "more weight" to end the ordeal more quickly. After two days, the weight of the stones killed him. Judge Jonathan Corwin ordered his burial in an unmarked grave. Because she is pregnant, her hanging is delayed until after she gave birth. Nicholas Noyes officiated at this last execution in the Salem witch trials, saying after the execution, "What a sad thing it is to see eight firebrands of hell hanging there.

September: the Court of Oyer and Terminer stopped meeting. October 3: Rev. Increase Mather denounces the court's reliance on spectral evidence. Phips orders the court to stop using spectral evidence in the proceedings. October Governor Phips writes to the Privy Council in England that he formally halted the proceedings in the witch trials.

October Twenty-five citizens, including Rev. Francis Dane, write a letter condemning the trials, addressed to the governor and the General Court. October Governor Phips orders a stop to any more arrests. He also orders some of the accused be released and dissolves the Court of Oyer and Terminer.

Another petition to the Salem court of Assize, undated but probably from October, is on record. The petition protested the way that many had been persuaded to confess under pressure what they were charged with and stated that no neighbors had any reason to suspect that the charges might be true. November : Mary Herrick reports that the ghost of Mary Easty visited her and told her of her innocence. November Governor Phips establishes a Superior Court of Judicature to handle any remaining trials of accused witches in Massachusetts.

December: Abigail Faulkner, Sr. She is pardoned and released from prison. December 3: Anne Foster, convicted and condemned on September 17, dies in prison. Rebecca Eames petitions the governor for release, retracting her confession and stating she had only confessed because she had been told by Abigail Hobbs and Mary Lacey that she would be hanged if she did not confess.

He left town without his wife and daughter who had confessed and implicated him. December Several members of Salem Village church are asked to appear before the church and explain their absences and differences: Joseph Porter, Joseph Hutchinson Sr.

Increase Mather, his father, publishes Cases of Conscience Concerning Evil Spirits , denouncing the use of spectral evidence in trials. Rumors circulate that Increase Mather 's wife was about to be denounced as a witch. Charges were dismissed for many others of the accused. Sixteen more are tried, with 13 found not guilty and 3 convicted and condemned to hang: Elizabeth Johnson Jr.

Margaret Hawkes and her enslaved person, Mary Black, were among those found not guilty on January 3. Candy, another enslaved person, was cleared by proclamation on January 11, and she returned to her enslaver's household when he paid her jail fees. Forty-nine of the accused were released in January because the cases against them relied on spectral evidence.

January 2: The Rev. Francis Dane writes to fellow ministers that, knowing the people of Andover where he served as senior minister, "I believe many innocent persons have been accused and imprisoned.

Several of Rev. Dane's family had been accused and imprisoned, including two daughters, a daughter-in-law and several grandchildren. Two of his family members, his daughter Abigail Faulkner and his granddaughter Elizabeth Johnson, Jr. A similar missive, signed by Rev. January 3: William Stoughton orders the execution of the three sentenced on the first, and several others whose executions had not been carried out yet or had been delayed, including women whose executions were temporarily stayed because they were pregnant.

Governor Phips pardons all of those named, countering Stoughton's orders. Stoughton responds by resigning as a judge. January 7: Elizabeth Hubbard testifies for the last time in the witchcraft trials. January A court orders a new committee be selected to govern Salem Village church, on the grounds that the previous committee had neglected to fully raise the minister's salary in — Elizabeth Proctor's original sentence of execution was not carried out, though she remained in jail.

They were, however, held in jail pending payment of their jail fees. March: Rebecca Eames is released from prison. This was signed by:. March 20, then : Abigail Faulkner Sr. They also heard a new case: a servant charged with falsely accusing her enslaver of witchcraft. May: Governor Phips formally pardons those still in prison from the Salem witch trials. He orders them released if they paid a fine.

Governor Phips formally ended the trials at Salem. May: Elections for the General Court saw Samuel Sewall and several others of the judges from the Court of Oyer and Terminer gain in votes from the previous election.

July Robert Eames, the husband of Rebecca Eames, dies. November 26, Rev. Samuel Parris apologizes to his congregation for his part in the events of and , but many members remain opposed to his ministry there, and the church conflict continues.

Sheriff George Corwin had confiscated his property and had not made payments to the English crown as was required, instead likely using the proceeds on English's valuable property for himself. William Stoughton is elected with one of the highest vote totals in the same election.

His estate is settled in April, though Elizabeth Proctor is not included in the will nor the settlement. April 3, Five of six churches meet and urge Salem Village to mend their divisions and urge that if they could not do so with Rev. Parris still serving as pastor, that his moving on would not be held against him by other churches. The letter noted the illness of Rev. Parris' wife, Elizabeth.

November 22, : Francis Nurse, the widower of Rebecca Nurse, dies at age June Elizabeth Proctor files suit to have the courts restore her dowry.

July 14, Elizabeth Eldridge Parris, the wife of Rev. Samuel Parris and mother of Elizabeth Betty Parris, dies. January 14, The Massachusetts General Court declares a day of fasting and reflection for the Salem witch trials.

Samuel Sewell, one of the judges of the Court of Oyer and Terminer, writes the proclamation and makes a public confession of his own guilt. He sets aside one day a year until his death in to fast and pray for forgiveness for his part in the trials. April 19, Elizabeth Proctor's dowry is restored to her by a probate court. It had been held by heirs of her husband, John Proctor because her conviction made her ineligible for her dowry.

Samuel Parris is forced out of his position at Salem Village Church. Joseph Green, who help to heal the rift in the congregation. Because it is so critical of beliefs about witches and of the clergy, he could not find a publisher in Boston and had it published in England.

The bill also restores citizenship rights "reversed attainder. The court agreed in February 14, Salem Village church proposed revoking the excommunication of Martha Corey; a majority supported it but there were there were six or seven dissenters.

The entry at the time implied that therefore the motion failed; but a later entry, with more details of the resolution, implied that it had passed.

August 25, Ann Putnam Jr. Rebecca Nurse's family won compensation for her wrongful execution. Perley, Sidney. Taylor Trade Publishing, Gaskill, Malcolm. Goss, K. Greenwood Press, Upham, Charles W.

Wiggin and Lunt, I have read and studied the witch trials for years. I used to teach it to my students as an example of periodic social scapegoating. One time she attended a reunion of her descendants. She told me there were more than descendants there. My sister and I moved to Missouri after my dad passed away.

This is great! And yet Caporael believes that the role of ergotism in history might still be underappreciated. She wondered would this kind of poisoning been possible in the 16th century when Shakespeare was writing. And the answer, of course, is yes. Abigail Williams identifies the Rev. George Burroughs as the "Black Minister. George Burroughs' arrest. May 4 George Burroughs is arrested at his home in Wells, Maine. He is then extradited to Salem Town. May 8 George Burroughs is examined by the Salem Magistrates.

May 10 Arrest warrants are issued for George Jacobs, Sr. Sir William Phips return to Boston after securing the new colonial charter. May 18 Mary Easty is released from prison. May 20 Mercy Lewis becomes gravely ill and Mary Easty is blamed for her illness. She is arrested again for witchcraft. Susannah Sheldon testifies Joseph Rabson, a deceased man, appeared to her and stated that Philip English had murdered him.