Remembering the Victims of the Salem Witch Executions

On August 19, five more people were hanged for witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts. An excerpt from the article:

"In all, there were four execution dates on which 19 women and men were taken to Proctor’s Ledge to die by hanging from a tree. On June 10, 1692, Bridget Bishop was hanged. About a month later on July 19, 1692, Sarah Good, Rebecca Nurse, Susannah Martin, Elizabeth Howe and Sarah Wildes were executed. Five more were hanged on August 19, 1692, including one woman (Martha Carrier) and four men (John Willard, Reverend George Burroughs, George Jacobs, Sr. and John Proctor). The final execution date was September 22, 1692, on which eight were hanged (Mary Eastey, Martha Corey, Ann Pudeator, Samuel Wardwell, Mary Parker, Alice Parker, Wilmot Redd and Margaret Scott). In addition, 71-year-old Giles Corey died after being pressed with heavy stones—his punishment for refusing to enter an innocent or guilty plea to the court.

Four more of the convicted (Lydia Dustin, Ann Foster, Sarah Osborne, and Roger Toothaker) died in the unbearable conditions in the “witch jails” awaiting their execution dates. As colluders with the devil, they were not afforded proper Christian burials. Their corpses were thrown into shallow graves. However, the bodies of Rebecca Nurse, John Proctor and George Jacobs were eventually retrieved by their families and given Christian burials.

Despite common folklore, none of these alleged “witches” were burned at the stake. This myth likely derives from the fact that more than 50,000 of the accused were punished by fire for “malevolent witchcraft” during the European witch hunts that peaked around the 15th century. Some were burned alive while others were initially hanged or beheaded and later incinerated to prevent any possibility of postmortem black magic.

Another common misconception is that all the accused “witches” were women. While the majority were women, men were also both accused and convicted of being involved in the occult. In fact, five of the 20 who were executed were men. These men were not well-liked in the community and many were very outspoken against the witch trials. The accused and convicted women also challenged the norms of the community; many were opinionated and forthright while some had bad reputations due to their “unladylike” behavior. Many believe that this is perhaps why certain men and women were targeted and accused of witchcraft."