This day in history: The last witchcraft trial held in the United States began on this day in 1878. The Salem witchcraft trial of 1878, also known as the Ipswich witchcraft trial and the second Salem witch trial, was an American civil case held in May 1878 in Salem, Massachusetts, in which Lucretia L. S. Brown, an adherent of the Christian Science religion, accused fellow Christian Scientist Daniel H. Spofford of attempting to harm her through his "mesmeric" mental powers. By 1918, it was considered the last witchcraft trial held in the United States. The case garnered significant attention for its startling claims and the fact that it took place in Salem, the scene of the 1692 Salem witch trials. The judge dismissed the case.
This Day in History: Bridget Bishop was hanged at Gallows Hill near Salem, Massachusetts, for "certaine Detestable Arts called Witchcraft and Sorceries" on this day in 1692. She was in fact the first person executed for witchcraft during the Salem witch trials. Altogether, about 200 people would be tried, and 18 others were executed, including 5 men and a 6 year old girl.
Bridget Bishop was examined due to her accusation of suspicion of "sundry acts of witchcraft". Bishop was accused of bewitching five young women, Abigail Williams, Ann Putnam, Jr., Mercy Lewis, Mary Walcott, and Elizabeth Hubbard, on the date of her examination by the authorities, 19 April 1692.
An examination during sentencing discovered a third nipple on Bridget Bishop's body (a sure sign of witchcraft). If you have such a mark on your body, please turn yourself into the proper authorities. Moles, scars, birthmarks, sores and tattoos also quality as marks of witchery. Please do the proper thing...we're all in this together.
This Day in History: American minister Cotton Mather died on this day in 1725, who was known famously for being at the heart of the Salem Witch Trials. Many have heard of the Witch Dunk test to determine whether someone was a witch, but there was also the Lord's Prayer test.
"George Burroughs, the only minister to be executed during the Trials, ran across this problem. He was standing at the gallows to be executed when he recited the Lord's Prayer to prove his innocence—it was believed that a witch (or warlock, in this case) would be unable to utter the holy words. People were momentarily convinced that the jury had wronged him, until...Cotton Mather told the crowd that the Devil allowed George Burroughs to say that prayer to make it seem as if he was innocent." ~Mental Floss
Nineteenth-century historian Charles Wentworth Upham put the blame on both Cotton and his father Increase Mather for the Salem Witch Trials:
"They are answerable… more than almost any other men have been, for the opinions of their time. It was, indeed a superstitious age; but made much more so by their operations, influence, and writings, beginning with Increase Mather's movement, at the assembly of Ministers, in 1681, and ending with Cotton Mather's dealings with the Goodwin children, and the account thereof which he printed and circulated far and wide. For this reason, then in the first place, I hold those two men responsible for what is called 'Salem Witchcraft.'"
However, Cotton Mather did believe in inoculation against the small pox epidemic whilst most did not. His scientific writings would go on to inspire Benjamin Franklin. It's too bad that the good he had done will always be overshadowed by the superstition that doomed the lives of many.
