April 1692
Day-By-Day chronicle of events during the Salem Witch Trials
Sunday
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April 1st
As Mercy Lewis drifted off to sleep, she found herself at a gathering of witches partaking in the Devil’s Sacrament. They offered her red bread and a red drink, but she refused, saying, “I will not eat, I will not drink; it is blood. That is not the Bread of Life. That is not the Water of Life. I will have none of it.” Suddenly, a shining figure appeared, causing the specters to flinch. She then heard a choir singing the word of God.
When she awoke, she was back in the Putnam house. As she recounted her experience to the elders, they cautioned her about Satan’s ability to disguise himself as an Angel of Light. This shining figure had appeared to the afflicted before, and they referred to him as the “white man.”
April 2nd
Abigail Williams was grievously tormented by the specter of Elizabeth Proctor at the Putnam parsonage. Meanwhile, the real Proctors were at home, dealing with the troubles caused by their maid, Mary Warren.
After returning home with John Proctor on March 25th, Mary was put to work under his watchful eye. The Proctors refused to acknowledge her affliction, warning her that if she ran into fire or water during one of her fits, they would not intervene.
When her seizures finally ceased, Mary pinned a note to the meeting house wall the evening before the Sabbath, requesting prayers of thanks for her deliverance from the affliction. The Proctors were displeased when they learned about the note.
April 3rd
Reverend Parris discovered May Warren’s note and read it to his congregation. The note stated, “The afflicted persons did but dissemble.” Shocked by the note, the church members questioned her after the service.
The afflicted claimed that specters had told them their suffering would only cease if they signed the Devil’s book. This led some to suspect that Mary had signed it, believing that was the only way she could have been freed from her afflictions.
April 4th
Captain Johnathan Walcott and his uncle, Lieutenant Nathaniel Ingersoll, traveled to Salem Town to speak with the magistrate about Elizabeth Proctor and Sarah Cloyse. They reported that these two women had been tormenting Abigail Williams, Mary Walcott, Ann Putnam Jr., Mer Lewis, and John Indian. Recognizing the gravity of the situation, the magistrates decided to delay issuing arrest warrants until they could consult with other government officials in Boston.
While being tormented by Elizabeth Proctor, a new specter joined in to afflict Abigail Williams. “You can pinch as well as your wife?” Abigail said to the specter of John Proctor.
April 6th
In the evening, specters appeared at Thomas Putnam’s home to torment Ann Putnam and at the parsonage to attack Abigail Williams. Abigail screamed to her uncle that Goodman Proctor was pinching her.
Just south of the village, Benjamin Gould was startled awake by the specters of Giles and Marth Corey standing beside his bed. As soon as he saw them, they vanished, leaving him with two sharp pinches in his side.
April 7th
As Benjamin Gould lay in his bed, he was visited by the specters of Giles and Marth Corey, along with the Proctors, Saah Cloyse, Rebecca Nurse, and, shockingly, Dr. Griggs’s wife, Rachel. They stood around his bed, leaving him with severe pain in his foot so intense that he couldn’t wear a shoe for three days.
April 8th
Word arrived in Salem Town from Boston that the Governor’s Council of Assistants would attend the next witchcraft hearing. In response, John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin finalized the arrest warrants for Elizabeth Proctor and Sarah Cloyse. They also arranged to move the proceedings to Salem Town to accommodate the visiting council.
April 10th
During the village’s Sabbath meeting, the specter of Sarah Cloyse appeared, biting and pinching John Indian so severely that he began to bleed.
After the meeting, some congregants gathered at Ingersoll’s Ordinary. Mercy Lewis had a seizure and cried out the name Goody Cloyse. When she awoke from her fit, she was asked who she had seen, but she claimed she had seen no one. Bystanders pressed her, asking if she saw Goody Cloyse or Goody Corey, but Mercy insisted she saw nobody.
Abigail Williams then spoke up, saying she had seen the specters of Goodwives Cloyse, Nurse, Corey, and Good. Both Abigail and Mary Walcott also reported seeing a shining angel whose presence had frightened the witches.
April 11
Deputy Governor Thomas Danforth and four assistants traveled to Salem town and convened in the meeting house for the examination of Elizabeth Proctor and Sarah Cloyse.
John Hathorne asked John Indian who had hurt him. He replied that Goody Proctor had hurt him first, followed by Goody Cloyse. When asked if he recognized them, he pointed to Sarah Cloyse and claimed she had hurt him many times. Cloyse exclaimed, “Oh! You are a grievous liar!” Abigail Williams and Mary Walcott then gave testimony against her.
The court then turned its attention to Elizabeth Proctor. The magistrates asked the afflicted if Proctor had harmed them. Mary Walcott said no. Mercy Lewis and Ann Putnam Jr. were unable to speak, and Abigail Williams had her mouth forcibly shut by unseen forces. However, John Indian managed to speak and claimed she had choked him and brought him the book.
John Proctor, who was in the audience, muttered that he would beat the Devil out of John Indian if he could. Elizabeth Proctor declared, “I take God in heaven to be my witness, that I know nothing of it, no more than the child unborn.” Ann Putnam asserted that Elizabeth had hurt her many times. Abigail and Ann then accused John Proctor of being a wizard. He was quickly taken into custody.
The magistrates heard more testimony and conducted a test on the accused by having them recite the Lord’s Prayer. Both Proctors and Sarah Cloyse misquoted it, thus failing the test. All three were subsequently taken to jail.
April 12th
The magistrates held examinations at the Salem Town meeting house. Reverend Parris tried to organize his notes, but struggled to focus amid the torment of the afflicted. Abigail Williams cried out, “There is Goodman Proctor in the magistrate’s lap,” before convulsing violently. John Indian, spotting a dog resting under Parris’s desk, shouted at it to come and claimed Goodman Proctor was riding on its back. He then fixated on the specter of Sarah Cloyse, unseen by others, and cried, “Oh, you old witch,” before falling into a fit of convulsions.
The proceedings were halted due to the outbursts from John Indian and Abigail Williams, and they were sent away to recover. Mary Walcott was the only afflicted girl who remained, calmly knitting.
As Reverend Parris finished his notes and read them aloud to the marshal, Mary stopped knitting and became visibly agitated. “Oh, yonder is Goodman Proctor and his wife, and Goody Nurse and Goody Corey and Goody Cloyse and Good’s child. Oh, Goodman Proctor is going to choke me,” she exclaimed, before starting to gag and choke.
Following these disturbances, all of the suspects, including young Dorothy, were sent to Boston Jail.
April 13th
At the Parris’s Parsonage, Abigail Williams was being tormented by the specters of Rebecca Nurse, Matha Corey, and Elizabeth Proctor. Nurse’s specter tried to compel Abigail to leap into the fireplace, but the young girl resisted her.
Meanwhile, at the Putnam house, Ann Putnam was being tormented by the newly identified specters of Giles Corey and Abigail Hobbs.
April 14th
Martha Corey continued to torment Abigail Williams, persistently trying to force the Devil’s book on her. Mary Walcott was visited by the specter of Abigail Hobbs, who tormented her grievously. Meanwhile, Mercy Lewis was beaten so severely by the specter of Giles Corey that she feared her back would break.
April 16th
The afflicted girls identified two new tormentors: Bridget Bishop of Salem Town and Mary Warren, the former afflicted maid of the Proctors.
April 17
The specter of Abigail Hobbs pinched and choked Mercy Lewis, Mary Walcott, Ann Putnam, and Elizabeth Hubbard, trying to force the Devil’s book on them.
Abigail Hobbs, a rebellious 14-year-old from Topsfield, had been claiming for over a year that she had sold herself to the Devil. Known for her defiant behavior, she once mocked baptism by flicking water into her stepmother’s face.
April 18th
With the girls in fits, Ezekiel Cheever and John Putnam Jr. traveled to Salem Town to file official complaints against the newly identified tormentors. Arrest warrants were issued for Giles Corey, Abigail Hobbs, Bridget Bishop, and Mary Warren. By the end of the day, the arresting marshal had brought all four to Ingersoll’s Ordinary.
April 19
The court returned to Salem Village, with Judges Hathorne and Corwin presiding over the day’s examinations. Giles Corey was the first to be led into the meeting house to answer the charges against him. Despite the testimony from the afflicted, Giles protested, “I never did hurt them.”
Next, Abigail Hobbs was examined. She confessed to signing the Devil’s book and carrying out his bidding. She told the court that Sarah Wildes had hurt her mother last Labor Day and that Sarah Good had come to her with the Devil’s book.
Following Abigail’s examination, Mary Warren was brought in. Initially, she denied being a witch, but after intense questioning, she collapsed into fits and cried, “I will tell, I will tell,” but could not say more as she started to convulse. The court ordered her removal until she could recover.
Bridget Bishop was then brought in, and the afflicted were grievously tormented. Bridget professed her innocence, saying, “I am innocent. I know nothing of it. I have done no witchcraft.”
The court called for Mary Warren to be brought back, but she immediately started convulsing again. Unable to speak, she was taken to a private room where the magistrates questioned her alone. Even there, she was seized with fits and could not answer their questions.
All four accused witches were subsequently taken to Salem Jail.
April 20th
The magistrates visited Mary Warren in Salem Jail to question her further. She revealed that her master, John Proctor, had brought her the Devil’s book, and she admitted to signing it. She claimed she did not know what the book was at the time and was unaware that the Proctors were witches. Mary also reported that Giles Corey had tormented her the previous night, describing the clothing he wore.
The magistrates decided to have Giles Corey brought in to face her accusations. When he arrived, Mary immediately fell into a fit.
While at the jail, the magistrates also questioned Abigail Hobbs. She spoke of a girl named Judah White, a friend from Casco Bay, Maine. Abigail claimed that as she was being brought in for questioning, the apparitions of Judah and Sarah Good visited her, urging her to flee and not answer any questions. She revealed that the Devil had given her wooden images of Ann Putnam Jr., Mercy Lewis, and Abigail Williams, instructing her to stab them with thorns. Abigail also admitted to attending a witch meeting in Reverend Parris’s pasture.
Ann Putnam Jr. was visited by a new specter, this time a minister. She asked his name, and he responded that he was George Burroughs. He confessed to having killed his first two wives, as well as Deodat Lawson’s wife and child.
Later that night, Mercy Lewis encountered the specter of an elderly, grey-headed man who identified himself as George Jacobs Sr. He carried the Devil’s book and, when she refused to sign it, he beat her with his walking stick, boasting that he had killed his own first wife years ago.
April 21st
The magistrates were approached by four men from Salem Village who wished to file complaints against several individuals: Sarah Wildes, William and Deliverance Hobbs, Nehemiah Abbott Jr., Mary Esty (sister of Rebecca Nurse and Sarah Cloyes), Mary Black, Edward and Sarah Bishop, and Mary English. Arrest warrants were promptly issued, and the marshal was instructed to bring all the accused to Ingersoll’s by 7 a.m. the following morning.
Deacon Ingersoll’s foster son, Benjamin Hutchinson, returned to Ingersoll’s Ordinary after a trip to Salem Town and encountered Abigail Williams outside. She recounted how the specter of Reverend George Burroughs had confessed to her that he had killed two of his wives as well as Reverend Lawson’s wife and child. She also mentioned the minister’s unusual strength, claiming he was watching them from the road.
Hutchinson, holding a three-pronged iron fork, threw it at the spot Abigail indicated. As the fork hit the ground, Abigail fell into a fit and exclaimed, “You have torn his coat.” Hutchinson retrieved his fork, and Abigail pointed to another spot, saying, “There is a gray cat.” When he stabbed at the location she indicated, Abigail convulsed again, crying out, “You killed her,” and explained that Sarah Good had come to carry the cat away.
Later that day, after the lecture, the afflicted gathered at Ingersoll’s Ordinary when Abigail and Mary were attacked by the specters of William and Deliverance Hobbs. Benjamin Hutchinson drew his fork once more and swung it at the spot the girls indicated. “Oh, you have struck her on the right side,” they exclaimed.
Suddenly, the room seemed to fill with spectral witches, and Benjamin, along with Ely Putnam, began to fend them off. “You have killed a great black woman from Stonington and an Indian who comes with her,” the girls cried. “The floor is all covered with blood.”
April 22nd
On their way to the meeting house for the day’s court examinations, the afflicted girls saw witches flocking to Reverend Parris’s pasture. The witches noticed the girls and tried to drag them off to the pasture with them. As the girls screamed for help, neighbors attacked the spots the girls pointed at, attempting to fend off the invisible specters.
In the pasture, the witches gathered in front of George Burroughs as he began his sermon. He proclaimed that their mission was to replace God’s church with the Devil’s church, starting in Salem Village, and then spreading throughout New England to establish the Devil’s Kingdom. After finishing his sermon, deacons Nurse, Good, Osborn, and Wildes handed out the sacrament. They all then sat around a table and ate brown bread and cider.
The court convened at 10 in the morning, with the meeting house filled with spectators, the afflicted, and even the invisible spectral witches. The magistrates decided to test the afflicted girls by not announcing the name of the accused. The first to be examined was Deliverance Hobbs. The magistrates asked the afflicted to identify their tormentor. Most were uncertain, but Ann Putnam Jr. named and accused her, while John Indian claimed she had choked him.
Goody Hobbs denied the accusations, insisting she never authorized the devil to use her specter to harm them. Despite her denials, the afflicted testified, claiming to see her specter perched on a beam. Under the pressure of their testimonies, Goody Hobbs ultimately admitted to signing the Devil’s book, stating that Goody Wildes and Sarah Osborn had coerced her into doing so.
Next, the magistrates questioned Nehemiah Abbott Jr. Initially, Ann Putnam Jr. was certain he was one of the specters tormenting her. However, after some time, she and the others became less sure. The magistrates determined he was innocent and released him.
They then moved on to William Hobbs, who denied the accusations, declaring, “I am as clear as a newborn baby.” Despite his protests, Abigail Williams claimed to see his spirit leap from his body and attack Mercy Lewis and Mary Walcott, causing both to fall into fits. The magistrates concluded that he was likely guilty and committed him to jail.
April 23rd
Ann Putnam Jr. pleaded with the specter of John Willard to have mercy on her as it attempted to force her to sign the Devil’s book.
The real John Willard had served as a deputy responsible for arresting several suspects and had once been heard saying, “Hang them! They are all witches.” However, he resigned as the accusations continued and more people he believed to be innocent were accused.
In Salem Town, the magistrates questioned Deliverance Hobbs in jail. She confessed to being a witch and signing the Devil’s book. She admitted to attending the witches’ meeting in Reverend Parris’s pasture but insisted she did not partake in the witches’ sacrament. She described George Burroughs as the man with a white high-crowned hat and mentioned the women deacons.
The magistrates then summoned her stepdaughter, Abigail Hobbs. As Abigail entered the cell, she fell into a fit. Deliverance claimed that it was Giles Corey and a gentlewoman from Boston who was afflicting her daughter, attempting to break her neck.
April 24th
Giles Corey, angered that his sons-in-law Crosby and Parker had aligned with the accusers against him and his wife Martha, made a new will witnessed by Salem jailer William Dounton. He removed Crosby and Parker from his will, instead bequeathing his land, buildings, livestock, movables, and money to his other sons-in-law, William Cleeves and John Moulton.
Meanwhile, the specter of Dorcas Hoar attacked Elizabeth Hubbard and Ann Putnam Jr. Abigail Williams also identified Hoar, stating that she was the first to afflict her, even before Tituba. Ann Putnam was grievously tormented by the specter of John Willard, her cries of distress so loud that everyone in the house heard her call out his name.
April 25th
John Willard visited the Putnam’s to confront Ann about her accusations. Ann was adamant that it was his apparition she had seen. He attempted to convince her of his innocence, but she pleaded with him to stop hurting her, promising not to file a complaint if he ceased his torment.
April 27th
Susanna Sheldon was visited by the Devil and the specters of Giles Corey, Mary English, and Bridget Bishop. Each of them had familiars: a yellow bird, a pair of turtles, and a snake. They tried to force her to sign the Devil’s book, biting her when she refused.
April 28th
In the morning, the specters of Giles Corey and Philip English tormented Susanna Sheldon, preventing her from eating her breakfast. As she tried to lift her spoon to her mouth, Giles choked her, while Philip English tormented her with the Devil’s book.
Meanwhile, Ann Putnam Jr. was tormented by the specter of John Willard. The ghosts of his murdered victims also appeared, including his first wife, shrouded in a sheet, and Ann’s six-week-old sister, Sarah. Willard threatened to kill Ann if she did not sign his book.
April 29th
The specters of Bridget Bishop, Mary English, Giles and Martha Corey, and the Devil tormented Susanna Sheldon. Martha Corey had a hairless pig with her that suckled on her. All the specters knelt before the Devil in prayer. Bishop’s specter told Susanna that she had killed several women, including John Trask’s wife.
April 30th
While the afflicted girls were being tormented by various specters, Jonathan Walcott and Thomas Putnam traveled to Salem Town to report the names of their tormentors. Magistrates Hathorne and Corwin issued arrest warrants for Reverend George Burroughs, Lydia Dustin, Susanna Martin, Dorcas Hoar, Sarah Morrell, and Philip English. They ordered the marshals to bring all the accused to Ingersoll’s by 10 a.m. on Monday morning.
Philip English was told of his pending arrest and fled Salem Town to hide in a business associate’s house in Boston.
