Category: Colonial Era

"Parris House, So Called, Salem Village," illustration published in Witchcraft in Salem Village in 1692; Winfield S. Nevins; circa 1916

Betty Parris: First Afflicted Girl of the Salem Witch Trials

Elizabeth “Betty” Parris was the first afflicted girl and one of the main accusers during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Born in Boston on November 28, 1682, Betty moved… Read more »

Reverend John Hale of Beverly

Reverend John Hale was a minister from Beverly, Massachusetts, best known for his role in the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Born in Charlestown in 1636 to local blacksmith Robert… Read more »

Margaret Jones: First Person Executed for Witchcraft in Massachusetts

Margaret Jones was a midwife from Charlestown, Massachusetts, and the first person to be executed for witchcraft in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The only information that exists of Jones’ case… Read more »

"Signing the Mayflower Compact," oil painting by Edward Percy Moran, circa 1900

John Billington: The Mayflower Murderer

John Billington was a Mayflower pilgrim and a signer of the Mayflower Compact who became America’s first murderer after he shot and killed a fellow colonist in 1630. Billington was… Read more »

I Am Tituba The Witch illustration by John W Ehninger published in Poetical Works of Longfellow circa 1902

Tituba: The Slave of Salem

Tituba was a slave who worked for Samuel Parris during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. The various documents and books about the Salem Witch Trials over the years often… Read more »