Salem Witch Trials Daily

The Witch Trials of Sarah Good, Susannah Martin, and Rebecca Nurse: June 29, 1692

June 29, 1692: Sarah Good Convicted, Rebecca Nurse Reversed, Susannah Martin GuiltyWe follow the relentlessly efficient Court of Oyer and Terminer on Wednesday, June 29, 1692, as Sarah Good’s trial concludes with testimony about threats, livestock losses, and spectral torment, ending in a conviction and expected death sentence. Abigail and Deliverance Hobbs are reexamined, describing a witches’ meeting in Samuel Parris’s field and alleging John Proctor urged afflicting others and brought a poppet and thorn. Rebecca Nurse finally faces trial after weeks in jail, with depositions from Salem Village figures and the afflicted countered by numerous defense witnesses attacking accusers’ credibility; the jury first finds her not guilty, then—after Chief Justice Stoughton sends them back—returns a guilty verdict and she is sentenced to die. Susannah Martin is indicted and tried the same day, convicted after accounts of strange animal behavior and uncanny incidents, while Elizabeth How is indicted by the grand jury for allegedly afflicting Mary Walcott and Mercy Lewis.00:00 Daily Overview June 2900:19 Parris Notes Infant Death00:29 Hobbs Reexamined Proctor Claim01:13 Sarah Good Trial Evidence04:07 Good Conviction No Mercy04:39 Rebecca Nurse Trial Begins05:51 Accusers Depositions Against Nurse10:37 Defense Challenges Accusers15:09 Verdict Reversed Guilty16:05 Susannah Martin Indicted Tried16:37 Martin Evidence And Verdict19:49 Elizabeth How Grand Jury20:03 Closing Day Summary

The Trial of Sarah Good: June 28, 1692

June 28, 1692: Sarah Good Convicted as the Court Targets Its Next AccusedWe take you inside the Salem townhouse on June 28, 1692, as the Court of Oyer and Terminer moves decisively against Sarah Good—three “true bill” indictments, a witness list packed with familiar accusers, and testimony ranging from spectral assaults to bound hands, vanishing objects, and dead cattle—ending in her conviction for witchcraft. Our story then turns to rare moments of resistance: Rebecca Nurse petitions for a new, qualified examination to challenge alleged physical evidence, while 94-year-old James How Sr. testifies to Elizabeth How’s long Christian character and pleads for judges to distinguish “prejudice and conscience,” even as her case continues to build. We also track the widening hunt with fresh summonses, new arrests including Mary Bradbury and Sarah Davis, and parallel Connecticut accusations involving Katherine Branch and Elizabeth Clawson.00:00 Court Convenes Again00:27 Indictments Against Good01:01 Witnesses And Evidence Types01:30 Spectral Attacks Described02:20 Bound Hands And Vanishing Objects02:58 Dead Cattle Accusations03:47 A Deposition Left Unused04:32 Nurse Petitions For Reexam05:52 Statement For Elizabeth How07:10 Next Targets And Arrests08:06 Day's Verdict Recap

The Bewitched Mare: June 27, 1692

Blue Fire in the Barn: Ministers, Spectral Afflictions, and the Elizabeth How Depositions (June 27, 1692)Blue flame erupts in a Boxford barn as a desperate “countermagic” remedy is tried on a ruined mare—one of the strangest depositions tied to accusations against Elizabeth How. We follow June 27, 1692 from Harvard College’s library, where Boston-area ministers revisit whether Satan can impersonate the innocent, to Salem Village, where spectral torment is reported against Rebecca Nurse and Elizabeth Procter. Our timeline tracks the tangled identity of two Elizabeth Booths, the escalating neighborhood dispute behind Mary Cummings’s statements, and the court machinery moving fast as Stephen Sewall issues witness summonses for Sarah Good and Susannah Martin ahead of the June 28 Court of Oyer and Terminer session. A rare counterpoint appears with Joseph and Mary Knowlton’s supportive testimony for Elizabeth How. Chapters: Harvard ministers debate spectral evidence (00:00); Nurse and Procter apparitions (01:05); Two Elizabeth Booths explained (02:10); Isaac Cummings’s mare and blue-burning tobacco countermagic (03:05); Mary Cummings depositions and neighborhood tension (06:10); Sewall’s summonses for June 28 trials (08:15); Knowltons testify for Elizabeth How (10:05).00:00 Ministers Meet at Harvard00:34 Afflictions in Salem Village01:12 Which Elizabeth Booth01:55 Cummings Depose Against How02:49 Countermagic and the Mare04:37 Mary Cummings Three Depositions06:41 Summonses for Upcoming Trials08:14 Testimony Supporting Elizabeth How

Susannah Shelden's Hands Tied by a Spectral Witch: June 26, 1692

Welcome to Salem Witch Trials Daily for Sunday, June 26, 1692. I'm Josh Hutchinson.This is Sarah Jack. According to Susannah Sheldon's June 28th deposition, today, June 26, 1692, Sarah Good's specter, quote, "most violently pulled down Susannah's head behind a chest and tied her hands together with a wheel band and almost choked her to death." Susannah reports in the deposition that William Batten and Thomas Buffington Jr. had to cut the wheel band off of her hands because they could not untie it. A wheel band is a cord used with a spinning wheel that transfers energy from the foot treadle to twist the fibers into yarn and pull the finished yarn into the bobbin.

Baptist Minister Petitions the Court to Stop Accepting Spectral Evidence: June 25, 1692

Spectral Evidence Challenged: Milborne Arrested, Neighbors Defend Elizabeth HowWe spotlight a pivotal moment in the Salem Witch Trials as Baptist minister William Milborne petitions Governor Phips and the council to question the use of spectral evidence, warning it could condemn the innocent and unleash “a woeful chain of consequences.” Instead of weighing his concerns, the authorities label the petitions “seditious and scandalous,” arrest Milborne, and require him to post 200 pounds bail to face the Superior Court—while accusers post no bond. Our focus then shifts to Ipswich, where Mary and Simon Chapman and Sarah, Daniel, and John Warner offer powerful testimony for Elizabeth How, describing decades of Christian conduct, fairness, penitence, and compassion, including her prayers for those accusing her. Chapters: Petition Against Spectral Evidence (00:00), Phips’ Response and Milborne’s Bail (02:10), Ipswich Witnesses Defend Elizabeth How (04:10).00:00 Daily Introduction00:08 Milborne Petitions01:02 Arrest And Bail01:24 Chapmans Defend How02:11 Warners Support How