The Unsettling Story Of How A 12-Year-Old Girl Played A Major Role In Kickstarting The Salem Witch Trials
Believe it or not, a 12-year-old girl played a major role in helping to kickstart history’s most infamous witch hunt. The Salem Witch Trials were a series of events that took place in 1692 and led to the deaths of many people in Salem, Massachusetts.
Abigail Williams, who was estimated to be around the age of 12, was one of the most vocal accusers during the trials.
She accused 57 people of witchcraft. For some reason, she disappeared from the historical record after 1692, so her fate remains a mystery.
Abigail was born on July 12, 1680. It is believed her parents died when she was young, so she was left under the care of Reverend Samuel Parris. She lived with Parris, his daughter Betty, and his two servants.
At the time, 2,000 people lived in Salem, Massachusetts. The town was divided into two parts: Salem Town and Salem Village.
Since 1626, the area had been inhabited by European settlers, particularly the Puritans, who were strict about following the Bible exactly.
Still, Abigail Williams and other young girls started experimenting with divination. They played a fortune-telling game that involved dropping egg whites into a glass of water and interpreting what the shapes said about their future husbands.
One of the girls claimed that her egg whites looked like a coffin. Afterward, the girls began behaving strangely. In January 1692, Abigail and nine-year-old Betty Parris started having “fits.” They would rush around, bark, cry out in pain, and claim to see invisible spirits.
A local doctor visited their home and declared that the girls were suffering from witchcraft, as there was no other feasible explanation for their symptoms.
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So, they tried making witch cakes to cure the girls. Witch cakes were created by combining urine from a possessed victim, rye meal, and ashes.
The cake would be baked and fed to a dog. The dog would then reveal the identity of the witch who cast the evil spell.
Ultimately, the witch test failed, and Abigail and Betty accused an enslaved woman named Tituba of witchcraft. They also pointed fingers at Sarah Good and Sarah Osbourne.
On March 1, 1692, the three women were arrested. Tituba admitted to being a witch and warned the town that others like her existed among them.
The confession triggered mass hysteria throughout the entire town. Overall, 200 people were accused, 30 were found guilty, and 19 were executed by hanging.
Abigail was one of the main accusers. She often targeted people who criticized the trials or went against her testimonies. She accused 57 people of witchcraft and testified in seven cases.
She made a number of wild claims, such as witnessing dozens of people participating in a blood-drinking ritual and that Rebecca Nurse tried to force her to sign the Devil’s book. Abigail’s final appearance in court occurred on June 3, 1692. It’s unclear what happened to her after that.
Some speculated that Reverend Parris sent her away somewhere to escape the chaos of the trials. Others thought she died at the age of 17.
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