I am pleased to send you a
guest post from Sylvia who is traveling in New England and exploring the Salem Witch Trials. Hopefully she will be
back for our Genies meeting on April 15.
From Sylvia:
I’ve just had the most
chilling experience since I stood in the very well-equipped medieval torture
chambers at Warwick Castle. What you see – and what I touched with my own hands
(surprising, since the Houghton Library at Harvard makes you wear the white gloves
for anything older than three months!!!) – is an original record of the
examination and conviction of Mary Easty (Esty). Yes, the actual document of
the trial transcript from 1692! Having just the day before had lunch with
Mary’s 7th great-grandson, an old friend of mine, it was especially
chilling to read the words that were penned over three hundred years ago on
that very parchment and to realize how seriously they took it all then and that
it led to the murder of Mary and numerous others. Frightening!
The records of the trials
of all of the accused are extensive and held at the Peabody Essex Museum in a brand-new
climate-controlled building in Rowley, Massachusetts. If you know of anyone who
might be descended from anyone connected to the trials, there is a wealth of
genealogical records, and they welcome people (in person like me or online) who
are researching their family history. They were very helpful. All of the
documents they have from the Oyer and Terminer trials are digitized and can be found
at the Peabody Essex Museum Phillips Library website, along with other related
documents.
It is definitely addicting
digging up the past! Today I'm exploring the Candlemas Massacre in York, Maine
that happened around the time of the witch trials, and then more info on the
'stone throwing devil of New Castle that happened a decade earlier. Both played
a role in the Salem incident and like Salem involved local people. Those with
family history in this area are lucky. Records are very detailed and go back
over three centuries. New England preserves its past well!
Those who know they have
family who were in Boston or the north shore at that time period might be
surprised to find they are related to villagers in Salem or the area.
Happy hunting all! I’m
having fun but also looking forward to getting back and picking up my own
research!
No comments:
Post a Comment