William Drage (c. 1637-1669), Daimonomageia: A Small Treatise of Sicknesses and Diseases from Witchcraft, and Supernatural Causes, 1665, Phillips Library, Peabody Essex Museum. Mr. Drage was an English physician and apothecary whose thinking about witches came to America with settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Cures for witchcraft included hanging rosemary, ivy, and mistletoe inside the house. You can forget about kissing under the mistletoe, unless ..../Photo by Patricia Leslie
The granddaughter of George Jacobs, Sr. sentences her grandfather to death in Tompkins Harrison Matteson's Trial of George Jacobs, Sr. for Witchcraft, 1855, which the artist painted 163 years after Mr. Jacobs's trial and execution. Although Margaret recanted her testimony, she was too late, and her grandfather, shown in the lower right with his hands extended, begging for mercy, was led to the gallows. The woman with her outstretched arms to the right of Margaret may be her mother, Rebecca, also accused of witchcraft. Peabody Essex Museum, Gift of R. W. Ropes, 1859/Photo by Mark Sexton and Jeffrey R. Dykes
On the wall at the Peabody is a quote from Thomas Maule's 1695 Truth Held Forth And Maintained/Photo by Patricia Leslie
It was not until 2016 that Proctor's Ledge was confirmed by researchers from the University of Virginia to be the site of the hangings of 19 "witches.' Scientists were led to the place by the findings of Salem resident Sidney Perley who, in 1921, questioned the long-identified summit of Gallows Hill on the outskirts of Salem as the hanging place. Mr. Perley said his research pointed to what is called, for unknown reasons, Proctor's Ledge which is at the base of the hill. He was proven right.
Proctor's Ledge stones are dedicated, from the left, to the memories of George Jacobs, Sr., whose granddaughter, Margaret betrayed him, John Proctor, Sr., and John Willard, all of whom were hung on August 19, 1692/Photo by Patricia Leslie
Proctor's Ledge, the memorial to the witch victims in Salem, MA/Photo by Patricia Leslie
Proctor's Ledge, the memorial to the witch victims in Salem, MA/Photo by Patricia Leslie
Just when you think you've heard it all,
a Michigan politician calls female competitors in his state, "witches" to be burned at the stake.
Like me, he must have been the only person older than 50 years who lives east of the Mississippi River who has not visited Salem, Massachusetts, the location of the Salem Witch Trials in 1692 and 1693 where 25 persons were killed or died as the result of mass hysteria.
Nineteen of the witch victims were hung; one man, Giles Corey, was literally "pressed" to death with heavy weights as punishment for his "craft"; five victims died in jail.
One was an infant, Mercy Good, who never knew life outside the prison where she was born and where she died before her mother, Sarah Good, was hanged.
Mercy had a sister, Dorothy, who was also confined to the jail with inadequate circulation, a dirt floor, and crude sanitary facilities. Dorothy was incarcerated for more than eight months, chained to prison walls and although she wasn't put to death like her mother, family members said she suffered from the effects of her imprisonment for the rest of her life.
Dorothy was five years old when she was jailed.
The witchcraft scare in Salem began with the telling of tall tales by a slave, Tituba, to young girls, confined to their home prisons during the harsh winter and having nothing better to do than to listen and spin yarns of their own.
As a child of about nine years old, I recall stumbling across this sad chapter in American history in an encyclopedia which I never forgot. I can still recall the illustrations and as an adult, the absurdity of it all and man's inhumanity to man, much like Ron Weiser.
Thanks to an excellent display at the Peabody Essex Museum right in the heart of Salem, visitors can become better educated about the hysteria, rumors, and seizures which can overtake crowd behavior and expand. The Peabody is hosting two exhibitions about the witches this year, with remnants and artifacts from the trials and the people involved.
I was at Salem about the time Ron Weiser was spewing his female hatred like a snake. For him, I highly recommend a visit to Salem and to the Peabody Essex Museum to see this fall's shows which may cause Mr. Weiser to shed his snake skin and rethink his poison and what it can become.
May I be so bold to suggest "GoFund Me" for his visit with excess funds to be donated to female candidates?
The Peabody Essex Museum was founded in 1799, only 37 years after the trials, and prides itself as the country’s oldest continuously operating museum.On a different note, at Turner's Seafood Restaurant, my pal, Maureen, and I had an excellent dinner outdoors in 37 degrees, but the wind was calm, we were dressed warmly (made comfortable by the restaurant's nearby standing heaters), and the warm chocolate lava cake provided its own pleasures.
Salem is about 30 minutes north of Boston's Logan Airport.
What: The Salem Witch Trials, Sept. 18, 2021 through March 20, 2022.
When: Open Thursday-Sunday, 10 a.m.- 5 p.m.
Where: Peabody Essex Museum, East India Square, 161 Essex Street, Salem, MA 01970
Tickets:
For more information: 978-745-9500, 866-745-1876 and visit pem.org.
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