Witch trials occurring in Connecticut from 1647 to 1663
The witch trials in Connecticut, also sometimes referred to as the Hartford witch trials, occurred from 1647 to 1663.[1] They were the first large-scale witch trials in the American colonies, predating the Salem Witch Trials by nearly thirty years.[2] John M. Taylor lists a total of 37 cases, 11 of which resulted in executions.[3] The execution of Alse Young of Windsor in the spring of 1647[4] was the beginning of the witch panic in the area, which would not come to an end until 1670 with the release of Katherine Harrison.[5]
The history of witchcraft in Connecticut is difficult to track, owing primarily to the lack of documentation from the accusations, trials, and executions.[6] Despite this, there is enough existing evidence to gain an insight into the culture of witchcraft trials at the time. In the early days of the trials, Reverends Samuel Stone of Hartford, Joseph Haynes of Wethersfield, and Samuel Hooker of Farmington served on a "prosecutorial tribunal"[7] which contradicted the traditional idea that prosecutors should remain skeptical and immune to public pressure to convict.[7] Thomas Welles was the Magistrate during the trials.[8][9] As was the popular belief of the time, the magistrates of Connecticut relied on evidence of "the devil’s involvement in inflicting harm"[7] to secure a conviction of witchcraft, but such evidence could easily be found through "battering interrogations."[7]
^Walter W. Woodward, “New England’s Other Witch-hunt: The Hartford Witch-hunt of the 1660s and Changing Patterns in Witchcraft Prosecution,” OAH Magazine of History (July 2003): 16-20
^Cite error: The named reference woodward 16 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^R.G. Tomlinson, Witchcraft Trials of Connecticut: The First Comprehensive, Documented History of Witchcraft Trials in Colonial Connecticut (Hartford: The Bond Press Inc., 1978), 4.[ISBN missing]
^Woodward, 19.
^Tomlinson, vii.
^ abcdWoodward, 17.
^Support, Museum (2015-08-14). "Thomas Welles". Museum of Connecticut History. Retrieved 2022-09-09.
^"Governor Thomas Welles". Wethersfield Historical Society. Retrieved 2022-09-09.
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