Connecticut Witch Trials facts for kids

The Connecticut Witch Trials were a series of events where people were accused of practicing witchcraft in the American colony of Connecticut. These trials happened from 1647 to 1663. They were the first large-scale witch trials in the American colonies, happening almost 30 years before the more famous Salem Witch Trials. During this time, 37 people were accused, and 11 of them were executed. The first person executed was Alse Young in 1647, and the trials mostly ended by 1670.

Witchcraft Beliefs in Connecticut

It's a bit hard to know everything about witchcraft in early Connecticut. This is because many old records from the accusations, trials, and executions are missing. As one historian, Benjamin Trumbull, wrote in 1818, it was hard to find official documents about these cases.

Even with missing records, we still know a lot about how these trials worked. In the early days, some religious leaders, like Reverends Samuel Stone and Joseph Haynes, were very involved in the accusations. They believed that the devil was involved in causing harm, and they looked for evidence of this. People accused of witchcraft often faced tough questioning.

Important People in the Trials

Alse Young

Alse Young was the first person executed for witchcraft in Connecticut, and likely in all the American colonies. She was executed on May 26, 1647, in Hartford. Her execution was noted in the journals of important people like John Winthrop, who was the governor of Massachusetts Bay. We don't have many other records about her trial or what she was accused of.

Around the time of her trial, a sickness was spreading in New England, including her hometown of Windsor. This sickness might have led to the accusations against her. Alse Young might have been related to a wealthy man named John Young, and she might have been able to inherit his property. This could have made her a target for accusations.

Mary Johnson

Mary Johnson was the first person to confess to witchcraft in Connecticut. She worked as a house servant. In 1648, she was accused of taking things that didn't belong to her. After a lot of questioning, Johnson confessed to being involved with the devil. She also confessed to causing the death of a child. Her execution was delayed because she was pregnant while in prison in Hartford. Mary Johnson was executed on June 6, 1650.

Katherine Harrison

Katherine Harrison was a former maidservant who became very wealthy after her husband passed away. She was born in England and came to America around 1651. She lived in Wethersfield, Connecticut. Katherine had some bad luck, like her farm animals dying and her crops being ruined. Even though people saw these things happen, she didn't get any help.

Between 1668 and 1669, Katherine was accused of witchcraft. People said she broke religious rules, tried to tell the future, and used bad magic. They also claimed she appeared to people as a ghost. She was even accused of calling to the devil by a swamp. On May 11, 1669, she was put in jail to wait for her trial.

Her trial was complicated. The first group of jurors couldn't decide if she was guilty. The second group found her guilty, but the judges disagreed. This was because most of the evidence was based on "spectral evidence," which meant it was just what the accusers claimed to see or feel, not physical proof. In May 1670, Katherine Harrison was released from prison. She was told to leave the Connecticut colony, and she moved with her family to New York.

Main Locations of the Trials

Wethersfield

During the 1650s, many people faced witchcraft trials in Connecticut. In Wethersfield, a couple named Joan and John Carrington were executed in 1651. They were well-known people in the community before they were accused. Wethersfield was also where Mary Johnson, the first person to confess to witchcraft, and Katherine Harrison lived. Because of these cases, historians sometimes call the accused people from this town the "Wethersfield Witches."

The Hartford Statehouse. People given the death penalty for witchcraft were often executed here.

Hartford

In 1662 and 1663, the town of Hartford had a big increase in fear about witches. Many people started accusing each other. One of the first accusations was from Anne Cole, who said Rebecca Greensmith and Elizabeth Seager were hurting her with magic. The parents of Elizabeth Kelly also accused someone of using bad magic to cause their daughter's death.

Other strange claims came from Hartford. One person said that Satan made her speak with a different accent. Another claimed her neighbors turned into animals at night. Katherine Branch, a servant, had strange fits and experiences that seemed "beyond nature," like floating above her bed. A minister thought her problems were because she refused to join a group of witches.

In Hartford, four people were executed for witchcraft. Nathaniel and Rebecca Greensmith, Mary Sanford, and Mary Barnes were hanged in 1662. Elizabeth Seager was also accused, but the charges against her were dropped because there wasn't enough strong evidence.

How the Trials Ended

By 1663, the witchcraft trials in Hartford began to slow down. This was largely due to the return of the governor of the Connecticut colony, John Winthrop Jr.. Winthrop was known for being fair in witchcraft cases. He had studied natural magic and chemistry, and he had seen others speak out against false accusations.

Because of his experience, Winthrop often got involved in witchcraft cases to make sure that innocent people were not executed. His return helped bring more doubt to witchcraft accusations. In 1669, his court made a new rule: multiple witnesses had to see the same act of witchcraft at the same time for it to be considered evidence. This rule greatly reduced the number of accusations. Even though there was a small scare during the later Salem crisis, no one was executed for witchcraft in Connecticut after Katherine Harrison was released in 1670.

What Happened After

On October 6, 2012, some descendants of the people who were executed asked the Connecticut government to officially clear their ancestors' names. However, this request was not approved. In 2007, a woman named Addie Avery, who was a descendant of Mary Sanford (executed for "dancing around a tree"), also tried to clear the names of the convicted witches. Avery has also been part of plays about the Connecticut Witch Trials.

On February 6, 2017, the town of Windsor officially cleared the names of two of its victims, Alice Young and Lydia Gilbert. A documentary about this event, called Delayed Justice: Windsor Atones For Its Witch Trial History, can be found online. In June 2017, several people held memorial services for the victims of the witch trials in Windsor. The "Memorial For Connecticut's Witch Trial Victims" marked 370 years since Alse Young's execution.