Salem Witch Trials Begin: A Doctor Blames Witchcraft
Dr. William Griggs couldn't find anything physically wrong with the girls. They screamed, threw things, contorted into impossible positions, complained of being pricked by invisible pins. So he gave the diagnosis available to him in 1692: bewitchment. The girls were nine and eleven. Within weeks, they'd accused three women. Within months, the accusations spread to over 200 people. Nineteen were hanged. One man was pressed to death with stones. The trials ended when the accusers started naming the governor's wife. A doctor's guess, made because he had no other explanation, killed twenty people in eight months.
February 8, 1692
334 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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