34 pages • 1-hour read
Escaping Salem
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Chapters 3-4Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 3 Summary: “By the Law of God and the Law of the Colony Thou Deservest to Die”
Jonathan Selleck, along with the other magistrates, “felt a keen responsibility to defend Stamford against the threat posed by witches”; however, what was less clear was how best to do this (52). Selleck wanted to avoid the mass panic that had developed in Salem. He “also knew that trying to prove an invisible crime in court was not easy and could lead to serious problems” (52). No one could agree on how to prove such a crime, and in the past this had led to trials in which the jury convicted the accused, only to have the conviction—to the anger of the jurymen and townspeople—overturned.
In the current case, the “magistrates’ task was complicated by doubts and disagreement […] on the subject of Katherine Branch” (54). The town was split, with many believing that Kate was lying; even Abigail Wescot had been heard to voice her misgivings. Even many of those who believed that Kate was bewitched, however, also felt that “it did not necessarily follow that her allegations against specific women were reliable,” as demonic “specters [might] appear as innocent people so as to incriminate harmless and virtuous individuals” (55).
A further complication in the trial was that Goody Miller, having heard she had been accused, fled to her brothers in Bedford, New York, ten miles away. One of her brothers was himself a magistrate, and the other brother was Bedford’s chief military officer. Both Daniel Wescot and Jonathan Selleck attempted to arrange for her extradition, but they could not get anyone in New York to cooperate.
In the meantime, preparations began for the trial. Capital offenses would normally be tried in Hartford, but there was concern that the lengthy distance would discourage witnesses from testifying; as a result, Connecticut followed the example of Salem and created a special “Court of Oyer and Terminer” in Fairfield to hear the case.
The court convened in mid-September. On 16 September, the magistrates acquitted Mary Staples, Mary Harvey, and Hannah Harvey. The court then turned to Goody Clawson and Goody Disborough: “At the request of [Goody Clawson’s] husband, no fewer than seventy-six townsfolk […] signed a petition of support” for her, including Sarah Bates (60). Though many of the signatories asserted that Goody Clawson was a peaceful woman who did not possess the qualities of a witch, others came forward to claim that both she and Goody Disborough were “argumentative and vindictive” (61). Godbeer adds that “[f]ollowing the arrest of the two women, a wave of Stamford and Compo residents came forward to relate quarrels with one or the other which had been followed by mysterious illness or misfortune” (61). Further, both had made remarks that, to many, suggested guilt, or, at the very least, were perplexing in nature.
Given the volume of testimony on both sides, the magistrates felt there was enough to proceed to trial, and the two were formally indicted. However, there were specific criteria that needed to be satisfied in order to convict them, which meant that the magistrates “faced three considerable challenges: first, to make sure that they themselves understood the established grounds for conviction […]; second, to ensure that the jurymen not only understood but also abided by those guidelines; and third […] to handle as diplomatically as possible the mounting public pressure for conviction” (68).
Chapter 4 Summary: “Angry Speeches and Strange Afflictions”
As the trial grew near, some of the townsfolk began sharing stories of quarrels they had with the accused. John Finch, for example, recalled that shortly after he fought with Goody Clawson, his daughter suddenly took ill and ultimately passed away. Similarly, Goody Newman’s sheep died shortly after fighting with Goody Clawson. In neither case could anyone find a natural cause for the deaths; Kate’s recent fits and accusations reinforced their earlier beliefs that Goody Clawson had been the cause.
The author notes that “It made good sense to [them] that they should explain their misfortunes in terms of bewitchment by vengeful neighbors,” as “[m]much that occurred in their lives was mysterious and unnerving” (73). When something incomprehensible happened, many believed it to be the result of supernatural interference. This often meant that God was punishing sinners, but many townsfolk were just as inclined, if not more so, to attribute the mysterious happenings to witchcraft, instead. In these cases, accusations often came when misfortune followed a quarrel; as the author points out, however, in many of these cases, there might not have been a clear, correct position, and both sides may have felt aggrieved (75).
Such examples were not always due to misfortune. In another example, when one of John Grumman’s children fell ill, they suspected Goody Disborough was behind it, as John’s nephew, Thomas Benit, Jr., had recently fought with her. After Thomas threatened her, she went back with him to see the child, stroking “the sick child with what looked like genuine concern” (79). Within a few hours, the child had improved, proving to the others that Goody Disborough had been responsible all along.
Others recounted tales of visual trickery. Edward Jesop claimed that one evening, at dinner with the Disboroughs, he first believed he saw the roasted pig’s skin reappear, then that the text of a Bible reappeared, and lastly that he was unable to move his canoe or control his horse in order to get home.
Other townsfolk told stories of testing the suspected witches, even though “New England ministers urged their flocks to refrain from such experiments, declaring that these were not ordained by God in holy scripture and so must depend on the Devil’s assistance” (82). Some ignored this admonishment, though, reasoning that it couldn’t be evil to defend oneself against a witch. One belief was harming something bewitched would harm the witch, instead; Henry Grey had previously tried such an experiment, which revealed to him that Goody Disborough had been the culprit.
Similar experiments were attempted with Kate; the fact that she resisted while tormented, but acquiesced while lucid, proved to onlookers that she was, in fact, bewitched. However, these kinds of experiments were not considered to be strong pieces of evidence in the eyes of the court.
Chapters 3-4 Analysis
While Chapters 1-2 focus on the source of the accusations, Chapters 3-4 shift the narrative toward other characters, and indeed we do not return with any great focus to Daniel and Katherine through the rest of the text. These two chapters are bound by considerations of public opinion, and the inward, singular focus of Chapter 3 serves as a counterpoint to the shifting, pluralist narrative of the fourth chapter. Chapter 3 begins with the background of Jonathan Selleck, before turning to the considerations he and the other magistrates needed to make in order to determine whether or not to move forward, considerations that included little concrete to latch onto.
These considerations serve to highlight both the logical approach of the magistrates as well as arbitrary nature of witch trials. For one, it seems to have been relatively easy to evade prosecution, as Goody Miller managed to do so merely by staying with relatives just ten miles away. For another, although Selleck wished to avoid the mass panic of Salem, the indictments still relied largely on hearsay and opinion. The difference in this case was largely that such opinion was heavily divided, but it’s easy to imagine that a universally-disliked townsperson may have been easier to indict and convict, particularly as Mercy Disborough—who had a significant number of townspeople on her side—was still initially convicted.
Public opinion is the focus of Chapter 4, as we see what is, in effect, a demonstration of inductive reasoning through anecdotal evidence. Much of the evidence against the accused was abstract but causal: neighbors would quarrel, then attribute bad fortune to the quarrel rather than to luck or some other, more natural explanation. As the author notes, this kind of reasoning was a product of the time and place in two distinct ways: first, because supernatural interventions and occurrences were seen as facts rather than fantasies, it was only natural for some to blame the unexplained on witchcraft; second, because it was so important for the townspeople to assist one another in times of need, disputes were magnified and discontent festered.
Interestingly, the kinds of disputes recounted throughout Chapter 4 would later be ruled insufficient as evidence for conviction; this means that Chapter 4 ends up serving another function in the narrative, as it reinforces not only the way that public opinion can lead to such accusations but also the way public sentiment can be at odds with legal requirements. Further, we see that both positive and negative effects could lead people to believe in witchcraft, as in the tale of Mercy Disborough first allegedly bewitching, then healing, a child. We also see evidence of New Englanders reexamining previously-held beliefs, as such common tropes as ducking—the practice of throwing accused witches, bound, into the water, to see if they float or sink—were not only barred as evidence, but often barred by the church, as well.
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