Diane E. Foulds

Yet another interesting take on the Salem Witch Trials (See Wonders of the Invisible World, Salem Possessed, The Devil in Massachusetts, and The Witches). Author Diane Foulds’ approach is to give capsule biographies of the participants (she’s related to one of the executed witches; she doesn’t say which). It’s assumed the reader already has a basic knowledge of what went on at the trials. If not, Death in Salem will be confusing, but if so the biographical style will give extra insight. Foulds organizes her biographies by categories: The Accusers; The Victims; The Clergy; the Judges and The Elite.

The first thing I noticed is several of the accusers were in pretty precarious emotional physical situations. Elizabeth Booth was helping a widowed mother take care of siblings. Richard Carrier’s family had gone broke and had to live under the sufferance of relatives. Sarah Churchill had seen the family home burned by Indians and watched her grandfather die of wounds received in the battle. Elizabeth Hubbard was an orphan, indentured servant. John Indian was a slave. Mercy Lewis had seen her parents slain in an Indian raid and was living as a domestic servant. Ann Putnam’s parents had been cheated of their inheritance and seven of her siblings died in infancy. Susannah Sheldon had lived through two Indian raids. Mercy Short had seen her parents killed and scalped by Abenaki and was held captive for a year, during which she was forced to watch several neighbors burned alive. Martha Sprague’s stepfather seems to have coerced her into accusations to get revenge on neighbors. Mary Warren was an orphan servant girl and had to take care of her deaf-mute sister. To be fair; there’s no control group; their might have been equal numbers of people who had similar life trauma but never accused anybody. Good project for a history grad student.

Fould’s approach also makes it quite clear that this was the young against the old. The average age of the accusers was 19; the average age of the executed was 59. Interestingly, in her biographies of the clergy involved it seems like the older men were skeptical of the trials, while the younger were determined to root out witches.

There’s a handy table of participants, with age if known, endnotes, and a decent biography. Recommended as an interesting take on the trials although you should read another (like The Witches) to get a better overall view of what went on.… (mehr)

Death in Salem is unique in that instead of explaining what happened at the Salem witch trials in the form of a novel or play, this book instead acts as a sort of biography. The book is divided into chapters by the following: Accusers, victims, clergy, judges, the elite and the aftermath. The main protagonists are examined in brief vinaigrettes. Their names, dates and areas of birth, connection to the trial and when possible fate after the trial is listed. For anyone who has an interest in the subject of the Salem witch trials, this book is a good companion piece.… (mehr)