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A Sketch of Bridget Bishop by Mai-Linh Gonzales Westwood

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A Sketch of Bridget Bishop by Mai-Linh Gonzales Westwood A Sketch of Bridget Bishop by Mai-Linh Gonzales Westwood The Salem witchcraft scare of 1692 was not a typical Puritan occurrence. It was an aberration that grew out of a number of tensions in the community. The Puritan principles that the Massachusetts Bay Colony was founded on had shifted some what. Instead of self reflection on personal sinfulness, people began to focus on the sinfulness of others. Religious leaders (such as Increase and Cotton Mather) had long preached about the power that Satan exercised on Earth through witches. Since it was a long held Puritan belief that Man was inherently evil, it was easy to blame community problems on people who were in the slightest way different. The Colony was also under close scrutiny in England and was bargaining with little success for its autonomy. In the resulting atmosphere of political tension, many citizens became scapegoats for general frustration. <1> Belief in witchcraft and community grudges combined with other tensions to bring about a witch hunt hysteria. A group of "afflicted" girls began to accuse various community members of bewitching them. Between June 10 and September 22, 1692, these accusations led to the deaths of nineteen Massachusetts men and women, and two dogs. Another man was pressed to death for refusing to plead to his indictment. When the executions had come to an end, fifty five people had confessed that they were witches, and 150 more were in jail awaiting trial. < 2> Bridget Bishop was the first victim in this famous series of trials. She was a victim of the focus on the sinfulness of others and desire to rid the community of any threats of evil. Bridget Bishop was not a typical woman of the times in dress, manner, or actions and had been persecuted for this in the past. She did not embody the stereotypical role of a submissive wife and this was threatening to the Puritan village. When the witchcraft hysteria swept through the village, Bridget Bishop was one of the first accused by the afflicted girls. An examination of the "evidence" brought forth during her examination and trial will show that, except for spectral evidence, Bridget Bishop's only "crime" was being slightly different from the rest of the community. Although Brid et Bishop was a member in "full fellowship" of John Hale's church in Beverly, < 3> "her freedom from the austerity of Puritan manners, and disregard of conventional decorum in conversation and conduct brought her into disrepute." < 4> She was an easy target for the afflicted because of her flashy taste in dress, her smooth and flattering manner with men, and the questionable gaieties that had gone on in her tavern. <5> Her typical costume was described as including a black cap, a black hat, and a red paragon bodice bordered and looped with many different colors -- a showy outfit for the times. < 6> She also possessed a great deal of laces about which her dyer, Samuel Shattuck, said "I always thought there was something questionable about the quality and style of those laces." < 7> He also said that some of them were so small he saw no practical use for them. Another difference between Bridget and the typical Puritan wife was the number of husbands she had. Although a woman's remarriage after the death of a husband was common, Bridget was an exception because she had three husbands during the course of her lifetime. Her first husband was a man by the name of Wasselbe. After his death, she was married to Thomas Oliver from 1666 until his death in 1679. Before the witchcraft trials, Bridget had twice visited the county courts because of violent public quarreling with this husband. Her third husband, Edward Bishop, was one of the founders of Beverly Church and very respected in Salem Village. < 8> He was a sawyer (wood cutter) by trade. This was an indispensable occupation at the time and held high rank in the community. < 9> After she married Edward Bishop in 1685, the "old Oliver house" was torn down and a new one erected to rent to tenants. < 10 > For many years, Bridget (at the time Goody Oliver) had been under suspicion of witchcraft because of the accusations brought against her by Wonn, John Ingerson's Negro, who claimed that he saw her shape upon the beam of the hay house with an egg in her hand. < 11 > Although she had been rumored as being a witch as far back as King Phillip's War, the real gossip about Goody Bishop began when she opened up a tavern in her new home on Ipswich Road. < 12 > "Having already built up a long reputation for aggressive behavior in petty commercial transactions, Bridget soon turned the Bishop house into a place of late night conviviality where she sold cider manufactured from apples grown in her private orchard." < 13 > This unlicensed tavern seems to have been a rendezvous for local youths and traveling sailors. It became a popular complaint that she permitted young people to loiter at unseemly hours playing "shovel board" and making an uproar that disturbed the sleep of the decent neighbors. < 14 > One night, one of her neighbors, Christine Trask, stormed into Bridget's tavern and threw some shovel board pieces into the fire because "Bishop did entertain some people in her house at unseasonable hours in the night, to keep drinking and playing at shovel board, whereby discord did arise in other families and young people were in danger of being corrupted." < 15 > The next morning Goody Trask told Minister Hale about the incident and shortly after fell into "a distracted state of mind." < 16 > She continued in this way for several months, except for a short time of sanity during which she made friends with Bridget Bishop. One day she asked for Goodman Bishop and apologized for any wrongs she might have done him. Later that same evening she fell into one of her fits and destroyed herself. Bridget Bishop was formally accused of murdering Christine Trask through witchcraft in 1686. She would have been convicted if it were not for the intervention of Minister Hale. Hale testified that to his knowledge Bridget Bishop was the victim of gross misrepresentation. He testified that when Trask was free of her malady, she "repented bitterly of what she had said and done of the Bishops and heartily desired their forgiveness." < 17 > Even after her first trial, Bridget Bishop continued to "brave public sentiment by living in the same free and easy style, paying no regard to the scowls of the sanctimonious or the foolish tittle-tattle of the superstitious." < 18 > Under the circumstances in 1692, memories of the old incident were revived. John Hale was giving much thought to the matter and praying that if the devil had deluded him before the Lord would now "open his eyes to the truth." < 19 > Bridget Bishop was indicted again for witchcraft on April 19, 1692, along with Marry Warren, Giles Corey and Abigail Hobbs. < 20 > She was accused by Mercy Lewis and Ann Putnam. Her examination was held before John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin at the Corwin home. < 21 > Judge Hathorne asked her if she had bewitched her first husbands to death. She replied, "If it please your worship I know nothing of it." < 22 > The afflicted children were in fits the entire time and accused Bridget of attempting to make them sign the Devil's book." < 23 > One of the afflicted children claimed to see Bridget's "shape." Jonathan Walcott struck at it with his sword. His sister, Mary, claimed that he hit her and tore her coat. Upon examining Bridget, they found a small cut in her coat. It did not appear to be the direct cut of a sword but Jonathan justified this discrepancy by saying that his sword was in its sheath when he struck at her. < 24 > Another interesting fact is that Bridget appeared never to have been in Salem Village proper. During her examination she exclaimed, "I never was in this place before, I know no man, woman, or child here." < 25 > Because Bridget's history of problematic relationships with her neighbors "so thoroughly typified the career of the malefic witch," the fact that she knew no one in the courtroom was overlooked. < 26 > Bridget denied all accusations against her and when she looked up her eyes appeared to be tormented. < 27 > "I do not know what a witch is," she said flatly when asked if she was one. < 28 > After her examination she was put in Salem prison to await trial. The judges assigned to deliberate over the Salem witchcraft trials were Bartholomew Gedney of Salem, Samuel Sewall, John Richards, William Sergeant, and Wait Winthrop of Boston, Nathaniel Saltonstall of Haverhill, and Deputy Governor Stoughton from Dorchester. < 29 > The judicial bench had never sought the advice of ministers on matters of criminal law, nor did it ever again, but while preparing for the witchcraft trials, the judges sought the advice of the ministers on the admissibility of spectral evidence (evidence invisible to the jurors). The ministerial fellowship led by Cotton Mather, avowed their belief in the invisible kingdom of the devil. <30 > The ministers did not, however, condone the use of spectral evidence in the court room. Mather advised that instead of using spectral evidence to convict witches, that the Magistrates "employ aggressive methods to obtain confessions." If confessions were unobtainable, Mather recommended that the court search for witches marks and puppets as evidence of witchcraft. < 31 > After a hectic two weeks of preparation, the special court of Oyer and Terminer opened for its first session on Friday, June 2, 1692.
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