Salem Witch Trials Notable Persons 2/19/18, 1020 AM Home Archives Books & Letters Documents Maps People Important Persons in the Salem Court Records Categories: Executed Died in Jail Officials Associate Magistrates Trial Critics Ministers "Afflicted" Girls Other Accusers Other Accused Defenders of the Accused Important Historical Topics All People and Topics Biographical Data Bridget Bishop Margaret Scott Rev. George Burroughs Martha Carrier The witchcraft accusations and trial of Margaret Scott, executed on September 22nd, 1692, long have been a Giles Cory mystery to historians. With the recently located depositions from her examination, the people, places, and Martha Cory events associated with Margaret Scott's trial can now be examined and the mystery surrounding her can be Mary Easty solved. Sarah Good Elizabeth How Full Essay - George Jacobs Sr. Susannah Martin Spectors, Maleficium, and Margaret Scott Rebecca Nurse Written by Mark Rice (Copyright, 2005) Alice Parker Mary Parker History 209, An Undergraduate Court, Cornell University John Proctor, Sr. Ann Pudeator Wilmot Redd Spring Semester, 2003 Margaret Scott Samuel Wardwell Revised for presentation to the Berkshire Conference, 2005 Sarah Wilds John Willard Margaret Scott possessed the characteristics that made her a prime suspect for any witch accusation during Lydia Dastin early New England. However, Scott was unlucky enough to be accused during the Salem witch hunts. As a Ann Foster result, Scott, an orthodox suspect, was thrown into a very unorthodox witch hunt with very little chance of Infant Girl (daughter of Sarah survival. The evidence of Margaret Scott's case highlights the nature of witchcraft accusations in New England Good) and the Salem witch-hunt. In the end, Margaret Scott was accused and executed on charges of witchcraft due to Sarah Osborne prolonged suspicion of her character, the spectral evidence provided in her trial, the maleficium evidence Roger Toothaker against her, and the prominence of the accusers in her community. Sir William Phips William Stoughton Margaret Scott was the only person to be accused of being a witch from Rowley during the Salem trials. This Jonathan Corwin was mainly due to the fact that community members long thought of her as a witch. She most likely was Thomas Danforth suspected of witchcraft because of her low stature in the community, the number of child fatalities,long Bartholomew Gedney widowhood, and begging; all common traits among people accused of witchcraft.1 John Hathorne John Richards Margaret Scott's origins are obscure. Born Margaret Stevenson in England somewhere around the year 1615, Nathaniel Saltonstall she first appeared in the record books in 1642, when she married Benjamin Scott. Initially the Scotts lived in Peter Sargent Braintree, but later moved to Cambridge where they had four children between 1644 and 1650. The Scott Samuel Sewall family arrived in Rowley in 1651 where Margaret gave birth to three additional children. Of all the children, Stephen Sewall only three lived to adulthood. Still, by the time of the witchcraft trials, the seventy-seven year-old Margaret Wait Winthrop Scott had as many as eleven grandchildren.2 Thomas Brattle Francis Dane It is hard to pinpoint the status of the Scott family among the residents of Rowley. Evidence from Essex County Deodat Lawson records indicates that the Scots were not wealthy and never appeared in any positions suggesting importance or Cotton Mather prominence. Benjamin Scott himself was never assigned a high-status title such as Mister or even the lower Increase Mather status title Goodman. The Scotts lacked the money to purchase their own land. Instead in 1664 the town Samuel Parris donated land to Benjamin Scott.3 In March of 1665, Benjamin Scott was convicted of the crime of theft, for Samuel Willard which he was "fined and admonished." However, six months later he took the Freeman's Oath, indicating he http://salem.lib.virginia.edu/people?group.num=&mbio.num=mb43 Page 1 of 5 Salem Witch Trials Notable Persons 2/19/18, 1020 AM Sarah Bibber was both a householder and a church member, in short, an upstanding person.4 Benjamin Scott died in 1671 Elizabeth Booth leaving an estate worth only 67 pounds and 17 shillings, not much by the standards of that time. However, Sarah Churchill Margaret had to live on this estate for the next twenty-one years and by the time of the Salem trials, must have Elizabeth Hubbard been very poor.5 Mercy Lewis Elizabeth Parris At first glance, Margaret Scott seems to have lived an uneventful life. However, certain aspects of her character Ann Putnam Jr. made her a very likely candidate as a witch suspect. One such aspect was the high infant mortality rate among Susanna Sheldon her children. Women in New England who had trouble raising children were very vulnerable to witchcraft Mary Warren charges. In fact, only 7 out of the 62 accused female witches in New England prior to 1692 had a considerable Mary Walcott number of children.6 Abigail Williams Tituba Out of Margaret's seven children, only three made it to adulthood. This does not consider any miscarriages or Ann Dolliver other problems that Scott may have had. Furthermore, only one of her three children born in Rowley lived to Philip English adulthood. The residents of Rowley would have been well aware of her high infant mortality rate.7 Abigail Faulkner Mary Ireson Another factor about Margaret Scott's character that made her vulnerable to accusations was her status as a Margaret Jacobs widow for twenty-one years. Being a widow did not in itself expose a woman to suspicion.8 However, Scott Israel Porter suffered from the economic and social effects of being a widow for a prolonged period. The most dangerous Joseph Putnam aspect of being a widow was the lack of a husband for legal support and influence. Also, Scott, 56 at the time of Children her husband's death, was forced to live off her husband's small estate for twenty-one years. Often widows who Gloucester Women were over fifty and not wealthy, were unable to find a new spouse and thus were reduced to poverty and John Alden begging. By begging, Margaret would expose herself to witchcraft suspicions according to what historian Robin Thomas Putnam Briggs calls the "refusal guilt syndrome". This phenomenon occurred when a beggar's needs were refused William Griggs causing feelings of guilt and aggression on the refuser's part. The refuser projected this aggression on the begger and grew suspicious of her.9 Some of the depositions against Scott did involve misfortunes occurring to people who had denied her a service or good. Perhaps Scott actually used her reputation to receive favors, which could be very effective. If people believed that Scott was a witch, they might have eagerly given her what she asked out of fear of retaliation. However, if someone refused Scott and then fell on bad circumstances, witchcraft suspicions and accusations were almost a certainty.10 Evidence suggests that Scott's widowhood suffering and dependence on begging resulted in part from a lack of familial support. Only Margaret Scott's son Benjamin stayed in Rowley. When Margaret Scott was accused of witchcraft, Benjamin, who had six children of his own at the time, offered no legal support. He probably lacked the time and money to pursue a legal defense of his mother.11 A careful examination of the depositions and witnesses shows a clear pattern among Margaret Scott's accusers. Many who were wealthy residents of the town who cooperated in the effort to convict Margaret of witchcraft. Captain Daniel Wicom appeared as the central figure among the accusers. As a prominent member of Rowley, any witchcraft affliction that involved Wicom, who filled many town leadership positions, would have led to legal action against Scott.12 According to depositions presented against Scott, the residents of Rowley suspected her of being a witch for as many as twenty years but no action was taken until his daughter became afflicted by her. The Wicoms were not the only prominent family of Rowley involved with the accusations against Margaret Scott. The Nelson family also played an active role in the trial. Thomas and Phillip Nelson were brothers; Sarah was Philip's wife. Their father, Captain Philip Nelson, passed away in 1691 leaving an estate of 500 pounds suggesting that both Thomas and Philip were well off themselves. Unfortunately, records fail to distinguish between Philip the father and Philip the son. However, the prominence of the name of Philip Nelson in town records suggests that the family was wealthy and powerful.13 What is notable among the many appearances of Nelsons and Wicoms in the Essex County records is actually what did not occur. While the two families appear in many land disputes, they never appear as opponents. While one cannot assume that both families were friends, it is safe to say that they were not enemies. Philip Nelson gave testimony that supported Daniel Wicom in a 1679 trial and in 1680 the two men sided together in another court case. 14 The connection between the Wicoms and the Nelsons as Margaret Scott's chief accusers continued with the deposition of Philip and Sarah Nelson who testified to the affliction of deceased Robert Shillito, who lived in Daniel Wicom's tithing district. Wicom would have collected Shillito's taxes, been in contact with him, and have been very familiar with his supposed affliction. The final connection occurred in the deposition of Thomas Nelson. At the end of his testimony, the record indicated him as a member of the grand jury giving him the power to determine Margaret Scott's fate extending the Nelson-Wicom connection to nearly all aspects of the trial.