Salem Witch Trials Timeline
1629- Salem is settled
1641- English law makes witchcraft a punishable crime
1688- After an argument with laundress Goody Glover, Martha Goodwin, 13, begins showing bizarre behavior. Days later, her younger brother and two sisters exhibit similar behavior. Glover is arrested and tried for bewitching the Goodwin children. Reverend Cotton Mather meets twice with Glover following her arrest in an attempt to persuade her to repent her witchcraft. Glover is hanged. Mather takes Martha Goodwin into his house. Her bizarre behavior continues and gets worse.
January 20, 1692- Eleven-year old Abigail Williams and nine-year-old Elizabeth Parris begin behaving like the Goodwin children acted four years earlier. Soon, Ann Putnam Jr. and other Salem girls begin acting similarly.
Mid-February, 1692- Doctor Griggs, who attends to the "affected" girls, suggests that witchcraft may be the cause of their strange behavior.
February 25, 1692- Tituba, at the request of neighbor Mary Sibley, bakes a "witch cake" and feeds it to a dog. According to English folk remedy, feeding a dog this kind of cake, which contained the urine of the afflicted, would counteract the spell put on Elizabeth and Abigail. The reason the cake is fed to a dog is because the dog is believed a friend of the Devil.
Late-February, 1692- Pressured by ministers and townspeople to say who caused her odd behavior, Elizabeth identifies Tituba. The girls later accuse Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne of witchcraft.
February 29, 1692- Arrest warrants are issued for Tituba, Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne.
March 1, 1692- John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin examine Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborne for "witches teats." Tituba confesses to practicing witchcraft and confirms Good and Osborne are her co- conspirators.
March 11, 1692- Ann Putnam Jr. shows symptoms of affliction by witchcraft. Mercy Lewis, Mary Walcott, and Mary Warren later allege affliction as well.
March 12, 1692- Ann Putnam Jr. accuses Martha Cory of witchcraft.
March 19. 1692- Abigail Williams denounces Rebecca Nurse as a witch.
March 21, 1692- Hathorne and Corwin examine Martha Cory.
March 23, 1692- Salem Marshal Deputy Samuel Brabrook arrests four-year-old Dorcas Good.
March 24, 1692- Corwin and Hathorne examine Rebecca Nurse.
March 26, 1692- Hathorne and Corwin question Dorcas.
March 28, 1692- Elizabeth Proctor is accused of witchcraft
April 3, 1692- Sarah Cloyce, after defending her sister, Rebecca Nurse, is accused of witchcraft
June 29-30, 1692- Rebecca Nurse, Susannah Martin, Sarah Wildes, Sarah Good, and Elizabeth Howe are tried, pronounced guilty and sentenced to hang.
July 19, 1692- Rebecca Nurse, Susannah Martin, Elizabeth Howe, Sarah Good and Sarah Wildes are hanged at Gallows Hill.
August 5, 1692- George Jacobs Sr., Martha Carrier, George Burroughs, John Willard and John and Elizabeth Proctor are pronounced guilty and sentenced to be hung.
August 19, 1692- George Jacobs Sr., Martha Carrier, George Burroughs, John Willard and John Proctor are hanged on Gallows Hill. Since Elizabeth Proctor is pregnant, she is not hung.
September 9, 1692- Martha Corey, Mary Easty, Alice Parker, Ann Pudeator, Dorcas Hoar and Mary Bradbury are pronounced guilty and sentenced to be hung.
September 17, 1692- Margaret Scott, Wilmott Redd, Samuel Wardwell, Mary Parker, Abigail Faulkner, Rebecca Earnes, Mary Lacy, Ann Foster and Abigail Hobbs are tried and sentenced to hang.
October 3, 1692- The Reverend Increase Mather, President of Harvard College and father to Cotton Mather, denounces the use of spectral evidence.
October 8, 1692- Governor Phipps orders that spectral evidence no longer be admitted in the trails against witchcraft.
October 29, 1692- Phipps prohibits further arrests, releases many accused witches, and took down the Court of Oyer and Terminer.
November 25, 1692- The General Court establishes a Superior Court to try remaining witches.
January 3, 1693- Judge Stoughton orders execution of all suspected witches who were exempted by their pregnancy. Phipps denied enforcement of the order causing Stoughton to leave his postion.
January 1693- 49 of the 52 surviving people brought into court on witchcraft charges are released because their arrests were based on spectral evidence.
1693- Tituba is released from jail and sold to a new master.
May 1693- Phipps pardons those still in prison on witchcraft charges.
1702- The General Court declares the 1692 trials unlawful.
1706- Ann Putnam Jr., one of the leading accusers, publicly apologizes for her actions in 1692.
1711- The colony passes a legislative bill restoring the rights and good names of those accused of witchcraft and grants 600 pounds in restitution to their heirs.
1752- Salem Village is renamed Danvers.
1957- Massachusetts formally apologizes for the events of the Salem Witch Trials
1641- English law makes witchcraft a punishable crime
1688- After an argument with laundress Goody Glover, Martha Goodwin, 13, begins showing bizarre behavior. Days later, her younger brother and two sisters exhibit similar behavior. Glover is arrested and tried for bewitching the Goodwin children. Reverend Cotton Mather meets twice with Glover following her arrest in an attempt to persuade her to repent her witchcraft. Glover is hanged. Mather takes Martha Goodwin into his house. Her bizarre behavior continues and gets worse.
January 20, 1692- Eleven-year old Abigail Williams and nine-year-old Elizabeth Parris begin behaving like the Goodwin children acted four years earlier. Soon, Ann Putnam Jr. and other Salem girls begin acting similarly.
Mid-February, 1692- Doctor Griggs, who attends to the "affected" girls, suggests that witchcraft may be the cause of their strange behavior.
February 25, 1692- Tituba, at the request of neighbor Mary Sibley, bakes a "witch cake" and feeds it to a dog. According to English folk remedy, feeding a dog this kind of cake, which contained the urine of the afflicted, would counteract the spell put on Elizabeth and Abigail. The reason the cake is fed to a dog is because the dog is believed a friend of the Devil.
Late-February, 1692- Pressured by ministers and townspeople to say who caused her odd behavior, Elizabeth identifies Tituba. The girls later accuse Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne of witchcraft.
February 29, 1692- Arrest warrants are issued for Tituba, Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne.
March 1, 1692- John Hathorne and Jonathan Corwin examine Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborne for "witches teats." Tituba confesses to practicing witchcraft and confirms Good and Osborne are her co- conspirators.
March 11, 1692- Ann Putnam Jr. shows symptoms of affliction by witchcraft. Mercy Lewis, Mary Walcott, and Mary Warren later allege affliction as well.
March 12, 1692- Ann Putnam Jr. accuses Martha Cory of witchcraft.
March 19. 1692- Abigail Williams denounces Rebecca Nurse as a witch.
March 21, 1692- Hathorne and Corwin examine Martha Cory.
March 23, 1692- Salem Marshal Deputy Samuel Brabrook arrests four-year-old Dorcas Good.
March 24, 1692- Corwin and Hathorne examine Rebecca Nurse.
March 26, 1692- Hathorne and Corwin question Dorcas.
March 28, 1692- Elizabeth Proctor is accused of witchcraft
April 3, 1692- Sarah Cloyce, after defending her sister, Rebecca Nurse, is accused of witchcraft
June 29-30, 1692- Rebecca Nurse, Susannah Martin, Sarah Wildes, Sarah Good, and Elizabeth Howe are tried, pronounced guilty and sentenced to hang.
July 19, 1692- Rebecca Nurse, Susannah Martin, Elizabeth Howe, Sarah Good and Sarah Wildes are hanged at Gallows Hill.
August 5, 1692- George Jacobs Sr., Martha Carrier, George Burroughs, John Willard and John and Elizabeth Proctor are pronounced guilty and sentenced to be hung.
August 19, 1692- George Jacobs Sr., Martha Carrier, George Burroughs, John Willard and John Proctor are hanged on Gallows Hill. Since Elizabeth Proctor is pregnant, she is not hung.
September 9, 1692- Martha Corey, Mary Easty, Alice Parker, Ann Pudeator, Dorcas Hoar and Mary Bradbury are pronounced guilty and sentenced to be hung.
September 17, 1692- Margaret Scott, Wilmott Redd, Samuel Wardwell, Mary Parker, Abigail Faulkner, Rebecca Earnes, Mary Lacy, Ann Foster and Abigail Hobbs are tried and sentenced to hang.
October 3, 1692- The Reverend Increase Mather, President of Harvard College and father to Cotton Mather, denounces the use of spectral evidence.
October 8, 1692- Governor Phipps orders that spectral evidence no longer be admitted in the trails against witchcraft.
October 29, 1692- Phipps prohibits further arrests, releases many accused witches, and took down the Court of Oyer and Terminer.
November 25, 1692- The General Court establishes a Superior Court to try remaining witches.
January 3, 1693- Judge Stoughton orders execution of all suspected witches who were exempted by their pregnancy. Phipps denied enforcement of the order causing Stoughton to leave his postion.
January 1693- 49 of the 52 surviving people brought into court on witchcraft charges are released because their arrests were based on spectral evidence.
1693- Tituba is released from jail and sold to a new master.
May 1693- Phipps pardons those still in prison on witchcraft charges.
1702- The General Court declares the 1692 trials unlawful.
1706- Ann Putnam Jr., one of the leading accusers, publicly apologizes for her actions in 1692.
1711- The colony passes a legislative bill restoring the rights and good names of those accused of witchcraft and grants 600 pounds in restitution to their heirs.
1752- Salem Village is renamed Danvers.
1957- Massachusetts formally apologizes for the events of the Salem Witch Trials