Escaping Salem: The Other Witch Hunt of 1692 by Richard Godbeer Page A
Authors: Richard Godbeer
Tags: United States, nonfiction, History, Paranormal, Social Sciences, womens studies, 18th Century, 17th Century, Law & Order
Ads: Link
the girl she called Hannah if it was her father. I believe it is. What this may mean the Lord knows. I fear that all the persons she has named are wicked and I desire the Lord to make discovery of them.”
When Kate came to her senses that morning, Jonathan Selleck questioned her about the previous evening’s ordeal. She described again the torments inflicted by Elizabeth Clawson, Mercy Disborough, Goody Miller, and Mary and Hannah Harvey. “They were terribly mad at me for telling things against them.”
Kate began to weep quietly. No flailing and screaming, thought Mister Selleck, no drama and spectacle...just a frightened and exhausted young woman. Something truly horrifying must be causing such anguish. It was his responsibility to protect her and to punish those responsible. Such was his duty as a neighbor, as a fellow Christian, and as an officer of the law. Daniel Wescot had placed his trust in him by bringing the maid repeatedly to his house so that he could attest to her fits, question her, and act on her allegations. Mister Selleck did not intend to betray that trust.
Jonathan Selleck knew that other residents of Stamford also suspected Goody Clawson of witchcraft and he had heard of the suspicions surrounding Goody Disborough in Compo. But how exactly would the Lord “make discovery of them” in such a way that their crimes could be proven in a court of law? And what of those neighbors who refused to believe in Elizabeth Clawson’s guilt and were already mobilizing on her behalf? Ahead lay legal and political thickets that he was glad not to be facing alone.
THREE: "BY THE LAW OF GOD AND THE LAW OF THE COLONY THOU DESERVEST TO DIE"
As magistrate Jonathan Selleck pondered the chilling scenes that he had witnessed over the past few weeks, he became increasingly worried about the dangers facing Stamford. Mister Selleck had spent his entire adult life in the town and was regarded as one of its foremost residents. Though born in Boston, he and his younger brother John had moved to Connecticut in 1660. Jonathan was twenty at the time, John seventeen. The two brothers became partners in trade, following in the footsteps of their father, a merchant who had traveled down to Barbados regularly until his death in 1654. Jonathan was the more sedentary of the two; it was John who ferried their cargo back and forth, spending weeks and sometimes months away at sea. The town, realizing that it stood to benefit from the Selleck brothers’ commercial ventures, had granted them land for a warehouse.
Within a decade of their arrival the two brothers married two sisters, Abigail and Sarah Law, daughters of a wealthy townsman. Each received a house as dowry. Jonathan soon became an officer in Stamford’s militia and was given more land by the town as thanks for his leadership in the war against the Indians in 1676. He served regularly as an elected representative at the colonial assembly and for several years as a member of the governor’s council. The brothers purchased real estate in the area and inherited yet more land on the death of their father-in-law in 1686, becoming major property owners in and around Stamford.
The brothers’ mercantile business had prospered until 1689, when John and his ship were captured by the French, who had just declared war on England and its colonies—he was never heard from again. Jonathan was still reeling from this personal and financial blow, but he would not allow the family’s maritime business, built up over many years, to be undermined by this French outrage and so he had recently joined with one of his sons and three other men to buy a replacement vessel.
Jonathan Selleck had become a key player in local affairs and had close ties to the countywide network of leading families. It was becoming increasingly clear, much to Jonathan’s delight, that his two sons would marry the daughters of Nathan Gold, a good friend and prominent citizen in Fairfield. Nathan Gold had sat with
When Kate came to her senses that morning, Jonathan Selleck questioned her about the previous evening’s ordeal. She described again the torments inflicted by Elizabeth Clawson, Mercy Disborough, Goody Miller, and Mary and Hannah Harvey. “They were terribly mad at me for telling things against them.”
Kate began to weep quietly. No flailing and screaming, thought Mister Selleck, no drama and spectacle...just a frightened and exhausted young woman. Something truly horrifying must be causing such anguish. It was his responsibility to protect her and to punish those responsible. Such was his duty as a neighbor, as a fellow Christian, and as an officer of the law. Daniel Wescot had placed his trust in him by bringing the maid repeatedly to his house so that he could attest to her fits, question her, and act on her allegations. Mister Selleck did not intend to betray that trust.
Jonathan Selleck knew that other residents of Stamford also suspected Goody Clawson of witchcraft and he had heard of the suspicions surrounding Goody Disborough in Compo. But how exactly would the Lord “make discovery of them” in such a way that their crimes could be proven in a court of law? And what of those neighbors who refused to believe in Elizabeth Clawson’s guilt and were already mobilizing on her behalf? Ahead lay legal and political thickets that he was glad not to be facing alone.
THREE: "BY THE LAW OF GOD AND THE LAW OF THE COLONY THOU DESERVEST TO DIE"
As magistrate Jonathan Selleck pondered the chilling scenes that he had witnessed over the past few weeks, he became increasingly worried about the dangers facing Stamford. Mister Selleck had spent his entire adult life in the town and was regarded as one of its foremost residents. Though born in Boston, he and his younger brother John had moved to Connecticut in 1660. Jonathan was twenty at the time, John seventeen. The two brothers became partners in trade, following in the footsteps of their father, a merchant who had traveled down to Barbados regularly until his death in 1654. Jonathan was the more sedentary of the two; it was John who ferried their cargo back and forth, spending weeks and sometimes months away at sea. The town, realizing that it stood to benefit from the Selleck brothers’ commercial ventures, had granted them land for a warehouse.
Within a decade of their arrival the two brothers married two sisters, Abigail and Sarah Law, daughters of a wealthy townsman. Each received a house as dowry. Jonathan soon became an officer in Stamford’s militia and was given more land by the town as thanks for his leadership in the war against the Indians in 1676. He served regularly as an elected representative at the colonial assembly and for several years as a member of the governor’s council. The brothers purchased real estate in the area and inherited yet more land on the death of their father-in-law in 1686, becoming major property owners in and around Stamford.
The brothers’ mercantile business had prospered until 1689, when John and his ship were captured by the French, who had just declared war on England and its colonies—he was never heard from again. Jonathan was still reeling from this personal and financial blow, but he would not allow the family’s maritime business, built up over many years, to be undermined by this French outrage and so he had recently joined with one of his sons and three other men to buy a replacement vessel.
Jonathan Selleck had become a key player in local affairs and had close ties to the countywide network of leading families. It was becoming increasingly clear, much to Jonathan’s delight, that his two sons would marry the daughters of Nathan Gold, a good friend and prominent citizen in Fairfield. Nathan Gold had sat with
Similar Books
