SALEM WITCHCRAFT TRIALS RESEARCH GUIDE

Explore digitized manuscripts and documents from the Salem witch trials.

This research guide was rewritten and updated in 2024 by Dr. Tricia Peone, New England's Hidden Histories Project Director.

Witchcraft was a serious concern in early New England. Although understandings of the nature of witchcraft were in flux during this period, the law against witchcraft in Massachusetts, based on the Bible and English law, was clear: “If any man or woman be a witch (that is) hath or consulteth with a familiar spirit, they shall be put to death.” The first executions for witchcraft in New England were those of Alice Young (1647) in Connecticut and Margaret Jones (1648) in Massachusetts. Between 1647 and 1692, there were about 100 court cases related to witchcraft in New England with community outbreaks at Springfield, Massachusetts in 1651, Hartford, Connecticut in 1662, and Hampton, New Hampshire in 1680.

Puritan and nonconformist ministers wrote several influential treatises about witchcraft in the seventeenth century such as William Perkins, Discourse of the Damned Art of Witchcraft (Cambridge, 1608), John Gaule, Select Cases of Conscience Touching Witches and Witchcraft (London, 1646), and Richard Baxter, The Certainty of the Worlds of Spirits (London, 1691). In New England, the ministers Increase Mather, Cotton Mather, John Hale, and Samuel Willard also contributed to a transatlantic conversation about witchcraft and magic by publishing works on these subjects (see bibliography below).

Most ministers in New England believed that all magic was diabolical, and that witches received powers from the Devil to manipulate the weather, cause illness, destroy crops, and harm livestock. Witches made a covenant with the Devil that was similar to the covenant church members made, and deserved to be punished with death because, as William Perkins argued in his influential Discourse of the Damned Art of Witchcraft, they were “enemies to god, and all true religion.” The threat of witchcraft was believed to be particularly menacing in New England due to the special mission of puritan colonists to create a godly society. In his discussion of the accused witches at Salem in Wonders of the Invisible World, Cotton Mather argued that “these Monsters have associated themselves to do no less a Thing than, To destroy the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, in these parts of the World.”

Yet records show that despite what ministers said, many New Englanders believed in forms of good magic as well as witchcraft. Good magic involved healing, fortune telling, love charms, and finding lost items. Court records demonstrate New Englanders’ interest in divination, magical remedies, reading books of magic and astrology, and using nails, salt, horseshoes, and plants to ward off witches and evil spirits.

The largest witch hunt in New England began in Salem Village (now Danvers) during the winter of 1692, in the household of Rev. Samuel Parris. In February, Elizabeth Parris and her cousin Abigail Williams were visited by a local doctor at Rev. Parris’ request after they began exhibiting unusual symptoms. The doctor determined that the affliction the two young girls were suffering from was not natural, and in response to this illness, the household prayed and fasted. Soon, two more children, Ann Putnam, Jr. and Elizabeth Hubbard, became similarly afflicted. Two other ministers visited the Parris household and concurred that the affliction was likely caused by Satan, and the afflicted girls described being attacked by witches. On February 29, three Salem Village men filed a complaint with the Salem Town magistrates against three local women for witchcraft: Tituba (who was enslaved by Rev. Parris), Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborne. The magistrates issued arrest warrants and came to the village to hold examinations in public in the meeting house, which began on March 1.

During the first months of the crisis, accusations spread quickly and many arrest warrants were issued. However, the magistrates could not hold any trials because the colony had no legal charter, so they held the accused in jail and collected evidence and witness statements against them. Throughout the crisis, there was uncertainty about what standards of evidence should be used to convict someone accused of witchcraft. In general, a confession was considered to be best, or if possible multiple witnesses to a diabolical act, whereas spectral evidence (testimony from a witness who encountered the spirit or specter of a witch) was controversial and its validity continued to be debated for decades after the trials. Ministers (including Increase and Cotton Mather) provided guidance and advice to magistrates and colonial officials; they also relied on the extensive available literature about witchcraft, including legal guidebooks that explained types of evidence used in witchcraft cases.

One minister was executed at Salem. In April 1692, Rev. George Burroughs was accused of witchcraft. Burroughs was a Harvard graduate who had served as the minister in Salem Village in the early 1680s before moving back to Maine. One of the afflicted testified that she had seen “the Apparition of a Minister'' who confessed to murdering and bewitching people and claimed to be a “conjurer.” In a sinister reversal of the minister’s role, he commanded her to sign her name in his book and give her soul to the Devil. His accusers identified him as the leader of all the witches in northern New England, and their testimonies detailed other mockeries of puritan faith such as holding a sabbath in Rev. Parris’ pasture, taking a sacrament of blood, and women (witches) as deacons. Burroughs was unable to convince the court or his fellow ministers that he was a minister of God and not of the Devil.

The new royal governor of the colony, William Phips, arrived in May and appointed a special court of Oyer and Terminer to try the accused. The first trial took place in Salem on June 2, 1692. Bridget Bishop was the first to be tried, convicted, and executed by the court. Further executions were held in July, August, and September. The trials continued until the court was disbanded in October. A new special court convened in early 1693 to deal with the people still held in jail, who were eventually released. Approximately two hundred people in Essex County and beyond were accused of witchcraft; fifty of them had confessed to covenanting with the Devil, and nineteen people who proclaimed their innocence were hanged. In total, 25 people were executed or died in jail during the trials.

About This Research Guide

In this research guide, you will find information about resources held at the Congregational Library & Archives and partner institutions related to the Salem witch trials.

The original manuscripts in the Salem Witchcraft Trials Records, 1692 collection were digitized as part of the New England’s Hidden Histories project and were held by our project partners, the Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum. Further information about the collection can be found in the Phillips Library's finding aid. Many of the documents were previously digitized by the University of Virginia as part of their Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive and Transcription Project, which began in 1999. In 2017, members of the CLA and Phillips Library staff found several documents in the Phillips Library’s collection which had not yet been digitized and were not available online. These documents were digitized as part of our New England's Hidden Histories project and may be accessed below or in our digital archive. In 2023, these records, which were on loan to the Phillips Library, were returned to the Judicial Archives at the Massachusetts State Archives where they are now permanently housed. Researchers wishing to see these materials in person should contact the Massachusetts Archives.

Below you will also find related materials included in the New England’s Hidden Histories digital archive. These include church records from communities involved in the trials, such as Danvers (formerly Salem Village), Salem, Marblehead, and Topsfield. Records from Boston’s Second Church where both Increase Mather and Cotton Mather served as ministers are also included. Materials in these collections have been digitized in partnership with the American Antiquarian Society, the Massachusetts Historical Society, the New England Historic Genealogical Society, and the Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum and have been made available through our New England's Hidden Histories project.

This research guide also includes a bibliography with primary and secondary sources to provide further context about the Salem witch trials and links to other online projects and resources.

These documents are organized alphabetically by the last name of the accused, with families grouped together. Links to the digitized records are provided for each individual, as well as links to transcriptions of the documents, if available. All documents previously digitized by the University of Virginia’s Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive and Transcription Project are indicated with an asterisk next to each individual’s name and can be accessed on their website.

BARKER FAMILY

Mary Barker*

Mary Barker of Andover was 13 years old in 1692, when she and other members of her family were accused of witchcraft by Samuel Martin and Moses Tyler of Boxford. Shortly after her arrest on August 29, 1692, Barker confessed to afflicting Martha Sprague, Rose Foster, and Abigail Martin by witchcraft, to attending a witch meeting, and to signing the Devil's book. She told the magistrates that she felt she was “lost to God and all good people.” Barker also accused her uncle, William Barker, Sr., and three women (Elizabeth Johnson, Sr., Abigail Faulkner, and Mary Marston) of being witches. She was eventually found not guilty and released.

Document: Examination and Transcription
Date: 1692 August 29

William Barker, Jr.*

14-year-old William Barker, Jr. from Andover was the first cousin of Mary Barker and was accused of afflicting the same people and arrested shortly after her. His father, William Barker Sr., was also arrested and confessed but later escaped. William Barker, Jr. confessed to signing the Devil’s book and to being baptized by the Devil at Five Mile Pond. He also accused Goody Parker, Elizabeth Johnson, Sr., and Samuel Wardwell and his wife and two daughters of witchcraft. He remained in prison until 1693 but was eventually acquitted.

Document: Examination and Transcription
Date: 1692 September 1

BRIDGES/POST FAMILY

Sarah Bridges*

Sarah Bridges of Andover initially maintained her innocence during her examination on August 25, 1692. She was arrested along with her four sisters and stepsisters (Mary Bridges, Susanna Post, Hannah Post, and Mary Post) for afflicting Martha Sprague and Rose Foster. Bridges and her sisters all eventually confessed when confronted with the evidence of their accusers. Bridges confessed that she had been baptized by the Devil, who told her his name was Jesus, and had agreed to serve him for four years. She had also attended a witch meeting in Andover with 200 witches present. She stated that she hurt the afflicted by “squeezing her hands & sticking pins in her clothes” which caused them pain. Bridges spent the next several months in jail until her trial in January 1693 when she was found not guilty by a jury.

Document: Examination and Transcription
Date: 1692 August 25

Hannah Post*

Hannah Post was examined the same day as her stepsister, Sarah Bridges, and confessed that the Devil had appeared to her as a pig, a cat, and a bird, and “promised her new Cloths if She would Serve & worship him.” She also confessed that she had been baptized by the Devil at Five Mile Pond with her sisters and attended the witch meeting in Andover. Post spent the next several months in jail until her trial in January 1693 when she was found not guilty by a jury.

Document: Examination and Transcription
Date: 1692 August 25

CARRIER FAMILY

Andrew Carrier*

Andrew Carrier of Andover and his brother were accused of witchcraft after his mother, Martha Allen Carrier had been arrested for the same crime. Andrew was 16 years old at the time. He was examined on July 22, 1692 with his brother Richard, and both denied the accusations against them. According to the account of John Proctor who was imprisoned with them, Andrew and Richard were tied “neck and heels” before confessing. Andrew stated that he had signed the Devil’s book in Deacon Frye’s orchard and agreed to serve him for five years and in return the Devil would give him “a house and land in Andover.”

Document: Examination
Date: 1692 July 22
Transcription: See Bernard Rosenthal (general editor), Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009), 479-82.

Richard Carrier*

Richard Carrier of Andover was 18 years old when he was accused of witchcraft and confessed along with his brother Andrew (see above). Richard confessed first, stating that he had signed the Devil’s book and was afflicting several people using witchcraft. He also said that since his mother had been in jail, he had been visited by her spirit in the “shape of a Catt.” Carrier confessed to attending a witch meeting in Salem Village where the Devil and two of his ministers (one was Rev. George Burroughs) told them that their “ingagement was to afflict persons & to over come the the Kingdome of Christ & set up the Divels Kingdome & we ware to have happy Days.”

Document: Examination
Date: 1692 July 22
Transcription: See Bernard Rosenthal (general editor), Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009), 479-82.

Sarah Carrier*

Sarah Carrier was seven years old when she confessed that her mother, Martha Carrier, had made her a witch the previous year. Examined on August 10 and again the next day, she said her mother taught her how to use witchcraft and visited her from jail in the form of a black cat. Her two older brothers, Andrew and Richard (see above) had also confessed to witchcraft.

Document: Examination and Transcription
Date: 1692 September 2

Thomas Carrier, Jr.*

Thomas Carrier, Jr. was ten years old when he confessed similarly to his sister Sarah that his mother had “taught him Witchcraft.” Martha Carrier, the mother of Thomas, Sarah, Andrew, and Richard, was convicted of witchcraft despite protesting her innocence and executed on August 19, 1692.

Document: Examination and Transcription
Date: 1692 September 2

Rebecca Eames

Rebecca Eames, of Boxford, was arrested in August and confessed during her examination to afflicting Mary Warren and Timothy Swan. Her 28-year-old son, Daniel Eames, had been accused and examined a few days earlier. Rebecaa Eames confessed that she had signed the Devil’s book and given her son Daniel to the Devil. At her second examination on August 31, she said that she had committed adultery and that sin allowed the Devil to gain control over her, eventually making her a witch. In September, she was convicted and sentenced to death, but remained in jail and later recanted her confession. The court disbanded in October, and she was not executed.

Document: Examination (2nd) and Transcription
Date: 1692 August 31

Document: Certification of Confession
Date: 1692 September 15

FOSTER/LACEY FAMILY

Ann Foster

Ann Foster, of Andover, was accused of witchcraft and confessed on July 15. She implicated Martha Carrier in her confession, and said the Devil had promised her “prosperity” in exchange for signing his book. She admitted to bewitching a hog and several children, and described attending a witch meeting led by Rev. George Burroughs. Foster’s daughter (Mary Foster Lacey) and granddaughter (Mary Lacey, Jr.) were also accused and gave evidence against her during a later examination on July 21. In September, she was convicted and sentenced to death. The court disbanded in October, and she was not executed, but she died in jail.

Document: Examination and Transcription
Date: 1692 July 21

Mary Foster Lacey*

Mary Foster Lacey (also referred to as Mary Lacey, Sr.), daughter of Ann Foster, was accused of afflicting the Andover constable’s wife, Elizabeth Ballard. Mary Foster Lacey’s daughter, Mary Lacey, Jr., was also accused and arrested after both women were named by Elizabeth Ballard. During one of their examinations, Mary Lacey called out to Ann Foster, “Oh mother! We have left Christ and the Devil hath got hold of us.” In September, she was convicted and sentenced to death along with her mother. The court disbanded in October, and she was not executed.

Document: Examination and Transcription
Date: 1692 July 21

Document: Indictment
Date: 1692 September 14

Mary Lacey, Jr.*

Mary Lacey, Jr. was accused of witchcraft, as were her mother and grandmother. She confessed to being a witch and said that the Devil “had put such thoughts in my mind as to not obey my parents.” In her confession, she implicated Martha Carrier and her sons Richard and Andrew Carrier, as well as her own mother and grandmother. She said that Martha Carrier told her that the Devil said Martha would be a “Queen in Hell” and Rev. Burroughs would be King. Mary Lacey, Jr. was released on bond in October and later found not guilty.

Document: Examination and Transcription
Date: 1692 July 21

Sarah Good

Sarah Good was one of the first three women to be accused of witchcraft in Salem Village in February 1692, along with Tituba and Sarah Osborne. Sarah Good was the first person questioned in the meetinghouse on March 1. Prior to her trial, many people offered evidence against her. In this document, Samuel Sibley testified he was at Doctor Griggs' house when Elizabeth Hubbard told him that Good’s specter, or spirit, was standing before him naked. He claimed to have struck at her spirit with a staff to drive her off. Sarah Good’s daughter, Dorothy Good (often referred to as Dorcas), was also accused of witchcraft. The four-year-old child was examined by the magistrates and confessed, providing evidence against her mother. Pregnant while held in jail with Dorothy, Sarah Good gave birth to another daughter, Mercy, who died in jail. Sarah Good was convicted at her trial in June and executed on July 19, 1692.

Document: Testimony and Transcription
Date: 1692 June 29

Elizabeth Howe

Elizabeth Howe, of Ipswich, was arrested on charges of witchcraft and maintained her innocence. Testimonies against her revealed that her neighbors and brother-in-law had suspected her for years of causing illness and harming livestock through witchcraft. One witness alleged that Howe had been denied admission into the church in Ipswich due to her reputation. However, two ministers from the nearby church in Rowley testified on her behalf that she had not bewitched a young girl in Ipswich to death. Howe was indicted in June for afflicting two other people, Mary Wolcott and Mercy Lewis. Howe was convicted at her trial in June and executed on July 19, 1692.

Document: Indictment and Transcription
Date: 1692 June 29

JOHNSON FAMILY

Elizabeth Johnson, Jr.

Elizabeth Johnson, Jr. was 22 years old when she was accused and arrested in Andover. She confessed to signing the Devil’s book, being baptized, and attending a “mock sacrament” with the Devil, and she implicated Martha Carrier, Thomas Carrier, and Rev. George Burroughs, among others. A few weeks later, her mother, Elizabeth Johnson, Sr., 11-year-old sister Abigail Johnson, and 13-year-old brother Stephen Johnson were also arrested. Elizabeth Johnson, Jr. was tried by the new court in January 1693 and found guilty of covenanting with the Devil and practicing witchcraft, but later reprieved by Governor William Phips.

Document: Examination and Transcription
Date: 1692 August 10

Elizabeth Johnson, Sr.*

Arrested three weeks after her daughter, 51-year-old widow Elizabeth Johnson, Sr. of Andover confessed to signing the Devil’s book and attending a witch meeting. She testified that the Devil had promised her “glory & happiness & joy” if she served him for 30 years. She also implicated her sister, Abigail Faulker, but said she did not know that her children Abigail and Stephen were witches. Elizabeth Johnson was the daughter of Rev. Francis Dane, the minister in Andover.  Elizabeth Johnson was tried by the new court in January 1693, found not guilty by a grand jury, and released.

Document: Examination and Transcription
Date: 1692 August 30

Stephen Johnson*

Stephen Johnson was 13 years old when he was examined and confessed in early September 1692. He said that the Devil came to him in the shape of a speckled bird, a black cat, and a Black man and forced him to prick his finger and sign his name in blood in the Devil’s book. He also told the magistrates that he was sorry for what he had done, and wished to renounce the Devil. He was freed on recognizance along with his sister Abigail in October 1692.

Document: Examination and Transcription
Date: 1692 September 4

Mary Marston*

Mary Marston, of Andover, was accused and arrested in August 1692. She confessed that she had signed the Devil’s book, which she described as “a paper book without covers” and given her consent to allow the Devil to afflict people with her specter. Later in her examination, she revealed that she had first been enticed by the Devil three years ago, “about the time when her mother died and she was overcome with melancholy.” Mary Marston was tried by the new court in January 1693, found not guilty by a grand jury, and released.

Document: Examination and Transcription
Date: 1692 August 29

Elizabeth Proctor

Elizabeth Proctor was accused in April 1692 of afflicting people in the Parris household and several others in Salem Village with witchcraft. Her husband, John Proctor, was also accused and arrested. Mary Warren, a servant in the Proctor household, had joined the growing number of afflicted in March, and in early April, Rev. Parris’ niece Abigail WIlliams said that she saw the specters of Elizabeth and John Proctor. Both Proctors maintained their innocence throughout their examinations. In August, 20 of the Proctor’s friends and neighbors signed a petition testifying that the Proctors were not guilty and had lived Christian lives. Both Elizabeth Proctor and John Proctor were found guilty by the court and sentenced to be executed. John Proctor was executed in August 1692, but Elizabeth received a stay of execution because she was pregnant, and was later released. In 1696, she petitioned the General Court to recover her husband’s estate. The documents are testimonies given about Elizabeth Proctor by Rev. Samuel Parris (who provided evidence of her witchcraft) and William Rayment (who reported hearing some of the afflicted joking about having Proctor hanged for witchcraft).

Document: Deposition of Samuel Parris and Transcription
Date: 1692 April 11   

Document: Testimony of William Rayment and Transcription
Date: 1692 August 5

Mary Toothaker*

Mary Toothaker of Billerica was accused and arrested in May 1692, not long after her husband, Roger Toothaker, was arrested for witchcraft. At her examination in July, she confessed to covenanting with the Devil who had appeared to her like a “Tawny man” and promised to keep her “safe from the Indians” if she signed a piece of birch bark in blood. She also confessed to attending witch meetings, implicated her husband (who was known to use magical remedies), and said that he and their daughter read a book on astrology to divine the future. Roger Tookaker died in the Boston jail in June. Mary Toothaker was tried by the new court in January 1693, found not guilty by a grand jury, and released.

Document: Examination and Transcription
Date: 1692 September 30

Johanna Tyler*

Johanna Tyler of Andover was accused of witchcraft along with her sister, Martha, and their mother, Mary Tyler, in September 1692. Johanna Tyler confessed to covenanting with the Devil and said that he promised that “he would let me have fine clothes & when he baptized me if he said I should be his for Ever & Ever.” She was tried by the new court in January 1693, found not guilty by a grand jury, and released.

Document: Examination and Transcription
Date: 1692 September 16

WARDWELL/HAWKES FAMILY

Sarah Wardwell*

Sarah Wardwell of Andover was accused and arrested at the end of August 1692 along with her husband, Samuel, their daughter Mercy Wardwell, and Sarah’s daughter from her first marriage, Sarah Hawkes. Samuel Wardwell confessed first, admitting that he used to tell fortunes and that he had given himself to the Devil 20 years ago. He was tried, convicted, and executed in September 1692. Sarah Wardwell confessed to signing the Devil’s book and to being baptized by him, but said she was sorry for hurting people and “promises to renounce the Devil & all his works & Serve the true living God.” Sarah Wardwell was tried by the new court in January 1693 and found guilty but later reprieved by Governor William Phips.

Document: Examination and Transcription
Date: 1692 September 1

Mercy Wardwell*

19-year-old Mercy Wardwell confessed in September 1692 that she had covenanted with the Devil and promised to serve him for 20 years after he appeared in the “shape of a dog & told her she must be his for he was God & Christ & she should want for no thing if she would serve him.” She was tried in January 1693, found not guilty by a grand jury, and released.

Document: Examination and Transcription
Date: 1692 September 1

Sarah Hawks*

21-year-old Sarah Hawks confessed in September 1692 to covenanting with the Devil, being baptized by him at Five Mile Pond, attending a witch meeting, and practicing divination. She admitted to afflicting several people in Andover in the company of her mother, Sarah Wardwell, her stepfather, Samuel Wardwell, and her sister, Mercy Wardwell. She was tried in January 1693, found not guilty by a grand jury, and released.

Document: Examination and Transcription
Date: 1692 September 1

Sarah Wildes*

Sarah Wildes of Topsfield was accused of witchcraft and examined in April 1692. She denied the accusations against her, but had previously been suspected of witchcraft by the family of her husband’s first wife. Her husband, John WIldes, and son, Ephraim Wildes (a constable in Topsfield), both gave testimony that she was innocent, but several others offered testimony of her guilt. In this document, Nathaniel Ingersoll testified that Mary Walcott, Mercy Lewis, Abigail Williams, and Ann Putnam, Jr. said they were afflicted and tortured by the specter of Sarah Wildes. Sarah Wildes was tried and convicted, and she was executed in Salem on July 19, 1692.

Document: Testimony of Nathaniel Ingersoll and Transcription
Date: 1692 April 22

Boston, Mass. Second Church (1650-1815)

The Second Church of Boston was gathered in 1649, the second Congregational church formed by English settlers in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. This church was also historically referred to as the Old North Meeting House. Ministers at the Second Church included several members of the Mather family: Increase Mather, Cotton Mather, and Samuel Mather. In 1714, members of the church left to form the New North Church. The meetinghouse of the Second Church was destroyed by the British during the Revolutionary War, which caused the congregation to merge with the New Brick Church. In 1970, the First and Second Churches of Boston merged, and today it is a Unitarian Universalist church.

Danvers, Mass. First Church (1689-1845)

The First Church of Danvers was founded in 1672 when a group of farmers who lived quite a distance from the Salem meetinghouse, of which they were members, petitioned for permission to erect a meetinghouse of their own. This collection contains the early records of the Danvers church, including records pertaining to membership, vital statistics, and church meetings. Of particular note are records pertaining to the confession and trial of Martha Corey (alternatively spelled Kory and Cory) in regards to the witchcraft controversy in Salem.

Green, Joseph. Diary (1700-1715)

Rev. Joseph Green (1674-1715) graduated from Harvard in 1695 and was ordained in 1698. He became minister of the Salem Village church, replacing the controversial Rev. Samuel Parris who had left in 1696. Green also presided over the congregation’s votes to rescind charges of witchcraft against those accused. The collection contains a diary kept by Green between 1700 and 1715.

Marblehead, Mass. Old North Church (1684-1886)

TRANSCRIPTION AVAILABLE

The First Church of Christ of Marblehead, Massachusetts, was established on August 13, 1684, and Rev. Samuel Cheever was ordained the first minister. The first meetinghouse was built atop Old Burial Hill in 1638, and the second meetinghouse was constructed in 1695. The third, and final, meetinghouse, built of stone, was constructed in 1824. Disagreements over the appointment of ministers led to the establishment of the Second Church in 1716 and the Third Church in 1858. Now known as the Old North Church, the church continues to serve the local community. This collection contains the earliest administrative and financial record books for the church.

Mather, Cotton. Diary and Personal Documents (1716)

Rev. Cotton Mather (1663-1728), was born on February 12, 1663 in the city of Boston. He graduated from Harvard in 1678 and was ordained May 13, 1684 at the Second Church in Boston, also known as "Old North" Church, where he served with his father, Increase (1639-1723). He was a prolific author, publishing some 280 distinct items. He endorsed inoculation as a means of preventing smallpox and was involved in the Salem witchcraft trials as both a prosecutor and an advisor. This collection includes a portion of Mather's diary entries from 1716, an essay for his son, Samuel, with advice on attending college, and a listing of marriages Mather performed, dated 1717.

Mather Family. Papers (1648-1651)

TRANSCRIPTION AVAILABLE

This collection comprises papers of the Mather family, beginning with the family patriarch, Rev. Richard Mather (1596-1669), the first to emigrate from England to North America. Materials include both records created by members of the family and associated materials formerly in their keeping.

Salem, Mass. First Church (1629-1843)

The First Church of Salem, Massachusetts, founded in 1629, was one of the first churches organized in New England. Salem's church was the first truly Congregational parish with governance by church members. The population of Salem grew rapidly during the eighteenth century, resulting in the peaceful division of the First Church's congregation to form the East Church in 1719. After Rev. Samuel Fisk was ousted from his ministerial role, Fisk led his supporters to form another First Church in 1735, which was compelled to change its name to the Third Church in 1762. The original First Church split again over ministerial preference in 1772, leading to the creation of the North Church of Salem. The First Church and North Church reunited in 1923, and the East Church reunited with the First Church in 1956. The reunited church continues to serve their community today as the First Church in Salem, Unitarian Universalist. This collection contains the earliest administrative records of the church, church correspondence, pew sale records, and a copy of the 1780 church covenant.

Topsfield, Mass. Congregational Church (1684-1869)

The Congregational Church in Topsfield, Massachusetts, was founded in 1663 under the ministry of the Rev. Thomas Gilbert. The earliest extant records of the church were kept by the Rev. Joseph Capen beginning in 1684. Congregants constructed a meetinghouse on Topsfield Common in 1703. New meetinghouses were constructed in 1759 and 1842. The church continues to serve their community today as the Congregational Church of Topsfield, a member of the United Church of Christ. The collection contains two bound volumes of church records. These include meeting minutes, membership records, and lists of baptisms, marriages, and deaths.

Turell, Ebenezer. Account of a Witchcraft Case (1728)

TRANSCRIPTION AVAILABLE

Rev. Ebenezer Turell (1701-1778) graduated from Harvard in 1721 and was subsequently ordained as the minister of the First Parish in Medford, Massachusetts, in 1724. He remained in Medford until his death. This collection contains Turell’s handwritten account and commentary on a witchcraft case at Littleton in 1720.