Andover Bewitched: Where to find information
Witch Trial Resources
Hello! Andover Bewitched author Toni Armstrong is taking a week off from History Buzz, so we decided to share this wonderful compilation of Witch Trial Resources assembled by former History Center staff member Kenna Therrien.
Witch Trials Resources
Books
Good overview of the trials
A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience, by Emerson W. Baker (Note: If you’re going to read just one, this is the one.)
The Witches: Salem, 1692, by Stacy Schiff
Some notable books that look for a cause
In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692, by Mary Beth Norton
(stress from Native raids, crop failures, etc.)The Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England, by Carol F. Carlson (misogyny)
Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft, by Paul Boyer and Stephen Nissenbaum (land and church disputes)
An interesting collective biography
Six Woman of Salem: The Untold Story of the Accused and Their Accusers in the Salem Witch Trials, by Marilynne Roach
Andover’s role in the trials, with genealogies
In the Shadow of Salem: The Andover Witch Hunt of 1692, by Richard Hite
Map of Andover 1692
Plan of Andover in the Province of Massachusetts Bay Essex County 1692, based on research by the Historical Societies of Andover and North Andover, 1995
Our Sinne of Ignorance, Andover in 1692, Shawn Lynch, Andover Historical Society and North Andover Historical Society, 1995, a companion to the 1692 map
Copies of both are for sale through the History Center, email info@andoverhistoryandculture.org
Websites
Primary sources
A Guide to the Primary Sources of the Salem Witchcraft Trials (Margo Burns), 17thc.us/primarysources/records.php
Transcription of court documents, historic maps, digitized contemporary accounts from Cotton Mather et al.
Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive and Transcription Project (University of Virginia), salem.lib.virginia.edu
Online tour of sites associated with the trials, with addresses for a self-guided car tour
Witch Trials Online Sites Tour (Salem Witch Museum), salemwitchmuseum.com/witch-trials-online-tour
A compendium, featuring a blog about the trials and related events
Witches of Massachusetts Bay, witchesmassbay.com/blog
Places to Visit
The main sites for a quick car tour
Site of the hangings
Proctor’s Ledge Memorial at Gallows Hill (7 Pope Street, Salem; park at Gallows Hill Park), salemwitchmuseum.com/locations/proctors-ledge-memorial
Memorial parks
Witch Trials Memorial (24 Liberty Street, Salem) (Note: If you can only see one, this is the one.)
Witchcraft Victims Memorial (172 Hobart Street, Danvers)
“Ground Zero”—where the trouble started
Salem Village Parsonage (67A Centre Street, Danvers) ~ An archaeological site behind a house, featuring a cellar hole. There is a little cart path leading to the site, and some explanatory signage.
Museums and Libraries
Good overview of the trials
Salem Witch Museum (19 ½ North Washington Square, Salem [on the Common]), salemwitchmuseum.com
For scholarly research in person
The Phillips Library of the Peabody Essex Museum (306 Newburyport Turnpike, Rowley) ~ Some of the original court documents and a few artifacts. Open by arrangement to scholars only. pem.org/visit/library
The Cornell University Witchcraft Collection (Ithaca, NY)
Primary sources for the history of the Inquisition and witchcraft trials, mostly European.
Good background information. A few documents have been digitized to read online, rmc.library.cornell.edu/witchcraftcoll
Make a Day of It in Salem
Witch trials
Salem Witch Museum (19 ½ North Washington Square [on the Common]), salemwitchmuseum.org
Witch Trials Memorial (24 Liberty Street)
Proctor’s Ledge Memorial at Gallows Hill (7 Pope Street)
Site of the hangings. Park at Gallows Hill Park.
Jonathan Corwin House a/k/a The Witch House (310 ½ Essex Street) ~ Historic house museum. Home of one of the witch trials judges, thewitchhouse.org
Old Burying Point (Charter Street, adjacent to Witch Trials Memorial)
Oldest cemetery in Salem, dating to 1637. Witch trials judge John Hathorne is buried here, salem.org/listing/charter-street-cemetery
While you’re in Salem
John Ward House (161 Essex Street) ~ Historic house museum. A post-medieval house typical of homes of the era of the witch trials. Owned by the Peabody Essex, Museum. pem.org/explore-art/architecture/john-ward-house; pem.org/blog/peeling-back-the-layers
Gedney House (21 High Street) ~ Historic house museum. A post-medieval house typical of homes of the era of the witch trials. Owned by Historic New England. historicnewengland.org/property/gedney-house
Peabody Essex Museum (161 Essex Street, East India Square) ~ Premier museum for Asian, Oceanic, and American art. See especially “Salem Stories,” an ongoing exhibit. pem.org; pem.org/exhibitions/salem-stories
The House of the Seven Gables (115 Derby Street) ~ Historic house museum. Made famous by Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel of the same name. Also on the site is Hawthorne’s birthplace. 7gables.org; 7gables.org/history/nathaniel-hawthorne-birthplace
Phillips House (34 Chestnut Street) ~ Historic house museum. 1821 Federal-style mansion, owned by Historic New England. historicnewengland.org/property/phillips-house
Salem Heritage Trail (begin at the National Park Service visitor center at 2 New Liberty Street) ~ A self-guided walking tour. Follow the red line painted on the sidewalks, like Boston’s Freedom Trail. salem.org/heritage-trail
Salem Maritime National Historic Site (160 Derby Street) ~ Interprets New England’s maritime history. Berthed there is a full-scale replica of the Friendship of Salem, an 18th century East Indiaman merchant ship. nps.gov/sama
Thank you, Kenna, for assembling these resources and thank you, Toni, for your work with History Buzz and Andover Bewitched! Toni will be back in a few weeks with another installation.
~Elaine
The top authors you listed openly say they have used Salem Witch Trials: A Day-by-day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege as one of their sources, by Marilynne Roach "Based on twenty-seven years of original archival research, including the discovery of previously unknown documents, this day-by-day narrative of the hysteria that swept through Salem Village in 1692 and 1693 reveals new connections behind the events, and shows how rapidly a community can descend into bloodthirsty madness. Roach opens her work with chapters on the history of the Puritan colonies of New England, and explains how these people regarded the metaphysical and the supernatural. The account of the days from January 1692 to March 1693 keeps in order the large cast of characters, places events in their correct contexts, and occasionally contradicts earlier assumptions about the gruesome events. The last chapter discusses the remarkable impact of the events, pointing out how the 300th anniversary of the trials made headlines in Japan and Australia". "Marilynne K. Roach's The Salem Witch Trials is representative of this ongoing interest: her "day-by-day chronicle" will find a place on the shelves of researchers and history buffs for whom the fascination of Salem never palls." -- Thomas S. Kidd, Baylor University ― Books and Culture
4 1/2 stars out of 278 ratings
Other positive reviews from Richard B. Trask, Danvers, Massachusetts Town Archivist, William T. La Moy, Editor ― Peabody Essex Museum Collections, Benjamin C. Ray, Director, Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive, Frances Hill, Author of A Delusion of Satan and editor of The Salem Witch Trials Reader, Alison D'Amario, director of education, Salem Witch Museum, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and more.
Thank you. I read Emerson Baker's book and heartily second the recommendation. I also read Mary Beth Norton's, which is good but *intense*.
Perhaps a very silly question, but: the "Plan of Andover in the Province of Massachusetts Bay Essex County 1692" map is present-day downtown North Andover, centered on the North Andover Town Common, right?