Emerson W. Baker

Witches of Islandmagee This site is dedicated to uncovering the importance of the witch trial that took place in 1710–1711 in Islandmagee, Ireland.

A couple of weeks ago I was at Salem State Univ. where @emersonwbaker.bsky.social introduced the team behind the Witches of Islandmagee project. They posted original witch trial documents, plus created a graphic novel, a video game, & VR for the 1711 cases. Take a look!
w1711.org

Yes, we know today that the crisis was starting to end, but at the time there were still over 100 people in prison for the capital crime of witchcraft, and everyone tried so far had been convicted. Indeed, two more would die in jail before the last victim was found not guilty and freed in May 1693.

#OTD October 26, 1692 the Massachusetts legislature defeats a bill calling for a fast day and a convocation of minsters to resolve the witchcraft crisis.

#OTD October 21, 1687 In a mockery of a fair trial, amid cries of "no taxation without representation," all twelve defendants in the Essex County, Massachusett Tax revolt are found guilty.

#OTD October 19, 1692 women in Salem jail tell Increase Mather their witchcraft confessions were false & coerced.

250 years ago #OTD Oct. 18, 1775, Capt. Henry Mowatt attacked & burned Falmouth (present-day Portland) Maine to the ground. Admiral Graves ordered the attack in response to Patriots seizing British supply ships. It was cited as a grievance against the British Crown in the Declaration of Independence

“To Drive a Great Trade for Bilbao” Rediscovering New England’s Iberian Ties, 1640s-c.1830 A Symposium hosted by the Salem State University History Department in partnership with the Marblehead Museum Saturday 8 November 8, 1:30-5:30pm Petrowski Conference Room, Marsh Hall, Salem State University, Harrington Campus

Looking forward to speaking at this symposium on the history and legacies of New England’s once-massive codfish trade with the peoples of the Iberian Peninsula on Saturday Nov. 8 at Salem State University. Free, but registration is required.
In person: bit.ly/3L2v6H and online: bit.ly/47gkNIu

Coming this evening at 7pm Eastern Time.

Save the Date! Details coming soon.

#OTD October 13, 1692 Massachusetts passed a law prohibiting the property forfeitures that had occurred in the Salem witch trials.

I hope everyone is enjoying the long holiday weekend. It is beautiful here in Maine, where the peak fall foliage makes for a rather festive atmosphere.

#OTD October 11, 1696, Samuel Parris made his last entry in the Salem Village church book. salem.lib.virginia.edu/danvers/Chur...

#OTD October 11, 1691, in Salem Village, continuing on the theme of the suffering Jesus, resurrection and ascension into Heaven, Rev. Samuel Parris noted that “Christ ascended with the sound of a trumpet….Christ ascended in triumph.”

#OTD October 9, 1692 some Massachusetts ministers read parts of Increase Mather's new Cases of Conscience from their pulpits.

Thrilled to have Salem State University hosting this talk! Particularly looking forward to @drandrewsneddon.bsky.social and his colleagues taking us through a ‘making of’ and curated walkthrough of the cutting-edge PC video game they created as a part of this amazing project.

#OTD Oct 8 1692 Thomas Brattle writes his letter to "Reverend Sir" severely criticizing the #Salem #witch trials. tinyurl.com/4kwryhkp

I'll be giving a rare talk on my book, The Devil of Great Island: Witchcraft and Conflict in Early New England, Tuesday, Oct. 14, at 7:00 PM (eastern) in New Castle, New Hampshire (the setting of the book). Also available online at: tinyurl.com/mtd7jh3v

#OCT October 7, 1691 a new charter was issued for Massachusetts Bay. The charter gave unprecedented privileges for a royal colony, confirmed ownership of Maine, and incorporated Plymouth Colony into an expanded Massachusetts Bay Colony. The new charter would finally arrive in Boston in May 1692.

#OTD October 6, 1690 adverse weather continued, but Sir William Phips's invasion fleet finally reached Quebec. But they had lost the element of surprise, and Governor Frontenac and his forces held a strong position inside the walls of Quebec.

#OTD October 6, 1688, Sir William Phips's patron, Christopher Monck, 2nd Duke of Albemarle, died in Jamaica, after a serious illness precipitated by over-enthusiastic celebration of the birth of the Prince of Wales. Anonymous portrait of Albemarle courtesy of Trinity College, Cambridge University.

#OTD Oct. 4, 1692, Iin Lynn the Wellmans cannot milk their cow who is "taken with such fits." She will return to her gentle nature when Sarah Cole is taken to jail.

#OTD September 30, 1692 John Cole won't spend the night in his haunted Lynn home. He fears his children are "afflicted with witchcraft."

#OTD September 27, 1692 the Ipswich court fines John Shepard £5 for helping his sister-in-law, accused witch Mary Green escape from prison.

#OTD September 26, 1692 with Samuel Wardwell executed & his wife in jail, Andover selectmen ask the court what to do with their 4 children.

#OTD September 25, 1690, in Boston, Publick Occurrences Both Forreign and Domestick, the first newspaper in British North America published its first & last edition as the Massachusetts government immediately shuts it down. It would be 14 years before the next newspaper appeared in the colonies.

I think the problem was that by September 1692 , a majority of people in Salem realized something was seriously wrong with the trials, and that innocent lives were being lost. But in an atmosphere where anyone could be accused with potentially lethal consequences, it was very hard to speak up.

#otd September 22 1692, eight people hang at Proctor's Ledge on Gallows Hill in what will be the last of the Salem witch trial executions. In memory of:
Martha Corey
Mary Easty
Mary Parker
Alice Parker
Ann Pudeator
Wilmot Redd
Margaret Scott
Samuel Wardwell

I will be in a discussion on "Resistance: Stopping Witch Hunts" for the Partnership for Historic Bostons tomorrow, Monday, Sept. 22, at 7pm Eastern time. Sign up here for this free Zoom program: tinyurl.com/4vxwn6ht (photo of the Proctor's Ledge Memorial in Salem).

#OTD September 21, 1692, in Salem Dorcas Hoar receives a month's stay of execution for witchcraft "to prepare for death & eternity."

#OTD September 20, 1692, Cotton Mather writes to Salem witch trials court clerk Stephen Sewall for transcripts so he can write his account of the witch trials, Wonders of the Invisible World.