Bridget Bishop
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Bridget Bishop was the first person executed for witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts, during the Salem witchcraft trials of 1692.
Reputedly outspoken, flashy in her costume (by Puritan standards) and often unruly in her behavior, Bishop was an obvious choice to be the first person actually hanged, as her death would cause the least amount of dismay among the public. Bishop was close to 60 years old at the time of her death.
Bishop was married three times in her life. Her first husband was George Wasselbe, who died at a young age. She then married Thomas Oliver, a prominent businessman with whom she had one daughter, Christian. She was accused of bewitching Thomas Oliver to death but was acquitted for lack of evidence. Her last marriage was to Edward Bishop, a sawyer whose family ran a prosperous tavern in Beverly. He signed against her, but his own son and daughter-in-law were also taken to jail on charges of witchcraft only days before Bridget's arrest.
She denied all charges of witchcraft during the trials, saying, "I know not what a witch is."
[edit] Further reading
- Wilson, Jennifer M. (2005). Witch. www.jennifermwilson.com: Authorhouse. ISBN 1-4208-2109-1.
- Boyer, Paul S., Stephen Nissenbaum (1976). Salem Possessed; The Social Origins of Witchcraft. Boston: Harvard University Press.
- Hill, Francis (2000). The Salem Witch Trials Reader. Da Capo Press.
- Karlsen, Carol F. (1998). The Devil in the Shape of a Woman.
- Rosenthal, Bernard (1993). Salem Story: reading the witch trials of 1692. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Upham, Charles (1980). Salem Witchcraft: Volume II. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co..
| Salem witch trials | |
|---|---|
| Authorities | Thomas Danforth | John Hale | Increase Mather | Samuel Parris | William Phips | William Stoughton |
| Accusers | Elizabeth Hubbard | Mercy Lewis | Betty Parris | Ann Putnam, Jr. | Susannah Sheldon | Mary Walcott | Abigail Williams |
| Accused | John Alden | Edward Bishop | Sarah Bishop | Mary Black | Mary Bradbury | Sarah Cloyce | Rebecca Eames | Mary English | Phillip English | Abigail Faulkner | Dorcas Good | William Hobbs | Mary Lacy | Sarah Morey | Benjamin Proctor | Elizabeth Proctor | Sarah Proctor | William Proctor |
| Confessed and Accused Others | Dorcas Hoar | Abigail Hobbs | Deliverance Hobbs | Margaret Jacobs | Tituba | Mary Warren |
| Executed | Bridget Bishop | George Burroughs | Martha Carrier | Martha Corey | Mary Eastey | Sarah Good | Elizabeth Howe | George Jacobs, Sr. | Susannah Martin | Rebecca Nurse | Alice Parker | Mary Parker | John Proctor | Ann Pudeator | Wilmot Redd | Margaret Scott | Samuel Wardwell | Sarah Wildes | John Willard |
| Died in Prison | Lydia Dustin | Ann Foster | Sarah Osborn | Roger Toothaker |
|
Died During Interrogation |
Giles Corey |
