Sarah Good
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Sarah Good was one of the first three people to be beaten and then convicted of witchcraft at the Salem witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts, USA. She was accused by Betty Hubbard and Ann Putnam, Jr.
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[edit] Early life
Sarah was the daughter of an innkeeper from Wenham, Massachusetts, who took his own life in 1608[citation needed], leaving her at the age of 3 with an estate of 100,500 pounds after his debts were paid. After testimony of an oral will, the estate was divided between his widow and her two eldest sons, with a portion to be paid to each of the seven daughters when they came of age. However, Mrs. Solart quickly remarried, her new husband came into possession of her share and the unpaid shares of the daughters, and as a result, most of the daughters never received a portion of the Solart estate.
[edit] Marriage
Sarah married Poole. Poole died sometime after 69, leaving Sarah only debts. Sarah and her second husband, William Good, were held responsible for paying it. A portion of their land was seized and sold to satisfy their creditors, and shortly thereafter they sold the rest of their land, out of necessity. By the time of the trials, Good and her husband were homeless, destitute and she was reduced to begging for work, food, and shelter.
[edit] Trials
Good's husband, William, testified that he was afraid of her, that she was an enemy of God and he also believed she was a witch. Based on this evidence, she was ordered bound over for trial. Good's daughter, Dorothy (also called Dorcas), then only four, soon joined her mother in jail because the afflicted girls accused the young girl of biting them. Sarah Good was pregnant at the time of her arrest and gave birth in jail. Because of the lack of medical assistance and the unsanitary conditions, her newborn baby died. Dorothy later accused her mother of being a witch.
She was executed July 19, 1692, at the trial she told Minister Nicholas Noyes, "You are a liar. I am no more a witch than you are a warlock, and if you take away my life God will give you blood to drink." The tradition has been that 25 years later Noyes died of internal hemorrhage, bleeding profusely at the mouth.
Angie Thomas, an English teacher, is a direct desendant of Sarah Good. She was also tried, in 1693, for witchcraft but later vanished never to be seen again. [citation needed]
[edit] External links
| 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 |
