Sarah Good

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sarah Good was one of the first three people to be accused and then convicted of witchcraft at the Salem witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts, USA. She was accused by Betty Hubbard and Ann Putnam, Jr.

Contents

[edit] Early life

Sarah was the daughter of an innkeeper from Wenham, Massachusetts, who took his own life in 1673, leaving her at the age of 17 with an estate of 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 Daniel 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] Trial

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 six, 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.

[edit] External links