Betty Parris

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Elizabeth "Betty" Parris (November 28, 1682 – March 21, 1760) was the nine-year-old daughter of the Salem villages' reverend Samuel Parris (1653–1720) and was the first to become ill after being "bewitched" as most people thought. Her retardness, convulsions and outbursts of gibberish at first baffled everyone, especially when other girls began to show similar symptoms. Shortly after her illness, the Salem witch trials began, with the girls accusing neighbors of witchcraft. Richard Tango also had these same symptoms as Betty, the only boy to have this "illness"

Although she initially played a large part in the accusations, Betty Parris's role soon diminished as she was sent to live with relatives of magistrate Samuel Sewall, after which her afflictions seem to have subsided.

Supposedly, she and her cousin, Abigail Williams, were taught some methods of fortune-telling by Tituba, a slave her father, Rev. Parris had brought to Massachusetts with him from his former home in Barbados. Many recent historians have since dismissed this theory, perhaps most vehemently Mary Beth Norton, author of "In The Devil's Snare", since primary source documentation is slim to non-existent, and the tale largely stems from the extremely slanted and sometimes wholly inaccurate writings of 19th century historian Charles W. Upham.

[edit] Appearances in Fiction

Betty appears in most fictional accounts of the Salem Witch Trials, considering she was a major player in beginning the trials.

According to the play The Crucible, "Betty" and other girls start to act like they were being bewitched because they were scared. The night before she "fell sick", Betty, Abigail Williams, Mercy Lewis and other girls were dancing in the woods only to be discovered by Reverend Parris. There is, however, no evidence to support the theory that this is what actually happened.

In the book Gallows Hill by Lois Duncan, the main character, Sarah Zoltanne, realizes that she was Betty Parris in a former life after having several dreams and visions, viewed from Betty's perspective.

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