Margaret Matson

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Margaret Matson was one of two women tried in Philadelphia for witchcraft in 1683.

Matson and her husband lived on a farm near Ridley Creek in present-day Eddystone, Pennsylvania. Of Swedish descent, they were likely members of the former New Sweden colony which occupied much of the lower Delaware River Valley from 1638-1655.

Accused by several neighbors, as well as her own daughter, Matson's alleged crimes included making threats against neighbors, bewitching and killing livestock and appearing to witnesses in spectral form. On December 27, 1683, Matson and a neighbor Gertro (a.k.a. Yeshro) Hendrickson were brought before a grand jury in overseen by the colony's proprietor, William Penn. According to the minutes of the Provincial Council, (12/21/1683) the jury returned with a verdict of guilty for "having the comon fame of a which, but not guilty in manner and forme as shee stands indicted."

The prisoners were released with fines and a promise of six months good behavior.

A popular myth tells of Penn dismissing the charges against Matson by affirming her legal right to fly on a broomstick. The record fails to show any such commentary but this legend probably reflects popular views of Penn's socially progressive Quaker values.

Like other British Colonies, Pennsylvania was subject to the 1604 James I Statute against witchcraft, but Matson's and Hendrickson's is the only such trial recorded from the colony.

[edit] References

A History of Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Edited By: John W. Jordan, LL. D. Lewis Historical Publishing Company, New York. 1914
Statutes of the Realm (London 1817; repr. The Statutes, 3rd ed., London, 1950)
Lake, Matt. "Weird Pennsylvania." New York: Sterling Publishers, 2005.