Sarah Good

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Sarah Good (July 11, 1653 - July 19, 1692) was one of the first three people to be accused and convicted of witchcraft during the Salem witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts. She was accused of afflicting Betty Hubbard, Ann Putnam, Jr., Betty Parris, Mercy Lewis, and Abigail Williams. She was hanged on July 19, 1692.

[edit] Early life

Sarah Good was born July 14,1653 to John Solart, a wealthy innkeeper from Wenham, Massachusetts, and his wife, Elizabeth. A large family by modern standards, she had six sisters (Abigail, Bethia, Elizabeth, Hannah, Martha, and Mary) and two brothers (John, Jr., and Joseph). In 1672, her father committed suicide by drowning, leaving an estate worth 500 pounds after debt.

[edit] Inheritance

After her great father's death, there was some dispute over the inheritance. The widowed Elizabeth Solart and two eyewitnesses testified as to the contents of his oral will. It was agreed that, for the duration of her widowhood, the whole estate was given to Mrs. John Solart for her use and the bringing up of the children. If she married, she would receive a third (165 pounds), and the remainder would be split between the children. However, according to Mrs. Solart's testimony, her eldest son, John, Jr., would receive a double-portion (98 pounds). Two of the daughters had already come of age and received their share, and so 42 pounds were apportioned to each of the remaining six children.

Soon after, Mrs. Solart married Ezekiel Woodward; however, after her death, Woodward refused to be bound to any agreement regarding the money owed to her children. In 1682, a petition was put forth by the children of John Solart, who had by then all come of age, asking for the administration of their father's lands and estate. It was also stated that Sarah, though having come of age several years before, had still not received her portion.

[edit] Marriage

Sarah Good was first married to Daniel Poole of Salem, a former indentured servant with very little money. Poole died in 1683, leaving behind a considerable amount of debt. Good then married her second husband, William Good. William and Sarah were forced to deal with the debt, and when they failed to pay Good's creditors, they were thrown into poverty. William was sent to jail and they were forced to hand over a portion of their property to the creditors. William and Sarah later sold the remainder of their land in an effort to settle the remainder of their debts. Good was now homeless and forced to seek shelter from her neighbours, continually moving from house to house with her young daughter, Dorcas.

[edit] Trial

Sarah Good was one of the first to be accused of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692. Good was described by the people of Salem as being filthy, bad-tempered, and strangely detached from the rest of the village. She was often associated with the death of residents' livestock and would wander door to door, asking for charity. If the resident refused, Good would walk away muttering under her breath. Although she maintained at the trial that she was only saying the Ten Commandments, those who turned her away would later claim she was chanting curses in revenge. Also of note is that when asked to say the Commandments at her trial, she could not recite a single one. ^[1]

Sarah Good was accused of witchcraft on February 25, 1692, when Abigail Williams, Elizabeth Hubbard, and Ann Putnam, Jr. claimed to be bewitched under her hand. The young girls appeared to have been bitten, pinched, and otherwise tormented. They would have fits in which their bodies would appear to involuntarily convulse, their eyes rolling into the back of their heads and their mouths hanging open. When Reverend Samuel Parris asked “Who torments you?” the girls eventually shouted out the names of three townspeople: Tituba, Sarah Osborne, and Sarah Good (Hill, 1995).

On March 1, 1692, Good was tried for witchcraft. When she was brought in, the accusers immediately began to rock back and forth and moan, seemingly in response to Good’s presence. Later on in the trial, one of the accusers fell into a fit. When it had stopped, she claimed Good had attacked her with a knife; she even produced a portion of it, stating the weapon had been broken during the alleged assault. However, upon hearing this statement, a young townsman stood and told the court the piece had broken off his own knife the day before, and that the girl had witnessed it. He then revealed the other half, proving his story. After hearing this, the judge simply scolded the girl for exaggerating what he believed to be the truth.

Others who testified in Good’s trial claimed to have seen her flying through the sky on a stick, presumably to get to her “witch meetings.” Even her husband testified against her, stating he had seen the Devil’s mark on her body, right below her shoulder. He also told the court he had reason to believe she was either presently a witch, or would soon become one. Dorcas was later forced to testify against her, saying that she was a witch and she had seen her mother consorting with the devil.

Although both Good and Sarah Osborne denied these allegations, Tituba admitted to being the “Devil’s servant.” She stated that a tall man dressed all in black came to them, demanding they sign their names in a great book. Although initially refusing, Tituba said, she eventually wrote her name, after Good and Osborne forced her to. She also said that Good had ordered her cat to attack Elizabeth Hubbard, causing the scratches and bite marks on the girl’s body. She spoke of seeing Good with black and yellow birds surrounding her, and that Good had also sent these animals to harm the girls. When the girls began to have another fit, Tituba claimed she could see a yellow bird in Good’s right hand. The young accusers agreed.

When Good was allowed the chance to defend herself in front of the 12 jurors in the Salem Village meeting house, she argued her innocence, proclaiming Tituba and Osborne as the real witches. In the end, however, Sarah Good was convicted of witchcraft and sentenced to death. Good was pregnant with a second child at the time of her trial. She gave birth while awaiting her execution; the infant died shortly thereafter in the Ipswich Jail. Dorcas was later accused of witchcraft herself. Mary Walcott and Ann Putnam Jr. claimed she was deranged, and repeatedly bit them as if she were an animal. Dorcas received a brief hearing in which the accusers repeatedly complained of bites on their arms. She was then convicted and sent to jail, becoming at age five the youngest person to be jailed during the Salem Witch Trials. Two days later, she was visited by Salem officials. She claimed she owned a snake—given to her by her mother—that would talk to her and suck the blood from her finger. The officials took this to mean it was her “familiar,” which is defined as a witch’s spiritual servant. Dorcas was released from jail several months later, and evidently suffered from psychological issues for the remainder of her life.

On July 19, 1692, Sarah Good was hanged along with four other women convicted of witchcraft. While the other four quietly awaited their ill-fortuned death, Good firmly proclaimed her innocence. Reverend Nicholas Noyes was persistent in his attempts to force Good to confess but was unsuccessful. With a noose around her neck on Gallows Hill, Good declared: “You are a liar. I am no more a witch than you are a wizard, and if you take away my life God will give you blood to drink" (Chadwick, 1969). Coincidentally, Noyes experienced a severe brain hemorrhage 25 years later, choking on his own blood as he died.

[edit] References

[edit] Bibliography

• Hansen, Chadwick. (1969). Witchcraft at Salem. New York, NY: George Braziller.
• Hill, Frances. (1995). A Delusion of Satan: The Full Story of the Salem Witch Trials. New York, NY: Doubleday.

[edit] External links

• http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/SAL_BGOO.HTM
• http://www.iath.virginia.edu/salem/people/good.html
• http://www.mayflowerfamilies.com/Salem%20Witches/sarah_good.htm