They Hung Grandma Margaret in Salem.

Chasing Ancestors led me to discover that nothing has changed since 1692.

Hi Guys! I’m back from vacation! 👋👋

(Shout out to our new subscribers… THANKS for being here!)

During a very fast trip to New England, I searched out this story on an ancestor, met up with Matt in Maine, a subscriber to this newsletter (Hi Matt!), had the best lobster roll and clam chowder, and got stuck in traffic that turned a 6 hour drive into NINE! UGH. It’s good to be home… wherever that is for me. 🤷🏼‍♀️

I took SO MANY pictures that need my attention, but first…

Illustration of execution in the Salem Witch Trials.

I have never believed in witches.

But after reading what happened to my 9th great grandmother, I realize that nothing has changed in our primitive nature. Today, we still treat poor people like shit and allow religion to control our thinking.

Margaret was born in England in 1615. After coming to America, she married Benjamin Scott in 1642. Let me pull quotes from the History of American Women to provide details to her story. (Link here.)

Initially the Scotts lived in Braintree, Massachusetts, but later moved to Cambridge where they had four children between 1644 and 1650. The Scott family arrived in Rowley (a small town north of Salem) in 1651, where Margaret gave birth to three additional children.

(I went to Rowley, Mass and paid a visit to the library. They had a history room where I did some reading… and the librarian was absolutely wonderful… with her Massachusetts accent to match!)

The Scotts lacked the money to purchase their own land, and in 1664 the town donated land to Benjamin Scott. In March of 1665, Benjamin Scott was convicted of the crime of theft, for which he was “fined and admonished.” However, six months later he took the Freeman’s Oath, indicating he was both a householder and a church member.

Benjamin Scott died in 1671 leaving an estate worth only 67 pounds and 17 shillings, not much by the standards of that time. Margaret had to live on that estate for the next twenty-one years, and by the time of the Salem trials must have been very poor.

Out of Margaret’s seven children, only three made it to adulthood. Only one of her three children born in Rowley lived to adulthood. The residents of Rowley would have been well aware of her high infant mortality rate.

… certain aspects of her character made her a very likely candidate as a witch suspect. One such aspect was the high infant mortality rate among her children. Women in New England who had trouble raising children were very vulnerable to witchcraft charges.

(Her son, Henry, lived on to be my 8th great grandfather. Thank goodness!)

Another factor that made her vulnerable to accusations was her status as a widow for twenty-one years. Being a widow did not in itself expose a woman to suspicion, but Scott suffered from the economic and social effects of being a widow for a prolonged period. The most dangerous aspect of being a widow was the lack of a husband for legal support and influence.

(Ah, the patriarchy strikes again.)

Margaret Scott was formally accused of witchcraft by Rowley’s most distinguished citizens – the Wicoms and the Nelsons. Formal charges were filed after the daughter of Captain Daniel Wicom became afflicted by witchcraft. The Nelsons helped produce witnesses, and one of the Nelsons sat on the grand jury that indicted her.

(Wealthy people attacking the poor… sounds familiar.)

Margaret was dirt poor, reduced to begging for corn and firewood. She was found guilty of witchcraft on September 17, 1692 and was in the last group of 7 others to be hung in Salem, Massachusetts on Sept. 22, 1692. When they were dead, Reverend Nicholas Noyes was quoted: “What a sad thing it is to see eight firebrands of hell hanging there.”

Salem uses the historic Witch Trials to attract and tantalize tourists. There is every kind of souvenir from shot glasses to kitchen towels, themed restaurants with menus and drinks, tarot card and psychic readers, crystals and beads… you name it. Some tourists walk around dressed all in black, with the hats, the green and purple hair, the stockings and shoes. 🤦‍♀️

The Salem Witch Museum does a cheesy presentation to set the scene of this event, in a theater of captive tourists, complete with mannequins in costume, and an announcer describing every scene.

A scene from the Salem Witch Museum presentation. 🙄

They did have a small section of exhibits, more polished and genuine.

Anticipating a visit from descendants, the book section sold packets specific to your relative. So I tossed $10 down for this which had a fair bit of information.

There is a memorial garden for the victims, where Elie Wiesel spoke at the dedication in 1992. It’s very nice. Margaret has her own bench here, where someone decided to leave a sea shell and… a carrot? 🤔

Margaret was the only person from Rowley to be executed. The town dedicated a small green space to their sadly famous former resident, where an engraved rock remembers her. Where her final remains are is a mystery.

“Margaret Stephenson Scott, hanged at Salem, 22 September 1692 Rowley victim of The Witchcraft Delusion. This green dedicated Sept. 1991”

Finding out there was a “witch” in the family tree was a surprise. (I told my daughter that it explains a lot!) But seriously, Margaret lived in a very tough era where just surviving was a full time job. She must have been devastated by losing her infant children, then losing her husband, and subsequently living in poverty. Then comes the ultimate insult, accusations of witchcraft, which she denied till the day she died.

The Salem Witch Trials serve as another example of America’s heinous treatment of the poor, the power of religious superstition and extremism, the mass hysteria religion can gin up, and the dangers of intolerance. (The Puritan religion in colonial America reminds me of today’s MAGA movement, considering their extremism, superstitious beliefs, and hateful attitudes.)

The Smithsonian Magazine has a wonderful summary of this entire event. Link is here!

It’s another embarrassing stain in our history and my family was a victim of it… yet the behavior continues today. Given what we’re witnessing in our current era, the MAGA movement and Republican party seem determined to keep inequality and intolerance alive.

Will we ever learn? 😔

Thanks for being here.

I’m grateful for my digital family and all the new friends I’ve met! 💙💙