Half-Hanged Mary | Morbid | Podcast | Forensic Files

hey weirdos I'm Ash and I'm Elena and this is [Music] morbid it's more it's like kind of morbid in the morning
but not like the morning morning like late morning yeah I would say yeah you know it's like 10:30 yeah you know we're
in the middle of um we're in the middle of a heat wave but it's but it's Fallen my heart oh it's fall everywhere except
outside yep um we started decorating for Halloween yesterday I started and finished the other day I had Hocus Pocus
the Corpse Bride and what was the other movie that I had on in the background Halloween Town no I didn't do Halloween
town yet Practical Magic okay oh no I'll do Halloween Town I just haven't yet we
did Hocus Pocus in Halloween toown while we were decorating yesterday and we are
still not done decorating cuz let me tell you decorating with three kids and two
dogs means that you don't decorate in one day yeah no Dre was out of the house so I got to do it like all by myself and
it was I haven't done that in like a long time like yeah yeah it was great yeah you know it was lovely I hope
you're all decorated for Halloween everybody because it's Halloween it's spooky season let's go weirdos we're
here I'm ready for haunted houses I have been waiting for this all summer [ __ ]
summer if you love summer that's fine for you I [ __ ] hate it every and the fact that we're in a heat wave right now
when it is September and we're supposed to be in Fall yeah I'm not enjoying that
at all in fact like does that are we just done after that like does anybody know nobody knows we can't see that far
out I feel like we can okay next Wednesday according to my weather is going to be 69 see that's what I'm
looking bring me to the 60s as soon as I as soon as we're cuz even 70 I'm like even 70 can kind of go [ __ ] itself 70
can definitely go [ __ ] itself because the sun is still hot when it's 70 and then you get like that nice like fall
Breeze that starts to come in but if you find yourself in the wrong place outside
and the Sun is on you you're just like [ __ ] that's not fallish yeah why am I wearing this junky sweater exactly
exactly but let's hope you know everybody put their Collective brain Powers together to make fall appear for
us please wiggle your spirit fingers I'm requesting this of you my God tomorrow's
going to be or Thursday is going to be 93 [ __ ] degrees no I don't I don't want to do that I don't want to go to
there I don't want to go to there next week looks Chiller like 74 72 69 okay all right so that's the weather with Ash
and that's the weather oh before we start today's pretty just like bummer episode because it's about a witch trial
okay but it's like when you go into Witch Trials you always go in there being like Witch is fun and then you go
through and you're like oh this sucks like so hard persecuted as [ __ ] yeah but
um I wanted to quickly shout out someone pretty awesome um a listener Corey who sent
us this first of all Corey has a Etsy Shop amazing crocheter so good sent me a papa doll I wish that you Corey could
have seen Elena's eyeballs Yeet out of her face when she opened this and then I immediately said are you going to sleep
with that and I and I brought it maybe I brought it down to John and I was like can I'm going to put this on our bed and
he was like please don't he was like that's amazing but please do not put that on our bed it's incredible it's
sitting right next to me like as we speak with all her other ghost par my other ghost paraphernalia and I'm
telling you like Corey this doll is [ __ ] phenomenal cute I'll definitely post a picture of it because it's just
too good not to and the what the care you put into it is you're really talented the details too so I just
wanted to shout out um Corey's like all her shop places they are all alternative hippie I love
that and it's it's hi ppy ah nice just so you know so she has an Etsy shop and it's etsy.com shop alternative hippie
instagram.com she's alternative hippie all that good stuff so go blow up her [ __ ] go blow up her [ __ ] because I'm
telling you I'll again I will post a picture of this doll and you will be like what the [ __ ] you made that it's so
cute and it was so thoughtful and it was like you you were saying how like you know you hadn't listened to ghosts
before that and now like you were and I think she said the same thing that she was like I was like you I hadn't really
gotten into any like newer Rock stuff and I missed that feeling and then I felt it with ghost so like I love that
we all feel that together so I love that a lot I just wanted to shout you out because that was really thoughtful and
really awesome and you literally made my year with it so I again I wish you could
have seen Elena's face when she opened that package she goes true somebody made me a papa doll I'm like it's Papa so
thank you so much for that Corey and I hope that your [ __ ] gets just like rocked in the best way right now and I
hope you can't crochet enough to you know I hope it just blows up so you're awesome and go check out alternative
hippie or else or else okay we don't know we don't know what else what else but I don't know but that's it either
way we're going to get into the story now of half-hanged Mary oh of Hadley Massachusetts oh [ __ ] Hadley
Massachusetts yeah Massachusetts Massachusetts really out of time yeah we [ __ ] up a lot we
[ __ ] up we [ __ ] up yeah I'm going to say they cuz like they [ __ ] up our people yeah you know like the the people
doing the [ __ ] up things I that's not a we thing no I mean I was not there yeah no like I I may be the Elder on
this podcast but I was not present during these so I will say that that was a really that was a missed opportunity
for a good joke on my part so thank you for walking yourself right no problem I was waiting for it I was waiting for you
to be like you were there right I try not to do like too much elder abuse to you it's okay it's all right I feel I
feel I feel okay about it um but I think we can all agree that there are very few
examples of mass hysteria that Loom larger than the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 100% I mean over 200 people were
persecuted during that 19 were executed so crazy and so sad and it was all for crimes that nobody had actually
committed in but you know we just everybody ran with it and for centuries it has served as a very important but
often ignored warning against group think against intolerance you know you know all that
fun stuff once again often ignored we'd love to believe we're past that but yeah
you know we're really not I thought of a great idea we should make sweatshirts that say [ __ ] andne putam oh 100%
because [ __ ] andne putam okay noted for sure uh but it was definitely not the only example of witch hunting in
Massachusetts for sure and in fact 10 years before the Salem Witch Trials there were very similar accusations of
Witchcraft that were aimed at Mary Webster of Hadley which was another small village in Massachusetts um it's
in like Western Massachusetts yeah I don't think I realized Hadley was like that old of a place yeah I mean every
place in massachus is pretty [ __ ] old it's old but but by the time that Massachusetts Bay Colony was established
in 1630 the existence of witches and you know Witchcraft and dark magic and all that had been a very prominent source of
anxiety and hysteria over in Europe right and that was for nearly like two centuries that that was going on so that
was nothing new you covered some of the ones in Europe didn't you we did we cover maybe one or two I think we'll
definitely cover some more because it really is fascinating um but although fears of Witchcraft had existed in
cultures around the world long before beginning in the late 15th century public fears and public accusations of
Witchcraft largely spurred by the Catholic church at the time led to a centuries long period of witch hunts
across Europe Europe that led to the executions of not 19 which is bad enough tens of thousands of innocent people
that's crazy so because there was such a prevalence of fear and black magic and Witchcraft at that time it makes sense
that the earliest Colonial settlers in Massachusetts Bay Colony would bring all those fears anxieties superstitions all
that stuff to their new home too like let's bring all this [ __ ] [ __ ] right on
over start with a clean slate like just bring it all over never that so when the
first laws were enacted in the colony in 1641 the general court included a common
law statute that quoted directly from scripture and it established quote If any man or woman be a witch that is hath
or consultees with a familiar Spirit they shall be put to death when you truly think about that like if you're a
witch we going to kill you that's why it's crazy when people say I'm not really interested in Witch Trials it's
like you're not like that thought of that being those those were laws like that was put into law if you
consult with a familiar Spirit they basically said if you have a cat yeah if you have an animal that sometime is seen
around you you're going to kill you think you're Consulting with the devil wild law wild law like it's just so this
was unfortunately it was a lot back then now with laws in place that were literally criminalizing Witchcraft and
consorting with the devil it didn't take long for Colonial settlers to make good
use of them we're not going to let those those laws just sit on those books they're like no let's let's do this no
they can't get Dusty we got to use them so in 1648 35-year-old Margaret Jones who was a Charlestown Midwife and
practitioner of medicine was like herbal medicine and stuff um was very much accused of Witchcraft and put on trial
uh little documentation from her trial has really survived today but the Diary of Governor John winthrip who sat on the
general court at the time of the trial does show some of the evidence that was used to convict Margaret I remember that
name John winr yeah the evidence included the fact that quote she was found to have such a ignant touch as
many persons men women and children whom she stroked or touched with any affection or displeasure and some things
which she foretold come to pass accordingly other things she would tell of as secret speeches which she had no
ordinary means to come to the knowledge of so when basically she's saying like they're saying like people got sick
after she was around them sometimes and you know she knew things maybe she was a
little I did and it's like I don't know John winth it's like I think you're just
a his journal also says that Jones's disposition during the trial was also used as additional evidence against her
it says Jones was very intemperate lying notoriously and railing against the jury
and Witnesses gee I wonder why and he wrote in simple terms Margaret Jones's unwillingness to be deferential and
demure during what basically was most certainly a fight to keep herself from being hanged uhhuh for nothing literally
nothing was considered by this puritanical Society to be proof that she was consorting with the devil so because
she wasn't demure on the stand and sitting there and going well I guess if you say I did it I I suppose I have to
admit it sure Mister why yep I absolutely did that because she didn't do that they were like the devil it's
also like she's she's on trial for doing her job it sounds like which you all took advantage of for a little while
until you decided that you wanted to Rally against her you were Bor cuz you couldn't do anything in those times so
you're just going to make her a witch that's the thing now Margaret Jones was the first person in Massachusetts in
just the second in the colonies to be tried and executed for w Witchcraft and the fact that she was a woman was
definitely not coincidental no never um she was a midwife a practitioner of medicine like we said before and she
likely because of those things like we just kind of touched upon she definitely held a little bit of P power in the
community you know uh that those kind of resources that kind of expertise that was pretty specific it was not in Big
Supply in the colonies at that point so she was going to be looked at as someone
to turn to it was kind of in the case of Bridget clear we talked about how you know the guy who was looked at as the
powerful Elder who had all this knowledge of folklore and [ __ ] he held power at one point and then when he
didn't everything changed he made it come back now and also she used local herbs and other non-traditional
medicines you know people started looking at that as suspect of course um especially they only looked at it really
when it that it was suspect when their treatments didn't work when their treatments worked suddenly you're a
great doctor and midwife and all that good stuff but when it didn't work you're a witch and also sometimes like
medicine medicine doesn't work yeah sometimes you're just going to die I don't know what to say sometimes that's
just the way it is okay now 8 years later that same Community tried and executed a woman named Anne hibbon for
similar things nonsensical we don't like her she's not this Demir little wilting flower that we
would like her to be exact because remember in Salem that seemed to be a lot of the [ __ ] these women would speak
out and speak up again against things they would speak up for themselves they would speak up for their families for
all that stuff and they were like shut the [ __ ] up witch and it's like okay yeah well like we all see it we all see
it y but um apparently uh in one of the sources that I'm going to link in the show notes uh Bridget
Marshall author points out witchcraft accusations were actually fairly common during this period in the colonies every
town seems to have had at least one official accusation and no doubt many more had local Legends and suspicions so
it was definitely one of those things where there was official accusations which would go to the higher authorities
go on trial all that stuff but you know it was one of those things where they were like that lady's a witch over there
the street who lives by herself because everyone she loved has died she's a witch exactly and again they like the
accusations were common but at this point convictions and executions I don't know why that was so hard to say uh they
were less common at the time you could bring it to a point but getting a conviction and executing that person was
going to take a little more um but this was also due to the fact that you know they were recently established
communities remove removing someone who was like a medicine woman as much as you're claiming that's Witchcraft and
[ __ ] removing anyone from these communities is kind of disadvantaging you know that it's really becoming a
disadvantage for that community at this time because they really only have a handful of people to begin with they
need to establish themselves first and then they can [ __ ] you over later yeah so it's it's going to [ __ ] the this
accused witch over but it's definitely going to [ __ ] everyone else over too so
they were they were very aware of that I think this a lot of times these things were more of a shame you into compliance
and submission kind of thing so we don't have to take it to the conviction and execution stage we're just going to make
sure you know that you will become ostracized and we can bring you in if you speak out against us so like just
listen to what we say become submissive and we'll leave you alone well and going
back to them like not being fully established yet I'm I'm sure some of these women were like the first midwives
in their Village and then when they like got more and more of them they were like
oh now we can [ __ ] with that one that we don't like cuz we like this one better
cuz she listens to what we say exactly it's like but when you they're the only ones they were just dealing with it
right now like we know now the reasons why a person would have been accused of Witchcraft were very varied and almost
always completely irrational um you know Petty arguments overactive imaginations just puritanical [ __ ] mhm I
don't I don't like your face so I would like you to be gone from my view kind of
[ __ ] like it was all just very like halfhazard if I don't like this person I can accuse them of it so scary like for
example this is a very interesting one the case of Mary Parsons who was a Northampton woman accused of Witchcraft
by her neighbor in 1656 Mary and her husband Joseph Parsons had moved uh to Northampton from
Springfield okay so they were already very much Outsiders in this newly formed Community cuz remember it's all brand
new MH um so immediately the community was a talken as soon as two people come in from anywhere else
you're going to be the target um Mary also had a son who was actually the first English child born in town so that
was another thing that was already going to stir up some crazy gossip and then the Parsons were also of a higher social
class and they had a lot more wealth than their neighbors so there was a lot of jealousy already off the bat they are
Batten zero now one day not long after they came to Northampton a neighbor named Sarah
Bridgeman received a knock at her door she was holding her infant son when she came to answer the door and she said no
one was there but then she saw two cloaked figures pass by and she became convinced that her child would
die Sarah brid's an [ __ ] just so you know um I answered the door and no one was there so I thought my baby was going
to die that's a leap seems legit that's that's a leap and a half girlfriend the child did die a short time later which
is very unfortunate of course and Sarah became convinced that the death was caused by Mary Parsons and not just like
the olding of it all apparently since she had arrived in the village Bridgeman and Parsons did not get along they had
feuded right off the bat which it's like all right Sarah sometimes [ __ ] aren't
going to like you and that's just the way it is like move on F that doesn't mean they're witch and that they killed
your kid and you have to involve yourself in their life just move the [ __ ] on if you don't like someone walk
away toxic person walk the other way like just leave okay but no we've got to make this a bigger problem we've got to
make it everybody's problem and honestly it's going to become your problem [ __ ]
uh oh so she yeah so they've been feuding ever since the Parsons had arrived and Bridgeman spent months
telling anyone who would listen that Parsons was a witch and that it was her fault and finally Joseph Parsons Mary's
husband was like [ __ ] you and decided to file a complaint of slander on his wife's behalf because that's a bad [ __ ]
move especially for a husband back then that's a husband he's like don't talk [ __ ] about my wife like [ __ ] you Sarah
but that is probably not good that he brought this to court cuz I feel like that's where it's all going to get crazy
thing it was very proactive of him of course and it was pretty badass of him tot for sure I support Joseph I am here
supporting him team Joseph but like you said not great because of how shitty the
system was it it was great in all other ways not great because of how shly shitty everybody else was because by
bringing those accusations to the attention of the authorities before it was like we were saying before [ __ ]
talking it was [ __ ] talking among the community it wasn't taken to the official level but now it's happened
it's gotten brought to the authorities they know that people are talking oh this poor man was only trying to help
his wife his wife he probably regretted that every day and so it was brought to court and Sarah when she explained it
she said there was a great blow at the door and I was like what sorry what and she immediately said she
sensed a difference in her newborn as soon as that great blow at the door happened okay and she was she said
immediately I was sure my child would die and I was like I don't know I feel like that's someone you should talk
about with someone else because I don't think that was Mary and she said it was because there was wickedness in place
wow this is real I just need like this is why these kinds of Trials it's insane and this time period are so [ __ ]
fascinating to me because this was a legitimate Criminal trial and this woman just said someone knocked on my door and
I my newborn got fussy and so I knew he was going to die because wickedness was in place she said that in a legal trial
and they went hm they said that's wild we they Str their chins and they said maybe we should hang this [ __ ] like
that's it's scary that was real how that that's fascinating to me like terrifying
they didn't have enough to do back then they sure didn't now and that's the thing they had enough to do but it was
and that's the thing it's like they weren't bored they were just miserable because it was miserable back then and
we'll get into it but it's like that's what it was it's like like mind-numbing [ __ ] yeah and kids were bored they're
bored and miserable now at the trial a lot of people testified that um Sarah Bridgeman's child child had actually
been frail and sickly since birth so there's the that on that so they're like when the child died unfortunately it was
very tragic but not a surprise to a lot of people because he was born very sick that's sad but Bridgeman stuck to her
story that Parsons was a witch and had killed her child through her consort with the devil and the wickedness of it
all then we had other people come into the trial saying you know there was a yarn spinner that said the yarn she spun
for Mary Parsons just ended up in knots no matter what she did and she said it that was obviously because she was a
witch maybe you just suck at spinning yard yeah maybe maybe you're spinning the yarn right now I think you are see what
I did there I do lies lies liar and it's also like it's just so does the devil like
knots like I don't know about is that what that's supposed to be he just likes tying knots yeah I'm not I've never
heard of I'm not up on his his likes and dislikes but I didn't know that was one
of them I haven't heard that in a ghost song so I'm not sure did you see the protesters everybody like you got to go
on Tik Tok the protesters at the ghost concert I think it was in Texas that checks yeah um funny they brought out a
Mary statue and everything it's like just let people there were signs that said I'm so sorry Mary and I was like
what what now I don't pretty funny yeah I'm not going to say too much well that's I'm like like what you like but
like that's the thing don't listen to the music if you don't like it go home you don't have to partake in it it's
fine well people like people I feel like everyone now is just like they're indoctrinating our children for like
everything and I'm like just don't let your kid go to a ghost show then like your kid isn't going to go to a ghost
show unless you bring them to one so unless they're likeing out to it but like that's your fault so it's just
ridiculous it's a little silly and honestly ghost shows are [ __ ] amazing and the people at ghost shows are some
of the nicest people I've ever been around so there at the ghost at the ritual that we went to is that what they
call it a ritual it's always called a ritual I don't think I even knew that yeah they call their shows rituals
that's fun I love it uh that probably scares the people even more it does and my ritual ual uh that we went to uh we
were loving the people in front of us it was this couple and don't worry I'll get
back to the story I promise I know tangents piss some people off but here I am uh but I just got to tell you because
it was lovely yeah it was a couple in front of us a man and a woman and they were having the [ __ ] time of their
lives love that and they were like so in love and just like dancing with each other and so happy and I literally was
like just their Vibe that's precious was so happy we all said it like we were all
like these people are lovely to just be around I love that it delightful that so
like shout out to those two people in front of us because they were and they were like turning to each other and like
screaming the words to each other and just like dancing oh it was just so good the guy was so theatrical to every song
I was like you're killing me it always like adds to the experience when you have people around like that and I met a
lot of listeners at that show and they were really kind and awesome and it was really cool and you guys were um but go
to a go show um but either way you know the devil loves nuts Who Knew weird but things escalated as well when a a woman
named Mrs Hanam who was another yarn spinner um and she apparently worked with the Parsons before she testified on
Sarah Bridgeman's behalf saying that uh Parsons had quote attempted to lure her daughter away from her home what and
it's like what and then another woman came and said her daughter got ill after she refused to let her daughter work for
the Parsons so she must have Bewitched her out of SP yes of course and then a man came forward and testified and said
well my cow got sick as [ __ ] after I had some words with the with Mary Parsons
and then it died and it's her fault I truly can't the fact that they thought people just died because they
had words with each other well and what's great about this one I will say say is that the court was able to be
like debunked debunk debunk because upon further questioning it was very clear that Mrs hannam the Y yarn spinner had
been feuding with Mary Parsons ever since Mary Parsons complained of the quality of her yarn ah so she was just
pissed because her little ego got bruised she had shitty yarn [ __ ] your yarn and she saw this trial as an
opportunity to get back at Parson's which I'm like people were [ __ ] Cutthroat back then they were like she
didn't like my yarn hang yeah she didn't like my yarn so my way of getting back to to her is having her hang by her neck
until she's dead yeah like damn that's normal imagine living your life pett but I'm not that petty like imagine standing
in that crowd you you spun some yarn that suck did and you just sit you're sitting there and you're like you're
like well she got hers should have said [ __ ] about my yarn my yarn quality is top-notch it's like what the [ __ ] like
That's cold blooded like people were cold blooded so yeah she was just pissed about the quality of the art and she was
like cool I'm offended so I'm going to send you to be executed I'm offended so and people also testified that Sarah
Bridgeman's baby like they had said before had definitely been sick since birth so that was just not right under
these circumstances the court and I think they found that the the cow had died of a very normal cow thing that
happen he was just old and I think it was actually the owner's fault like it was like something he had done
accidentally that had caused it wow so the Court ruled in favor of Mary Parsons and we actually told Sarah Bridgeman you
are actually in trouble for lodging these false accusations now so she so they said you can either pay Parson's
court fees or you can issue a public apology I would say you have to do both and that petty little [ __ ] was like
I'll pay the fees she wouldn't even she wouldn't even publicly apologize wow like what a [ __ ] people really were
Petty like such a [ __ ] but what's sad though is that although the slander trial may have come to an end Bridgeman
kept spreading rumors about Parson being a witch and they just kept going for like generations and basically it
undermined the par it undermined the Parson's family's social status and any political influence they had in the
village for Generations they that's really sad she ruined their legacy essentially just by because she didn't
like her like that's a petty [ __ ] she I hope she got hers I hope she's living a
bad life in the next one and this kind of shows that although there was a genuine belief in witches and Witchcraft
that's the thing this wasn't only I don't like this person so I'm going to fake it people genuinely believe that
witches and Witchcraft were like evil and that like they were these like you know the hook noosed like you know with
the ward on the end of the nose kind of thing we see in all the the media you see of a that they're green and that
they have the you know the hat and that they're flying on a broom in the middle of the night you know like that kind of
stuff they definitely believed that and especially in the Massachusetts Bay Colony
but it was also just as common for this to be the case where it was you know consorting with the devil was basically
I'm being petty and I'm going to you know settle my Petty grievance with you by pretending that you're consorting
with the devil right um now getting on to Mary Webster it kind of seemed like this was
partially the case is that they people just didn't like her and she was an outsider so they decided to make her
consult with the devil fictionally as a case fun um so Mary Webster was born Mary reev she was born in England Circa
1624 and she was brought by her parents Thomas and Hannah reev to the Massachusetts Bay Colony and within and
she was brought there within a decade or two after her birth So within her first
20 years she was brought there all right a lot again a lot of these records are halfhazard so you just kind of have to
piece everything together uh but they settled in Springfield now little is known about her early life but she does
and she doesn't appear on record until 1670 and that's when she married 53-year-old William Webster of Hadley so
she relocated from Springfield to Hadley and when that happened often moving was
a big deal of course it set you back back then it sets anybody back anyways but it really set you back back then
well people like died on the way to move to a new place and they were the Websters were described as having become
poor and having living many years in a small house in the Middle Highway and were sometimes aided by the town okay so
nobody's really sure like what the definition of poor was back then because things were so willy-nilly like how bad
it really was yeah but I think the fact that they were receiving aid from the town makes them uh down at the bottom of
the ladder you know what I mean so according to Sylvester Jud who is an author and who wrote The Town history of
of Hadley oh cool he said Mary's temper quote which was not the most Placid was not improved by poverty and neglect and
she used harsh words when offended despised and sometimes ill treated she was soured with the world and rendered
spiteful towards some of her neighbors so here's the thing the thing with Mary is that we see she's in poverty she's
having to get aid from the town she's being treated as such because people are now treating her like [ __ ] and it's like
so her neighbors are dicks to her and treat her like piece like a piece of [ __ ] and she's supposed to be like a ray
of sunshine she was brought here from where she was born and it's like and she's supposed to be this [ __ ] ray of
sunshine for you and might like make you happy when you treat her like [ __ ] because of something completely out of
her control that she's dealing with Poverty of course yeah absolutely and they they even said
because of her quote unpleasant demeanor her neighbors started referring to her as a witch and she quickly became a
target for a lot of harassment now soon rumors were spreading about Mary and that you know she did this she did that
she Bewitched some cattle and horses that so that they stopped and ran back and could not be driven by her house um
in some cases the rumors had a little bit of Truth to them because Mary would try to keep farmers and travelers away
from her house and so she would overturn their loads sometimes what a that's hilar she would chase them away she was
just like get off my [ __ ] lawn well she was like you're all [ __ ] to me stay away from my house I don't blame
her [ __ ] you well you have to wonder if something happened that she wanted them
away from her house because that seems like a kind of like a j because when when you find out what they actually do
to her and what is very normal you're like yeah you were probably hurting her physically you pieces of [ __ ] yeah
that's what it sounds like now in one instance they claimed and take what you will from this they claim that quote she
entered a house and had such influence upon an infant on the bed or in the cradle that the infant was raised to the
chamber floor and fell back again three times and no visible hand touched where were the owners of the home yeah
when she uh just I don't know this looks like neglect of an infant or possibly abuse of an INF infant and then they
just blamed it on Mary webster like what now the rumors were getting were growing
and growing and apparently and so the community was now kind of biting back at Mary oh so either way the r rumors are
growing and growing and in response to these rumors the community starting to get more and more you know proactive in
their response to her so she became the target for what is called witch disturbances oh no I don't like that
already so apparently so the author I mentioned before Smith says that when Farmers claimed they were unable to
drive their cattle by Mary's house they quote would enter the house beat her or threaten to do so and then she generally
let them pass uh yeah cuz they had beat her so she was probably unable to stop them at that point so that was called a
witch disturbance they would just enter the suspected suspected witch's home and
beat the [ __ ] out of her to make her whatever was happening stop what the f and then they're always like and these
women were so unpleasant and it's like I would [ __ ] I would be the epitome of foul and rotten if I were this woman I
would ruin everyone's lives around me do you ever just think like what are humans
like what are we I think it all the time like how did it how did we get like this
I think it all the time it's a lot I really do so they would do that that's why when they're like oh she would like
knock over their loads and stuff I'm like yeah I would [ __ ] up their livelihood too I'd be like you literally
came in my home and beat me so [ __ ] off [ __ ] off don't pass my house now Jud the
the author I mentioned before who it did the history of Hadley described an incident in 1680 where a 16-year-old
girl named and Belding was charged with quote purposes and practices against the
body and life of Mary wife of William Webster so apparently an entered the Webster's home and likely assaulted or
attempted to Sal Mary and so she was she was required to publicly apologize and pay a fine she had to pay one pound to
Webster and 4 pounds to the county for doing that why didn't she spend time in jail y'all cuz they're just like you
know just say you're sorry the [ __ ] so over time the rumors about Mary Webster
just grew they grew they became more they became way more outlandish way more detailed they were coming from way more
people but there was one that proved a lot more consequential for Mary's safety than the other ones oh no so in the and
you knew this was coming you knew one of those was going to hit different and it
was going to be the breaking point I was worried so in the early 1680s it was said said that Mary entered the house of
a neighbor again and before she left the house um or excuse me not long after she
had left the house a hen came flying down the chimney and fell into a Boiling Pot of
water okay to me that just feels real real colon esque I'm sure hands fell down chimneys all the time like I don't
if I was back then if you transported me hi I'm Elena from 2023 if you plopped me
into 16 you know 80 or wherever this was in one of these houses in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and suddenly a
hen fell down the chimney into a scalding hot thing of water I don't think I would really I'd be like
probably like I think I would just look over and be like yep you just be like well we're having chicken for dinner
yeah i' just be like oh is that how you guys would get your food like I don't how does this that from Santa that
doesn't seem wild to me I'm like hens were probably all over the [ __ ] place yeah and they're probably just falling
down chimneys and [ __ ] it's not like our chimneys where it's like this very intricate system yeah no it doesn't
sound that czy in your roof that it's just going to fall down so to me I'm like yeah okay like dinner but no
because apparently that was a little strange that a hen just fell down the chimney which I think is wild I do too I
feel like it I agree I don't think it'd be that weird I don't think it was I think they're just using that but the
real strange thing was that Mary was discovered to have a scald mark on her body in the same place that the hen had
I guarantee someone probably broke into her house beat her and burned her probably or it's like I don't know they
were cooking over straight up bonfires back then like yeah I'm sure everyone got burned all the [ __ ] time by just
doing the simplest of tasks probably like I'm sure there was all kinds of burns but did they make this like a
witch Mark well that what they assumed was you know that because it's in the same place as the hen that Mary had been
acting in the form of a familiar to spy on her neighbors so they are claiming she was the hen they're claiming Mary
transformed herself into a hen and said let me Yeet myself down the chimney into
a Boiling Pot of water some hot water and then she lived and then she lived okay cuz that's the other thing here's
my other question here but we don't have it on record so I would like to ask this
Neighbor From Beyond what the [ __ ] up Kyle because this fell down your [ __ ] chimney into a scalding thing of water I
think it died and you didn't eat that hen oh they ate thaten you're telling me you just let that hen go they we're in
the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1680 and you're letting free [ __ ] dinner waddle out of your house I don't think
so I don't think so you sure about that you sure about that I don't think you are I think you ate that for dinner and
then you're sitting here claiming that it was Mary Webster I don't think so so you ate Mary
webst but how's she walking around if you ate her doesn't make sense this whole thing is truly the most that's
when it and that's I'm like no one was logical back then or you know what here's the thing I bet here's the thing
I bet there were some logical people in there but they were zipping their [ __ ] lips because they didn't want to
be the next one accused or be thought to be consorting with the devil that was the thing they so it's one of those
things they just stay quiet and let it happen and it's like so we look back and we're like are you all like just cuckoo
like what is going on no one stepped in and was like well did you eat the hen like no one asked that yeah did you eat
said hen that fell and burned that booty in the water did you eat the booty burned hen you didn't let that thing
leave no of course not why waste a good hen exactly in 1680 hell yeah now in March 1683 Mary was brought before the
county court in Northampton because of this and she was accused of quote being under strong suspicion of having
familiarity with the devil or using witchcraft what color me guilty uh but after
hearing testimony from some of her neighbors the county court looked at it and was like you know what these look
these look like pretty strong accusations it seems like everybody thinks you're kind of a [ __ ] so I think
maybe we should uh we should look into this further so they referred it to the C the court of assistance in Boston for
consideration oh no yeah they looked at this like I don't know it seems like you
might have been that hen and then they were like and these people say that that you suck so I think we should you just
the fact that they're like we think you were that hen yeah wrap your mind around
that real quick you have a burn mark on you so I'm pretty sure you were that hen
that flew down the chimney I that they definitely ate for dinner that night I must go like I just don't know and in
April by the way Mary Webster is 60 years old oh now in April Mary Webster 60 years old is shipped to Boston
shipping up to Boston but not in the fun way Drop Kick Murphy's sty though where
she was held in a local jail cell waiting her trial for witchcraft she was held there for a month oh my God and you
can only imagine the conditions think of the worst conditions you can ever imagine that's what jail was back then
10 yeah and that's what they would have you wait in for your witchcraft trial that you were placed on trial for
because [ __ ] didn't like you I truly can't and couldn't mine their own [ __ ] business and just stay to their
own [ __ ] they had to get in your [ __ ] this is so sad like now I I didn't realize she was 60 and that adds so much
more s happily just you know she should have been happily just being being kind of craggly you know like just let her
let her live she's a victim of circumstance so just leave her the [ __ ] alone don't interact with her don't pass
her house she's not trying to hang out with you I mean according to them she really was she really wanted to go into
people's houses she's like maybe that's the thing maybe she just wanted a [ __ ] she did and
everyone was just being a dick barged in like let's hang you know maybe she just
needed some social accuse that's all yeah now again sat for a month in jail and then her trial began on MAR on May
22nd 1683 and Was Heard by Governor Simon Brad street and nine of his uh fellow you know powerful men uh now
after hearing the charges they said seems pretty real reasonable I think we should take this to trial seems
pretty reasonable that you became a hen yeah and then they said we should take this to trial and there was an
indictment written up and the indictment read the grand jury being impanel they on perusal of the evidences returned
that they did indict Mary Webster for that she not having the fear of God before her eyes that's always my
favorite part of it she you are not you don't have the fear of God in you so you
must be an evil piece of [ __ ] that we need to kill and it's like huh why that people still feel that way uh so not
having the fear of God before her eyes and being instigated by the devil hath entered into Covenant and had
familiarity with him in the shape of a warni which is a Fisher or wild black cat of the woods and had his imps
sucking her and teet or marks found on her as they love a they love a te and they love an imp sucking oh they love it
um that's the thing I'm like look inside of yourselves yeah look inside not going
to King Shame here but like look inside of yourselves and just like come to grips with what you're really focused on
you guys should just start writing fan fiction about Mary weer listen to some like you know what if we had had like
book talks like fairy smut books rolling around that R Dann if we had had that back then I think everybody would have
been okay they would have sat in their houses read some fairy smut gotten their [ __ ] together and come out into the
world and been a little less wound up I think so that's all I'm saying to be clear alen is the one reading the fairy
SM she just showed me the song I don't know anything about run other than that he's the Crown Prince I'm going to read
the Crescent City book because Crown Prince I don't know I haven't even gotten to him yet no but it's the song
um run R Crown Prince of the is it the balarin orar and F I haven't gotten to them yet so I am reading Crescent City
though I've been sucked into it but they need some fairy smut um so yeah so you know teats marks on her all that good
stuff and by several testimonies May here contrary to the Peace of our Sovereign Lord the king his crown and
dignity the laws of God and his jurisdiction the court on their serious consideration of the testimonies did
leave her to further trial I got to go nonsense I must go she would spent another week sitting in a Boston jail
and then was brought back before the court of assistance on June 1st where she was formally tried um and there is
one piece of documentation from that trial that we can look at that says Mary Webster was now called and brought to
the bar and was indicted to which indictments she pleaded not guilty making no exception against any of the
jury leaving herself to be Tried by God in the country the indictment I'm like he doesn't try though like you guys have
to try her yeah like where is he at the indictment and evidences in the case were read and committed to the jury and
the jury brought in their verdict that they found her not guilty okay I didn't see that coming she was acquitted she
was acquitted of the charge of Witchcraft Mary Webster turned to Hadley and all was supposed to be great but you
know what it was her neighbors that were pissed the court quitted her they weren't going to bring her back in but
they weren't they weren't done yet but the neighbors were pissed now when Mary Webster was first accused of Witchcraft
and bought before the county court um Among The Men Who examined her and considered the evidence against her was
Philip Smith who was a local judge and a deacon for the town of Hadley okay in his later accounts of the story cotton
ma oh who everybody remembers cotton ma that should have like some kind of Reverb on it like scary Reverb in your
brain he um it's like mother mother yeah just it's it's there's some evil in there um he describes Smith as follows
Mr Philip Smith a man of about 50 years a son of eminently virtuous parents a deacon of a church at Hadley a member of
our general court a man of their County Court a selectman for the Affairs of the
Town a lieutenant in the troop and which Crowns All a man for for devotion and gravity and all that was honest
exceedingly exemplary um you can stop sucking his dick now like you because you know what cotton ma likely never met
this man just want to put that out there really loved him he likely never met Philip Smith but because Philip Smith
was down to get some witches he Lov hanging by some ropes cotton ma was like what a [ __ ]
virtuous gift to our entire planet this man is and it's like settle the [ __ ] down cotton take all of the SE sett the
[ __ ] down and by the way speaking of cotton Ma I think I might take another look at those Salem Witch Trials and
kind of like revamp our series on it cuz I would love that I've read more into it
and I have more to say so there's always more to say with Alena rart you know it's happening I love it so he [ __ ] his
dick about Philip Smith even though he never met this man ever did not know what kind of man he was strange but you
know despite Mary Webster being acquitted of the charge of Witchcraft was which was no easy feat no uh but and
this was a court in Boston so this is a big court she probably knew that this wasn't even the end of it oh yeah Smith
Philip Smith maintained that she was a witch she was in League with the devil he would not be
convinced she wasn't and that's why cotton ma loved him he wasn't going to give up right beginning in January 1864
apparently Philip Smith's Health began ailing a little bit and it was very obvious it wasn't like you know and they
said he showed such weakness from the weariness of the world that he knew not he said whether he might not he might
pray for his continuance here so he wasn't even going to pray to live okay because he was so weary of the world I
mean and and that's what cotton ma had written by the way but he didn't know him he didn't know got it um but
basically what he was saying was that you know his righteous spiritual battles were with evil were just taking its toll
on him and he was such a we should you know wow like this man we should wow this man is on his deathbed because he's
just been fighting this this righteous war with the devil so hard and he doesn't even know if he wants to stay
here anymore because it's just been too hard this this is making my head hurt and I'm like I don't know I think it's
just the 1600s and he's dying of things you die of in the 1600s probably and also when
you're that [ __ ] wound up about everybody all the time yeah you're probably going to die sooner because
your [ __ ] is all rocked inside so like you should calm down Cal down you know moai quit murdering people quit hanging
truly now like the court records that have since you know really been lost to time at this point of course there's not
a lot of Doc documentation about Smith's Illness but according to Bridget Marshall in the time leading up to his
death the decline of his physical health and body was accompanied by a lot of like emotional and mental issues as well
um he had fits of delirium and they would definitely frighten everybody around him like his nurses anybody that
was watching over his bedside I'm sure it was terrifying I mean that would be scary now even with all we know but back
then yeah that was I mean that's what the witch trial is basically where it started from well and that kind of like
happens at the end of your life I mean any number of things can happen at the end of your life nobody nobody goes out
the same way you know it's like that's and back then you looked at Fitz and delirium as being magical like they were
spurned by something evil meanwhile it was like probably just his body shutting down just biological processes uh but to
a puritanical society that was very deeply entrenched in Legends and superstitions in religious Doctrine God
the very and Marshall points out the author the very visible strug struggle he endured with his illness no doubt
appeared to the Puritan audience as a fight with the Devil and with cotton ma writing that this is
his righteous battle with the devil that is killing him it's just compounding that's so wild that they were like he's
heing it out with the devil yeah this isn't just illness this is him literally in a cage match with the devil wow now
in his delirium he would rant like Philip Smith would rant a lot he would ramble he would he was very incoherent
this there and everywhere we've all if you've Loved Someone that's been at the end of their your life they're life you
know there can be some moments where you're like I have no idea where you are right now but you're telling me about it
right um and again a lot of local people and found and his neighbors found that they were thinking this was him being
possessed and this was the effects of black magic not anything biological no never now because Smith had been one of
the most like loud and aggressive proponents of Mary Webster's guilt even after her acquit many of the men in town
concluded that Webster must be to blame for this illness I knew that was coming yeah they said this is definitely
revenge for his having tried to bring her to Justice and you know this is all her this is like he's being the Target
and after him you better believe the next person on the list is going to be someone else involved in the trial
that's ridiculous and the longer his illness went on the stranger and more wild the stories of his symptoms became
um one of the most absurd things that was stated like officially about it was that in his sick room they claimed that
medicines had been emptied by unseen hands and that a fire mysteriously appeared under his bed and then stopped
was he burned I was like I feel like you should be looking in at him if fires are
starting under his bed what a i starts burn like what's going on there what the [ __ ] now according to our pal cotton
Ma's account of it is not my pal who again believed that very much believed that Webster was to blame um they and
apparently they decided to test this theory that uh Mary was to blame uh people in the town came to Philip or uh
excuse me came to Mary's home and decided to do witch disturbance on her because remember if they think you're
[ __ ] around they can just come and beat the [ __ ] out of you God so cotton ma wrote an account of this even though
he was not there by all account again um some of the young men in the town being
out of their wits at the strange calamities thus upon one of their most beloved Neighbors when three or four
times to give disturbance unto the woman this thus complained of and all the while they were disturbing of her which
by the way writing disturbing of her remember what we're saying here he's saying all the while while these men
came in and beat the [ __ ] out of a 60-year-old woman in her home all the while while they were
beating the [ __ ] out of a 60-year-old woman at her home he was at ease Philip Smith and slept as a weary man these
were the only times they had perceived him to take any sleep in all his illness while everyone was beating the [ __ ] out
of an elderly woman that's good yeah I'm glad he rested easy during that period but it's her who's consorting with the
devil like y'all you're telling me the only time this man got sleep was when a elderly 60-year-old woman cuz that's
elderly back then yeah it's not elderly now so don't come for me but back in the
1600s that was you were you were past your point of like damn look at you you were wi one exactly but they're beating
a 60-year-old woman this is so upsetting and he's sleeping soundly like a [ __ ]
baby but she's the one consorting with the devil my God everybody he's just living on his death bed God like let's
just look at what's happening here but nobody's going to speak up but again it was very very long believed that to stop
a witch from you know furthering any harm she was doing through magic or her spells was to physically restrain or
stop her in some way my God and when Philip Smith finally died from his illness on January 10th 1685 a group of
young men set upon Mary Webster at her home they dragged her from her house and they hung her from a tree by her neck oh
my god um yeah now at this time the uh Gallows and trapo had not been invented yet so it is very likely
and really the only way that they just hanged her from a tree and allowed her to
strangle oh my God I told you this is a rough one holy [ __ ] she lost Consciousness and when they when she was
no longer moving they cut her down they rolled her body in the snow for some time and then they finally buried her in
the snow and left her for dead I am without words yeah so what we've seen here is
that obviously the men of Hadley it was only men who did this by the way that Che of Hadley very were obviously
disappointed by the Boston's Court decision and certain that Mary was guilty so they decided to enact mob
Justice and they figured they could just get rid of Mary Webster and that this gave them reason once Philip Smith died
it was her fault they they felt validated picturing that in your head they broke I'm sorry I'm not over this
yet they broke into her home dragged her out probably hanged her from a tree on her own [ __ ] property probably and
then rolled her and buried her in the snow so she probably likely died of hypothermia among other things well you
know it's it came to a big surprise to the men that uh when they came back she didn't
die what she was still alive what a bad [ __ ] yep and what's even better is that
Mary Webster lived another 11 years before dying of natural causes in 1969 at around the age of 70 or so that's my
girly right there Mary Webster said [ __ ] you she said Dave's Ys lit leg she she
said [ __ ] Y'all [ __ ] y'all she said [ __ ] Y'all Dave's Ys she said Philip Smith
won't be seeing you for a while bye holy canoli I did not see that one coming cotton ma must have [ __ ] his dick oh and
on that day those men what I wouldn't give to be now and travel back there with just like a an iPhone so you could
just like record all their reactions and then pop back here and be like check out
these [ __ ] [ __ ] you know they all like some of them cried oh my God but that's it's like amazing that she was
able to live that long and I'm so happy but one to go through that and who knows
where it ended I'm sure people were still breaking into house after that but I'm like [ __ ] yeah good for you living
out the rest of your [ __ ] days and being like [ __ ] all you y'll be damned like damn wow Mary Webster I didn't see
that yeah so you know the colonial Witch Trials up to and including those in Salem were definitely about power a lot
of it um obviously there were some cases like Sarah Bridgeman and Mary Parsons that were just jealousy petty [ __ ]
grievances um but they were fueled by a religious body as well that sought to use Superstition misogyny at the time
and great fear of the unknown to maintain their stronghold on the colonies that's so again it goes right
back to Power and the end of everything and keeping everybody keeping everyone in line yeah nobody they don't want
anyone speaking out against they believe this so you're going to believe it and you're going to shut the [ __ ] up if you
don't ype um this was particularly true for our guy cotton ma who was one of the
loudest and most aggressive proponents of the witch hunts in all of the colonial era now in 1689 he actually
published the account of Philip Smith's illness and death and he named Smith specifically but he did not name Mary
Webster he wouldn't name her wonder why uh he used the account to among other things promote the righteousness and
virtu virtuousness of Smith and his efforts his you know his righteous efforts to rid Hadley of Witchcraft and
he also kept promoting the belief that the colony as a whole was just lousy with witches and practitioner
practitioners of black magic and again it's important to remember like I said earlier cotton ma was not a resident of
Hadley and it's unlik sh about it that he had ever been there before and he definitely didn't know Philip Smith or
Mary Webster so what the [ __ ] is your get out of everybody's business [ __ ] he's a busy body he's the definition of
a bus he know Mary he didn't know Philip Smith he'd never been to Hadley what what are you doing right and of course
he did include some documented facts about the case in his account but a lot of what he wrote was just biased
fictionalized [ __ ] just [ __ ] and very much just like preaching what he wanted to preach of course he wasn't
trying to give a historical account of something that happened he wanted something that would boost his uh his
argument in favor of witch hunting and unfortunately it worked because as we know just a few years later in 1692 and
1693 stories like that of Smith and Webster were used as supporting Arguments for the
outrageously barbaric witch trials in the Village of Salem um and it actually again it it ended up being that it was a
govern s a government sanctioned murder of 19 people which like when you really think of that it's just like your brain
can't even and most of them were young women who are guilty of literally nothing but couldn't defend themselves
because it was just this hysteric fed mob of people that were brought to that point by men like Cotton Mather who were
just like insane there's no other way to say group of [ __ ] just create hysteria and then it's like then these
little girls who were [ __ ] bored and everybody just decid that's what it was these little girls who are [ __ ] bored
and nasty cruel little [ __ ] and then these men who were trying to you know boost this argument anyway saw that and
said perfect we can use this it's like it all worked together just a bunch of [ __ ] working together what a
horrible time to be alive truly and when the witch trials came to an end in the spring of 1693 public hysteria had died
down and Order had started to be you know restored because that was looked at even by them as like what the [ __ ] just
happened yeah and the truth came to light that you know like these young women were all this all people young
women who had made the [ __ ] up about like the fits and being attacked and specters and all that [ __ ] that they
lied they came forward and said I made the whole thing up I was bored and the public reaction was [ __ ] horror and
revulsion they couldn't believe what they had done they were like I can't believe we have been taken so easily by
all this [ __ ] how gullible have we been and how cruel have we been like damn we suck to the point of murder
we've murdered young women because we were just easily LED but even after the order and Sanity had been restored to
Salem briefly cotton Ma and other of those guys like that were part of this whole thing some of the judges some of
the people that were into it like the higher up people they were still advocating for further witch hunts and
trials just to try to get that control back over the community and luckily their like you know it was kind of at
that point they were kind of like ignored and everybody was like now you're an [ __ ] you have to chill the
[ __ ] out guys but you know it's when you look back on it you're like wow that's
wild and it blows your mind but it's also when you look at 17th century colonies hysteria is not that wild to
think about CU When you think about it Colonial Life was miserable yeah it was incredibly difficult colonists often
relied on that dichotomy of Good and Evil just to explain the hundreds of hardships and tragedies and oppression
and awful [ __ ] that just fell into their Laps on a normal daily basis like their
cows dying and hens coming through the roof and falling into boiling pots of water but and that is truth that is
truth that it was a shitty time it was a shitty life and they were just looking for something to believe in and they
were using it something else but we cannot take away that misinformation and the spread of it and misogyny also
played an incredible role in that incredible at the Forefront I would say and even in the Boston Globe in
1977 Halal Clancy wrote that he talked about the story of Smith and Webster and he described Mary as quote in
1977 he described her as quote an aging spinster who wore Rags lived in a shack and got by Brewing love potions and
pedaling hexes she claimed to possess an evil eye that could dry up a cow at the
at a blink now he made the this article has like some of a like somewhat of like a
sa humorous tone to it but it's got tons of factual inaccuracies in it lies and it also just completely perpetuates what
started the witchcrafts in the first place The Witch Trials learned nothing this I was like that article just shows
you whoa you just literally looked at that whole thing you saw the lesson there and you just perpetuated it man
like he literally says basically his view of the history of that whole thing was the only plausible explanation for
why Mary Webster's neighbors believed her to be a witch and literally hanged her after she was acquitted for it was
because she portrayed herself as such she did it by being an old spinster by working with herbs and non-traditional
[ __ ] by not being a pleasant Flower by not you know preaching whatever it is they wanted her to preach she did it
literally in 1977 this man is just learning zero I was like holy [ __ ] Massachusetts
yeah that's embarrassing like this Massachusetts is my girl like I I ride for her Massachusetts is my be she's my
[ __ ] I love her I ride for her I love Massachusetts but it's proof that some people did not learn from their own [ __ ]
in 197 to be like she was a [ __ ] witch I'm like this is elderly abuse to like the highest level and you're like she
was a [ __ ] witch she made love potions I'm like I don't think they worked and also it's like she was a
witch they're basically just being like I don't know she portrayed herself as one so she could dry up some cows okay
so should they have hung her from a tree and buried her in the snow like you're are you is that what you're saying you
sure about that like you you're not sitting here saying like wow this six-year-old woman that was just like
trying to live her life by herself that people kept coming into her home and beating the [ __ ] out of her on a regular
basis don't act like a witch don't act act like a witch a damn how wow damn you would like that sounds like satire but
it's that's the Boston Globe like that's that's not damn W damg but yeah so that's the story of
Mary Webster and a couple of other witches but quote unquote yeah like that was uh I don't know that was that was
something that was wild and really upsetting but the fact that she was like [ __ ] y'all I mean it was like a Triumph
but then it's like couple years later we were like and now for the Salem wi trials where it's going to be really bad
my God but eventually you know eventually pour in out for all the witches out there okay yeah truly you
know damn holy [ __ ] but yeah I'm just like shook that that all of that happened and then however many years
later he was like yeah [ __ ] her right it's true [ __ ] her right yeah so that's
the story of half-hanged Mary that's what she's referred to woof yeah well with that we hope that you keep
listening and we hope you it weird but that's so weird that this because what question mark uh don't be stupid think
critically please get a life think critically [Music] please

In the depths of American history there are few examples of mass hysteria that loom larger than the Salem witch trials of 1692. As horrific as it was, it was far from the only example of witch-hunting in Massachusetts’ history. In fact, ten years before hysteria over black magic gripped the village of Salem, similar accusations of witchcraft were aimed at Mary Webster of Hadley, a small village in Western Massachusetts.

Thank you to the incredible Dave White for Research assistance.

References

Clancy, Hal. 1977. "In good old days, wicthes would hang for a May snow." The Boston Globe, May 14: 1.

Judd, Sylvester. 1905. History of Hadley. Springfield, MA: H.R. Hunting.

Manning, Alice. 1976. "Witches in the Connecticut Valley: a historical perspective." Daily Hampshire Gazette, December 15: 35.

Marshall, Bridget. 2003. "Mary (Reeve) Webster, the "Witch" of Hadley." University of Massachusetts Lowell. Accessed August 28, 2023. https://faculty.uml.edu//bmarshall/Mary%20Webster.htm.

Mather, Cotton. 1967. Magnalia Christi Americana. New York, NY: Russell and Russell.

Perera, Lisa. 1992. "Before Salem, Valley had witch trials of its own." Daily Hampshire Gazette, May 16: 22.

Smith, Anna. 2019. The Witch of Hadley: Mary Webster, the Weird, and the Wired. October 15. Accessed August 28, 2023. https://www.massreview.org/node/7575.

Connect with Wondery http://wondery.com/shows http://facebook.com/WonderyMedia http://twitter.com/WonderyMedia http://instagram.com/WonderyMedia

Brief Summary

Mary Webster survived a witch trial and mob justice in 1680s Massachusetts, highlighting the dangers of mass hysteria and misogyny.

Key points

Spooky Season Excitement. The hosts express their love for Halloween and decorating for the season.
Listener Shoutout. A heartfelt shoutout to a listener who sent a thoughtful gift.
Witch Trials Discussion. A deep dive into the historical context of witch trials and their implications.
The Trial of Sarah Bridgeman. Sarah Bridgeman accused Mary Parsons of witchcraft after her child died, leading to a dramatic trial.
Mary Webster's Accusations. Mary Webster faced harassment and accusations of witchcraft, leading to her becoming a target for violence.
Mary Webster's Accusation. In 1683, Mary Webster faced accusations of witchcraft, leading to her trial.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I hope you can't crochet enough to know I hope it just blows up!

Shouting out a listener's talent and success.

5:21WatchSep 22, 2023

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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