Home Connecticut The Cover-Up of the Connecticut Witch Hysteria of 1647-63

The Cover-Up of the Connecticut Witch Hysteria of 1647-63

It went on for more than a decade, but didn't get the notoriety of the Salem witch trials

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Witch hysteria took hold in Connecticut 45 years before Salem, Mass., began its own orgy of witch killing,

On May 26, 1647, Connecticut hanged its first citizen for witchcraft, a woman from Windsor named Alse Young. As in all the witch hysteria, she died on the basis of flimsy evidence. She went to the gallows on the site of the Old State House.

Connecticut’s old Statehouse, site of Alse Young’s hanging

The Connecticut witch hysteria lasted at least more than a decade. It never received as much attention as the Salem witchcraft trials, mostly because Connecticut officials swept the whole sad chapter under the rug.

In 1908, John M. Taylor wrote a book called The Witchcraft Delusion in Colonial Connecticut, 1647-1697. “The true story of witchcraft in old Connecticut has never been told,” he wrote. “It has been hidden in the ancient records and in manuscripts in private collections, and those most conversant with the facts have not made them known, for one reason or another.”

Connecticut Witch Hysteria

Connecticut executed nine men and two women as witches between 1647 and 1663. The witch hysteria peaked during the “Hartford Witch Panic” of the early 1660s. It started when a young Hartford girl died after claiming a neighbor tormented her.

Eight-year-old Elizabeth Kelly visited Goodwife Ayres, in March of 1662. The next day Ayres visited her home and shared a bowl of broth with her. Elizabeth then got sick, and for five days suffered intense stomach pains. The delusional girl screamed, “Father! Father! Help me, help me! Goodwife Ayres is upon me.”

Elizabeth cried that Goodwife Ayres choked her, kneeled on her belly, pinched her and tried to ‘break her bowels.’

A Guilford physician conducted an autopsy on the dead girl in what is believed to be the first postmortem in American history. Unfortunately, the physician knew very little about what he was looking at. He concluded the girl suffered unnatural harm.

Goodwife Ayres and her husband sensibly skipped town, but the Hartford court tried eight more people before the witch hysteria died down.

More Accusations

The Examination of a Witch, T. H. Matteson

The Examination of a Witch, T. H. Matteson

More accusations followed for the next 50 years in the Connecticut River towns of Hartford, Windsor, Farmington and Wethersfield. Most, however, resulted in acquittals as Connecticut judges came to their senses.

John and Joan Carrington of Wethersfield weren’t among the lucky ones. They were hanged in 1651. Mary Barnes of Farmington was another unfortunate victim. She was hanged in Hartford in 1663 for “having entertained familiarity with Satan, the grand enemy of God and mankind.”

By 1715, the law making witchcraft a capital offense was off the books, and the witchcraft hysteria died down. But unlike Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Virginia, Connecticut did not clear the names of the accused. Connecticut, in fact, didn’t even acknowledge that it happened.

benjamin-trumbull

Benjamin Trumbull

In 1799, historian Benjamin Trumbull wrote History of Connecticut. In the preface he explained he could find no records of witchcraft trials.

It may possibly be thought a great neglect, or matter of partiality, that no account is given of witchcraft in Connecticut. The only reason is, that after the most careful researches, no indictment of any person for that crime, nor any process relative to that affair can be found.

A hundred years later, another Trumbull — Jonathan — wrote an introduction to a reprint of the book. He had no doubt that Connecticut hanged people for witchcraft. The executions, though, stayed out of the official record.

“[T]he official records are as our author says, silent regarding the actual proceedings, and it is only by inference that it may be found from these records that the executions took place,” he wrote.

Should Connecticut Apologize?

The descendants of the Carringtons and Mary Barnes tried to bring the Connecticut witchcraft hysteria to light in the 21st century.

Mary Barnes’ great-great-great-great-great-great-great-granddaughter, Bernice Telian, spent five years writing a book titled, My Grandmother Mary Was Hanged. She was part of the effort to get Connecticut to clear the names of the 11 people unjustly executed for witchcraft. So was Patricia Borris, the great-granddaughter, 10 generations back, of the Carringtons. She believed the state’s refusal to apologize was a travesty of justice.

The state Legislature introduced bills to express regret in 2008 and 2009, but they died in committee. Then members of the Connecticut Wiccan and Pagan Network joined the cause. They pushed Gov. Dannel Malloy to issue a proclamation apologizing for the witch hysteria.

dannel-malloy

Former Connecticut governor Dannel Malloy

They then sent postcards to Malloy reading, “I am a Pagan/Witch and I vote. Clear the names of Connecticut’s eleven accused and executed witches.”

They finally succeeded. On May 26, 2023, Connecticut’s state Senate passed a resolution exonerating the accused witches and apologizing to their families. The House had already approved the measure.

This story about the Connecticut witch hysteria was updated in 2024. Image of old Statehouse By Citizen Mira – user on Flickr.com – https://www.flickr.com/photos/citizenhelder/2545933449/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4410970.

8 comments

Kim Carrington Wright July 5, 2014 - 10:16 pm

Do you know contact information for Patricia Borris in Colorado? She is a descendant of John and Joan Carrington who were hanged in Connecticut. I believe I am also a descendant.

Thanks for your help. Kim

Tamsin Parker January 24, 2016 - 6:41 pm

I’m a descendant of the Carringtons, too!

Lisa January 17, 2015 - 5:17 am

I am also a Carrington descendent. The Carringtons are my 10th great grandparents. Its nice to know there are people trying to obtain justice for them. Thank you for this article. Lisa

Jennifer October 30, 2015 - 11:12 pm

The Carringtons were my 11th great grandparents. I tried contacting a couple of officials in CT a few years ago with no response. I think I will look up Patricia Borris as well.

Delores Shade January 29, 2016 - 11:55 am

I am a descendant of John Carrington through his great granddaughter Experience Holcomb, who married Nathaniel Alford, a great grandson of Edward Griswold, one of the judges who convicted John Carrington. Is there anything I can do to promote the pardon of John Carrington? I visited Wethersfield several years ago and took a photo of the now vacant lot where john Carrington’s home had been located. For a long time I refused to research Edward Griswold because of his part in the execution of John Carrington, but I gradually came to accept the idea that Griswold was also a product of his time, and he accomplished much to be respected for. The current government should be aware of the circumstances and should issue the pardons.

Stratford Knockings Brought Throngs of Spiritualists to Connecticut - New England Historical Society March 10, 2017 - 5:19 pm

[…] Over the years, the hauntings were legendary in town. Some speculated that they were connected to the death of Goody Bassett, a woman who was hanged near the house in 1651 for witchcraft. […]

New England Witchcraft Trials: It Wasn’t Just Salem - New England Historical Society October 2, 2019 - 5:07 pm

[…] In Connecticut, witch hysteria took hold 45 years before Salem began its mass executions. The colony formally tried 43 people for witchcraft (Massachusetts tried 50.) Most were acquitted or escaped, but nine men and two women were executed as witches between 1647 and 1663. The first, a woman from Windsor named Alse Young, died, as the others would, on the basis of flimsy evidence. She went to the gallows on the site of the Old State House. […]

Beth Caruso December 2, 2019 - 12:31 am

Thank you for mentioning the Windsor memorial ceremony for Connecticut’s eleven known witch trial victims. It actually took place in May of 2017. I would also like to point out that there is a video available of the memorial by WIN-TV entitled “Connecticut Witch Commemorative Ceremony.” In addition, on February 6, 2017 the Town Council of Windsor, Connecticut voted unanimously 9-0 to clear the names of two town residents hanged for witchcraft, Alse Young 1647 and Lydia Gilbert 1654. The video that documents this event is called “Delayed Justice: Windsor Atones For Its Witch Trial History.” Both videos are available on Youtube.

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