She's a witch!
A Witch Trial Panic that was Stopped
The story of the Salem Witch Trials of February 1692 – May 1693 in the small village of Salem, Massachusetts is witch trial frenzy most of us know. Surviving to this day is the idiom “witch hunt” which has come to mean looking for witches to burn or hang with no real evidence that the crime exists. Also surviving is the apparent human tendency to engage en masse in public “witch hunts” which we might see today as “cancel culture” for whatever the target of the day might be.
But less is known about the witch hunts that were stopped before they had time to gain momentum. One that is hidden in colonial records happened in 1703, just ten years after the end of the Salem Witch Trial season, in the Currituck District of North Carolina. This area is in the northeastern coast of North Carolina where the Tuscarora and Chowan Nations lived in uneasy co-existence with the colonists.
The complaints begin
Martha Richardson, in the county of Albemarle, North Carolina was accused of being a witch and bewitching William Parker.
On This Day, July 20, 1703, "Martha Richardson of ye Precinct of Corrotuck of ye County of Albemarle in ye province of North Carolina, not having ye fear of God before her Eyes... Devillishly and Maliciously Bewitch[ed] and by assistance of the Devill afflict[ed] the body [of] said William Parker..."1
Just five days later, Thomas Bouchier and his wife filed another complaint against Susannah Evans.
It appears before the formal criminal charge was made, John Evans and Susanah, his wife, met with their neighbors, Thomas Bouchier and Deborah Bouchier, his wife, to try to settle the matter. Susannah and her husband said she was not a witch and to drop the accusation. Thomas Bouchier remained unconvinced. Thomas Bouchier testified with regard to John Evans in that meeting, “he thretned me that he wold much bruse my body.” John Evans argued that Thomas Bouchier was not sick and “was as well as he.”2 So that ended the pretrial negotiations.
The trial proceeded. On August 31, 1703, the deposition of the complainant was taken:
The transcription of the deposition of Thomas Bouchier remarkably survived for three hundred years giving us insight into the state of mind of the complainant, speaking about the defendant, Susannah Evans:
Transcription Reflect & Discuss Corahtuck pr[e]cinct August the [31th?] 1703 The Deposition of Tho: Boucher aged :39: years or there abouts sayeth that upon the: 24th: of July =1703 your Deponts’ fam Houshould (or famaly) was then in perfect helth Excepting one person which was Recovering out of his salivation: the same day att Eve[nin]g I “your depont” called one Tho: Walker a servant of the Deponts to come to meet: but he instantly cryed out that his paine was soo great that he cold not come crying out of his belly and stumack and soo continueth Dissabled to this Day; the next Day morning it being the 25th of July: 1703 the aforesaid Walkers wife came from - John Evans “his” House and youre Depont said to her I was very glad that shee was come that shee might nurs her husbund; within one hower or two my wife was taken with a paine in her foot soe Exsteremly and sevearly that shee cryed out: and acquainted me that her pain was in such sort that her foot felt as though if a thousand alls or nailes was Pearsing them and could have noe ease but when (???they) her foot was put in hott water soe she continued: 24: howers there the paine seased in her foot but shee was tormented in her bowels to the day of her death the which sickness continued abought a month. . . 3
There is no mention of Susanah Evans’s name in this deposition, nor any mention of witchcraft, yet that is exactly the crime with which she was charged. This may have been on advice of his lawyer not to mention Susannah’s name or “witch” because if the court does not find Susannah Evans to be a witch, then the Evans can counter sue for defamation and slander.
The Trial
After the deposition, a jury was called for the trial to take place on October 27, 1703 which happened to be on a Saturday. The court transcript details that:
the Marshall is Comanded to come etc. And there Came Mr. Robt. WALLIS, James FARLOW, Wm. EARLY, Francis BEASLY, James WARD, John WIDBY, John WATTKINS, Zak KETON, Robt. LOWRY, William SIMSON, William LUFTMAN, Hugh PRICHARD, Cornelius JONES, Richd. STAMP, Richd. MARDSON, Cornelius FITZPATRICK who were Impananlled and is sworn.
The members of the jury are established residents of the community and most if not all are landholders based on surviving records:
Cornelius Jones was granted an island of 1200 acres, as well as another 400 acres. Said to have been the jury foreman.
Robt. Wallis was granted 400 acres on the Pasquotank River.
James Farlow was granted land in Chowan County in 1702.
William Early was granted land from Richard Bunch in Chowan County in 1702.
Francis Beasly was granted land from Jacob Blount in Chowan County in 1699; and from Wells in 1708.
James Ward was granted land from James Williamson in Chowan County in 1715.
John Widby does not have any surviving land grants, but appears in the Quaker Meeting notes for Periquimans County in the 1690s.
Robert Lowery has a will in 1742 with a significant inventory in his estate.
William Simpson has a grant of land from William Simpson in Chowan County in 1756.
Richard Stamp has a will in Pasquotank County in 1722 with a plantation and slaves.
Cornelius Fitzpatrick was granted 500 acres in Pasquotank district in 1704/5 on the north side of Alligator Creek.
There were no apparent surviving records for the rest of the jurors
Capt. Cornelius Jones is considered by historians to be the foreman on the jury of sixteen men. From a review of the archival records, most of them have records of owning significant amounts of land. Both William Early and Francis Beasley had an unspecified amount of land granted to them may have been Chowan Indians, Richard Bunch and Jacob Blount, respectively.
“Cornelius Jones, a well-known sea captain, served as foreman of the grand jury. Captain Jones had been well informed of the atrocities in Salem, Mass., during his travels to the New England colonies. He convinced the jurors to dismiss the charges of witchcraft. His political motive was to avoid the hysteria that had occurred in Salem [in 1692]. Even though Susannah was found not guilty, it was reported the townsfolk continued to keep their distance from her….”
On October 27, 1703, the jury found “no Bill and the person Ignoramus and it is ordered that the said Susanh. Evens be acquitted paying the Charges.”4
The legal definition of the term while appearing in our earliest colonial grand jury actions, is still in use in some jurisdictions in America. The Cumberland County, Pennsylvania court defines the use of the legal term “Ignoramus” as meaning:
''we are ignorant; we ignore it." Written by the grand jury on bills of indictment when, after hearing evidence, they thought the accusations against the prisoner were groundless, suggesting that though the facts could be true, the truth did not appear to them.5
John and Susanah Evans complained that their reputations had been damaged by this lawsuit and accusation, and filed a law suit for defamation against the estate of the now deceased John Evans.
What might have caused the family illness?
Bouchier, the complainant with his wife Deborah, explained the symptoms his wife had, then he himself as well as the servant Walker in the house also began exhibiting the same symptoms:
“. . . within one hower or two my wife was taken with a pain in her feet soe Exstreemly and sevearly that shee Cryed out: and acquainted me that he paine was in such sort that her feet Felt as if a thousand alls or nailes was Pearsing them and Could Have noe Ease but when her feet was put in hott water soe she Continued: 24: howers Then the paine seassed in her feet but shee was tormented in her bowels to the day of her death the which sickness Continued about a month and many helpful men and woman: indevered to give her Ease and helpe but all in vaine.”6
In 1703, exposure to a toxin that might cause peripheral neuropathy and acute abdominal pain followed by death some weeks later, might be attributed to environmental exposure and ingestion or inhalation. The water may have been contaminated with arsenic, but that poisoning while associated with neurological affects, does not typically present with peripheral neuropathy. However, there are two other possibilities that cause both of these symptoms: neural tissue from a slaughtered pig that is inhaled, or toxic oil syndrome from rapeseed oil.7 That said, the use of medicinal plants presents other possibilities like Water hemlock plants grow along the East Coast and are easily confused with edible plants such as pignut or wild carrot. Even drinking the water where they grow and have been crushed into the water has been known to poison cattle.8
Fortunately, the jury acquitted both defendants accused of being witches and held back what might have become a witch trial frenzy. However, the human tendency to blame witches for their ailments is habit that is apparently hard to stop.
1792 in South Carolina — still, witch trials
As late as 1792, another eruption of identifying an elderly village woman of being a witch in Fairfield County, South Carolina. Thanks to a clever local Baptist minister, the entire witch frenzy ended with a laugh.
According to Dutch Fork traditionalist Lee Gandee, after the “scare” of 1792, “…a wise Baptist minister of Fairfield, Rev. William Woodward, is said to have preached a sermon on witchcraft which was supposed to have attracted a large audience. The crowd was keyed to a high pitch of expectancy and the preacher began by admitting that sorcery and magic did exist. However, he declared with mock seriousness, people should not imagine that old or ugly women were witches. What woman with supernatural powers would use them to make herself ugly or old? Rather, he said, suspect beautiful young girls of witchcraft, since with a look and a few words murmured in a certain way, they can draw boys away from their families, turn them first into lackeys and at last into lifelong toilers...”
“The tension broke. The crowd laughed, and the Fairfield witch hunt was over… Witchcraft and laughter cannot coexist.”9
How quickly we forget
It has been long remembered that the Salem Witch Trials were still held up as an anomaly in America, put to rest forever in 1792 when they were officially ended by the Governor. Today, several organizations are seeking to pardon those wrongly convicted of witchcraft in Salem and anywhere women were convicted. This doll maker is making sure that Susannah Evans is not forgotten for her lifetime of shunning as a witch, although acquitted, with a commemorative doll.
Misdirected and Redirected
Returning to the jury foreman, Capt. Jones it is important to note he was not known for letting people off lightly. However, he led the jury to acquit both Susannah Evans and Martha Richardson. Sure, he may have been averting this witch frenzy to avoid devaluing his massive land holdings in the area, or to avoid disrupting his trade route, but nonetheless, he did us all a favor.
Thanks to the Baptist minister in 1792 South Carolina who led his congregation to laugh at the idea of witchcraft to avert the “scare” of 1792. The leaders who are insightful enough to stop witch trials are the unsung heros in these stories.
We could use a few more of those type of heros today.