During the beginning of Boston’s history, the form of execution was hanging. Officials hung many of these criminals on the Great Elm on Boston Common. Two of the more controversial reasons for hangings were for being witches or Quakers. Even though there was little evidence to support witchcraft, the fear of witches was real and widespread throughout the colonies. Even before the famous Salem Witch Trials of 1692, Boston hung witches. In 1648, the first convicted witch in the colony, Margaret Jones, died by hanging. There is no evidence of earlier instances of witchcraft in the Massachusetts Bay Colony prior to her case. At the same time of her case, her husband Thomas Jones was arrested for suspicion of witchcraft. The court found him innocent and allowed him to leave Boston. It is unclear what happened to him, but one source described an incident on the ship he left Boston in. Apparently, he and the ship captain argued over money for the voyage. After the argument, the ship started tumbling around, even though the water was calm. After hearing of the incident, the Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony sent for his arrest.

Like many of the first women accused of witchcraft, Margaret was seen as strange. She practiced medicine with natural herbs and people believed she could see the future. She even knew of conversations and events that she took no part in. The courts arrested her for suspicious activities, including her potentially making her neighbors sick. Some thought that with a touch alone she either caused pain or healed pain. At other times, she chose not to help the sick. One of the most damaging accusations against her was that she had a familiar, an animal that fed from a witch’s mark on the witch’s body at night and would do the witches evil biddings during the day. After arrested, Margaret was watched by authorities when they spotted her familiar. Even to the day of her execution, she claimed her innocence. 

By: Jessica McKenzie 

Credits and Sources:

Poole, William F. “Witchcraft in Boston.” InThe Memorial History of Boston Including Suffolk County, Massachusetts 1630-1880.Vol. II.Edited by Justin Winsor. Boston, MA: James R. Osgood and Company, 1881. 

Witch-Hunting in Seventeenth Century New England: A Documentary History 1658-1695.2^nd ed. Edited by David D. Hall. Boston, MA: Northeastern University Press, 1991.