Susannah Sheldon
Biographical Information
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Susannah Sheldon was one of the "afflicted" girls of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Susannah was commonly believed to be the daughter of William Sheldon and Rebecca Scadlock/Scarlett - which in turn has been used to write an early life narrative for Susannah. However, there is no birth record for Susannah and she is not listed among William's children in his Last Will, nor any other family documents. It is more likely that Susannah was the unnamed child of the widow Elizabeth Sheldon, noted in Salem records in 1679/80 as receiving assistance from the village.
The Trials[edit]
The very first complaint of witchcraft at Salem in 1692 was made by Elizabeth Parris, Abigail Williams, Ann Putnam, and Elizabeth Hubbard. Abigail is colloquially considered to be the central girl among the accused, and was the lead character in Nathaniel Hawthorne's play The Crucible. However, Abigail was only 11 or 12 years of age at the time and was living with her uncle, the village pastor Samuel Parris, along with his wife Elizabeth, their three children including daughter Elizabeth Parris, and his two slaves - Tituba and John Indian, an indigenous married couple. Tituba was the first to be accused of witchcraft, to which she confessed and named two others - Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne - at the end of February 1692. Tituba would later say that Samuel Parris beat her into a confession and coacherd her on what to say. She stayed in jail during the trials, as well as an additioanl 13 months in jail in Boston when Samuel Parris refused to pay her jail fees. She was eventually sold for the amount of her jail fees, the details of the remainder of her life are unknown. Elizabeth Parris was only 9 years old, Ann Putnam was 12 and Elizaebth Hubbard was the eldest, at 17. Elizabeth Hubbard was the niece and maidservant to her uncle, Dr. William Griggs - who had attended on Elizabeth Parris and Abigail Williams when they began to have fits, which he deemend were supernatural in nature. Ann Putnam was the daughter of Thomas Putnam, a close friend of Samuel Parris, and one of the men who first issued the warrant against Tituba, Sarah Osborne, and Sarah Good.
Susannah Sheldon is first mentioned in the trials on 30 Apr 1692 when Capt. Jonathan Walcot and Sgt. Thomas Putnam made a complaint against George Burroughs (previously a minister of Salem Village, but by that time a minister in Wells, Maine); widow Lydia Dustin of Reading, MA; widow Susannah Martin of Amesbury, MA; widow Dorcas Hoar of Beverly, MA; Sarah Murrell of Beverly, MA; and Philip English, a merchant of Salem - for "high suspition of sundry acts of witchcraft done or committed by them upon the bodies of" Mary Walcott, Mercy Lewis, Abigail Williams, Ann Putnam, Elizabeth Hubbard, and Susannah Sheldon. It is unclear how Susannah became involved in the trials, but it may be assumed that she was a friend of Elizabeth Hubbard - being they were close in age and likely of similar social status.
Testimony[edit]
17 May 1692 -
- That on 24 Apr 1692 the saw Phillip English step over his pew and pinch her and another woman who had come from Boston. Later, while walking agaisnt William Shaws house, she came upon Phillip English and "a black man with a high crowned hat on his head and a book in his hand, holding the book to her", and Phillip English told her that the black man was her God, and that if she touched the book he would not pinch her or anyone else. The next day Phillip English came again and pinched her and told that he would kill her if she didn't touch the book.
- That on the night of 25 Apr 1692 two women and a man appeared to her and brought their books and asked her to touch them. She did not know who they were lived until the elder woman told her they lived in the village and that she was Goodman Buckleys wife and that the other woman was her daughter Mary - she asked Susannah to touch the book again. Goodwife Buckleys said she had been a witch for 10 years, and then she "opened her breast" and the "black man gave her two little things like young cats and she put them to her breast and suckled them - they had no hair on them and had ears like a man". They asked her to touch their books again but Suannah refused them and Goodwife Buckleys pinched her and the man struck her on the head, and they went away.
- That on 26 Apr 1692 a woman was outside the door laughing at her and came into the house and hoped up and down and told Susannah she would not pinch her if she toucher her book. Susannah refused, saying she didn't know her. The woman said she lived in Boston and that her name was Goodwife Whits. The same day Goodwife Buckleys and her daughter returned and told Susannah they wouldn't pinch her if she touched their books. Susannah refused again, they pinched her and went away. But she then continues that, while still inside the door, Goodwife Buckleys "came and stopped my mouth" and carried her away, she knew not how, close to a mile away and told her that Susannah was now in her command and if she didn't book her hand on the book she would be killed. William Shaw, who was plowing in his field, "heard a fearful cry in a thicket of young wood, went to it, and found her in a terrible manner screaming and breaking sticks and fighting in a violent manner."
- That on the night of 27 Apr 1692 came Goodwife Oliver, Mrs. English, and Goodman Cory with "a black man with a high crowned hat" with books in their hands. Goody Oliver asked Susannah to touch her book, and told her she had been a witch for 20 years - then a snake creaped over her shoulder "and crept into her bosom". Then Mrs English had a yellow bird "in her bosom" and Goodman Cory had two turles ("tircels") hanging to his coat, he opened his bosom and put his turtles "to his breast and gave them suck". Then Goodman Cory and Goody Oliver kneeled down before the black man and went to prayer. Then the man told Susannah that Goody Oliver had been a witch for 20 years and a half. Then all "set to biting me" and went away. The next morning Goodman Cory and Mrs. English returned and told Susannah she shouldn't eat. Susannah put a spoonfull in her mouth and Goodman Cory hit her on the ear and she almost choaked - then laughed at her and told her she could not eat until he told her to, and held her hands for over 15 min so that she couldn't open them. Then Philip English came and told her he would bite her if she didn't touch his book. She refused, he bit her, and went away.
- That on the night of 28 Apr 1692 came Goody Oliver, Mrs. English, Goodman Cory, and Goodwife Cory. Goodwife Cory tried to give Susannah a book but she refused. She asked her where she lived, she said in the Boston Prison. Then she pulled out her breast and "the black man gave her a thing like a black pig, it had no hair on it, and she put it on her breast and give it suck. And when it sucked on her breast, then the other breast. Then they prayed to the man and Goody Oliver told Susannah that she had killed four women - two of them being "the fosters wife" and John Trasks wife. Then they all bit her and went away.
- That on 29 Apr 1692 Goody Cory choaked her and told her she couldn't eat.
Documentation[edit]
Court Records[edit]
- 30 Apr 1692: Complaint against George Burroughs, Lydia Dustin, Susannah Martin, Dorcas Hoar, Sarah Morey, and Philip English
- 2 May 1692: Examination of Dorcas Hora
- 17 May 1692: Statement of Susannah Sheldon v. Bridget Bishop, Mary English, Phillip English, Giles Corey, and Martha Corey
- 2 Jun 1692: Deposition of Susannah Sheldon v. Bridget Bishop