land of salem

In 1639, Increase Norwell, recording secretary of the General Court of Massachusetts, made a mistake.

The Court granted land to the town of Salem but specified the wrong land.    Salemite John Putnam bought 1000 acres of it and set up shop there.

Eleven years later, Mass created the town of Topsfield, granting land to it that they didn't know had been erroneously given to Salem.    The Putnams disputed it, but the Court ruled in favor of Topsfield, noting and correcting the error.

More disputes followed, more Court rulings in favor of Topsfield.    Committee members' last names included How, Easty, Wildes, and Towne.

More legal trouble and interpersonal violence, and political upheaval.    In the 1690s, an event you've heard of:  the witchcraft trials of, among others, Rebecca Nurse, Mary Easty, and Sarah Cloyce, the three living daughters of William and Joanna Towne —– and Topsfield’s Sarah Wildes and Elizabeth How.    They were accused of witchcraft by, among others, third generation Putnam family members Thomas Putnam Jr., his wife Ann Putnam, and their daughter, 12-year-old Ann Putnam Jr.

So many things to observe here.    Right?    "It was a superstitious age," we say.    But look around:  people are genuinely apt to see the worst in their enemies this very day.    So it may have been cooked-up, or it may have been "look at what those people over there are capable of!"    . . .    or both.

Note the accusation came from those who were in error.

Note that when facts didn't work for them in court, religion did.

Note that the accused members of the How, Easty, Wildes, and Towne families were all women.

Note that, even today, we talk about the witch trials as if they were about superstition rather than 1000 acres.