EPISODE · May 15, 2026 · 5 MIN
8 Accused of Witchcraft and the New Governor Arrives: May 14, 1692
from Salem Witch Trials Daily · host Josh Hutchinson and Sarah Jack
New Warrants, Missing Suspects, and a Spectral “Prediction”We follow Elizabeth Hart as she confronts Ann Putnam Jr. after being accused of afflicting her, only for Ann to claim Hart’s specter returned to torment her and push her to write it down. Tension spikes as Nathaniel Ingersoll and Thomas Putnam push fresh complaints naming eight new suspects and one already-arrested target, with oddly incomplete warrants leaving some women’s first names blank. Arrests unfold unevenly: some are taken, others vanish—including Elizabeth Colson, who slips away toward Boston and buys months of freedom—while Hart and Thomas Farrar Sr. are seized without trouble. We also track Mercy Lewis’s deposition about John Willard’s specter and the conveniently timed claim that Daniel Wilkins would die within two days, alongside eerie testimony against Dorcas Hoar and the arrival of Increase Mather and Governor William Phips in Boston with a new charter in hand.00:00 Welcome and Setup00:12 Hart Confronts Putnams00:42 New Suspects Named01:37 Warrants and Arrests02:44 Willard Specter Claim03:44 Dorcas Hoar Deposition04:41 Mather and Phips Return04:51 Closing Tease LinksSalem Witch Trials History YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCliis4vjMIUgg3wcA0pXeYQ/Salem Witch Trials Daily Hub: https://aboutsalem.com/salem-witch-trials-daily/The Thing About the Salem Witch Trials: https://aboutsalem.comThe Thing About Witch Hunts: https://aboutwitchhunts.comBernard Rosenthal, ed., Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt: https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9781107689619Emerson W. Baker and John G. Reid, The New England Knight: Sir William Phips, 1651-1695: https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9780802081711Emerson W. Baker, A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience: https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9780190627805Marilynne K. Roach, The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege: https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9781589791329High Quality Scans of Original Court Documents - Peabody Essex Museum Salem Witch Trials Collection: https://pem.quartexcollections.com/collections/salem-witch-trials-collection
What this episode covers
New Warrants, Missing Suspects, and a Spectral “Prediction”We follow Elizabeth Hart as she confronts Ann Putnam Jr. after being accused of afflicting her, only for Ann to claim Hart’s specter returned to torment her and push her to write it down. Tension spikes as Nathaniel Ingersoll and Thomas Putnam push fresh complaints naming eight new suspects and one already-arrested target, with oddly incomplete warrants leaving some women’s first names blank. Arrests unfold unevenly: some are taken, others vanish—including Elizabeth Colson, who slips away toward Boston and buys months of freedom—while Hart and Thomas Farrar Sr. are seized without trouble. We also track Mercy Lewis’s deposition about John Willard’s specter and the conveniently timed claim that Daniel Wilkins would die within two days, alongside eerie testimony against Dorcas Hoar and the arrival of Increase Mather and Governor William Phips in Boston with a new charter in hand.00:00 Welcome and Setup00:12 Hart Confronts Putnams00:42 New Suspects Named01:37 Warrants and Arrests02:44 Willard Specter Claim03:44 Dorcas Hoar Deposition04:41 Mather and Phips Return04:51 Closing Tease LinksSalem Witch Trials History YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCliis4vjMIUgg3wcA0pXeYQ/Salem Witch Trials Daily Hub: https://aboutsalem.com/salem-witch-trials-daily/The Thing About the Salem Witch Trials: https://aboutsalem.comThe Thing About Witch Hunts: https://aboutwitchhunts.comBernard Rosenthal, ed., Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt: https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9781107689619Emerson W. Baker and John G. Reid, The New England Knight: Sir William Phips, 1651-1695: https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9780802081711Emerson W. Baker, A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience: https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9780190627805Marilynne K. Roach, The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-by-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege: https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9781589791329High Quality Scans of Original Court Documents - Peabody Essex Museum Salem Witch Trials Collection: https://pem.quartexcollections.com/collections/salem-witch-trials-collection
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8 Accused of Witchcraft and the New Governor Arrives: May 14, 1692
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