The Hanging of Bridget Bishop: June 10, 1692

On June 10, 1692 Bridget Bishop became the first to be executed in the Salem Witch Trials when she was hanged at Proctor’s Ledge in Salem. While Boston’s General Court carried on and Governor Sir William Phips appointed a committee to revise Massachusetts laws, fear rippled across the region—from Wells, Maine, where Captain James Converse guarded supply sloops after cattle returned bloodied, to Salem, where Sheriff George Corwin led Bishop from jail to the hanging site. A crowd gathered, the afflicted reported spectral attacks, and Beverly minister John Hale recorded Quaker Thomas Maule’s harsh condemnation. With a slow strangling noose and blood finally shed, the witch-hunt crossed a point of no return, putting the remaining accused on notice.00:00 Welcome to the Series00:10 Midsummer in 169200:18 Boston Court Business00:29 Tension in Wells Maine00:50 Bridget Bishop Taken01:07 Procter's Ledge Execution01:21 A Crowd and Specters01:37 How the Hanging Worked01:54 John Hale and Thomas Maule02:11 No Turning BackSalem 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.com⁠⁠Mary Beth Norton, In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692: https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9780375706905⁠Bernard Rosenthal, ed., Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt: https://bookshop.org/a/90227/9781107689619⁠⁠Emerson 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