The Hartford Witch Panic

Long before Salem, Connecticut was already burning witches. In 1647, Alse Young was hanged — marking the first known witch execution in the colonies. Over the next two decades, fear would spread through Hartford’s streets and pulpits alike. In this episode, we uncover the forgotten origins of America’s first witch panic — drawing from trial records, Puritan law, and the echoes left behind in New England’s earliest settlements. Join J. Lynn as she traces how superstition, scripture, and suspicion collided — and why the shadows of Hartford still linger today. A Quietly Unsettled original — where history and hauntings intertwine