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40 Real People Executed for Witchcraft

Tim Flight October 15, 2019 27 min

12. Alse Young just pipped Margaret Jones to this title…

The Quaker Mary Dyer being led to her execution on Boston Common, June 1, 1660, 19th century. Wikimedia Commons

Hot on Alse’s tail came Margaret Jones at the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1648. Details about the accusation are again sketchy, but Jones worked as a midwife and folk healer. Such professions were enough to make someone a witch. Presumably, babies died or fell ill, and once again the midwife got the blame. The Massachusetts prosecutors carried out investigations based upon Matthew Hopkins’s published methods, and subjected Jones to sleep deprivation. Her guards reported seeing her familiars come and visit Jones in prison. She denied all charges, but the court hanged her immediately after delivering the inevitable guilty verdict.

Written by

Tim Flight

I am a freelance historical and literary writer based in West Yorkshire, UK. I read for a funded PhD in English at the University of Oxford (Magdalen College) and graduated in 2016. I am a former lecturer in Medieval English Literature at Royal Holloway, University of London. My publications include peer-reviewed articles in academic publications, and pieces in mainstream magazines such as History Today and Fortean Times. For more information, please see www.drflight.co.uk