Massachusetts -- Periodicals; New England -- Periodicals
Sickness visited several families, and Goody Morse, as was her custom,
acted as village nurse. One by one her patients died. John Dee, Mrs.
William Chandler, Mrs. Goodwin's child, and an infant of Mr. Ordway's,
were among the dead. The rumor ran about that Goody Morse was a witch.
John Chase affirmed that he had seen her coming into his house through a
knot-hole at night. John Gladding saw "halfe of Marm Morse about two a
clocke in ye daytime." Jonathan Woodman, seeing a strange black cat,
struck it; and Dr. Dole was called the same day to treat a bruise on
Mrs. Morse. The natural inference was that the old lady was a witch and
the cause of all of these strange things, as well as of the
extraordinary occurrences in her home. Accusers were not wanting, and
she was arrested. In her trial all of this evidence was put in, and her
husband repeated his testimony at the Powell trial. The county court
heard it and passed the case to the General Court, from whence it was
returned.
The records abound in reports of the testimony. We will only quote the
evidence of Zachariah Davis, who said:--
"I having offended Goody Morse, my three calves fell a dancing and
roaring, and were in such a condition as I never saw a calf in before
... A calf ran a roaringe away soe that we gott him only with much adoe
and putt him in ye barne, and we heard him roar severell times in ye
night. In ye morning I went to ye barne, and there he was setting upon
his tail like a dog. I never see no calf set after that manner before;
and so he remained in these fits till he died."
The entry on the court record is as follows:--
"Boston, May ye 20, 1680:--The Grand Jury presenting Elizabeth, wife of
William Morse. She was indicted by name of Elizabeth Morse for that she
not having ye fear of God before her eyes, being instigated by the
Devil, and had familiarity with the Devil contrary to ye peace of our
sovereign lord, the King, his crown and dignity, the laws of God, and of
this jurisdiction. After the prisoner was att ye barr and pleaded not
guilty, and put herself on ye country and God for trial. Ye evidences
being produced were read and committed to ye jury."
"Boston, May 21st, of 1680:--Ye jury brought in their verdict. They
found Elizabeth Morse guilty according to indictment.
"May ye 27:--Then ye sentence of ye Governor, to wit:--'Elizabeth you
are to goe from hence to ye plaice from which you come, and thence to
the plaice of execution, and there to be hanged, by ye neck, till you be
dead; and ye Lord have mercy on your Soule.'"
"June ye 1st:--Ye Governor and ye magistrates voted ye reprieving of
Eliz. Morse, as attests,
"EDWARD RAWSON, Secretary."
The unfortunate woman seems to have remained imprisoned until the
meeting of the Legislature. On the records of that body we find:--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account