(fictional historic reports) Salem witch trials
The Court of Oyer and Terminer
date: July 7th 1692
location: Topsfield Massachusetts
accused: miss Geraldine Goode
judge: Mr. George Burroughs
report:
sentenced for witchcraft.
Miss. Geraldine Goode, 17 years old, was brought to trial for communing with unholy spirits and aiding the devil. The accused has been seen by her fellow townsfolk spasming while speaking in tongues not of this holy realm. The accused was brought to trial in Topsfield Courthouse on July 7th, 1692, where a standard witch test was performed. This test was performed at 08.00 hours. The accused was brought before the town in chains as Mr. Thomas Edwin and Mr. David Bishop repeatedly pierced the accused's arms and torso with silver pins. The results concluded the accused had not bled from the injuries, a clear indication of witchcraft. The accused confessed to her conviction, claiming there were "other witches acting alongside her in the service of the devil" and that she had been acting as an "informant" to both the town and the devil. The accused was then taken to a gallows erected that morning at the Topsfield congregational church and hung drawn and quartered before the townsfolk and jury. The trial concluded with the burning of Miss Goode's body at the aforementioned site, a grave will not be erected. This will be the fifth witch found this month in this town.
date: august 20th 1692
location: Andover Massachusetts
accused: Mrs Elizabeth Alton
judge: Mr Jonathan Corwin
report:
accused of witchcraft.
Mrs Elizabeth Alton, 32 years of age, was bought before the church and its people on this the 20th august 1692. charged with witchcraft, Mrs Alton produced the only lacklustre harvest in the town, along with a collection of black animals suspected of being Mrs. Alton's familiars, who assisted in her suspected devil worship. Mrs Alton remained quiet during sentencing and such a standard witch test was performed. the accused was stripped of her garments and taken to Lake Cochichewick, where she was lashed to a church chair and pushed in. She remained silent with a grim expression. However, Mrs. Alton failed to float and passed away in the water. She is absolved of all sins and will be prayed for. May our Lord be merciful to her soul. A headstone will be erected in her memory. Cases of witchcraft are still on the rise, with another five cases preceding this one. this town will not fall to the devils rule.
The Court of Oyer and Terminer
date: September 14th 1692
location: Salem town Massachusetts
accused: miss Anne Osbourne
judge: Mr. John Hathorne
report:
sentenced for communing with the devil
Miss Anne Osbourne was bought before the church on September 14th for wearing garments torn or worn in an unholy manor tempting the good, holy men of Salem town. upon hearing the sentence, the accused screamed back in anguish and cursed the jury, leaning into the accusation from the court further. A witch cake made from the accused's urine, mixed with rye-meal and ashes, was baked by Mr. James Holmes, as the assailant was held in the church jail overnight. This was then fed to the cat suspected of being the accused's familiar to test if the church's suspicions were correct. The baker of the witch cake was said to have had a divine vision of the accused abducting the children of the town, although the animal sustained no injury. The accused was sentenced to burn at the stake for her crimes against the lord and village. Upon the stroke of midnight, the accused was lashed to a spike on top of a pile of firewood, set ablaze and left to burn, screaming curses of the devil at the town and people. The ashes will be cleansed and thrown into the bay river. Her records will be destroyed in the gods' purifying flames as this is the 8th witch we have found in our midst and fear the devil may be calling to these women through the water. May God help these holy men.
sources:
https://www.history.com/topics/colonial-america/salem-witch-trials
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