The Witch Trials: A Cautionary Event

My older sister sent me the following essay, which echoes my own thoughts.  I was going to write something on Franken, including the mention of our great great great grandfather, but she did it first, as always.  So here it is. 

Our country is devolving into what could potentially become a culture of mass hysteria. I'm referring specifically to the “Me Too” movement on social media. We are undergoing a period of intense stress and fear, and I believe we should be very careful.

My ancestor, Andrew Eliot, was a juror at the Salem witch trials and was responsible, along with the other jurors, for the execution of over 20 innocent women. For this reason, I am especially on the alert when I see evidence of mass hysteria and the punishment of individuals for alleged deeds that are committed years before what might be an irrational phenomenon.

Andrew Eliot, a humble cordswainer and respected citizen in the Salem area, along with his fellow jurors, later apologized:

 We confess that we ourselves were not capable to understand, nor able to withstand the mysterious delusions of the powers of darkness and prince of the air, but were for want of knowledge in ourselves and better information from others, prevailed with to take up with such evidence against the accused as on further consideration and better information, we justly fear was insufficient for the touching the lives of any, Deuteronomy 17.6, whereby we fear we have been instrumental with others, though ignorantly and unwittingly, to bring upon ourselves and this people of the Lord, the guilt of innocent blood, which sin the Lord saith in Scripture, he would not pardon, 2 Kings 24.4, that is we suppose in regard of His temporal judgments. We do, therefore, hereby signify to all in general (and to the surviving sufferers in especial) our deep sense of and sorrow for our errors in acting on such evidence to the condemning of any person.

 And do hereby declare that we justly fear that we were sadly deluded and mistaken, for which we are much disquieted and distressed in our minds, and do therefore humbly beg forgiveness, first of God for Christ's sake for this our error. And pray that God would not impute the guilt of it to ourselves nor others. And we also pray that we may be considered candidly and aright by the living sufferers as being then under the power of a strong and general delusion, utterly unacquainted with and not experienced in matters of that nature. We do heartily ask forgiveness of you all, whom we have justly offended and do declare, according to our present minds, we would none of us do such things again on such grounds for the whole world, praying you to accept of this in way of satisfaction for our offense, and that you would bless the inheritance of the Lord that He may be entreated for the land.” 

Foreman, Thomas Fisk,Thomas Perly Senior,William Fiske, John Peabody, John Batcheler,Thomas Perkins, Thomas Fisk, Junior, Samuel Sather, John Dane, Andrew Elliott [sic] Joseph Evelith, Henry Herrick, Senior

 From "The Apology of the Salem Jury," 1697.

This apology has taught me that any of us, in any place or time, could be carried away by fears that are increased by lies and worse.  It deserves reprinting.

I was a hearing officer with the Connecticut Department of Labor, had occasion to hear a few sex harassment and discrimination cases. Although I was sympathetic to the women who complained, having had some nasty incidents myself in previous employment, my job was to develop accurate and objective findings of fact before making a legal decision as to whether she quit her job for reasons attributable to the employer that would qualify her for unemployment benefits. I had a memorable case in which a woman accused her boss of sexual harassment, and it turned out that she exaggerated some minor incidents, which were disproved by credible testimony from her former co-workers. As it happened, she quit her job because she did not want to share her commission on a sale with another (female) coworker who closed the sale. I found she left for reasons that were not attributable to the employer. Privately, I was astounded that someone would cruelly go to those lengths to cause unbearable stress to a man and his family out of revenge and in order to receive unemployment benefits.

So, I am very disturbed when I see evidence of other motives behind some of the complaints of sexual harassment. This is not meant to be critical of women who have had legitimate experiences of sexual abuse that have damaged their lives and who have had the courage to speak up, but we must be very careful in our accusations so that the consequences of a man's sexual behavior fits its actual intent and effects on a woman.

As a connection to the witch trials I found an email in reddit.com/r/history submitted a year ago about the effect of ergot, a mold-like substance on rye wheat that supposedly caused the weird behavior of the supposed victims in Salem:

“Just finished my thesis on the Salem Witch Trials. The Ergot thing was disproven decades ago. One of the most damning facts was that "witches" didn't just come from Salem, they came from all of the surrounding towns and villages in that county as well. Most likely the accusations were the product of a sue happy culture using the moment to settle old scores. For instance the Putnam family accused a man hundreds of miles away simply because he owed them money. The first afflicted girls who blamed Tituba later admitted they were bored. Tituba was an easy target since she was a slave and a Native American.”

I therefore urge that we all do detective work and turn ourselves into fact-finders, using reliable sources — and carefully, dispassionately evaluate the evidence before ruining the lives of decent people and rewarding those who would destroy them for political reasons and profit.

Lee Ellen Terry