Elizabeth Hubbard (Salem witch trials)

Elizabeth Hubbard
Born ca. 1674/1675
Massachusetts Bay Colony
Died Unknown
Unknown
Known for First accuser in the Salem witch trials who was of legal age to testify
Home town Boston, Massachusetts Bay County

Elizabeth Hubbard was born in 1674 (death unknown) She was seventeen years old in the spring of 1692.[1] Dr. Griggs, the town physician in Salem, Massachusetts, diagnosed Elizabeth and several other girls with the affliction of an “Evil Hand”.[1] In simpler terms, the girls were said to be victims suffering from the powers of the Salem witches, trials lasting February 1692 to May 1693.[1] During this time, twenty people were executed by hanging (except for one), fourteen of which were women.

Early life

Elizabeth Hubbard was born in Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1674 and was one of the original girls to begin witchcraft accusations in spring of 1692, along with Abigail Williams.[2] Hubbard was an orphan and lived with her uncle, Dr. William Griggs and his wife.[3] She was known by locals as the servant of the house rather than their adopted daughter.[2] Hubbard was a leading accuser in the Salem Witch Trials and was known for her powerful imagination and for not speaking the truth [2]

Involvement in Salem Witch Trials

There was a group of girls that consisted of ages ranging from twelve to twenty who were close friends and also the main accusers in the Salem witch trials.[4] This group, of which Elizabeth Hubbard was a part of, also included Ann Putnam, Jr., Mary Walcott, Betty Parris, Abigail Williams, Elizabeth Booth, Mercy Lewis, and Mary Warren.[4] These girls would listen to tales told by Tituba, a slave owned by Reverend Samuel Parris.[4] Because Elizabeth Hubbard was the maidservant of Dr. William Griggs, she probably knew about the "fits" Abigail Williams and Elizabeth “Betty” Parris had, which occurred in January 1692.[5] These fits included them throwing things, screaming, making weird sounds and bend themselves in odd positions.[5] When the local physician, Dr.Griggs, Elizabeth Hubbard’s guardian and great-uncle, looked at them, he blamed the supernatural when he could not find anything physically wrong with them.[5] Elizabeth's first recorded fit occurred on February 1, 1692.[1] Her age allowed her to testify under oath, leading her to have a major role in the witch trials.[2] A major reason as to why so many of the people she accused were thought to be guilty was because of Elizabeth's cunning persuasive skills.[2] She was very manipulative and her claims were highly supported by her actions as she and the other accusers would be thrown into "fits" while testifying against the "witches".[1] Elizabeth in particular was known for these trances and during Elizabeth Proctor's trial, Hubbard was supposedly under a deep trance throughout the entire trial that also prevented her from speaking.[6] The first accusation to be made was not made by Elizabeth Hubbard but rather her friends, nine-year-old Elizabeth ("Betty") Parris and eleven-year-old Abigail Williams (Samuel Parris’ niece), after being pressured by Jonathan Corwin and John Hathorne into giving an explanation as to why they were experiencing these unexplainable "fits".[4] On February 29, the girls placed the blame on Reverend Parris' slave named Tituba.[4] Elizabeth Hubbard and the other girls were quick to support this claim by also falling into “fits,” providing the trail with more spectral evidence.[4] Eventually, Elizabeth Hubbard became the one starting the accusations and played a huge role in trials to come, especially when it came to testifying under an oath.[4] The next to be accused by the teen girls was Sarah Good, who in turn accused Sarah Osborne.[4] They were taken to the meeting house of Salem Village on March 1, 1692.[4] While on trial, spectral evidence provided by Elizabeth Hubbard and her friends was allowed during the hearing.[4] During Ann Putnam's testimony against Sarah Good on June 28, 1692, she claimed to have also seen Sarah Good torturing Elizabeth Hubbard, Abigail Williams and Elizabeth Parris: "I saw the apparition of Sarah Good, which did torture me most grievously… and then she did prick me and pinch me most grievously… and also on the first day of March 1692, I saw the apparition of Sarah Good go and afflict and torture the bodies of Elizabeth Parris [Jr.], Abigail Williams, and Elizabeth Hubbard."[6] Although Elizabeth Hubbard spent Elizabeth Proctor’s trial under a trance, original documents reveal that she testified in April 1692: "I saw the Apperishtion of Elizabeth Procktor the wife of John Procktor sen'r and she immediately tortor me most greviously all most redy to choak me to death....and so she continewed afflecting of me by times till the day of hir examination being the IIth of April and then also I was tortured most greviously during the time of hir examination I could not spake a word and also severall times sence the Apperishtion of Elizabeth Procktor has tortured me most greviously by biting pinching and allmost choaking me to death urging me dreadfully to writ in hir [devil's] book" [6] This witch suspicion raged like wildfire for the next few months and would last for two years with accusations flying left and right.[4] No one - man or woman - was safe. Elizabeth Hubbard continued to accuse many others until 1693 (1).[1] Records show that she filed forty legal complaints and testified thirty-two times.[1] She gave her last testimony on January 7, 1693.[1] Out of all the testimonies she gave, seventeen were arrested, thirteen were hanged, and two of them died in jail.[1]

Life After Trials

No one knows exactly what happened to Elizabeth Hubbard after the trials. American historian Mary Beth Norton states in her book, In the Devil’s Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692, that after the witch trials Elizabeth moved from Salem to Gloucester in Massachusetts. On October 27, 1711, she married John Bennett, with whom she had four children. Norton cites her basis on a published marriage record of a woman named Elizabeth Hibbert and a man named John Bennett, that later on produced four children.[7] However, it is not confirmed that Elizabeth Hibbert is in fact Elizabeth Hubbard; there are records of multiple women having the name of Elizabeth Hubbard or variations of it, existing in the area at the time.[8] Elizabeth’s adult life and ultimately, her death, are unknown to the public.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Nichols, Amy. "Salem Witch Trials: Elizabeth Hubbard". Missing or empty |url= (help)
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Alnemeeh, Layal. "Elizabeth Hubbard: An Accuser".
  3. ↑ The Salem Witch Trials Reader. Google Books.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Blumberg, Jess. "A Brief History of the Salem Witch Trials" (PDF).
  5. 1 2 3 Elizabeth Hubbard (Salem Witch Trials). Project Gutenberg.
  6. 1 2 3 Bos, Carole. "Salem Witch Trials-Spectral Evidence".
  7. ↑ Norton, Mary Beth (2003). In the Devil's Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. pp. 310, 410. ISBN 978-0-375-70690-5.
  8. ↑ Galoupe, Augustus (1907). Early records of the town of Beverly, Essex County, Mass. Boston, Massachusetts.
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