Martha Corey

In 1677 Martha Corey had an illegitimate, mixed race son named Benoni.[3] Benoni was thought to be mulatto and represented living proof of Corey's checkered past. [4] Benoni lived with Corey and her husband Giles, so town members were aware of this situation. [4]

Corey married Henry Rich in 1684 and had a second son named Thomas Rich. After the death of her first husband, she married wealthy farmer Giles Corey in the year 1690. Both Giles and Martha had a controversial past that contributed to their death in the Salem Witch Trials.[5]

The community was surprised to see Corey accused, as she was known for her piety and dedicated church attendance, and had been officially admitted to the Salem Village Church in 1691.[6] She had never shown support for the witch trials, since she did not believe witches or warlocks existed. She publicly denounced the witch trials as well as the judges who were involved in the various cases. [7][8] She was outspoken in her belief that the accusers were lying, and upon hearing this, two young girls Ann Putnam Jr. and Mercy Lewis promptly accused her of witchcraft.

She was unaware of the level of paranoia in the village, and when she went to trial, she was simply truthful about her innocence and never doubted she would be exonerated. As the girls testified against her during examination, Corey asked the judge not to believe the rantings of hysterical children and continued to make similar claims throughout the Salem trials, so this combination made it easy for the afflicted girls to create a story accusing Corey. [9]

The girls began mimicking her movements as if they were being controlled by her. Mercy Lewis called out, "There's a man he whispered in her ear." John Hathorne asked Lewis if the man was Satan, then shortly Ann Putnam Jr. cried out that Martha Corey had a yellow bird sucking on her hand, which was enough evidence to persuade the jury of her guilt. By accusing her, the Putnam family established their power in the town and showed that they would willingly attack anyone who openly doubted their motives and authority.[9] She was hanged on September 22, 1692. She was 72 years old. This accusation represented a turning point in the Salem Witch Trials as Corey was a respected member of the church who had good economic and social standing within the community. After this, accusations escalated across social boundaries, and over one hundred women were eventually accused of witchcraft.[9]

Her husband, Giles, defended her against the allegations, and in due time he was also accused of witchcraft himself. He refused to undergo a trial and was executed by pressing, a slow crushing death under a pile of stones.[6][10] The main reason usually cited for his refusal to be tried or to say yea or nay was to keep his estate from being confiscated from his heirs. When the sheriff asked how he would plead, he responded only by asking for more weight. He died on September 19, 1692, three days before his wife Martha was hanged. Since he had not been convicted, his estate passed, in accordance with his last will and testament, to those of his children who had maintained that he was innocent.[11]

Martha and Giles Corey are the central characters in Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman's play, Giles Corey, Yeoman, where Martha appears as a wronged innocent and Giles does not accuse her (instead the magistrates twist his words to implicate her).[12] They also feature in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's play Giles Corey of the Salem Farms, where both are portrayed sympathetically as victims of local power struggles.[13] Martha Corey and her husband are both characters in the Arthur Miller play The Crucible (although Martha is only heard off-stage). In the 1957 and 1996 film adaptations of Miller's play, she was depicted (on-screen) by Jeanne Fusier-Gir and Mary Pat Gleason, respectively. Martha Corey is also the titular character in Lyon Phelps's The Gospel Witch.[14]

• Upham, Charles (1980). Salem Witchcraft. New York: Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., 2 vv., v. 1 p. 190, v. 2 pp. 38–42, 43–55, 111, 324, 458, 507.

• The Salem Witch Trials of 1692