Margaret Stephenson, Hung as a Witch in Salem

Margaret Stephenson is my 10th Great Grandmother on the Basford side, on September 22, 1692 she was convicted of being a witch and hung. You can see how she is related to me (Aaron) in the tree above. Stanley Basford is my Father's Grandfather. Click to see a larger version of the image.

She was born in England around 1616, and married Benjamin Scott in 1634. They lived in the town of Braintree, and then later moved to Rowley, next to Salem. There doesn't appear to be any record of her arrival in the colonies. Benjamin wasn't a prominent member of the town. He couldn't afford to purchase land, so in 1664 the town donated land to the Scott family. In 1665 Benjamin was convicted of theft for which he was punished with a fine and "admonishment". However 6 months later he was sworn in as a Freeman. A Freeman was a person that swore an oath to the Puritan Church and thus became an official member of the Church and town. A Freeman is the next lowest class in Puritan Society, higher statuses would be Goodman and Mister. So when Benjamin died in 1671, he left a very small inheritance to Margaret. They had 7 children together though only 3 lived to adulthood.

These circumstances are the major factors in why she was accused of practicing witchcraft. A common factor among those accused were a high mortality rate among children. Only 7 of the 62 accused witches had large amounts of children. Another common factor was being unmarried. When Benjamin died she was about 55 years old, making it hard for her to find a second husband. She only had one child living in Rowley, and apparently he was not able to give her any aid. Having no means for earning money, she soon turned to asking town members for hand-outs. Robert Briggs is credited with coining the phrase "refusal guild syndrome."  This seems to be another common factor among witch accusations, and there are clear examples of this in Margaret Scott's story.

One such example is Captain Daniel Wycom. He refused to aid her and within a few days his daughter got sick. So he accused her of maleficium. His accusation led to her being officially accused and arrested. She spent 45 days in jail before her execution.

Some excerpts from articles and primary sources I've found:

Frances Wycom was the first to accuse Margaret Scott of witchcraft, followed by Phillip and Sarah Nelson and 4 other false testimonies. Margaret spent 45 days in jail before being executed as a witch, by hanging on Gallow's Hill with 7 others. According to this article, reports show that Margaret professed her innocence all the way until the execution.

Francis Wycom testimony: "margerit Scott whom I very well knew: or hir Apperance came to me and did most greviously torment me by choaking and almost presing me to death: and so she did continue affleting me by times tell the 5'th August 1692"

Philip and Sarah Nelson testimony: "say that for Two or Three years be fore #[the said] Robert Shilleto dyed we have often hard him complaining of margerit Scott for hurting of him and often said that she was a wicth [sic]..."

From a broadsheet of the period: "...Rev. Nicholas Noyes, of Salem, turned toward the suspended bodies of the victims, and said: "What a sad thing it is to see eight firebrands of hell hanging there."