The hysteria spread to nearby towns, and feuding neighbors began to see it as a handy way to get revenge. A 20th victim, Giles Cory, was tortured to death when he refused to enter a plea. She was found guilty and sentenced to hang on June 10, the first of 19 executions that took place over the next four months. The first case brought before the grand jury was that of Bridget Bishop, a tavern owner, who had attracted the negative attention by virtue of the fact that she played shuffleboard and dressed in unsuitable clothing. Governor William Phipps ordered the formation of the Special Court of Oyer and Terminer - which meant “to hear and determine” - to try the backlog of cases. Within a matter of weeks, warrants were issued for dozens of accused witches, and the jails were full to bursting. Alibis were useless because the afflicted girls would say that the accused had sent her specter to torment them, and anyone who spoke out against the proceedings soon found the accusing fingers pointing at them. They began accusing reputable churchgoers, often people their parents had feuded with for years. ![]() Paranoia mounted, with more teenage girls suddenly joining the ranks of the afflicted they were no longer expected to be “seen and not heard,” but were now the center of attention, even crying out and disrupting church meetings without being punished. When the girls were pressured to name their tormentors, they blamed Tituba, the Parrises’ Caribbean slave, and two eccentric social outcasts, Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne. The local doctor was at a loss to explain the behavior, and concluded that they must be bewitched. The hysteria had begun in Salem Village (now Danvers, Massachusetts) in January of that year a few preteen and teenage girls, including the daughter of Samuel Parris, the village’s minister, began acting strangely and having fits, insisting that they were being poked and pinched. ![]() ![]() On this day in 1692, the Court of Oyer and Terminer convened in Salem Town, Massachusetts, beginning what would become known as the Salem Witch Trials.
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