Morbid - Episode 496: Half-Hanged Mary

Episode Date: September 21, 2023

In the depths of American history there are few examples of mass hysteria that loom larger than the Salem witch trials of 1692. As horrific as it was, it was far from the only example of witch-hunting in Massachusetts’ history. In fact, ten years before hysteria over black magic gripped the village of Salem, similar accusations of witchcraft were aimed at Mary Webster of Hadley, a small village in Western Massachusetts.  Thank you to the incredible Dave White for Research assistance.ReferencesClancy, Hal. 1977. "In good old days, wicthes would hang for a May snow." The Boston Globe, May 14: 1.Judd, Sylvester. 1905. History of Hadley. Springfield, MA: H.R. Hunting.Manning, Alice. 1976. "Witches in the Connecticut Valley: a historical perspective." Daily Hampshire Gazette, December 15: 35.Marshall, Bridget. 2003. "Mary (Reeve) Webster, the "Witch" of Hadley." University of Massachusetts Lowell. Accessed August 28, 2023. https://faculty.uml.edu//bmarshall/Mary%20Webster.htm.Mather, Cotton. 1967. Magnalia Christi Americana. New York, NY: Russell and Russell.Perera, Lisa. 1992. "Before Salem, Valley had witch trials of its own." Daily Hampshire Gazette, May 16: 22.Smith, Anna. 2019. The Witch of Hadley: Mary Webster, the Weird, and the Wired. October 15. Accessed August 28, 2023. https://www.massreview.org/node/7575.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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where you can listen to even the royals exclusively and add free right now. Hey, Weirdos, I'm Ash. And I'm Alena. And this is morbid. It's morbid. It's morbid. It's morbid. It's morbid. It's morbid. It's morbid.

It's morbid. It's morbid. It's morbid. It's morbid. It's morbid. It's morbid. It's more big. It's like kind of morbid in the morning, but not like the morning morning. It's like late morning.

Yeah, I would say. Yeah. You know? It's like 10.30. Yeah, you know. We're in the middle of the heat wave, but it's, but it's fallen my heart. It's fall everywhere except outside. Yep.

We started decorating for Halloween yesterday. I started and finished the other day. I had a Hocus Pocus, the Corpse Bride, and what was the other movie that I had on the background? Halloween Town. No, I didn't do Halloween Town yet. Wow, practical magic. Oh, okay. Oh, no, I'll do Halloween Town. I just haven't seen it yet. We did Hocus Pocus in Halloween town

while we were decorating yesterday. And we are still not done decorating, because let me tell you, decorating with three kids and two dogs means that you don't decorate in one day. Yeah, no. It's true. It was out of the house,

so I got to do it like all by myself. And it was, I haven't done that in like a long time. Like, yeah. Yeah, it was great. Yeah, you know. It was lovely. I hope you're all decorated for Halloween everybody because it's Halloween, it's spooky season.

Let's go weird us. We're here, I'm ready for haunted houses. I have been waiting for this all summer, fuck summer, if you love summer, that's fine for you. I fucking hate it. Ever in the fact that we're in a heat wave right now when it is September, we're supposed to be involved. Yeah, I'm not enjoying that at all.

In fact, like, does that, are we just done after that? Like, does anybody know? And nobody knows. We can't see that far out, you know? I feel like we can. I feel like, you know. Okay, next Wednesday, according to my weather app, is going to be 69.

See, that's what I'm like, and bring me to the 60s. As soon as I, as soon as we're out, because even 70, I'm like, even 70 can kind of go fuck itself. 70 can definitely go fuck itself, because the sun is still hot when it's 70. And then you get that nice fall breeze

that starts to come in, but if you find yourself in the wrong place outside and the sun is on you, you're just like, fuck, that's not fallish. Yeah, why am I wearing the streunky sweater? Exactly, exactly. But let's hope, you know, everybody put their collective brain powers together to make fall here for us. Please.

Legally your spirit fingers. I'm requesting this of you. My god, tomorrow's going to be, or Thursday's going to be 93 fucking degrees. No, I don't, I don't want to do that. I don't want to go to there. I don't want to go to there. Next week looks chiller, like 74, 72, 69. Okay. Okay, that's the weather with Ashina and I. That's the weather. Oh, before we start today's pretty,

just like, bomber episode because it's about a witch trial. Okay. But it's like when you go into witch trials, you always go in there being like, which is fun. And then you go through and you're like, oh, this sucks.

It's like so hard. It's like so hard. I'm pretty secure to this, fuck. Yeah, but I wanted to quickly shout out someone pretty awesome. A listener, Corey, who sent us this, first of all, Corey has a Nazi shop, amazing crochet air. So good. Send me a pop-a-dall.

I wish that you, Corey, could have seen Alina's eyeballs eat out of her face when she opens this. And then I immediately said, are you gonna sleep with that? And I, and I, and she said, maybe. I brought it down to John and I was like, I'm gonna put this on our bed. And he was like, please don't. He was like, he was like, that's amazing,

but please do not put that on our bed. It's incredible. It's sitting right next to me, like as we speak, with all her other ghost paraphernalia. With all my other ghost paraphernalia. And I'm telling you, like Corey, this doll is fucking phenomenal. He's so cute. I'll definitely post a picture of it because it's just too good not to. And the, the, the care you put into it is you're really talented.

The details too. So I just wanted to shout out Cory's like all her shop places. They are all alternative hippie. I love that. And it's HIPY. Ah nice. Just so you know, so she has an Etsy shop

and it's Etsy.com slash shop slash alternative hippie Instagram.com she's alternative hippie. All that good stuff. So go blow a per shit. Go blow a per shit because I'm telling you again, I will post a picture of this doll and you will be like, what the fuck you made that? It's so cute. And it was so thoughtful.

And it was like you, you were saying how like, you know, you hadn't listened to ghost before that. And now like you were, I think she said the same thing that she was like, I was like, you, I hadn't really gotten into any newer rock stuff and I missed that feeling. And then I felt it with Ghost. So I love that we all feel that together. So that's not a lot. I just wanted to show you out

because that was really thoughtful and really awesome. And you literally made my year with it. So I, again, I wish you could have seen on this face when she opened that package. She goes through joy. Somebody made me a pop-a-daw. I'm like, it's papa. So thank you so much for that, Corey.

And I hope that your shake gets just like rocked in the best way right now. Yeah. And I hope you can't crochet enough to, you know, I hope it just blows up. So you're awesome. And go check out Alternative Hippie. Or else. Or else, okay? We don't know what else. And what else, butative Hippie. Or else. Or else, okay? We don't know what else.

And what else, but I don't know. But that's it. Either way, we're going to get into the story now of Half Hanged Mary. Oh. Of Hadley Massachusetts. Oh, shit. Hadley Massachusetts? Yeah. Massachusetts.

Massachusetts, really. At a time. Yeah, we fucked up a lot. We fucked up. We fucked up. Yeah. I'm gonna say they. Because like they fucked up our people. Yeah.

Like the people doing the fucked up things. Yeah. That's not a wee thing. No, I mean, I was not there. Yeah, no. Like I, I know maybe the elder on this podcast, but I was not present during this. So I was not there. Yeah, no, like I know I know I may be the elder on this podcast, but I was not present during these So I will say that that was a really that was a missed opportunity for a good joke on my parts

I thank you for walking yourself for no problem. I was waiting for it I was waiting for you to be like you were there right? I try not to do like too much elder abuse to you. It's okay Sorry, I feel I feel okay about it But I think we can all agree that there are very few examples of mass hysteria that loom larger than the Salem witch trials of 1692, 100%. I mean, over 200 people were persecuted. During that, 19 were executed.

So crazy. It's so sad. And it was all for crimes that nobody had actually committed. And but, you know, we just, everybody ran with it. And for centuries, it has served as a very important, but often ignored warning against group think, against intolerance, you know, all that fun stuff. Once again, often ignored.

We'd love to believe we're past that, but. Yeah, you know, I really not. I thought of a great idea. We should make sweatshirts that say, fuck and put them. Oh, 100% because fuck and put them. Okay, yeah, for sure. But it was definitely not the only example

of which hunting and Massachusetts, for sure. And in fact, 10 years before the Salem Witch Trials, there were very similar accusations of witchcraft that were aimed at Mary Webster of Hadley, which was another small village of Massachusetts. It's in like Western Massachusetts. Yeah, I don't think I realized Hadley was like that old of a place. Yeah, I mean, every place in Massachusetts. I was going to say it's old. Yeah, it's old. But by the time the Massachusetts Bay colony was established in 1630, the existence of witches and, you know, witchcraft and dark magic and all that had been a very prominent source of anxiety in hysteria over in Europe. Right. And that was for nearly like two centuries that that was going on.

So that was nothing new. You covered some of the ones in Europe. We do. We cover one or two, I think. We'll definitely cover some more because it really is fascinating. But although fears of witchcraft had existed in cultures around the world long before, beginning in the late 15th century, public fears and public accusations of witchcraft, largely spurred by the Catholic church at the time, led to a centuries-long period of witch hunts across Europe that led to the executions of not 19, which is bad enough, tens of thousands of innocent people. That's crazy. So, because there was such a prevalence of fear and black magic in witchcraft at that time,

it makes sense that the earliest colonial settlers and Massachusetts Bay colony would bring all those fears, anxieties, superstitions, all that stuff to their new home, to like, let's bring all this fuck shit, right? Yeah, let's not start with a clean slate. Let's just bring it all over. Never that. So when the first laws were enacted in the colony

in 1641, the general court included a common law statute that quoted directly from scripture. And it established, quote, if any man or woman be a witch, that is half or consultate with a familiar spirit, they shall be put to death. When you truly think about that, like if you're a witch, we gon' kill you. That's why it's crazy. When people say, I'm not really interested in witch trials, it's like you're not like that. You don't get it.

You don't get it. Of that being, those were laws. Like that was put into law. It's quite you. It's a view. Consulteth with a familiar spirit, they basically said, if you have a cat. Yeah, if you have an animal

that's sometime is seen around you, you're fucked. We're gonna kill you. That's what that means. That's what that means. That's what that means. That's what that means. That's what that means.

That's what that means. That's what that means. That's what that means. That's what that means. That's what that means. That's what that means. That's what that means. That's what that means. That's what that means. That's what that means. That, this one's. That's the problem, men. Unfortunately, I was a lot back then. Sorry, I was a lot back then. You know, sometimes it's super tough to fit working out into your fall schedule because

it's all back to it. It's back to school, it's back to work, it's back to the grind, but your routine should never feel routine because then it gets super boring and nobody likes boring. So flip the script a bit this fall by tapping into Peloton's endless variety of exercise options with the Peloton bike or bike plus from intervals to literally metal rides. I've taken a metal ride, guys, do it.

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I tell everyone how much I love my Peloton. I talk about it like a show I love, it's kind of wild. And it's not just a fad, it actually really works. And you know what, do you want proof? You don't believe me right now? I'm offended, but I'll give you something to chew on. 90% of Peloton households that join at the start of the year are still active 12 months

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Use code morbid on robac.com for a generous 20% off your first purchase through the end of this week. That's spelled R-H-O-B-A-C-K dot com. That's 20% off all hoodies, joggers, polos, and more with code morbid. The perfect gear for the fall makes sure to jump on roback now. Now with laws in place that were literally criminalizing witchcraft and consorting with the devil, it didn't take long for colonial settlers to make good use of them. We're not going to let those go. Those laws just sit on those books. They're like, no, let's do this.

No, they can't get dusty. We got to use them. So in 1648, 35-year-old Margaret Jones, who was a Charlestown midwife and practitioner of medicine, was like herbal medicine and stuff. Was very much accused of witchcraft and put on trial. Little documentation from her trial has really survived today, but the diary of Governor John Winthrop, who sat on the general court at the time of the trial, does show some of the evidence that was used to convict Margaret. I remember that name, John Winthrop. Yeah. The evidence included the fact that, quote, that was used to convict Margaret. I remember that name, John Winthrop.

Yeah. The evidence included the fact that, quote, she was found to have such a malignant touch as many persons, men, women, and children whom she stroked her touch with any affection or displeasure, and some things which she foretold come to pass accordingly. Other things she would tell of as secret speeches, which she had no ordinary means to come to the knowledge of. So when, basically, she's saying like, they're saying like people got sick after she was around them sometimes, and you know, she knew things. Maybe she was a little clever. Before I did. Right. And it's like, I don't know, John Winthrop's like, I think you're just coming up on that. His journal also says that Jones's disposition during the trial was also used as additional evidence against her.

It says Jones was very intemperate, lying notoriously and railing against the jury and witnesses. Gee, I wonder why. And he wrote in simple terms, Margaret Jones' unwillingness to be deferential and demure during what basically was most certainly a fight to keep herself from being hanged for nothing, literally nothing was considered by this puritanical society to be proof that she was consorting with the devil. So because she wasn't demure on the stand

and sitting there and going, oh, I guess if you say I did it, I suppose I have to admit it. I sure, Mr. wipe, yep, I absolutely did have to do a minute. Sure, Mr. wipe. Yep, I absolutely did that because she didn't do that. They were like the devil. It's also like she's on trial for doing her job. It sounds like.

Which you all talk about a bandage up for a little while until you decided that you wanted to rally against her. You were bored because you couldn't do anything in those times, so you're just going to make her a witch. That's the thing. Now Margaret Jones was the first person in Massachusetts in just the second in the colonies to be tried and executed for witchcraft.

And the fact that she was a woman was definitely not coincidental. No. She was a midwife, a practitioner of medicine, like we said before. And she likely, because of those things, like we just kind of touched upon, she definitely held a little bit of power in the community.

You know, that those kind of resources, that kind of expertise, that was pretty specific. It was not in big supply in the colonies at that point. So she was gonna be looked at as someone to turn to. It was kind of in the case of Bridget Cleary, we talked about how, you know, the guy who was looked at in the case of Bridget Cleary, we talked about how the guy who was looked at as the powerful elder who had all this knowledge of folklore and shit, he held power at one point. And then when he didn't, everything changed.

He made it come back. Now, and also, she used local herbs and other non-traditional medicines. People started looking at that as that assessment, of course. Especially, they only looked at it really when it was suspect when their treatments didn't work. When their treatments worked, suddenly you're a great doctor and midwife and all that good stuff, but when it didn't work, you're a witch.

And also sometimes like medicine medicine doesn't work. Yeah, sometimes you're just gonna die. I don't know what to say. Sometimes that's just the way it is. Yeah. No, eight years later, that same community tried and executed a woman named Anne Hibbons for similar things. Nonsense-like, we don't like her. She's not this tumour, little wilting flower that we would like her to be. Exactly. Because remember, in Salem, that seemed to be a lot of the shit. These women would speak up and speak up against things.

They would speak up for themselves. They would speak up for their families for all that. So it was like shut up. And they were like shut the fuck up, which? And it's like, okay, yeah. Well, I like, we all see it. We all see it. But apparently, in one of the sources that I'm going to link in the show notes,

the Bridget Marshall author points out which craft accusations were actually fairly common during this period in the colonies. Every town seems to have had at least one official accusation, and don't know doubt many more had local legends and suspicions. So it was definitely one of those things where there was official accusations, which would go to the higher authorities, go on trial, all that stuff. But you know, it was one of those things where there were like, that lady's a witch. That lady down the street, who lives by herself because everyone she loved has died, she's

a witch. Exactly. And again, they like the accusations were common, but at this point, convictions and executions, I don't know why that was so hard to say. They were less common at the time. You could bring it to a point, but getting a conviction and executing that person was gonna take a little more. But this was also due to the fact that, they were a recently established communities,

removing someone who was like a medicine woman as much as you're claiming that's witchcraft and shit, removing anyone from these communities is kind of disadvantaging. It's really becoming a disadvantage for that community at this time because they really only have a handful of people to begin with. They need to establish themselves first and then they can fuck you over later. So it's going to fuck the accused witch over, but it's definitely going to fuck everyone else over too. So they were very aware of that.

I think a lot of times these things were more of a shame you into compliance and submission kind of thing. So we don't have to take it to the conviction and execution stage. We're just going to make sure you know that you will become ostracized and we can't break you and speak out against us. So just listen to what we say, become submissive and we can bring you in. If you speak out against us. So just listen to what we say, become submissive and we'll leave you alone. Well, and going back to them,

not being fully established yet, I'm sure some of these women were the first midwives in their village, and then when they got more and more of them, they were like, oh, now we can fuck with that one that we don't like, because we like this one better, because she listens to what we said. Exactly.

But when they're the only ones, they were just dealing with it. Right. Now, like we know now, the reasons why a person would have been accused of witchcraft were very varied and almost always completely irrational. You know, petty arguments, overactive imaginations, just pure tanical shit.

Mm-hmm. I don't like your face, so I would like you to be gone overactive imaginations, just pure tanical shit. I don't like your face, so I would like you to be gone for my view, kind of shit. Like it was all just very like haphazard. If I don't like this person, I can accuse them of it. So scary. Like for example, this is a very interesting one, the case of Mary Parsons, who was a Northampton woman

accused of witchcraft by her neighbor in 1656. Mary and her husband Joseph Parsons had moved to Northampton from Springfield. Okay. So they were already very much outsiders in this newly formed community because remember it's all brand new. Mm-hmm.

So immediately the community was a talkin'. As soon as two people come in for anywhere else, you're gonna be the target. Mary also had a son who was actually the first English child born in town. So that was another thing that was already going to stir up some crazy gossip. And then the Parsons were also of a higher social class, and they had a lot more wealth than their neighbors. So there was a lot of jealousy already off the bat. They are batten zero. Now one day, not long after they came to Northampton, a neighbor named Sarah Bridgeman, received a knock at her door. She was holding her infant son when she came to answer the door and she said, no one was there. But then she saw two cloaked figures

pass by and she became convinced that her child would die. Sarah Bridgeman's an asset. I answered the door and no one was there so I thought my baby was going to die. That's a leap. Seems legit. That's a leap and a half, girl friend. The child did die a short time later, which is very unfortunate. Of course.

And Sarah became convinced that the death was caused by Mary Parsons. And not just like the old timing of it all. Apparently since she had arrived in the village, Bridgman and Parsons did not get along. They had feuded right off the bat. Which it's like, all right, Sarah, sometimes bitches aren't gonna like you. And that's just the way it is. Like, move on.

That doesn't mean the fur which. And that they killed your kid. And you have to involve yourself in their life. Just move the fuck on. If you don't like someone, walk away, toxic person, walk the other way, like just leave. Okay. But no, we've got to make this a bigger problem. We've got to make it everybody's problem. And honestly, it's going to become your problem, bitch. So she, yeah. So they've been feuding ever since the persons had arrived. And Bridgman spent months telling anyone who would listen.

That Parsons was a witch and that it was her fault. And finally, Joseph Parsons, Mary's husband, was like, fuck you. And decided to file a complaint of slander on his wife's behalf. Because that's a bad bitch move, especially for a husband back then. That's a husband.

He was like, don't talk shit about my wife. Like fuck you Sarah. But that is probably not good that he brought this to court because I feel like that's where it's all going to get crazy. It was very proactive of him. Of course. And it was pretty badass of him. Totally.

For sure. I support Joseph. I am here supporting him. We stand to Joseph. We stand to Joseph. But like you said, not great because of how shitty the system was. It was great. In all other ways, not great because of how shitty everybody else was.

Because by bringing those accusations to the attention of the authorities before, it was like we were saying before. It was shit talking. It was shit talking among the community. It wasn't taken to the official level. But now it's happened. It's gotten brought to the authorities. They know that people are talking, oh, this poor man was only trying to help his wife.

He was trying to defend his wife. He probably regretted that every day. And so it was brought to court. And Sarah, when she explained it, she said there was a great blow at the door. And I was like, what? Sorry, what? And she immediately said she sensed a difference in her newborn. As soon as that great blow at the door happened. Okay. And she said immediately, I was sure my child would die. And I was like, I don't know. I feel like that's someone you should talk about

with someone else because I don't think that was Mary. And she said it was because there was wickedness in place. Wow. This is real. I just need, like this is why these kinds of trials. It's insane. And this time period are so fucking fascinating to me because this was a legitimate criminal trial.

And this woman just said, someone knocked on my door, and my newborn got fussy. And so I knew he was gonna die because wickedness was in place. She said that in a legal trial. And they went, hmm. They said that's why I was just trying to kill their kids. And they went, hmm, they said that's why I was broke. They're pinched. And they said, maybe we should hang this bitch.

Like that's, it's scary. That was real. How that, that's fascinating to be. Like they terrifying. They didn't have enough to do back then. They sure didn't. Now, and that's the thing, they had enough to do, but it was, and that's the thing, so had enough to do, but it was, and that's the thing,

it's like they were a board. They were just miserable, because it was miserable back then and we'll get into it, but it's like, that's what it was. It's like, my numbing shit. Yeah, and kids were bored. They're bored of miserable. Now, at the trial, a lot of people testified

that Sarah Bridgeman's child had actually been frail and sickly since birth. So they were like that on that. So they're like when the child died, unfortunately, it was very tragic, but not a surprise to a lot of people because he was born very sick. That's sad. But Bridgman stuck to her story that Parsons was a witch

and had killed her child through her consortment with the devil and the wickedness of it all. Then we had other people come into the trial saying, you know, there was a witch and had killed her child through her consortment with the devil. In the wickedness of it all. Then we had other people come into the trial saying, you know, there was a yarn spinner that said the yarn she spun for Mary Parsons just ended up a knots no matter what she did. And she said, that was obviously because she was a witch. Maybe you're just suck at spinning yarns.

Yeah, maybe. Maybe you're spinning the yarn right now. I think you are. See what I did there. I do. Lies. L do. Lies. Lies. And it's also like, it's just sort of the devil like knots.

Like, I don't know about that. Is that what that's supposed to be? It just likes tying knots. Yeah, I've never heard of that before. I'm not up on his likes and dislikes, but I didn't know that was one of them. I haven't heard that in a ghost song. No, so, so, so. No, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so it's so short. Did you see the protesters, everybody? Like you got to go and talk the protesters

at the ghost concert. I think it was in Texas. That checks. Yeah. Funny. They brought out a Mary statue and everything. It's like, just let people. There were signs that said, I'm so sorry, Mary.

And I was like, what? What now? I don't, pretty funny. Yeah, I'm not going to say too much. Well, that's, I'm like, like what you like, but like, that's the thing. Don't listen to the music if you don't like it. Go home. You don't have say too much. Well, that's what you like, but that's the thing. Don't listen to the music if you don't like it. Go home.

You don't have to partake in it. It's fine. Well, people, people, I feel like everyone now is just like, they're indoctrinating our children for like everything. And I'm like, still let your kid go to a go show then. Yeah, it's like your kid isn't going to go to a go show unless you bring them to one. Right.

Unless they're like, you're not doing that. So that's your fault. So it's just ridiculous. It's a little silly. And honestly, ghost shows are fucking amazing. And the people at ghost shows are some of the nicest people I've ever been around. So there at the ghost ritual, at the ritual that we went to, I call it a ritual. It's always called the ritual. I don't think I even knew that. They call their shows ritual. That's fun. I love it.

That place scares the people even more. It does. My ritual that we went to, we were loving the people in front of us. It was this couple. And don't worry, I'll get back to the story. I promise I know Tangent's pissed some people off, but here I am.

But I just got to tell you, because it was lovely. It was a couple in front of us, a man and a woman. But here I am. But I just got to tell you, because it was lovely. Yeah. It was a couple in front of us, a man and a woman, and they were having the fucking time of their lives. I love that. And they were like so in love. And just like dancing with each other and so happy. And I literally was like just their vibe.

That's precious. It was so happy. We all said it. Like we were all like, these people are lovely to just be around. I love that. I love love love. I love love love. It's delightful.

So, like, shout out to those two people in front of us because they were, and they were like, turning to each other and like screaming the words to each other and just like dancing, having a ball. It was just so good. And the guy was so theatrical to every song. I was like, you're killing me. It always adds to the experience, but you have people around like that.

And I met a lot of listeners at that show and they were really kind and awesome and it was really cool and you guys were all. But go to Grotje. But either way, the devil loves knots, who knew? Weird. But things escalated as well when a woman named Mrs. Hanum,

who was another yarn spinner, and she apparently worked with the Parsons before. She testified on Sarah Bridgman's behalf, saying that Parsons had, quote, attempted to lure her daughter away from her home. What? And it's like, what? And then another woman came and said,

her daughter got ill after she refused to let her daughter work for the Parsons. So she must have been witched her. Oh, cast out of spite. Yes, of course. And then a man came forward and testified and said, well, my cow got sick as fuck after I had some wards with Mary Parsons.

And then it died. And it's her fault. I truly can't. The fact that they thought people just died because they had words with each other. Well, and what's great about this one, I will say, is that the court was able to be like debunked. Okay, dox mace. Debunk, because upon further questioning, it was very clear that Mrs. Hanum, the young

yarn spinner had been feuding with Mary Parsons ever since Mary Parsons complained of the quality of her yarn. So she was just pissed because her little ego got bruised. She had shitty yarn, fuck your yarn. And she saw this trial as an opportunity to get back at Parsons, which I'm like, people were fucking cutthroat back then. She didn't like my yarn? Yeah, she didn't like my yarn, so my way of getting back to her

is having her hang by her neck until she's dead. Yeah. Like, damn, that's normal. Imagine living your life after that. I can't believe that. I'm not that petty. Imagine standing in that crowd. You spun some yarn that sucked.

And you're sitting there and you're like, hmm, you're like, well, no, she got hurt. She said shit about my yarn. My yarn quality is top notch. It's like, damn. Like, that's the whole blooded. Like people were cold-blooded. So yeah, she was just pissed about the quality of the yarn and she was like, cool, I'm offended.

So I'm gonna send you to be executed. And the offended. And people also testified that Sarah Bridgman's baby, like they had said before, had definitely been six experts. So that was just not right. Under these circumstances, the court, and I think they found that the cow had died of a very normal cow thing that

happened just old. And I think it was actually the owner's fault. It was like something he had done accidentally that had caused it. So the court ruled in favor of Mary Parsons. They told me, actually, told Sarah Bridgman, you are actually in trouble for lodging these false accusations now. Oh, yeah. So they said you can either pay Parsons court fees or you can issue a public apology. I would say you have to do both.

And that petty little bitch was like, I'll pay the fees. She wouldn't even publicly apologize. Wow. Like what a bitch. People really were petty. Like such a bitch. But what's sad though is that although the slander trial I apologize. Wow. Like what a bitch. People really were pretty. Like such a bitch.

But what's sad though is that although the slander trial may have come to an end, Bridgman kept spreading rumors about Carson being a witch and they just kept going for like generations. And basically it undermined the part, it undermined the Parsons family social status and any political influence they had in the village for generations.

So they was really strong. She ruined their legacy essentially just by because she didn't like her. Like that's a petty bitch. She, I hope she got hers and she's living a bad life in the next one. And this kind of shows you that although there was a genuine belief in witches and witchcraft, that's a thing. This wasn't only, I don't like this person's, I'm going to fake it. People genuinely believe that witches and witchcraft, that's a thing. This wasn't only, I don't like this person's I'm gonna fake it, people genuinely believe that witches and witchcraft were like evil

and that like they were these like, you know, the hook-nosed like, you know, with the war on the end of the nose, kind of thing we see in all the media you see of a note, like they're green and that they have to tell you know that. And that they're flying on a broom in the middle of the night, you know, like that kind of stuff. They definitely believed to that. And that they're flying on a broom in the middle of the night, like that kind of stuff. They definitely believed to that.

And especially in the Massachusetts Bay colony. But it was also just as common for this to be the case, where it was, you know, consorting with the devil was basically, I'm being petty and I'm gonna, you know, settle my petty grievance with you by pretending that you're consorting with the devil. Right.

Now, getting on to Mary Webster, it kind of seemed like this was partially the case. Is that people just didn't like her and she was an outsider, so they decided to make her consult with the devil, fictionally, as a case. Fun. So Mary Webster was born Mary Reeve. She was born in England circa 1624. And she was brought by her parents, Thomas and Hannah Reeve to the Massachusetts Bay colony. And she was brought there within a decade or two after her birth. So within her first 20 years, she was brought there. A lot again, a lot of

these records are haphazard. So you just kind of have to piece everything together. But they settled in Springfield. Now, little is known about her early life, but she does, and she doesn't appear on record until 1670, and that's when she married 53-year-old William Webster of Hadley. So she relocated from Springfield to Hadley, and when that happened, often moving was a big deal. Of course. It set you back. Yeah. Back then, it sets anybody back anyways, but it really such a back back then. When people died on the way to move to a new place. And the websters were described as having become poor

and having living many years in a small house in the middle highway, and were sometimes aided by the town. Okay. So nobody's really sure what the definition of poor was back then because things were so willy-nilly. Like how about it, really?

Yeah, but I think the fact that they were receiving aid from the town makes them down at the bottom of the ladder. So according to Sylvester Judd, who is an author and who wrote the town history of Hadley, he said, Mary's temper, quote, which was not the most placid, was not improved by poverty and neglect. And she used harsh words when offended, despised, and sometimes ill-treated. She was soured with the world and rendered

spiteful towards some of her neighbors. So here's the thing. The thing with Mary is that we see she's in poverty. She's having to get aid from the town. She's being treated as such because people are now treating her like shit. And it's like, so her neighbors are dicks to her and treat her like a piece of shit.

And she's supposed to be like a ray of sunshine. She was brought here from where she was born. And it's like, and she's supposed to be this fucking ray of sunshine for you and like make you happy when you treat her like shit because of something completely out of her control that she's dealing with poverty, of course. Yeah, absolutely.

And they even said, because of her quote, unpleasant demeanor, her neighbors started referring to her as a witch. And she quickly became a target for a lot of harassment. Hey listeners, it's Mr. Ballon here, and I'm here to tell you about my brand new podcast. It's called Mr. Ballon's Medical Mysteries. Why medical mysteries? Well, we've all been there. Turning to the internet to self-diagnose are inexplicable pains, debilitating body aches, sudden fevers, and strange rashes. Though our minds

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Prime members can listen early and add free on Amazon music. Now soon rumors were spreading about Mary and that, you know, she did this, she did that. She'd be whitched some cattle and horses so that they stopped and ran back and could not be driven by her house. In some cases, the rumors had a little bit of truth to them because Mary would try to keep farmers and travelers away from her house and so she would overturn their loads sometimes. What a...

That's hilarious. Or she would chase them away. She was just like, get off my fucking lawn. Well, she was like, you're all assholes to me. Yeah, you can stay away from my house. I don't believe her, fuck you. Well, and you have to wonder if something happened that she wanted them away from her house

because that seems like a kind of like a chance, you know. Oh yeah, because when you find out what they actually do to her and what is very normal, you're like, yeah, you were probably hurting her physically, you pieces of shit. Yeah, that's what it sounds like. Now, in one instance, they claimed and take what you will from this. They claimed that, quote, she entered a house and had such influence upon an infant on the bed or in the cradle that the infant was raised to the chamber floor and fell back again three times

and no visible hand touched. Where were the owners of the home? Yeah. When she just barged in. I don't know. This looks like neglect of an infant. It can possibly be an infant. Or possibly an infant.

Or possibly an infant. And then they just blamed it on Mary Webster. Like what? Now, the rumors were growing and growing. And apparently. And so the community was now kind of biting back at Mary. Oh. So, either way, the rumors are grown and grown.

And in response to these rumors, the community is starting to get more and more, you know, proactive in their response to her. So, she became the target for what is called witch disturbances. Oh, no. I don't like that already. So apparently, so the author I mentioned before Smith says that when farmers claimed they were unable to drive their cattle by Mary's house, they quote, would enter the house, beat her, or threaten to do so, and then she generally let them pass.

Ah, yeah, because they had beat her, so she was probably unable to stop them at that point. So that was called a witch disturbance. They would just enter the suspected, suspected witches home and beat the shit out of her to make her whatever was happening stop. What the fuck? And then they're always like,

and these women were so unpleasant. And it's like, I would fucking, I would be the epitome of foul in rotten, if I were this woman. I would ruin everyone's lives around me. Do you ever just think like, what are humans? Like what are we? I think it all the time.

Like how did it, how do we get like, I think it all the time? It's a lot. I really do. So they would do that. That's why when they're like, oh, she would knock over their loads and stuff. I'm like, yeah, I would fuck up their livelihood too.

I'd be like, you literally came in my home and beat me. So fuck off. Yeah, fuck off. Don't pass my house. Now, Judd, the author I mentioned before, who did the history of Hadley, described an incident in 1680, where 16-year-old girl named Ann Belding was charged with,

quote, purposes and practices against the body and life of Mary, wife of William Webster. So apparently, Ann entered the Webster's home and likely assaulted or attempted to sell Mary, and so she was required to publicly apologize and pay a fine. She had to pay one pound to Webster and four pounds to the county for doing that. Why didn't she spend time in jail, y'all? Because they're just like, you know, they're like, I just just say, sorry.

The fuck? So over time, the rumors about Mary Webster just grew, they grew, they became more out, they became way more outlandish, way more detailed. They were coming from way more people, but there was one that proved a lot more consequential for Mary's safety than the other ones. Oh, no. So when the, and you knew this was coming, you knew one of those was going to hit different

and it was going to be the breaking point. I was worried. So in the early 1680s, it was said that Mary entered the house of a neighbor. Again. And before she left the house, or excuse me, not long after she had left the house, a hen came flying down the chimney and fell into a boiling pot of water. Okay. To me, that just feels real, real colony-esque. I'm sure her hands fell down.

That's right. She fell down the chimney all the time. Like, I don't... If I was back then, if you transported me, hi, I'm Elena from 2023. If you plopped me into 16, you know, 80 or wherever this was, in one of these houses in the Massachusetts Bay colony, and suddenly a hen fell down the chimney into a scalding hot thing of water, I don't think I would really, I'd be like, probably. Like I think I would just look over and be like, yep. You just feel like, well, we're having chicken for dinner.

I just be like, oh, is that how you guys would get your food? Like, I don't, how does this? Taff from Santa. That doesn't seem wild to me. I'm like, hens were probably all over the fucking place. Yeah. And they're probably just fallen down chimneys and shits.

Not like our chimneys where it's like this very intricate system. Yeah, no, it doesn't. It's not like our chimneys where it's like this very intricate system. Yeah, no, it doesn't. It's just so crazy to me. It's so whole in your roof. It's just gonna fall down. So to me, I'm like, yeah, okay, like dinner. But no, because apparently that was a little strange that a hen just fell down the chimney,

which I think is wild. I do too. I feel like I agree. I don't think it'd be that weird. I don't think it was. I think they're just using that. But the real strange thing was that Mary was discovered to have a skulled mark on her body in the same place

that the hen hat. I guarantee someone probably broke into her house, beater and burnter. Probably. Or it's like, I don't know. They were cooking over straight up bonfires back then. Like, yeah. I'm sure everyone got burned all the fucking time by just doing the simplest of tasks.

Probably. Like, I'm sure there was all kinds of burns. But did they make this like a witch mark? Well, what they assumed was, you know, that because it's in the same place as the hen, that Mary had been acting in the form of a familiar to spy on her neighbors. So they're claiming she was the hen.

They're claiming Mary transformed herself into a hen and said, let me eat myself down the chimney into a boiling pot of water and then she lived. And then she lived. Okay. Because that's the other thing. Here's my other question here, but we don't have it on records. So I would like to ask this neighbor from beyond what the fuck's up.

Yeah. Because this hen fell down your fucking chimney and do a sculpting thing of water. I think it died. And you didn't eat that hen. Oh, they ate that hen. You're telling me you just let that hen go. No, they ate that hen.

Like where in the Massachusetts Bay colony in 1680 and you're letting free fucking dinner waddle out of your house? I don't think so. I don't think so. You sure about that? I don't think you are. I think you ate that for dinner.

And then you're sitting here claiming that it was Mary Webster? Mm. I don't think so. So you ate Mary Webster, so how was she walking around? If you ate her, it doesn't make sense. This you ate Mary Webster, so how she walking around, if you ate her, doesn't make sense.

This whole thing is truly the most. That's what it's, and that's, I'm like, no one was logical back then, or you know what, here's the thing. I bet here's the thing. I bet there were some logical people in there, but they were zipping their fucking lips because they didn't want to be the next one accused

or be thought to be consorting with the devil. That was the thing they just say quiet. So it's That was the thing they just say quiet and let it happen. And it's like, so we look back and we're like, are you all like just kuku? Like what is going on? No one stepped in and was like, well, did you eat the hen? Like no one asked that. Yeah. Did you eat said hen that fell and burned their booty in the water?

Did you eat a booty burned hen? Like you didn't let that thing leave. No, of course not. I wasted a good hand. Exactly. In 1680, hell yeah. Now in March 1683, Mary was brought before the county court in North Hampton because of this.

And she was accused of, quote, being under strong suspicion of having familiarity with the devil or using witchcraft. What? Color me guilty. But after hearing testimony from some of her neighbors, the county court looked at it and was like, you know what, these look like pretty strong accusations. It seems like everybody thinks you're kind of a bitch. So I think maybe we should look into this further.

So they referred it to the court of assistance in Boston for consideration. Oh no. Yeah, they looked at this like, I don't know, it seems like you might have been that hen. And then there were like, and these people say that you suck. So I think we should.

Just the fact that they're like, we think you were that hen. Yeah, wrap your mind around that. We have a burn mark on you. So I'm pretty sure you were that hen that flew down the chimney. I know I definitely ate for dinner that I must go Like I just don't know and in April by the way Mary Webster is 60 years old Now in April Mary Webster 60 years old is shipped to Boston shipping up to Boston But not in the fun way.

Dropkick Murphy, style. Not like that, though. Where she was held in a local jail cell waiting her trial for witchcraft. She was held there for a month. Oh my God, and you can only imagine the conditions. Think of the worst conditions you can ever imagine. That's what jail was back then.

It's times 10. Yeah, and that's what they would have you wait in for your witchcraft trial that you were placed on trial for, because assholes didn't like you. I Truly can't and couldn't mind their own fucking business and just stay to their own shit They had to get in your shit. This is so sad Yeah, no, I didn't realize she was 60 and that adds so much more Yes, she should have been happily just you know, she should have been happily just, you know, she should have been happily just

being being kind of curmudgeonly. Yeah. Just let her live. She's affecting them circumstance. So just leave her the fuck alone. Don't interact with her. Don't pass her house. She's not trying to hang out with you. I mean, according to them, she really was. She really wanted to go into people's houses. Maybe that's the thing. Maybe she just wanted a fucking friend. Maybe she did. That the people's houses a lot. She's like, maybe that's the thing. Maybe she just wanted a fucking friend. Maybe she did and everyone was just being a dead. And like, let's hang. You know, maybe she just said it's social,

okay, you know? That's all. Now, again, sat for a month in jail. And then her trial began on May 22nd, 1683, and was heard by Governor Simon Bradstreet and nine of his fellow, you know, powerful men. Powerful men. Now, after hearing the charges, they said,

seems pretty reasonable. I think we should take this to trial. It's pretty reasonable that you became a hen. Yeah, yeah. Then they said, we should take this to trial. And there was an indictment written up in the indictment read, the grand jury being impeanneled, they on perusal of the evidences, returns that they did indict Mary Webster

for that she not having the fear of God before her eyes. That's always my favorite part of it. She's always like, you are not, you don't have the fear of God in you, so you must be an evil piece of shit that we need to kill. And it's like, huh? Why are the people still feel that way? So not having the fear of God before her eyes and being instigated by the devil hath entered into covenant and had familiarity with him in the shape of a warning, which is a Fisher or Wild Black cat of the woods

and had his imp sucking her and teats or marks found on her. They love it. They love a tea. They love a tea and they love an impsuck. Oh, they love it. That's the thing. I'm like, look inside of yourselves. Yeah. I'm not going to kink shame here, but look inside of yourselves and just like come to grips

with what you're really focused on. You should just start writing fan fiction about that. You're just like, listen to some like, you know what? If we had had like book talks, like Fairy Smut books rolling around, that ruined it. If we had had that back then, I think everybody would have been okay. They would have sat in their houses,

read some Fairy Smut, gotten their shit together and come out into the world and been a little less wound up. I think so. That's all I'm saying. To be clear, Alina's the one reading the Fairy Smut, she just showed me a song.

I don't know anything about Rune other than that he's the crown prince. I'm gonna. She just showed me the song. I don't know anything about Rune other than that. He's the crown prince. I'm going to read the Crescent City book because I don't have any even gotten to me yet. No, but it's the song. Rune, Rune, Crowned in the Crown Prince of the, is it the Valgarine? Yeah, the Valgarine thing. I haven't gotten to them yet, so. But I mean, reading Crescent City though, I've been sucked into it, but they need some fairies month. So yeah, so you know, teats, marks on her, all that good stuff. And by several testimonies may appear contrary to the peace of our sovereign lord, the King,

his crown, and dignity, the laws of God and his jurisdiction, the court on their serious consideration of the testimonies did leave her to further trial. I got to go. Nonsense. I got it go. Nonsense. I must go. She would spend another week sitting in a Boston jail and then was brought back before the court of assistance on June 1st where she was formally tried.

And there is one piece of documentation from that trial that we can look at that says, Mary Webster was now called and brought to the bar and was indicted to which indictments she pleaded not guilty, making no exception against any of the jury, leaving herself to be tried by God in the country. The indictment, I'm like, he doesn't try though, like you guys have to try her. Yeah, the where is he at?

The indictment and evidences in the case were read and committed to the jury and the jury brought in their verdict that they found her not guilty. Okay. I didn't see that. I'm coming. She was acquitted. She was acquitted of the charge of witchcraft. Mary Webster returned to Hadley and all was supposed to be great, but you know what?

It was her neighbors that were pissed. The court acquitted her. They weren't going to bring her back in. But they weren't done. But the neighbors were pissed. Now, when Mary Webster was first accused of witchcraft and bought before the county court, among the men who examined her and considered the evidence

against her was Philip Smith, who was a local judge and a deacon for the town of Hadley. And his later accounts of the story, Cotton Mather, who everybody remembers Cotton Mather. That should have some kind of reverb on it, like scary reverb. Cotton Mather. That should have some kind of reverb on it, like scary. It does. In your brain, mother. It's a mother.

Yeah, it's just, it's, it's, it's a semifilm there. He describes Smith as follows. Mr. Phillips Smith, a man of about 50 years, a son of eminently virtuous parents, a deacon of a church at Hadley, a member of our general court, a man of their country court, a select man for the affairs of the town, a lieutenant in the troop, and which crowns all a man for devotion and gravity, and all that was honest, exceedingly exemplary. You can stop sucking his dick now, like because you know what? Cotton Mather likely never met this man.

Just want to put that out there. He really loved it. He likely never met Philip Smith, but because Philip Smith was down to get some witches, hanging by some ropes, Cotton Mather was like, what a fucking virtuous. The man. Gift to our entire planet this man is.

And it's like, settle the fuck down, Cotton. Take all of the things. Settle, please. The fuck down. And by the way, speaking of Cotton Mather, I think I might take another look at the Salem Witch trials and kind of like revamp our series on it, because. I would love that.

I've read more into it and I have more to say. So we might have more to say with a later heart. Yeah, you know, it's happening. I love it. So he should have said about Philip Smith, even though he'd never met this man ever, did not know what kind of man he was. So strange. But, you know, despite Mary Webster being acquitted of the charge of witchcraft, which

was no easy feat. No. And this was a court in Boston. And she probably knew that this wasn't even the end of it. Oh, yeah. Smith, Philip Smith maintained that she was a witch. She was in league with the devil. He would not be convinced she wasn't.

And that's why Cotton Mather loved him. He wasn't going to give up. Of course, right. Beginning in January 1864, apparently Philip Smith's health began ailing a little bit. And it was very obvious. It wasn't very visible. It wasn't very visible. And they said he showed such weakness from the weariness of the world that he knew not.

He said whether he might not, he might pray for his continuance here. So he wasn't even gonna pray to live, okay, because he was so weary of the world. I mean, and that's what Cotton Mather had written, by the way, but he didn't know him, He didn't know. Got it. But basically what he was saying was that, you know, his righteous spiritual battles with evil were just taking its toll on him.

And he was such a... We should, you know... Wow. Like this man... This man is on his deathbed because he's just been fighting this righteous war with the devil so hard. And he doesn't even know if he wants to stay here anymore because it's just been too hard. This is making my head hurt. And I'm like, I don't know. I think it's just the 1600s. And he's dying of things you die of in the 1600s. Probably. And also when you're that fucking wound up about everybody all the time, yeah, you're probably going to die sooner because your shit is all rocked inside.

So like, you should calm down. Calm down. You know who but stop wondering people. Quit hanging through. Wait. Now, like the court records that have since, you know, really been lost to the time at this point, of course. There's not a lot of documentation about Smith's illness,

but according to Bridget Marshall, in the time leading up to his death, the decline of his physical health and body was accompanied by a lot of emotional and mental issues as well. He had fits of delirium, and they would definitely frighten everybody around him. His nurses, anybody who was watching over his bedside, I'm sure it was terrifying. I mean, that would be scary now, even with all we know. But back then, that was,

I mean, that's what the Wichstrial is basically where it started from. Well, that kind of like happens at the end of your life. I mean, certain cases. Any number of things happen at the end of your life. Nobody goes out the same way. And back then, you looked at fits

and delirium as being magical, like they were spurned by something evil. Meanwhile, it was like, probably just his body shutting down and like, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see, see the author, the very visible struggle he endured with his illness, no doubt appeared to the Puritan audience as he fight with the devil. And with Cotton Mather writing that this is his righteous battle with the devil

that is killing him, it's just compounding. That's so wild that they were like, yeah, he's just fighting the devil. He's just fighting the devil. This isn't just illness. This is him literally in a cage match with the devil. Wow. Wow.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Now, in his delirium, he would rant, like Philip Smith, would rant a lot.

He would ramble. He was very incoherent. This there and everywhere. We've all, if you've loved someone that's been at the end of your life, their life, you know there can be some moments where you're like, I have no idea where you are right now, but you're telling me about it. Right. And again, a lot of local people and found in his neighbors found that they were thinking

this was him being possessed. And this was the effects of black magic, not anything biological. No, never. Now, because Smith had been one of the most like loud and aggressive proponents of Mary Webster's guilt, even after her acquittal, many of the men in town concluded that Webster must be to blame for this illness. I knew that was common. Yeah.

They said this is definitely revenge for his having tried to bring her to justice. And you know, this is all her. This is like he's being the target and after him, you better believe the next person on the list is gonna be someone else involved in the trial. That's ridiculous. And the longer his illness went on, the stranger and more wild the stories of his symptoms became.

One of the most absurd things that was stated, like officially about it, was that in his sick room, they claimed that medicines had been emptied by unseen hands, and that a fire mysteriously appeared under his bed and then stopped. Was he burned? I was like, I feel you should be looking at him if fires are starting under his bed. What if I stopped? What's going on there? What the fuck? Now, according to our pal cotton mathers account of it, it's not my pal, who again believed that very much believed that Webster was to blame. And apparently they decided to test this theory that Mary was to blame. People in the town came to Mary's home and decided to do witch disturbance on her because

remember, if they think you're fucking around, they can just come and beat the shit out of you. God. So Cotton Mather wrote an account of this, even though he was not there, but again, some of the young men in the town being out of their wits at the strange calamities, thus upon one of their most beloved neighbors, when three or four times to give disturbance unto the woman, thus complained of, and all the while they were disturbing of her, which, by the way, he ran the disturbing of her.

Remember what we're saying here? He's saying, all the while while these men came in and beat the shit out of a 60 year old woman in her home, all the while while they were beating the shit out of a 60 year old woman at her home, he was at ease, Philip Smith, and slept as a weary man. These were the only times they had perceived him to take any sleep in all his illness.

While everyone was beating the shit out of an elderly woman, that's good. Yeah. I'm glad he rested easy during that period. But it's her who's concerning with the devil. Like, y'all. You're telling me the only time this man got sleep was when a elderly 60-year-old woman,

because that's elderly back then. Yeah. It's not elderly now, so don't come for me. But back in the 1600s, that was, you were past your point of like, damn, look at you. You were a wise one. Exactly. But they're beating a 60-year-old woman. This is so upsetting.

And he's sleeping soundly like a fucking baby, but she's the one concerning with the devil. My God, everybody. He's just living on his deathbed. Like, let's just look at what's happening here, but nobody's going to speak up. But again, it was very, very long believed that to stop a witch from, you know, furthering any harm she was doing through magic or her spells was to physically restrain or stop her in some way. Oh my God. And when Philip Smith finally died from his illness

on January 10th, 1685, a group of young men set upon Mary Webster at her home. They dragged her from her house, and they hung her from a tree by her neck. Oh my God. Yeah. Now, at this time, the gallows and trapdoor had not been invented yet. So it is very likely, and really the only way, that they just hanged her from a tree and

allowed her to strangle. Oh my God. Yeah, I told you this is a rough one. Holy shit. She lost consciousness. And when she was no longer moving, they cut her down. They rolled her body in the snow for some time. And then they finally buried her in the snow

and left her for dead. I am without words. Yeah. So what we've seen here is that obviously the men of Hadley, it was only men who did this, by the way. The men of Hadley were obviously disappointed by the Boston's court decision and certain that Mary was guilty. So they decided to enact mob justice and they figured they could just get rid of Mary

Webster and that this gave them reason. Once Philip Smith died, it was her fault. They felt validated. Picture that in your head. They broke, I'm sorry, I'm not over this yet. That you should be. And then you go into her home, dragged her out, probably hanged her from a tree on her own fucking property.

Probably. And then rolled her and buried her in the snow. So she'd probably likely died of hypothermia among other things. Well, you know, it came to a big surprise to the men that when they came back, she didn't die. What? She was still alive.

What a bad bitch. Yep. And what's even better is that Mary Webster lived another 11 years before dying of natural causes in 1969 at around the age of 70 or so. That's my girly right there. Mary Webster said, fuck you. She said, Dave's eggs.

He's a little like she said, fuck you. Fuck you all. She said, fuck y'all. Dave's eggs. She said, Philip Smith, we'll be seeing you for a while by Holy Conelli. I did not see that one coming. Cotton Mather must have shit his dick

all in all that day. Those men, what I wouldn't give to be now and travel back there with just like an iPhone so you could just like record all their reactions and then pop back here and be like, check out these fuckers. Like, you know, they all, like some of them, Crab. Oh my God.

But that's, it's like amazing that she was able to live that long. But you can go through that. But one to go through that and who knows where it ended. I'm sure people were still making a tour house and fucking after that. But I'm like, fuck yeah, good for you living out the rest of your fucking days. I mean, like fuck all you.

You'll be damned. Like damn. Wow. Mary Webster. I didn't see that. Yeah. So, you know, the colonial witch trials up to and including those in Salem were definitely

about power. A lot of it. Obviously, there were some cases like Sarah Bridgeman and Mary Parsons that were just jealousy, petty shit, grievances. But they were fueled by a religious body as well that sought to use superstition, misogyny at the time, and great fear of the unknown to maintain their stronghold on the colonies. That's it. So again, it goes right back to power at the end of everything. And keeping everyone in line. Yeah, exactly. hold on the colonies. So again, it goes right back to power and the end of everything.

Keeping everyone in line. Yeah, exactly. No one, they don't want anyone speaking out against it. They believe this, so you're going to believe it, and you're going to shut the fuck up if you don't. This was particularly true for our guy, Cotton Mather, who was one of the loudest and most aggressive proponents of the witch hunts in all of the colonial era. Now, in 1689, he actually published the account of Philip Smith's illness and death, and he named Smith specifically, but he did not name

Mary Webster. He wouldn't name her. Wonder why? He used the account to, among other things, promote the righteousness and virtuousness of Smith, and his efforts, his righteous efforts to rid Hadley of witchcraft. And he also kept promoting the belief that the colony as a whole was just lousy with witches and practice and practitioners of black magic. And again, it's important to remember, like I said earlier, Conn Mather was not a resident of Hadley. And it's unlikely that he had ever been there before. And he definitely didn't know Philip Smith or Mary Webster.

So what the fuck is your get out of everybody's business bitch? He's a busy body. He's the definition of a busy body. He didn't know Mary, he didn't know Philip Smith. He's never been to Hadley. What are you doing? Right. And of course, he did include some documented facts

about the case in his account, but a lot of what he wrote was just biased, fictionalized shit, just bullshit, and very much just like preaching what he wanted to preach. Of course. He wasn't trying to give a historical account of something that happened. He wanted something that would boost his argument in favor of which hunting. And unfortunately it worked. Because as we know just a few years later,

in 1692 and 1693, stories like that of Smith and Webster were used as supporting arguments for the outrageously barbaric witch trials in the village of Salem. And it actually, again, it ended up being that it was a government sanctioned murder of 19 people. Which like, when you really think of that, it's just like your brain can't even.

And most of them were young women who are guilty of literally nothing, but couldn't defend themselves because it was just this hysteric frenzied mob of people that were brought to that point by men like cotton mother who were just like insane. There's no other way to say it. There's no other way to say it. There's no other way to say it. There's no other way to say it. There's no other way to say it.

There's no other way to say it. There's no other way to say it. There's no other way to say it. There's no other way to say it. There's no other way to say it. There's no other way to say it. There's no other way to say it. There's no other way to say it. There's no other way to say it. There's no other way to say it. There's no other way to say it. like then these little girls who were fucking bored and everybody just decided, that's what it was. These little girls who are fucking bored and nasty, cruel little fucks. And then these men who were trying to, you know, boost this argument, anyway, saw that and said,

perfect, we can use this. It's like all work together. Just what are your assholes working together? What a horrible time to be alive. Truly. And when the witch trials came to an end in the spring of 1693, public hysteria had died down and order had started to be restored because that was looked at even by them as like, what can't believe this happened? Yeah. And the truth came to light that, you know, like,

these young women were all the people, young women who had made the shit up about like the fits and being attacked, inspectors, and all that shit, that they lied. They came forward and said, I made the whole thing up. I was bored. And the public reaction was fucking horror and revulsion. They couldn't believe what they had done. They were like, I can't believe we've been taken so easily

by all this bullshit, how gullible have we been and how cruel have we been? Like, damn, we suck. To the point of murder. We murdered young women because we were just easily led. But even after the order and sanity had been restored to Salem briefly, caught, mother and other of those guys,

like that were part of this whole thing. Some of the judges, some of the people that were into it, like the higher up people were still advocating for further witch hunts and trials just to try to get that control back over the community. And luckily, they're like, you know, it was kind of at that point, they were kind of like ignored

and everybody was like, now you're an asshole. You have to chill the fuck out, guys. But you know, it's, when you look back on it, you're like, wow, that's wild, and it blows your mind. But it's also when you look at 17th century colonies, hysteria is not that wild to think about. Because when you think about it, colonial life was miserable. It was incredibly difficult.

Colonists often relied on that dichotomy of good and evil, just to explain the hundreds of hardships, entragities, and oppression, an awful shit that just fell into their laps on a normal daily basis. Like their cows die in and hence coming through the rough and fallen into boiling pots of water. But, and that is truth.

That is truth. That was a shitty time, It was a shitty life. And they were just looking for something to believe in. But they were using it. They were using it. They were using it to something else. But we cannot take away that misinformation and the spread of it. And misogyny also played an incredible role in that. Incredible. At the forefront, I would say. And even in the Boston Globe in 1977, Hal Clancy wrote that he talked about the story of Smith and Webster, and he described Mary as, quote,

in 1977, he described her as, quote, an aging spinster who wore rags, lived in a shack, and got by brewing love potions and peddling hexes. She claimed to possess an evil eye that could dry up a cow at a blink. Now, this article has like somewhat of like a humorous tone to it, but it's got tons of factual inaccuracies in it, lies. And it also just completely perpetuates

what started the witchcrafts in the first place. Like, you learned nothing. This, but I was like, that article just shows you. Whoa, you just literally looked at that whole thing. You saw the lesson there and you just perpetuated it. Man. Like, he literally says, basically his view of the history of that whole thing

was the only possible explanation for why Mary Webster's neighbors believed her to be a witch and literally hanged her after she was acquitted for it was because she portrayed herself as such. She did it by being an old spencer, by working with herbs and non-traditional shit, by not being a pleasant flower, by not, you know, preaching whatever it is they wanted her

to preach, she did it. Literally in 1977, this man is just learning zero. I was like, holy shit, Massachusetts. Yeah, that's embarrassing. Like, this Massachusetts is my girl. Like, I love her. I ride for her. Massachusetts is my beast.

She's my bitch. I love her. I ride for her. Massachusetts is my bee. She's my bitch. I love her. I ride for her. I love Massachusetts. It's been a long time for her. But it's proof that some people did not learn from their own shit. And it's like getting together to be like, she was a fucking witch.

I'm like, this is elderly abuse to like the highest level. And you're like, she was a fucking witch. She made love potions. I'm like, I don't think they worked. And also it's like, she was a witch. They're basically just being like, I don't know,

she portrayed herself as one. So she could drive some cows. And I'm like, okay. So should they have hung her from a tree and buried her in the snow? Like, are you, is that what you're saying? You're sure about that?

Like, you're not sitting here saying like, wow, this six-year-old woman that was just like trying to live her life by herself, that people kept coming into her home and beating the shit out of her on a regular basis. Don't act like a witch. Don't act like a witch. Damn hell.

Wow. Damn. You would, like, that sounds like satire, but it's the Boston Globe, like, that's like, damn. That's not allowed. Damn. Wow. Damn. But yeah. So that's the story of Mary Webster and a couple of that's like damn. Damn. Wow. But yeah.

So that's the story of Mary Webster and a couple of other witches, but. That was her. Yeah, like that was a, I don't know. That was, that was something. That was wild. And she lived setting.

But the fact that she was like, she lived. Fuck. Y'all. I mean, it was like a triumph. But then it's like, only a couple years later, we were like, and now for the Salem, which trials where it's going to be really bad.

Oh my god. But eventually, you know, eventually. Porno for all the witches out there, okay? Yeah, truly. You know, damn. Holy shit. But yeah. I'm just like shook that that all of that happened.

And then however many years later, he was like, yeah, fuck her, right? It's true. Fuck her, right? Yeah. So that's the story of yeah fuck her right. It's true fuck her right yeah. So that's the story of half-hanged Mary that's what she's referring to. Wolf. Well with that we hope that you keep listening and we hope you keep it weird. But that's a weird that this because what? Question mark?

Don't be stupid. I think critically please. Get a life. Think critically please get a life. Think critically please. Hey, Prime Members! You can listen to Morvid, Early, and Add Free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today, or you can listen Add Free with Wondery Plus and Apple Podcasts. Amazon Music app today, or you can listen ad-free with Wondery Plus and Apple podcasts. Before you go, tell us about yourself by completing a short survey at Wondery.com slash survey.