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MORE WITCHES


In July, 1680, a little child of John Godfrey died, and the old cry of witchcraft was raised again. An inquest was held, with twelve solid men of Hampton for jurors, and a verdict rendered: “We find grounds of suspicion that the said child was murdered by witchcraft.”

Godfrey’s wife and daughter, Sarah , deposed that Rachel Fuller came in with her face daubed with molasses, and sat down by Goody Godfrey, who had a sick child in her lap, and took his hand; when the mother, in fear, drew the hand away and wrapped it in her apron. Then Rachel Fuller “turned her about and smote the back of her hands together sundry times and spat in the fire.” Then she strewed herbs on the hearth and sat down again and said: “Woman, the child will be well;” and then went out, beat herself thrice with her arms, as men do in winter, to heat their hands, picked something off the ground, and went home. The next day, the children told their mother that Goody Fuller had said if they did lay sweet bays under the threshold, it would keep a witch from coming in. So they laid bays under the threshold of the back door all the way, and half way of the breadth of the fore door; and soon after, Rachel Fuller came about to the fore door, though she had always formerly come in at the back door, which is next her house; and she crowded in on that side where the bays lay not, and rubbed her back against the post so that she rubbed off her hat, and sat down and made ugly faces and nestled about and would have looked on the child, but not being allowed to do so, went out as she had come in, after having looked under the door where the bays lay; and she had not been in the house since.

John Godrey, Nathaniel Smith and Hezron Leavitt made depositions, equally damaging.

Elizabeth Denham (wife of Alexander), deposed that Rachel Fuller told her “Witches did so go abroad at night, they did lay their husbands and children asleep;” and she said there were eight women and two men in the town, who were witches and wizards.

The men’s names were not given, but the women Goody Fuller reckoned as witches were: Eunice Cole, Benjamin Evans’ wife and two (?) daughters, Grace (Swaine) Boulter, Mary (Boulter) Prescott, Isabella (Austin) Towle, “and one that is now dead. ” Goody Towle, was, in fact, arraigned about the same time, on a different charge, and both she and Rachel Fuller were committed to prison till the sitting of the Hampton Court, September 7. Then, “The Court having heard ye case of Rachel ffuller and Isabel Towle being apprehended and committed upon suspition of witchcraft doe ordr yt they still continue in prisson till bond be given for their good behavior of £100 a piece during the Courts pleasure.”

John Fuller became bondsman for his wife; and Isaac Marston and John Redman, for Goody Towle. They were discharged at the Dover Court the next year.

END OF CHAPTER 3


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