Aftermath of the Salem Witch Trials
...ong belief in God and his divine intervention, believed that all of the struggles they were going through was punishment from God for hanging innocent people. Therefore, they had a day of prayer and fasting to ask for forgiveness for their sins and wrong doing on January 13, 1697 (Sutter). After their day of fasting, a long period of atonement began to sweep through the colony. One of the judges, Samuel Sewall, made a public confession of apology. Several of the jurors that participated in handing down the decisions publicly announced that they were sadly deluded and mistaken. Magistrates that allowed to trials to happen offered their apologies and condolences to the families also. Reverend Samuel Parris admitted there were errors in his judgment, but he mostly shifted the blame to other people. He was replaced as minister of Salem Village by Thomas Green, who put his energy into rebuilding his congregation. Parris agreed to leave Salem for good in April 1696. Not much information is known about Parris’ life after he left Salem (Linder). Elizabeth Proctor, wife of John Proctor, was now a single mother. John was hanged as a witch after he wouldn’t use his name to blacken the names of his friends. Elizabeth was pardoned from her conviction of witchcraft. She discovered she was pregnant in prison, and Puritan law stated they could not harm the unborn child. They kept Elizabeth in prison until her baby was born, but by then, the trials were over. Although she was pardoned, she was still a convicted witch in the eyes of the community. She was banned from claiming any of her husbands property. On December 17, 1710, she was rewarded 578 pounds and 12 shillings in restitution for her husband’s death (Sutter). Reverend Parris’ slave Tituba was the first person to confess of witchcraft. She was brought to Salem, by Parris, from Barbados. She enjoyed the attention she got from the girls by singing songs from her homeland and foretelling their future husbands. Little is recorded of what happened to her, but we do know that she was sold back into slavery to pay for her jail cost (D’Amario). Betty Parris, Reverend Parris’ daughter, was one of the main girls involved in accusing people of witchcraft. She grew up and married and man named Benjamin Barron in 1710, and had five children. She lived in Concord until her death at age 78 on March 1760. Her son, No...