Week 8 - Power - John Willard

February 26, 2021

Week 8: Power - John Willard

The year was 1692. The place was Salem Village, Massachusetts Bay Colony. A 7th great granduncle of mine, John Willard (1657-1692), was a deputy constable charged by the magistrates of the local court to arrest several women charged with witchcraft. After arresting the first few women, John became convinced that they were not guilty. He remained true to his convictions and told the court he would not arrest anyone else charged with witchcraft. The court answered by stating it was obvious he had fallen under the influence of these devil-possessed women, and charged him with witchcraft.

John Willard had married Margaret Wilkins in 1687. She was a third generation member of the large, influential Wilkins family in Salem Village. The Wilkins family did not approve of Margaret marrying this “outsider” from 40 miles away in Groton, Massachusetts. When John was charged Margaret’s grandfather, Bray Wilkins (1611-1702), not only refused to meet with John or help him deal with the court examining charges of witchcraft, but went so far as to testify against him at his trial.

The church that all citizens were mandated to attend was the Puritan First Church of Salem Town, five miles away and across the river from Salem Village. The village had petitioned the town to be able to hire their own ordained minister and build their own church, and in 1689 they hired their first minister, Reverend Samuel Parris. He proved to be extremely divisive and highly unpopular. Among other things, Parris believed in public humiliation and punishment for his parishioners over even trivial matters of church discipline. Parris was the father of one of the girls who claimed they had been attacked by witches, and the uncle of another. Once accusations of witchcraft were made by Samuel Parris’s daughter and niece, the seeds of mass hysteria were sown.

The court issued a first warrant for the arrest of John Willard on May 10, 1692. When another constable arrived at his house to arrest him he had already fled. A second warrant was issued a few days later and he was captured in Nashawag (now Lancaster), 40 miles away. He was brought back to stand trial on May 18, 1692. The court announced that his fleeing Salem Village equated to an admission of guilt.

John’s trial progressed from bad to worse. He was accused of beating his wife Margaret, killing Bray Wilkins son, Daniel, afflicting Bray Wilkins with great abdominal pains (probably kidney stones), and beating a baby to death. Evidence accepted by the court was all spectral evidence (visions and dreams by “witnesses” of John Willard afflicting them via his spirit). During his examination, he denied all allegations but was found guilty by the court and executed by hanging on August 19, 1692 at Gallows Hill, Salem Village (Danvers) as a witch.

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“To understand the events of the Salem witch trials, it is necessary to examine the times in which the accusations of witchcraft occurred. There were the ordinary stresses of seventeenth-century life in Massachusetts Bay Colony. A strong belief in the devil, a recent smallpox epidemic and the threat of attack by warring native-American tribes created a fertile ground for fear and suspicion. This was made worse by a growing factional conflict in Salem Village, the Village’s rivalry with nearby Salem Town, and the removal of the Massachusetts Bay Charter in 1684. To many it seemed the Puritan ideal of a “City on a Hill” was slipping away and decades of work suddenly pulled from their grasp. Many wondered if Satan’s forces had infiltrated their new land.” Quote from salemwitchmuseum.com

Various types of power were at work in Salem Village.

John’s wife’s family held power over the young couple. They mistrusted and falsely accused him.

Reverend Parris held the power of the church over John and the entire congregation. Parris turned the power of public opinion against him.

John’s employer, the court, held the power of life and death over him and was predisposed against him from the start for refusing their orders and running away prior to his arrest.

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Finally, the Royal Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony, Sir William Phips, recognized what was happening and stopped all witch trials by October 1692, admitted in early 1693 that the trials were a mistake, and gave all prisoners accused of witchcraft their freedom. The final tally: 200 arrested, nineteen hanged, one pressed to death and five who died in witch-cells awaiting trial.

In 1710, the court pardoned John Willard eighteen years after his execution and attempted to make restitution to his wife, Margaret, for material damage. She asked for 30 pounds but said she’d be satisfied with 20 pounds.

The Salem witch trial story is a very powerful story in and of itself. It has had great staying power. Thousands of tourists visit Salem every year. There is a Witch Museum and a Witch House. Three hundred and twenty nine years after the trials many people still think there were witches in Salem. But the truth recognized by the Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1692 was that there were no witches and no witchcraft.

A beautiful memorial to once again set the historical record straight was erected in Danvers (Salem Village) in 1992 by the city’s Witchcraft Tercentennial Committee.

“IN MEMORY OF THOSE INNOCENTS WHO DIED DURING THE SALEM VILLAGE WITCHCRAFT HYSTERIA OF 1692”