Tituba of Salem Village (27 page)
Read Tituba of Salem Village Online
Authors: Ann Petry
Tags: #Juvenile Fiction, #Historical, #United States, #Colonial & Revolutionary Periods, #People & Places, #African American, #Social Themes, #Prejudice & Racism, #Social Issues
“I thank you,” she said.
The Salem witchcraft trials began in March, 1692, with the arrest of Sarah Good, a tramp, Tituba Indian, a slave, and Sarah Osburne, a sick old woman
.
Sarah Osburne died in the Boston jail on May 10, 1692
.
During the height of the witchcraft delusion, nineteen persons were hanged (including Sarah Good), and one (Giles Corey) was pressed to death. The evidence used in the trials of these persons was very similar to the evidence described here as being used against Tituba
.
On February 21, 1693, Sir William Phipps, royal governor of the Bay Colony, sent a report to his government on the subject of the trials for witchcraft. He said that when he put an end to the court, “there at least fifty persons in prison in great misery by reason of the extreme cold and their poverty, most of them having only spectre evidence against them … I put the judges upon considering of a way to relieve others and prevent them from perishing in prison, upon which some of them were convinced and acknowledged that their former proceedings were too violent and not grounded upon a right foundation.”
In May of 1693 all persons charged with witchcraft were pardoned
.
Tituba was sold for her jail fees
—
board, chains, and leg irons
—
to Samuel Conklin, the weaver. Six months later he purchased Tituba’s husband, John Indian, from the Reverend Samuel Parris
.
Mr. Parris left Salem Village in 1696 after a long and bitter quarrel with the parish. His wife had died before he left the Village. His daughter, Betsey, regained her health and married when she was seventeen years of age
.
Tituba lived on, leading a full and useful life in Boston with her husband, John Indian
.
About the Author
Ann Petry (1908–1997) is best known for her novel
The Street
(1946), which sold over one million copies—an unheard of feat for the work of a female African American author at the time. Born in Old Saybrook, Connecticut, Petry was the youngest of three children. She had dreamed of becoming a writer ever since her high school English teacher praised her work. However, at the behest of her family, she earned a degree from the Connecticut College of Pharmacy in 1931 and began working in the family business. In 1938, she married George D. Petry and moved to Harlem in New York City. There, she wrote articles for newspapers such at the
People’s Voice
and the
Amsterdam News
, and published stories in the
Crisis
. She also worked for an after-school program at PS 10 in Harlem. It was her experiences living in Harlem that inspired
The Street
.
In 1947, Petry moved back to Old Saybrook, where she continued to write for children as well as adults. Her books for young readers include the biography
Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad
(1955), and the historical novel
Tituba of Salem Village
(1955). Her works for adults include
Country Place
(1947),
The Narrows
(1953), and
Miss Muriel and Other Stories
(1971).
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 1964 by Ann Petry
Cover design by Mimi Bark
Cover image © Laura Faraci/Shutterstock Images
ISBN: 978-1-5040-1987-3
This edition published in 2015 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
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New York, NY 10014
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