Mary Bradbury was one of the accused and convicted persons in the Salem Witch Trials. She was sentenced to hang but was able to avoid getting a date of execution, which allowed her to avoid being hanged until the trials had been discredited after Governor William Phips forbade the use of spectral evidence.
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Family
Mary Bradbury was born Mary Perkins to John and Judith Perkins around 1615. S
She was originally from England and migrated to Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1631. Upon reaching the 13 original colonies, she met and married Thomas Bradbury from Salisbury, Massachusetts Bay. She managed to catch the eye of one of the most well-known citizens of Salisbury in Thomas and move up in Colonial American society.
Mary Perkins Bradbury and Thomas Bradbury had eleven children:
- Wymond Bradbury (1637 – 1669) married Sarah Pike, daughter of Major Robert Pike
- Judith Bradbury (1638 – 1700) married Caleb Moody
- Thomas Bradbury (1640 – 1718)
- Mary Bradbury (1642 – 1724) married John Stanyan
- Jane Bradbury (1645 – 1729), married Henry True
- Jacob Bradbury (1647 – 1669) died in Barbados
- William Bradbury (1649 – 1678) married Rebecca Wheelwright
- Elizabeth Bradbury (1651 – unknown) married Rev. John Buss
- John Bradbury (1654 – 1678)
- Anne Bradbury (1656 – 1659)
- Jabez Bradbury (1658 – 1677)
The Trial of Mary Bradbury
Mary was accused of witchcraft by the afflicted Mary Walcott and Sarah Bibber and then was indicted. It read as follows:
Certain Detestable arts called Witchcraft & Sorceries Wickedly Mallitiously and felloniously hath used practiced and Exercised At and in the Township of Andivor in the County of Essex aforesaid in upon & against one Timothy Swann of Andivor In the County aforesaid Husbandman – by which said Wicked Acts the said Timothy Swann upon the 26th day of July Aforesaid and divers other days & times both before and after was and is Tortured Afflicted Consumed Pined Wasted and Tormented...
Once the trial began, many people stepped forward to speak well of her. Her husband, along with Reverend James Allin and John Pike, stepped forward to speak of her character. When all testimony in her defense was finished, over one hundred other neighbors and townspeople spoke well of her.
Witnesses testified that she assumed animal forms; her most unusual metamorphosis was said to have been that of a blue boar. Another allegation was that she cast spells upon ships.
She then delivered her own defense:
I do plead not guilty. -I am wholly innocent of such wickedness through the goodness of God that hath kept me hitherto. I am the servant of Jesus Christ and have given myself up to him as my only Lord and Saviour, and to the diligent attendance upon him in all holy ordinances, in utter contempt and defiance of the Devil & all his works as horrid and detestable; and have endeavored accordingly to frame my life & conversation according to the rules of his holy word, and in that faith and practice resolve, by the help and assistance of God, to continue to my life’s end. For the truth of what I say as to matter of practice, I humbly refer myself to my brethren and neighbors that know me and to the searcher of all hearts for the truth & uprightness of my heart therein, human frailties & unavoidable infirmities excepted, of which I bitterly complain every day.
Despite her glowing defense, she was sentenced to hang on September 22, 1692.
Through the ongoing efforts of her friends, her execution was delayed.
What happened next is unknown, but she did escape. Some theories say that her husband bribed the guards and broke her out of jail.
Regardless of how it happened, she and her husband left Salem and waited for the hysteria to fade.
The Salem Witch Trials began to unravel quickly after Governor William Phips replaced the judges and then forbade the use of spectral evidence. He also pardoned eight people that were to be executed. Soon, the trials began to fade, and Mary returned to her home.
She would live until she was 85 years old.
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