Mary Walcott was one of the afflicted girls who accused townspeople of being a witch during the Salem Witch Trials. She was the step-cousin of Ann Putnam Jr, who was also one of the accusers.
Mary accused many people of witchcraft, which led to the death of some of them.
Family Life
Mary Walcott was born to Captain John Walcott and Mary Sibly on June 5, 1675, in Massachusetts Bay Colony. Her mother died when she was eight years old, and her dad remarried Thomas Putnam's sister, Deliverance.
This marriage is significant as Thomas Putnam and Ann Putnam Jr were two of the most influential people during the trials. Most of the accusations included Ann. Mary's connection to her was influential and had that marriage not taken place and her father married someone else in a different family, there would have been a strong possibility that she would not have been one of the accusers.
Mary was 16 when the Salem Witch Trials began and would turn 17 while during the trials.
Timeline of Accusations
The Salem Witch Trials began to pick up momentum at the end of March and into April. Walcott was active throughout and seemed to have her fingers on many of these accusations.
- March 24: Walcott accused Rebecca Nurse of practicing witchcraft.
- Early April: She accuses Sarah Cloyce of afflicting her. She also testifies against Rebecca Nurse, Dorothy Good, and Martha Corey.
- April 11: She testifies against Sarah Cloyce and Elizabeth Proctor. During these testimonies, she accused Cloyce but says that Proctor never afflicted her.
- April 18: Walcott testifies against Giles Corey, Mary Warren, Abigail Hobbs, and Bridget Bishop.
- April 21: She accuses Sarah Wildes, William Hobbs, Deliverance Hobbs, Nehemiah Abbott Jr, Mary Easty, Edward Bishop Jr, Sarah Bishop, Mary Black, and Mary English.
- April 22: She testifies against Sarah Wildes
- April 30: Mary Walcott accuses another six people of witchcraft: George Burroughs, Lydia Dustin, Susannah Martin, Dorcas Hoar, Sarah Morey, and Philip English.
The month of May seems to have been one of her busier months as she accused more people than she did the previous month. May would be a pivotal month as well due to the executions that would occur in June because of the testimonies in this month.
- May 2: She takes the stand and testifies against Susannah Martin.
- May 8: Sarah Dustin, Ann Sears, Bethiah Carter Sr, and Bethiah Carter Jr. are all accused by Walcott.
- May 14: Walcott turns her attention to eight more victims and accuses them of witchcraft: Elizabeth Coleson, George Jacobs Jr, Daniel Andrew, Rebecca Jacobs, Sarah Buckley, Mary Witheridge, Elizabeth Hart, and Thomas Farrer.
- May 18: John Willard and Sarah Buckely are both put on trial, and Walcott proceeds to testify against them. She also accuses Roger Toothaker of witchcraft.
- May 20: Mary Easty is accused a second time by Mary Walcott.
- May 21: She fires an accusation against Susannah Roots.
- May 23: She takes the stand and testifies before the court against Mary Easty.
- May 28: Walcott ups the ante and delivers accusations against 11 citizens of the town: Martha Carrier, Sarah Rice, Wilmot Redd, Elizabeth Howe, Martha Carrier, Elizabeth Fosdick, John Alden Jr, William Proctor, John Flood, Mary Toothaker, and Arthur Abbott.
June would see the first execution when Bridget Bishop was taken to the gallows and hanged. Bishop had been accused of witchcraft by Mary Walcott and others in April. Her death would be the only time during the trials that only one person was executed. The rest would be mass executions.
July would see the deaths of five other townspeople. This would bring the total people accused that had been executed due to Mary's involvement to six.
- June 3: Mary uses spectral evidence in her testimony against Rebecca Nurse to suggest she had been afflicting many people within the town.
- June 4: She testifies against Job Tookey
- June 28: Walcott testifies against Sarah Good.
- June 30: She testifies against John and Elizabeth Proctor.
- July 1: Mary Walcott accuses Margaret Hawkes and her slave Candy of witchcraft
- July 2: She testifies against Dorcas Hoar
- July 28: She accuses Hannah Bromage and Mary Green of witchcraft
On August 19, another five citizens would be executed. Mary Walcott was involved in every one of them.
- August 2: Walcott accuses Mary Post of witchcraft
- August 3: She accuses Mary Clarke of witchcraft and then testifies against George Burroughs.
- August 4: She testifies against George Jacobs Sr.
- August 10: Walcott sets her sights again on the Proctor family when she testifies against Benjamin, Sarah, and William Proctor.
- August 18: Frances Hutchins and Ruth Wilford join the large list of those accused by Walcott of witchcraft.
September would be the deadliest month during the trials as seven people were executed, and Giles Corey was pressed to death for not entering a plea of not guilty or guilty. Mary was involved in accusing six of those who died. This would be the last month that she participated in the trials.
- September 6: Mary Walcott takes the stand and testifies against Ann Pudeator.
- September 7: She testifies against Alice Parker
- September 9: She testifies against Mary Bradbury
- September 13: Walcott testifies against Ann Foster
- September 14: She testifies against Wilmot Redd and Samuel Wardwell.
- September 15: She testifies against Rebecca Eames
- September 17: She testifies against Abigail Faulkner Sr.
After the September 22 mass execution, the Court of Oyer and Terminer was replaced by Governor William Phips. Phips also stipulated that spectral evidence could not be used as evidence. This shift away from spectral evidence would render Mary Walcott irrelevant since all her accusations relied on that type of evidence.
Governor Phips also took a more active role in undermining the courts by issuing pardons to those sentenced to hang. Some of the clergy, including Increase Mather, began to speak out against the trials. This caused the Salem Witch Trials, and the hysteria surrounding it began to fade away.
Mary would go on to marry, although her husband is one of debate. She had many children and lived until around 1752.
There is no record of her apologizing for her actions during the trials.